JulianA

Uk specific:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mst.newbirdsuk&feature=search_result

Or this one for the entire Palearctic zone (europe, north africa and north asia):

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.WPBirdingChecklist&feature=search_result

Wow, they were hard to find!

Also, when doing a bit of research into Android apps it seemed that you need an Android device to access the Android Market, whereas you can see what’s on the App Store from a PC.So you have to buy something before you know whether you can get what you want to run on it? No thanks!

You’re doing it wrong then!….i can access the android market from my laptop and the PC at work.

…somebody else has just posted you the link, if you cant get on it then i’d suggest you computer is at fault.

(just typed ‘bird guide’ into the search bar in the android market and it came up with loads, including specifically UK bird guides, US, Aussie etc…similar results for butterflies, trees etc…what exactly are you doing wrong?)

Depends what network you are with.

3 are happy to throw new phones at customers every year if you sign up for another year….so 1 year into a 2 year deal my other half usually rings up and asks for a new phone, 3 say ‘yes, but can you extend your contract by a year?’….GF says ‘yes’ and new phone arrives the next day.

Its ok if you are happy with the network but if she ever wants to leave then she’ll have to buy out her remaining months or wind down a 2 year contract.

I was with O2 for 12 years (when they were Cellnet!) and trying to get a decent phone from them was a joke…my ‘upgrade’ each year (or each second year, cant remember) would always be a step behind whatever was cutting edge at the time, my crappy old phones provided a great source of amusement for my friends….i think the free upgrades from O2 were just an excuse to get rid of old stock.
I’ve now switched to 3 and was given a choice of Nexus-S, HTC Desire HD, Samsung Galaxy-S or iphone-4 as my last phone….all phones i would have had to pay for with O2 the tight bastards.

Live in (on?) the Surrey Hills so tend to be lazy and ride off the drive and down whichever trail i fancy that day….i also live close to Swinley so should stop being lazy and sling the bike in the car and head over there….wouldnt mind doing one of the large Welsh trail centres too but struggling to get up before midday on my days off scuppers that idea!

Its fun.

If i stop enjoying it i’ll move onto something else….nobody holds a gun to my head and tells me to ride….same advice i’d give to anybody else, once it stops being fun move on.

I have a passing interest in Squash, Kickboxing, Motorcycles, Fishing, Golf, Rugby….if mountain biking gets a bit samey then i have a break for a while….people with only one interest either become good enough to make a living from it (rare) or simply become bores (much more likely).

You’ve come from a full suspension bike….no hardtail is going to feel flexy to you.

Zulu-Eleven

I love the flat tax rate idea….but i feel that a politician in this country espousing the idea of it would ruin his career in the same way that being found guilty of paedophilia might impinge on their career!

The masses have long ago decided that high earners should be punished for their endeavours….and still socialists would have you believe that theirs is not the politics of envy!

You’re being a pedant with the example of 1 degree.

….my previous Trek had a 71 degree head angle, my current Kona has a 68.5 degree head angle, the 2.5 degree difference is noticeable and i think its fair to consider the Kona to be a slack hardtail.

Elfinsafety – your kneejerk reaction to a cut in fuel duty is all too common in today’s society…but tell me is it fair to continue making fuel (and by default mobility) the reserve of the wealthy?

Once the oil is gone then a different source of energy will power the world….if this cant be found then a different kind of society will emerge….none of this is rocket science, humans have shown their adaptability thoughout the ages but dont that stop you from letting Green issues be the stick the government uses to get more tax from you!

My perfect political model (and it’ll never happen) is one whereby people are taxed at say: 10%, 20% and 30% depending on income.

Benefits should look after the disabled and those between jobs but no longer support those people who choose a lifetime on welfare.

Fuel duty is cut.

People paying to have private health cover should have a rebate because they lessen the burden on the state and the NHS can then do what it was set up to do….provide healthcare for those that cant afford it.

People paying to put their kids in private education should also have a rebate for the same reasons as above…it frees up classroom space in the state sector and lifts some of the burden on state provided education.

Start with that and see where we go….cant be any worse than the profligate spending that has gone on for the past couple of decades.

(Junkyard, i’m not evading tax….i had a letter telling me to get ready for higher tax and i simply decided to stop earning that kind of money and relax for the rest of the year…it means i start next year with a more sensible tax code than if i’d continued earning good money throughout this year….deciding to voluntarily cap my earnings at the levels where i pay 40% tax instead of pushing on to 50% is not the same as people cooking the books to avoid tax.)

Ransos….then kick up merry hell about it!

Income tax is only part of total taxation…the example i like is fuel…for a wealthy person to fill their car up with petrol costs the same as a poor person but who does it hit harder?…the rich person can afford the £50-£100 it costs to fill most cars these days but somebody earning £100 a week is being unfairly taxed in my opinion….didnt seem to stop Labour (party of the working man!) from ratcheting up tax on fuel though did it?!

If either party truly wants to free up the labour market and give some mobility back to the poorest in society then slash the tax on fuel….it wont happen though as the Guardianistas who determine the out-come in marginal seats love a bit of green policy.

(Grum-nothing selfish about earning as much as possible, i’m very generous with my earnings….in my opinion…and this will vary depending on your political viewpoint…the problem is/was governments seeing debt as acceptable and spending more than they were getting in tax reciepts…despite enjoying record tax income.
Why werent gold reserves replenished when times were good?….why wasnt the surplus that existed during the first few years of Labours tenure maintained?….political vanity and a desire to massively expand the state led to the UK being in a shite state when the financial crisis hit….but you’re right, it was my fault and others like me who are sensible with our money!)

Grum….i’m well aware that the higher tax rates only apply to earnings above a certain threshold…doesnt change the fact that somebody in Whitehall or Westminster seriously thinks it is right and proper to help themselves to half of somebody’e earnings (above a certain point obviously)….i find this idea nauseating.

The point of my post was to draw out the lefties who are actually nothing more than green eyed monsters….socialism does tend to be the politics of envy afterall….i’m not a greedy banker responsible for this current financial mess (if you believe some people) and i’m not a spendthrift public servant in Whitehall/Westminster (who are also complicit in this mess)….just an ordinary bloke making good money where i can….but as i said just now, the left only see the headline figure and cant help themselves!

I’m not unique, about 10 years ago i had a chat with a mate who was about 15 years older than me…he had a carpet fitting business which he ran until 3pm and then opened his gym from 3pm until 9pm…he worked hard, the carpet fitting was 5 days a week and the gym was open 6 days a week….he told me then that earning less than 100k a year was ‘poor’….that struck a chord and i’ve always tried to look after myself and earn as much as i can….there are however a huge number of people who think they are entitled to a good salary in exchange for a 35 hour working week….its just not going to happen.

If people stopped worrying about political ideals and trying to change the world and instead just focused on making things good for themselves then i reckon the world would be a much better place and all this class nonsense and wealth redistribution crap wouldnt be necessary.

(I think you’ll find its politicians who love to describe health care workers as ‘dedicated and caring’….when it suits them….if you speak to the people actually in these roles they’ll tell you its just a job and if something better came along then they’d leave.)

If the tube drivers are in the top 10% of earners in the UK doesn’t that mean that they are actually part of “the rich”?
Am I misunderstanding what “the rich” are?

Indeed, this could put the lefties in a quandry….now that the tube drivers are rich (but working class according to the lefties who love a bit of class pigeon holing)….should they now be hounded for higher taxes to bail out the ‘poor’?

I’ve never quite understood the obsession with class….at what point (in monetary terms) does somebody stop being working class?….or is it to do with accents?…..is somebody working class if they are from a wealthy background, educated privately but end up working for minimum wage in an unskilled job?….can people cross the class barrier?

….see how silly it all is?

The loony left love it though!….i put this kind of nonsense on a par with the outdated ‘caste’ system in India.

The niche bikes thing makes me piss myself….i’ve never seen these bikes out and about.

When i’m riding i come across the usual array of 27/30 speed mass produced bikes from all the main brands….when i went to a round of the Gravity Enduro this year it was more of the same….Specialised, Yeti, Trek, Orange, Giant etc as far as the eye could see….there was a smattering of steel hardtails which was nice to see but even these were equipped with conventional 20-30 speed drvetrains….

….where do all the niche bikes get ridden?….or are they just built up, photographed to post on the forum and then stood up in somebody’s front room?….the latter i suspect!

It should be noted that a lot of the debt from 1915 until the 60s in that chart will have been due to two world wars decimating the British economy.

Had a Fiat Punto about 7 years ago….comical build quality and reliability….unless something has changed in recent years then i wouldnt own another one….same goes for Citroen, laughable that they sell any given how badly put together my one was.

Parents have a Kia and a Mercedes….guess which one goes wrong all the time? (its not the one from the far east)….i have a Hyundai, other half has a Mitsubishi….i wont buy european again, seem to be very much style over substance.

I can see a Gravity Enduro type event working really well there….its a small area but the event at Eastridge earlier in the year by 661 Gravity Enduro showed how well an event can run on a small piece of land.

If the trail was closed off for the weekend then you could have some excellent stages involving current uphill sections running the other way and obviously use the existing downhill parts….i’d sign up for that!

I had a letter earlier in the year from HMRC informing me that i would soon be liable for the 50% tax rate (the one that starts at £150,000) if i continued to earn as i had been at the start of the year….

….i’m a Paramedic.

Like i said, the money is out there if you are prepared to move around for it….recently i have been enjoying the oil/gas boom in Western Australia and being paid $1,000 (£660) per day for my services….i have also been whoring myself out for sports events cover at £50 per hour….then there is the Forensic/Police Custody work….then there are the private minor injury/illness centres cropping up all over London at the moment which pay ridiculous rates to recruit people like me to pander to the idiots in London who dont want to wait in an NHS A&E….

….obviously the very idea of 50% tax is abhorrent to me, i think its immoral for a government to think they are entitled to half of anybody’s money….so i have scaled back and now work about 3 days a week doing a mixture of NHS emergency work and private work for the police.

We are an increasingly unhealthy nation with a fat population who are suffering ever more with heart complaints, diabetes, breathing problem etc….love it, i just see a big fat £ sign waddling towards me when these people rock up in A&E.

(typing this from the house i live in for free as it came with the premises my girlfriend rents for business….my house is rented out thus providing another income source….not back at work until Saturday, cant decide whether to have a beer and a **** or go out on the bike for a while?)

Decisions, decisions.

Possibly, working Sat but should be able to come over Sunday….just to say well done on the trails, rode there again last week and loved it.

Tracked the route on my GPS and it came out at a smidge over 7km which ties in nicely with what you’ve said about adding an extra kilometre as the signs in the carpark say the orange route is 6k….its actually pretty hard going for a short trail, which is good!

The climbs and switchbacks arent my favourite but if i just wanted to ride downhill i’d buy a DH bike and do uplift days somewhere, this is mountain biking and the trail at QE park makes you work for the rewards….my favourite part is about the midway point where you come through some bushes and the hill drops away to the right and looking down there are about 6 lovely banked turns all the way to the bottom, makes the climbing prior to that all worth while!

Slightly annoying thing last time was the small number of riders i came across who were riding the route the other (wrong) way…the signs are quite clear about where the trail starts and if you’re going the wrong way then the back of the signs are all you can see, this must give some people a clue?!

Good on them….there is plenty of money out there if you have the right skills and are prepared to move around for it.

Most hardtails are still being made with 70/71 degree head angles so anything that kicks the front wheel out a few more degrees is welcome….especially as it means long squishy forks dont have to be fitted to achieve the same thing….its all relative anyway, an old Saracen i once owned had a 73 degree head angle, a lot of cross country specific mountain bikes still do.

Slept with a good mate’s ex….

Slept with a colleague while her hubby was fighting the good fight in Iraq….

Cheated in some exams….

Stole money from customers when i worked in a bank….

That about covers it.

Shush now Elfinsafety….that kind of talk upsets people around here who like to believe their mega expensive frame came from a super exclusive factory that isnt the same factory putting out bargain Carrerras!

Its why i bought a Kona Caldera frame….not niche or glamourous but lightweight aluminium and a 68.5 degree head angle on a 100mm fork…only £150 from CRC too…superb.

Doesn’t the network automatically send out Android operating system updates? Gingerbread (2.3) has been around for some time?

Fat people.

People in positions of responsibility who act irresponsibly….e.g Politicians who spend money that isnt there….Bankers who loaned money to bad debtors….etc etc

Greenies/Environmentalists.

….i’m a little bit racist too but thats for another day.

*double post*

Same here GG, rode more difficult stuff back in the 90s when I was a brave (stupid?) teenager on a fully divine GT Avalanche!

100mm hardtail…..I like the simplicity, it just looks right too.
Extremely satisfying to cover challenging terrain on a bike the magazines would have you believe is only good for trips to the corner shop.

I rode Gibbet Hill on a 100mm hardtail the other day….didn’t die or anything! Would probably have been faster and more comfortable on full suspension but I like the simplicity of hardtails.
Gibbet Hill is where the Whyte bikes video that is currently on Bike Magic was filmed and short travel forks were fine.

It was crap.

Not helped by April and May being very good indeed, i went on a work placement at the end of May for 8 weeks, the placement was Mon-Fri 9-5, i though i would miss most of the summer but it didnt seem to happen….there were warm humid days but the cloud never seemed to clear and hanging washing in the morning was a complete lottery….in the end i just gave up and dried clothes in the house.

The last week is what a summer should be, clear skies, sun shining and 25+ degree heat….beautiful and exactly what we had in April/May….because such nice weather has sandwiched the underwhelming summer i think its fair to describe the summer as crap.

Probably easier to just buy a small petrol car then?….seems like diesels are getting ever more complicated and are likely to be ludicrously expensive to fix when they go wrong.

The 2 ring SLX chainset i bought from CRC was £80 including the cranks and bottom bracket….i was going to upgrade from the Alivio set-up the bike came with anyway and when this came along at the price it did then it made my decision to go 2×10 much easier.

Like others here i have never used the 44 tooth big cog off road, so why have it?….it would get used when i covered some road miles but since getting a road bike this no longer happens…the mountain bike either gets ridden from my house directly off road (lucky to live in the Surrey Hills) or it gets put in the car and taken to where i want to ride off road….no more road miles so for me no more large chainring up front either.

The 22/36 rings with an 11-36 cassette seems to allow feeble old me to get up most things, even if it would be quicker walking.

Some shots from the Devils Punchbowl and Gibbet Hill today, glorious weather!

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Lane discipline is what bothers me the most on dual carriageways and motorways.
If somebody wants to do 55-60mph on these roads then fair enough but have the courtesy to do it in the far left lane. As the highway code says, the other lanes are for overtaking.

The most irritating people on the road are those who sit at 60mph in the middle lane….actually they are trumped by the ones that do 70mph in the far right lane preventing anybody from going past. If they have a problem with people breaking the speed limit then call in to the police with registration numbers….or just join the police. Joyless bastards.

Traffic would flow ten times better and we’d avoid the concertina effect if people drove in the correct lanes.

I take the motorbike on most long journeys these days, dont sit in traffic and can ignore average speed cameras as they face the front of the vehicle and there’s no number plate on the front of a bike….also never gets old watching people’s angry contorted faces as i filter past to the front of the traffic.

Good idea and long overdue, modern vehicles are more than capable of cruising safely at 80mph…its just the person behind the wheel that stuffs things up once in a while….perhaps an increase in speed will raise people’s concentration?

With more and more urban areas going to 20mph, raising the motorway limit gives people an opportunity to claw back some journey time, i think this is probably the real reason for doing it.

The trend in recent years has been for 20mph urban areas and a lot of the national limit (60mph) single carriageway roads have been reclassified at 50mph….if you actually obeyed the limits these days you wouldnt get anywhere.

Personally i’d like them to go the whole hog in an Autobahn style without limits….but rigidly and mercilessly enforce lane discipline.

As somebody else said in an earlier post, if it tries to be cool….like Ferrari with the hideous merchandising then it is not cool.

Cool is not about objects as such but about how these objects are used….effortless and laid back is cool.

When i see another middle aged, perma-tanned, jewellery clad, sunglasses wearing Ferrari driver in his showroom shiny car i dont think he looks cool….he looks like he’s having a mid-life crisis….

…however, take the same model Ferrari but one that looks like it hasnt been washed in months, put the driver in less flashy attire and have the Ferrari park at the local supermarket while the owner nips in for some shopping and you have a cool Ferrari….even better if on close inspection there are some kerb marks on the alloys or a few car park scratches.

Similar story for Ducati….the bikes themselves are cool but ruined by the tw*ts who kit themselves out from head to toe in Ducati gear and matching leathers to go for a ride about 6 times a year on said bike….cool Ducatis are when you spin round because you hear that awesome engine note and are met with a slightly ratty example carrying its patina with pride, the rider should also be wearing jeans for maximum effect.

People who name drop brands into conversation are instantly uncool and sadly the brand they have just name checked slowly becomes less cool as more and more bores bang on about said brand….Apple for example.
Nice products but the following that Apple has is cringeworthy…instantly uncool and as somebody else said, very rarely will an iphone owner ask if you’ve seen their phone if they’ve mislaid it….it will always be “has anybody seen my iphone?”

Be honest, if your boss knows you are going then dont act the piss-taking c*nt by telling porky pies about it….but hand in YOUR notice when YOU are ready….i think thats perfectly acceptable.
What are they going to do, fire you for not handing in your notice at a time that was convenient for them?!

Aston Martin….undecided on this, not bad though, less ostentatious than Ferrari, Lamborghini etc which can only be a good thing.

Apple….not cool, now very much a cliche.

Harley-Davidson….not cool, mid-life crisis on wheels.

Rolex….not cool, flashy and gaudy, understated is cool.

Bang & Olufsen….not sure on this, i’m going with not cool, i think this marks one out as a stereo nerd/geek.

BlackBerry….dont like them myself (mainly for the teeny tiny keys) but the owner/user is usually less of a bore than the average iphone owner.

Google….cool, doesnt seem to be any pretence, just does what it does and very well.

Ferrari….for Peter Stringfellow types, not cool.

Nike….its a sports brand, if you’re over the age of 16 then whether Nike, Adidas or any of the other sports brands are cool or not should be of no importance to you.

YouTube….cool, see google, efficient at what it does and not targeting a specific ‘cool’ group.

2×10 here.

22/36 up front and 11/36 cassette.

Will probably change the 22 tooth chainring for a 24 or 26 tooth item as I rarely go for the lowest 22-36 ratio any more.
As others have said, ditched the big cog as I wasn’t using if off road and fitted a bash guard instead. In my opinion I now have the perfect spread of off road gears.

Also agree massively with the people saying they enjoy a bastard of a hill and would rather stay on the bike than get off and walk….even when the front is wandering and the rear is losing traction. There is a certain masochistic pleasure to be gained in getting up something that looked impossible at the bottom and I need the 22 for that!