2024 Rendezvous

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

Now, now Gerard! The French drivers are not that bad - ever been to Britain?

Having said that, I (or rather we) did something I never thought I would ever do - report another driver.

A Renault Trafic mini-bus turned out of a school ahead of us & soon became apparent all was not well. It's a twisty road & he was travelling far too fast for a van - it wasn't long before he started putting the nearside rear wheel into the ditch, almost losing it at least once. When we came to Avesnes-le-Comte he drove straight through a group teenagers on a pedestrian crossing, then stopped & shouted at them (they'd done nothing wrong). Back out of town he again had a couple of grassy moments, at which point Michele said she had seen enough & was going to call the Gendarmerie. Literally whilst she was on the 'phone he drove straight through a red light, & then at the next village was out of control through the 'bus stop' chicane at the village entry, almost T-boning a Clio coming the other way. Fortunately, as we approached a roundabout where the road crosses a dual carriageway, I spotted blue lights coming the other way - as they came one side of the roundabout the mini-bus went the other but they spotted him & did a very quick u-turn & stopped him.

We didn't stop but when I returned two hours later the mini-bus was still there so I assume they had nicked him for something.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

I Have driven through France many hundreds of times , and normally no problems with the drivers .
The main exception was the Peripherique , where the old game was to count the number of undamaged cars , and it was normally only a small amount .

But always remember what George Carlin said . "The average driver is not very good , Which means half of them are worse that that "

I spent a skiing season near Grenoble in 1989/90, and sometimes popped back to the UK a couple of times a month, setting off on a Friday afternoon and back by Sunday evening. And I used to thoroughly enjoy driving around the Peripherique, but quickly realised that the safest way was to drive as quickly as possible and just as madly as the locals.

Would join it from the A1 and come off again to get on the link road down to the A6, and then on all the way to Lyon. It was a joy to drive on the Autoroutes, especially the toll ones, apart from the cost of course, because, certainly back then, the gendarmerie rarely if ever patrolled so one could put one's foot down. The way to cheat the average speed checks at the booths was to stop at the last service area before the toll exit, and freshen up, have a cup of excellent coffee, fill up the petrol tank again and then gently drive on to the exit booth.

What I always thought was most considerate was the fact the they always put a big sign up on the side of the autoroute to tell drivers that they were approaching the last services before the toll booths. Jolly decent chaps! Oh, and best time achieved was 11.5 hours from Hertfordshire to Les Deux Alpes using the Hovercraft to cross the Channel.

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

I spent a skiing season near Grenoble in 1989/90, and sometimes popped back to the UK a couple of times a month, setting off on a Friday afternoon and back by Sunday evening. And I used to thoroughly enjoy driving around the Peripherique, but quickly realised that the safest way was to drive as quickly as possible and just as madly as the locals.

Would join it from the A1 and come off again to get on the link road down to the A6, and then on all the way to Lyon. It was a joy to drive on the Autoroutes, especially the toll ones, apart from the cost of course, because, certainly back then, the gendarmerie rarely if ever patrolled so one could put one's foot down. The way to cheat the average speed checks at the booths was to stop at the last service area before the toll exit, and freshen up, have a cup of excellent coffee, fill up the petrol tank again and then gently drive on to the exit booth.

What I always thought was most considerate was the fact the they always put a big sign up on the side of the autoroute to tell drivers that they were approaching the last services before the toll booths. Jolly decent chaps! Oh, and best time achieved was 11.5 hours from Hertfordshire to Les Deux Alpes using the Hovercraft to cross the Channel.

It does matter to keep a check of the time taken between tolls .
If I was going South I would usually go Rheims - Troyes - Lyon to avoid the Paris route .
Had a regular run to a unit near the Circuit Catalonia Barcelona. Did it about
50 times over a few years . Would usually stop for a bit of sleep on the way back .But one time , was feeling good , so went for something that very few people will ever manage , [ or actually believe ],and just kept going .
Drove the 1800 mile round trip in 1 day .

[Mike Crow]

We don’t often hear about hillclimbs here but is any one else going to Prescott this weekend? 150 classics, display runs from BRM V16 and D type amongst others, splendid historic venue, all for twenty quid. A better bet than Masters at Brands I think
.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

Had a regular run to a unit near the Circuit Catalonia Barcelona. Did it about
50 times over a few years . Would usually stop for a bit of sleep on the way back .But one time , was feeling good , so went for something that very few people will ever manage , [ or actually believe ],and just kept going .
Drove the 1800 mile round trip in 1 day .

I used to drive from Calais back in the 70s down to Mojacar in one go (about 1250 miles). I asked a medical friend "what is the best thing to stop me dozing off at the wheel" ? and he said "slimming tablets" I can't remember the name of them but no doubt they are not available now !! the only thing was that I would then sleep for about 12 or more hours after I arrived and was dead to the world the next day

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

I used to drive from Calais back in the 70s down to Mojacar in one go (about 1250 miles). I asked a medical friend "what is the best thing to stop me dozing off at the wheel" ? and he said "slimming tablets" I can't remember the name of them but no doubt they are not available now !! the only thing was that I would then sleep for about 12 or more hours after I arrived and was dead to the world the next day

Long distance driving is a bit like running a Marathon .If you build up to it and get enough practice , then it becomes a lot easier .
I have done over 1000 miles a day hundreds of times , and over 1400 miles per day dozens of times .But that one time it all worked out for me and I set a new personal record .
The actual worst time of day is the hour around dawn , so it is best to stop then and get a bit of sleep . But with enough practice , you get to know when you do need to stop .

[Mike Harte]

Possibly for the first time on any medium, I sent an email via the email client that I have used for a number of years, and I realised that their system is reading my emails, through AI I presume.

I happened to write the word "attached" in the body of the text, and when I hit the Send button, a pop-up appeared asking whether I wanted send the email with or without the attachment.

I'm not certain whether I am happy or not about the intrusion. On the one hand, yes it was a timely reminder but on the other hand, although I have absolutely nothing to hide - this concerned a form that had been attached to a delivery I had received, and I was just asking whether it was for my information or required action - I don't know whether I like someone possibly reading my personal emails remotely, even if it was a machine.

[Peter Mallett]

Outlook has been doing that for umpteen years. Not AI just a reader like autocorrect.

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Possibly for the first time on any medium, I sent an email via the email client that I have used for a number of years, and I realised that their system is reading my emails, through AI I presume.

I happened to write the word "attached" in the body of the text, and when I hit the Send button, a pop-up appeared asking whether I wanted send the email with or without the attachment.

I'm not certain whether I am happy or not about the intrusion. On the one hand, yes it was a timely reminder but on the other hand, although I have absolutely nothing to hide - this concerned a form that had been attached to a delivery I had received, and I was just asking whether it was for my information or required action - I don't know whether I like someone possibly reading my personal emails remotely, even if it was a machine.

Some are worse than others ,https://www.usnews.com/opinion/artic...t-be-regulated
but just remember that just about everything you look at or write on tinternet is checked , and just using certain words will sometimes get you blocked .

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

Some are worse than others ,https://www.usnews.com/opinion/artic...t-be-regulated
but just remember that just about everything you look at or write on tinternet is checked , and just using certain words will sometimes get you blocked .

If this link works . It shows that the latest M S program records everything you have ever done on your computer . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObtmAgoF3zs

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

If this link works . It shows that the latest M S program records everything you have ever done on your computer . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObtmAgoF3zs

Well - it takes screenshots under certain conditions and stores them locally, up to a certain limit of storage.

Unless you opt to not activate the feature at all.

But seriously, unless you've got something to hide, why does it matter?

[grantp]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Well - it takes screenshots under certain conditions and stores them locally, up to a certain limit of storage.

Unless you opt to not activate the feature at all.

But seriously, unless you've got something to hide, why does it matter?

Because you can never be entirely sure what, at some point in the future, may be considered to be unacceptable.

In addition, Microsoft's AI is pretty dire for the consumer but does permit MS, et al, to enact controls whether such controls be appropriate or entirely unreasonable.

I really doubt that there is any truly effective way to reverse any random poor decision that some experimental AI system has made on your behalf about you.

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Well - it takes screenshots under certain conditions and stores them locally, up to a certain limit of storage.

Unless you opt to not activate the feature at all.

But seriously, unless you've got something to hide, why does it matter?

It does seem that a lot of places use George Orwells books as instruction manuals .And unless you agree with their agenda , you could finish up in room 101.
So if you think that the " BIG BROTHER " thing is OK for democracy , then it might not matter to you .

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

It does seem that a lot of places use George Orwells books as instruction manuals .And unless you agree with their agenda , you could finish up in room 101.

Only if you subscribe to the conspiracy theories!

[midgetman]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Well - it takes screenshots under certain conditions and stores them locally, up to a certain limit of storage.



Unless you opt to not activate the feature at all.



But seriously, unless you've got something to hide, why does it matter?

The worry on this one is that if you have let someone into your computer (e.g. Via "phishing" or being conned into letting a scam "remote engineer" take control) they can read your screenshots perhaps with your banking details on. This worry is propagated by proper computer nerds not conspiracy theorists.

Yes this feature can be turned off. But I thought tech was supposed to make *our* lives easier, not make us *its* servant, forever fiddling with it to fine tune it to what we really wanted in the first place. In reality tech rules us - "the computer is down" or "now where did I put my password?" are just the tip of the iceberg. Two phrases that waste us so much time; how much of our day is spent waiting for/interacting with tech?

Sent from my AC2003 using Tapatalk

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Only if you subscribe to the conspiracy theories!

The biggest conspiracy theory ever is the Global Warming / Climate Change one .Several of the heads of the UN IPCC have admitted that it is all about destroying Capitalism and nothing to do with the Climate .https://www.investors.com/politics/e...oy-capitalism/
But with the constant stream of lies and propaganda from politicians and the media it seems that facts don,t matter and you will be attacked if you try to tell the truth .
So definitely very 1984 .

[delta]

Nurburgring this weekend . Meeting is called the Nurburgring Classic. It’s been great . Very much a clubbie type event with a band and fireworks . Nice and relaxed after years of the Old Timmers strict regimen. Suns out today and we have a two Delta ‘s in the Dutch Monoposto race . Lovely evening with Graham a tenths lurker last night . Very interesting hearing all about his Motor Racing involvement over the years .

[bauble]

According to the computer generated subtitles, converted from live commentary, Charlotte Claire was on pole for the Monaco GP.

[midgetman]

LOL. Where's the fault? The AI for mistranslation or the commentators for poor diction?

Come back Raymond Baxter your language needs you

Sent from my AC2003 using Tapatalk

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by midgetman

LOL. Where's the fault? The AI for mistranslation or the commentators for poor diction?

Come back Raymond Baxter your language needs you

Sent from my AC2003 using Tapatalk

.... or the sadly recently-departed Neville Hay. A true gentleman if ever there was.

An amusing little Raymond Baxter story - whilst I was at Lotus he came to do a 'Tomorrow's World' story. However, I found him going round & round in circles in the toilets because he couldn't find the way out!

[grantp]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

.... or the sadly recently-departed Neville Hay. A true gentleman if ever there was.

An amusing little Raymond Baxter story - whilst I was at Lotus he came to do a 'Tomorrow's World' story. However, I found him going round & round in circles in the toilets because he couldn't find the way out!

The Leisure Centre facility where my Grandson's enjoy Basketball and football training facilities has toilets/changing rooms like that.

A sort of labyrinth that looks easy when one walks in but finding the specific facilities one needs is not as easy as it should be and discovering the right way out is a serious challenge.

[GORDON STREETER]

I Have a lot of Ford Kent engine/gearbox/differential parts kicking about that I want out of the way as I am slowly clearing my workshop.
Pm me if you need anything that I might have.

[John Turner]

New thread set up, entitled 'Abandoned Tracks' in 'Motorsport History' section to accommodate the most recent posts.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by John Turner

New thread set up, entitled 'Abandoned Tracks' in 'Motorsport History' section to accommodate the most recent posts.

Is it worth merging the new thread with the existing 'Abandoned Tracks' thread - https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138643 ?

[John Turner]

I'd forgotten there was a previous one; good idea!