General Chit Chat

[BWFC_Insane]

A random question based on energy: Are Smart meters beneficial or no? I'm being pressed by EON to change to such. Good or otherwise? Any views?

Worthy has answered. But the only way they help financially is if your provider has one of those tariffs that let you have cheaper electricity at night and you intend to use that in some way - you need a smart reader for those. Otherwise they don’t cost anything but don’t really create any savings. But they do mean your readings are sent automatically.

Just be totally sure they aren’t proposing to install a pre payment or pay as you go meter. Avoid those like the plague as they increase the cost. No reason they should be installing one unless you are behind on bills but there have been reports of people being offered smart meters and ending up with one of these.

[Gary the Enfield]

All smart meters have the facility to be switched to prepayment. The problem is they didn't tell anyone. Legislation is currently going through to ban the practice. You're not obliged to switch TD and my advice would be not to.

[Harry Genshaw]

My parents switched to one a while back and have had no end of problems. Trying to resolve the issues and navigate the Kafkasome phone, complaints system would be enough to drive some to drink. They're both well into their 80s and my mum confessed that they'd been so worried about their energy bills, they've been leaving the heating off for long periods and spending much of the day in the warm conservatory. They're not poor by any stretch but hearing them fretting about the cost, it worries me how other, less well off folk are coping.

I'll be avoiding a smart meter for now.

They can shove the coronation up their arse too!

[Worthy4England]

My parents switched to one a while back and have had no end of problems. Trying to resolve the issues and navigate the Kafkasome phone, complaints system would be enough to drive some to drink. They're both well into their 80s and my mum confessed that they'd been so worried about their energy bills, they've been leaving the heating off for long periods and spending much of the day in the warm conservatory. They're not poor by any stretch but hearing them fretting about the cost, it worries me how other, less well off folk are coping.

I'll be avoiding a smart meter for now.

They can shove the coronation up their arse too!

Seriously mate, which of the problems has been because of the meter (rather than energy prices) which are independent of the meter. Genuinely interested as I'm working with some energy companies at the moment...

Yes to the coronation bit like I'm going to swear fealty to a German. If we're being that archaic, I'm happy to have a pop with him on Bosworth...

[Harry Genshaw]

It's been relatively simple as far as I can tell. Smart meter was fitted for the elec but not for the gas. Energy suppliers are under the impression new smart meters were fitted for both. When the new gas readings were sent in by my dad, which tbh should have made the suppliers realise there was no smart meter since he was ringing them in, they've calculated their usage from 0000 to whatever number he told them.

They've told about half a dozen employees that there isn't a smart meter, one wasn't fitted when the supplier thought there was etc etc but have been met with anything from hostility to indifference to promises that they'll sort it. Meanwhile they're paying double what they were paying before and are using a fraction of the energy.

I do hope their shareholders are being treated much better.

[Worthy4England]

It's been relatively simple as far as I can tell. Smart meter was fitted for the elec but not for the gas. Energy suppliers are under the impression new smart meters were fitted for both. When the new gas readings were sent in by my dad, which tbh should have made the suppliers realise there was no smart meter since he was ringing them in, they've calculated their usage from 0000 to whatever number he told them.

They've told about half a dozen employees that there isn't a smart meter, one wasn't fitted when the supplier thought there was etc etc but have been met with anything from hostility to indifference to promises that they'll sort it. Meanwhile they're paying double what they were paying before and are using a fraction of the energy.

I do hope their shareholders are being treated much better.

Thanks HG. Valuable feedback...

[Hoboh]

I see the first student caught cheating using AI was from, guess where, Bolton University, surprise surprise.

[TANGODANCER]

(I thought this thread better than the politics one for this), Something I've always wondered about re education: How did the ancient Egyptians manage to build the Pyramids and Sphynx so long before civilisation (at least as we know it),almost existed, something even todays that would prove a major feat of technology and engineering and where did the technology and skills come from, and more importantly, go to?

For reference: Pharaoh Khufu began the first Giza pyramid project, circa 2550 B.C.

The Sphynx likely dates from the reign of King Khafre (c. 2575–c. 2465.

both these now over four thousand years ago.

Makes the 1950's seem like yesterday, but the question is a serious one despite not new. Where did such education and technology go to and why? Answers on parchment via stylus please.

[BWFC_Insane]

(I thought this thread better than the politics one for this), Something I've always wondered about re education: How did the ancient Egyptians manage to build the Pyramids and Sphynx so long before civilisation (at least as we know it),almost existed, something even todays that would prove a major feat of technology and engineering and where did the technology and skills come from, and more importantly, go to?

For reference: Pharaoh Khufu began the first Giza pyramid project, circa 2550 B.C.

The Sphynx likely dates from the reign of King Khafre (c. 2575–c. 2465.

both these now over four thousand years ago.

Makes the 1950's seem like yesterday, but the question is a serious one despite not new. Where did such education and technology go to and why? Answers on parchment via stylus please.

I imagine if we desperately needed to build massive pyramidal tombs and didn’t mind killing tens of thousands of slaves in doing so (for free) we probably could…..

[TANGODANCER]

(I thought this thread better than the politics one for this), Something I've always wondered about re education: How did the ancient Egyptians manage to build the Pyramids and Sphynx so long before civilisation (at least as we know it),almost existed, something even todays that would prove a major feat of technology and engineering and where did the technology and skills come from, and more importantly, go to?

For reference: Pharaoh Khufu began the first Giza pyramid project, circa 2550 B.C.

The Sphynx likely dates from the reign of King Khafre (c. 2575–c. 2465.

both these now over four thousand years ago.

Makes the 1950's seem like yesterday, but the question is a serious one despite not new. Where did such education and technology go to and why? Answers on parchment via stylus please.

I imagine if we desperately needed to build massive pyramidal tombs and didn’t mind killing tens of thousands of slaves in doing so (for free) we probably could…..

Well, that definitely helps, thanks for that. But they did it without modern tools of course and long pre electrics and hydraulics. I'm sure there must have been lots of said slaves who knew how to move precisely cut blocks weight several tons each up in the air and manoeuvre them around like Lego bricks. Never thought of that.

[BWFC_Insane]

(I thought this thread better than the politics one for this), Something I've always wondered about re education: How did the ancient Egyptians manage to build the Pyramids and Sphynx so long before civilisation (at least as we know it),almost existed, something even todays that would prove a major feat of technology and engineering and where did the technology and skills come from, and more importantly, go to?

For reference: Pharaoh Khufu began the first Giza pyramid project, circa 2550 B.C.

The Sphynx likely dates from the reign of King Khafre (c. 2575–c. 2465.

both these now over four thousand years ago.

Makes the 1950's seem like yesterday, but the question is a serious one despite not new. Where did such education and technology go to and why? Answers on parchment via stylus please.

I imagine if we desperately needed to build massive pyramidal tombs and didn’t mind killing tens of thousands of slaves in doing so (for free) we probably could…..

Well, that definitely helps, thanks for that. But they did it without modern tools of course and long pre electrics and hydraulics. I'm sure there must have been lots of said slaves who knew how to move precisely cut blocks weight several tons each up in the air and manoeuvre them around like Lego bricks. Never thought of that.

I reckon we could do a lot without modern tools, hydraulics and electrics too if we had a free workforce of 100,000 people and didn't care how many of them died daily.

'Here mate - get up there with this ton of bricks or I'll beat you to death' is probably not a model for the future - though probably disturbingly some will be keen on it!

[TANGODANCER]

Sighs "I should have known better " and slinks off shaking head.

[Worthy4England]

There's a reasonable body of evidence that it wasn't slaves who built the pyramids...Education, Eh? Can't whack it!

Edit: There's not an answer to the main question of how they built them. People have wrestled with it for years and lifetimes - irrespective of what the labour force might be.

Not just that they built them, but they understood how to get the weight distribution right over the Kings and Queen's chambers, and everything pretty much bob on square and managed to get 2.5 ton blocks ~500 feet up. We can see how they developed over time through earlier pyramids such as Djoser's stepped pyramid, where they clearly didn't have it quite on the mark.

[BWFC_Insane]

There's a reasonable body of evidence that it wasn't slaves who built the pyramids...Education, Eh? Can't whack it!

Edit: There's not an answer to the main question of how they built them. People have wrestled with it for years and lifetimes - irrespective of what the labour force might be.

Not just that they built them, but they understood how to get the weight distribution right over the Kings and Queen's chambers, and everything pretty much bob on square and managed to get 2.5 ton blocks ~500 feet up. We can see how they developed over time through earlier pyramids such as Djoser's stepped pyramid, where they clearly didn't have it quite on the mark.

Whether it was slaves or paid labour the evidence is they were certainly not treated well and certainly not without casual

I think plenty of the ‘how’ does come down to the tolerance for human life and indeed quality of that life.

[Worthy4England]

TBF, there's only so good it's ever going to get in a theocratic monarchy, 5000 years ago, with no welfare state and where most folks were likely pretty unquestioning about a pantheon of animal Gods.

I don't believe slavery was a significant factor and for me, there's so much more to it than the "just throw bodies at it" parr. I mean even if we take more contemporary estimates that there were maybe 20,000 people (rather than the oft quoted 100,000), the "quarrying/hauling/shifting blocks" teams are generally thought to be maybe 4,000...So the rest were almost certainly in "cushier" support services. I'd go as far to suggest, that for many, it may well have been comparatively decent working conditions, and let's be fair, if there's the possibility that when it kills you, you get buried in close proximity to the living god in the afterlife, that should probably have been a taxable benefit.

[TANGODANCER]

Regardless of all else, you can actually put a rule on any of the pyramid sides and they are absolutely straight lines. Considering the great Pyramid at Giza was almost 500 feet high this is more than just amazing....?

[Worthy4England]

trethevy-quoit-research-2.jpg (62.36 KiB) Viewed 6469 times

It certainly is. I didn't really get a feel for the size of the thing, until I stood next to it. And that's part of why "the numbers of people building it" is really not relevant to what you originally asked. The degree of precision and accuracy is stunning. We managed Trethevy Quoit by about that time. We must've got it from Ikea..

[TANGODANCER]

trethevy-quoit-research-2.jpgIt certainly is. I didn't really get a feel for the size of the thing, until I stood next to it. And that's part of why "the numbers of people building it" is really not relevant to what you originally asked. The degree of precision and accuracy is stunning. We managed Trethevy Quoit by about that time. We must've got it from Ikea..

Thank you. I've read a lot of views/theories etc on this topic and the answers are as varied as the centuries. One factor is that all these things, which we view as building marvels, had purposes little or naught to do with construction so much as permanance and purpose (mainly religious.) As you already stated, slavery was not a primary factor in any of it. The methods and logistics, ie the ancient construction knowledge, may well never be answered, certainly not in our life times.

[Worthy4England]

I suspect, when you rule out intervention from the Gods/aliens (which everyone should), we will eventually get to the how in a fairly non-contentious sense.

There's plenty of decent theory that the main alignment was to "compass points," celestial bodies and the trajectory of the sun. Which clearly didn't have the science behind it that it has today. They also had and used "alignment tools" like plumb bobs, squares etc. I think when your primary goal is to build something where your living God will reside in the afterlife, you're more likely to give focus to "perfection" than if you're just throwing up a row of terraced huts, because of course you wouldn't want to incur any displeasure from such a person/God.

The bits that are more complex for me are how they got blocks into position. To Insano's point, that absolutely required effort and certainly injured and killed folks (but let's be fair if you died, you were just quicker to reach the afterlife, so no biggie) - Fairly sure this will have been the "ramps" method...

The bit I really don't get is their understanding of weight distribution (nor whether they actually understood it) especially with the distribution across the burial chambers using the granite blocks - I suspect it was maybe some trial and error...

[Worthy4England]

So. The KS2 Year 6 reading test. Dunno what they're blubbing about. Piece of piss.

Even staff "had to really think" about the answers, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said.

We should be identifying any staff who really had to think about these answers and probably retrain them.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-65624697