Yup. Just finished reading it before the mid series came out. Couldn’t face watching it. How could they do it any justice? Loved Tolstoy’s notes on war. Favourite quote:

“But what is war? What is needed for success in warfare? What are the habits of the military? The aim of war is murder; the methods of war are spying, treachery, and their encouragement, the ruin of a country’s inhabitants, robbing them or stealing to provision the army, and fraud and falsehood termed military craft. The habits of the military class are the absence of freedom, that is, discipline, idleness, ignorance, cruelty, debauchery, and drunkenness. And in spite of all this it is the highest class, respected by everyone.”

On Friday I ordered an ID network sim only 1 month contract. Its run by Carphone warehouse and runs on three’s network.

For £10 I’m getting 500 mins, 5000 texts and 4gb of data. I got this deal through uswitch.

Anyone have any experience of iD?

Here and LFGSS

I neither own a mountain bike or a single-speeder!

Got my wife a night in a castle (away from the kids). It went down very well. However I fear I enjoyed the battlements and suits of armour more than she did though.

Despite owning most of the later albums I’ve never got round buying “Yellow Submarine”. Listened to it on the cycle in this morning. Even some tracks I hadn’t heard before. Brilliant.

I’ve never understood the STW loathing of the Beatles.

Just make sure you delete Revolution 9 before you put the albums on shuffle!

I am writing this on an A3. I think there are better phones for the money out there like Sony M4. However I’m dead happy with mine. Small screen, 4G, takes SD card, on lollipop. However no replaceable battery. Takes a nano sim I think?

Some thoughts from my recent experiences….

Tidal allows you to download as many tracks as you like onto your device while Spotify restricts you to 3333.

Microsoft’s Groove Music has the largest collection at 40 million.

The Spotify app has been around for ages. It will even work on old devices by using an older version. I’ve used it recently on a 2nd generation iPod touch where few other apps work.

Google Play Music and Tidal give you access to music videos.

Qubox has the best collection of jazz but is less great for other stuff.

Use soundiiz.com to transfer playlists across services so you can use all the free trail periods.

And yet the study of complex, dynamic systems suggest it is perfectly reasonable for the initial act of disrobing to climax in an earthquake. Perhaps there is wisdom in such ancient beliefs!
😉

Cool. Just installed Google Messenger. It never occurred to me I could use anything other than the stock app. The stock app even can be disabled.

I have some great memories of my Peter Powell stunt kite on various family holidays around Britain. Would happily disappear for hours with the thing. Built like a tank and easy to use (and repair).

I use smugmug. Has unlimited storage for a couple of quid a month. Stores 20 min videos and high resolution photos. Good iOS and android apps.

Three told me I had to deal with Sony. I contacted Sony Xperia Support on 08705 237 237. After a chat with them I had to send it off free post, it was repaired and returned.

Also try: http://www.sonymobile.com/gb/support/contact-us/

I did explain that it cracked without any obvious external pressure. They then obviously took a look at it once I sent it in. No explanation given just a repair returned.

My Z original spontaneously cracked whilst in my pocket, while I was walking down a corridor. Sony replcaed it no worries. Took two weeks though….

I dropped my S4 and cracked the screen in January. I used one of those unoffical services found on the highstreet that also sell phone cases. It was repaired to a good standard and done in a couple of hours (I didn’t want to send my phone away). Cost £60 I think (only glass broken).

Ah, but do you really? You may need to discover your misanthropy is lopsided. Some people may not be enjoying as much of your hate as others. Why miss this chance of learning who you need to hate more to balance things out?!

Went to Morroco a few years ago. Had a few nights in Essaouira then headed to Marrakech (both ways by local bus which was brilliantly cheap). Barely there a day before longing to be back on the coast. The fishing port was just relaxed and fairly empty. Very tempted to take up kite surfing which it is a bit of a Mecca for. Loved eating the deep fried doughnut equivalents from the street stalls.

Once I tried to change a flat on a work’s C8. Couldn’t for the life of me find the jack.

After reading the manual (surely a sign of bad design) I discovered it was under the bonnet. Stupid enough I thought. Then I spent ages trying to find the bonnet release lever. Again had to consult the manual. Found it was under a hidden panel, on the passengers side! French cars are innovative just for the sake of it.

Oh and who puts the speedo in the middle of the dashboard, pressed up against the windscreen? I now just guess my speed in relation to other vehciles…

I think Amazon Prime might be slightly better on content. However Netflix can use Chromecast which is a massive plus. Also Netflix has more series of the US “The Office” which I’ve acquired some sort of chemical dependency on!

Love the enthusiasm.

I am now thinking that our fleet will be bringing a cbeebies element to town centres and motorways. As our saloons fly past at 40 in 30 mph the kids on their way to school will inhale deeply and smile!

I got a load of Spotify credit for birthday and Christmas presents. Thing is I tend to want to get my money’s worth so listen to all manner of stuff that I wouldn’t normally. I mean it is incredible I can listen to almost anything in the world ever recorded for a measly tenner! However deep down I think I’d just prefer to listen to the music I’ve already bought. My music tastes haven’t changed all that much and I’ve got a pretty good selection.

I had hassle with my handset and eventually got what I wanted through these guys:

http://www.ombudsman-services.org/communications.html

Thanks for all the replies. I thought the mileage was a bit rubbish but perhaps not.

Just got a 105 5700 bottom bracket from Evans Cycles. They price matched Chain Reaction Cycles and I got it for £8.99. After the reassuring noises on here I’m quite pleased about that actually.

Just seen the price of the ceramic ones. Would have to last ages for that money. However even an extra years use is appealing. Have always hated messing with bbs. If you mess them up its either expensive or you get stranded with no easy fix!

Yup tightened the cap and the pinch bolts (probably overtightened).

Just seems such a short life after the old square taper bottom brackets.

That wiggle link may be just the thing.

I wish there was a better alternative to Hollowtech.

Barely needed to pedal all the way to work. Beautiful man, beautiful.

I might just have to move house before heading home to I don’t have to fight it on the way back.

Just installed Hola on my Android phone and discovered the joys of US Netflix. Now got seven series of The West Wing to wade through. Is this as bad as pirating? Can I expect an imminent visit by the CIA?

I rented a house for 10 years with it. Bought a house a couple of years ago also with it. It is an old system but has not gone wrong for us.

The only upsides to it are that it heats bits of the house very quickly and you don’t need ugly radiators cluttering up the place. We are saving up to get it replaced. A heating engineer two doors down said it’ll cost 3-5k to do this. Perhaps just factor that in the offer?

Great actor. Shame to lose him so tragically. Beyond “Mork and Mindy” the film that left an enduring impression on me:

“But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? – – Carpe – – hear it? – – Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.”

Thanks guys. Those are certainly the offending parts. There are adjusters on the thumbsifters so intend to lose these bits if possible.

Has anyone mentioned this yet? I didn’t notice it and the bingo missed it out!

“Approximately 85 percent of U.S. grazing lands are unsuitable for producing crops. Grazing animals on this land more than doubles the area that can be used to produce food.”

I’ve got a Van Nic Yukon which can take mudguards and panniers. Looks like the frame itself is £1k from Van Nic direct but I got my whole bike for less than that new so there must be deals around.

Ti is ace for commuting and if i ever bothered to clean it it would polish up splendidly. Really do think it is a bike for life!

She certainly has a habit of looking anywhere but where she is going so I can imagine her encountering a some abuse very soon!

Used Windows 8.1 for around a month. Got to the point where its inconvenience was minimal. However I’ve just installed classic shell and its like returning to a favourite old pair of slippers.

The Walkman app is native on my Xperia Z. I’ve compared it to the others and it is obviously clearer. Google music certainly had the streaming advantage but the loss of quality is noticeable. Has anyone else compared audio quality of the different players?

Have Sony’s Walkman app which is the best quality. Rocket Player, Poweramp and Neutron are all good. However I like Google’s own music app as it ties in with their massive free storage and Spotify equivalent.

I believe the xperia version of android is more stock than HTC. Also it has expandable memory.

I quite like the port covers as they keep the phone clean.

Stumpy, those messages can be turned off. On my Z you just hold your finger on the message and it comes up with a dialogue box saying “app info”. Tap this and then disable the apprpriate app.

For instance disbale com.sonyericsson.unplugchargereminder

I have just the Xperia Z. Kids play with it in the bath! I think the camera is better than the HTC as well.

Start the day mid morning. Squeeze my own orange juice and drink it while looking out from my Ewok like treehouse, across the deer park.

Spend a couple of hours fettling with my vast collection of early E-types.

Enjoy a Ploughmans at the local with a pint or two.

Have a siesta.

Spend the afternoon learning to juggle chainsaws. Get private doctor to patch me together afterwoods.

Spend the evenings with a very old single malt and watch the deer again from aloft my treehouse.

Found the article grum linked to very provoking.
http://www.ihr.org/news/weber_ww2_may08.html
However I noticed the Institute for Historical Review (the source) has a rather alarming affiliations if their wikipedia entry is anything to go by:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Historical_Review

Exit Through The Gift Shop +1
Man On Wire +1
Dark Days +1
I would like to add “The Endless Summer” to the mix.