Demonic69

We used to run a pub frequented by wagon drivers. Even though they had access to the toilet, shower block and massive set of bins, I still had to dispose of dozens of bottles and bags of human waste every week. Pretty much every night I had to shout "There's a farking toilet JUST there!" at least once. I always worried that they were bombing up the A1, desperate for relief, tinkling into a random pop bottle at 56mph

As they all use the same infrastructure (for the most part) you're paying for customer service and the router. The Sky router we had was pants, needing constant reboots to maintain a decent Wi-Fi signal and the customer service was so-so. The TalkTalk router was better, but nothing sparkling, same for the CS. We've just moved and switched to Plusnet, customer services seems decent so far and the router isn't terrible. In a 4 bed, brick built dorma bungalow the boy struggles with a decent connection in his bedroom, as far as you can get from the router indoors. Most "internet" speed problems I've seen are wi-fi related, usually down to an overzealous device not letting go of the signal, dragging the overall speed down for everyone else (especially iPhones) The reviews show the BT home hub is one of the best supplied routers, but their monthly is expensive. I bought a TPLink router from Sainsburys that I use as my personal router so the kids don't stretch my Wi-Fi too thin for work. You'll get slower internet moving from Virgin in most areas, but most people wouldn't notice much difference going from 300mbps to 36/72mbps

Is that not normal? That's how I landed half my PPL flights many moons ago, still passed That's a brilliant bit of engineering!

Family/friends can help you move house, but only if strictly necessary. If removal firms are unavailable, another household can help you move your belongings, but social distancing guidelines and hygiene measures should be followed where possible. We've just moved and, despite booking 3 moving vans, we still needed help and wouldn't have made the deadline without assistance. We did what we could to social distance, kept sanitising and didn't share vehicles, but still felt like we were breaking some rules half the time. Now we're in our new home and back to not seeing anyone for the foreseeable!

While house shopping, we've seen a massive surge in Southerners coming up north, mainly because of COVID and working from home, but many because of HS2. One estate agent warned us against trying to buy a house within a few miles of an HS2 station as we couldn't compete with the money those from the south were bringing, usually mortgage free. One colleague reckons it's a form of wealth redistribution, but only for the statistics; move a bunch of fantastically-well-paid southerners up North, then claim the average wage has risen. He's pretty cynical though

"I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard." That's the line his defence will use. "We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore," That's the line the prosecution will use. While I don't doubt he got people riled up, he never implicitly stated they should attack the capitol building or anyone in it. If they're going after him for this, they'd better be careful; Harris, AOC and other Dems have said much worse, far more direct incitement to violence and got away with it. I can't imaging disgruntled Republicans letting it slide if they set a precedent.

Could be gunk in the system blocking the valve. Try taking some water out to see if it's dirty. Might want a flush out

That's not a bad idea if they're safe enough! I'll see if I have any 🤣

The main issue with using an old router is that it will, most likely, have DHCP enabled. This hands out IP addresses to devices that connect to it. This DHCP scope could be on a different range/subnet to the main router in the house, or could try to hand out IPs that have already been allocated. Some routers have Access Point mode, but most of the routers you get from a provider will have this feature disabled as they don't want you re purposing their kit. The easiest way is to turn off DHCP and make sure the router IP is on the same range as your main hub. Sometimes they can be set to get their IP from DHCP, but not always. It can be a bit of a faff, but with reservations and a few tweaks it's perfectly doable. The simplest option is to buy a dedicated Access Point. This will need minimal config and some let you extend your same wireless network

Brilliant, thanks! I was thinking a sliding plate, about 1" high and about 3" long, reckon that would work?

I'm on the outskirts of Rotherham in a little village now. Still getting to know the locals well enough to go rummaging through their scrap piles 😁 I'm liking the BBQ design!

Spent a couple of hours making myself a burner for the garden. We've just moved and the last house had artificial grass, now I can finally have a fire! I'll probably grab some thinner steel to flange the door and I'll knock together a vent for it. I've not got anything wide enough for the flue and steel seems bloody expensive, especially as the rest was pretty much free. I'll have to have a root around for something I can repurpose.

I never said they needed my services. I offered to help, as a solutions architect for a large multinational outsourcing provider, personally specialising in multi-user and remote work technologies (for free I might add), and was ignored . As very few schools, that I know of through the many discussions myself and colleagues have had on the matter, managed any form of cohesive education during the first lock-down I'd be inclined to assume the LEA, MAT or other services didn't manage to provide a great deal of useful assistance. I was talking to talking Primary though, secondary get far larger budgets and much more assistance. Schools are still using Zoom to teach, Facebook is pretty much littered with parents talking about Zoom meetings with their kids, my kids' schools use it, my family's schools use it, my colleagues' schools use it. They also use Google Classroom for assigning work, but not for live teaching. Some even still use Moodle and other learning platforms to great effect. There are also a plethora of other platforms we seem to have accounts and passwords for. Teams requires much more investment and/or infrastructure than many Primary schools have. Zoom fixed their zoombombing issues pretty early on and is now seen as a fairly robust video conferencing platform, with even some of our MOD clients looking at ways to allow secure access for collaborative working with partners. I'm not a fan TBH, but when lock-down 1.0 hit it seemed to be the only platform capable of connecting students with teachers in a straight forward fashion. Your idea of KISS is great when the schools already have the infrastructure or resources in place. When you ask a Primary to setup Google Classroom, Meet, O365/Teams and other platforms we end up with the situation we had. Zero worthwhile education being provided to kids.

Fair point, "Most schools that I've interacted with or have spoken to colleagues, friends or family about". Better? You obviously know better though. How many schools have you dealt with directly over the last year? You must be correct. Schools never use CRB/DBS checked contractors. I've also not worked for manages services in schools. Are you a teacher? Zoom was the only real option in the early days of lock-down for face-to-face teaching, especially before "Zoombombing" became a big thing. Google Classroom is collaborative, not video conferencing. Both Teams (O365A1) and Google Meet (the conferencing app) were paid for services that many schools (that I know of) didn't have subscriptions to or the budget to sing up for. Google making Meet free clearly changed things, but both my kids' schools still use Zoom for face to face though. Not sure what you mean by "all schools". How do you know?

Nothing to do with University of Life of University of Sheffield. Every industry ends up as an echo chamber, hearing only what we want to hear. In the private sector that leads to stagnation and a lack of competitiveness, so firms either have to listen to outside sources or start losing customers. In the public sector the funds keep rolling in regardless or performance, to a degree, and they tend to be driven by those who've been at it a longer time, without any fresh input or differing perspectives. A lot of the NQTs tried and failed to make make improvements at the schools I worked at, usually giving up after a few years and falling into the same complacency as their peers. It's a shame, one IT teacher was well ahead of his time, but the old-guard knocked that enthusiasm out of him and missed out on his intuitiveness. If he's still there he'll be a major asset to them during technologically trying times

Having spent a few years working in IT in schools, I find it amusingly ironic that a headteacher is complaining about non-professionals interfering with his staff. Teachers are some of the most know-it-all people I've ever met and are, usually, more than happy to "advise" on where you're going wrong in every aspect of your life Maybe if the education sector actually listened to people with real-life experience we might be scoring higher on the international rankings. Also, judging by the complete inability of most schools to offer any more than perfunctory education for kids at home, especially during the first lock-down, I'd guess that these Professional Educators could have done with a bit more guidance on how to cope with changes in the workplace. I offered to help local schools with their infrastructure to get them setup on Zoom and other platforms early on. I was met with deafening silence as most of the staff were enjoying 100% pay and lovely walks around the peak district.

That's fascinating! Thanks John, down the rabbit hole I go!!

What's the sustainability of using wood for heat? How much land/trees would you need to be able to re-plant after felling, with enough time to grow before being required again?

That's a great price, I'd love to test some of them. Might see if anywhere local has them in 250s at a decent price

They can charge what they want, so I reckon £60 isn't too bad. Some have had to pay up to £200!

Just set your DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4, much better than using the ISP's

If your DNS is set to your router it'll be an issue with the Wi-Fi. If DNS is set to an external source it could be that. Assuming you're using a PC: Win+R Type "cmd" and press enter (no quotes) In that black box type "ipconfig /all" If your IP, Default gateway and DNS are on the same range - 192.168.1.x for example - then you're using your router's DNS

Most "free" downloads will be full of viruses. It's on Steam for £30. CEX have it for a tenner either click and collect or plus postage. There are also ways to stream it via xbox, PS4 etc, but I'd stick with installed locally TBH. It's an awesome game. The soundtrack will stick with you, especially while you're wandering the snowy north

Can they shoot comps with their service rifle, or is there another cert/process to allow civilian ownership do you know?

No, we were supposed to be discussing reactor power cycles, but somehow segued onto boilers! He was very passionate mind. I was trying to update my knowledge and it was one of the first sites I came across 😂 You clearly have a better grasp of this than pretty much anyone else. Have you actually posited viable alternatives that not only save money but are also either more efficient or reduce carbon emissions? Honest question, I'd love to hear a well formulated argument for one type or another for a pretty standard family home as I may need to replace my boiler soon-ish. Cheers