Yup. The Post Office springs to mind. Sent people to prison rather than admit their accountin system was shit.

TiRed for PM please.

https://www.livescience.com/25779-christmas-traditions-history-paganism.html

Goes a bit deeper than just be a celebration of a sky faeries birthday.

There’s probably an argument to be made that Eid is big enough in the UK to make employers give that time off on a compulsory basis (if not an emergency worker etc).

Depends. Are we talking about Mark with or without the tache?

Hahah!

Hitler, Charlie Chaplin, Bruno Ganz….take your pick :D

I give you – Mark Skejo a croation politician….I don’t think I have to name his doppelganger somehow…..

KEF have a more “budget” model as well – the Q350

I can’t tell you if the 3010i’s would be an upgrade. Those iQ3’s were pretty high end 500 quid speakers back in the day and KEF has a certain sound – brighter than Q Acoustics. I’m sure the newer larger 3020i/3030is would give you better bass response but they will sound different to KEFs. The KEF LS50 is going to be your modern equivalent.

Yeah if I set my AVR to output stereo through my Q Accoustic 3050is, TV and movies still sounds just fine.

The AVR’s these days recognise how many speakers you have wired in and adjust accordingly during setup.

Also, agreed on the source – make sure you have netflix, amazon, apple tv etc set to stereo unless you have a 3.1 or 5.1 setup.

Active speakers/soundbar – eg the above Edifier 1700 bookshelves = no amp needed and connection via optical. You’ll get better clarity of speech but little control over dynamic range – the speakers especially will drive close to reference levels of dynamic range which means the explosions will be louder. Active bookshelves will definitely cure the distortion at volume as well.

Bookshelf speakers plus stereo amp, the same as above really but with the option of being able to upgrade more easily. Hifi diehards will stick to stereo amps over AVRs.

Bookshelf plus AVR – lots of fine tuning possibilities. The AVR’s can help to iron out your rooms acoustic issues, the extent to which depends on how much you spend. Dynamic range can be adjusted, plus each speaker can be independently adjusted for volume, timing and depending on the AVR basic to advanced equalisation using either automatic processes or manual processes depending on what you prefer. That means that not only can you adjust the dynamic range but for example, you can bump the centre speaker (if you upgrade to one) up by a couple of decibels (where the majority of speech comes from).

Could I cure the sound issues with some speakers? Do I need an amp? Would that plug into the TV or the Virgin box? Total noob, never bought anything like this before.

Active bookself = optical out from tv – Stereo amp = optical out from tv depending whether the stereo amp has that connection – AVR = every input known to man, you could connect your sky box to it via HDMI, it will then split the sound and picture – sending the picture to the tv via HDMI out and the sound to the speakers using the onboard amps.

I’d agree with this. With a 2 channel hifi set up, you’ll be getting ridiculously loud music/effects and quiet speech. It just doesn’t sound right…

Never had that issue with basic stereo setups, that’s you just not being used to proper reference level dynamic range – might be a problem if you’re in a semi with thin walls between you and your neighbours but the OP never complained about that with his old setup…so doubt it will be an issue with his new one.

The way to solve that down the road is with any budget yamaha AVR as opposed to a new amp – they all allow you to adjust the dynamic range – and the sound quality from the AVR will be easily good enough for a set of 100 quid bookshelves.

You need the storage vessels and adequate training/safety measures put in place for liquid nitrogen. More doable – but we still get back to my original point – for example Pharmafreight who are the last people I dealt with require an MHRA Wholesale Dealer’s Authorisation to allow them to store and transport medicines through their Heathrow site.

IMO we lack as a nation, adequate capacity in that regard (compliant distributors) to cope with the scenario.

+1

Dry ice is great until your aircraft is rerouted or a lorry is stuck somewhere and people forget to refill it, causing a temperature excursion – happens all the time when that method is used. One of my first jobs as a graduate lab tech working in a biotech was to check the temperature probes for precisely that occurrence.

Er, wut? I mentioned Gourock half as a joke, but in all seriousness Calmac has a spare/relief ocean-going ferry that can offload there and the terminal’s got about 20 hours free capacity a day in even a normal winter. And it’s 7 hours drive from Gourock to London, so why are things going into university freezers in your head? The UK’s a small place, there’s nowhere on the mainland that isn’t useful for this sort of thing- the only time road logistics can be an issue is if, frinstance, Kent collapses into anarchy/flood/rivers of poo/triffids. Even with a daft extreme example like mine, it works.

Because it’s a short drive but rounding the lorries up to do it and packing it all on to dry ice will be the time consuming bit.

It’s a good thing that Scotland doesn’t have extreme weather events at the height of January and February….oh wait…

I’ve spent too much time in Pharma QA investigating too much outright stupidity to believe for a second that this is going to work without farce and a headline grabbing scandal under a no deal Brexit scenario sorry.

How do you think the specialist pharmaceutical distributors and shippers will feel about the shipping delays and their freezers being locked up and unable to be turned around quickly for their next customers?

Can anyone estimate just how many doses could be carried in appropriate containers in a cargo version of a 747?

And where do you think you’re suddenly going to magic up those containers? Long lead items because all the rest have been snaffled up by everyone who else who needs to fly product in. You think Pfizer is going to be happy about their product being put at risk by being loaded on to a dodgey second hand container sourced by Sharma when it could go to a more reliable country?

It is similar.

In April we failed because we didn’t source enough PPE.

In January we will fail because we won’t have sourced enough pharmaceutical approved cold chain distributors to cope with a no deal scenario where increased stock levels and longer distribution chains are required.

We can’t just go shoving vaccines in the University of the Highlands and Islands decrepit 40 year old -80 freezers whilst lorries are diverted to Scotland.

My girlfriend works in a school. Masks aren’t allowed in class, kids and staff alike. The exceptions are one-to-ones where they can wear a visor. And, irony of ironies, outside.

Whether this is national policy or the head being a control freak I do not know, I have a sample size of “one.”

Actually, I have an ex who’s a teacher, I could ask her and increase my sample by 100%.

Surely this is reportable?

https://www.cieh.org/ehn/health-and-safety/2020/april/hse-opens-up-anonymous-hotline-for-workers/

Whistleblowers can now report COVID-19 concerns directly to watchdog, rather than via management.

The problem with PPE wasn’t shipping it, it was actually doing any sane preparation and procurement.

If the argument is “this government will **** it up” then sure, but that’s not a problem with ports or similar, that’s a problem with arseholes.

Getting the vaccine in, under a no deal brexit scenario will be very similar to trying to get PPE in at the last minute. It absolutely was and is comparable.

As I’ve said repeatedly, good luck finding approved distributors with enough capacity to deal with a no deal scenario hahahaha.

And if any of the thousands of newly trained idiots in customs are anything to go by, they’ll probably open up the containers and let a springer spaniel shit on the vaccines.

3020’s are £120-£130 on Amazon depending on the finish, the extra 20-30 quid gets you a bigger driver and better bass response over the £99 3010s.

You may be able to get them even cheaper elsewhere.

Depends on what you define as better or if you think there is an issue with your current speakers?

You might really love the sound of your current speakers, even if another set of speakers are technically flatter or have a better transient response. Maybe you don’t? Maybe you think the bass is lacking? Generally speaking, a bigger woofer will give you less roll off at lower frequencies. If the treble is harsh? Might be your room, might be the type of tweeter etc.

Go and listen to some speakers when COVID is over – also visit the audiosciencereview forums not whathifi or anyone who tells you that cables matter outside of gauge/distance – but mostly just take a listen with your own ears and ignore everyone.

Nahhh the 3010s will crap all over an equivalently priced soundbar, you have to pay a small fortune to even start approaching the quality of a budget set of bookshelves. Those 3010s are genuinely good speakers that even sound better than 400-500 quid speakers from 10 years back. Plus option to add a sub using high level inputs or upgrade the amp/receiver in the future and add more speakers eg a centre.

Soundbars are disposable electronics, a set of those Q-accoustics will last you 10+ years – so you can keep your nice speakers and only ever really upgrade the receiver unless you are unlucky or wilfully negligent with the speakers.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/11/16/matt-hancock-refuses-rule-making-covid-19-vaccine-mandatory/

If Matt Hancock makes the covid vaccine mandatory I’ll forgive him for everything… **** I’ll petition to have a statue put up of him… because the tears of anti-vaxxers will put a smile on my face for the rest of my existence.

Like literally anywhere you can park a small ocean going ferry, or crane refrigerated containers off a deck. Hell, hire the Isle of Arran and deliver it to Gourock. There’s any number of ways around it, all of them more expensive and all of them more hassle and all of them cut into the refrigerated lifespans, they’re not good options. But they’d get the job done.

Of course, what you want is for it to be a simple bit of business-as-usual. But if we decide to blow up our business-as-usual for no good reason, as it seems we’re intent on doing, and lose all the good options, that just means we have to resort to bad ones, it doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

Says the person who has never had to bin a batch or product because they ran out of liquid nitrogen at the airport after the freezers went down or because some **** forgot to fill up the container with dry ice. Etc etc etc etc

You do realise that we couldn’t even get PPE into this country in an emergency?

1. There are plenty of ways to store and transport at -80c

Yes, there are plenty of ways. However, hpw many companies with spare capacity are there who are approved by Pfizer to distribute their products or who are compliant with pharmaceutical GDP regulations? The answer is less than you might think.

Again, Amazon aren’t going to be distributing vaccines any time soon.

Q Accoustic 3010i/3020i/3030i depending on budget.

Wharfdale D310’s are around 110, no experience with them.

The older non “i” model Q Accoustic 3010 is going for 100

I really rate my 3010is that I use for my surrounds

People keep saying that but it’s a bit of nonsense, specific vehicles can be expedited and even if Kent’s infrasatructure pretty much totally collapses at times- which seems reasonably likely- there are other ports and other ways to get stuff into the country. Some geezer invented air travel.

It’s a ridiculous situation but this isn’t really that relevant to it.

So vaccine suppliers and distributors are idiots for being worried then?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54908129

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2020/11/13/grant-shapps-rules-out-brexit-disruption-to-coronavirus-vaccine-delivery/

Don’t worry everyone, Matt Hancock and Grant Schapps say they can fly all the vaccines in with all of those cold chain transport planes that will suddenly become available to the UK and the UK only. Just like they did with those facemasks that absolutely didn’t sit on runways for days.

Seeing as the NHS can get my wife live blood products, chilled at all times with short(ish) shelf life from USA on a monthly basis, I’m sure they’ve got the problem solving skills to make this happen.

+1 on there being other vaccines.

I dealt with cold chain plasma products from the US, it goes wrong all the time and that’s with starting material (plasma) delivered in massive batches at once.

This will be more difficult, given how the product will be packaged – especially with a no deal brexit. There’s isn’t a whole lot of validated cold chain storage floating about that is free for use and the government have not ramped this capacity up adequately.

its an absolutely standard thing found in most serious life science research facilities.

Having worked in academic labs and pharma, academic -80c freezers horrify me. Again, how many of those freezers in university labs will meet the requirements for storing licensed medicines?

I’ll place good money that come Spring 2021 there will be a scandal in full swing surrounding the delivery of the Pfizer vaccine and Boris will be out on his arse.

I know that, it doesn’t make it the cheapest place to be though. Liquid nitrogen is very cheap to make.

It’s also a nightmare in terms of handling and safety, Mr brexit voting village idiot employed on whatever hair brained scheme the government cook up will probably suffocate him or herself and half their colleagues to death using it.

I’ve worked in pharma QA far too long not to be convinced that this is going to be anything other than a gigantic cock up.

Because pfizer had managed to make a lovely first world vaccine that due to temp storage needs, cost and complexity of dosing it will only be for white first world countries that can pay the above cost price for it.
can you tell I think they are a bunch of money grabbing c****
Az and others are making theirs at cost.
~$5 dollars a shotfor az vs $20 for the money grubbers.

Which means Pfiezer will have enough money to take a gamble and be the first ones to develop a vaccine for the next mutant strain of covid-19 or goat flu.

How long do you think AZ will be able to keep up plowing R&D money into new vaccines that may or may not work for all the Covid variants over the next decade at cost?

You guys seem to be operating under the presumption that all will be fine and we’ll get back to normal when the vaccines hit the market in significant quantities, we won’t – there will have to be seasonal vaccine development like we have with the flu.

I suspect so! But who knows! Cummings was reported to be arguing with Whitty over cutting down the quarantine time to 7 days, with him eventually having to compromise with Whitty with an agreement on 10 days.

You reckon it’s locdown related? Eg May’s influence?

I was thinking that it’s the news that Brexit will utterly **** the Pfizer vaccine distribution along with Biden getting in.

The Tories are shitting themselves, Cumming is gone because no deal will be off the table with Biden getting in and the talk about vaccines getting stuck in Calais that need -70 degree cold chain distribution….has given them cold feet.

Reality has dawned.

Prepare for a Tory civil between the ERG and the more sensible lot.

There’s no cockneys left, they’re all mockneys now and I try to avoid them at all cost.

Also being a saint could have got me stabbed or accused of murder if he was brown bread.

Eh?

Edit: Oooh that means dead in mockney apparently.

Hmm, I know an ex-MSF now nurse who is definitely the type to do that (minus ditching the kid).

Same, it’s great isn’t it – it’s like the medical worlds equivalent of the Foreign Legion.

And yeah given the number of women murdered by their partners (and it is usually women), it’s not really that funny to joke about is it.

There is that – but then again those blokes probably aren’t the types who can have a joke about it on a forum to blow off steam. As I said, as long as you can make light of the situation and keep in mind that there’s always a way out that doesn’t involve suicide or murdering your ex, then you’ll be fine.

You are right in terms of systems that pharma is backwards. In terms of quality processes I have found that big pharma (the ones I have worked for) are a long way forwards now.

These are linked though, if you don’t have the systems, you don’t have the quality. Humans are only so good at reviewing batch records, smart EBR systems can actually pick up a lot of the deviations for you. If you don’t have eQMS it’s really easy to lose situational awareness. We have quality managers and QP’s who don’t understand that RPNs are mathematically compromised, that just because a high frequency low severity deviation scores the same as a low frequency high risk deviation – they still shouldn’t be treated the same way. That you can’t put pre-qp batch reviewers on plant, for a 12 hour night shift and make them review 400 pages of documents without considering the risk of human error in that situation. The automotive and aviation world get this – instead I’m stuck with idiots who don’t understand human cognitive performance, who utilise backward risk management and piss poor root cause investigations using 5 whys.

Actually it wasn’t – that’s post-hoc reasoning. Up to and including thalidomide, drugs were not tested for teratogenicity. After, they all are. Thalidomide is a very effective medicine, but must never be administered to a woman of child bearing potential without appropriate controls.

It was reports of neuropathy toxicity that kept it from approval in the US not teratogenicity.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4737249/

Yes, they didn’t do these at the time. However, it was a cock up because had they followed some fairly basic quality principles that other industries had embraced at the time – they might have recognised that it was a good idea to do those studies. There were a lot of things caught in a preventative fashion in the aerospace industry at that time.

Pharma always, always lags behind everyone else in terms of cutting edge quality assurance and that is coming from someone who works in that field within that industry.

It’s 2020 and I’m still reviewing paper batch records and paper deviations because what the ****, let’s take 20 **** years to implement eQMS and electronic batch records. (I’m about to go and work for a big multinational where this is also true as well).

The few stones I know don’t believe all the conspiracy theories. The people I know who do are all generally intelligent, law abiding people. They are left wing Labour voters (ex now with Corbyn out) who also wanted loony right wing Trumptard to win

Read Eric Hoffer “The True Believer” – all political and religiously motivated lunatics have relatively interchangeable beliefs. There were plenty of Nazis that were ex communists for example.