The internet blog is the ideal platform for petty rants. With that in mind first we have Ancestry.com. They are now spamming their newsletter. If you click on unsubscribe it pretends to have worked but a few days later you get another newsletter. I thought that Ancestry.com actually had a good reputation but now I recommend adding it to your direct-to-trash filter list.
Then today I had a car pass me and a loud pop goes off in my ear. What the heck was that? The blue RAV4 that just passed me had an open passenger window. OK, it must be a cap gun. But then it turns into a no through road. Right, I'll survey the road and find who did it.
Little kid with his scooter and the "smoking gun" evidence on the garden wall. Yes, it was a little strip of caps.
I did try to explain that it was rude and a cowardly lack of respect to aim drive-by bangs at strangers. Dad should have then apologised and that would be the end of the matter. But instead I was told "didn't I have better things to do with my time" and that I should "get a life". Clearly I do not have better things to do so I took a picture of his car, a blue RAV4.
[UPDATE] I did put my version of the events to the police and they agreed to have a word with the person. The dad was at work but the wife did give her sincere apologies and ensured me that there was no malice involved. Now why couldn't dad have done that yesterday? Strangely enough the dad claimed responsibility for the "accidental" firing of the gun that he apparently didn't know was loaded. How he managed to fire at precisely the moment the car passed and through an open window is another mystery. I am sure that this is the end of the matter.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Articlesbase joins my ban list
Articlesbase has many articles submitted by people. There are probably many useful and genuine articles. However the site is infested with fake PC advice such as this page http://www.articlesbase.com/data-recovery-articles/avgcsrvx-exe-has-encountered-a-problem-and-needs-to-close-clean-it-now--1088464.html which is just a way of selling useless software to the unwary. In fact any common problem seems to be spammed with links to buy a registry cleaner. Somehow Google ranks these results high. This site is going onto my blocked list because every time I do a search I get useless results from articlesbase.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Wanchai Ferry
What does Wanchai Ferry remind you of? A short, cheap and very scenic view of Hong Kong day or night. Or something hot, windy and smells of diesel? Which brings me to the new range of Chinese food kits from General Mills. I wouldn't normally buy that sort of stuff but I had a couple of promotional coupons so I thought I'd give it a go. Wanchai Ferry Xiang Gu Chicken looked good on the box. The packaging is great, the website is interesting. It all went well until it came time to add the black bean sauce. I don't know what they did to it but the whiff of vinegar and something unpleasant ruined the recipe. Then the noodles were inferior quality just to make it worse.
If you try this kit then sniff the contents of the packet before you pour it on your food. You may prefer to pour it in the bin. Have a bottle of Sharwood's Black Bean sauce on hand to use instead. And a pack of their medium egg noodles too!
If you try this kit then sniff the contents of the packet before you pour it on your food. You may prefer to pour it in the bin. Have a bottle of Sharwood's Black Bean sauce on hand to use instead. And a pack of their medium egg noodles too!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
The World's Newest Teletext Inserter
Here is VBIT up and running being controlled by a Justin Mattair AVR XMEGA.
And here is a picture of some dodgy looking VBI, line 12 to be precise. Mostly this is the fault of the low bandwidth scope but I might try some more decoupling.
This 13.5kg boatanchor scope, namely a Telequipment D755 is really difficult to use. It was last calibrated in 1987. It doesn't lock on TV signals, in fact it doesn't lock on anything for the first hour, no exaggeration. Probably some caps need replacing. But then it does manage to lock onto the field flag when it warms up. The A/B dual sweep is a wonderful thing coupled with a precision multi-turn delay wheel. I think it is a 10MHz scope but the poor thing doesn't have any contrast for fast signals so 4MHz is about the real practical limit unless you work with the lights off.
[UPDATE] The wobbly vbi was caused by not having the video output terminated. With 75 ohms attached it was clear enough to read the MRAG straight off the vbi.
 |
| From blogpics |
And here is a picture of some dodgy looking VBI, line 12 to be precise. Mostly this is the fault of the low bandwidth scope but I might try some more decoupling.
 |
| From blogpics |
This 13.5kg boatanchor scope, namely a Telequipment D755 is really difficult to use. It was last calibrated in 1987. It doesn't lock on TV signals, in fact it doesn't lock on anything for the first hour, no exaggeration. Probably some caps need replacing. But then it does manage to lock onto the field flag when it warms up. The A/B dual sweep is a wonderful thing coupled with a precision multi-turn delay wheel. I think it is a 10MHz scope but the poor thing doesn't have any contrast for fast signals so 4MHz is about the real practical limit unless you work with the lights off.
[UPDATE] The wobbly vbi was caused by not having the video output terminated. With 75 ohms attached it was clear enough to read the MRAG straight off the vbi.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
VBIT - USB Teletext inserter
 |
| From blogpics |
VBIT, as the pocket inserter is now called is up and running as far as the hardware is concerned. A few fixes to the power and pullups and a signal line that had to be added and it is now producing vbi. What sort of vbi I have no idea as my ex-military scope doesn't do TV signals. But it means that the video path and the FIFO are all operating. Now I only have two things left to do.
1) Fit it into a case
2) Write the software.
This week I'm going to try generating packet 8/30/1 and maybe some Softel optouts as those are simple single packets. But the full text service could take a few months to implement assuming that the processor can work fast enough. And when summer comes I won't want to spend all the evening picking through code.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Studio and Stage
This is a warning to everyone in the field of photographic and TV studios. Do not deal with Studio and Stage based in Halifax HX3 6SN. http://studioandstage.co.uk/ The company has changed name to escape the ripped-off customers but it is the same guy behind it each time.
If you have given them money then expect poor quality or unmerchantable rubbish. Don't expect a refund.
We should have realised when only a mobile phone number was listed. A real company of any size would have a land line.
We ordered a tracking system including rails and pantographs. The promised tracking was supposed to be as good as new. Then we were told it was brand new and made to order. It was scratched and bent and obviously worn. So we got low quality but workable rails and goods not as described. Also they promised rail extensions but those never appeared. The pantographs were much smaller than described and poor quality with burred edges ready to cut an unwary finger. So quite shoddy but maybe if it was cheaper it would do for an amateur's shed.
The coving was complete rubbish. It was supposed to have come second hand from a studio. As it turned out it was especially made for us. It was made from several ply of fibreglass and was so badly made it was not usable at all. Imagine a pile of lasagne sheets after you pour a kettle of hot water over them. Or imagine a few pages of mediaeval parchment that a toddler had spilled a pot of glue on. Also the key elements of coving, the corner curve was not supplied at all.
Despite being given many chances to remedy the situation all that we got were tactics designed to delay including false promises of a representative to visit, and bogus delivery notes and tracking numbers.
First they did not respond in a timely fashion. When they did reply they gave a cock and bull story about the corner pieces being manufactured. They also promised a shipment but gave no tracking number.
A few days later they said it was going to arrive with another shipper. This never happened either.
Then they gave a string of excuses including the weather and the Christmas break.
Then when pressed for a delivery date and tracking we got given a JPEG scanned image of a TNT consignment. This was a vaguely plausible except that the tracking number referred to a different delivery about 6 months old and the TNT guys who we know could confirm that there was no such delivery. Also there were minor errors that only a human could introduce. The TNT database would have rejected the details given. This was a photoshop job designed to stall and waste time. And clear evidence of fraudulent intent.
Then they changed their phone number to another mobile phone number. This is not the mark of a trustworthy company.
Then it was more nonsense about the weather holding up the packers. The packers were called "Pendign Packing" and somehow this company has managed to operate without getting a single mention on the web. But they happen to have the same postcode as Studio and Stage.
Then another pair of tracking numbers. One worked, the other didn't. In fact the other number was for a different consignment not destined for us at all. So some laughably amateurish attempts at flat coving looking like some sort of wrinkled parchment arrived. Then the curves arrived in several consignments. And the vital corner part never arrived at all. Like the keystone of a bridge, without this part, the whole coving can not be built. Personally I think that it is a difficult shape and they ran out of fibreglass trying to make something that they are clearly not competent to build.
So to sum up the trading standards points:
Goods not as described - Tracking was not new but worn. Neither did it have the promised extensions.
Inferior product - Coving is not of merchantable quality.
Goods not received in full - The corner part was missing.
And then the endless delaying tactics and bluff and bluster. This company is incompetent and fraudulent and should not trusted by anyone.
If you have given them money then expect poor quality or unmerchantable rubbish. Don't expect a refund.
We should have realised when only a mobile phone number was listed. A real company of any size would have a land line.
We ordered a tracking system including rails and pantographs. The promised tracking was supposed to be as good as new. Then we were told it was brand new and made to order. It was scratched and bent and obviously worn. So we got low quality but workable rails and goods not as described. Also they promised rail extensions but those never appeared. The pantographs were much smaller than described and poor quality with burred edges ready to cut an unwary finger. So quite shoddy but maybe if it was cheaper it would do for an amateur's shed.
The coving was complete rubbish. It was supposed to have come second hand from a studio. As it turned out it was especially made for us. It was made from several ply of fibreglass and was so badly made it was not usable at all. Imagine a pile of lasagne sheets after you pour a kettle of hot water over them. Or imagine a few pages of mediaeval parchment that a toddler had spilled a pot of glue on. Also the key elements of coving, the corner curve was not supplied at all.
Despite being given many chances to remedy the situation all that we got were tactics designed to delay including false promises of a representative to visit, and bogus delivery notes and tracking numbers.
First they did not respond in a timely fashion. When they did reply they gave a cock and bull story about the corner pieces being manufactured. They also promised a shipment but gave no tracking number.
A few days later they said it was going to arrive with another shipper. This never happened either.
Then they gave a string of excuses including the weather and the Christmas break.
Then when pressed for a delivery date and tracking we got given a JPEG scanned image of a TNT consignment. This was a vaguely plausible except that the tracking number referred to a different delivery about 6 months old and the TNT guys who we know could confirm that there was no such delivery. Also there were minor errors that only a human could introduce. The TNT database would have rejected the details given. This was a photoshop job designed to stall and waste time. And clear evidence of fraudulent intent.
Then they changed their phone number to another mobile phone number. This is not the mark of a trustworthy company.
Then it was more nonsense about the weather holding up the packers. The packers were called "Pendign Packing" and somehow this company has managed to operate without getting a single mention on the web. But they happen to have the same postcode as Studio and Stage.
Then another pair of tracking numbers. One worked, the other didn't. In fact the other number was for a different consignment not destined for us at all. So some laughably amateurish attempts at flat coving looking like some sort of wrinkled parchment arrived. Then the curves arrived in several consignments. And the vital corner part never arrived at all. Like the keystone of a bridge, without this part, the whole coving can not be built. Personally I think that it is a difficult shape and they ran out of fibreglass trying to make something that they are clearly not competent to build.
So to sum up the trading standards points:
Goods not as described - Tracking was not new but worn. Neither did it have the promised extensions.
Inferior product - Coving is not of merchantable quality.
Goods not received in full - The corner part was missing.
And then the endless delaying tactics and bluff and bluster. This company is incompetent and fraudulent and should not trusted by anyone.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Inserter boards arrived
(Probably)
Nobody was home to accept the boards so they went back to the sorting office. The Irish Post Office confused matters because their tracking said that my package arrived in the United States.
Maybe the Irish Post Office thinks that the UK is about to become another American state?
Or maybe there was a clerical error at the manufacturers?
Or the An Post tracking system just doesn't work?
Hopefully the correct boards will be in the hands of the Royal Mail when I go there in the morning.
Engineering Change Note 2. Cut RESETN track to U2-40 and tie the pin to +VDD via 10k. Link RESETN to U3-1 and rename it CSN.
[Update: I got somebody else's boards. My boards ended up in the USA. Cockup in the post room I expect. Beta Layout had the boards remade in Germany and they arrived couriered in a couple of days after the mix-up was revealed. They had also been electrically tested as I could see from the pin marks. I would have awarded full marks for customer service. However the boards didn't come with my solder sucker (free gift for new customers) or the stainless steel laser cut solder stencil (which I didn't want anyway).
Nobody was home to accept the boards so they went back to the sorting office. The Irish Post Office confused matters because their tracking said that my package arrived in the United States.
Maybe the Irish Post Office thinks that the UK is about to become another American state?
Or maybe there was a clerical error at the manufacturers?
Or the An Post tracking system just doesn't work?
Hopefully the correct boards will be in the hands of the Royal Mail when I go there in the morning.
Engineering Change Note 2. Cut RESETN track to U2-40 and tie the pin to +VDD via 10k. Link RESETN to U3-1 and rename it CSN.
[Update: I got somebody else's boards. My boards ended up in the USA. Cockup in the post room I expect. Beta Layout had the boards remade in Germany and they arrived couriered in a couple of days after the mix-up was revealed. They had also been electrically tested as I could see from the pin marks. I would have awarded full marks for customer service. However the boards didn't come with my solder sucker (free gift for new customers) or the stainless steel laser cut solder stencil (which I didn't want anyway).
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