Seemingly trivial things that intrigue you

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  • Spotify's algorithm. I mean what can possibly cause this?

    EHuUGUNW4AIipsU.jpg

    well, its next to the Divine Comedy so obviously you have a really shyyt taste in music and its picked up on this.

    I take your point. What intrigues me is that there must be others out there with a similar taste in bland whimsy who also actively choose to listen to the big DW. Who are these psychopaths?
  • chris_bass
    chris_bass Posts: 4,913
    Spotify's algorithm. I mean what can possibly cause this?

    EHuUGUNW4AIipsU.jpg

    well, its next to the Divine Comedy so obviously you have a really shyyt taste in music and its picked up on this.

    I take your point. What intrigues me is that there must be others out there with a similar taste in bland whimsy who also actively choose to listen to the big DW. Who are these psychopaths?

    or only one person has ever listened to it and they also enjoy bland whimsy - so to the algorithm 100% of Dennis Waterman fans also enjoy bland whimsy therefore you'd be a prime candidate!

    small sample sizes can lead to things being easily skewed!
    www.conjunctivitis.com - a site for sore eyes
  • crumbschief
    crumbschief Posts: 3,399
    Whimsy,it's just the Wade it is.
  • What's the probability of cycling along a quiet road and not seeing any cars for miles, then one appears in both directions and they cross next to me? This happened to me three times in a row with miles between them.
  • thistle_
    thistle_ Posts: 7,121
    Bear with me on this...

    It was on the news that Bristol are banning diesel vehicles from a street, but diesel taxis are exempt.
    Taxis here can use bus lanes (cycles technically can't use all of them). They also have "priority parking areas" (taxi ranks)

    Why do taxis get favourable treatment over private cars in town/city centres?

    I was trying to work out the rationale behind it the other day.
    Certainly around here, a taxi will travel empty to pick someone up, take them wherever, then travel empty to the next location. There's a passenger say 50% of the time unless the route is really well optimised.

    Someone driving their own car will drive themselves from home to wherever, park up, do whatever they do, then drive themselves home - there is always a passenger.

    So a taxi saves on parking spaces, but potentially travels further (more pollution).

    I'm pretty sure there must be something I'm missing.

    Is the idea to change attitudes and stop people driving their own cars?
    Are taxi routes in your typical town more efficient than I give them credit for?

    Not a rant, just intrigued.
  • Bear with me on this...

    It was on the news that Bristol are banning diesel vehicles from a street, but diesel taxis are exempt.
    Taxis here can use bus lanes (cycles technically can't use all of them). They also have "priority parking areas" (taxi ranks)

    Why do taxis get favourable treatment over private cars in town/city centres?

    I was trying to work out the rationale behind it the other day.
    Certainly around here, a taxi will travel empty to pick someone up, take them wherever, then travel empty to the next location. There's a passenger say 50% of the time unless the route is really well optimised.

    Someone driving their own car will drive themselves from home to wherever, park up, do whatever they do, then drive themselves home - there is always a passenger.

    So a taxi saves on parking spaces, but potentially travels further (more pollution).

    I'm pretty sure there must be something I'm missing.

    Is the idea to change attitudes and stop people driving their own cars?
    Are taxi routes in your typical town more efficient than I give them credit for?

    Not a rant, just intrigued.

    Most - but not all - taxis here are either hybrid engined vehicles now, and were previously generally converted to run on LPG rather than petrol/diesel, so were allegedly less bad for environment, but I think the exemptions for using the priority lanes are simply because they are lumped in as public transport. The LPG ones were always a nuisance because one of the common destinations for a cab was the airport and you could nevre fit much luggage in the boot because of the damned tanks.

    AFAIK, Uber vehicles do not get the exemption on public priority lanes, although at airports (privatised roads here now) they can go through the “taxi” lanes I think.
    Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,488

    Bear with me on this...

    It was on the news that Bristol are banning diesel vehicles from a street, but diesel taxis are exempt.
    Taxis here can use bus lanes (cycles technically can't use all of them). They also have "priority parking areas" (taxi ranks)

    Why do taxis get favourable treatment over private cars in town/city centres?

    I was trying to work out the rationale behind it the other day.
    Certainly around here, a taxi will travel empty to pick someone up, take them wherever, then travel empty to the next location. There's a passenger say 50% of the time unless the route is really well optimised.

    Someone driving their own car will drive themselves from home to wherever, park up, do whatever they do, then drive themselves home - there is always a passenger.

    So a taxi saves on parking spaces, but potentially travels further (more pollution).

    I'm pretty sure there must be something I'm missing.

    Is the idea to change attitudes and stop people driving their own cars?
    Are taxi routes in your typical town more efficient than I give them credit for?

    Not a rant, just intrigued.

    I would imagine it is as much to do with taxi drivers tending to be a bit more organised and better at lobbying local government than the average private driver.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • awavey
    awavey Posts: 2,368
    no I think taxis are an important part of a wider public transport network thats why they get allowed in these cases, they perform a similar function to buses, though not necessarily as efficiently in terms of passenger numbers carried, but maybe more efficiently in the door to destination journey, and they encourage multimodal transport, when you drive a car to park somewhere you are locked into driving that car home again.

    whereas I might walk or take the bus to go meet friends for a night out, but choose to take a taxi home instead

    if you treated those taxis as private cars and banned them from accessing the city centre,then you are cutting off a route for people to get home, or maybe go out in the first place.

    alot of the cabs thesedays are hybrids and councils seem to be bringing in rules to make them wholly hybrid/electric/LPG, in the near future so the classic Merc/Volvo diesel is very much on the way out
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,513
    There is an argument that taxis at night are a form of public transport, but I dislike the way that a lot of people in London now user uber to go everywhere. It clogs up the roads and slows down actual public transport. On top of which, it means they don't pay the congestion charge.
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    Cooking with gas:
    Occasionally there's a smell a bit like a paraffin lamp when using our gas cooker. Is it some variation in the composition of the gas, or something to do with environmental conditions - I'm fairly sure I notice it more in cold weather?
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,218
    It's always felt like an anomaly to me that taxis get such exemptions when then usually create two journeys for a single journey by a private car but as awavey says they are important in providing a link with public transport in many cases. For instance, when we produce Travel Plans for companies there is often a commitment that the company will provide a taxi for employees in an emergency (needing to get back for a sick child etc.) as this often gets raised in travel surveys as a barrier to making sustainable travel choices (although like most of the reasons, in most cases I suspect it is more of an excuse to justify car use and the mitigation doesn't change their attitudes).

    On the diesel ban in Bristol whilst I understand and to a degree support what they are trying to do I have a bit of an issue with it as I travel to work in Bristol a few times a week. It shouldn't affect me directly as we are relocating soon but would be a bit of a pain as a diesel car owner. I generally catch the train but this is already overcrowded (there have been occasions where people have been left behind as they couldn't get on trains) and the ban will only make this worse plus my work does require me going on site visits to areas where public transport just isn't a feasible option so I do sometimes need to bring the car. They really need to improve the public transport links and park & ride facilities before this comes into effect.
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,488
    pross said:

    as a diesel car owner.

    Your badge of shame is in the post. ;)

    More seriously, Bristol's topography and road layout makes this a bit of a no brainer. A shame that the endlessly promised metro/tram reintroduction has never materialised.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,218
    rjsterry said:

    pross said:

    as a diesel car owner.

    Your badge of shame is in the post. ;)

    More seriously, Bristol's topography and road layout makes this a bit of a no brainer. A shame that the endlessly promised metro/tram reintroduction has never materialised.
    I'm really keen to get at least a hybrid next time I buy a car but it's a few years off yet unfortunately.

    What do you mean never materialised? All those years of S106 contributions gave the city the most expensive bus routes on the planet!
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,488
    edited November 2019
    pross said:

    rjsterry said:

    pross said:

    as a diesel car owner.

    Your badge of shame is in the post. ;)

    More seriously, Bristol's topography and road layout makes this a bit of a no brainer. A shame that the endlessly promised metro/tram reintroduction has never materialised.
    I'm really keen to get at least a hybrid next time I buy a car but it's a few years off yet unfortunately.

    What do you mean never materialised? All those years of S106 contributions gave the city the most expensive bus routes on the planet!
    A light rail system running out to the suburbs was being proposed when I was at school in the '80s. They're still talking about it. Ironic that Bristol used to have a very comprehensive tram network. The Centre was originally The Tramways Centre.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • forehead
    forehead Posts: 180
    rjsterry said:

    pross said:

    rjsterry said:

    pross said:

    as a diesel car owner.

    Your badge of shame is in the post. ;)

    More seriously, Bristol's topography and road layout makes this a bit of a no brainer. A shame that the endlessly promised metro/tram reintroduction has never materialised.
    I'm really keen to get at least a hybrid next time I buy a car but it's a few years off yet unfortunately.

    What do you mean never materialised? All those years of S106 contributions gave the city the most expensive bus routes on the planet!
    A light rail system running out to the suburbs was being proposed when I was at school in the '80s. They're still talking about it. Ironic that Bristol used to have a very comprehensive tram network. The Centre was originally The Tramways Centre.
    We do have a metro now mind. Can't comment on the whole network but getting into town fro Long Ashton side of town is far easier than it used to be.
    Cube - Peloton
    Cannondale - CAAD10
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,488
    edited November 2019
    forehead said:

    rjsterry said:

    pross said:

    rjsterry said:

    pross said:

    as a diesel car owner.

    Your badge of shame is in the post. ;)

    More seriously, Bristol's topography and road layout makes this a bit of a no brainer. A shame that the endlessly promised metro/tram reintroduction has never materialised.
    I'm really keen to get at least a hybrid next time I buy a car but it's a few years off yet unfortunately.

    What do you mean never materialised? All those years of S106 contributions gave the city the most expensive bus routes on the planet!
    A light rail system running out to the suburbs was being proposed when I was at school in the '80s. They're still talking about it. Ironic that Bristol used to have a very comprehensive tram network. The Centre was originally The Tramways Centre.
    We do have a metro now mind. Can't comment on the whole network but getting into town fro Long Ashton side of town is far easier than it used to be.
    :smile: [sigh]
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,218
    forehead said:

    rjsterry said:

    pross said:

    rjsterry said:

    pross said:

    as a diesel car owner.

    Your badge of shame is in the post. ;)

    More seriously, Bristol's topography and road layout makes this a bit of a no brainer. A shame that the endlessly promised metro/tram reintroduction has never materialised.
    I'm really keen to get at least a hybrid next time I buy a car but it's a few years off yet unfortunately.

    What do you mean never materialised? All those years of S106 contributions gave the city the most expensive bus routes on the planet!
    A light rail system running out to the suburbs was being proposed when I was at school in the '80s. They're still talking about it. Ironic that Bristol used to have a very comprehensive tram network. The Centre was originally The Tramways Centre.
    We do have a metro now mind. Can't comment on the whole network but getting into town fro Long Ashton side of town is far easier than it used to be.
    Still just a bus with a few sections of dedicated road though. Hardly futuristic 21st century mass transport considering they been taking funds from developers for decades to fund a light rail / team system.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,218
    rjsterry said:

    pross said:

    rjsterry said:

    pross said:

    as a diesel car owner.

    Your badge of shame is in the post. ;)

    More seriously, Bristol's topography and road layout makes this a bit of a no brainer. A shame that the endlessly promised metro/tram reintroduction has never materialised.
    I'm really keen to get at least a hybrid next time I buy a car but it's a few years off yet unfortunately.

    What do you mean never materialised? All those years of S106 contributions gave the city the most expensive bus routes on the planet!
    A light rail system running out to the suburbs was being proposed when I was at school in the '80s. They're still talking about it. Ironic that Bristol used to have a very comprehensive tram network. The Centre was originally The Tramways Centre.
    I've seen photos of the trams by the Hippodrome and the floating harbour extending up into what they turned into a half decent public realm scheme in the late 90s when I first went to work there only to rip part of it back out recently.
  • When they introduced the congestion charge I remember reading that of the 700,000 people who commute into London only 10% do so by car. If you could stop them then it would be much be much easier for the 90% to get around by bike, bus, taxi.

    For the first month it worked then people realised how empty the roads were and started driving again
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,488
    pross said:

    rjsterry said:

    pross said:

    rjsterry said:

    pross said:

    as a diesel car owner.

    Your badge of shame is in the post. ;)

    More seriously, Bristol's topography and road layout makes this a bit of a no brainer. A shame that the endlessly promised metro/tram reintroduction has never materialised.
    I'm really keen to get at least a hybrid next time I buy a car but it's a few years off yet unfortunately.

    What do you mean never materialised? All those years of S106 contributions gave the city the most expensive bus routes on the planet!
    A light rail system running out to the suburbs was being proposed when I was at school in the '80s. They're still talking about it. Ironic that Bristol used to have a very comprehensive tram network. The Centre was originally The Tramways Centre.
    I've seen photos of the trams by the Hippodrome and the floating harbour extending up into what they turned into a half decent public realm scheme in the late 90s when I first went to work there only to rip part of it back out recently.
    A good explanation of the multiple stages of development here.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centre,_Bristol

    Would be great to have tall ships right in the middle of it again, but not very realistic.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Hearing Test Self Assessments ...

    intriguing - I downloaded the Specsavers app - the test wasn't clear - "change it until the level of speech is comfortable" the woman continued to talk as you selected different volumes for the various background noises - conclusion "you need a hearing test" - ok, let's go back and try it at different levels - same result ...
    Went on the extreme (most background noise that obliterated the woman's voice) - "you need a hearing test"

    So completely pointless test then as all they're going to do is refer you to one of their stores for a hearing test...

    No wonder it scored 1.6* in the app store.

    I ran a different one - this one ran through the frequencies with beeps at different volume levels (you had to preset your device to 50% volume) and you pressed the screen when you could hear the beep - great - except perhaps it's not entirely foolproof as the brain is good at filling in the gaps and you can "hear the beeps" after they've finished. It gave me a more realistic result though.

    FWIW - the intrigue has been triggered by a perceived inability to hear a conversation when there's a lot of background noise - it can be a bit annoying having to ask your mate to repeat what he said for the 3rd time because although you heard - you just couldn't comprehend what he was saying ... whilst riding along the road at 20mph ...
  • Longshot
    Longshot Posts: 940
    slowbike said:

    Hearing Test Self Assessments ...

    FWIW - the intrigue has been triggered by a perceived inability to hear a conversation when there's a lot of background noise

    That's just age I think. I've noticed a gradual but constant deterioration in my ability to hear conversations in crowded places over the past ten years or so.

    It's just as well my wife has given me plenty of practice in learning when to nod without listening to the words.

    You can fool some of the people all of the time. Concentrate on those people.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    longshot said:

    slowbike said:

    Hearing Test Self Assessments ...

    FWIW - the intrigue has been triggered by a perceived inability to hear a conversation when there's a lot of background noise

    That's just age I think. I've noticed a gradual but constant deterioration in my ability to hear conversations in crowded places over the past ten years or so.

    It's just as well my wife has given me plenty of practice in learning when to nod without listening to the words.

    It might be just age - it might not, hearing is pretty important to me and I'll go and get a proper hearing test - probably not specsavers though - on the basis that their app is crap, what does that suggest about the impartiality of their audiologists? Given that a discrete aid will set you back the price of a decent road bike ...
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,218
    longshot said:

    slowbike said:

    Hearing Test Self Assessments ...

    FWIW - the intrigue has been triggered by a perceived inability to hear a conversation when there's a lot of background noise

    That's just age I think. I've noticed a gradual but constant deterioration in my ability to hear conversations in crowded places over the past ten years or so.

    It's just as well my wife has given me plenty of practice in learning when to nod without listening to the words.

    Not sure it's an age thing, I've always struggled in those situations. It's one of the reasons I hate networking events with work.
  • forehead
    forehead Posts: 180
    I can't hear in crowed situations either, it's another awesome symptom of having tinnitus.

    Damn all that brilliant raving.
    Cube - Peloton
    Cannondale - CAAD10
  • lesfirth
    lesfirth Posts: 1,382
    slowbike said:

    longshot said:

    slowbike said:

    Hearing Test Self Assessments ...

    FWIW - the intrigue has been triggered by a perceived inability to hear a conversation when there's a lot of background noise

    That's just age I think. I've noticed a gradual but constant deterioration in my ability to hear conversations in crowded places over the past ten years or so.

    It's just as well my wife has given me plenty of practice in learning when to nod without listening to the words.

    It might be just age - it might not, hearing is pretty important to me and I'll go and get a proper hearing test - probably not specsavers though - on the basis that their app is 20p for the swearbox, what does that suggest about the impartiality of their audiologists? Given that a discrete aid will set you back the price of a decent road bike ...

    The NHS hearing aid system is brilliant. No need to spend a penny. The only downside is the cost of fixing the noisy drivetrain and creaking bottom bracket that you could not hear before. Alternative is to buy another bike with the money you saved.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    I ran another test last night - it was so quiet I could hear my pulse from the earbud in my ear ... result was "perfect hearing" ...
    I used a decent pair of earbuds - but they're not calibrated for the app ...
  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    Why does everyone who wins on the postcode lottery look like someone off a dodgy reality tv show about drug dealers who live on our street.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,599
    Just how much is in the swear box?
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    pinno said:

    God's creation of the world has been replaced by... a Big Bang; another creation theory.

    Western theories of the Universe have a beginning, a middle and an end. Mirroring Christian beliefs.

    Far Eastern/Asian theories of the Universe are cyclical. Mirroring...



    X Galaxies are in the Blue shift and Y Galaxies are in the Red shift and therefore the Universe is expanding!

    Jesus was voted as the son of God by a council with a slim majority.



    Most theories with any validity are based on one hypothetical. The Big Bang theory is based on multiple hypotheticals.



    There are these tw@ts who think we can colonise other completely inaccessible and uninhabitable orbs. There are other mathematicians, physicists, scientists, astrologers who ply so much time to the trivial pursuit of answering the unanswerable question of 'how did we get here?' whilst the world rots, burns, gets flooded, melts, gets polluted, savaged, raped and filled with CO2.



    It's a crock of bollox. There is a far more pressing need for the academic community to try and find solutions to the problems of what would be a perfect orb to exist on.



    lego-hawking-640.jpg

    Good post. Although if you take a longer term view, earth will die at some point which is part of the rationale for leaving the planet to colonise a new one.
    This poses the question of whether that is a noble pursuit to keep the species alive or a naive inability to accept the inevitably of death.