vivweb01blog

As a frequent local bus user, I was moved recently to put together a brief guide on how to get the best out of our bus and train networks for my website's travel page. Herewith a copy for the blog - hope it's useful....   Things have come a long way on our public transport network since the days before the internet was widely available. Working out how to get from A to B in the UK without major trauma during those somewhat simpler times relied on having a good sense of direction, a detailed knowledge of bus/train timetables, and being reasonably mobile.  Timetable information was usually only available from tourist information offices, bus and train stations, etc., only in paper form - and quite often out of date. There were no digital bus signage boards for guidance, and not all bus stops had any timetable info. displayed. Only the main train stations had full display boards.  Basically, you had to plan your journey carefully in advance, make your way to the ap...

 Blog first published November 2022. Updated April 2023, January 2025. Editors note: After a long period when the 'authorities' seemed to be in abeyance on take-downs of our much loved and well-used shadow-libraries, they have started the New Year with a vengeance by taking down two of the most popular (Anna's Archive and LibGen), by forcing ISPs to introduce server blockages. I suspect the timing of this is no coincidence, given the imminence of a new US government regime likely to be less favourably inclined towards to this type of industrial censorship, and the frequent 'spats' between the UK Labour government and the new US regime.  This nonsense has gone on for long enough...high time for a look at reforming the publishing industry model, I think... Perhaps Elon could help us sort out the mess generated by the publishers'  aggressive use of outdated copyright laws ?  See update 11.1.25 below for more details. Introduction The high-handed (and possibly even ...

  Starmer’s latest hobby-horse, which is currently being given an outing in the media by his housing minister and deputy Angela Rayner, would seem to be setting his party up for failure…..  Almost everyone with any knowledge of the house-building industry seems to agree that under the circumstances we’re likely to see during the remaining 4.5 years of Labour’s term, building this many houses just isn’t feasible. The majority of our Local Authorities, who will be directly responsible for achieving the target in their areas, endorse this view.  Starmer is thus either a) not listening or b) convinced that he is right and everyone else is wrong (or indeed both!)….Moreover, by setting himself and his party a fixed target such as this, he is virtually guaranteeing his government will be found wanting come the much-awaited ‘reckoning’ before the next election. So much for the continued ‘crazy’ politics then….but what about the feasibility of building this many houses – why does ...

Much was made in the media a week or so ago about the various meetings Nigel Farage had ‘across the pond’ with the President Elect and his current ‘right hand man’, Elon Musk. It also emerged that Musk had offered ‘hundreds of millions’ to support Reform campaign in future UK elections. After a somewhat stunned and incredulous reaction in UK, there was something of an outcry amongst the other UK political parties against what was seen as unfair advantage. While it wouldn’t be against current electoral rules for a donor to contribute a large sum to Reform, and both of  the major parties have received donations to the tune of single-figure millions in the past, the excessive amounts Musk is reputed to be offering would ‘upset the apple cart’ politically. I predict that limits on donations will now quickly be introduced by Labour. That still leaves Musk the possibility of beating any limit on individual donations by employing multiple-company approaches. I doubt whether even 'artf...