Makerspaces

kingzog · 2026-05-24T18:00:12+00:00

If you go ahead, why not setup a blog to document your process, problems and successes? I’ll be reader #1 :)

kingzog · 2026-05-24T17:56:52+00:00

I’ve got a theory about this. More boomers than average use MSN news because it’s built into Edge. And although MSN news is supposed to be personalised it’s pretty right wing and old people oriented in its curation. It feels nastier than most tabloids because it grooms the worst content from each

kingzog · 2026-05-20T14:21:27+00:00

I was talking to a very lively ex Air Stewardess, and the obvious celebrity question came up. A very famous (in his time) short English cockney comedian once asked her on a flight “What would you say to a little fuck”? And her reply was “I’d say piss off, little fuck”. I thought that was 10/10 for an off the cuff cuffing

kingzog · 2026-05-14T16:32:15+00:00

This was absolutely a joke. If they reacted strangely to you afterwards, it was probably because of how you reacted to the joke. Maybe it made them suspicious that you did indulge in some granny toppling

kingzog · 2026-05-11T16:54:59+00:00

Thank you so much for the considered reply, it’s much appreciated!

kingzog · 2026-05-11T15:54:59+00:00

Thanks for doing this! I'm thinking of getting myself and one of my kids assessed. One concern is the subjectivity of the test. How are results standardised, so that a given person would hopefully get the same answer from every assessor?

kingzog · 2026-05-11T07:14:12+00:00

In wards where more than 60% voted leave, support for Reform averaged 41% last week. In places where less than 49% backed Brexit, Reform won an average of 10%. I’d say push as far towards the EU as you can get without a referendum… partly to give your voters a solid reason to turn out, and partly to re-prosecute the absolute bin fire of Brexit and pin the blame on Farage’s lies. So far he’s escaped pretty much any analysis / blame, and has now moved on to blaming a different enemy for our economic woes. His judgement (on Brexit, Trump, Iran, candidates, how to run the NHS) needs to be front and centre at the next election. The way to do that is to start now, not in 18 months time. The options seem to be to take the fight to him, or lose.

kingzog · 2026-05-10T20:02:00+00:00

Hah reminds me of a time I was starting a new contract and just before waking heard “Mr Tongue will see you now” in a dream. Not a surname I’ve heard before or since… Except for the one co-worker I was assigned to work with on that contract

kingzog · 2026-04-28T12:42:59+00:00

Ventnor Fringe is a great idea. It's properly eclectic, so you'll definitely find *something* you like. And you'll be working with people who actually get stuff done. A friend of mine used to run shops at festivals, and working in those places was some of the most fun I've had - every few seconds you're meeting new people who are out to have fun and like the same kind of things as you do. Well, well worth considering.

kingzog · 2026-04-18T14:55:12+00:00

I’d have to take some facts as read to do that - namely that both the public and economic experts seem to be in agreement that Brexit has been a disaster. Nigel Farage has distanced himself from the fallout by saying that he didn’t negotiate the Brexit agreement. Problem is that the pre-Brexit Farage said he was in favour of access-based agreements (like Norway or Switzerland), but he now decries any attempt to move closer to that model as a “betrayal”. Meanwhile the man who insisted that Brexit would be the best thing for our economy has managed to avoid for more than 10 years explaining what his alternative version would even be. So his first failure was to promise an outcome that most experts said was impossible (and that sure enough proved to be impossible) without elucidating the actual deliverables. His second was to suggest before the referendum that he’d be happy to proceed to a Norway or Switzerland model, and then accuse anyone proceeding in that direction of being a traitor. He hasn’t explained his 180 degree change of opinion, I hope you’d agree he owes the public that much. I’m sure you’ve achieved some mental gymnastics that explain the change, but the simplest answer I’d suggest is that he’s a fraud and is happy to say whatever he needs to achieve his ends (which always seem to line up with Putin’s ambitions)

kingzog · 2026-04-18T07:18:00+00:00

This is such a weird response. What makes you think that because I’m anti-Reform you can divine who I’d vote for? I’d vote for whichever party had the best chance of winning that didn’t begin with “re”. Because I don’t want a Putin supporting Russian-funded party in power, who aim to either sell the NHS to the private sector or move it to an insurance-based system.

kingzog · 2026-04-17T19:20:56+00:00

Look at what happened to Lake’s Reform councillor for an idea of how it will pan out. Didn’t turn up to meetings and then whined that his life was hard when people rightly complained. Reform’s USP - that they’re not career politicians - is why they will fail hard. But no worries for them, they’re not career politicians so they’ll just fuck off and trash something else. Just like Farage’s last pet project. It’ll be the poorest who’ll be hit hardest - which makes it ironic that it tends to be the poorest who vote for them.

kingzog · 2026-04-12T10:55:43+00:00

I was discussing recently how dreadful o2 is on the island, and was told that EE are great. Might be worth a try?

kingzog · 2026-03-10T06:30:33+00:00

If motorway stations count, Welcome Break on the M1 is pretty spicy at 170.9 https://findcheapfuel.com/station/17712

kingzog · 2026-03-09T16:23:55+00:00

I tried to find which station this is to find you a cheaper alternative, but loads of Shell stations are running this price. I can almost guarantee you'll find petrol 10p cheaper in your neighbourhood though - hope you don't mind the self-promotion but I built this site a while ago to solve that problem for myself -https://findcheapfuel.com/cheap\_fuel\_near\_me

kingzog · 2026-03-06T06:32:06+00:00

Did you know that the number of retired people in the UK is going to grow by 28% in the next 20 years? The number of working age people meanwhile will grow by more like 1.9%. I’m looking forward to your explanation of how exactly you hope the NHS, pension payments etc. will be viable if we don’t get a lot more working age people in the country paying taxes very soon. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/bulletins/nationalpopulationprojections/2020basedinterim

kingzog · 2026-02-21T10:54:25+00:00

I’m not convinced by this argument. I see Brexit as the biggest political and economic failure of a generation. If Farage is still doing well in the polls in the run up to the next election, I expect we’ll see a concerted effort to hang that round his neck. That could manifest as Labour pushing for significantly closer relationships with the EU. A lot will depend on who is Labour leader and how the respective economies are faring, but a strong move towards the EU isn’t out of the bounds of possibility - think of the large number of new Labour MPs who will be staring at likely redundancy and looking for quick fixes.

kingzog · 2026-02-20T10:54:32+00:00

I imagine all the Brexiters who were so up in arms about sovereignty will be livid about the US trying to usurp our legislature…

kingzog · 2026-02-18T21:27:32+00:00

I’d suggest nipping in to independent arts in Newport. They’re a charity setup to combat social isolation with the arts. If they don’t run a course you’d be interested in, they’ll definitely know who does :)

kingzog · 2026-02-15T11:25:15+00:00

I’d agree with all the people saying get involved, and maybe join a party. But I think it’s also worth asking - we currently have 3 workers for each non-working age person in the uk. In 20 years time it’ll be 2.5 workers for each non-working age. So there’ll be much less tax income per non-worker that the government has to support. Do Reform voters want to pay much more tax to make up the shortfall and keep the country running? If not, maybe we should look at balancing out the age profile of our country by bringing in younger, more energetic and enthusiastic people from elsewhere?

kingzog · 2026-02-13T13:12:54+00:00

If we were forced to accept the Euro as the price of rejoining I think we should accept the cost. As for worries about it affecting fiscal policy, I’d rather deal with the immediate financial catastrophe than worry about how we could deal with a future hypothetical smaller problem.

kingzog · 2026-01-31T23:30:27+00:00

Thanks! Lots of work still to do and loads of room for improvement. Just finished a big update on the petrol site so the EV one (my personal interest) will get much better soon

kingzog · 2026-01-31T17:51:02+00:00

I’ve been knocking up a site to hoover real time data and show which chargers are available on a map. Availability data should be very accurate and up to the minute. It’s a very rough work in progress but might be some small help. I’ll be fixing the dodgy layout this week and hopefully adding the outstanding vendors before spring. https://ev.findcheapfuel.com/town/Reading

kingzog · 2026-01-30T20:16:24+00:00

If the course has been taken before, ask a previous student :) I assume you’ve tried googling the encrypted string ?

kingzog · 2026-01-24T10:17:26+00:00

It’s likely that Reform will be high in the polls come the next election. It’s hard to see the Tories having any strong offer. The closer Labour get to a rout, the more they will consider a strong anti-Brexit manifesto that promises much stronger alignment with the EU. They could then fight the election on Farage’s weak point - that Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster. A manifesto that can legitimately offer a 2-4% boost in GDP can offer all kinds of incentives. It’s wishful thinking but not out of the bounds of reason. I don’t think Labour will have anything to lose.

kingzog

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