thehatfox @ thehatfox @lemmy.world Posts 519Comments 749Joined 2 yr. ago


Too many young people find doing a day's work 'stressful', says Liz Kendall

A few years ago the hose on our washing machine split and we didn’t realise until water started coming out from under the units. Thankfully damage was minimal but it was a big pain to dry out.
I’ve had some of those Aqara leak sensors in place since as a precaution.
Just remember to change the batteries regularly! Easy to forget them when they are out of sight.

Back in the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube era the SNES and Megadrive seemed to be retro while the PS1 and N64 were just “old”. So maybe 2 generations ago is the start of retro.
I think it’s definitely a lot blurrier now though. The differences between consoles and the leaps between generations are less pronounced, and there are so many y rereleases and remasters now keeping older games fresh.

Getting employers to do so will probably require improved labour laws and investment, which doesn’t look forthcoming yet.
Instead I fear we will end up with some more unbinding guidelines employers will ignore, and then those who still cannot find work will have the rug pulled from them with the cuts.

Neurodiverse people on benefits to be helped into work in bid to cut welfare bill

Not enough teachers, children turned away: Schools 'can't cope' with population boom

AI prototypes for UK welfare system dropped as officials lament ‘false starts’

They were still making MiniDiscs and MiniDV tapes? That seems more of a surprise than the Blu-ray discontinuation.

I’m also using iOS in the UK. I just tried searching for Pixelfed in the App Store and the ad was for some sort of golf tutoring app.
The top search result was the Pixelfed app and the others all other Fediverse apps.

It will be counterproductive in a lot of cases, if the ultimate goal is to get people back into work.
There’s a lot of areas of the country unfortunately where not being able to drive makes it very hard or near impossible to find work. It could also affect any of the sanctioned person’s dependents in a similar way.

Testicular torsion is no joke. If they get tangled even the manliest of men can be in for a very rough time.

Keir Starmer's full statement is available on the GOV.UK website here.

Robot packers and AI cameras: UK retail embraces automation to cut staff costs

Robot packers and AI cameras: UK retail embraces automation to cut staff costs

Everyone is on the list now, some are just higher up than others.

Nintendo consoles tended to be radical, Nintendo handhelds were more iterative.
The Game Boy and DS lines all built gradually on each other, seems the Switch line is following suit. I assume Nintendo see the Switch as a handheld that can be docked, rather than a console that’s also portable, so I guess it makes sense that it’s following a similar trajectory of previous handheld lines.

Everything has to look so serious these days.
The colourful Joy Cons were part of the Switch’s identity, sad to see it reduced to an accent they seem almost ashamed of.

The N-Gage had a bunch of bizarre design decisions.
The game cartridge slot was behind the battery - swapping games required disassembling the phone.
The revised QD version fixed a lot of the mistakes but it was too little too late by then.

I was told the future would be all flying cars and food in pills.
But instead it’s industrial pollution and bloodletting.

I can't give good answers to all of these, but here's what I can say.
1 Check the mobile coverage in the area (Ofcom have a coverage map) you will be living and pick based on that and price. I personally use Giffgaff, which is a MVNO using the O2 network. They are no frills and cheap, I've been using them for years and quite a few family and friends have since joined me.
2 For a building society try Nationwide, long established stable option with a good high street presence across the country. My family have used them for many years.
3 Aldi and Lidl are cheap and cheerful, great for staples on a budget. Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury's are the middle tier. Waitrose and M&S are the posher options. Wherever you shop you will save money by joining the loyalty scheme (Tesco Clubcard, Nectar, Lidl Plus etc).
4 Register for your local GP surgery once you have a place to live. You can always switch later if needed. The NHS website has plenty of info. The emergency phone number here is 999 and non emergency is 111.
6 You can carry your passport but it's inconvenient. A provisional driving license is a commonly accepted ID here, and you can apply for one even if you have no intention to actually drive. We also have a scheme called PASS cards such as CitizenCard which are low cost and available for anyone with UK residency. Not as versatile as a provisional drivers license or passport, but work fine for simple checks like proof of age.
8 IKEA is fine. If you don't mind second hand many charity shops have larger stores that sell furniture, there can be some real bargains there and they will often provide delivery.
9 Supermarkets do a reasonable range of housewares. T K Maxx often have some bargains. John Lewis is more upmarket.
10 Supermarkets again are cheap and reasonable. Somewhere like Next is may be better quality. I hear a lot of people recommend Uniqlo at the moment for quality everyday wear with a plain/timeless style that doesn't break the bank.
11 Most ISPs provide national coverage, however the quality of the underlying infrastructure does vary by location. Most will use the nationwide Openreach network, which is slowly upgrading to full fibre, but exact speed will vary. Generally the more rural you go the worse the service gets. Virgin Media is the UK's cable provider, and operates both copper and fibre networks. They do not have a great customer service record, but they may have a far greater service speed in your location so it's worth checking out. Even the best ISPs for customer service such as Zen and A&A are often beholden to Openreach who may or may not give a crap about faults in a timely manner anyway. We also have several independent fibre "altnets" operating in different areas who may offer better speeds and prices. Also consider bundle deals for both broadband and mobile plans, there can be some good deals to be had there.
12 Officially you need a TV Licence if you watch or record any programmes via any device as they are broadcast, and to watch on-demand BBC programmes on iPlayer. You don't have to have a license to own the TV itself, nor to watch non-BBC on demand content. I'd say it's worth paying to legally access BBC content (which still has a lot of cultural relevancy here) and avoid hassle with the TV Licensing authority.
13 Eating out for breakfast is less common here. But a "greasy spoon" cafe will serve a traditional fried breakfast amongst other things. Ask locals for recommendations. Do not be afraid of black pudding.
14 Authentic Mexican or American-Mexican food seems to be rare here. When I have travelled in the US the Mexican food was very different (in a good way) to the "Mexican" I'd previously known at home. I'm sure there is some somewhere. We do have Taco Bell though now if that counts. If you are seeking spicy food in general though consider going for a curry - we have rich tradition there that has become a cuisine of its own.
16 For a job interview I would read that as "smart casual", which would be a shirt and either trousers or maybe nicer/neater jeans. Definitely not sweats. Honestly depends on the company and area. If in doubt though - ask - if it was me hiring I would appreciate the proactivity and curiosity.
18 Going cashless is easy here. Cash is fading out here, to the chagrin of certain older folks. Contactless cards and Apple/Google Pay etc are widely accepted, even in small independent shops and market stalls. Bank transfers are near instant. The only places that may be cash only are places like certain takeaway food places. I carry an emergency £20 note and very rarely need it. Cash machines may charge for withdrawals. You can do most simple banking tasks at Post Offices if needed.
20 I hate it too, and I haven't yet been dragged off to the tower, so I think you'll be fine.
Other than that, enjoy your life in the UK.

The official AI Opportunities Action Plan has been published on gov.uk which may be worth a read.

Encouraging the greater development of the UK's tech sector generally is a good thing. But having "unleashed AI" as the foundation for that doesn't sound the best idea.

Throwing money at AI seems a big gamble for productivity.
I’d rather see the UK invest in its human workers instead, with better education and training. IT skills for example as still lacking in the country. PCs have now existed for 30+ years yet so many still struggle with task like making simple spreadsheets.

We desperately need to improve productivity, but I’m not convinced that going all in on AI is a great bet. The tech is still in its infancy and currently very unreliable. Letting it loose in places like the NHS sounds like a recipe for disaster.
By all means open doors for research, but I don’t think this tech is ready for critical implementations yet. We’d get more reliable productivity gains by investing in upskilling workers instead.

One in five Britons aged 18-45 prefer unelected leaders to democracy, poll finds

I have the G4 Doorbell, it’s worked well as doorbell and camera in both UniFi and Home Assistant.
I had no luck at all getting it to work with a chime though. I tried several different chimes and transformers and the chime would never work.
I ended up setting up automations to trigger device notifications and a bell sound on smart speakers to act as the chime instead.

I’m surprised they didn’t include an option to disable the backup encryption.
It’s a good feature to have but it’s probably overkill for users who only store backups locally. Encrypting backups increases security but also danger, lose the keys and lose the data. It should be up the user to decide on that tradeoff.