• 3 Posts
  • 17 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 21st, 2023

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  • My cousin just came back from Australia and was quickly saying wtf is going on here. There’s lots of issues but also there’s s a crazy sense of despair all around. We’re normally miserable but not this miserable!

    I think the mood is bad because everyone knows we need rid of the current tories but (1) it’s probably at least a year away and (2) I’m not sure people are too happy with some of labour’s recent moves (they’re aiming for the middle ground and just saying nothing but it’s alienating traditional labour supporters) so there’s a sense they’ll be better but only because a clown using his feet to fire darts at a keyboard 10 miles away would govern better than this lot. This lot seem to care more about a rich person’s bank account, a couple of boats they’ve had many years to stop but can’t do anything about and trying a Nazi like scheme to send asylum seekers to anywhere but here


  • Yes, I have it under a subdomain I own on cloudflare. Then it’s behind nginx proxy manager on my server which takes care of the ssl too. I have fail2ban too so consider it enough security for if the user passwords are long enough. You can set minimum lengths if letting others use it, or in my case I helped family set it up and made them have strong passwords.

    Like others have said, the apps cache everything locally. I have used it without issues with no mobile Internet (e.g. for my cc pin numbers I store on there when i was out in the country with crap reception). I guess you’re more likely to create accounts at home anyway but if you have to when out, it would sync whenever you have it back on the lan.







  • You don’t have to make an account to pay this one but you can do to setup autopay: https://www.gov.uk/pay-dartford-crossing-charge.

    We don’t have many tolls at all in the UK. For motorways there’s this one and the M6 toll (more of an alternative route which can be avoided easily) which has toll booths (automated machines on exit). Others are usually bridges or tunnels and one account is unlikely to cover many but you’re unlikely to cross more than one toll regularly. https://www.gov.uk/uk-toll-roads

    The new slightly similar annoyance is airports. They used to be free for drop off but now charge around £6, and you have to go online and pay within 24 hours similar to this one. They offer free parking at long stay to tick a box but you have to get the bus to the terminal and they make it as inconvenient as possible so is not used much. Absolute rip off merchants and only helps the non-UK based private owners make money…



  • I bought an ebike 2 years ago and it’s a game changer, especially as my partner takes the family car to the office 3 days a week. It’s much, much cheaper than a car but gives me the same freedom for shorter journeys (up to 30 mins in a car), which is most of them.

    The motor helps me with the hills so i don’t get sweaty and allows me to have a heavier, more comfortable bike with suspension, pannier bags for carrying things and a cycle seat for my child. Means I can do pre school drop offs/ pickups easily and actually, it’s quicker than taking the car in traffic, and reduces the cars on the road. Obviously its not great in rain but its not too bad. Ice is my biggest no go but happy to use it any other time of the year.

    I got it from a local cycle shop so it’s legal and I ride it same as a normal bike, ie not on the pavement, careful of pedestrians etc. It does annoy me when other cyclists take the piss as you feel it makes it less safe for you. So I’m all for charging them as you would car drivers going through red lights.

    There are some a-hole drivers who hate cyclists and aggressively overtake on narrow roads but I take great pleasure when I go past them as they hit traffic or a red light, which always happens around here! Sometimes it feels like everyone is out to get you but I’m reality it’s a very small portion of drivers, maybe 1% or less. Probably similar number with bad cyclists.

    Basically, there are a-hole drivers and cyclists so we should not ban everything but just do things like this to control dangerous behaviour. You have to remember though, a car can easily kill cyclists or pedestrians. Cyclists on a legal ebike are unlikely to kill anyone. The speeds are much slower. You don’t even need traffic lights at those speeds as its slow enough for humans to react at junctions like in Amsterdam.

    I wish escooters were legal as would love to have that option too for short journeys. You will only see a-hole escooter riders and dodgy cheap flammable batteries because it is illegal! As with anything, legalising and setting safe rules for their use would work better overall. You will still get a-hole riders but why punish the many for the actions of the few. Just imagine how many cars we could take off the road if both were more common and safer.




  • Same problem here in the UK. There are some legal rental options in city centres (lime etc) but its illegal to use your own on any public land. Ebikes took a long time to legalize. Tbe framework is there but there is no interest to apply it to others.

    Naturally, people still ride them but generally don’t behave well, you know, because only those willing to break the law are driving them.

    I have an ebike and a cheap escooter. I always rode it safely and legally (if it was an ebike), i.e. dont go on pavements, wear a helmet and its limited to 15mph. A few weeks ago a motorbike cop pulled me over and as I was being safe he didnt fine but but told me i had to just push it home like a scooter. Now I cant ride it again. He mentioned I could, get done for lots of different things if he wanted to.

    I love my ebike but sometimes i want to use an escooter, like if its late or I know theres no decent cycle parking near there so don’t want to risk my much more expensive ebike. So that means I take the car instead…

    I used to take it on the train to work as bikes arent allowed but the escooter folds down and fits under the seats. They are now banned on buses and trains as some of the batteries exploded. I think that’s because they are illegal so we can only get cheap Chinese ones with no safety regulations.

    Anything that reduces traffic, polution and increases mobility should be embraced fully and we can figure out ways around these issues but the government doesnt really care.