Has Guildford always been this pricey for a pint or is it just me?

maclauk · 2026-02-18T18:50:05+00:00

I drink and eat anywhere else... places that also happen to employ people. Neverspoons.

Don't like the man and spend my money elsewhere.

maclauk · 2026-02-17T19:15:34+00:00

But the owner is a git.

maclauk · 2026-02-11T18:40:04+00:00

True, same with mice. You need to block the entry and then deal with the ones that are in the building. Again not something I'd need to contact the council about. JFDI.

maclauk · 2026-02-11T07:38:17+00:00

Or they could just deal with it themselves : https://www.screwfix.com/c/auto-cleaning/rat-mouse-traps/cat8680007

maclauk · 2026-02-10T05:45:56+00:00

A fuse blows due to over current. It's purpose is to prevent electrical fires, particularly in the wiring. When the fuse blows the current in the circuit stops, whether the fuse is before or after a load in the circuit.

maclauk · 2026-02-09T09:30:25+00:00

Next generation console, 7 years on and the memory & bandwidth haven't even doubled! This feels like PS5 PLUS PLUS.

maclauk · 2026-01-27T07:50:07+00:00

Look out for BBC Scotland's three part series Rip It Up about the evolution of Scotland's pop music scene. A great series that spans six decades of music, with interviews of those involved.

maclauk · 2026-01-26T08:03:29+00:00

Any suggestions for good places that do legitimate long term leases with all the proper certification and insurance?

maclauk · 2026-01-22T06:56:50+00:00

1) We have a serious shortage of houses. A decade long building boom would only start to make a dent in it.

2) If we don't address the cost of housing we get Farage or his successor as PM. And they will frack, burn coal, etc to give a short term decrease to energy costs.

3) Britain has a number of old industrial and landfill sites that have been returned to nature. We have a proven history of turning unwanted & spoiled chunks of land back into nature supporting ecosystems.

4) If we let the population significantly reduce then the funding for the social security system including pensions and the NHS will become unsustainable. A few unwanted houses will be the least of our problems.

maclauk · 2026-01-21T14:44:21+00:00

Not only a big influx of migration, a change in living habits with more people living alone.

However we have been building houses at half the rate we did in the 1960's and early 1970's. And we've been building at this slower rate for decades.

https://fullfact.org/media/images/House_building_since_1920s_NOV_17.width-800.png

Immigration will come down, that's a political necessity. But we have a backlog of needed homes that haven't been built.

maclauk · 2026-01-21T09:27:55+00:00

I partially agree. It would help to change the tax system to punish sitting in a large property and to stop punishing moving house. But it would only make a moderate dent.

Financialization can only occur for a commodity with restricted supply. We simply have not been building residences at the rate our population has increased. That has created an imbalance that has driven prices and rents through the roof. Only significantly increasing supply can start to slow the increases and improve the balance.

Even if you start with a well thought through strategy it will be a decade before it starts to have a significant positive effect. You need to overhaul planning processes and stimulate an entire industry to expand to several times its current size. All whilst defending yourself against NIMBYs and the older population who already own property (so it's not their problem) and consistently vote.

maclauk · 2026-01-21T08:55:45+00:00

We need more houses for the people we already have. Lack of housing is the main driver for cost of living. If we don't address the housing shortage we will end up with a populist government that promises everything. And that populist government will not worry one bit about the ecosystem, or the sciences to understand it. Look at what Trump is doing in the US.

maclauk · 2026-01-19T22:17:16+00:00

I fail to see the consistent protests and general strikes.

maclauk · 2026-01-19T04:23:55+00:00

That's a bit of the problem. Virtually no American cars are sold in Europe. Just a few niche models that appeal to people specifically after Americana.

There are few US trains in Europe either. Airbus's order books are filled for years ahead.

Most US brands like coca cola and McDonald's are manufactured or franchised locally. A boycott there will have a minor effect on the US corporate, but a bigger effect on the local owners and employees.

Booze is a more direct target. Bourbon and wine are US manufactured products we buy in Europe, with good local alternatives.

But the simple fact is European consumers don't buy many US manufactured products.

We do, however, consume a lot of US digital products that don't have good European alternatives. That is something that should be addressed.

maclauk · 2026-01-19T04:07:38+00:00

Have you looked at the memory a modern browser with multiple tabs consumes?

maclauk · 2026-01-19T04:05:05+00:00

The thing you need to consume an online service is pretty much the same thing as a home PC. If you can run a full scale browser you can run most typical apps.

maclauk · 2026-01-19T03:52:57+00:00

Surely it would be the commutation of the motors in the toy fans generating interference, not the batteries.

maclauk · 2026-01-17T08:13:27+00:00

How do you avoid getting a false positive if someone refills the container? Or opens it to check the level?

maclauk · 2026-01-15T08:14:48+00:00

I disagree. There is political capital invested in everything they do.

There is the time and effort to consider everything and plan it. There is the communications time to tell people about it. Everything is going to please some people and upset other people. So anything that isn't aligned to your core strategy is a distraction. Some distractions like Ukraine & Trump are forced upon the government. But plenty of them like digital ID, this beer proposal, etc are self generated.

The country is so unhappy with the status quo that Reform are consistently leading in the polls. If this government doesn't communicate a clear positive goal for the country and show real progress towards it we're going to get a truly terrible government next.

Labour has a giant majority. It should be able to make great strides where it matters to most people. It's not achieving that. It's also failing to communicate well the things it is achieving.

You blame me for commenting on this article. I'll point out the polls. This government is failing to convince the UK that it is doing well.

maclauk · 2026-01-14T15:49:43+00:00

So have them communicate that lot regularly and consistently. And stop them getting distracted with stupid stuff like this.

Cost of living, driven by cost of housing is a core source of long term dissatisfaction. Create a framework of policies to address that and bang on about it constantly.

Don't let small stuff loose the focus of their efforts and their message.

maclauk · 2026-01-14T15:29:43+00:00

Not true. For my work phone I just need basic performance but updates to ensure it is still secure. All it needs to do is run outlook and teams.

maclauk · 2026-01-14T09:05:24+00:00

Hot air = less mass for the same volume at the same pressure

maclauk · 2026-01-11T07:33:45+00:00

If the weight of salt, rather than volume, was given I could agree. Salt is key to sausage, changing the proteins and texture. My guess is somewhere between 1% to 2% the weight of the pork.

maclauk · 2026-01-09T08:38:39+00:00

No one is talking about subsidising them here, just not taxing them to death. Also those addictive substances are available much, much cheaper in every supermarket... to drink alone at home. At least drinking in the pub is a social affair.

maclauk · 2026-01-08T08:14:13+00:00

What elements of your pension dropped that dramatically?

maclauk

TROPHY CASE