barclaycon

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Everything posted by barclaycon

  1. Thanks for all the info on Experian. I wasn't sure if I'd got it right, but it seems that it's plainly an exercise in getting us to divulge more personal data and onto yet another direct debit. Since the financial crash people have quite sensibly reined in their debt and consumption, but it's all starting to creep back to a stage where taking out loans and maxing out credit cards is seen a 'good' thing.
  2. Yes, but it's data mining isn't it ? Pidgeon hole and profiling. Invading your privacy and intruding into your financial affairs - and getting you to pay for it ! They must be successful at it because it's a big company - one of Nottingham's major employers. Now credit card companies are recommending that you divulge all your information to these people, so that they can target you and steer you towards more debt and consumerism. How on earth did we get to this?
  3. When I went on my 'voyage of discovery' Notts tram trip a few months ago, one place that the tram stopped at was 'Experian Way' in front a huge building with loads of desks and computers on view. Clearly a big, important company (with it's own tram stop etc !) But what the hell do they do ? As far as I can make out, they deal with your 'credit score' for when you want to get a loan (!) Apparently you have to pay them £12.99 a month and they will nurture (?) your credit score and make it more likely that you can borrow more. Did I get that right ? It seems to me that it's another case of ge
  4. Looking at the old maps of what was Charlotte Street and Milton Street etc. the sheer number of public houses that were there. There was a pub every 50 yards or so. Picturethepast shows them as bustling Victorian cobbled streets. I think I'm right in saying that half the cost of Victoria station was for the land and buildings that needed to be cleared to make way for the development.
  5. Great pictures. Nice, as you say, to see things from that era in colour. Even at the end of it's life (and in a state of decay), Victoria Station and surroundings were impressive. When it was first built it must have been something quite incredible.
  6. Hang in there Ashley. Get yourself well.... and keep yourself mobile !
  7. I can't believe how many famous people have checked out this year...... R.I.P. Ronnie
  8. Ay you're right ! We used to live in this tiiiny old house, with greaaaaat big holes in the roof, .... but we were evicted and had to go and live in a lake. You were lucky! There were a hundred and sixty of us living in a small shoebox in the middle of the road. Cardboard box ? Luxury ! We were happier then when we were poor.... You try telling the young people of today that , and they won't believe ya. Etc etc.
  9. I hate the ridiculous things too. They are inefficient, expensive and ugly. A 'blot on the landscape' one might say. The horrible over-bearing things that they erected at Spondon in 2013 are universally hated. Not only that, we've never actually seen them working! Turns out that they are are just expensive white elephants: http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Residents-frustrated-lack-action-idle-wind/story-27609665-detail/story.html The green lobby would have you believe that wind farms are the answer to our energy needs, but you could turn the whole country into a wind farm and it wouldn't
  10. Re #2 Mmm.....dunno. I remember when they experimented with not putting the clocks back in the 60's. I didn't like it much. Having to go to school in the dark etc.
  11. No I haven't seen that. Thanks very much for the heads up Compo. I'll check it out.
  12. Perhaps this is an unusual choice, but I used to really like 'Weekend World' with Brian Walden. Some of the best political interviews and in-depth reporting there's ever been. We now have 'dumbed-down' politics with Andrew Neil and stupid CBBC type political reporters who have zero credibilty and little idea about journalism - other than sound-bites. They never tap into the public mood and never actually inform us about things. Particularly the ramifications of government decisions and, more importantly, Europe. Brian Walden was superb at grilling politicians because he'd been a politician
  13. I remember Fyfe Robertson from the Tonight programme (and 24 hours) as well as a whole raft of well-known reporters that made great contributions to 'current-affairs'. Mitchelmore was a media 'natural'. Unflappable and always well-informed. Much better than the bizarre Evan Davies on the current BBC late night 'flagship' news programme 'Newsnight'. A programme more obsessed with soundbites, wacky camera work and lame interviews than anything else. In-depth reporting where you actually find out something worthwhile seems to be rather out of fashion. Stalwarts like Mitchelmore were journali
  14. They've faffed around and spent millions on the Market Square to very little effect. It was fine before with the ornate fountains, it didn't need 'modernising'. Typical case of local government unneccesary spending.
  15. Parker. You will remove my bra. Parker. You will take off my stockings. Parker. You will take off my underwear.... and don't let me catch you wearing them again ! R.I.P. Sylvia
  16. It's increasingly looking that managing Forest is a poisoned chalice. They're talking about Nigel Pearson or Nigel Clough taking over, but I imagine that neither would want to be the scapegoat for the owner's stupid decisions - no matter what the pay might be. I agree that there should be some mechanism with the governing bodies in football to stop wealthy idiots taking over and using clubs as their playthings. There's plenty as evidence of clubs going to the wall because the major shareholder has mis-managed them, or simply sucked them dry.
  17. Saw them at De Montfort Hall, Leicester in 1972. One of the most memorable gigs I've been to.
  18. Very sadly, it appears that Keith Emerson took his own life. He had apparently been suffering from depression following a degenerative nerve condition. He had been unable to play for some time. Very sad loss. R.I.P. Keith
  19. Yes. The inference being that this was a sovereign service. A national institution endorsed by the monarch. It's hardly that now ! If I recall correctly, they re-named it Consignia in the run up to privatisation, but after wasting millions on re-branding and the rapid deterioration of the service they went back back to being 'Royal Mail' to try and restore some sort of trust. Like I say, I wonder how the Queen feels about her image being used to promote junk mail.
  20. Re#21 I have no problem with posties. It's not their fault that the service has gone downhill and the prices have sky-rocketed. It's the government and, dare I say it, the EU - who determined that private companies should be allowed to step in. Music to our governments ears as they were desperate to aquit themselvs of responsibility for the postal service. I mean, Royal Mail ? What's royal about it ? I wonder how the Queen feels about being connected to the biggest distributor of junk mail in Europe. I used to know our postie by name and what time he was likely to arrive. Now it's a dif
  21. Most of my friends in Italy used to use Skype, but apparently there's a feature on iPhone that lots of people use now. (I don't own an iPhone myself). Yes, it doesn't sound much - 1p on postage, but it's relentless in the same way that they continually increase line rental on phone lines. Always a reliable earner to get a few extra million in. Legal documents are still the preserve of the postal system. Not everything has been usurped by the internet. Like I say, greeting cards were always a staple for the postal system, but they managed to mess that up and change people's habits. Ditto p
  22. It's ridiculous they keep putting the price up. It's now a third class service and since they made 1st class stamps 64p. hardly anyone uses them. There's been a dramatic fall in use since the cost went up and the reliability went down. I had several cases where birthday cards didn't get delivered because the size wasn't right and they imposed all kinds of fines and the intended person had to go to the sorting office. Such things don't force you to pay the ridiculous prices, you just stop using it. And parcels..... don't get me started ! All the Christmas cards to my neighbours I delivere
  23. By his own admission not his most challenging role, but he did manage to create an iconic character in Father Jack. Frank Kelly spent a lifetime in acting. I'm sure we'll still be watching him in years to come. R.I.P. Frank
  24. I very much enjoyed Martin Scorcese's documentary about George Harrison (Living In The material World) that came out a few years ago. It confirmed what most of thought about him as a straight bloke who was interested in many things beyond just his music. Mind, body and spirit. He lived in the shadow of Lennon and McCartney for many years but proved himself to be a writer of great songs in his own right. Olivia (his second wife) suggested that he hadn't always been faithful during their time together, and McCartney has confirmed that he was 'red-blooded bloke', but in general he handled fam