Just managed to keep one of the 'BT Technican' scammers busy on my line for 7 minutes without giving him any information, simply by playing dumb and for time. A sort of public service I guess!
We get one of those nearly every day. Sometimes more than one.
Is it me, or have these things gotten worse recently? Thankfully my parents are well trained and as soon as they suspect anything they slam the phone down!
Definitely higher frequency.
Its my shop phone so still 10:1 real to scam calls ratio. But it used to be 30:1
I always message shops and restaurants on Facebook, Whatsapp, or Twitter these days rather than calling them.
Quite hard to order an expensive book that way, mind....
Why?
The conversation tends to go something like this:
Customer: Hi Mortimer, I am interested in buying one of your books please? Mortimer: Of course, which were you after? Customer: Book No.12346 Mortimer: Let me just get that off the shelf. Customer: Can I just check that the dustwrapper isn't priceclipped, and that there are no inscriptions in the book. I want to give it as a christening present? Mortimer: That's right, its a lovely copy. Customer: Ok, can you please send it to me at.... Mortimer: Of course; how would you like to pay? Card? Bank transfer? Customer: Card please Mortimer: That is £3250, please. Customer: Might you give me a small discount? Mortimer: Yes, I can do it for £3000.
etc etc
Although I'm sure your customer base are much more comfortable and probably prefer using the phone, none of that couldn't happen over Facebook or Whatsapp. You can even send them photos of the book there and then so they know what condition it's in. Furthermore you can send them a link to pay by card there and then.
The aircraft industry seems to be experiencing more problems over the last 5 years than in the previous 40 put together. I wonder why. Well, we know overconfidence in software systems is one of the reasons with regard to the 737 Max.
I was reading a discussion on a pro pilots’ forum the other day, where they were all discussing how out of practice they were! Automation dependency has been a feature in an increasing number of accidents in the past decade, even as the total number of serious accidents has continued its long term falling trend.
The 737 Max issue was a regulatory oversight with certification problem, the FAA were far too close to Boeing and let them get away with a bodge that shouldn’t have been allowed, but allowed Max customers to save on training.
I think I read the same thread. It's quite scary. Pilots are basically expected to just sit there and watch the autopilot most of the time, but be ready at a moment's notice when the autopilot decides that it can no longer handle a difficult situation. They might be professionals, but they're still human, so of course their attention is going to wander, and they're going to struggle when handed control in a time-critical emergency.
(It's much the same problem with the current Tesla autopilot system, only there the drivers aren't professionals and there's even less time to regain situational awareness before crashing.)
This was the thread https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/638613-russian-737-ils-263-knots-over-fence.html Starts with an incident of a Russian 737 captain being very late at throwing away a clearly unstable approach, and goes from there is to a general discussion on rusty pilots, as so many have had furlough or minimum hours for the past year.
Yes, self-driving cars are an even bigger problem, for the reasons you mention.
No mention of higher education. I assume that's going to be remote for the whole year now. To be honest I'm not that bothered but it would be nice to get a small tuition fee rebate.
This suggests only "practical" courses which as far as I'm aware are still face-to-face in any case.
Yes, I think you're right. So no unis until September. Jesus. Those poor students: missing out on an entire year and a half of university social life. Some of the best, most important years of a young existence. That's tough.
Its a total non starter. They only work once everyone has the opportunity to get the vaccine - but by the time everyone gets the vaccine all restrictions will be lifted anyway.
Hungary has done many non sensible things in recent years. This is probably not one of them. Given problems with vaccines tend to emerge very quickly, looking at real world experience during a pandemic is a decent approach.
The country expects to receive 5 million total doses of the Sinopharm vaccine over the next four months, enough to treat 2.5 million people in the country of nearly 10 million.
Hungarian officials, including Prime Minister Viktor Orban, have been critical of the EU’s common vaccine procurement program, claiming the bloc’s slow rollout of shots is costing lives.
“If vaccines aren’t coming from Brussels, we must obtain them from elsewhere ... One cannot allow Hungarians to die simply because Brussels is too slow in procuring vaccines,” Orban said last month...
Cases up 900 from a week ago. The tide has unfortunately turned on the day, almost the moment in fact, that easing of lockdown was announced. The unanswered question is whether this turnaround was caused by the very wintery weather or something else. One hopes it is the former but fears the latter.
Just managed to keep one of the 'BT Technican' scammers busy on my line for 7 minutes without giving him any information, simply by playing dumb and for time. A sort of public service I guess!
We get one of those nearly every day. Sometimes more than one.
Is it me, or have these things gotten worse recently? Thankfully my parents are well trained and as soon as they suspect anything they slam the phone down!
Definitely higher frequency.
Its my shop phone so still 10:1 real to scam calls ratio. But it used to be 30:1
I always message shops and restaurants on Facebook, Whatsapp, or Twitter these days rather than calling them.
Quite hard to order an expensive book that way, mind....
Why?
The conversation tends to go something like this:
Customer: Hi Mortimer, I am interested in buying one of your books please? Mortimer: Of course, which were you after? Customer: Book No.12346 Mortimer: Let me just get that off the shelf. Customer: Can I just check that the dustwrapper isn't priceclipped, and that there are no inscriptions in the book. I want to give it as a christening present? Mortimer: That's right, its a lovely copy. Customer: Ok, can you please send it to me at.... Mortimer: Of course; how would you like to pay? Card? Bank transfer? Customer: Card please Mortimer: That is £3250, please. Customer: Might you give me a small discount? Mortimer: Yes, I can do it for £3000.
etc etc
Although I'm sure your customer base are much more comfortable and probably prefer using the phone, none of that couldn't happen over Facebook or Whatsapp. You can even send them photos of the book there and then so they know what condition it's in. Furthermore you can send them a link to pay by card there and then.
It could yes, but it would take quite a bit longer. Collectables are one of those areas where a phone call is still king. And not just because of the demographic.
Not least because whilst you and I might be discussing a potential sale of a book over facebook, someone else might have rung up and given me their credit card details.
Our products, whilst not often unique, quite often vary from copy to copy. And some of them are the only known copies, manuscripts, etc. We rarely have duplicate copies to fulfil two orders.
I'd suggest 'no regionalisation' is the hostage to fortune here. With our infection rates in the North and Midlands coming down more slowly, from a lower peak but with Southern infection rates already dipping below, who is to say by May that pub openings, for instance, will be appropriate everywhere.
I think to regionalise school returns would have been too much of a political timebomb, but other measures not so much. I'd have left wiggle room.
There was not the remotest chance of Zero Covid being adopted as the policy. Indeed I really don't think this notion of "government by the scientists" has ever had much validity as a criticism. What we've had - and still have - is government by the government, guided by the advice of public health experts, in a public health crisis. As to how well they've "governed", that's rich pickings but it's a different conversation.
Cases up 900 from a week ago. The tide has unfortunately turned on the day, almost the moment in fact, that easing of lockdown was announced. The unanswered question is whether this turnaround was caused by the very wintery weather or something else. One hopes it is the former but fears the latter.
As long as the cases don't end up in hospital or die then there's no issue.
The whole point of Millenials and younger staying at home for the past year was to protect those older than us who were at risk. Not to protect ourselves.
If our elders are vaccinated, if pubs and restaurants are open, then there's no justification to tell us its illegal to go out without a vaccine we can't get. If its legal to go out, I'm going out and I'll be damned if anyone tells me otherwise if its legal. Same with anyone else my age I'm sure. Why the hell should we rot at home for a day more than we need to once that's no longer the law?
If pubs and restaurants are open, they're open. I'm prepared to take my chances, I stayed at home to protect those older than me that were at risk not for myself.
Incidentally Justin is going to go completely bursar when he sees the remarks about Marcia Williams!
Well Marcia certainly had her twins in the 1960s fathered by a senior political journalist of a Tory newspaper. She and Mary Wilson were also close friends - and continued to be so long after Harold died. I have been told on good authority that if there ever was a relationship between Wilson and Marcia ,it was when she became his political secretary in 1956 - long before his years in power.
Comments
https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/638613-russian-737-ils-263-knots-over-fence.html
Starts with an incident of a Russian 737 captain being very late at throwing away a clearly unstable approach, and goes from there is to a general discussion on rusty pilots, as so many have had furlough or minimum hours for the past year.
Yes, self-driving cars are an even bigger problem, for the reasons you mention.
Given problems with vaccines tend to emerge very quickly, looking at real world experience during a pandemic is a decent approach.
https://apnews.com/article/world-news-public-health-europe-budapest-coronavirus-pandemic-c7fd30907bd40c059b117d5730007769
...Hungarian health authorities were the first in the EU to approve the Sinopharm jab for emergency use on Jan. 29. That came after a government decree streamlined Hungary’s vaccine approval process by allowing any vaccine administered to at least 1 million people worldwide to be used without undergoing review by the country’s medicines regulator.
The country expects to receive 5 million total doses of the Sinopharm vaccine over the next four months, enough to treat 2.5 million people in the country of nearly 10 million.
Hungarian officials, including Prime Minister Viktor Orban, have been critical of the EU’s common vaccine procurement program, claiming the bloc’s slow rollout of shots is costing lives.
“If vaccines aren’t coming from Brussels, we must obtain them from elsewhere ... One cannot allow Hungarians to die simply because Brussels is too slow in procuring vaccines,” Orban said last month...
Cases up 900 from a week ago. The tide has unfortunately turned on the day, almost the moment in fact, that easing of lockdown was announced. The unanswered question is whether this turnaround was caused by the very wintery weather or something else. One hopes it is the former but fears the latter.
Not least because whilst you and I might be discussing a potential sale of a book over facebook, someone else might have rung up and given me their credit card details.
Our products, whilst not often unique, quite often vary from copy to copy. And some of them are the only known copies, manuscripts, etc. We rarely have duplicate copies to fulfil two orders.
I think to regionalise school returns would have been too much of a political timebomb, but other measures not so much. I'd have left wiggle room.
Beer gardens on 12 April instead of 4 April as I predicted. That's still in the school Easter holidays so we can take a week off.
I was out by just 8 days, and win my sportsman's bet with @contrarian by an absolute mile (although I'm sure he is happy to lose it!!)
It would certainly make sense, even if only vaccinated cohort in the group stage matches.