Rush kicked off their North American tour (the R40 tour) in Tulsa. They have released this teaser video.
The quality of the original on YouTube suggests that we’ll have a DVD at some stage, but still no word on them coming to Europe and the UK. This is bad news, as all the signs are this will be their last big tour. Surely they must come…?
This article has had a run of hits late in 2021. Note that it is an old article, and I no longer use Flash movies on the site. I think the information is still valid, though. Also note that 1&1 is now known as IONOS.
I’ve recently been having a bit of trouble with one of the plugins I use on this site. It started when WordPress was updated. And note that this applies to a shared server with 1&1, though it may be relevant to others with different hosts.
The plugin in question displays videos (Flash movies, to be precise), and it isn’t the first time it has gone titsup. The only reason I was using it in the first place was that the uploader built into WordPress is restricted to the size limit for PHP file transfers set by your hosting company. When I first came up against this several years ago my main concern was to get videos working and I didn’t really think about how I could change the basic settings. Since there is no upload size restriction using FTP I just used that.
Using the WordPress’ native uploader would be by far the preferred option, though, because using FTP means you have to install a plugin to display the video (well, you did when I first came up against the problem), then upload the video manually using your FTP client. A simple short code pasted into the article will display the video. Until the plugin stops working, that is.
I’d had enough of the 8MB upload limit on my server, so set out to do something about it. For anyone else who has run into the same problem – particularly if they’re using 1&1 as their host – here’s how to increase the maximum upload file size limit. Type the following code into a text editor (NOT a word processor – I use Notepad++):
Save it with the filename “php.ini”. Upload the file to the wp-admin folder of your WordPress site. And that’s it. The values here increase the limit to 32MB.
It’s the php.ini file that you will need to target whoever your host is. Some may not let you change it, but others might. The advice above is specifically for 1&1 customers.
WordPress is a powerful blogging platform used by about 75 million people around the world. At least half of those host their own sites rather than use the free WordPress.com platform. That’s because you can install various plugins and themes that the free option doesn’t allow.
Of course, freedom is always quickly followed by the scammers, spammers, and general scumbags, and a recent scare reveals that some smaller sites – probably run by people who don’t update very often – are being targeted.
As you are aware, I don’t allow comments on this site. Any form of live comments system (and that includes most forums) just attracts arseholes who think they can get away with saying things to others that they would get a punch in the mouth for if they tried it face to face. But probably the most common use of any system is to post URLs linking to (often illegal) pornographic material or, increasingly, terrorism-related sites. I don’t want any of that, so I’ve disabled commenting completely.
Unfortunately, though, this is still not enough. Those scumbags I mentioned are like dog-shit – once you get some on you, you can’t easily get it off again.
I installed some new security software recently and made an odd discovery. Although my site is secure, one infected link was discovered. It seems that an article I wrote about an examiners strike contained a link to the PCS Union website, and this was possibly infected with malware (well, the destination was, according to Google). It’s gone, now.
I’m not quite sure what to make of that. My anti-union stance is well known, as is my derision of any strike by PCS staff – intended, as these are, to cause the maximum amount of inconvenience and suffering to as many innocent people as possible. But the link was definitely clean when I first posted it.
Very interesting, to say the least.
Well done to Ling, who passed first time today with 11 driver faults. Another very pleasant person with a great sense of humour.
She was ecstatic that she’d passed, but then surprised me by saying she was glad it was all over because to doesn’t like driving, and doesn’t know when she’ll be going out on her own.
Well done to Cassie, who passed first time with 9 driver faults in late April. Another very pleasant person to teach.
She gave me a good laugh on the day of her test. When she got in the car she started asking me about remedies for nerves, and revealed that she’d been eating bananas and drinking a lot of water, because she’d heard they were good for dealing with nerves. I discovered a half eaten banana in her bag when I reached over to pick it up to pass it to her and put my hand in it.
But the best part was when she told me she’d been for a run that morning, because she’d read that running was good for calming you down. I didn’t think anything of it, until she added that she’d got half way down the road and ended up gasping for breath. I looked at her and asked “don’t you usually run then?”, to which she replied “no.”
A bit late, but well done Sam, who passed first time a few weeks ago with 8 driver faults. Sam had never driven before, and completed his training in just 29½ hours.
We held off on lessons for a month or so in the middle while he passed his theory test, but then did them at the rate of about four hours a week in the run up to his test.
He was a good one to teach, even if he did manage to demonstrate early on how to smash a clutch plate by bringing the pedal up too fast three times in quick succession in panic one time. When I finally got it to a garage to have the squeal looked at, the replacement would have cost me over £800 if I’d had to pay for it myself (fortunately, the lease agreement covered it).
I covered dry roasted peanuts in that last article, noting how expensive they can be. Cashews have always been a hundred times worse – with peanuts, at least you get a few handfuls. A typical bag of cashews is likely to contain less than 20 nuts and cost at least twice the price of the peanuts!
You can buy raw cashews for as little as £1.15 per 100g if you buy 1kg bags, and all you need after that is salt (use sea salt because it has no additives).
In a saucepan, place ½ tbsp salt and about 100-150 mls of water. Bring to the boil and let the salt dissolve. Then add 500g of raw cashews. Stir to make sure that all the cashews are coated with the salt water and keep stirring carefully until the water is absorbed/evaporates. Remove from the heat and turn out on to baking parchment laid in a baking tray.
Place in a pre-heated oven (gas mark 4, 180°C, 350°F) for exactly 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, use a spatula to turn the cashews, or simply tip them into the baking tray. Don’t exceed 20 minutes, as they burn easily.
Take the tray out of the oven and allow the nuts to cool to room temperature. Store in airtight containers or bags. They will – or should, if you didn’t over-cook them – look like those in the photo above.
If you think they’re too salty, use half the amount of salt next time. And if you just want to roast them, do everything outlined above but without the bit where you add salt!
I recently started hankering after dry roasted peanuts as a result of buying a packet for snacking purposes one sunny afternoon. The immediate and most obvious drawback to this ever becoming a regular snack item was the price – nearly £2 for small bag (roasted cashews are even more expensive – more on that in this article). Even the most heavily discounted KP nuts (the best ones) work out at nearly 70p per 100g.
That got me going on one of my make-your-own projects, and this recipe is what I came up with.
You can buy raw, blanched, skinless peanuts for well under £5 per kg (that’s less than 50p per 100g). All you need after that is a jar of Marmite (from any large grocery store), onion powder (also from most large grocers in small jars, or in various pack sizes online), garlic powder (ditto), honey, and sea salt (no additives, so don’t use table salt).
All you need to do is place the following in a saucepan (with a lid available):
Gently bring it to the boil while stirring continuously using a small whisk to break up any lumps, then simmer while still stirring for a minute or so. Remove from the heat, add 500g of raw peanuts, and put the lid on the saucepan. Toss the nuts until they’re all completely coated with the sticky brown syrup (invert the pan several times to make sure).
Turn out the coated nuts on to baking parchment laid inside a baking tray of some sort and spread them out into a single layer. Roast gently in a pre-heated oven (gas mark 4, 180°C, 350°F) for 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the nuts using a spatula, or simply tip them off the parchment on to the baking tray. They will over-cook extremely easily, so stick to exactly 20 minutes (maybe even less if you have a fan-assisted oven).
Take the tray out of the oven and allow the nuts to cool to room temperature. Store in airtight containers or bags. They will – or should, if you didn’t over-cook them – look like those in the photo above.
If you think they’re too salty when you taste them, next time try using half the amount of salt (Marmite is already salty, of course).
Are dry roasted peanuts healthy?
If raw peanuts are classed as “healthy”, the only thing in this recipe that makes them any less so is the sodium (salt) content. You have to face the fact that for many things to taste good, you need salt to act as a flavour enhancer.
Having said that, the amount of salt in an entire batch of these nuts is less than the recommended maximum daily amount of around 2.5g. So unless you scoffed 500g all in one go there would be no issue – and quite honestly, unless you have high blood pressure, exceeding 2.5g now and again isn’t going to hurt you. I’m not saying you should, just that you’re not going to die on the spot if you do.
Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 – the soon-to-be-released latest version – will be the last to have a number associated with it. In future, updates will happen on an on-going basis.
Over the years, we’ve had about ten versions of Windows for PCs, with a further half dozen or so for business-oriented systems. I started out at home with Windows 3.1 (it originally came on a handful of floppy disks), then moved to Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and I currently have Windows 7 on my PC and Windows 8 on my notebook.
It’s sad when I look back, but I actually queued on the day of release to get Windows 98! However, as technology has improved – and not just on the PC – it is now possible to get the latest version delivered to your door within hours of its release, so you don’t need to be such an anorak any more.
Technology on the PC, though, has made getting hold of OSes extremely simple. My internet connection with Virgin is currently knocking on 200Mbps and I have easily downloaded the disk image for the Windows 10 beta versions several times from Microsoft (the same goes for Linux and other large non-OS files). It takes just a few minutes each time. I’ve been trying it out on a virtual machine using Oracle’s VirtualBox for a few months, and I like it.
The other thing to be aware of is that if you are already using Windows 7 or 8 (there is no Windows 9), Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for one year once it is released during the summer.
I recently mentioned the idiotic 20mph speed limits which Nottingham City Council – and championed by Jane Urquhart – has erected within the City boundaries. I pointed out specifically that the signage is now extremely confusing – and in many cases, totally wrong and probably illegal. Well, take a look at these two examples.
This first one is on Hungerhill Road, at the junction with Abbotsford Drive. Note how there is a 20mph repeater sign, a 30mph main sign, then another 20mph repeater further down the road. The 30mph sign is the original signage and the 20mph zone has been extended farther down the road. It’s also worth pointing out that at the end of Abbotsford Drive (where the parked car is), there is another 30mph sign – and yet there are 20mph repeaters both left and right as you emerge.
The second one is on Beacon Hill Rise in St Anns. You can see how the previous 20mph zone ended just here – and yet there is another 20mph repeater just after the mini-roundabout (again, they have extended the 20mph zone).
These are just two out of many I have seen. At best, speed limit signs are now frequently the wrong size – you’re supposed to have a large one at the start (or end) of a zone, and the small repeaters in between. However, now the large ones exist within 20mph zones, and that makes them confusing.
At worst, the halfwits at the council have simply left all the old signs up, even when they have contradictory speed limits marked on them.
None of this is legal, and enforcing it if anyone is caught speeding is going to be a huge waste of money because they’ll more than likely be able to wriggle out of it in court.
These signs have been like this for at least two months, now. It proves beyond doubt that the council wouldn’t understand road safety if it bit them on the ass. However, I’m sure that quite a few people who work there will have received glowing annual appraisals just based on the number of times they said “road safety” in their team meetings. It simply goes to show what happens when you promote mediocre people to positions of responsibility.
I’ve always been a Labour voter (I wouldn’t vote for anyone else). But I’m seriously thinking about not voting at all this time around. That’s because a vote for Labour is effectively a vote for Jane Urquhart, and she is simply not up to the job.
Do Nottingham police enforce 20mph limits?
It is my understanding that they don’t – not yet, at any rate. I’m sure I read some time last year that they had refused to do so because they didn’t have the manpower.
However, you must remember that if you break the 20mph speed limit then you ARE committing an offence and if they did decide to enforce these limits at any point in time you wouldn’t have any defence (as long as the signage was legal, of course).
They could start enforcing these limits at any time – for all we know they could have started now.
Is the 20mph signage legal?
The short answer is that in many areas it is absolutely NOT legal. As I outlined above, many areas still have 30mph signs plonked right in the middle of 20mph zones. In other areas the signs are the wrong size, and this gives the clear impression that you are moving from a higher speed limit zone to a 20mph one, when in fact the idiots have dropped the limit in the former zone already – quite possibly using further illegal or misleading signage.
Would I have an avenue of appeal if I were ticketed?
I would say that you would – certainly if the signage was incorrect in the ways I have already outlined. Furthermore, the constant changing from 20mph to 30, then back again is confusing enough (even with correct signage) to form the basis of some sort of appeal, though how successful you would be with that is anyone’s guess.
Remember that I am not a lawyer and I am not offering legal advice. I am simply stating the obvious based on Nottingham City Council’s total incompetence over this matter.
20mph is too slow on 90% of the roads where it has been introduced.