WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tizer]

BBC Your pictures on the theme of 'wilderness'... BBC

For Stanley...
`Tiny loom harks back to Leeds dominance in textile industry' LINK
I like the picture of the`hand-written instruction manual penned by its original maker' and the words: "Since however, it is desired to weave a cloth 28 inches wide there must be 14 repeats...". You don't see that quality of English in modern day instructions manuals! And the writing is what Andy Capp would call `copper-plate script'.

[Cathy]

Wonderful wilderness pictures, all so different.
I think the Tasmanian Forest one would make a great Wallpaper Mural , to put on a wall

[PanBiker]

The battery efficiency in my new Vitality Smart Watch.

I had a Fitbit watch until a few weeks ago but it died. I noticed first that I had to charge it almostt every day and then it just gave up the ghost. Completely dead and only got hot if left on charge. A new replacement is about £150 so I looked for a cheaper alternative. Found the Vitality online and pad £60 for it. Charged it up a week last Saturday and it's still going with 10% left on the battery. It does everything and a lot more than the Fitbit one.

It monitors daily steps and has various modes for other activities. Walking, running, cycling, swimming, etc. It monitors heartbeat and has both a blood pressure check and blood oxygen level checks built in. It also does sleep monitoring and gives a readout graph of Light, Rem and Deep sleep. It syncs with my phone and can control the camera shutter on the phone camera and control any music app, (such as Spotify) that I have. It relays Text, Facebook and WhatsApp post alerts and can instigate and receive calls on the mobile from my wrist. Oh, it relays the weather report from my phone as well based on your current GPS location. Can't see the point in spending £150 to do half of what this one can. Well suited.

[Stanley]

Ian. That sounds like a very good buy and confirms what I have always thought, that anything branded 'Apple' is over complicated and over priced. I always remember being astounded when Susan told me how much a new power cable for her Apple computer cost after her cat chewed the old one!
Peter, There used to be a whole series of tutorials on weaving that were hand-written and printed in that format. I'm nearly sure I have some of them somewhere.
Small versions of textile machinery were often made by firms and used by their travelling salesmen.

[PanBiker]

Fitbit isn't an Apple product Stanley but it is cheaper than the Apple watch which probably goes without saying. I have never rated Apple products, they are like Dyson's overpriced and sold more on hype than anything else. For the latter, who in their right mind would pay £400 for a hair dryer or straighteners, and don't get me started on his snake oil "digital motor" in his vacuum cleaners.

Incidentally we took some stuff to the recycling centre last Saturday which included a dead electrical item that I asked where was the best place to put it. An operative took it off me and said, "I'll take it and put it with all the dead Dyson Vac's"

[Big Kev]

My brown recycling bin is missing, a check of my CCTV and it fell into the back of the bin wagon
Pendle Council advice is to order a new one, it'll be here next Tuesday.

[Wendyf]

The battery efficiency in my new Vitality Smart Watch.

I had a Fitbit watch until a few weeks ago but it died. I noticed first that I had to charge it almostt every day and then it just gave up the ghost. Completely dead and only got hot if left on charge. A new replacement is about £150 so I looked for a cheaper alternative. Found the Vitality online and pad £60 for it. Charged it up a week last Saturday and it's still going with 10% left on the battery. It does everything and a lot more than the Fitbit one.

It monitors daily steps and has various modes for other activities. Walking, running, cycling, swimming, etc. It monitors heartbeat and has both a blood pressure check and blood oxygen level checks built in. It also does sleep monitoring and gives a readout graph of Light, Rem and Deep sleep. It syncs with my phone and can control the camera shutter on the phone camera and control any music app, (such as Spotify) that I have. It relays Text, Facebook and WhatsApp post alerts and can instigate and receive calls on the mobile from my wrist. Oh, it relays the weather report from my phone as well based on your current GPS location. Can't see the point in spending £150 to do half of what this one can. Well suited.

Just seen this Ian. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68140297

[PanBiker]

Interesting Wendy but not the same model as my Fitbit which was a Versa 3. I don't remember consciously doing any updates either unless of course they are done as a background task transparent to the user.

[Cathy]

Kev, that’s hilarious , I’ll be laughing all day on that one.
Did the guys not notice, and leave you a note?

[Stanley]

They did that with one of my green paper boxes Kev and said they'd bring a new one but it never happened. No sweat, I still have one box which is enough for me and it's one less thing cluttering the yard!

[Big Kev]

Kev, that’s hilarious , I’ll be laughing all day on that one.
Did the guys not notice, and leave you a note?

They noticed, just chose not to let me know.

[Stanley]

All was well this morning as I moved through my tasks. I got to the stage where I prepared my chicken for cooking but when I put it in the oven nothing happened! No light, no heat . So I did all the checks, trip wasn't out, fuse for cooker hadn't tripped, nothing else was off. I went back to the cooker and reset the clock in case it was that. I checked and my hob still has power. So I got the instructions out and read them. No clues.... So then I decided the chicken had to come out of the oven and go in the fridge. Then I went back and re-checked everything but no joy.
I was stood looking at the oven and reached out and turned the oven on, not for any particular reason, it was just automatic. THE BLOODY THING CAME ON AS IF NOTHING HAD HAPPENED!!!!
The chicken is back in the oven and cooking, I am sat trying to regain my composure. All is normal except for one thing. The light in the top oven isn't functioning. The one in the main oven is OK, so it looks as though I need a new bulb.
I am not going into the shed but declaring a holiday. I can do without alarums like that! I was so bloody helpless!
One thing that strikes me is I need the opinion of a good Sparks. Does anyone know of one?
PS. Just realised that spookily, my Stanley's View piece this morning was on electricity supply!

[Tizer]

Also spooky...yesterday our electricity supply went off then back on twice in less than 10 seconds. It's been OK since but that kind of interruption can't be good for all the electronic gadgets we have nowadays.

[Stanley]

I have finished with the oven. The chicken is browned and dealt with, it's in the fridge and the roasting pan is dried and put away. Now for a drink of tea and then off to the pharmacy. might as well deal with that while it is dry. The day is beginning to look a bit more normal! I can't fish the bulb out yet it's still too hot but when the oven has cooled I shall get it out and be ready to get a replacement.

[Big Kev]

Facebook apologising for making a mistake, they froze my account for 48 hours and removed a picture I posted four years ago under their 'child exploitation' category.

Screenshot_2024-02-01-15-17-07-104_com.facebook.katana.jpg

[Tizer]

This is what caught Mrs Tiz's attention today...
`The Tomb of Cerberus: a newly unearthed treasure' The Past
It's worth bookmarking the news site because its information is based on the leading archaeology magazines, including Current Archaeology which covers the UK and we've subscribed to it for many years now. Always fascinating!

[Stanley]

"I posted four years ago "
It took them long enough Kev! I'm glad they have brought you in off the naughty step.....
Interesting stuff Peter, never seen the publication before.

[Stanley]

I think Susan once told me that my slippers could be washed. I hope so because they are in there now on an hours mixed wash!

[Tizer]

I think Susan once told me that my slippers could be washed. I hope so because they are in there now on an hours mixed wash!

I hope so too. When my father was in the care home we bought him a new pair of slippers but within weeks the staff put them in the washing machine and they were ruined! I know a lady who is in a care home and her dentures disappeared. Nobody seemed to know what happened to them. Now she's without because the cost of new dentures now is phenomenal.

[Big Kev]

I had to buy two new 'cabin' bags for next week's flight to Prague. Out of the four bags I have none we're small enough to take onboard. I did consider putting everything in the suitcase but I've experienced a missing case before, most inconvenient.

[Stanley]

Is that another example of what Which calls 'shrinkflation' ?
Peter. I can report that my Clarks slippers came out of an hours wash looking good. The insoles had suffered a bit but I have straightened them out for the drying and am sure my feet will press them back into shape when I wear them again. I freed them up for washing by buying a new pair which can go into reserve when the old ones dry.....

[Stanley]

Frying my sweet potato chips with the Mozart Requiem at the BBC Proms as a back drop. It doesn't get much better than that!

[Tizer]

An interesting short video in this article...
`Man recalls father's River Severn plane crash escape' BBC

More on the Bristol Britannia here and the main photo includes a bonus - a beautiful Bristol 400 car! LINK

[Tripps]

I travelled to Singapore on a trooping charter Bristol Brittania in December 1963. The flight (from memory) took about thirty hours with refuelling stops at Istanbul, and Bombay (several hours pause for a tech problem) and a hairy landing in a tropical storm. The MOD insisted that for safety reasons, all seats in such flights faced to the rear. Interesting feeling on take off.

[Stanley]

HELP!
I have had a request from Margaret. She is trying to find out anything she can about a branch of the Girls Friendly Society in Clitheroe. I've given her the address of the website of the organisation in London but wondered if any of you had a better Idea for finding out if there was a branch.