[Ed P]

This is one situation where the Government SHOULD be able to get a system that works as the BBC/ICL team put together the similar pandemic app just a couple of years ago. That one worked like a dream, so the NHSX would have had to deliberately break a working system.

This is one case where I think we need to put aside concerns on personal privacy in the interest of speed. One rumour is that restrictions will only be lifted for those who install the app. (e.g. police asking to see a ‘Green Passport’ on the phone — China/Singapore style). If so, I would be completely happy provided this was introduced under the ‘Emergency Legislation’ that only has a finite life.

[Ed P]

I find it is extremely irritating that this Government continues not to treat us like adults, and just shovels out pabulum and stupid mantras . I’m coming to the conclusion that they are an incompetent bunch who are just playing for time in the absence of any strategy for a phased removal of a lock-down.

It is even more annoying when BoJo claims to have participated in the difficulties of social distancing when it was pretty darned obvious that they were playing the usual ‘The rules for the plebs do not apply to us’ game. At least BoJo got taught a small lesson for his rule flouting.

[Ed P]

It may not be your reader that is carp, but its hub connection. It is very easy to ‘blow the soft fuse’ on a hub and it will not register anything until it is reset. Search on “usb reset soft fuse fuze”. I only linked the M$ one but you may find others more understandable.

link

 

[Ed P]

The USB drive is only used for the update nothing more. If you run the Disk Manager now and delete the system files that should give you a gig or so. If you don’t want to do that remove HP documentation but that will be at most tens of Mb, as to the rest of the HP carp – no idea, but I would not remove it unless I owned the notepad.

[Ed P]

Just to add to Wheels comment, old update files can be 1-3Gb in size!

[Ed P]

Agree with PM, but sometimes the quality can be iffy especially for things such as LED lights. If it is more than (say) £50 I tend to buy through Amazon as that gives me a better returns option, even though the item is often more expensive.

[Ed P]

Can you connect a large USB stick or drive? Windows update can use an external storage option for its temporary files.

If not, let Windows select what is safe to delete by using Disk Cleanup

[Ed P]

That well-known and respected ‘science’ journal, and Trump emulator, The Daily Telegraph has just revealed that French people who smoke Gauloise or Gitanes are four times less likely to get covid-19,

I thought maybe the DT had picked up an Avril 1 story, but apparently the French are going hell bent down the correlation != causation route without a qualm. They are completely ignoring a contrary explanation that everyone else keeps many metres away from the bad breath of a French smoker!

To put it in perspective a Chinese study showed that smokers who caught the virus were 14 times more likely to need ICU treatment, which in the UK would translate as 7 times more likely to die.

Resumption of your old bad habits is not recommended, and if you do take it up again remember that French tobacco is markedly different from the Virginian stuff. I remember in the 70s that they boasted that their non-toasted stuff caused less lung cancer — the French tobacco industry has a track record!

However, maybe Trump can add it to his bleach injections and UV light up the rectum ‘cures’.

[Ed P]

The indications are that social distancing measures will go on until the end of the year. Will this result in mullets and  ‘Jesus’ cuts being fashionable again?  It seems that men will be forced to choose between a back to the 60s look or a Buzz cut.

I chose the latter and I now sport a uniform sun-tanned/sun-bleached one mm stubble.

[Ed P]

Bob, if you can find a way of specifying ‘not Yodel’ let us know!

[Ed P]

Although this article by Jonathan Kay is not by his admission ‘scientific’ it is extremely well researched. The article deals with ‘superspreaders’ and the events that are the most dangerous from a covid-19 perspective. It is an interesting read, but to précis his findings, the most dangerous events and places are crowds with a lot of noisy shouting, singing, coughing and sneezing taking place. A football match with people singing their team songs is about as just about as dangerous a place as anywhere. In contrast crowded cinemas, and opera performances are pretty safe.

Imo he has identified an area worthy for detailed research as it could be a vital tool towards easing lock-downs in a meaningful way. It also shows why mask wearing is a positive contribution toward slowing the transmission of covid-19.

[Ed P]

Yodel are a company that I would love to blacklist, but unfortunately that cannot be done. 🙁

I can top your tale in that they managed to deliver my parcel to my No1 son who lives 30 miles away. All probably due to a previous order placed with Amazon as a gift to him but unfortunately delivered by Yodel..

Obviously Yodel has a random person/address correlation in its delivery scheduling system.

[Ed P]

Dave your little project  should do most Internet interfacing tasks. I find the little Pi will quite happily run three or four threads while downloading and feeding RSS feeds, with one of the other tasks being to show a small TV news screen, or Radio feed.

The following Python3 code snippet is enough to show a small BBC screen:

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

import pickle
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options
from time import localtime
from time import time
from time import sleep

# remove irritating ‘controlled by automation’ bar
# sets up selenium browser, using default path for webdriver
chrome_options = Options()
#chrome_options.add_argument(“–disable-infobars”)
chrome_options.add_argument(“window-size=398,568”)
chrome_options.add_experimental_option(“excludeSwitches” , [“enable-automation”])
browser = webdriver.Chrome(chrome_options=chrome_options)
# open the browser at a web page
browser.get(“http://www.google.com&#8221😉

# you have to open a web page before you move it into a new position

# But  you do not need to keep it around (half a second will do)
sleep(0.5)
browser.set_window_position(x=620, y=0)
# open BBC url

browser.get(“https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/bbcone&#8221😉
browser.title
# Make time to visit pages, check boxes and build cookie record
sleep(500)
# Now save accumulated cookies
# pickle.dump( browser.get_cookies() , open(“cookies.pkl”,”wb”))
# Wait for save to complete
sleep(10)

# close web page and probably browser unless more opened
browser.close()
# Quit if necessary
# See http://toolsqa.com/selenium-webdriver/browser-commands/ for commands
browser.quit()

To run this code you will need to use pip3 to install pickle, and selenium, and also download the chromedriver from Google.

Its discovering and fixing these little prerequisites that stuffs up my coding productivity!

[Ed P]

Just prior to the lockdown, I liberated the cardboard container  for a Lego Ninjago arcade kit from one of the grandchildren. The cardboard screen is pretty much the same size as a 3.5inch hdmi touch screen which in turn is the same size as a Pi3C. I reinforced the insides of the cardboard with foam board, and it all fits quite neatly into it. When the speaker arrives the next task will be to set up some battery power and load it with RetroPie before handing it back to the Grandson.

I find it quite frustrating that now it takes me a day to write 50 lines of code, that in the past would have been done in an hour or less, so while the modelling will be quick the critical path bit will be the interface coding!

[Ed P]

Dave, Stemma speakers are certainly not ;Hifi’, but great for arcade quality. A better bet if you want a somewhat better sound is the ‘Speaker Bonnet‘ plus a couple of 4cm 3 watt speakers. This will give you typical ‘portable radio’ quality. If you want something approaching a moderate HiFi then there are a number of Pi Dac products, but of course then you need powered speakers.

Disclaimer – due to years of operating steam turbines and other120dB equipment without ear protectors my hearing range is somewhat limited, so my quality ratings are very highly subjective!

[Ed P]

Thanks very nice!

If only they were 50% larger and pre-printed on foam board as they would make really nice homes for a Pi3C+3.5inch HDMI screen and a Stemma speaker.

The only thing missing is a suitable scale-size keyboard, otherwise I could be tempted to cobble something together.

[Ed P]

Just don’t autoignite, it does happen!

link

[Ed P]

Looks as though the Cummings cull has succeeded beyond expectations. According to the ONS UK deaths are at an all time high and TEN THOUSAND  more than is normal at this time of year. As the WHO have calculated we will need twenty times as many infected for full herd immunity, Cummings could go down in Godwin’s Law  infamy by the time this has all finished.

According to the Guardian the Government spin doctors are working flat out to try and rewrite history — shades of Trump! :yahoo:

[Ed P]

If we follow the German model outlined in this pdf, Cummings/Hancock will be looking to infect about 15% of the population with covid-19 before we have a phased return to near normality.

Currently we have about 103,000 confirmed cases, add 10% for care homes etc, and multiply by 1.5 for asymptomatic cases only gets us to about 0.2% of the population.

A long way to go, no wonder the Government discourages face masks!

[Ed P]

Stupid if it is that reason,  as Sadiq Khan stated that the objective is to stop asymptotic people talking/shouting/singing/coughing their viruses on to others. All the Government need do is to promulgate the home-made CDC mask or washable four cloth layer  equivalents

I think it is more about loss of face. Our medical ‘experts’ and those of the WHO  have been ignoring evidence from elsewhere for far too long and now need a battery of evidence to make them see sense.

We are now on track for the highest covid death-rate in Europe, but I guess these early deaths make good economic sense to Cummins and Mushroom Matt.

[Author]

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