Not worth it for 9 boxes. You’re adding a massive attack surface (ad or o365) to protect a handful of machines. Talk to whoever set the policies and do something sensible instead.

Er, what massive attack surface would that be? And I would have thought he OP might have been looking for something more concrete in the advice department than “do something sensible”.

What Cougar said might be worth looking at although MFA might not be free. You may need some Premium licenses for the advanced things you might want to do but having the machines Azure AD Joined will give you the option of adding monitoring and threat detection. Does the warehouse use anything else cloud related or office related eg email, office apps or is it all just a standalone entity? If it is a standalone entity then doing all these things might seem more expensive than the benefits it brings.

I would be wary of making the decision too much on budget rather than spec and what you want the machine to do. Think of it in the longer term and the priorities, as mentioned above, are minimum of 8GB RAM and absolutely an SSD hard disk. Those 2 alone will probably impact the performance more than going with i5 or i7 processor. Also, don’t forget cloud storage as an option for your pictures. Likely to be more reliable and accessible from anywhere / anything. For that sort of budget you will be doing well to get anything bigger than a 240GB SSD drive.

I must say that I couldn’t help smiling when I saw this news and wondered what Christian Horner’s first response was! Supposedly Red Bull are committed to F1 until 2025 so I suspect they won’t pull out. I also can’t see them going back to Renault after their recent, friendly relations. I would expect zero chance of them getting a Merc engine which leaves Ferrari or, as suggested above, some sort of consortium / private engine deal. Or maybe VW coming in. Although, if you were VW would you come into a sport where one of your big commercial competitors is busy scooping up everything in sight knowing that it will take a chunky investment and time before you could compete effectively? Although, how much does F1 performance and reliability actually translate into customers buying their products or even how they reflect on the brand? For me, it wouldn’t matter how dominant Renault are in F1, I would still be highly unlikely to ever buy a Renault road car for my self.

Difficult to know really. Chine are not renowned for openness and honesty and they had several goes at trying to deny it was even a thing at the beginning, how many were really affected and where the virus had spread. So, not a conspiracy theory, just experience of knowing that they systematically lie and hide things. They may well have lower cases than anywhere else but I have reservations about the precise numbers.

@mattyfez

You need to think through your logic again. In actual fact, the recent UK legislation is precisely to prevent breaching the Good Friday agreement. If we keep to the WA and end up with a no deal, there is the potential then for the EU to invoke / exercise “direct effect”. Which effectively then interferes within the sovereign jurisdiction of the UK through applying tariffs to goods passing between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland. This contradicts article 4 which states that “Northern Ireland is part of the customs territory of the UK”. The basis of the WA is that we would agree and reach an FTA with the EU. However, if that doesn’t happen then we get a problem with the WA. And that then potentially leaves us in the position of an entity (the EU) appearing to interfere with the affairs of a sovereign state (the UK). The purpose then of this recent legislation is to prevent that happening – in the event of a no deal.

Quite possibly / probably BJ wanted a no deal Brexit all along and the strong negotiations stance over the recent months has been part of that plan. We don’t really know. It is also arguable that the EU still can’t quite get its head around the fact that a member state would wish to leave and still wants to be able to meddle / interfere / influence UK affairs. But the point of leaving the EU is to prevent that.

So, all you you incredibly intelligent, well read and articulate people (who are quite quick to judge others for not being so) what is the UK legislation attempting to do? Is it reneging on the entire WA? And why has it been enacted? As you are so intelligent and well read, it’s not going to take very long is it…

To be honest, one of the main issues that is being faced in the discussions at the moment is that the EU has got used to trying to be firm and watching the Theresa May era team cave in and make changes. Possibly an issue with her wanting to be in control and not listen to others (something she is apparently well known for) and possibly because she was a remainer at heart. The difference now is that the negotiating team are standing their ground and not backing down when the EU team were expecting them to.

From what I have read around the topic it seems that the Govt’s decision to push for the recent legislative change is actually prudent preparation for the potential eventuality of a no deal when we would end up in a situation of the EU being in breach of international law. In a bigger way than the UK is. The fault is with the Withdrawal Agreement that, in fairness, both sides agreed. The biggest problem with it is that the UK Govt has made a complete hash of explaining what they are doing and why.

“That’s been clear from the start Edukator. Barnier in particular has impressed me refusing to buy the bullshine or fall into the big pits marked trap

Its adults v petulant children”

It’s not really though is it? Or do you really believe that? What specifically is it about Barnier that has impressed you? Problem with this thread is that, entertaining as it is, it is one massive echo chamber

I’d be surprised that the insurance company will pay off the HP. Usually they’re nothing to do with each either. I would expect the insurance company to pay the owner and it will be up to the owner to pay the load company. Especially if the loan is a bank loan type deal, the insurance company won’t have a clue that the car is being bought on a loan. If it was an old school HP situation or PCP deal then yes.

Hopefully insurance for the OP won’t change much as the claim will surely be against the van drivers insurance?

Depends whereabouts in Solva you are staying but you could be in the part that means a steep hill out in either direction from the front door! :) It’s a lovely little place but there’s not an awful lot to do in Solva itself. Lovely part of the country though – we will be heading to Pembrokeshire on Saturday for a couple of weeks. First week staying in Trefin with likely a fair amount of time at Whitesands. And a lot of ice cream from St Davids.

Only really read the first page of this one but I spent the next 5 minutes wondering what on earth Edukator has ben smoking (or not smoking) today. I thought it was blindingly obvious what the OP rant was about and it was a perfectly reasonable rant. Recent rides I have had it has staggered me the number of people that are just bimbling in their own little world with absolutely no regard whatsoever to what is around them. Had several people just walk out across the road in front of me without even looking – fortunately for them I am just a cyclist rather than a car, lorry or bus.

The local bed shop to us (Abingdon Beds) do a great mattress (I think it’s called the Eton Ortho now) which I personally really like. It’s sold as their own brand but is made by one of the large bed manufacturers. Over the years we have had a few from them (for the various different beds in the house). Pocket sprung, quite firm, long lasting, great value for money. Personally I love them. Just can’t get on with the memory foam beds at all so never really look at them these days.

In these situations I would also think very carefully about the house. Although you are happy with it and its location it appears clear that the majority don’t. Which means it will bite you when you come to sell it (if you ever do). If you love it enough, as others have said, then decide what yo are prepared to pay for it and what you think it is worth. And if the seller doesn’t want to accept then walk away and forget all about it. If the offer is rejected and you spend a lot of time thinking about it and what it might be, you are more likely to make an emotional decision and pay more than you should for it. And then regret it years later when you struggle to sell it. Possibly.

I must say I’m kind of on the same page as Retro here. While he has had quite a fall from grace I thought Vettel did a pretty good job of making those tyres last and keeping the train of clearly faster cars behind him. Yes, it helps that Barcelona is not the easiest track to overtake on but there is also an element of skilful and tactical driving and I thought Vettel did a very good job yesterday.

I think Albon has potential to improve. He has shown that he can be a brave and optimistic driver with some great drives, in places. I think he deserves a bit more time. I have also been impressed with George Russell this season. Despite being in a pretty uncompetitive car he has achieved some impressive results. In some ways I am surprised that Mercedes have given Bottas another year and not gambled with Russell.

At first I also thought that the comments from Seb sounded like major meltdown in the relationship but, again, thanks to retro’s post I have the context that we didn’t see in the highlights, and they make an awful lot more sense. Also, Vettel did have a more rational conversation on the radio a bit later in the race and seeing both of these together makes me think the relationship is not quite as toxic as might be suspected if you only heard the “Vettel: “Oh for **** sake! I asked you this before and now I’ve been pushing for 3 laps!” line

Ideally you need to have a listen. Personally, from the above suggestions I would avoid Naim (personally don’t like the sound and they are not cheap so it could be either an inspired choice or an expensive mistake) and I wouldn’t touch the Q Acoustics speakers. Haven’t heard any of their speakers that I like. Reasonable budget amp will be Audiolab 6000, Quad Vena II and Marantz. Currently Sevenoaks sound and vision have a couple of hundred quid off the Musical Fidelity M2si. For each of these though you need to be careful about the speakers you put with them. Heard the Audiolab 6000 with the accompanying 6000 CD Transport through Quad bookshelf speakers and it sounded superb. Heard it again with the new Wharfedale Evo speakers (can’t remember which ones and it was horrible). Also, the Audiolab doesn’t gel especially well with B&W (actually listened to the 6000 and B&W 705 s2 and it didn’t sound particularly great. It does depend a lot on what you like the sound of, what music you listen to and what speakers you are going for

I thought it was an excellent documentary. Hard to watch really with so many echoes of what it must be like being black (or even just foreign really) in this country. Although the root is slightly different, the attitudes and treatment are not.

I would cheekily say “stay away! Don’t ruin our holiday”. :) We have been going to Pembrokeshire quite regularly now for over 10 years and love it. Once you are past Tenby it is relatively unspoilt and has some gorgeous beaches, many of them mentioned above. We especially love Whitesands which, yes, does get busy at high tide but when tide is out it is a fabulous beach. Newgale also is a great becj but will feel more exposed than many of the others so if it is a bit breezy you will feel it. Also a bit more prone to weever fish at low tide. A bit further along and much harder to get to is Druidstone which is another beautiful beach.

A couple of places to eat in Porthgain (The Sloop and there’s also another very nice fish restaurant there). There are fabulous coast walks all around Pembrokeshire. There’s a lovely little cafe in Trefin (The Mill) which does a lovely breakfast, the Penrallt Garden Centre near Cardigan (another great little cafe), St David’s is great – especially the ice creams at what used to be Gianni’s (think it’s now The Bench). St David’s deli is always nice to look in and a couple of great restaurants (Cwch and St David’s Kitchen). Newport (as also mentioned above) is a pretty little town and you can easily escape from there up to the Preseli Hills (great view over Cardigan Bay and Dinas Head, donor of stone for Stonehenge) or down to the Porag for the beach or a coastal walk. Walk around Dinas Head. There’s an ecological type centre just outside Cardigan and some lovely riverside walking from Cardigan out towards the castle at Cilgerran.

There really is a lot to see and do there and it is a beautiful part of the country. Feels faintly Cornish but without the hordes of tourists. Be careful though – it is addictive. :)

Facing the very same dilemma myself now. Torn between the Vitra 1D Soft, The Humanscale Freedom Low back, the Giroflex G64 and the Steelcase Lets B Hi Back.

Decisions, decisions…….

You would think they might have learned their lessons from the last election. America was presented with two candidates – neither of which anyone really wanted. It was a case of picking the least worst one. And it looks like they made the wrong call. But funny things seem to happen in politics. For example, Theresa May’s “strong and stable” tag line. That was obviously going to be gold to, well, everyone and yet they persisted with it. I know we have been over this before, but it was also obvious going into the last election that Corbyn was never going to win. So we ended up with a choice of candidates that no one really wanted either…

Or, A year has passed since I broke my nose….

Not sure this so much ruined a song but it does make me smile…

Does it improve the original?

Brockmans it is for us. Although I was given a bottle of Mayfair the Christmas before last and that’s a very nice gin. Whitley Neill Quince gin is also very quaffable.

If you are ever down Cornwall way this is an amazing shop to visit

Mrs BC is really quite happy with either PG or Tetley. As I don’t drink tea I have no clue whether they actually taste any good or not.

Given what’s been happening recently this is probably the right thing to be doing. It doesn’t matter how old he is – he needs to learn about the consequences and implications of his actions. Sure, there will be a different process than perhaps an adult will have been through, but it is something that cannot and should not be ignored. I would hope there is a bigger picture going on here. For example, letting it be known that he is 12 years old. Given that most social media platforms expect you to be at least 13 this might also be trying to send a more subtle notice to parents who don’t seem to think it a problem letting their under age kids get on social media. And also, perhaps, to make parents think a bit more about what their kids might be up to online.

If you have a decent hi-fi system then the short answer is yes. Doesn’t necessarily need to be a hard disk stuck to the back of the streamer – could be a NAS box that’s part of your home network. FLAC file format works pretty well and is compressed so doesn’t take up quite as much storage space. You could stick with the iTunes / mp3 format if you want and can’t be bothered to re-rip the CDs but with even half decent equipment you will hear / notice a quality difference. There are other options depending on how you want to play it. Some will decide against the faff of ripping and just go with a high quality streaming service such as Qobuz or Tidal. For me, seeing as I have already bought the music and I have it locally why would I want to pay for a service that doesn’t let me keep the music. However, these services have their advantage in that they can let you hear new music without having to buy it and clutter your home up with even more CDs. It all comes down to your attitude to music and how you like to listen to it. :)

You will be wanting a KVM then I guess – that’s been the traditional way of managing these things. Just need to be super conscious of which machine you are currently connected to before doing anything drastic. :)

Our local bed shop do a pretty good, own brand, pocket sprung mattress that I think is great. Better, for me, than many of the other mattresses they sell at significantly higher prices. Still not as cheap as the Ikea jobbie but I think it’s pretty good value for money. Around £800 for a double. And I like it a lot more than our Hypnos. Wouldn’t have another one of them. Worth noting I generally prefer firmer mattresses.

Abingdon Beds if anyone is interested. Locally owned and run by a couple of decent lads.

Lots of good suggestions up there and, like everything else, people have their own preferences. Not too fussed about a bottle of wine on arrival – although that is a nice touch. Some biscuits or cake or some chocolates are always a nice treat to see when you walk into a place. As others have said, it’s not required and visitors won’t knowingly pay extra for it, but is a simple, nice touch that provides a perception when you first walk in. We have stayed in a lot of holiday lets and had mixed experiences. As someone else posted above, for me, a decent bed (well, mattress) is absolutely critical. I hate it when we go somewhere (and holiday lets in this country are generally not that cheap) and find a horrible, soft mattress. Washing machine essential, dish washer not so. Having some basic stuff in the house is good (salt, pepper, condiments, some cleaning agents, washing up liquid, a few dishwasher tablets) and perhaps leaving the visitors some milk is welcome. I would say a decent TV is pretty critical as is some way of providing access to more than just the basic free to air channels. Not saying you need to provide Netflix or Prime or Sky or anything like that, but access to more than just BBC1,and 2, ITV, Ch5 and Ch 4. Have information on the appliances you have that can be read and understood by most people and, again, as mentioned above, some sort of personalised “things to see / be aware of / recommended places to eat”.

To be fair, we’re not your target audience as for a holiday let we will be heading somewhere much nicer than a city centre. Usually somewhere coastal. Maybe you know the market well but a holiday rental in a city is not something I would ever be considering. Certainly not high end. And with 100 steps with no parking – even if I was looking for a city centre place, those two things would be putting me off straight away. As would a place that allows pets. Good luck with it.

Yep, had several. The local chippy has been open so picked one up each Friday during lockdown after dropping off my parents shopping. Our favourite Indian has been open so we had a couple of those in the first two weeks and for the last 3 weeks or so our favourite chinese has been open for takeaways again. Be rude not to support them. :) Time my Saturday ride so that I go out a bit later, order on my way back and pick up as I go past. Perfect

Interesting but, ultimately, not surprising news. Seb didn’t do himself any favours the last two seasons and the way LeClerc has settled into the team meant that it wasn’t going to look good for Seb going forward. I also can’t really see any other team wanting to pick him up. Could be intriguing to see which way all this goes. Hulk’s not a bad driver but there’s also Occon waiting in the wings. I suspect he is waiting for Mercedes to drop Bottas but then how long does he want to wait around. Not sure I can see Sainz and LeClerc working so well together in the same team so perhaps Riciardo might end up being a decent option.

Funnily enough got one today. Endura Humvee and I thought it was alright. Comfortable fit and not stupidly expensive.

We’ve had one of these in the kitchen for quite a few years now Old Bose Wave and a John Lewis DAB radio alarm clock for the bedroom. They work for what we want in those rooms although if I was buying a digital radio / tuner device for a room these days I would be tempted to go for a some sort of streaming or Bluetooth speaker as they are a lot more versatile. Hundreds of radio stations to choose from although the quality does vary quite a lot and doesn’t come close to having even a reasonable hi fi. In the study I just use my laptop to stream (usually Spotify) and use these Bluetooth speakers (R1700BT which I really like. Mrs BC has an AudioPro Bluetooth speaker she streams to from her iPad and then, attached to the hifi I have a Pioneer streamer which I will sometimes use to tune into radio stations.

As asked above – does he really need an electro acoustic for now? A reasonable acoustic guitar can be had for a decent price but once you get to electro acoustics any deficiencies in the sonics of the guitar become massively obvious when you plug them in. It will depend on what you like the sound of but the truth is that a lot of the cheap electro acoustics sound exactly that: Cheap. And not very nice. Although I have not heard it in person this is likely to be a very nice sounding acoustic guitar and not a bad price Nice little Yamaha. It will feel nice to play and sound very nice. Mrs BC has one similar (but is like 40 years older) and it really is a beautiful little number that has a lovely tone and plays really nicely. I don’t care so much for their electro acoustics though as they tend to sound a bit “hard” and brittle to me.

Going back to the OP – does the company pay any contribution to business miles? I would expect them to do so if you are doing miles for the company and then, as others have said, you will be able to claim the difference back at the end of the tax year. The car allowance is just an extra £5200 on your salary and will be subject to tax and NI. However, that’s it. No additional tax or BiK. Yes, there’s an element of you subsidising the company but it probably evens out a lot more over a year once you factor in the tax recovery. Plus you have a vehicle that is your own so, lose the job but keep transport. I get an allowance through my job (well, used to have the car, but a back of the fag packet calculation showed a bigger benefit to me in taking the allowance so I swapped) and the secret is being sensible in your choice of car. I make sure my car loan is within the monthly allowance including a contribution towards tax, servicing and insurance, and effectively I am being bought a car by my employer. What’s not to like? Sure, I don’t drive around in anything swanky or exotic but that’s my choice to be Mr Boring and Sensible. Sure, I could go and get something much “nicer” but I don’t want to spend my money in that way. :)

Yes, it very much can / does make a difference. However, I reckon rusty hit the nail on the head. Ultimately most of the hifi manufacturers are supposed to be creating kit that reproduces the original sound as closely as possible. However, everyone has their own preferences on the colouring (or otherwise) of reproduced sound. For CDs it will be very much down to the quality and capability of the DAC and how the manufacturer has integrated it into their equipment. You then have the whole joy of pairing systems – generally amps and speakers. If you have a speaker manufacturer that has a naturally brighter sound and you couple that with an amp that tends towards the bright you will have at best a fairly bright or harsh sounding system, at worst something that is almost unlistenable to. I have also found that price doesn’t necessarily mean good or that you will like it. Fro example, I am generally pretty non plussed with Naim. Yet others will wax lyrical about them. On the other hand, I absolutely loved the Audiolab 6000 ensemble with relatively modest Wharfedale speakers – sounded gorgeous. And for not a vast amount of momey. As did the Quad Vena. The only real way of knowing is going out to listen to stuff and let your ears decide if it sounds good or not.

I keep wanting to upgrade my amp but it’s still going (Rotel RA935 – probably over 30 years old now) and a similar vintage CD player (Pioneer PDS 904). Inherited a friends old Cyrus system for a while a few years ago and that sounded a noticeable step up on my system, but it took up to much space for SWMBO and so I traded it. Got me some B&W CM6S2 speakers in their place. Wasn’t historically a big fan of B&W but these sounded lovely and were better than anything else I tried there. My recent short list for new amps includes the Audiolab 6000, Quad Vena and Cyrus One. Have been recommended to take a listen to the Musical Fidelity M2 and M3 and given how popular they are I should also check out the Marantz amps. I will then probably spend the next 3 years going round the same loop and never actually buying one! :)

Mrs BC became a full time MUm when our first was born. For us, as with others, we wanted to have someone with the kids full time as they grew up rather then just ship them off to others to look after. At some cost. Sure, it was tough financially, and at times it was tough for both of us. It really isn’t easy being a full time parent but then it’s also tough being the one at work. Once the kids were older she picke up a very part time job that paid her a relative pittance. This was tied to the school that the kids were at and was obviously also tied to school terms. When the kids left school she left the job too. She had a bit of an illness after that which lasted a good few weeks and then got another job. Part time, zero hours, term time. Generally working in the mornings. She loves the work but struggles to work anything more than 4 mornings a week (the job only does mornings anyway). The pay amounts to basically pocket money for her. The zero hours thing works well for her and the company as they can’t really afford to have staff contracted especially when there is no work. She has got involved in a lot of other things (she informally mentors a couple of people, which she loves) and it gives her time to do other things such as meeting friends and socialising. Now my daughter has recently given birth it has also enabled her to be able to spend more time with her and our granddaughter. We have been fotunate that we have at least been able to afford to live on one salary but it has meant being modest. However, we still have a bigger mortgage than I would like and she has very little self confidence to go out and find a better job. There are times when it pisses me off that she can have this frankly, at times, indulgent lifestyle where she can get away with not working because “she cannot cope / manage working full time and wouldn’t know what to do”. Most of the time it doesn’t bother me as I can see she is happy and is enabled / free to do a lot of good things. However, those days when I look at the outstanding mortgage and when stuff hasn’t been done at home that could have been, it does piss me off. Maybe I’m just beign a grumpy old git! :)

Do hifi speakers alone – as in without a centre speaker – deliver good sound for movies, etc?

Yes they do although you are still governed by the quality of the AV Amp and the speakers themselves. I would say that for movies it is probably worth having a sub as well to help deliver the lower frequencies. The advantage a centre will give you is that it can help to clarify the vocal parts of a film soundtrack. Even a 2:1 system with a decent AV amp will do a reasonable job of some sort of surround sound

It’s always so very easy for those of us who are not having to face this situation every day to be able to make comments or offer advice. It’s a horrible situation to be in and I cewrtainly feel for you. There is a huge tension between trying to love him through this with unconditional love and hold a disciplinary hard line. As others have said, sometimes kids just go through a wild patch and there seems no rhyme or reason for it from our perspective. And most will then come out of it the other side although for some of those it may well still take a number fo years before they are able to comprehend the horror of what they put their family through. And then some don’t reach the turning point before it’s too late. I have a similar situation with my nephew. He started going off the rails a few years ago and seems to have absolutely no ability to associate his behaviour with consequences. Started off mostly by being angry and throwing / smashing stuff about. My brother was a lot more tolerant and softer with him than I would have been. It then progressed to drinking (under age) and then smoking weed and hanging out with “the wrong crowd”. He was a reasonably bright kid who had a lot of potential. Now, at 19 he has thrown pretty much msot of his future away. He is still angry, still drinks but looks and sounds like a 40 year drug veteran – no lights on, no one at home. He left school with zero qualifications and pissed away two apprecntice opportunities. Not even sure he is still at the “world owes me” stage or that it is even relevant anymore. The police interventions did nothing to change his attitude. At this rate he will probably be doing well if he is still alive by this time next year. Absolutely tragic.

Does this qualify the article as genuine click bait? ;)

The Royal fmaily thing as a whole is an interesting one. As the world changes the Royal family seems to be increasingly anachronistic. It was interesting to me when I was younger (I too remember the street parties in 1977 – it wasn’t just Star Wars that happened that year!) but as I have grown older I have become more ambivalent to them. I admire and respect the way the Queen has carried herself and the way she has dedicated herself to what she felt is her responsibility as Queen. There is something about heritage and culture and history (and we have a LOT of it here int he UK) but I’m not sure there is a role or need for the Royal Family in their current guise. Maybe the best thing is to plan for a new model for when the Queen dies and that becomes the seminal moment that we make that change.

I suspect this will be a much closer, tighter season. It will depend on how competitive the cars are. I still maintain that Ferrari had the better (certainly faster) car for the first half of last season and Vettel messed it up. LeClerc was unlucky in a couple of races and had the luck been with him might have made it a more competitive season – at least in the first half. Agree that Vettel is quick and talented driver but, for me, has shown these past few seasons that he doesn’t have that racers instinct. He is often quite clumsy when it’s time to get the elbows out and you can see that the odds are high that it will go a bit wrong. And as he gets older I don’t see that improving any. Likely to worsen as he probably still thinks in his head he is a great driver. If Ferrari and Red Bull in paerticluar have stronger cars this year then the championship will be a lot closer and I think could go anywhere between Hamilton, LeClerc and Verstappen. Based on the last two seasons I won’t be reading too much into the testing sessions they have though. :)