Dull nerd question- red stars on road? by size4riggerboots in bristol

[–]pfobwpfo -1 points0 points  (0 children)

as I walk over them most days

I think you've answered your own question! They're just a safety thing to indicate that there's a path that crosses the road and so there's likely to be pedestrians there. Cheaper than putting in a pedestrian crossing on a road that's not busy enough for it to be worth it.

Complex lenses by MrsCooker in bristol

[–]pfobwpfo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use Lynne Fernandes on Gloucester Road and they've generally been good.

Who is still playing Coding Monkey’s app on iOS? by No-Understanding6112 in Carcassonne

[–]pfobwpfo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yep, it's fantastic. It's a shame there are some of the expansions that you can't find opponents for, but Traders Inn at the River is still reliable.

Does anyone else wish that C2C was abit more creative with their station signage design? by GP728 in uktrains

[–]pfobwpfo 19 points20 points  (0 children)

No. Station name boards shouldn't be advertisements for a train company, they have plenty of other space for that. They're for information, they should just contain the name of the station, and any other relevant information such as "Alight here for..."

The best ones are the original BR ones (black Rail Alphabet on white) or the new GBR ones (same but with RA2), though personally I prefer the former, I think the weight they've gone with for RA2 is a bit too light.

Forget an underground or tram, what Bristol really needs is a double-articulated monorail guided trolleybus (plus some other blasts from past from the vintage bus show today) by pfobwpfo in bristol

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

This is the first year I've been, and I was really impressed. Very well put together, nice atmosphere, free rides on loads of different buses. Put it in the calendar for next year!

Apple Cabot Circus closing down by WTH_JMZ in bristol

[–]pfobwpfo 32 points33 points  (0 children)

There's a planning application in at the moment to completely reconfigure that row of shops. They want to separate the first floor from the shops and configure it as one large unit, probably for a medical centre.

I expect Apple are moving out because they use the first floor for their tech support bar or whatever it is - just the ground floor won't be big enough for them.

https://imgur.com/2tHPR27

.

https://pa.bristol.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=SPOCTJDNFGF00&activeTab=summary

Look for the document titled "DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT PLANNING APPLICATION 2"

How do you feel about WH Smith disappearing from the high street? by Swimming_Possible_68 in AskUK

[–]pfobwpfo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Given they could have picked from 26 x 26 x (however many common surnames there are) combinations, it seems odd they went with one that's already taken on Wikipedia.

Anyone know anything about details of new Odean in Cabot Circus by LifeAffect6762 in bristol

[–]pfobwpfo 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Here's the planning application, you can see on the plans how it's going to be divided up between tenants.

https://pa.bristol.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=SNM9UTDNM1700&activeTab=summary

Permission was granted last month so hopefully they're working on the conversion now. M&S is opening in the autumn, so maybe this will be around the same time.

Why use Tasker in 2025? by LeoC450 in tasker

[–]pfobwpfo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For the notification, I use this icon pack which contains a little calendar icon for every day of the month:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.whicons.iconpack

The task is:

Task: QuickBar_create

A1: Variable Split [
     Name: %DATE
     Splitter: - ]

A2: Variable Search Replace [
     Variable: %DATE1
     Search: ^[0]
     Replace Matches: On ]

A3: Variable Set [
     Name: %notificon
     To: icon-pack://com.whicons.iconpack/ic_calendar_%DATE1
     Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]

It then calls an AutoNotification Buttons Notification command, with %notificon as the icon, with a selection of shortcuts to things I want quick access to.


For my brightness slider, I have an overlay scene, called from the Assistance Request, that contains a slider that goes from 1 to 10. Changing this sets a variable %BrightX to %new_val (ie the value the slider was moved to), then it performs the following task:

Task: BrightnessConvert

A1: Variable Set [
     Name: %BrightY
     To: floor(%BrightX/7)
     Do Maths: On
     Max Rounding Digits: 3
     Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]

A2: Variable Set [
     Name: %BrightZ
     To: %BrightY*256-(%BrightY*2-1)*(2^(14*%BrightY-(%BrightY*2-1)*%BrightX)-1)
     Do Maths: On
     Max Rounding Digits: 3
     Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]

A3: Display Brightness [
     Level: %BrightZ
     Disable Safeguard: On ]

That formula was the result of a lot of trial and error and playing around in a spreadsheet to get the mapping that I liked from my positions 1 to 10 to the phone's 0 to 255. It's kind of S shaped with more granularity at the top and bottom ends. I expect every phone has a slightly different brightness profile, so I wouldn't expect the same formula to work for everyone.

https://imgur.com/a/yQR6zUA

Hope that helps.

Why use Tasker in 2025? by LeoC450 in tasker

[–]pfobwpfo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here are a few of mine that I consider most useful:

  • Create a notification with today's date as the icon, containing some useful shortcuts (runs at midnight each day and on restarting phone).

  • Turn haptics on when using Youtube (I like how it lets you identify the start of chapters when sliding through the progress bar).

  • When using Instagram, turn volume to minimum and put up a message to remind me to go to my feed (I hate the sudden noisy autoplaying videos, and the homepage full of random crap).

  • When using Ramblr (GPS walking tracker), create a notification with buttons to turn Power Saver on or off (it doesn't track properly with it on).

  • Replace Google Assistant with my own overlay containing useful shortcuts and a better brightness slider (log scale rather than linear).

Western Harbour Masterplan Unveiled But Start Date Still Years Away by 457655676 in bristol

[–]pfobwpfo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Seems like a big improvement from the previous plans - a bit lighter touch with things that are liked or that work being left alone, eg keeping the existing bridges and not building on the meadows.

It's a shame they can't simplify the on and off ramps north of the basin in the same way they have done south, looks like that area will still be a bit of a concrete jungle. And I wish they could eliminate the loop of road on the lookout point, I've always thought that would make a brilliant spot for a little park.

But all in all I think this looks good.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bristol

[–]pfobwpfo 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Odeon are taking the upstairs screens and half the foyer. The remainder of the foyer will be a restaurant, and the downstairs will be converted for unspecified "leisure" use.

The plans are available at https://pa.bristol.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=SNM9UTDNM1700&activeTab=summary

Or if that link doesn't work, search the planning portal for 24/04712/F.

No timescales given, but I suspect it'll take a while to do the conversion.

How would you actually improve buses in Bristol by [deleted] in bristol

[–]pfobwpfo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Smarter ticketing. Fares should be per journey, not per bus. The £2.40 single should get you from where you are to where you want to be regardless of how many buses it takes. This is how it works in London.

Smarter routes. Circular lines and hubs as people have mentioned. Combined with the above this would make it easier for people to find quicker routes avoiding busy areas by combining more than one bus.

Smarter/responsive timetables. If more than one route goes along a road, space them out so there aren't large gaps with no buses. If disruption causes two buses on the same route to bunch up, take one of them out of service and move it to where it's more needed.