@Rocking Ros Rose posted:Doesn't happen in a school -no time to eat cake - breaks and lunches are just enough to grab a cuppa and a snack or lunch and a cuppa
thank you EL
The closest I got to having cake when I was at school was when I was in the infants, At the morning break we got a small bottle of milk and a currant bun 
Ros, I know that school is non-stop work for teachers 
HMRC to start trialling answers by text for people who ring them by mobile phone where the questions are simple such as what is their UTR number (anyone who does a tax return has a Unique Tax Reference number),
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64322140
HMRC says "HMRC will never ask for personal or financial information when we send text messages.
Do not open any links or reply to a text message claiming to be from HMRC that offers you a tax refund in exchange for personal or financial details."
@El Loro posted:HMRC to start trialling answers by text for people who ring them by mobile phone where the questions are simple such as what is their UTR number (anyone who does a tax return has a Unique Tax Reference number),
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64322140
HMRC says "HMRC will never ask for personal or financial information when we send text messages.
Do not open any links or reply to a text message claiming to be from HMRC that offers you a tax refund in exchange for personal or financial details."
Morning El 
Do think this text idea is good or bad?
@Moonie posted:Morning El
Do think this text idea is good or bad?
Morning Moonie
That remains to be seen, HMRC staff are under extreme pressure so the idea may help a bit so that they can deal with the less simple questions. The type of simple questions are those which a taxpayer should be able to find out for themselves without ringing HMRC. For instance the UTR number I mentioned. If a taxpayer is doing their own tax return they are probably doing that via their personal tax account they set up on the HMRC site. They can find out that UTR number by logging on to that site. Or any letters they've had from HMRC regarding their tax return will show that number. And that's what the HMRC text reply would tell them to do.
The potential issue is that scammers will start sending out text messages with false links which look as if it's a reply to one of those simple questions.
It's not something I'm likely to use myself 
Just paid my January tax bill to HMRC (the reference used is my UTR number followed by a K)
@El Loro posted:HMRC to start trialling answers by text for people who ring them by mobile phone where the questions are simple such as what is their UTR number (anyone who does a tax return has a Unique Tax Reference number),
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64322140
HMRC says "HMRC will never ask for personal or financial information when we send text messages.
Do not open any links or reply to a text message claiming to be from HMRC that offers you a tax refund in exchange for personal or financial details."
Anything that cuts down on the waiting times, without compromising personal details, has to be welcomed.
I do however worry about those people who will succumb to the scammers who will no doubt use this new system to their advantage......some people, no matter how many times they are told not to give information, will inevitably do so.
Time will tell...
@slimfern posted:Anything that cuts down on the waiting times, without compromising personal details, has to be welcomed.
I do however worry about those people who will succumb to the scammers who will no doubt use this new system to their advantage......some people, no matter how many times they are told not to give information, will inevitably do so.
Time will tell...
They'll be onto it like a flash
Hope all are Hunky Dory and not Aladdin Sane 
@slimfern posted:Anything that cuts down on the waiting times, without compromising personal details, has to be welcomed.
I do however worry about those people who will succumb to the scammers who will no doubt use this new system to their advantage......some people, no matter how many times they are told not to give information, will inevitably do so.
Time will tell...
Thatâs not good El 
Anything to do with phones and money I'm out. Includes internet banking.
@velvet donkey posted:Anything to do with phones and money I'm out. Includes internet banking.
Hi Velvet
I agree 
Hope you're feeling better Moons
@velvet donkey posted:Hope you're feeling better Moons
I am thanks Velvet
I hope you and yours are okay
@velvet donkey posted:They'll be onto it like a flash
Hope all are Hunky Dory and not Aladdin Sane
Can't help themselves...
Not bad Velvet
Everything spiffing for you I hope
Not bad thanks slim
I got on to the internet some time in the early 1990s. Within a day of signing up I got scammed by someone saying that my bank details needed to be confirmed. Those were in the days when knowledge of such scams was much less known about that now. Immediately after I got scammed I had misgivings, so contacted my bank straightaway. They confirmed it was a scam. I didn't lose anything though my bank card had to be changed. But that experience taught me never to take things for granted when getting phone calls or emails.
This was in the days before things such as Google came into existence. So that I could find the web addresses of businesses I got a directory which listed all the addresses of UK businesses which had websites. Directory had 250 pages. I think that if there were such a directory nowadays it would be a lot more pages
@velvet donkey posted:Not bad thanks slim
Good
@El Loro posted:I got on to the internet some time in the early 1990s. Within a day of signing up I got scammed by someone saying that my bank details needed to be confirmed. Those were in the days when knowledge of such scams was much less known about that now. Immediately after I got scammed I had misgivings, so contacted my bank straightaway. They confirmed it was a scam. I didn't lose anything though my bank card had to be changed. But that experience taught me never to take things for granted when getting phone calls or emails.
This was in the days before things such as Google came into existence. So that I could find the web addresses of businesses I got a directory which listed all the addresses of UK businesses which had websites. Directory had 250 pages. I think that if there were such a directory nowadays it would be a lot more pages
Just goes to show, even the smartest of us can be duped hey El 
Feck, I'd like to be a planted audience member at a Sunak press release 
I've been playing adventure games on computers ever since I got my first one, an Atari 800 in late 1982.
In those days adventure games were text based or text based with very basic graphics. The early ones were by Scott Adams, Infocom and Sierra On-line.
There were earlier adventure games but on mainframe computers rather than personal ones. Possibly the most important one of those was called "Colossal Cave" from 1975/76. Infocom's best known game was Zork which was heavily influenced by "Colossal Cave". There was a series of "Zork" games, the earliest being text only, later ones being with graphics.
Sierra On-line was founded by Ken and Roberta Williams. Their best known series of adventure games was "King's Quest" and "Leisure Suit Larry". Although I played those from the first named series I declined to play any of the second named series as those seemed to be in poor taste.
The Williams retired from making computer games in 1999.
That is until today. They've just released their version of "Colossal Cave" but with modern 3D graphics rather than text and for those with more powerful computers than the one I have. It's on Steam and is comparatively expensive at ÂĢ33.50 but I think that it could sell well given its background.
I've got nvidea gforce on my old lappy. Never played a game though - probs outta date
@El Loro posted:I've been playing adventure games on computers ever since I got my first one, an Atari 800 in late 1982.
In those days adventure games were text based or text based with very basic graphics. The early ones were by Scott Adams, Infocom and Sierra On-line.
There were earlier adventure games but on mainframe computers rather than personal ones. Possibly the most important one of those was called "Colossal Cave" from 1975/76. Infocom's best known game was Zork which was heavily influenced by "Colossal Cave". There was a series of "Zork" games, the earliest being text only, later ones being with graphics.Sierra On-line was founded by Ken and Roberta Williams. Their best known series of adventure games was "King's Quest" and "Leisure Suit Larry". Although I played those from the first named series I declined to play any of the second named series as those seemed to be in poor taste.
The Williams retired from making computer games in 1999.
That is until today. They've just released their version of "Colossal Cave" but with modern 3D graphics rather than text and for those with more powerful computers than the one I have. It's on Steam and is comparatively expensive at ÂĢ33.50 but I think that it could sell well given its background.
Some retro games go for good money these days
@velvet donkey posted:I've got nvidea gforce on my old lappy. Never played a game though - probs outta date
I've got Nvidia GeForce on my computer as well but there's many versions of that graphics board. Mine is a GT 1030 one which was a entry level one which came out on 2017. It's adequate for work purposes and also older games but not new ones.
GTX ones are more powerful than GT ones.
Their most powerful one at present is RTX 4090 which is far faster than the one I have but costs over two grand 
@slimfern posted:Some retro games go for good money these days
Collectors pay silly amounts of money
My brother said to me many years ago that his first computer, an Atari 400, was one of the very first in this country with a very low serial number. He didn't know what he had done with it though.
@El Loro posted:Collectors pay silly amounts of money
My brother said to me many years ago that his first computer, an Atari 400, was one of the very first in this country with a very low serial number. He didn't know what he had done with it though.
Would he sell it though even if he could find it El?
I know the early computers we have up in the loft room are there for good...or at least until my eldest wants to get rid
@slimfern posted:Would he sell it though even if he could find it El?
I know the early computers we have up in the loft room are there for good...or at least until my eldest wants to get rid
I think my brother lost it or got rid of it years ago, The house he lives in is small and I think he would have found it by now if he still had it. If he had it and it was a very early one he would be more likely to give it to a museum rather than try to sell it.
@El Loro posted:The closest I got to having cake when I was at school was when I was in the infants, At the morning break we got a small bottle of milk and a currant bun
Ros, I know that school is non-stop work for teachers
night EL slim moonsieee velvet
Number of stars which can be seen with the naked eye is reducing due to light pollution. I've mentioned that before, but this research has just been published:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/sci...environment-64321824
You should write for the BBC El
Before they dropped it I went through every regional news story on the telly. I've got a funny feeling you still do it online, I have read the evidence to prosecute. I did it on the stepper in the kitchen.
Salutes and falls out
Velvet , you still can look at the regional news stories on the telly via the red button text service. The BBC were going to end it but changed their minds due to those without online facilities needed that text service. That service restricts each item to 2 screens which are extracted from the new item on their website.
Section 160 Around the UK
Thanks El - I'll try it. NW Lancashire first - SW Dorset second
I like Poole.
Regional news is mad
@El Loro posted:Velvet
Section 160 Around the UK
My Dad still uses the teletext on his tv in his bedroom
@slimfern posted:My Dad still uses the teletext on his tv in his bedroom
I thought it had gone slim - gen up
@velvet donkey posted:I thought it had gone slim - gen up
Velvet, it was due to go 2 years ago but then the BBC decided to continue it, It doesn't have as many pages as it used to. For instance in the sports section, other then football, the other sports sections just have results and fixtures but no news pages.
@velvet donkey posted:I thought it had gone slim - gen up
Not completely Velvet
@El Loro posted:I think there are many people who still use that. I do, my brother does
You never told us The Day The Earth Stood Still was on the other day. Luckily I caught it, Stone cold classic.
B+
