I suspect that to most people TNT Sports (the new name for BT Sports apparently),  is just regarded as the sports thing BT does…

It’s merged into Discovery+ as TNT Sports.

I’ve ended up with a good deal on my ancient EE mobile plan I’ve kept hold of. Had BT Sports and used to be only via the phone, but now it’s moved to Discovery+, turns out I can watch it anywhere on a D+ app or web, and seems I’ve got Discover+ Premium, and works out far less than a standalone sub. Though I’m not that fussed about sports TV.All the BT TV stuff is becoming EE TV also.

The ‘photos’ on the main page for that stem are clearly not reality – either renders or previous versions that had been anodised.

Very common with online stores these days. A model they’ve got on computer and it’s re-rendered with all the colours and patterns they claim to sell. What you’ll really get may not match.
T-shirts, hoodies and stuff like that is another. Obvious when you see the same product with different designs on offer, with a model wearing it with exact same stance, same creases and lighting on the garment. Often wonder if they’ve ever manufactured some of the designs on offer, and the model wearing them probably doesn’t exist or is a stock photo. To be fair it’s a cheap way of knocking up a store instead of having to produce every variant and in the case of clothes, having to do a shoot with them wearing every one.

Amazon marketplace and ebay is full of this stuff.

Not sure either. Their link about it takes you to their feed generator which means coding and hosting. I could do the code side but it’s time/effort and hosting costs money plus having to support it.

https://github.com/bluesky-social/feed-generator

There’s a couple of services that appear to let you create feeds without coding (and they host it?), but they seem to require your username and password to Bluesky and I’m not about to give away my credentials. At the very least they should be using identity providers and you authorise their app so credentials are never handed over.

There’s long been an issue here and I think it’s down to licence deals done with programme guide providers, and you need the guides to be able to browse, change channel, record.

Outside of terrestrial / sat / cable, there’s no decent guide service that ties them all together.

On top of that there’s no common system of streaming these. Each broadcaster has their own system and prefers you to use their apps, so it’s hard for a single app to do them all.

Amazon have been trying to integrate broadcast channels into Fire stick, but it depends on the broadcasters providing the integration so they can show the listings and direct to the streaming channel. Few do. UK broadcasters I think it’s only Channel 5 that does. Plus you need the corresponding app installed for it to work.

Freeview does or did an app, but it doesn’t have the content, just launches the relevant app. Tried it but it didn’t work well and missing a lot of content, and didn’t do BBC I think.

I’ve tried Kodi but was a nightmare trying to get the thing set up and not all services work or broke. It was useless really.

I’ve got a similar issue with my dish possibly though it might be my freesat receiver in the TV.

Exactly what you are asking for is on the horizon via the recently announced Freely, which is basically Freeview over internet, but it’ not here yet.

Could be the answer, but might only be BBC, ITV, C4, C5? Just the main public broadcasters, no Dave, Gold and all those lesser channels?

To be honest though, there’s barely anything on terrestrial TV I watch, and those I do are available on-demand streaming anyway.

All least it’s right to roam. They can say it’s not a good idea but you’re free to do it anyway. 

Down south they just grumble to the land owner and up pops no cycling signs, restrictive gates or even fences banning everyone if it’s not a right of way. People ranting “you’re not allowed to ride here”, “this is a footpath!”, and out comes stickman/woman. Yet we have very tame terrain by comparison. Same arguments about damage and again it’s feet and hooves that do more damage than tyres.

God forbid anyone tries to organise an official ride and countryside groups get wind of it. All the damage it will cause, tearing up the countryside, disturbing ground nesting birds or some rare insect, or badgers that suddenly have moved in! apparently.

It’s making more sense now the more I follow but seems have to do more work to get the right topics coming up. Found plenty of nerdy stuff but very little mtb.

There’s also “feeds” for topics of interest but involves coding to set one up. Again not much mtb there, not UK specific especially. Could get a singletrack feed going maybe?

A lot less “QT blah blah”, “post gif from year you were born”, and all that info harvesting stuff Threads is full of at the moment.

Just had a quick look. I’m struggling to find relevant content or people I know to follow. Search for mtb stuff and there’s not much, especially UK related.

Plenty on Threads though. Mostly everyone I already follow on Insta.

Threads is getting infected with the trash from Xhitter though. It’s okay if I stick to the Following feed, but gets nasty on the For You feed. I’m blocking or muting a lot already.

Once Larry the Cat is on Threads and/or Bluesky then I know it’s taken off 😄

Twitter is gone. Account deleted. Too toxic. I could do without them all really, though Insta has nice bike pics and vids (and cats).

I didn’t even notice it 🤷

Until I saw posts about it I honestly hadn’t thought about it. Was just a funny gag with Isaac Newton, over in a minute. Can’t say I even know what Isaac’s heritage is anyway and only know he’s usually depicted with that long hair.

I did feel a bit sad about Bernard Cribbins RIP!

Wilf the character at least is not dead yet, and there may be a little more to come in the next couple of stories.

then in a panic, call their dog that bounds out of nowhere and directly into your path.

I’m often a better judge of their dog’s behaviour than they are, having experienced loads of different types of dogs on paths. Calling their dog often makes it worse when I can see it’s happy investigating something and taking no notice.

Labs are lovely. Guaranteed they’ll lazily wonder in front of you without a care. I just smile, say hi to the dog and find a way round. Owner either looks frustrated or just laughs.

Most dogs I’m fine with. Odd few clearly have issues with bikes and should be on a lead (dog and owner 😄).

Dust is an actual tea grading and majority of tea in British supermarkets is this.
Even the “loose leaf” big brand names are low grade, more granuals than leaves.

India and China laugh that we drink the stuff they sweep off the floor 😄

I’m getting my stuff from High Teas at the moment. https://highteas.co.uk/

To be fair, dust grade tea can actually be very good and the premium loose leaf thing is a bit snobbish 😄, though good quality posh tea is really nice.

I used the Resolver tool on MSE in the past to make a claim. Unlike a lot of claim companies they’re not taking a cut. It’s just a service using templates to forward to the relevant airline with the right wording.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-delay-compensation/#howtoclaim

Airlines will avoid paying if they can. Had a claim for a 14 hr delay with Tui (their fault). Their reps insisted can’t claim through the airline, use your travel insurance (that would only pay out £20). Though Tui are the worst for it and the EU rule came in because of a ruling against them.

Using Resolver I got something like £250 (can’t remember exactly now).

There’s a time limit by which they have to pay and they may wait until the last day to pay up (as Tui did with me).

This was pre-Brexit. The rules on the airlines are EU rules. Differs now but think so long as there’s an EU element to the flight there’s a claim, more so if it originated in the EU.

Threads has seen an upsurge in activity and users, although sadly the dregs of Xhitter are moving over there also. Still the algorithms there are mostly keeping my feed to bikes and geek stuff.

Go there with a bike with brand new tyres on and they’ll try to flog you new tyres.

Probably say it needs a new exhaust even 😄

Never going near kwikfit again after terrible experiences, car or bike. Though bike I do almost all DIY (though wheel building is last on my list to master).

A good one on walker behaviour 😄

Got myself a Nokia XR21.

MIL-STD-810H and IP69K certified. Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, impact protection inside and out and doesn’t have overly bulky rugged look.

Was very impressed to be honest at the effort he went to to delineate between e-scooters/e-bikes/e-motorbikes

Noticed that on the clip I saw on TV other day. Needs to get across to the general public as local social media groups are just full of calls to ban ebikes and it’s difficult arguing the distinction between ebike and electric motorbike. “doesn’t matter, should all be banned” etc (and follows with usual rants about bicycles in general, taxes, red light jumping and all the usual bingo stuff).

As an electric motorbike, the issue isn’t that it’s electric, it’s just kids dicking around anti-socially on a motorbike same as they’ve always done.

What’s the difference now though? Is it just because it’s a new thing? Is it easier to get a Sur-ron than a petrol bike, and/or that kids don’t have to fuel up at a petrol station, just charge at home.

A petrol bike would have regulations to sell them too with registration plates etc. Sur-rons I guess you can just order online, no plates?

Cheers, been needing a replacement. Chucked in an Evoc hip bag also, reasonable price. Not tried hip bags.

Can’t believe this has got to page 4 with no one recommending the Timber bell yet.

I’ve got Granite Cricket bells. Smaller than Timber, not so loud in cowbell mode which makes it less effective but can use it like a regular bell also.

Bells though are seen as a bit rude, kind of “get out of my way”, but don’t ring one and you get abuse. Ring one and they’re deaf, get abuse. Someone sees you clearly approaching from a distance so you don’t bother with the bell, get abuse.

Favourite I’ve had, “at least you have a bell”. Yeah, thanks 🙄

Only got a bell thanks to Covid walkers that were all over the place. I keep it now mainly for the towpath but it’s little use for the deaf, selectively deaf and headphone zombies.

 I have been shouted at to slow down when I had halved my speed to the point I could stop virtually on the spot

Back in Covid days on the towpath I got people ranting that I should get off when passing them, despite wide path, going walking pace and saying hi 🤷‍♂️. One bloke tried to block the path.

Nothing said we couldn’t ride there (shared use) during Covid restrictions. Though it was getting too busy so stopped using it until things calmed down.

Common one I find also is if you’re in a group, they wait for the group to pass and pick on the one at the back to have a moan at.

On my own I try to say hi and I’ll say hi and smile to their dog if they’ve got one which often defuses a potential rant. Though some you can see they’re not in a good mood so best to just move on and don’t let them get started.

Had a period particularly after lockdowns started of unofficial no cycling signs appearing on bridleways around Surrey Hills, and a lot more huffy comments insisting shouldn’t be there. Explain what a right of way means and get “well still shouldn’t be allowed”.

Had one on a track of no RoW, huffy guy saying “This Is a Footpath!”. Aside from that not being a denial of access as a RoW is never an exclusion only a right, pointed out the footpath is over there and bridleway over there, and neither of us have an actual right.

Grumpy woman on Blackheath I stopped to let past did similar and went into a rant about “you people breaking the law”. Meanwhile her dog off the lead during GnB season which is breaking the law, unlike trespass which is the worst I’m doing if even that (can argue common land rights).

Ranty people on Mickleham downs shouting shouldn’t be riding there and they weren’t even on the path we were on. Nat Trust sign at both ends saying cyclists and horses to the side exactly where we were.

Away from the Surrey Hills though I’ve found it’s more pleasant. People saying hi and giving way even when I stop to let them pass, and in many cases I’m on no RoW, random common track, or even a footpath.

black and white… but all good 🙂

They’re doing a colourised version of The Daleks!

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-daleks-colourised-newsupdate/

Though there’s also the 60s technicolour film of the same story with Peter Cushing.

A classic that one 😂.
Anyway, as for iPlayer, sadly the very first story that shows how it all began is missing thanks to the son of the now dead writer of those episodes getting in a huff with the BBC and withdrawing the licence for it. He’s a bizarre guy making claims about IP of the show and money owed. He’s been posting racist and homophobic rants on social media about the Beeb, and even claims they killed his father. Conspiracy theorist and anti-vaxxer too. Bonkers.

A lot of videos aren’t just from “content creators” looking for revenue, but just average users who upload a video for free. Still shows ads and makes money just for Google. Creators get a tiny share of the money anyway. This is a general problem and part of why Hollywood is on strike over streaming service payments.

Regardless of the moral side, my problem is the frequency of ads. That’s why we have ad blockers. Videos now have ads every minute or less and no natural break, and ad at the start also. If they’re there I’ll likely click off than watch the video. Their loss.

Besides, many videos are adverts in themselves promoting a product of some kind or with product placement. I’ve got no problem with that as the video is still watchable.

Also, some browser have ad blocking built in for privacy and performance reasons. Some ad blockers also have an allow acceptable ads option on by default, which mine is. If sites sign up to the acceptable ad policy and not make ads too intrusive, then they get their ads shown.

Used to run non TR maxxis tubeless for years with no problem on ghetto rims. I believe TR is about the bead design so they hook up with TR rims without the need of a tube to keep them in place.

Think it depends on the combination of tyre and rim on how much success you’ll have but if everything is TR it’s more likely to hold and not burp while riding. May also depend on your weight and how aggressive a rider you are.

Though since going everything TR I’ve found it’s a lot harder to get tyres off the rim.

I rip a hole in the crotch of all shorts, Hummvee included, with the exception of the original I had 10+ years ago but they got worn out in others ways.

Once the crotch is ripped, I catch the seat as I’m riding and makes it worse. Tried repairs but don’t last. I’m no expert with needle and thread though.

Also last Hummvees, pocket zip broke. Had them only a few years

I still keep buying Endura though I moan about them as nothing else is any more durable despite quality seemingly getting worse. There’s usually a deal on, and know what fits. Just got another pair from Tredz which was going cheap including liner.

Got some MT500 recently which seem nice. I’ll give it a year for a rip to develop.

+1 OSMAnd

A bit overwhelming with features at first but does a lot. However contours are a paid feature.

Offline mode and has cycle maps and can get overlays of cycle routes / trails.

There are several versions, OSMAnd (free), OSMAnd+ and OSMAnd Pro and subscription involved for some things.

https://osmand.net/docs/user/purchases/

One from CyclingMikey. Some car display touch devices come out worse than a hand held phone for reaction times.

Have to say I try to stop now if I need to interact with the sat nav. I should set up voice control but I hate talking to gadgets.

Yes indeed – it's something that worries me. I'm a fan of physical controls for the stuff you need when driving. Heat/Ac/air/stereo/etc. That stuff should never be in a touchscreen menu. pic.twitter.com/Vp5vg6SszZ

— CyclingMikey the Unspeakable (@MikeyCycling) August 20, 2023

News outlets calling them astronauts. I’m sure it’s a wonderful experience, but they’re passengers just along for the ride in an extremely high altitude rocket plane that goes up and down again with a nice view and a bit of weightless experience. Great experience I’m sure.

See also, the Robin Hood pub in Knaphill, Woking. Very similar, developers bought it, it burned down, demolished within a week despite arson suspected, so evidence lost. Former council leader and chief exec directors of development company. The same two behind the corruption of skyscraper investments and other developments that put Woking into £2.6bn debt.

Shark jumping.

Doctor Who will have a musical episode soon I reckon, now RTD is back and he’s a massive Buffy fan which of course did the musical episode too.

Best Star Trek since next generation IMO

Best Star Trek since TNG is The Orville 😏

Though Picard S3 was good.

I really like the look of the Honda E, but the range is about 100 miles, but that would do us, even for MrsF to commute in it, charging once a week, and using her car for distances. Used, 2 year old Honda E’s with low miles are £20k at the moment, almost half their RRP, another 12 months and they will be very cheap.

Can you get a bike in a Honda E though or planing on using a rack? (for various reasons I wont use one).

Too low range for me though. I use the car infrequently but do occasional trips and need to get 200 miles without adding an hour to the journey recharging.

Sadly Honda like many are focusing on SUVs. I’d hoped for a full EV Civic but their only other full EV they’re launching is an SUV. The Civic meanwhile now is a self charging hybrid, so it’s a petrol car.

Last thing I want is an SUV. Hate them. I’d rather have an estate but that’s difficult these days.

Getting to the point where I may give up the car entirely. Public transport is still a faff to bike locations though.

So a vehicle the same width & weight as another but slightly taller yet it’s 8 times more likely to kill a pedestrian – yeah, that works…

Higher grill, often squarer, more likely to hit a pedestrian in the chest or a child in the head. Lower saloon or hatchback, the pedestrian is hit in the legs and thrown over the bonnet.

Percentage chance is based on Probability of Precipitation, which is a combination of the confidence it will rain in the area and how much of the area may see rain.

50% could mean it’s 100% guaranteed to rain but only in 50% of the area, or could be 50% confidence of rain but in 100% of the area if it does.

It doesn’t say how much per how long. 100% chance but could be a couple of drops for a few minutes.

I’ve generally gone with if it says <5%, then no rain. 10% to 20% I’m often caught out. 50% it’s blazing sun most of the time 😄

matt_outandabout

^ once again, police using incorrect terms and thereby causing possible issues with law abiding eBike riders.

They are electric motorbikes and need to be referred to as such.

Seeing this so often in the press and it rubs off in local social media groups with plenty calling for “e-bikes” to be banned. Trying to explain the difference between an electric motorbike and a pedal assist E-bike is a struggle. They just see them as all the same thing. Now they see an pedal E-bike in the trails, bridleways and such and they shout they’re illegal, which obviously they’re not.

Squirt, all year round. Never need to clean the chain. Any wax lube really though. Oil lubes will suck in the crud, “wet” more so. Wet lube is only really suited for riding in rivers and road riding IMO, should never be used in wet mud. I’ve had better results with dry lube in winter, though not as good as Squirt.

Met Office over BBC but been getting less reliable recently predicting rain and there’s none.

I use Rain Alarm on the day as I can see where it’s actually raining and where it’s heading. Though even then it could fizzle out when it reaches me.

I have an Office subscription and that gives me the 365 suite of apps plus 1TB of storage in OneDrive. Just enable photo backup in the app. It’s a more clunky app than Google Photos and searching is not as intelligent, but as I was paying for a 365 sub and get the storage I may as well use it. Plus I use Windows on PCs so it integrates well there.

Google Photos still works as well on the phone, just I’m getting closer to the limit on the cloud, but I could delete old stuff in Google Drive.

Main thing I find useful with Google though is location searching on a map, so can see photos you took at particular places. Microsoft doesn’t have that.

Mention to your mates that you’re thinking of getting an ebike for the reasons you’ve listed and gauge their reaction.

Their response, “that’s it, we’ll all have to get one now” 😄

I get the one time code but it does nothing when clicking validate. I can see the page submits something but it just sits on that page and nothing happens.