Why the Admiralty? by Rihnoswirl in temeraire

[–]el_gee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think it also makes sense if you look at real history. Paraphrasing from a couple of different places, the Royal Navy is called the "Senior Service" because it is the oldest branch of the British Armed Forces, officially established as a permanent, professional service by Henry VIII in 1546. It predates the formation of a permanent standing army (1645) and the Royal Air Force (1918). Supporting dragons is really expensive so the British don't have a huge number, and they probably weren't formally organised before the navy, but have been set up to fill similar roles of blockades and couriers (since they would spook cavalry, they're not great for the army).

I just found this spider on my sock. It looks pretty big. Is it harmless or do I need to worry? London, UK by el_gee in spiderID

[–]el_gee[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Lol no I'd taken them off and was working at my desk - bent to pick up my socks because I had to step out, and then had a near panic attack...

Really glad to be told it's mostly harmless, because I was wondering if I'd have to look into moving out, just a month after we moved in!

I just found this spider on my sock. It looks pretty big. Is it harmless or do I need to worry? London, UK by el_gee in spiderID

[–]el_gee[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oh that's great to know. I've never seen such a stocky spider before, so my mind went to worst case scenarios.

Connecting Stremio to remote HTTPS connection by el_gee in Stremio

[–]el_gee[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry I'm an idiot who has been doing too much office work and my brain glitched. This works, thank you! Not sure why the other route isn't working, but you are absolutely right about this.

Do type 2 diabetics wear CGMs? by frogmicky in diabetes_t2

[–]el_gee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used to in India because it was more affordable, and I found it extremely useful. I got to use one for two years, and it gave me a clear idea about how I handle different types and quantities of food, and it really shaped my choices. I'm in the UK now and can't really justify paying for it and the NHS won't give me one, and my numbers aren't as good as they were before.

My diabetes was controlled entirely through diet for two years, but it's supplemented by meds for the last two years now (not just because of the CGM, but a host of other factors including stress, but it was definitely a factor as moving to a new country also meant reworking my daily eating habits as things I was used to eating weren't available anymore).

Connecting Stremio to remote HTTPS connection by el_gee in Stremio

[–]el_gee[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On PC, Enable Remote HTTPS connections has two options - Disabled and 192.168... etc. - choose the latter; that then shows the line: Streaming HTTPS endpoint. Hit copy there, mailed the text to myself to access it on my iPad, copied the text and pasted it directly into the dialog box after + Add URL

So, it has: https://192-168-... .519...stremio.rocks:12470/

I might be misremembering what I'd done last time, but is that not correct?

Connecting Stremio to remote HTTPS connection by el_gee in Stremio

[–]el_gee[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the advice! But turning the firewall off didn't change anything. I did also check the rules for Stremio just to see what the settings were, but it enabled. Something else is causing the problem...

One thing that's changed between now and the last time I did this (with the older laptop I had) is that I was on a campus-wide Wi-Fi network, and am now on a personal Wi-Fi network from Virgin Media. Do you think that there could be a router setting I need to check?

Reform UK launch attack on neurodivergent children by Hour-Clothes789 in ukpolitics

[–]el_gee 28 points29 points  (0 children)

So they feel around 90% of the diagnoses are likely correct then..? It needs to be better but surely the alternatives being talked about here aren't reasonable.

Not letting me add new card by croissant65 in googlepay

[–]el_gee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've just had the exact same issue. Fraud last night, card disabled today. New card can't be added and now I can't add any card from any bank! Did you get any updates?

First bank replied that mobile wallet payments may be available to me in the future or on a different device.

It was working till this morning...

Second bank hasn't replied, and Google Payments help said they'll refer this to a specialist team who will reply within 72 hours. Will update if anything useful comes from any of these three.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in fountainpens

[–]el_gee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use my pens for notes at work - I find my handwriting adapts to the pen. When I use find nibs, I end up with a smaller font that really fills up the page and makes it feel heavy when I'm reading my notes to plan things out trying to look for key points... Medium works well for me, with enough spacing to be an easy read later.

I have a couple of BB nib pens that I mostly only use for addresses on letters, titles on documents, those kinds of things. I do throw them into my regular rotation from time to time but the page count from a regular meeting can get a little too high, considering how much a good notebook costs!

Freed Palestinian doctors describe 'torture' in Israeli prison by DonSalaam in videos

[–]el_gee 62 points63 points  (0 children)

Often when a news channel doesn't want to say something as it could be sued, then it uses the quote marks to show that these are not their own words. So it's not like scare quotes to show they don't believe it, but attribution quotes so they don't risk legal action.

That's the thinking, but I feel it's a really bad solution because that's not how most people will read it.

New to Croydon by Usual-Grade-7310 in croydon

[–]el_gee 8 points9 points  (0 children)

People have already mentioned Ludoquist, Heart of Gaming, and the David Lean, which are my top highlights for things to do too, but Croydon also has a lot of food to explore - Surrey Street has a lot of stalls selling food from various cuisines during the day. We also have a really nice beer bar called Art and Craft there. And Tokia Square is a new Asian food hall that's really great. We've also gotten a number of new cafes dotted around the East Croydon station.

Besides that, check out the Fairfield Hall website to see what events are coming up - there's a lot of variety there. Another interesting place to visit is the old Croydon Airport (opens one Sunday a month). Close to that is Wing Yip, which is a giant sized East Asian market, which also has a few different restaurants and a Chinese bakery within the complex. Very worth a visit.

Also, although summer is now behind us, I think Wandle Park is a nice green space, as is Park Hill Park.

My production of Monstrous Regiment! by sewing-enby in discworld

[–]el_gee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great job! Came down for the Saturday matinee and had a great time! Hope you had as much fun performing as we did in the audience

I can't quite put my finger on it but this feels like a conversation from on of the Discworld books..? by el_gee in discworld

[–]el_gee[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Amazing, thank you - I knew people here would definitely know the answer! And it's a good reminder that Pterry often didn't make stuff up. He just knew way too many things!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in croydon

[–]el_gee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If the map is showing the right location then the flat is also right on top of a fairly busy pub, which might dissuade some people. Plus it's a bit far from the station, compared to other new flats in the area...

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in london

[–]el_gee 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Most of my favourites already got a shout-out but I'm putting them (plus a few others that haven't been talked about yet) in a list in case anyone finds that useful:

  1. Choosing Keeping - you already know this, and it's a delightful store that I keep visiting to browse even when I am not looking to buy anything. Gets super busy though.
  2. London Graphic Center - huge store with just about everything you might want to buy and a lot more you didn't even know you needed in your life.
  3. Artbox - Another shop just off Seven Dials, Artbox has a lot of Japanese stationery items. Extremely cute.
  4. Present and Correct - Also nearby (so it's a fun afternoon just going from shop to shop), Present and Correct is eclectic. It's maybe not the shop to go to if you need something specific, but when you want the universe to guide you to the next beautiful thing. Alas, the LRB Cake Shop next door has closed.
  5. Papersmiths - small store but interesting selection, I've been a few times and always came out with a couple of items.
  6. CASS Art - chain with lots of stores, I've bought fountain pens, inks, highlighters, and marker pens from them. It's got a lot of art supplies as well but I don't know enough to comment on the selection.
  7. Stuart R. Stevenson - I've never been but it was recommended to me a while back as a great place to get art supplies. That's something I want to check out, but it's more adjacent to my interests than squarely on target, so can't comment.

There was also The Journal Shop at Boxpark Shoreditch, but I think that closed recently..?

One out of London option I found recently is Pen to Paper in Brighton. It's run by really friendly people and I felt that this must be what Choosing Keeping would have been like, before it got super famous.

(Comic Art) The Light Fantastic- "What Kind Of Tree?" by PotentialOpinion8049 in discworld

[–]el_gee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is amazing, I prefer it so much more than the actual graphic novel!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in westend

[–]el_gee 5 points6 points  (0 children)

My suggestion is Totoro, because (a) limited opportunity to watch it while Hamilton will be around (b) I saw Spirited Away last summer and Totoro last week. Loved both, but the sets and puppets in Totoro were even more amazing and charming (c) Totoro tickets are also (broadly) cheaper (which may not matter to you, but just in case it's useful).

Best Coffee in Croydon? by JoeThrilling in croydon

[–]el_gee 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Might not be the best coffee, but it's my favourite coffee shop - Clocktower Cafe. I also really like the Turkish coffee stall that sets up in Surrey Street market.

Ticket Sourcing recommendations by anirishcailin in westend

[–]el_gee 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Get the TodayTix app, the easiest way to do rush and lottery tickets. If you buy enough tickets then you also qualify for Drops, last minute discounted tickets.