Info and forum posts by 'alfie noakes'

RE: Christmas ads 2023

If they wanted to make it more British they could simply swap the raccoon for a giant rat and instead of living in a tree he could live in a pile of fly-tipped rubbish.

RE: Rest at last, Matthew Perry

Shocked, but not surprised as the old cliché goes. From the little I knew about his chaotic life, he had the look of a tragedy waiting to happen.

RE: [VIDEO] Apple TV

I just started with my second 5 months free trial from Barclays, but I did use another 'identity' - different email and Apple login. I think it failed when I tried my 'own' Apple login (this is the Apple login, not Appletv+ which it did ask me for). I also had to setup a new Appletv+ account. It took a few goes to setup too.

I must have had 4 or more trial offers, including strangely when I bought a Google phone. I suspect this may well be my last free ride though...

RE: Tony Husband

Only very vaguely knew who he was, but noted yesterday people talking about his death.

Some notable person who I think also died recently (I forget who) described death as not an end, but as you having to leave a party early, while the party carries on without you. That cartoon illustrates that rather poignantly.

RE: [VIDEO] Arsenal 23/24 season

Unbeknown to me, my niece - who has never really shown any interest in sport as far as I'm aware - has become an avid women's football fan (doubtless a lot to do with the success of the Lionesses) and is also an Arsenal fan. She went to the Arsenal/Liverpool game and even got a video interview by a women's football site.

RE: [VIDEO] Our Flag means Death

Still need to finish watching the first season - which had a very slow start, I thought, but is a bit of a slow burn.

RE: [VIDEO] Coronavirus, anyone starting to get worried?

Got a vaccination booked through my NHS app!

One of the qualifying questions was if you looked after anyone vulnerable and I got an appointment. TBH I think pretty much anyone could claim this as they just seem to take your word for it.

RE: [VIDEO] Coronavirus, anyone starting to get worried?

I thought the new rule was that only over 65s and medically vulnerable/health workers would get the Covid jab? Not sure on rules for flu jab. I started getting it free in recent years because of asthma (barely noticeable tbh) diagnosis.

Great that you were able to get these.

RE: Boiling Point

I don't know why, but sometimes it feels like homework watching something because it has been acclaimed for some reason or another. The one-take thing also seemed a bit gimmicky. It just never appealed to me even though I may well love it if I saw it.

Ironically I've been watching The Bear on Disney and that probably shares a lot of similarities (I'm not even sure what I think about that right now) and people have been raving about that - I'm not quite sure why.

RE: [VIDEO] Star Wars 1923

Video created by @douggypledger using midjourney for the images and pikalabs to create the motion, apparently. Check out his feed for more nightmare inducing horrors...

Michael Gambon has died at 82

Obviously most famous for Harry Potter, but for me it was the ground-breaking Singing Detective that stood out.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66949848

RE: [VIDEO] Star Wars 1923

Definitely AI - the guy posted it on 'twitter' and explained which software he used. I think it was mostly static images and then using software to animate.

RE: [VIDEO] Star Wars 1923

Saw this the other day and thought about posting it here!

It's like something out of a nightmare... the weird kissing...

RE: Close Channel D: David McCallum R.I.P.

Sapphire and Steel!

RE: [VIDEO] The Pie Thread!

Currently have 3 bins. If we opted for a garden waste bin we could push that up to 4. I dream of having 7 bins.

RE: Twitter being Musked

Yeah, illustrates very much what I was saying.

Amazon running a big chunk of the world's servers and data storage, Musk making war-changing decisions on his Starlink internet usage and the US govt almost solely reliant on SpaceX to launch it's satellites, Google scraping news feeds and then refusing to pay for doing so and so wiping news stories from it's search (big argument with Canadian govt), but they're all happy to bow to authoritarian governments' unreasonable demands when they think they may get shut down in China, Iran, Turkey, India...

RE: Twitter being Musked

Quote:
Snaps says...
"Just joined the waiting list for a BlueSky invite."
Did this months ago, still had nothing back. Re-submitted again yesterday. Getting an invite is another route to joining - of course I don't know anyone who's got any...

Still very much steering clear of Threads. Just because Mr Free Speech (the irony) has turned out to be a massive arsehole hasn't stopped the other human facsimile being a danger to humanity.

Listening to a podcast the other day where they were talking about how the big tech companies have huge and growing geopolitical influence, bypassing governments, who now often have to consult with them and defer to them, it's very scary.

RE: Twitter being Musked

Apparently Elmo is considering making twitter pay-for-use as a way of 'getting rid of the bots' and definitely not a way of getting hold of your financial info...

The sooner he does that, the sooner he makes my mind up about quitting for good.

RE: Russell Brand to be ivestigated by OFCOM - What about Jonathan Ross?

Quote:
RJS says...
"Looking at the people coming out to defend him, it gets harder and harder to believe he could be innocent."
Doubtless the same people who bleated on about the media protecting Jimmy Savile and not outing him when they had the chance.

RE: I have a funny feeling this whole ULEZ thing might be a tad on the unpopular side

Quote:
Jitendar Canth says...
"Is that 90% efficient from battery to transmission to wheels, or 90% efficient from resource extraction to combustion/fission/wind/solar/wave generation, to transformers, to network to home/commercial charge point to charger to battery to transmission to wheels?"
At least 90% of the electricity you put into the motor turns into motion. The motor can be as much as 98% efficient, apparently. An electric car will give around 4 miles per 1kWh of electricity if you want to get an equivalent of mpg.

Googling tells me that a litre of diesel will give around 10kWh of equivalent electricity - but it's only 30% efficient (at best) when burnt in a diesel engine.

RE: I have a funny feeling this whole ULEZ thing might be a tad on the unpopular side

It's very easy to be cynical about the ULEZ charge (and particularly easy for the disingenuous right to use it as another culture war battering ram) but I think we have to be grown up about this and take our medicine.

As already stated, most people in towns don't even own a car and 90% of cars are compliant anyway (a pretty low bar frankly).

Why should car drivers have greater rights than non-drivers who have to suffer the pollution without the benefits? Cars are a problem and they've too long had undeserved priority over pedestrians and other road users. It wouldn't be practical to turn cities into pedestrianised bike only zones overnight, but that's the future we should be aiming for (see Utrecht as a good example).

It's not great having to pay a fairly hefty charge, but honestly, we have to put up with it and that includes me: my clunky 14 yr old diesel is not compliant and I do pay (and have paid) the charge. But I don't want to be a hypocrite about this.

Quote:
marksparks999 says...
"The diesel is ten years old, has 125k on the clock, so in the greater scheme of things is probably more green than most electric cars"
Some pretty detailed studies have calculated that keeping an old diesel does not ultimately save CO2 over a new electric car - including the new car's production emissions.

Quote:
marksparks999 says...
"with batteries that have components mined the other side of the world"
...you're not gonna believe it when you hear where fossil fuels come from!!!

Quote:
marksparks999 says...
" that degrade in efficiency after a few years"
Battery degradation is about 2%-5% per year for the average electric car (Tesla's seem to be better). Some cars have done hundreds of thousands of miles on their original batteries and the batteries are expected to outlast the cars in new EVs and can still be put to second use (static storage) and be ultimately recycled so maintain some value. Internal combustion engines also degrade and lose efficiency over time. I spent over a thousand quid this year on my old clunker and I still need to get the cambelt changed (and I still have a turbo/dpf/erg problem that needs sorting). I frankly wish I could buy an electric car for the lack of all that maintenance alone...

Quote:
marksparks999 says...
"and cost half the price to manufacture!"
ICE cars have had a 100 year jump on electric cars, but prices are coming down fast and pretty soon the economics will make only the most bull-headed petrolhead want to stick with their dinosaur juice museum piece.

Quote:
marksparks999 says...
"Oh and lets not forget the energy to charge the electric cars, that comes from predominantly fossil fuels!"
It was something like 40% of UK energy came from renewables last year, whilst every single ICE vehicle was 100% fossil fuel. Ultimately an EV could potentially run 100% off solar panels, an ICE car will never have that possibility.

And if you want to talk efficiency, an EV is something like 90% efficient whereas an ICE vehicle is 30% at best - making better use of that "fossil produced electricity".

Quote:
marksparks999 says...
"I agree, I have Solar on my house, my Electricity bill last year fell to a quarter of the previous year, and that was with the energy prices going up!"
I'd love solar panels... not practical right now for me.

Quote:
marksparks999 says...
"With electric cars I cannot understand why they don't build in Solar Technology, great big roof, and bonnet area's... its mad even if it only gave 25% charge, that would probably give most users enough for short journeys."
If you've got a few quid, let me interest you in a Lucid Air. There are a few cars that have some after-thought solar panels and there are some other makers in development atm.

Electric cars aren't going to save the planet (frankly we should have fewer cars of any type) but they are far better than ICE cars environmentally (don't believe the garbage in the Telegraph/Mail/Express/Spectator...). But no-one has to dump their petrol car either. People will naturally shift to EVs when it clearly becomes a no-brainer that it's just cheaper to go with electric when they naturally change their car.

Quote:
marksparks999 says...
"I was hoping we would see more Wind Farms on land"
Tories have finally dropped their "no onshore turbines" policy. I'd happily have them near me - especially if they implement the idea to lower electricity prices for nearby homes.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 6th September 2023, 17:14

RE: Women's World Cup 2023

It's coming home

RE: [VIDEO] Oppenheimer (2023)

Quote:
Jitendar Canth says...
"The BBC have put the 1980 Oppenheimer 7-part drama on iPlayer"
Have memories of watching this at the time and really liking it, but... 1980... Didn't realise it was so long ago!

RE: [VIDEO] Southern water fined for polluting the sea

The sick man of Europe, here we go again. Although only slightly related, I heard yesterday that they are dropping salmonella testing on meat products imported from Brazil. Yay Brexit!

RE: William Friedkin RIP @ 87

The weird little detail I always remember about the Exorcist is that they built the bedroom set inside a giant freezer just so they could make it cold enough to see the actors' breath.

Bye bye Pee Wee

Ok, I admit I've never actually watched anything he was in in it's entirety, but I think the mark he made makes him a notable figure worth mentioning as he goes on his way... and quite a classy note he leaves too:

Quote:
"Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years [cancer]. I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you" - Paul Reubens aka Pee Wee Herman
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/pee-wee-herman-death-paul-reubens-b2385114.html

[VIDEO] RE: RIP: Sinéad O'Connor: Irish singer dies aged 56

Used to follow her on twitter when she was a bit of a hoot (and probably not that well).

Someone did a youtube of some of her tweets set to her music

RE: Twitter being Musked

Just spotted this, posted by Linda Yaccarino (new Twitter CEO)

Quote:
X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.Again, no thanks.

RE: Twitter being Musked

Quote:
RJS says...
"The problem here is the west doesn't want that. Facebook tried to do it and failed, the best they can manage is keep buying the next big social media thing (Instagram, WhatsApp)."
As far as I can see, only the EU really seems to be standing up to the big tech giants - Threads is still banned there (another app that I will be steering well clear of unless privacy issues are sorted out).

I still use 'twitter' more as an info site (don't really engage at all) until all the main players ditch it (if ever) and have been a bit lazy about Mastodon which is still a bit hard to get into.

And then again there's Bluesky. This might just be the one to watch as it's Jack Dorsey's baby and a lot of names have signed up to it.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 26th July 2023, 11:32

RE: Twitter being Musked

The grand idea is that Musk wants to turn 'X' into an everything site, something like Weibo in China, where messaging, payments, pretty much your whole life is handled through the app.

I would like to have no part in this, thanks very much. And I wish him nothing but zero success in his endeavour.