Posts by Great Westerner

UK watchdog fines two firms £270k for cold-calling 531,000 people who had opted out

I got yet another "no fault accident" call the other day and explained to the caller that they had been swindled as they had been sold my details but the accident was more than ten years ago. They seemed to be very upset by this and said they would get back to the supplier.

Less frequently now I get a call for a Mr.X when in fact only Mrs.X lived here. I patiently explain that their calls cause great embarrassment to the family as Mr.X died in the arms of his favourite woman in a French house of ill repute. Had I collected all the reactions to this I could have written an entertaining book.

What does my neighbour's Tesla have in common with a stairlift?

All this belief in rechargeable cars being the future can be very depressing. I live in the West Country and a return trip to Bristol seems to be beyond the capability of battery cars.

There is a cure for this depression. Just watch one of those real life police programmes such as "Police Interceptors" where the Force chase the baddies. You'll soon realise that neither side is going to put up with such limited ranges.

Hydrogen is the only acceptable answer.

(Try and put the Hindenburg out of your mind.)

This PDP-11/70 was due to predict an election outcome – but no one could predict it falling over

Re: The elevator did it

The 1950s BBC stereo radio experiment.

I remember those experiments so well. First the organisation it took my father to get the TV and the radiogram (am I getting too technical?) in the same room.

Eventually it all worked, after a fashion and my father invited a neighbour in to experience the stereo effect. After listening for a while he said that he could not tell any difference to the mono transmissions.

After adjusting the sound levels to try and improve the effect we eventually remembered that the neighbour was deaf in one ear.

It was agreed that this might have something to do with the problem

Re: The elevator did it

I won't name the airport or the airline concerned but I will relate that ther was an irregular problem with the link between two offices.

It was finally traced to the data cable under the runway which failed in its transmission if a plane taxied over it with the microwave oven in operation.

Police and NHS urge British public not to call 101 and 111 non-emergency numbers after behind-the-scenes kit failure

Has anyone listed all the Police Forces and other services that have been affected?

I can add Devon & Cornwall police to the list.