Posts by Ahab Returns

Re: Bypass

Out here in the wilds of the Cheshire countryside, it can still be fun. But not in some monster fast EV or ICE - you need an MG Midget or a 2cv, or a Mini Cooper - cars you can wring the neck on without risking life, limb or licence.

Re: Below Deck

I think you would need a marine engineer to tell you why a vessel sank. I'm a sailor but I can't tell you what side loading is required to blow a vessel over, or the speed at which water would enter a specific compartment inside the hull, or how that hull might behave when hit by a tornado.

On one aspect - smaller boats can bob around like corks, whereas large vessels are subjected to much greater internal forces, to the extent where tankers and bulk carriers have been known to snap in half when subjected to the "wrong" wave length (for that vessel).

Re: Stainless?

Me and my wife are in the iron and steal business. She does the ironing and I do the stealing.

Re: 21x population

Most of my clients insist on UK based contractors, and won't even accept working from a holiday home outside the country. My current role could be done form anywhere, but security is a genuine concern to the organisation.

Re: Don't know about that

"There is a commonly stated “rule” of grammar that beginning a sentence with and, or any other conjunction, is a mistake. But this is just not true. This supposed “rule” has no basis in actual writing, and even formal writing features plenty of sentences that start with and and other conjunctions. "

Dictionary.com, so it much be true.

My MOT man charges full whack £55 roughly (I forget how much it is these days - or I choose to forget) but he gets my business because he is through, honest and knows my spannering abilities. Same place for 30 years and in a five car family that's good wedge of moolah - more than I've ever spent on buying a car, that's for sure!

Re: liking the new normal

I thought people were joking about that. I need to go and lie down - the stupidity of Humanity has caused a short circuit and my brain is overheating.

I quite like Bosch K-Jet having completely rebuilt a 2.8i version - its just a sort of carb in exploded form. You are right that EFi provides superior performance. I'm old school - I hate power steering (never needed it on my Landrover Series 2a) and even power brakes - my MG never had a brake booster, what am, some feeble wuss? ;-)

Re: Parasol have gone bang after being hacked

https://twitter.com/parasolgroup/with_replies?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Re: Testing 1 2 3

Nissen huts? Luxury....

Indeed, highly, but that doesn't mean we should accept batteries or charging points that are unsafe.

Re: It didn't help my studies much either

Studied at school 50 years ago, lots of people know about the opium wars - gandalfcn - are you a Chinese spam bot by any chance?

Re: Not necessarily.

And they are only the 20th fattest nation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_body_mass_index

Re: It's over....

Chip getting a bit heavy there? Try moving it to a different shoulder, might help you balance a bit better.

Ah you mean your client's CEO of course ;-)

Re: Here's an idea!

Spooky - I was out in my Spridget yesterday and the throttle cable jammed approaching a roundabout. I fumbled for the key whilst braking and dumping the clutch and the bugger fell into the passenger side, with the engine still revving it's nuts off.

Fortunately I also have a rudimentary kill switch wired into the circuit so searching the dank, dark depths beneath the dash was not required.

Re: Issue 1 of a comic

Another vote for Asus. I've got a couple I use pretty much daily (and all day) for testing. Two years old, one Windows 8.1, one Linux. I also have a MacBook pro but apart from the nice display I don't get what the fuss is about.

I've never taken one apart, but the iPads I've tried to repair in the past resembled cheap cigarette cases with components randomly glued in place. By contract, my Nexus had all the components nicely mounted on a little aluminium chassis.

I'm from the sixties so I expect stuff to last.

Re: Bollocks.

Exactly the same thing here.

Listed a printer three times last month and every time a massive bid from a zero feedback account that was deleted minutes later. My guess is dodgy dealers who don't want "their" customers getting a bargain.

As long as Ebay stops zero feedback bid blocking this is going to continue. Ebay needs to change or expire gracefully.

I eventually sold it through Gumtree.

Re: 20W50

Still fit it to my 45 year old MG - mind you, it does seem to come out of every orifice known to the A series. I wonder if there is a 50W50?

Re: The Man Who Fell To Earth

"The Tesla S 90D is an expensive sports car." This is a saloon car (or a Sports Saloon if you prefer).

Tesla used to market a rather nice sports car but I don't think they sell it anymore.

Not all sports cars are fast (mine is 45 years old won't even get close to 100mph) and there is nothing to indicate that this vehicle was being driven at excessive speed, nor that the cyclist didn't have a heart attack and fall beneath the wheels of the car, unless you have information beyond that provided here and elsewhere of course?

So go contracting if it's that brilliant.

Re: What?

Aha, but as a self employed person operating via a Ltd. company (supplier), that individual's company (or rather insurers) may end up paying millions of quids in compensation, should the "worker" drop a bollock.

Similar experience first time I visited New York - they wouldn't accept England or Great Britain as a place, and when I wrote "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" they thought I was taking the piss.

Its a bit like the visa form that asks if you have ever been a terrorist - what the fuck do they expect you to write? I fear the same pen pushing, hat wearing, goose stepping idiots are gradually taking control of Brexit Britain. Welcome to the "UK", please check your brain in with security and collect it on your way out.

And now it's raining - God I need to get out of here!

Re: A historian writes...

As I understand it, and I date from when the map of the world was one quarter pink so I may be wrong or senile or both, take your pick, Britain is the Roman name for what we call England and Wales, so yes, Britain does exist.

Great Britain would indeed cease to exist if if Scotland left the union (England, Wales and Scotland), but the United Kingdom would remain, minus the "Scotland" bit, as The United Kingdom of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Scotland would remain part of the British Isles, as indeed is Eire.

I remember, back in the day, seeing people driving in fog, their sat nav glowing a foot away from their faces in the centre of the screen - doing 80 mph. Meanwhile we proles, devoid of the mighty Sat Nav, had to stick to sub 30 mph.

The greatest tech in the universe would be hard pressed to save the stupid from themselves. I am firmly in the no thanks, I'll stay a Luddite brigade when it comes to driving.

Re: They day will never come that they are mandated

Surely insurance costs are going to drop if driverless vehicles deliver fewer accidents?

Re: The more they push - the harder they will fall

I just built a fresh desktop box for a non-techie relative and Ubuntu was the obvious choice for a peaceful tech support life.

A couple of years back it would have been Windows 7 for me, but now, Ubuntu just works. No half life, no licence fees, no admin user installing nasties and everything they need is Web based.

Re Citroen C5 Xantia etc. as an impoverished petrol head I ran BX then Xantia for many years, and then a decade ago I bit the bullet and stumped up for a nearly new 2001 C5 HDi 110.

I am happy to report that having now done 226,000 miles including many being filled with firewood and driven twice a week down 2 km of rough dirt tracks to the sailing club nothing of any significance has gone bang and I can still easily get 60 mpg.

Best £3k I ever spent, and now has a 2006 Peugeot 407 coupe sharing the driveway, similar bargain (£2k) but I will tell you if it is as good as the C5 in ten years time :-)

It isn't just the posh makers that do galvanic coatings and double glazing by the way, and none of the 20 French cars I have owned since the late 70's has ever died on me, unlike pals BMW forced induction diesels that appear to munch their turbos with alarming regularity. Smug mode off...

"no-one's been seriously hurt or killed by an Austin in years..."

Depends on how you define seriously hurt. My Healey Sprite fell off it's axle stands onto my foot last week, hurts like a bugger and I think that's quite serious.