Amazon exiles discussion

Wind-up gramophones

Telegrams

Still using my 10 year old laptop that has the much loathed Vista installed. Windows doesn't support it, and hasn't since April 2017, but the only thing that seems to affect its day to day running, is its refusal to play dvds, which is a bit of a bum. :-(

TheFoe wrote: "Still using my 10 year old laptop that has the much loathed Vista installed. Windows doesn't support it, and hasn't since April 2017, but the only thing that seems to affect its day to day running,..."

Only stopped using my decade old MacBook at the beginning of April, and that only because a vital piece of software was updated and wouldn't open any more due to being incompatible with the ancient OS.

suzysunshine7 wrote: "Really?! ... I finally said a rather sentimental Goodbye to the very last of all my 80's Cassettes a few weeks ago and M&D had to take them into several Charity Shops before they found one that wou..."

I've started buying cassette tapes again. As Helen says, many bands are now releasing limited editions of their new albums on tape, as well as CDs, vinyl...and FLAC (that's the digital version!). Even the big names are doing them. I read somewhere of some well known female pop star..had decided to release her latest album just on cassette! I bet the kids of today, must have been thinking..."What the heck is this thing?!"

Seems like all old media formats are making come backs once again..i wonder how long it'll be before we see new VHS (& those short-lived Betamax) tape players & the tapes in the shops again?

I read in an article a year of two ago..that the very last supplier of VHS tapes machines, ceased selling them, due to no longer being able to get one part needed for them..as that cmanufacture stop making them.

Vinyl records have seen a remarkable surge in demand in the last few years..so much so...that the few pressing plants that currently exist, around the world...are struggling to keep up with demand. New presses are needing to be made...for the first time, since the old vinyl plants decided to junk their old presses, back in the 1990s!

Funny how things come and go..and then come back again!

I wonder how long it'll be till we see the return of Platform boots, puffball skirts, shoulder pads, landline telephones....CB radios (okay..they never really went away did they?!)....and erm...what else woz there?

I've already noticed that big spetacles are slowly coming back...my local specsavers has many 'branded' ones that are larger than they have been for the last 2 decades.

I really don't want those coming back....i've seen old photos of me as a lad...wearing the new fasionable but hu-humungous sized 1980's glasses...god..... they were bloody awful!

I look like i was peering through two milk bottle bottoms!

what's a milk bottle?

nah, never mind that, i just want to see the photos of duke in the "Platform boots, puffball skirts, shoulder pads"

I don't!!! ;oO

theDuke wrote: "suzysunshine7 wrote: "Really?! ... I finally said a rather sentimental Goodbye to the very last of all my 80's Cassettes a few weeks ago and M&D had to take them into several Charity Shops before t..."

I'd be more impressed if they brought back reel-to-reel tape issues of albums!

Minidisc revival would be cool. The ability to edit was great. The copy protection, which meant you couldn't transfer your own recordings, much less so.

MiniDiscs pretty much passed me by somehow and so I've never owned any.

I was rather surprised to see them come and go so quickly though? In an age where everything seems to always being improving on being ever more lightweight and as small as is ever possible I would have thought MiniDiscs would have completely taken over from CDs?

Were they not as functional as CDS then and any cheaper to manufacture?

suzysunshine7 wrote: "MiniDiscs pretty much passed me by somehow and so I've never owned any.

I was rather surprised to see them come and go so quickly though? In an age where everything seems to always being improving..."

The sound wasn't quite up to CD quality (even with the Red Book self-crippling) as I recall. The failure may have been because other manufacturers wouldn't support a purely Sony invention.

TwoddleBungler wrote: "Wind-up gramophones"

Tin foil phonograph?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xBvHbRJ...

(Listen in a quiet environment to the above!)

Tim wrote: "The sound wasn't quite up to CD quality (even with the Red Book self-crippling) as I recall. The failure may have been because other manufacturers wouldn't support a purely Sony invention"

Ahhh, I did wonder about the sound quality when I first saw the size of them - they also looked to be far too easily lose-able as well.

Moving on ever upwards towards the Clouds ;o> ...

It's funny how we've all adopted "cloud" when it's actually just someone else's hard drive.

All the cash points near me have suddenly been downgraded and are charging 95p per withdrawal. 4 machines within 5 minutes of me. I now have no way get cash that belongs to me that my employers give strait to a middleman to hold.

Recently a father refused to register the birth of his son as it was tantamount to making the child “an asset to the country, which has boarded a vessel to sail on the high seas” and will "cause his son to become controlled by a state which he perceives to be authoritarian and capricious”. This is all "funny foreigner" stuff, isn't it? Isn't it? Assigned a number at birth, a credit score that nails you down and soon an online social credit score to restrict access.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...

Thank goodness we can trust our institutions and leaders.

Take one stone slab, one mallet, one flint chisel and strike!

When can I download the Upgrade to a sheet of Paper and a Pencil? ;o>

Sera69 wrote: "It's funny how we've all adopted "cloud" when it's actually just someone else's hard drive."

Who's 'we'? 😂 All my files stay strictly on the laptop (not counting Dropbox as that's half & half, and there's nothing critical on it)

Ooooh! Get her and her fancy pencil and paper doing all that cuneiform!

In the last week or so, a few of my regular sites - The Radio 3 Forum, Nectar Surveys etc. have their URL prefaced by 'Not Secure'. I can access all but the survey which I'm unable to complete. Any ideas?

Lez wrote: "In the last week or so, a few of my regular sites - The Radio 3 Forum, Nectar Surveys etc. have their URL prefaced by 'Not Secure'. I can access all but the survey which I'm unable to complete. Any..."

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT208672

That's really weird. My Nectar password is the same for all things Nectar and all the other sites are fine. The others are forums like 'Exiles' and I stay signed in. No money etc. is involved either. It only happens on my newer iPad 4 Mini.
Not really a worry, just strange!

Just to bump it up some more :)

All HTTP sites will display a “Not Secure” image in the address bar when you browse the web using Safari. HTTPS enabled sites will display a padlock image.

HTTPS is a form of web encryption. When you load a web site over HTTPS, your connection to the site is encrypted. HTTP does not secure the connection between you and the websites you visit.

This does not mean the site is dangerous if it is flagged as "Not Secure" or that they will mishandle your data, only that the information transferred between you and the site is open for others to view. Companies have to pay for an SSL (or TSL) insurance certificate for browsers to flag their site as secure and to use HTTPS.

The difference between http and https

I can't find the £1 sign on my phone - Galaxy S4 Mini. The $ is on the main keyboard and I've pressed everything in sight with no luck.
Any ideas?

Lez wrote: "I can't find the £1 sign on my phone - Galaxy S4 Mini. The $ is on the main keyboard and I've pressed everything in sight with no luck.
Any ideas?"

On my old iPhone, the £ is on the main keyboard and to access the $ I have to tap the '#+=' key at the left of the screen. Or, try tapping and holding the $ key. The £ might be hiding behind it.

It sounds like you might need to check the settings to see if your keyboard is US English, and change it to British English or whatever they call it.

Thanks, Tim. I've done all those things to no avail. As I've had the phone over 2 years and never needed the £ before, I suppose it doesn't matter!

https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask...

I've never used an Android device, so this might be useless for you, Lez, but what the heck! There's a few solutions offered up here so worth reading through the page. The first one to try would probably be to tap and hold the full stop key (!). Whatever, it seems a most counter-intuitive design.

Tim wrote: "https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask...

I've never used an Android device, so this might be useless for you, Lez, but wh..."

Thanks for the link
I don't use apps and I can't do any of the things suggested. However, I've FOUND it completely by accident along with yen and other things but have no idea what I did!!

Me again


On a couple of sites on my iPad 4 Mini (Safari) I'm getting a spam pop-up. It's a small white panel in the middle of the page:

'Congratulations! You have a chance to get a special award!' Close.(clickable)

The url (with padlock) is: lpsaverdomain.com

Doesn't happen on my old MacBook. Driving me mad!

*sighs*

Bloody Microsoft and their ever constant Win10 'feature' updates!

I haven't even used the previous FOUR feature updates i 've had so far..i don't even know what the blazes they're shoving in my laptop. Worse thing they ever did, was remove the 'user' (I fecking hate the term!) right to choose or block what updates they want. Now it's anything and abso-fecking-lutely everything.

I've had enough.....I'm gonna look at downloading and installing a Linux OS instead..sod Microsoft and their stupid Win10! Bah!

Second that Duke, I don't use my laptop that often but whenever I do it usually requires waiting for what seems an age before I can actually access the bloody thing. If I wasn't so lazy and more techno minded I would look into some alternative myself, one more for the bucket list. Memo to self: start a bucket list!

"Memo to self: start a bucket list!" …. on a Word doc or Excel spreadsheet?

I'm only allowed crayons and rubber walls.

Martin wrote: "Second that Duke, I don't use my laptop that often but whenever I do it usually requires waiting for what seems an age before I can actually access the bloody thing. If I wasn't so lazy and more te..."

When it comes to computers & software, Martin, I'm not that technically minded, either. However, when push comes to shove...i'll damn well will do something...anything, to get shot of this bloody Win10!

BTW.....this phrase 'Bucket List'.....never could gel with it...it's sounds a daft phrase to me. Why is it called a 'Bucket' List, folks?

What's a Bucket got to do with a person's wish list of things to experience or get done?

PS: I haven't got a....ahem...WISHlist either Martin....except perhaps, a lifelong dream to witness an actual volcanic eruption, from say 25 miles away..from......any of 'em!

Vesusius is overdue. Now that be would one hell of an eruption to witness......however....note to oneself....don't do a Pompeii! :)

'Bucket list' is derived from 'things to do before you kick the bucket'.

Then oughtn't it be correctly phrased as "Before one kicks the bucket list" then, Lez?!

Just by shortening it to 'Bucket List'; to me, would conjure up all things pail related! :)

Maybe it ought to be called...'The things i would like to do, before i die list'!

Granted.....it's not as catchy, but it is literal! :-D

.....and yet you have no issue with the term 'mancave', which might suggest 'a hollow of varying dimensions hewn from a rockface that is only accessible to those of male gender'. no?

Tech XXIII wrote: ".....and yet you have no issue with the term 'mancave', which might suggest 'a hollow of varying dimensions hewn from a rockface that is only accessible to those of male gender'. no?"

A valid point, Tech. I've looked up the origins of that term, and it isn't very old so it seems. First appeared in an article by Joanne Lovering of the Toronto Star, in 1992, then was popularized by John Grey's 1993 publication of 'Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus'. So this phrase, could be considered as a new specific term, devised to describe a space solely for the domain of males, typically in a basement or shed/garage.

Bucket List, is a term derived from the contraction of, as Lez mentioned, 'Things to do before you kick the bucket'.

An alternative term, that also traces it's origins to Lovering's article, is 'Manspace'. Perhaps I could use that instead, unless you are able to derive some other meaning from that one, Tech! :)

Otherwise, if according to my prosaically principled mindset, that neither Man Cave nor Manspace are literally acceptable; then what other appropriate, contracted term/phrase, would suffice..for a 'androcentrically exclusive work & relaxation zone', Tech?!

The ball is in your court!

;-)

theDuke wrote: "Tech XXIII wrote: ".....and yet you have no issue with the term 'mancave', which might suggest 'a hollow of varying dimensions hewn from a rockface that is only accessible to those of male gender'...."

'Man cave' is a term which suggests no female input (and is also slyly mocking because of that). If there's no woman in your home Duke, by default the whole place is a 'man cave'. 😎

Half the English language is a contracted form of what used to be longer phrases. If we all went back to spelling things out in literal detail, we'd never get anything said.

"Dartford please" would become,

"I wish to purchase a ticket in order to travel on one of your employer's omnibuses that travels from here to Dartford, if that pleases you."


__________________________________
P.S. I don't know why I picked Dartford, I've never been there and don't even know what county it's in.

for me personally, duke, i find both terms to have unacceptable sexist and non-inclusive connotations, so if i were to name such a facility it would be a 'howf', which is an ayrshire term for a hut/shed or an annexed room. and definitely not connected to the urban dictionary's definition!

My mum's neighbour, a lovely man with a henpecking wife who rarely stopped talking, spent most of his weekends sitting in his greenhouse with his newspaper and smoking a pipe. I always wonder how these mismatched couples get together.

Anyway, back on topic...

I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini phone and suddenly find my sister is not receiving my texts. They are successfully being sent but nothing happens at her end even though I am getting hers to me. I've tried my nephew, niece and 2 friends with no problem. Neither of us has changed our phone or done anything at all different. Hers is a very basic Philips 'unsmart' phone, not even a camera or radio.
I've tried the online help - it seems to be a fairly common problem - but no luck. I thought of trying the +44 prefix but can't find a + sign anywhere on the keypad!
I've been able to speak to her from my mobile to hers so it doesn't seem to be a number problem. Any ideas?

I know nothing about these things, lez, however I don't think you need to physically enter the + - it's just telling you to add it, just as the bracket round the 0 means omit it.

If you're using a mobile you need the +. Lez, try holding down the 0 on the keyboard and it may toggle between o and +.

Thanks. Derek, no I just got a load of 0s.
nc, I tried just 44, it did add the + and it sent the message but she still can't reply 😕
I'll just have to talk to her whenever she texts. I've never liked this bloody phone.
Just had a thought, there's nothing wrong with my old phone (same model) I just wanted to update it. If I put my present SIM card in will everything vanish?

Lez;

On my Samsung phone, when texting, if I want to put the number in then the + is found by pressing the bottom left hand button which has !#1 on it. This brings up all the symbols, including the +.

Hope that helps :)

Tim wrote: "theDuke wrote: "Tech XXIII wrote: ".....and yet you have no issue with the term 'mancave', which might suggest 'a hollow of varying dimensions hewn from a rockface that is only accessible to those ..."

I live with my Mum, Tim!

Only the former garage, is soon to be my 'Man Cave'.

Tech XXIII wrote: "for me personally, duke, i find both terms to have unacceptable sexist and non-inclusive connotations, so if i were to name such a facility it would be a 'howf', which is an ayrshire term for a hut..."

Well...sexism has to exist, to some extent, otherwise...public toilets would have to all become gender neutral, Tech! :)

I wonder if the Welsh laungage, has a comparable term to 'Howf'?!

I doubt it.....Welsh is so old a language, that modern terms, tend to just be written according to the Welsh spelling rules, but their are some daft ones too.

A microwave in welsh is......Popty Ping!
A bus in welsh is........Bws
And.....Mini Golf? It's Golff Mini!!!

That last one sounds like two models of cars merged together.

But i can rely on the welsh to come up with a translation for Man Cave...which is Ogof Dyn, pronounced as Oarguvf Deen.

TwoddleBungler wrote: "Half the English language is a contracted form of what used to be longer phrases. If we all went back to spelling things out in literal detail, we'd never get anything said.

"Dartford please" woul..."

Ashamedly, i have to admit..i do sometimes do that TB! But not all the time. Sometimes....i am actually in a rush!! :)

"sexism has to exist, to some extent"

you don't hear women banging on about their lady caves! fnur! parp!