Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK

Old roaming Tom Cat (zwerfkater) but still young at heart. Toots EN, (NL,FR,DE). #DevOpa - interested more in retro tech / culture / aesthetics than new stuff. Also transport and public infrastructure in general (with a UK/European focus)

Welcome to the secret goose shed!

Avatar is a tabby point Siamese cat - header picture is a Stentor FM radio transmitter designed in the Netherlands; popular with small pirate radio broadcasters in late 1980s

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npub1htw8068v80s4jcm8jlkwm7jjs4kncuf80gtd5fxhqte853vc80sqsr444t

NIP-05 Address

vfrmedia_at_social.tchncs.de@mostr.pub

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nprofile1qqst4hrharkrhc2evdne0m8dlffg2mfuwynh59k6ynts9un6gkvrhcq4g8vap

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npub1htw8068v80s4jcm8jlkwm7jjs4kncuf80gtd5fxhqte853vc80sqsr444t

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Last Notes

2024-08-01 17:54:31

Asian uncle energy 😁
https://f2.tchncs.de/media_attachments/files/112/888/042/334/435/888/original/0a5e6a49551bc64a.png

2024-07-21 12:41:12

#Facebook / #Failbook #algorithms are making the network increasingly useless for publicising real time events. I routinely get such things as my friends online DJ sets and events turning up in my timeline *days* after they have actually happened and today an interesting event in South Essex on a group I willingly joined only appears just now (so I would have 0 chance of attending it - it would be over by time I had driven there). Yet all manner of random stuff is forced into my timeline

2024-07-20 16:21:26

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@npub1vse…v7q2
I tried to find out what the sign meant, but also found this (I know Pozor! is similar to Achtung!, but not sure about the rest (general sign to beware of horses?_
https://f2.tchncs.de/media_attachments/files/112/819/727/811/008/295/original/a3cd2f88c9f75167.png

2024-07-19 17:19:52

the fallout from Crowdstrike is also a stark warning of how many real life "boots on the ground" IT jobs have been eliminated over the years (otherwise it wouldn't take as long to restore the affected machines - most folk have forgotten how much work was put in to update systems in late 1990s so the Y2K bug didn't bite everyone in the arse)

2024-07-06 18:05:28

Recipe for Biryani to feed *800* people (most likely for wedding catering).
200kg mutton is *10 entire sheep* - and 20 litres of oil is half the capacity of the fuel tank in my car!
#Cooking #SouthAsia #desi #India
https://f2.tchncs.de/media_attachments/files/112/740/860/017/667/314/original/45b6236cf2229e92.png

2024-06-16 19:07:01

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@npub1vse…v7q2 presumably that screen (which appears to be not set up yet and displaying the operating system info) could be configured with a guide in multiple languages?

2024-06-16 18:54:42

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@npub1vse…v7q2 we had cardboard cut out police officers in shops during 1990s/00s which was supposed to discourage shoplifting (not sure if it had much effect). I suppose the idea is to make people looking from a distance think there is an extra police car around

2024-06-14 13:20:27

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@npub132h…f594
https://f2.tchncs.de/media_attachments/files/112/615/173/561/130/460/original/701b3040813e3281.png

2024-06-05 19:17:00

Her Late Majesty the Qween
https://f2.tchncs.de/media_attachments/files/112/565/613/328/566/287/original/803f9d5024dc20cd.png

2024-06-04 13:37:20

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@npub14ux…jx88 I think they already do this on mobile (as do banking and car insurance apps) to prevent screenshotting?

2024-06-03 20:37:57

Colin Gibb of #Leeds #Yorkshire - one half of British pop group Black Lace (best known for novelty holiday song #Agadoo ) has passed away suddenly at age 70
https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jun/03/colin-gibb-singer-with-black-lace-dies-aged-70

2024-05-31 18:20:42

#Busted - A specialist #police officer (Roads Policing Unit) in #Yorkshire Northern #England has been sacked for #driving at 154 mph (248 km/h) in a Police vehicle without a valid reason to do so (I don't understand how he thought he'd get away with it, the vehicles are full of telemetry and surveillance kit)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3ggd77nv7jo

2024-04-11 18:48:55

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@npub1k4q…3lsq did anything also change around 2015 onwards? There's also a drop in collisions starting from this year onwards, maybe local changes in road layouts?

2024-04-03 18:10:41

Just read on FB a young mum bemoaning the fact it costs £45 for her teenage lad to attend the high #school prom, plus around £200 for suit hire (for just 4 hours!). Some other mums are trying to help her, but I was just thinking "why the fuck did we import this whole concept from the USA in the first place?" What was wrong with the "end of term school disco?"
#UK #CostofLiving #schools

2024-03-25 21:56:32

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@npub1a4t…eauf thats really good for a 5 year old, especially the choice of colours they definitely have some artistic talents..

2024-03-20 14:20:14

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LB: Genuinely wasn't expecting this to be suggested so soon at #EBU level!
(for those outside Europe, the EBU is the organisation that all public service broadcasters in Europe (plus a few other countries that historically used the PAL TV standard) contribute to, they are best known for the Eurovision Song Contest but also try and harmonise tech standards and good practices across PSBs)
@npub1cxc…akj4 @npub1qrz…ru4n

2024-03-20 14:09:57

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@npub1437…ranm my experience is there are still folk in the country (especially in suburban/semi-rural regions immediately outside London) who still consider the black/brown people who have been in this country for 50-70+ years as "invaders", there are swathes of England I actively avoid for this reason

2024-03-20 14:07:17

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@npub1437…ranm fair play to you and your mates for doing that and getting to them before anyone else less pleasant did..

2024-03-18 13:11:40

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@npub1u2h…z4d7 @npub17dn…a7ch I don't know what it was like in NL, but in UK I always felt culturally we were still fighting World War II in our heads long after it finished, until about 1987-1992...

2024-03-18 12:52:29

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@npub1u2h…z4d7 @npub17dn…a7ch I feel that Western Europe (and particularly the UK) does not seem /that/ prepared for inevitable attacks on civilian infrastructure (electricity, telecoms, water, gas, financial services and motor fuel) which could equally occur from insider threats. OK a lot of preparations are understandably classified info, but already the infrastructure is falling apart in peacetime and there seems to be 0 slack/backup resources in the system..

2024-03-15 17:22:17

This large #ship has run aground - as well as calling PAN PAN on the radio to alert the Coastguard / Harbourmaster and other vessels, as a visual signal 3 balls are displayed on the front mast (this is to the left of the picture). If the vessel cannot be steered, 2 balls are displayed.
This is why in #Britain when something has gone badly wrong, we often say there has been a "total balls up" 😁
#maritime #sailing #nautical
https://f2.tchncs.de/media_attachments/files/112/100/834/326/265/226/original/a4a2b2c9d9589112.png

2024-03-14 21:26:03

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@npub1gmx…atcq @npub1fge…swrx
its unclear what the exact rules are, cops, DVLA (equivalent of DMV), and NHS all need to talk to one another and they don't do this at quick timescales, and DVLA have been known to move the goalposts on whether they consider ADHD and autism to be notifiable conditions for driving.
Currently they pass the work on to the patients GP (who of course isn't a driving instructor), and the patient is kept waiting for some time for decisions from anyone..

2024-03-14 21:22:00

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@npub1gmx…atcq @npub1fge…swrx
I'm in a situation where if I got an official diagnosis for ADHD / autism and *any* type of stimulant (or anti anxiety) meds (there's a 1 year waiting list) there's a non zero chance that my car insurance premiums are loaded as "higher risk", *and* I'd have to deal with the risk of being stopped for drug driving - although a valid prescription is a defence, it doesn't stop the cops putting you through arrest/bail procedures, blood test and a court case >>

2024-03-12 19:00:52

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@npub19z9…u5j0 I saw many in Malaysia when I was there in 1994, they were everywhere and didn't appear to have owners (and were especially noisy and kept me awake at night)

2024-03-12 18:26:26

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@npub198t…hasj its already an established thing with car insurance for young people - if they don't consent to the surveillance box on their car there's another grand added to the quote (even with it insurance is £2000-£3000 per year) and there isn't really a free choice as insurance is a legal requirement (it leads to some committing no insurance offences, and doesn't seem to reduce risky behaviour and crashes all that much or pushes them later into age range)

2024-03-12 17:28:55

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@npub1qag…9gyn @npub1gmx…atcq the UK Labour party is moving closer towards the USA Democrats - which by European standards are more like a Christian Democrat (centre right) party, but with slightly less of the God stuff (but still quite a bit of it)

2024-03-10 23:09:20

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 Sir Lenny Henry has written a lot of books and articles about this over the years, its also the case the loss of the regional TV and radio stations has eliminated a lot of paid entry-level work for those in the creative industries (everything is now dependent on volunteers and you can only do that if you are privileged enough to divert time away from paying jobs)

2024-03-09 23:30:09

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@npub1mmf…eknq @npub1r4h…u0jf I recently quit alcohol and started to try to eat healthily and lose weight - I am now paying more for food (my grocery bill is the same as it was when I was drinking) due to the healthier stuff (particularly in any form that doesn't require hours of preparation) having a price premium.
On Facebook I am seeing folk (not even always old people!) actively welcoming the return of "austerity foods" we used to eat in the 1970s (the stereotypical "bad British food")

2024-03-05 16:56:50

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@npub1tlq…hmsx @npub1z8k…v5v0
I remember getting some CISCO firmware for a VOIP phone and had to electronically sign a declaration to USA that I wouldn't export it to China.
the base of the telephone set was clearly marked "Made in China" 🤡

2024-03-05 09:49:44

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@npub1vse…v7q2 @npub12nw…u5zs
we have the multiple bins in rural areas here without many problems, although (both in town and the countryside) sometimes foxes, squirrels and cats can open them and the larger animals can tip the entire bin over into the street

2024-03-05 09:40:11

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@npub1vse…v7q2 @npub12nw…u5zs
never thought I'd say this but it seems the UK system isn't that bad in comparison - the blue container is big enough to hold 2 weeks of recycling and I tend to fill it more than the general rubbish so presumably its contents do get recycled (they are certainly sorted separately as I mentioned previously and there's definitely a local market for the metal and paper and some of the plastic)

2024-03-05 09:32:42

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@npub1vse…v7q2 @npub12nw…u5zs
in my area we get 3 containers for the house, black one for all rubbish, blue for separated recycling and brown for plant materials - they are collected on alternate weeks (black one week, brown and blue the other). Public places don't have anywhere for separating recyclables (maybe as there's no way of making sure they are used properly, whereas if you put the wrong things in a container outside the house its rejected and you are stuck with the contents until its sorted)

2024-03-05 09:25:30

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@npub1vse…v7q2 @npub12nw…u5zs
in CZ do you have to take all the trash from your house to these places, or just the recycling? Are there not containers outside the house which the Council collect and empty every week?

2024-03-04 13:04:30

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@npub1vse…v7q2 in junior school we collected aluminium foil from milk bottle tops to raise money for guide dogs, but it also got made into electric cables and aircraft components during Cold War era (as there were sporadic shortages of copper)

2024-03-04 12:57:35

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@npub1vse…v7q2 might be a consequence of mainland Europe being quicker to adopt recycling than the UK - I remember in high school (and on a visit to Germany for work in 2001) learning that you had to separate all the trash but UK only started doing this in the 2000s (law passed in 2003, final date for separated recycling at home 2010)

2024-03-04 12:50:25

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@npub1vse…v7q2 here its unusual for anyone residential to dump cardboard in the street as we all get blue containers at home for that; and the Council check the CCTV to make sure businesses aren't doing it (there's plenty of folk who will report them anyway). I've not seen separated bins in the street though (there aren't many bins in the streets as a lot got taken away during the last terrorism scares in the 2000s)

2024-03-04 12:39:15

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@npub1vse…v7q2 looks like it was undersized to start with (we have a similar problem with bottle banks in the supermarket car parks, to the point some supermarkets have stopped hosting them so the problem gets worse)

2024-03-04 12:36:06

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@npub1vse…v7q2 presumably they send another wagon for the paper - although in UK the paper, plastic and metal are all collected together and separated at some big place near where I work (its not sent to landfill, and you can even get a free visit to watch the stuff being sorted - this is surprisingly popular and the tickets go within days of being advertised 😁 )

2024-03-04 12:30:35

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@npub1vse…v7q2 do they only take what is in the container and leave the rest, or collect the whole lot?

2024-02-23 17:38:03

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@npub1gmx…atcq over here when cops want to do audits on controlled substance prescriptions (which happens alongside NHS audits and can occur decades later when both patient *and* doctor have died, it happened at one place I worked at when the alleged loose prescription would have happened in early 1980s) they will at least turn up in person and provide full verifiable ID..

2024-02-19 12:33:08

A cyclist in Reading, SE England was knocked down by a driver, and then attacked by an occupant of the car (its not clear from the report if this attacker was the driver or a passenger). The driver then made off from the scene.
The injuries sustained proved fatal, and TVP (Thames Valley Police) are now launching a murder investigation.
(Reading was once a relatively safe town to cycle in, I did so for 20 years when I lived there)
https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2024-02-15/murder-probe-launched-after-death-of-cyclist-in-town-centre

2024-02-06 19:55:28

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@npub19v5…zwwn @npub19fc…ay3c @npub14pk…80yc
VW have moved back to using more physical buttons after the touch screen and "non-tactile" buttons in cars since about 2018 were unpopular..

2024-02-06 15:56:31

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@npub10q6…ugps @npub12kp…439z @npub19fc…ay3c the problem we have in UK (and to some extent elsewhere in Europe) is that although chargers are becoming more common, many seem to still need separate apps and won't just make a direct card transaction for the electricity used - they also aren't well maintained and a defective one is left unfixed for months (I suspect they are being part funded by selling whatever data is collected from the apps)

2024-02-01 21:14:31

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@npub1a24…etnp my dad always used to say "bladibarsket" (Malaysian English version of "bloody bastard" in Australian English) whenever he had trouble with cars (as he used to do a lot of his own maintenance/servicing) or the cost of petrol had gone up (I've recently started adding it to car-related toots myself)

2024-01-26 10:06:46

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@npub1qk5…jlda hopefully they will scare away the rats that gnawed your car wiring...

2024-01-25 19:59:25

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@npub1qk5…jlda they mentioned various workshops in different parts of India that add the rat protection mesh, one chap says his cats were scaring away the rats (its now also becoming a problem in Britain, not only with rats but other wildlife)
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/rac-news/rac-declares-2023-the-unofficial-year-of-the-rat/

2024-01-25 19:48:56

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@npub1qk5…jlda Team-BHP forum thread on protecting your car against rats is now up to *118* pages, and started near 20 years ago 🐀
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/2729-rat-damage-cars-protection-solutions-advice-118.html

2024-01-24 15:15:59

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@npub1typ…c8hh I'd expected them to cost more in Alaska due to its remoteness, but I'm curious as to why prices are so high both Arizona and built up city areas of NY...

2024-01-24 10:19:02

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@npub15zu…s7lx @npub1qa5…gqz7 I wonder if this is deliberate, and part of all that "reject modernity, embrace tradition" stuff that a lot of fash are into these days? He's managed to gain publicity (even if its mockery) in news sites that wouldn't normally bother with a politician in a small European country (consider also Geert Wilders and his unusual hairstyle)

2024-01-23 00:20:23

A woman in #Manchester has fled her house for an AirBNB due to an escaped #snake 🐍
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-68060709

2024-01-17 01:08:26

Some warehouse #rave memories from 2004/5 I found on an old hard drive - video mash up I made of the years parties with the soundtrack of a local pirate radio station of the era.. (alas, it was only in 352x244 resolution due to hard drive space limitations, and Youtube compresses it further, although it turns out I've still got my DVcam captures of the parties)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apMFo_BJPPs

2024-01-13 00:44:37

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@npub1mmf…eknq @npub1r3v…p4tu A great deal of those are already on my shitlist for a variety of other reasons, and I try to avoid fast food since 4 years in an attempt to lose weight I've gained with age (so that is a further incentive to do so)

2024-01-13 00:32:37

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@npub1mmf…eknq @npub1r3v…p4tu there isn't even much produce from there to boycott in todays supermarkets in England, because of supply chain disruptions the shelves are often empty (and I don't buy spyware or high end surveillance equipment)

2024-01-13 00:26:28

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@npub1r3v…p4tu @npub1mmf…eknq
I still remember boycotting the South African fruit in the 1980s and avoiding Barclays Bank, and not wanting to work for ICL even though they were a major employer in my region - just as well, as they ended up becoming Fujitsu (responsible for the Post Office software scandal)

2024-01-09 14:57:28

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@npub19fc…ay3c over here its not uncommon for both the insurers and trade unions to get involved - they insist its either "all or nothing" so everyone from the CEO to janitor gets tested (this is common in places like steelworks, the railway, and power stations)
Outside of big cities Britain is very car-dependent, so its easy for anyone to get caught up in a random DUI check (even cops have been busted this way and yeeted out of the constabulary!)

2024-01-09 14:41:22

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@npub19fc…ay3c its definitely strange expecting it for entry level jobs such as retail and fast food, particularly when cannabis use is at least partly decriminalised in some bits of USA.
In Britain substance testing is uncommon *unless* you are going to drive a motor vehicle as a main part of your job, or (rarer) for certain business critical positions.
In any case the cops are fairly good at catching drug drivers, and its a 12 month ban if caught so fewer people risk it

2024-01-07 21:23:51

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@npub1xm9…26zl @npub1uyx…dmcm
Even if he isn't tested, there's a hard limit to just how much stuff he can get away with taking whilst being trusted as a CEO - particularly ketamine - too much of that and its obvious you are "on something"; he might have "voluntarily" calmed down but is angry about being "forced" to do so which would account for a lot of his behaviour..

2024-01-07 20:29:12

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@npub1uyx…dmcm its also possible he *has* got fairly clean nowadays because NASA randomly tests him, but from personal experience of being involved in the rave scene, when edgelord types are "forced" to get clean to keep employment/relationships etc they tend to move even further towards the angry alt-right...

2024-01-04 21:13:59

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 the British have also cut off a ready supply of overseas workers whilst the population (especially outside big cities) has been declining for 20 years - there are simply fewer young teenagers around these days who might have had worked in the shops...

2024-01-01 05:34:04

het is 06:32 in Nederland, maar de feest gaat door bij Focus FM vanuit Zuid-Holland (92,30 MHz) 😺 gelukkig nieuwjaar jongens en meisjes! '#piratenzender #piratenaandemacht

2023-12-30 16:57:37

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@npub1f5h…wjhr @npub1gmx…atcq
Also the German version of "Ring, Ring" by Abba was banned from Austrian radio - the lyrics are
Ring, ring, vierzehn-null-sieben-null-drei (140 703)
Ring, ring, telefonier’, es ist frei
140 is the emergency mountain rescue number in Austria, some children heard the song and accidentally made false calls..
https://bergrettung.at/tipps/notruf-absetzen/

2023-12-19 12:36:46

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@npub1h7y…py5p @npub1kgy…swqq
Mastodon admins are like the (unseen) AV technician who emerges from the half wrecked school/college, gets the electric back on (with an extension cable running into the ceiling grid) and plays "Words and Pictures" on a school VCR and telly to the survivors (I can genuinely believe a 1980s British school VCR/TV combo would at least partly survive the EMP, those setups were carefully selected from the best of available tech and were pretty much made to be bomb-proof)

2023-12-15 22:59:51

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@npub10uf…7kcz @npub1ccn…czwu alas, as a former broadcast engineer I know too well that genuine religious conservatives know *exactly* how satellites work, and have made use of them for 40+ years to spread their propaganda - back in the day if you had satellite telly in Europe it was a mixture of sportsball, porno and religious channels (often all via the same satellite)

2023-12-11 23:45:00

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@npub1typ…c8hh @npub1728…q433 @npub1xlq…72aw
Just because many Europeans still drive stick doesn't immediately discourage them from using their phones at the wheel - what does is its a serious traffic violation in many countries that the cops actively look out for (in UK its a fine, 6 demerit points and young/new drivers can even get their licence revoked) *and* if anyone gets in a collision they will often get a court order for every piece of data from the phone and the car...

2023-12-06 17:57:42

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@npub1xsy…cevg @npub1rkj…ufed a few months ago I conducted a very basic experiment, asking whatever Bing uses to generate an article about the car I currently drive in English, Dutch and German. Predictably, it parroted a press release direct from VW Wolfsburg, but mangled the description of the DSG gearbox option (one of its selling points) into something that sounds plausible but doesn't exist at all. So its not even fit to write a used car advert..

2023-12-05 18:39:25

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@npub1vy9…7wtc can the employers not even email confirmation of what holiday dates have been booked? This is what they do where I work, although there might be stronger employee protections here and a company which made a mistake like that would likely end up before a tribunal (and I work in health/social care where there's a shortage of good workers, so they don't get fired on a whim)

2023-11-26 15:31:53

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@npub1pu6…u9fd in my street the DNO (UK Power Networks) have had the road up twice in the last few months making emergency repairs to service cables, they are having to do this in stages due to lack of staff and resources and at present there's only a handful of EVs in my street (alhough fewer people have driveways here so they won't be home charging - this is another issue holding back widespread EV adoption)

2023-11-13 17:25:28

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@npub1f06…cz74 I do safety inspections on electrical equipment as part of my work - in some countries (usually those with 230V mains supplies) which have better product safety regulation/enforcement you can get away with this - *but* you must know the rating of the heater and be 100% sure your extension cable or power strip can cope with it, and not plug in any other appliances that draw a strong current into the same power strip - so its still better practice to plug the heater direct into the mains

2023-11-13 15:50:33

British drama teacher Anna Scher (who gave a lot of young actors from working class backgrounds in #London their first career opportunities) has passed away at age 78
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67402643

2023-11-11 15:34:29

A study of 400 000 road traffic collisions in the UK from 2011-2015 discovered that drivers of #BMW #Porsche and #Subaru #cars were more likely to drive aggressively and cause a crash - prompting damage limitation responses from the PR departments of the 3 manufacturers in the Grauniad
(alas, the original research paper is behind a paywall)
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/11/bmw-subaru-and-porsche-drivers-more-likely-to-cause-a-crash-study-finds

2023-11-09 01:24:23

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@npub1c57…awu5 I think it is the muted/pastel shades - I had a listen to your music and it is good - has a lot of slower synthpop/synthwave vibes to it, like what you might have heard on a ""youth show" of a European radio station in the 1980s.
I will recommend it to the presenters at the community radio station next time I am there (I am one of their broadcast engineers, we are rebuilding the studios as the station is moving into a new building)

2023-11-01 12:43:35

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@npub1437…ranm Windows already randomly mangles your sound just with virtual audio cables and streaming if any sample rate is mismatched along the chain, last night the radio station streams started sending out some random noise as some programme audio had pushed everything a bit too hard and there had been a buffer overflow somewhere...

2023-10-27 16:30:03

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@npub10y2…9tyn @npub19fc…ay3c @npub1cpx…s4gp
in the case of the firearms dealer who shot dead his wife, he had been treated for mental health conditions since 2015, but simply ignored the health questions when asked about this for his licence forms - and when he repeatedly called out paramedics thinking he had multiple physical illnesses (which were caused by a mental health condition) it wasn't seen as a reason to remove his firearms licences and guns..

2023-10-27 16:14:42

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@npub10y2…9tyn @npub19fc…ay3c @npub1cpx…s4gp even in Britain, which has some of the strongest gun control laws in the World (which do mostly get enforced) *and* nationalised healthcare, its still possible for those with mental health problems to lie on questionnaires and get a firearms licence (at least if they are white and middle class), the last two recent fatal shootings that occured (one in my region) where carried out by angry men who had done this (one was a licensed firearms dealer)

2023-10-23 19:26:39

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@npub1ksl…rezd whats more insidious is this isn't because of parents (usually Gen X) being controlling - quite the opposite - the young people are often going to these places with the blessings of their parents; but they feel genuinely unsafe so voluntarily share the locations, whilst the corporates and marketers suck up the data of where they are going for ad targeting (and young people become normalised to being under constant surveillance) >>

2023-10-20 10:50:17

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@npub1hyk…3p33 LB: whilst the practice of yeeting piss bottles out of vehicles (usually into the grass verges around laybys on the fast highways such as the A14 and A12 in my area) is already widespread amongst drivers of larger lorries in the UK (due to longer distances driven and lack of service stations) it is *not* as usual amongst drivers of smaller delivery vans, confirming the Amazon drivers are being put under greater pressure than others doing the same type of job..

2023-10-19 16:01:34

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@npub132h…f594 I was more surprised he got nicked in the first place, and to learn that it *isn't* allowed to shoot people in Florida (and presumably isn't in other parts of USA) just to defend private property....

2023-10-18 19:25:14

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@npub1t7d…pqpp @npub1jlg…9vgv @npub1mma…rpgt
glad its ended well, but it seems mildly unnerving these lads knew what Linux was in the first place *and* sat and listened to you for 15 minutes, but I'm British and there's normally an anti-intellectual culture amongst similar youths here (you'd probably still be able to defuse the situation, but they'd walk away when they realised the computer wasn't worth nicking).
Maybe Italy is culturally different and even "street hooligans" have tech skills/interests?

2023-10-10 11:47:39

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@npub1tfx…n4hu isn't that to some extent all the crosses along what seems to be many roads in Germany seem to represent?
I saw so many on a Flickr group at first I thought it was because many older people were still religious and wanted to stop and pray but wondered "why are these near busy live traffic lanes, surely its not safe?" and only later realised they are memorials to those who died in road traffic collisions...

2023-08-27 18:06:50

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@npub15zu…s7lx @npub1n68…kndd although Brexit has made little change to policing/surveillance, and if anything appears to have created an atmosphere of mutual suspicion that seems to be leading authorities on both sides of the North Sea to enforce drugs prohibition harder (as there are still a lot of UK drugs dealers who try and hide (or even operate their dealing networks) on the mainland..

2023-08-26 18:14:43

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@npub1vz5…qdta @npub1t5e…nx96 British Railways Cab Secure Radio (a modified Stornophone radio scheme) was very much like this, and even the engineers at BBC Crowsley Park said it was particularly daft to use the top end of Band II (105-108 MHz) for the base station frequencies rather than Band II VHF High (150-170 MHz) like everywhere else in Europe did (the UK had been told in 1979 to stop polluting the broadcast band but delayed doing anything about it for decades as a cost cutting measure)

2023-08-26 17:49:07

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@npub1t5e…nx96 I'm surprised Poland hasn't already deployed GSM-R (which should be less vulnerable to such attacks, or at least there would be no gain in playing music over the frequencies as no one would hear it). Its easy enough to upset the analogue radio schemes used on the railways as me and my friends did this completely by accident in the 1980s with a pirate transmitter (the UK was an outlier and still used part of the FM broadcast band for railway comms until 1990s)

2023-08-26 15:17:51

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@npub1xwc…ze8u there's also a problem with the marketing of "SUV Coupés" to those who would have previously driven superminis which are basically a small SUV with a supermini engine - they are slower than a supermini and also easily unbalanced in the event of a collision, but people (especially those in family groups with kids)still buy them due to perceptions of "convenience/refinement" and the extra space inside)

2023-08-23 16:15:36

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@npub1fw4…rgsj @npub1psd…9sr7
I was a kid in the 1970s - the NF were involved in stirring up actual violence, and the constant full scale battles between fash and those opposing them were a factor in my own parents leaving London in the 1970s for suburban SE England, where they felt safer (but there was still much NF graffiti anywhere you looked, and open racism even at primary school due to the effect they had had on spreading hate)

2023-08-20 23:16:40

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@npub1na9…cy4w according to members of my own extended family, the risk of having your pet dog nicked for the food trade was also a problem in #Malaysia well into the 1990s (they've had a few dogs stolen over the years) - thankfully it seems to be far less of a problem nowadays

2023-08-19 21:16:24

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@npub1evl…yenf @npub18kx…mgsd
also the hedonistic escape routes and subcultures our generation (X) enjoyed have been first commercialised and now increasingly clamped down on altogether...

2023-08-16 18:38:26

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@npub19lt…qfjk if its a motorised recliner similar to the ones that older folk have; they are usually a simple 24V AC power supply with a wired remote control controlling the motors - an ESP32 or similar with a relay board should do it 😉

2023-08-08 15:04:54

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@npub1vfq…l6pm @npub15vj…m4sj @npub1zdp…vqv8
also in the Netherlands, the farmers and right wing anti-covid precaution protesters were mostly left alone by cops; whilst environmental protests are heavily clamped down on.
Similar in UK, although the "slow driving" protest by motorists on the A12 highway from Essex to London just petered out and had near 0 impact as the traffic is often congested on that road anyway!

2023-08-07 10:36:59

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@npub1vz5…qdta I've always been concerned that in authoritarian régimes (not only Russia!) that "techbros" are treated quite well if they work for govts (I bet they aren't being sent to the frontlines!), and that any country (even a "Western" one) could during a crisis implement a "great firewall" that mostly only allows GAFAM IPs through, enough to keep commercial business going but to make it very difficult for independent Internet site/connections to operate..

2023-08-01 10:59:33

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@npub1437…ranm @npub15tj…6d8p
I tried to get work experience at Auntie once (in the hope of moving into radio production) - they asked my ethnicity, insisted I would have to work on Asian Network, and then (somewhat sheepishly and apologetically) said I was the "wrong kind of Asian" - as I didn't speak any Desi languages and they weren't entirely sure where Malaysia was (at least today Asian Network finally realises ESEA folk are also a part of British Asian culture)

2023-07-30 12:51:36

If you live in #Manchester NW #England , are over 19 and have a car driving licence, you can learn to drive a #bus for free, with a guaranteed interview at various local bus companies.. 🚌
https://realisetraining.com/course/route-to-success-greater-manchester/

2023-07-19 17:38:31

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@npub1fsz…s5m6 @npub10kc…qjyy @npub1g0t…tvm4 @npub1dg3…udnr
I remember chatting online to a load of older ex Post Office Telecoms/BT engineers, who pointed out nationalised PO/BT was quite profitable and innovative, but HM Treasury skimmed off profits that should have been used to develop public infrastructure and improve customer service/delivery times (also a lot of their resources were diverted by the Cold War to military installations).

2023-07-17 16:10:33

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@npub1js0…76y2 The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan is genuinely trying to reverse this (its stressful driving in the middle of London anyway and incurs a congestion charge), but he now needs as much security as HM The King due to the backlash from the car lobby, particularly due to expanding the ULEZ zone. Recently he had an interview for a newspaper in a café, and half the "guests" around him were all Scotland Yard detectives who had been deployed there for his close protection

2023-07-12 16:46:29

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@npub1we7…l8ct @npub1c9e…zhes
such info definitely should be on a public sector website, and also relayed to CBC (and any local/community broadcasters who could make use of it) in real time rather than depending on a USA corporate social network..

2023-07-12 16:30:57

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@npub1c9e…zhes would it not make more sense to set up an arrangement with CBC to communicate this information? This seems to be one of the core roles and justification for having a public service broadcaster...

2023-07-12 10:19:22

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@npub1w30…dh68 @npub10m3…gkk2
Maybe use both units? For instance when discussing UK transport/road issues (as I have a lot of international followers) I will usually write something like "Many roads in urban areas and particularly in London have 20mph (32 km/h) speed limits".
Note also mixed units in the press release below; this confusion is rampant in the UK as civil engineering is carried out in metric but the signs for distance and speed are in imperial units!
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2023/march/roads-across-london-to-be-made-safer-with-28km-of-new-20mph-speed-limits-on-tfl-roads

2023-07-09 19:31:25

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@npub1l5t…0gza @npub1qhc…6wqh @npub1jam…382e @npub1c87…3vp6 @npub189n…satx the same cops were perfectly capable of getting the control room to turn off talkthrough or using a digital mobile phone when they needed more secure/private comms, especially when this was needed to protect their officers, and their training (of the era) warned them that the UHF and VHF analogue radio schemes were insecure, and to be careful what they said on them..

2023-07-09 19:28:06

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@npub1l5t…0gza @npub1qhc…6wqh @npub1jam…382e @npub1c87…3vp6 @npub189n…satx
a few years back (in late 90s England) before public services got digital encrypted radios I was listening on a radio scanner (you weren't officially allowed to do this but many did) - cops compromised the location of the local womens' refuge on air - fully knowing that folk had scanners (and they were a mixture of left/anarchist types like myself, and those who were /too right wing/ to join into the Police)

2023-07-09 14:25:08

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@npub189n…satx even in "liberal" Northern Europe, the ability to talk freely about sex and sexuality (especially for LGBT+ folk) only really started around the 1980s/1990s and control of the media had to be wrestled away from Christian religious groups and secularised - all this only happened in my lifetime (I am 51)

2023-07-06 11:50:56

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@npub1vse…v7q2 we did exactly the same over here when we were in EU, especially in "deprived coastal areas" (I live near one), hence why at least half of the fools who voted for Brexit are now finally regretting doing so...