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Ever changing.
22nd January 2012
I guess I have not been finding much I wanted to comment on recently. It's the 22 days into 2012 and I haven't added a thing this year. The internet like life is ever changing. Social networking sites are taking over from personal web sites, but I am a bit of a stick in the mud, and so I still keep my personal web sites and I am avoiding twitter, facebook etc. Windows improved right up to XP and since then has become full of gimmicks. Instead of nice dropdown menus with written indications of what it does, we now have lots of little icons without writing so we have to guess what they mean. I don't spend as much time reading as I use to, preferring to get my entertainment from the TV. I tend to send the odd email, read a few news items, and chat to my friends on Skype, and that's about it.
4ODear.
5th December 2011
If you miss an episode of say "The Big Bang Theory" and you try using 4OD then prepare to be disappointed. It didn't offer the last episode. It offered the next one (not yet televised) and trying to play it made it respond with not available. Its no wonder people resort to file sharing.
......
OK so a football manager topped himself.
28th November 2011
I have had to rely on getting the news from the internet the last couple of days because the TV new has been dominated with the news of this prat who killed himself. You would think they would spend maybe 5 minutes telling us about it and then move to the important new going on in the world, but no. They go to a reporter at some football stadium who starts saying what a good man he was in various ways. Maybe if someone had told him how much they appreciated him he may not have committed suicide.
......
Kate Bush Stop.
19th November 2011
I have just previewed the new Kate Bush Album. What a load of rubbish. Each of the tracks contain a few notes on a piano followed by what is supposed to be singing followed by the same sequence of notes. It is hard to find a great difference between each of the slow boring dirges.
Had someone played any of the tracks and asked me to say who the Artist was, I would not of had a clue, and I loved her 70's music.
Quantitative easing.
7th September 2011
I heard on the news the other day that the bank of England are going to do that quantitive easing trick again. All this really means is they are going to print more money, increasing the amount of money in circulation. When you consider that the amount UK money that is in circulation is increased. As the total value of the money remains the same they are effectively decreasing the value of the money in circulation. This reduces the value of any savings you may have. To me that is the bank stealing from us all.
......
Doctor What?.
30th August 2011
I have not added anything to my page for over a month so I thought I would add this thought.
If Dr Who had not been written when the police box was found on our streets but was written today, the only similar thing commonly seen on the streets would have been the portable loo. So instead of this.
it would be this
So I guess we would call it the Turdis flown though time and space by Dr Poo.
......
Amy Winehouse.
24th July 2011
I Just read that Amy Winehouse has been found dead after overdosing on various drugs. All that fame and money and she couldn't get herself off drugs. How stupid can you get?
......
Lidl reopens with higher prices.
21st July 2011
I just walked into the refurbished Lidl after it had been closed for 5 weeks only to discover that the biscuits I usually buy from them had increased in price by 56%. that is one massive increase.
I am not going to pay extra to cover their shop refurbishment, so I walked out without buying anything.
......
The mobile phone cancer debate goes on.
4th July 2011
I just read two articles about the risk of using mobile phones. The first one refers to research confirming that using them can cause brain tumours and the second one assures us there is no danger. Well, when they first came out I said there is no way I will use one as I did not fancy holding something against my head that transmits on a frequency similar to to that used in a Microwave Oven! so I have never been tempted to get one. The good side is that when I am out people cannot call me. If there is a bad side then I would not be able to call for help in an accident or breakdown, but I managed before mobile phones so I think I can manage now.
Mobile phones cause 'five-fold increase in brain cancer risk' - Telegraph
BBC News - Mobile phones 'unlikely' to cause cancer
........
British Telecom far from green!
2nd July 2011
Like most
internet providers BT supply a router when you sign up to use them as your
provider, but if in the future (After the contract time) you decide to change
providers you will have to get a router for/from your new provider because BT
routers are made not to accept other providers settings. A search on line
found a site claiming to unlock the BT router, but it was very long winded
and despite very patiently reading through it many times I failed to find a
way to unlock the router. Providing a router that cannot be used with
anyone else is definitely not green as that router will probably just get
thrown away, and if like me you would like a backup router in the cupboard in
case the one in use fails, a new one would have to be purchased.
......
22nd June 2011
A couple of years ago I opened at the local Post Office an account called an
instant Saver. It turned out to be most unsatisfactory in that you could not
set up a standing order on it and could not use it to have your state pension
paid into it so I withdrew the money I had opened it with and said I would
like to close it. I was told I would have to ring them to close it. If I go
into a bank to open an account, I can go in and close it there too. There was
94 pence left in it so I didn't bother as the phone call would probably have
cost more than that. Nothing happened until last week when I received a
statement showing that some interest had been added to the account.
Presumably on the money I had in it before I withdrew it, so after a search
for my card and its pin number I withdrew the amount and when I asked was
told to ring them to close it. This time I went on line and found a
free-phone number and rang them and was told I needed a security number.
Today I received by post a new security number. Having got the security
number I rang again saying I now had the number, and was told to close the
account I had to write to them. Well the balance is now zero, so I am dammed
if I am going to waste postage writing to them. Let them waste their money
sending me statements showing the £0.00 balance until eternity.
......
21st June 2011
Google have actually had the nerve to put their Chromebook on the market!!
Having read many reviews of this computer I can only say Save your money. It
isn't even a standard notebook that you could replace the operating system
with another such as Windows or Linux.
It is an experimental computer that uses the cloud to do all of its work
rather than save anything in its own hard drive. For more details read my
next item or go to
http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/whatever-you-do-dont-buy-chromebook-377
......
The Cloud
19th June 2011
I see that Googles new
operating system insists on using the cloud to save data and not the
computers hard drive. While this does mean you will have access to your files
from any machine on line, it also means your data is out there for the people
running these on line storage facilities to spy on. People also can have a go
at hacking into your data at any time even though your computer may be turned off.
I will stick to storing my files on a hard drive in my own premises.
Yes, in
theory someone may be able to get at my data when I am on line but in
practice they will find it much more difficult due to the hardware
firewall in my router and the software firewall and antivirus
applications running on my computers. Plus the fact you can store your
most sensitive
files on a USB drive and disconnect it when not in use.
.....
17th June 2011
I was told by a doctor to go
into my local hospital and have an X-ray, saying it was urgent. I had the
X-ray today. 10 DAYS later. Maybe the Oxford English Dictionary should add an
extra definition to the word URGENT when applied the NHS. I notice the X-ray
dept is only open for 4 hours 4 days a week. That is pathetic!
John Waite, who investigated the supermarket for Radio 4's Face the Facts,
said Tesco "stand accused of dragging out the planning process, challenging
enforcement orders, manipulating the planning laws, bending them, if you
like, and breaking them on occasion."
Just a few examples of Tesco
twisting or flouting planning regulations, reneging on promises, and having
no respect for the local community: 2/2011 Moreton Cross, Wirral Tesco apply
retrospectively to sell alcohol until 11pm, in a well-known crime hotspot. 1/2011
Barnstaple, N Devon
The chairman of North
Devon Council’s planning committee has accused a major supermarket retailer
of attempting to “ride roughshod” over local council planning rules. Cllr
Jasmine Chesters spoke as Tesco sought retrospective permission for a raft of
“minor changes” they had already made to a brand new superstore being built
at Seven Brethren in Barnstaple. The company diverted from the original plans
approved in March last year, making some 35 changes including the removal of
the petrol station car wash and relocation of kiosk and pumps, as well as
alterations to the car parking layout, service yard, doors, fire escapes and
roof “windcatchers”. Tesco has also made a number of aesthetic changes to the
outside appearance of the building, while inside, a mezzanine floor area has
been increased to make room for some of the external plant machinery. “That
these changes are retrospect, meaning the work has already been carried out,
I find appalling,” she said.
11/2010 Harlescott,
Shrewsbury
Tesco was
in violation of planning rules from the moment the store was built. Tesco
stocked an extra 152 sq metres more of goods including clothing, DIY,
household and recreational items after it broke planning rules on how much
non-grocery space it can have. The store called the transgression “a
blunder”.
12/2010 Callington, Cornwall Cornwall Council's planning department said it
was in preliminary stages of investigating an alleged breach of planning
regulations involving the store's car park.
11/2010 Oldham
Local councillors have
warned that Tesco cannot open its new store in Chew Valley Road unless it
builds industrial units at the site — a condition of planning permission
imposed in 2005. But with under a month to go and the units only half built,
councillors are doubtful that they will be available for use before the
planned opening date of December 6. Saddleworth South councillor Richard
Knowles, said: “All Tesco has done is put the steel frame in place. The store
will be opening illegally and in breach of planning laws. Tesco are not a law
unto themselves.”
4/2009
Luisson Grove, Marlyebone
Lorries making deliveries to the Tesco Express
are blocking up Lisson Grove during the morning rush hour, despite
planning
approval for the new shop explicitly banning deliveries on the busy street.
And a delivery bay in Hayes Place it was told to widen has actually been
filled in.
7/2010 Wavertree,
Liverpool Council bosses
will take action against Tesco who allowed a mobile phone mast disguised as a
flag pole to be put up on the building in breach of planning laws. It
emerged at yesterday’s planning committee that despite not appealing against
the decision, the applicants put up the mast anyway.
7/2010 Unthank,
Norwich Contractors working for Tesco were found to be in breach of
the planning permission by Norwich City Council. The council served a
temporary stop notice early yesterday morning. The notice required all work
affecting a mature horse chestnut tree on the site to cease to protect it
from harm. All further work must be completed in line with the site’s
original planning permission. It would be a criminal offence for the terms of
the notice to be breached. The notice followed a site visit by planning
officers.
6/2010 Kilbirnie
After recent complaints
regarding the breach of planning consent at the Tesco store, the petrol
station is no longer operating 24hrs. The problem regarding the curfew and
the breach of planning conditions only came to light when local residents
raised objections to the erection of a wind turbine in the Tesco car park.
4/2010 Lerwick, Shetland
Laurence Smith of
the Town Centre Association said Tesco’s plans went beyond an agreement that
the existing 185 sq metres for non-food, or “comparison” goods, would not be
increased when the extension was built. “The plans show a serious deviation
into the sale of comparison goods,” Mr Smith said. “This is contrary to our
understanding of the planning application and the basis on which planning
approval was granted.”
12/2009 Northside,
Allerdale From the Carlisle news & Star: Tesco
vow to open Workington store
without planning permission. Work was halted yesterday after it emerged that
the supermarket giant did not have Allerdale council’s permission to build
the new store opposite Dunmail Park Shopping Centre and it would not be
treated as an emergency application and fast-tracked. But after submitting a
retrospective application and attending a meeting with Allerdale council,
which ended ‘amicably’, Tesco bosses say they will open the store early next
week and are hopeful they will get permission. 7/ 2009 Mill
Road, Cambridge
Tesco has been warned by the Highways Authority, the Planning Inspectorate
and Cambridge City Council not to deliver to the front of the store. And 'No
Mill Road Tesco' campaigners claim the company will be breaking the law and
could face fines of up to £1,000 a day if it goes ahead with the plan. But
Tesco confirmed the company would make deliveries in the street.
10/2008 Braunton, North Devon
Tesco in Braunton has
opened "illegally", despite not coming close to meeting the housing quota on
the 106 agreement before opening the store. Cllr Chugg said: "When the store
opened last week there were only 17 houses built, three of which are
affordable, which is nowhere near what they were supposed to build — but they
opened up regardless. 2/2008 Heswall,
Wirral Tesco apply for an extension to the hours they are allowed to deliver,
asking for lorries to arrive between 6am-11pm, Monday to Saturday and
7am-11pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
8/2007 Bury St
Edmunds
Councillors have refused to grant Tesco retrospective approval for a store
extension which was built without planning permission. The council could now
force the leading supermarket chain to demolish the extension.
10/2006 Ruthin, Denbighshire
Tesco applied to increase its store size by 50% a week after the store had
opened. Despite promising to create 300 jobs, it only created 180, many of
which were part time. 7/2006 Gerrards
Cross
Tesco building
works collapsed on to a main railway commuter line. 27,000 tonnes of waste
from that collapse remains, and it is situated in an Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty. It has been there a year, despite an order from the council.
11/2004 Portwood, Stockport, Tesco breached planning
regulations by building their store 20% larger than stated. Following
pressure from local businesses, the Council demanded in September 2005 that
Tesco submit a full retrospective planning application, which it did in
December 2005. When it did so, Tesco argued that there were “no
sustainable reasons for the refusal of planning permission,” despite the
2003 conditions and Council’s position that the store was “unauthorised.” Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Tesco built a bulk storage
facility without planning permission. Gunness, Lincolnshire Tesco been trading against the
conditions imposed by its planning permission since it opened in 2001, by
selling more non-food goods than the 25% it was allowed. The Wirral, Merseyside Tesco was convicted of
repeatedly breaking conditions that had been imposed on it by its planning
permission decision notice concerning delivery vehicles.
Carlisle,
Cumbria Tesco applied to increase the floorspace of the store by 78% before
building had even started.
Dear Mr Weaver,
As this was an old machine it meant I could not get the machine to work on
line, making the recovery partition a waste of time. I had no choice but to
install afresh a new operating system. The only way I can do this without
infringing copyright is to install a free operating system such as Linux,
which for someone used to Windows makes the machine difficult to use.
This is a disgusting state of affairs, caused by government acting without
thinking it through. When I think what these politicians and their advisors
get paid I get sick to my stomach.
The above goes for any other provider of hardware that builds in such
restrictions.Avoid the Post Office instant saver!
Whatever you do, don't buy a
Chromebook
Google,your search engine is
excellent, but I wouldn't touch your cloud computing with a barge pole.
NHS redefine URGENT.
.....
in Whitchurch Closes.
15th June 2011
I have just been told at our local Lidl store that they close
at 8PM tonight for 5 weeks while they alter the store. That would not be
surprising if they didn't have a large sign stating that they remain open
during the improvements. I know Lidl is a German company, but you would think
they would find someone fluent in English to compose their signs.
......
The Next Windows Version.
3rd June 2011
I have just viewed a video about the next version of Windows
and it looked awful. I guess the youngsters will go for it, but I will stay
away from it if I possibly can. If you want to judge for yourself then
Click here.
......
Welcome to England, but bring your own water.
24th May 2011
What ever next. According to the
Daily Telegraph the American president has been warned not to drink our
tap water! I can just see him while dining with the Queen,
pulling a small container of water from his pocket labelled "All American
H2O".
......
Planning permission fiasco
22nd May 2011
I have never taken an interest in local politics, and
therefore did not realise how difficult and long winded it is for people to
object to development plans put in by big companies. When I first heard that
Tesco wanted to build an out of town supermarket just outside my home town of
Whitchurch in Shropshire I thought "Oh No that will take most of the shoppers
away from the town centre and it won't be long before I will live in a ghost
town" so I wanted to object. I heard there was a group forming to fight it
and eventually was able to sign a petition against it. My wife got involved
in this group and became a board member and a friend of mine became chairman,
and so I ended up running a website. Because I run the
Whitchurch21 web site I get reports
sent to me to add to the site, so I learnt some of the many hoops we have to
jump through in an attempt to stop this development going ahead. It looks
like it will be a long time before it all comes to a head and Tesco are not
about to give up even if the application is rejected. I guess they will keep
putting forward proposals hoping the general public will tire of the whole
thing and stop objecting. It looks like it will be up to the
Whitchurch21 committee to ensure this
doesn't happen.
......
Lottery Company greed
4th May 2011
I have spent £2.00 a week on the Euro lottery since the UK
Lotto was ruined by
going twice a week reducing the prize money.
I hear the Euro lottery is going down the same path. Well I am not spending
£4 a week so I will stop doing the lottery altogether.
If someone will start selling Boston Creams in the UK like the
ones they sell at Tim Hortons in Canada and the USA, I will buy one of those
each week instead.
......
May the 5th is AV referendum day
18th April 2011
I Notice that the main two parties are running down the
Alterative voting system. It is about the only thing they have agreed upon
for years, while all the lesser parties are promoting it.
The safe seats in the main parties have had it too easy for
far too long and the AV system would mean they would have to work to retain
their seats, so I will be voting in favour of the alternative voting system.
They have had it too easy for far too long.
......
The BBC name change game
30th March 2011
In the last few days I have heard that BBC radio 7 is to
change its name to BBC Radio 4 Extra, and today on the BBC World Service I
discovered a radio programme called Digital Planet is now called Click. There
is already TV programme called Click so that will cause some confusion. Click
used to be called Click On Line. What is the point of changing channel and
programme names? Maybe they are short of something to give their employees to do, so rather than
make them redundant and save the licence fee for something useful, they
introduce them to the new Name Changing Game.
......
How Come
17th March 2011
How come man is clever
enough to design and build nuclear power stations and stupid enough to build
them near a coast next, right next to to a seismic fault line.
......
Whitchurch 21
4th March 2011
Whitchurch Rallies Against Tesco Proposals
There was standing room only in the Chester Suite at the Dodington Lodge on
Thursday, 3rd March as residents and traders opposed to the development of a
40,000 square foot supermarket on Edgeley Park gathered to elect a committee
to campaign against proposals that will rip the heart out of the centre and
destroy the character of this traditional market town.
The mood of the meeting was buoyant as it was stressed that the Tesco
proposals were not a done deal and examples of successes against large
supermarket developments were rolled out for everyone to see.
The name of the group, formerly WH21, was changed to Whitchurch 21, the
better to identify with the town, and a committee was elected with a clear
mandate to campaign against a new large retail development on Edgeley Park
and for the sustainable development of Whitchurch. It was felt that the
committee, as well as fighting to stop the proposed out of town development,
should continue to look for ways to encourage and promote sustainable growth
and the regeneration of the town centre. The gathering was cheered to hear
that the petition to keep Tesco on its present site on White Lion Meadow had
neared 2,000 signatures.
The organisation was at pains to make it clear that it was not anti-Tesco;
the concerns are that the nature and position of the proposed development
will have a devastating effect on the sustainability of the small shops which
give Whitchurch its unique character and make it so attractive to visitors
who seek variety and individuality in their shopping experience. There is
room for development, but it must be in scale and in the right place. A
monopoly is no choice at all.
The Committee was elected as follows:
Chairman Malcolm Donley
Deputy Chairman Pat Davies
Secretary Geoff Handley
Treasurer To be elected at a later date
Committee Members were elected as follows:
Andy Allen, Jason Chadwick, Lynda Foster, Julie Haycocks, Simon Lyon, Roger
McMinn, Les Morris, Daphne Smewing, Jason Thelwell
Consultant
Margaret Hollins
......
Trouble with Tesco in Whitchurch Shropshire
3rd March 2011
Tesco wants to build a superstore of 40,000 square feet on the rugby club on
the outskirts of Whitchurch, Shropshire, in addition to keeping its town
centre store. In the opinion of many residents and traders, this will
destroy the viability of the town centre and leave shoppers with no choice
owing to Tesco's monopoly. Those opposed to the Tesco development will be
forming a committee at a meeting at the Dodington Lodge, Whitchurch, at
7.00pm on Thursday, 3rd March 2011 to stop Tesco destroying the heart of the
town. All those who support this opposition are welcome to join us to
give the committee a mandate to act on your behalf. There is a petition
with over 1,400 signatures to keep Tesco in the town centre rather than on an
out-of-town site. Please sign up if you have not already done so.
In addition to the negative effect on the town centre, there are serious misgivings about Tesco's conduct as
detailed below:
......
What a waste.
17th February 2011
Oh for the old days when the bin men stopped outside your house, walked up to
the bin which was usually by the back door, carried it to the waste cart
emptied it and then returned to the back door. Now we have around 5 different
containers for various types of waste which we have take to the street, where
if you are lucky they will empty. You then have to go to the street and
collect the various waste containers. Our house has access to the rear of the
house and up until this week we have been able to put our bins there rather
than at the front of the house. We have just been told that if we want the
bins emptied we must put them at the front. We have the front gate padlocked
to stop folk leaving the gate open letting our dogs get onto the road. For
the above pathetic 'service' we have to pay massive council tax. When I was
young I used to hear older people say how much better something's were when
they were young, but never took them seriously. Now I understand. We may have
amazing new things like mobile phone and the internet, but personal service
has gone. The doctors do their best to keep us alive for as long as possible,
with little regard to our quality of life. Assisted suicide is frowned upon,
no matter how much pain someone is in. If things get much worse I will assist
myself.
......
Net intelligence.
7th February 2011
Because I know a little more than the average computer user, I am
occasionally asked to sort out a friend's machine. The laptop I have just
been working on was in a poor state so, having checked with the owner there
was nothing on the machine they wanted to keep, I used the recovery
system that puts the machine back to the new state. When I went to go on line
with the new installation it came up with a page wanting me to register with
netintelligence to get a page on line. When I tried to uninstall this
application it wanted me to register with them to get a password before it
could be removed, so I emailed them and this was the reply.
What you have is a laptop under the former government's Home Access scheme,
which was run by the body called Becta. One requirement of this scheme was
that
all computers issued to children through the scheme had to have parental
controls software installed, and our company was selected as the provider of
this software for all participating hardware providers.
If you have obtained this machine through the Home Access scheme, then please
contact the provider from whom you obtained the machine for any support
queries
you may have. If this machine is second hand or not obtained through this
scheme, then we are unable to provide any further assistance on this.
I hope this helps to clarify matters for you.
--
Kind regards,
Gavin Murray
Netintelligence Support Team Manager.
......
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