Seemingly trivial things that cheer you up
Comments
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No, none, but there weren't many there. I got there four hours early and was put on the next train.surrey_commuter said:
Did you see many being turned away?briantrumpet said:surrey_commuter said:
How rigorous were any checks at the border?briantrumpet said:Making it to Laon in France today. Tomorrow will be the second leg, to get to my house, but making it past the frontier police with the aid of a letter from my mairie was sweet. Summer's arrived.
BTW, Laon is well worth a visit. The cathedral is nuts.
The French plod checked health declaration, vaccine certificate (though not the AZ batch number), manifest, and PCR test certificate, and all were uploaded to Eurotunnel in advance. She wanted to know where I was going, and my reason, so it was helpful to give her the letter from my mairie, even though I don't think you now need a reason to travel. But French border police are a bit of a law unto themselves, so that was my insurance policy.0 -
I got randomly pulled in my Old Merc some years ago (doesn't seem that long ago but it was) just outside Valenciennes.briantrumpet said:But French border police are a bit of a law unto themselves, so that was my insurance policy.
Gendarme: Où vas-tu?
Me: Une petite vacance.
Gendarme: Dans Avril?!
Me: Je trouve le soleil - dans Espagne
Gendarme: Quel travail as-tu?
Me: Je suis un conducteur de camion.
Gendarme bloke goes over my car and luggage with a fine tooth combe.
He gets to my File-o-fax (remember them?) and thumbs through it. On about the 7th page, there is (still is for posterity) a Dom perignon label.
On seeing this, his face lit up and told me that was un
bonne année and said "à ta façon, à ta façon bon vacance" !!
Off I went, none the wiser.
seanoconn - gruagach craic!1 -
Clicking on the 'like' button of a YouTube video which was at 1.9k Likes, and see it change over to 2K
The older I get, the better I was.0 -
I salute their attitude to 'authenticity'
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
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Been a couple of features about it on BBC breakfast this week.Pross said:This - what a brilliant fundraising idea
https://www.spennylympics.com/0 -
I've always wanted to do a decathlon for fun and to see how many events I could score a point in. Not sure I would fancy a 50k walk, and then a 20k walk and a marathon.0
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Not to mention the 260km bike ride. It's the more technical events I would find a challenge, I don't think I'd ever be able to do pole vault or some of the gymnastics events. I could just about manage the equestrian having put a horse over a few low jumps before. I always forget how short a duration the Olympics is held over compared to football tournaments or even the rugby world cup, getting everything done in 17 days is going to be a challengeTheBigBean said:I've always wanted to do a decathlon for fun and to see how many events I could score a point in. Not sure I would fancy a 50k walk, and then a 20k walk and a marathon.
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There were some teenagers practising their pole vault technique on the other side of the hall from my daughter's trampolining lesson last weekend. Roughly speaking, they were doing a pull-up and then bringing both legs straight up above their head. Was very impressive.Pross said:
Not to mention the 260km bike ride. It's the more technical events I would find a challenge, I don't think I'd ever be able to do pole vault or some of the gymnastics events. I could just about manage the equestrian having put a horse over a few low jumps before. I always forget how short a duration the Olympics is held over compared to football tournaments or even the rugby world cup, getting everything done in 17 days is going to be a challengeTheBigBean said:I've always wanted to do a decathlon for fun and to see how many events I could score a point in. Not sure I would fancy a 50k walk, and then a 20k walk and a marathon.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Whenever this sort of thing comes up in pub chat, I have few concerns about the pole vault, but everyone else does. I certainly wouldn't be going upside down rather just aiming to stay up right and clear 0.5m. Perhaps 1m at a push.Pross said:
Not to mention the 260km bike ride. It's the more technical events I would find a challenge, I don't think I'd ever be able to do pole vault or some of the gymnastics events. I could just about manage the equestrian having put a horse over a few low jumps before. I always forget how short a duration the Olympics is held over compared to football tournaments or even the rugby world cup, getting everything done in 17 days is going to be a challengeTheBigBean said:I've always wanted to do a decathlon for fun and to see how many events I could score a point in. Not sure I would fancy a 50k walk, and then a 20k walk and a marathon.
In contrast, the javelin worries me as the event would no doubt be combined with alcohol.
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I think the edge of the crash mat is higher than 0.5m 😁TheBigBean said:
Whenever this sort of thing comes up in pub chat, I have few concerns about the pole vault, but everyone else does. I certainly wouldn't be going upside down rather just aiming to stay up right and clear 0.5m. Perhaps 1m at a push.Pross said:
Not to mention the 260km bike ride. It's the more technical events I would find a challenge, I don't think I'd ever be able to do pole vault or some of the gymnastics events. I could just about manage the equestrian having put a horse over a few low jumps before. I always forget how short a duration the Olympics is held over compared to football tournaments or even the rugby world cup, getting everything done in 17 days is going to be a challengeTheBigBean said:I've always wanted to do a decathlon for fun and to see how many events I could score a point in. Not sure I would fancy a 50k walk, and then a 20k walk and a marathon.
In contrast, the javelin worries me as the event would no doubt be combined with alcohol.1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Ok. That would be my aim then. Get on to the crash pad. 1.03m scores a point, so that would be the dream scenario like a 17.8s 100m. I think when I went through it before I was only expecting points in half of the events.rjsterry said:
I think the edge of the crash mat is higher than 0.5m 😁TheBigBean said:
Whenever this sort of thing comes up in pub chat, I have few concerns about the pole vault, but everyone else does. I certainly wouldn't be going upside down rather just aiming to stay up right and clear 0.5m. Perhaps 1m at a push.Pross said:
Not to mention the 260km bike ride. It's the more technical events I would find a challenge, I don't think I'd ever be able to do pole vault or some of the gymnastics events. I could just about manage the equestrian having put a horse over a few low jumps before. I always forget how short a duration the Olympics is held over compared to football tournaments or even the rugby world cup, getting everything done in 17 days is going to be a challengeTheBigBean said:I've always wanted to do a decathlon for fun and to see how many events I could score a point in. Not sure I would fancy a 50k walk, and then a 20k walk and a marathon.
In contrast, the javelin worries me as the event would no doubt be combined with alcohol.0 -
It's the change of grip whilst 4m off the ground and turning upside down (especially as, at that point, you don't have a mat under you). I think it's the only decathlon event I've never tried.rjsterry said:
There were some teenagers practising their pole vault technique on the other side of the hall from my daughter's trampolining lesson last weekend. Roughly speaking, they were doing a pull-up and then bringing both legs straight up above their head. Was very impressive.Pross said:
Not to mention the 260km bike ride. It's the more technical events I would find a challenge, I don't think I'd ever be able to do pole vault or some of the gymnastics events. I could just about manage the equestrian having put a horse over a few low jumps before. I always forget how short a duration the Olympics is held over compared to football tournaments or even the rugby world cup, getting everything done in 17 days is going to be a challengeTheBigBean said:I've always wanted to do a decathlon for fun and to see how many events I could score a point in. Not sure I would fancy a 50k walk, and then a 20k walk and a marathon.
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^ Nice. And thanks for sending the sunshine northwards.0
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Many things. Seeing a cargo bike with a load of kids in the box all giggling maniacally. It's not raining. Drinking beer and talking bollox.
Oh, and Sexual Healing by the Hot 8 Brass Band2 -
It's distinctly le temps anglais here at the moment. Grrr. But it cheers me up that it should be sunny and 30C by next week.orraloon said:^ Nice. And thanks for sending the sunshine northwards.
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Finding DuckDuckGo browser for Android. I've been using Chrome, but increasingly convinced they are in cahoots with FB et al to maximise data mining and to drive users to apps rather than using browsers.
Anyway, DDG seems to do the biz, and helpfully has a functioning 'use desktop version', so I can use FB messenger on the browser, and toggle between identities. It also, erm, blocks the ads on BR, no add-on required.1 -
I have been declining cookies wherever I go and now 90% of the adverts I do see are of no interest to me whatsoever.
They do make me wonder who is interested in this stuff but that’s personal preference I guess.
It is quite interesting how some sites make it very difficult not to accept cookies.
Quite often you can’t access the very discrete or even hidden decline button without a bit of faff. I will often just leave altogether if it’s too difficult.0 -
It's so annoying... every site you go to, especially on mobile where it loads the cookie blurb a couple of seconds in once you've started reading something else. Loads of sites seem to ask you every time you go as well.morstar said:I have been declining cookies wherever I go and now 90% of the adverts I do see are of no interest to me whatsoever.
They do make me wonder who is interested in this stuff but that’s personal preference I guess.
It is quite interesting how some sites make it very difficult not to accept cookies.
Quite often you can’t access the very discrete or even hidden decline button without a bit of faff. I will often just leave altogether if it’s too difficult.- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono0 -
pangolin said:
It's so annoying... every site you go to, especially on mobile where it loads the cookie blurb a couple of seconds in once you've started reading something else. Loads of sites seem to ask you every time you go as well.morstar said:I have been declining cookies wherever I go and now 90% of the adverts I do see are of no interest to me whatsoever.
They do make me wonder who is interested in this stuff but that’s personal preference I guess.
It is quite interesting how some sites make it very difficult not to accept cookies.
Quite often you can’t access the very discrete or even hidden decline button without a bit of faff. I will often just leave altogether if it’s too difficult.
This deserves to go in the annoyances thread... especially US websites that make it utterly impossible to decline cookies by giving you a list about 1000 items long to click through to decline, and no blanket 'bügger off' option. Maybe the EU did something useful with their GDPR legislation... it does cheer me up when the defualt option is 'strictly necessary cookies only'.1 -
I'm been told that it doesn't happen on Brave browser. I haven't thoroughly tested it, but there is no pop up on this site for example.0
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It probably asks every time as we don’t accept the cookie that says we’ve already been askedpangolin said:
It's so annoying... every site you go to, especially on mobile where it loads the cookie blurb a couple of seconds in once you've started reading something else. Loads of sites seem to ask you every time you go as well.morstar said:I have been declining cookies wherever I go and now 90% of the adverts I do see are of no interest to me whatsoever.
They do make me wonder who is interested in this stuff but that’s personal preference I guess.
It is quite interesting how some sites make it very difficult not to accept cookies.
Quite often you can’t access the very discrete or even hidden decline button without a bit of faff. I will often just leave altogether if it’s too difficult.
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Accept the cookies and simply regularly clear your browsing history.
Also use the VPN function and of course; nAD blokker.
I sometimes use Duckduck go but you can also use:
https://www.ecosia.org/?c=enseanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
I've had a few where I toggle everything off but haven't been able to find a button along the lines of 'save changes and exit' and you just get left with cancel or accept cookies. I just leave the site in those conditions. I do wonder if they pop up everytime if you hit accept all on your first visit. I suspect not.pangolin said:
It's so annoying... every site you go to, especially on mobile where it loads the cookie blurb a couple of seconds in once you've started reading something else. Loads of sites seem to ask you every time you go as well.morstar said:I have been declining cookies wherever I go and now 90% of the adverts I do see are of no interest to me whatsoever.
They do make me wonder who is interested in this stuff but that’s personal preference I guess.
It is quite interesting how some sites make it very difficult not to accept cookies.
Quite often you can’t access the very discrete or even hidden decline button without a bit of faff. I will often just leave altogether if it’s too difficult.0 -
Remembering your cookie preferences should fall under the strictly necessary cookies which you can't turn off. It has for sites I've been involved in building. Doing otherwise is either lazy coding or, more likely, an act of deliberate negligence.morstar said:
It probably asks every time as we don’t accept the cookie that says we’ve already been askedpangolin said:
It's so annoying... every site you go to, especially on mobile where it loads the cookie blurb a couple of seconds in once you've started reading something else. Loads of sites seem to ask you every time you go as well.morstar said:I have been declining cookies wherever I go and now 90% of the adverts I do see are of no interest to me whatsoever.
They do make me wonder who is interested in this stuff but that’s personal preference I guess.
It is quite interesting how some sites make it very difficult not to accept cookies.
Quite often you can’t access the very discrete or even hidden decline button without a bit of faff. I will often just leave altogether if it’s too difficult.- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono1 -
I am starting to wonder if I should be more worried about cookies as I adopt a laissez faire attitude of I would rather see targeted ads.
can somebody explain why I should be worried0 -
Good question.surrey_commuter said:I am starting to wonder if I should be more worried about cookies as I adopt a laissez faire attitude of I would rather see targeted ads.
can somebody explain why I should be worried
Here’s my view. I do actually prefer to see relevant content in some ways but conversely find algorithms create a self perpetuating bubble. I would prefer to be exposed to broad content. I apply this to stuff like music too.
A few years back, my phone started telling me all about where I’d been and where I was going and what I should do.
I found this sometime useful but also intrusive and again reinforcing a pre-filtered view of what I should be exposed to.
I have since taken to turning stuff off.
Is my life interesting enough for somebody to be digitally stalking me? Hell no. But I have decided I don’t want to just allow faceless organisations to simply collect all that data to keep channelling my content or should there be a mechanism to use it against me.
I also found when you look up something random. Say somebody asks you to buy a saucepan as a gift, you then get ads for saucepans.0 -
They allow Google and Facebook to build profiles about everything you do and read, so they can sell it. I'd prefer this information didn't exist beyond my head, so no one can hack it, steal it or sell it.surrey_commuter said:I am starting to wonder if I should be more worried about cookies as I adopt a laissez faire attitude of I would rather see targeted ads.
can somebody explain why I should be worried0
