Royal Wedding

I watched the Royal Wedding live...I didn't intend watching ALL of it especially the service, but I just couldn't move away from the television, it was compulsive :-) I think it was sooo good for people in our country. All we have seen on television are bad things, this was amazing watching so many people enjoying themselves instead of protesting and fighting.It was fun reading the comments on fb, especially the ones about Prince Harry (Williams's brother) and the chief Bridesmade, the bride's sister!

Fantastic digital HD coverage, the last Royal Wedding relied on 625 line analogue colour television. The strange thing about all this is that the technology gave the whole world satellite HD coverage. Many millions of people aroung the world are watching...but the production remains the same. It looks the same now as it did in the 1950's!

Sweden covered their Royal Wedding last year, but the coverage was much more intimate including coverage of the reception. Maybe it is time for us to be a bit more liberal and less reserved!

Barbeque weather...in April?

What a fantastic Easter Holiday! Super weather and now another holiday....the Royal Wedding and then Mayday! The weather has been unbelievable, wall to wall sunshine for over two whole weeks...never seen it like this...and its still April!

Gosh...I remember going to Drayton Manor Radio Rally this week many years ago it started off sunny, then as we drove down the M6 it snowed and the motorways were blocked. Drayton Manor Rally had marquees for the outdoor events and most of the dealers got stuck in the snow!

Yes...we have had lots of barbys in the last few weeks...now what about Summer?

Lightbulbs!

Gosh...and I thought choosing an Android mobile phone was difficult...what about choosing a lightbulb?

I remember the time when you went to the local ironmongers to buy a lightbulb and had a very simple decision.... Pearl or Clear? 60watt or 100watt? ....simple eh?

OMG...what happens now if you need a lightbulb....a nightmare! Have you been to B&Q or Homebase and seen the number of lightbulbs now? Oh....and they are now withdrawing the 'normal' lightbulbs because they are destroying the planet! So now you have to decide whether to go green and buy 'energy saving' bulbs which vary from 10p each to £10 each. Why there is such a difference in price is beyond my comprehension. Halogen spot lamps don't last 5 minutes let alone 5 years regardless of the price and buy a super light array from NEXT will leave you changing bulbs everyday for a living! I am now considereing replacing my multi halogen spotlight arrays with a simple one bulb energy efficient light bulb....simple? Not really...what about the base? Bayonet, large Eddison screw, small Eddison screw, push-in...the choices are without limits!

Did I mention LED lightbulbs? ....the future?

Did you know that CFL's (Compact Fluorecent Lamps) contain Mercury Vapour...not good for the environment eh!

What was wrong with the simple lightbulb? Lights your house and warms the room as well!

Mr Eddison you would turn in your grave if you could see what you have done!

Android

Last week I decided to buy a new mobile phone...a Smart Phone!

For years I have struggled to send text messages with the silly numeric keyboard on my present phones...too many menus...to many button presses! I can send morse code quicker, why have analogue technology on a mobile phone!

then...along comes ANDROID!

OMG...this technology is amazing!

Soooo simple to use, touch screen, internet, e-mail thousands of apps!! Suddenly I feel like I am in the 21st century! I can text, e mail, facebook, twitter, blog...like having a PC in my pocket.

Well done Samsung, a quality smart phone at a super price...I could even update this blog on my phone if I wanted to...cool!

So what is ANDROID?

The Android open-source software stack consists of Java applications running on a Java-based, object-oriented application framework on top of Java core libraries running on a Dalvik virtual machine featuring JIT compilation. Libraries written in C include the surface manager, OpenCore[21] media framework, SQLite relational database management system, OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics API, WebKit layout engine, SGL graphics engine, SSL, and Bionic libc. The Android operating system consists of 12 million lines of code including 3 million lines of XML, 2.8 million lines of C, 2.1 million lines of Java, and 1.75 million lines of C++.[22]

If you can make sense of this you are definately a Digital Native! I understand most of this ...but... what happens if you type in 12 million lines of code and you make a typing error?

Digital Car Park

Digital technology gone mad!!

On the main road where I live is a community of shops, stores, library and health centre. There has always been a large car park at the front of the stores of Netto and Home Bargains. The car park is never full and is used by many to park while they go to the post office or health centre. For years there has never been any problems...
Then Netto that owns the car park, but managed by a parking company decides that they can make a bit of money here by using the digital technology.
They mount high resolution, number plate recongnition camera's and put up new signs with small print that you need a microscope to read. Oh...and they don't tell the customers!!

Result: Many people recieving fines of £80 because they have stayed longer than 1 hour...all caught, timed and photographed and automated fine sent out through number plate recognition. So people stop going to the stores and are VERY upset!

So how does it work?
Two cameras working together, one points at the entrance, the other at the exit to the car park! Oh and another thing...you can't return within 2 hours or it will get you again!

Well done Netto and the parking management company!! What good community spirit you have!
It is sooo pleasing to hear that Netto will soon shut down and be replaced by Morrisons, lets hope Morrisons have a bit more common sense and community spirit!

What's a Soldering Iron?

"Another Radio man who knows the right end of a soldering iron, what a valve is and was around to see Neil Armstrong take 'one small step"

Thank you John...another Analogue Native!

This made me think... How many people now know what a soldering iron is and what it is used for? I still have a soldering iron, but don't use it as much as I would like to. I still have my skills with the soldering iron and can easily solder wires and PC boards without thinking about it even though I have never done it for years! It's like riding a bike...you never forget how to do it!

My favourite soldering iron is the Antex...light and coloured yellow...my favourite colour!

I remember in 1968 when my Dad bought me a soldering iron for the first time from 'Modern Radio' in Bolton. I was only 14 years old, but I learned at an early age!

Yes..I certainly know the right end of of a soldering iron and using it is a valuable skill, sadly, this has been lost now to the young!

Such a shame that young people today don't know how to use a screwdriver, drill a hole, strip a piece of wire or even solder!

Cobden Mill

Cobden Mill was one of many cotton spinning and weaving mills in Bolton, the inside is traditional and easy to imagine the hundreds of looms that must have been running there in the past.

Since the days Telefusion (we used to nickname it 'Teleconfusion') Cobden Mill in Farnworth has been used for other purposes. Now it has a large furniture and bed store, but the inside of the building is still the same. I went back to take some photos.

The old cotton mill is very large with 5 floors, most of it empty now. The roof of the building used to have lots of TV aerials and sometimes I had to go onto the roof and check the aerials. I was an apprentice don't forget...I got all the s**t jobs! There is a lift in there, but it scared me to death, so I never used it.

Telefusion owned three floors of the mill. The ground floor was the stores and loading bays. Stuff was sent out to shops in wagons all over the country including the shops in Northern Ireland. On the first floor was the service department, this was where I worked most of the time. Then on the third floor was a warehouse which housed hundreds of televisions waiting to be refurbished.

At the front of the building there is a small lodge, this provided water to the sprinkler system in the building. Now it is owned by Deane Fishing Club and it is currently airating the water with a huge pump in the middle.

I enjoyed working here, even though the building was horrible...I will never forget my toast and cheese in the canteen at break time...mmm!