It's catching
 

Underground fireball erupts in Finsbury Park

http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news...rk_1_402 0454

It's catching
 

On Friday, 3 April 2015 20:21:56 UTC+1, eastender wrote:
Underground fireball erupts in Finsbury Park

http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news...rk_1_402 0454

It is the same one. It has spread.

It's catching
 

They're more common than reported. We had one round the corner a few months back in a suburban street. One theory is that the profusion of electrical gadgets in homes, computer system in offices etc, are overloading the cables, that in many cases are often old and cannot take the current fluctuations.

Neill

It's catching
 

In message , at
11:51:44 on Sat, 4 Apr 2015, remarked:
They're more common than reported. We had one round the corner a few months back in a suburban street. One theory is that the profusion of
electrical gadgets in homes, computer system in offices etc, are overloading the cables, that in many cases are often old and cannot take the
current fluctuations.

And people seriously expect to be able to charge up more than a trivial
number of electric cars, on top of all that lot???
--
Roland Perry

It's catching
 

Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at
11:51:44 on Sat, 4 Apr 2015, remarked:
They're more common than reported. We had one round the corner a few
months back in a suburban street. One theory is that the profusion of
electrical gadgets in homes, computer system in offices etc, are
overloading the cables, that in many cases are often old and cannot take the
current fluctuations.

And people seriously expect to be able to charge up more than a trivial
number of electric cars, on top of all that lot???

Not many people -- sales of pure EVs are still derisory. It's more a case
of the government and certain car companies pushing them at us. Also, I
think the expectation is that EVs would be charging mainly in the off-peak.

There's certainly a lot more gadgets in use, but I don't see why
fluctuations would stress cables. In any case, many of those devices are
drawing a tiny current when they're "off", waiting to be turned on with a
remote control, or charging phone/tablet batteries. Surely that load is
less than the electric heating load that used to be common before most
people switched to gas?

It's catching
 

In message
-septem
ber.org, at 20:28:20 on Sat, 4 Apr 2015, Recliner
remarked:
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at
11:51:44 on Sat, 4 Apr 2015, remarked:
They're more common than reported. We had one round the corner a few
months back in a suburban street. One theory is that the profusion of
electrical gadgets in homes, computer system in offices etc, are
overloading the cables, that in many cases are often old and cannot take the
current fluctuations.

And people seriously expect to be able to charge up more than a trivial
number of electric cars, on top of all that lot???

Not many people -- sales of pure EVs are still derisory. It's more a case
of the government and certain car companies pushing them at us.

The electric-car advocates seem to think we can just go out and buy
them, plug them in and become greener-than-green overnight.

Also, I
think the expectation is that EVs would be charging mainly in the off-peak.

When there's no solar energy input.

There's certainly a lot more gadgets in use, but I don't see why
fluctuations would stress cables.

I'd read that as not being able to take peaks in excess of their
original design.

In any case, many of those devices are drawing a tiny current when
they're "off", waiting to be turned on with a remote control, or
charging phone/tablet batteries.

Loads of PCs, monitors, printers, photocopiers etc are switched on.

Surely that load is less than the electric heating load that used to be
common before most people switched to gas?

When we first moved into a certain office block in Brentwood, despite
being 60's build, there were only two ring mains for each 4,000 sqft
floor - enough to run a few electric typewriters perhaps. Having plugged
in numerous PCs and similar stuff, we were initially a bit surprised
that the breakers went if someone also turned on an electric kettle.
--
Roland Perry

It's catching
 

Roland Perry wrote:
In message -septem
ber.org, at 20:28:20 on Sat, 4 Apr 2015, Recliner remarked:
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at
11:51:44 on Sat, 4 Apr 2015, remarked:
They're more common than reported. We had one round the corner a few
months back in a suburban street. One theory is that the profusion of
electrical gadgets in homes, computer system in offices etc, are
overloading the cables, that in many cases are often old and cannot take the
current fluctuations.

And people seriously expect to be able to charge up more than a trivial
number of electric cars, on top of all that lot???

Not many people -- sales of pure EVs are still derisory. It's more a case
of the government and certain car companies pushing them at us.

The electric-car advocates seem to think we can just go out and buy them,
plug them in and become greener-than-green overnight.

Yes, totally unrealistic. I think hybrids are a much better bet today for
general purpose use. Pure EVs are suitable for some specialist roles, where
they don't need huge range and have reliable access to appropriate
chargers.


Also, I
think the expectation is that EVs would be charging mainly in the off-peak.

When there's no solar energy input.

Is there ever much solar energy input in the UK?


There's certainly a lot more gadgets in use, but I don't see why
fluctuations would stress cables.

I'd read that as not being able to take peaks in excess of their original design.

OK, that makes sense.

In any case, many of those devices are drawing a tiny current when
they're "off", waiting to be turned on with a remote control, or
charging phone/tablet batteries.

Loads of PCs, monitors, printers, photocopiers etc are switched on.

In offices, which should have higher power supplies.

Surely that load is less than the electric heating load that used to be
common before most people switched to gas?

When we first moved into a certain office block in Brentwood, despite
being 60's build, there were only two ring mains for each 4,000 sqft
floor - enough to run a few electric typewriters perhaps. Having plugged
in numerous PCs and similar stuff, we were initially a bit surprised that
the breakers went if someone also turned on an electric kettle.

I'd have expected Amstrad to find a particularly cheap and nasty block!

It's catching
 

In message
-septem
ber.org, at 21:19:44 on Sat, 4 Apr 2015, Recliner
remarked:

Loads of PCs, monitors, printers, photocopiers etc are switched on.

In offices, which should have higher power supplies.

The problem is that the feed to the offices won't have originally added
up to so much, and the cabling in the street now risks being
underspecified. And people keep building new stuff. The new developments
along the south bank of the Thames between London Bridge and Tower
Bridge 15 years ago involved much digging up of the road (including the
one under LB Station) to install a new power feed.

Surely that load is less than the electric heating load that used to be
common before most people switched to gas?

When we first moved into a certain office block in Brentwood, despite
being 60's build, there were only two ring mains for each 4,000 sqft
floor - enough to run a few electric typewriters perhaps. Having plugged
in numerous PCs and similar stuff, we were initially a bit surprised that
the breakers went if someone also turned on an electric kettle.

I'd have expected Amstrad to find a particularly cheap and nasty block!

It was quite a nice block (unlike the Tottenham warehouse they moved
from), and the *quality* of the electrical work was top-notch. There
just wasn't *enough* of it.
--
Roland Perry

It's catching
 

Roland Perry wrote:
In message -septem
ber.org, at 21:19:44 on Sat, 4 Apr 2015, Recliner remarked:

Loads of PCs, monitors, printers, photocopiers etc are switched on.

In offices, which should have higher power supplies.

The problem is that the feed to the offices won't have originally added
up to so much, and the cabling in the street now risks being
underspecified. And people keep building new stuff. The new developments
along the south bank of the Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge
15 years ago involved much digging up of the road (including the one
under LB Station) to install a new power feed.

I'd expect that to be needed regularly as urban areas are redeveloped.
London has been getting large new buildings (both residential and
commercial) in many areas that are bound to need new utilities (not just
power suppliers). For example, Docklands, Nine Elms, the Kings Cross
railway lands, the Stratford Olympic area and the South Bank area you
mentioned must all have needed substantial new power, water, gas, phone and
sewerage capacity.

Surely that load is less than the electric heating load that used to be
common before most people switched to gas?

When we first moved into a certain office block in Brentwood, despite
being 60's build, there were only two ring mains for each 4,000 sqft
floor - enough to run a few electric typewriters perhaps. Having plugged
in numerous PCs and similar stuff, we were initially a bit surprised that
the breakers went if someone also turned on an electric kettle.

I'd have expected Amstrad to find a particularly cheap and nasty block!

It was quite a nice block (unlike the Tottenham warehouse they moved
from), and the *quality* of the electrical work was top-notch. There just
wasn't *enough* of it.

Maybe that's why it was cheap?

It's catching
 

In message
-septemb
er.org, at 08:28:55 on Sun, 5 Apr 2015, Recliner
remarked:
When we first moved into a certain office block in Brentwood, despite
being 60's build, there were only two ring mains for each 4,000 sqft
floor - enough to run a few electric typewriters perhaps. Having plugged
in numerous PCs and similar stuff, we were initially a bit surprised that
the breakers went if someone also turned on an electric kettle.

I'd have expected Amstrad to find a particularly cheap and nasty block!

It was quite a nice block (unlike the Tottenham warehouse they moved
from), and the *quality* of the electrical work was top-notch. There just
wasn't *enough* of it.

Maybe that's why it was cheap?

It cost less than it might otherwise have done because it needed a lot
of refurbishment. Pretty much every venetian blind fitted to the
considerable number of windows was broken beyond repair, for example.
And the inside was mainly fitted with very outdated and inefficient
partitions dividing it into numerous exec-offices with room for a
secretary outside, rather than the open-plan which the vogue at the
time.

The owners had being unsuccessfully trying to rent it out floor-by-floor
(the previous tenant had taken the whole thing, and there was no demand
locally for that much space in one lump) and had recently had one floor
refurbished as a "showroom" to demonstrate what it could be like. A
small group of us were looking at renting that one floor.

The boss came round to have a look, and decided to buy the whole block
outright (having already ascertained that most of the staff already
lived in Essex and he was looking to replace the Tottenham facility with
one nearer the Shoeburyness factory).

We moved into our 5th floor a couple of day later - the deal being
"deliver the keys tomorrow or it's off". And then we AMSOFT staff
moonlighted as building managers organising the refurbishment of floors
6-9, ahead of the arrival of the Tottenham crew.

It was tremendous fun, because we got to play with things like the
equipment in the lift-room, the massive central heating installation in
the basement, and a manual telephone exchange with about a dozen
stations (the latter being stripped out to be replaced by one cabinet of
PABX). One of the legacies was I was the only person in the building
with a direct phone line, which had been put in early on to maintain
contact with the outside world - no consumer mobile phones then.

Next was replacing all the metal-framed windows [I'd have wished that
was done *before* we moved in!] then floors 0 (it was numbered in
American style) -1 and 1-4 were refurbished and rented out steadily to
local firms one at a time. Over the next few years Amstrad expanded
downwards as the tenants moved out, and built the Penthouse/boardroom on
the roof. Amsprop hasn't looked back since.

Nice view of the GEML, too.
--
Roland Perry

It's catching
 

On Sun, 5 Apr 2015 11:00:28 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message
-septemb
er.org, at 08:28:55 on Sun, 5 Apr 2015, Recliner
remarked:
When we first moved into a certain office block in Brentwood, despite
being 60's build, there were only two ring mains for each 4,000 sqft
floor - enough to run a few electric typewriters perhaps. Having plugged
in numerous PCs and similar stuff, we were initially a bit surprised that
the breakers went if someone also turned on an electric kettle.

I'd have expected Amstrad to find a particularly cheap and nasty block!

It was quite a nice block (unlike the Tottenham warehouse they moved
from), and the *quality* of the electrical work was top-notch. There just
wasn't *enough* of it.

Maybe that's why it was cheap?

It cost less than it might otherwise have done because it needed a lot
of refurbishment. Pretty much every venetian blind fitted to the
considerable number of windows was broken beyond repair, for example.
And the inside was mainly fitted with very outdated and inefficient
partitions dividing it into numerous exec-offices with room for a
secretary outside, rather than the open-plan which the vogue at the
time.

The owners had being unsuccessfully trying to rent it out floor-by-floor
(the previous tenant had taken the whole thing, and there was no demand
locally for that much space in one lump) and had recently had one floor
refurbished as a "showroom" to demonstrate what it could be like. A
small group of us were looking at renting that one floor.

The boss came round to have a look, and decided to buy the whole block
outright (having already ascertained that most of the staff already
lived in Essex and he was looking to replace the Tottenham facility with
one nearer the Shoeburyness factory).

We moved into our 5th floor a couple of day later - the deal being
"deliver the keys tomorrow or it's off". And then we AMSOFT staff
moonlighted as building managers organising the refurbishment of floors
6-9, ahead of the arrival of the Tottenham crew.

It was tremendous fun, because we got to play with things like the
equipment in the lift-room, the massive central heating installation in
the basement, and a manual telephone exchange with about a dozen
stations (the latter being stripped out to be replaced by one cabinet of
PABX). One of the legacies was I was the only person in the building
with a direct phone line, which had been put in early on to maintain
contact with the outside world - no consumer mobile phones then.

Next was replacing all the metal-framed windows [I'd have wished that
was done *before* we moved in!] then floors 0 (it was numbered in
American style) -1 and 1-4 were refurbished and rented out steadily to
local firms one at a time. Over the next few years Amstrad expanded
downwards as the tenants moved out, and built the Penthouse/boardroom on
the roof. Amsprop hasn't looked back since.

Nice view of the GEML, too.

Sounds like quite an educational experience! I guess you got to learn
all sorts of unlikely skills working for a 'pioneering' (cowboy?)
outfit like that. Ironically, Amstrad in its entrepreneurial heyday,
sounds like a very different company to the ones that the modern day
sharp-suited/high-heeled Apprentices dream of creating.

It's catching
 

In message , at 11:50:26 on
Sun, 5 Apr 2015, Recliner remarked:

The boss came round to have a look, and decided to buy the whole block
outright (having already ascertained that most of the staff already
lived in Essex and he was looking to replace the Tottenham facility with
one nearer the Shoeburyness factory).

We moved into our 5th floor a couple of day later - the deal being
"deliver the keys tomorrow or it's off". And then we AMSOFT staff
moonlighted as building managers organising the refurbishment of floors
6-9, ahead of the arrival of the Tottenham crew.

Sounds like quite an educational experience! I guess you got to learn
all sorts of unlikely skills working for a 'pioneering' (cowboy?)
outfit like that.

I resent the conflation of pioneering, with cowboy with what our day job
was which was bleeding-edge personal computing. That completely
re-purposed the company from audio to PCs, and incidentally made it
vastly more profitable as well as providing the tools for numerous
customers to kick-start their own careers as programmers or
self-publishers.

Ironically, Amstrad in its entrepreneurial heyday, sounds like a very
different company to the ones that the modern day
sharp-suited/high-heeled Apprentices dream of creating.

We in AMSOFT like to think of ourselves as the original Apprentices
(back in 1984) and learnt an incalculable amount by being parachuted
into the day-to-day sales/marketing business of such a high profile
organisation where the boss had something I've never met before or since
- the ability to make a decision on the spot and stick to it.

It was often very challenging to justify what needed doing (he has the
knack of asking the one question you don't have an answer for), but
having committed to it, the funds were always available - even
six-figure cheques issued minutes later.

Rather mundane, perhaps, but when I joined the company he sent me off to
Vauxhall dealership somewhere in the Tottenham area with instructions to
pick whichever car (within budget) I wanted and drive it back. No
paperwork at all, just his word having phoned ahead that the garage
would get paid.

It worked the other way round too - if, as happened a few times, a
journalist rang saying "please give me the details of your new computer,
I've just been talking to AMS and he said it would be OK", I knew that
the first call after putting the phone down to the journalist would have
been to me, and not having received such a call, it was a scam.
--
Roland Perry

It's catching
 

The odd thing about Amstrad was that they only made one product, the eMailer, and it was total and utter garbage!

It's catching
 

In message , at
10:38:20 on Sun, 5 Apr 2015, Offramp remarked:
The odd thing about Amstrad was that they only made one product, the
eMailer, and it was total and utter garbage!

Huh? Amstrad made scores of audio/tv/ video products, and then the
464/6128 home computers, PCW word processors, 1512/1640 PC clones, about
half a dozen 286/386 AT-clones, the PPC luggable, a clamshell portable,
and several re-launched Sinclair machines. Plus a fax machine and a
couple of printers. That was all in the six years I was there (until
1989).
--
Roland Perry

It's catching
 

Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at
10:38:20 on Sun, 5 Apr 2015, Offramp remarked:
The odd thing about Amstrad was that they only made one product, the
eMailer, and it was total and utter garbage!

Huh? Amstrad made scores of audio/tv/ video products, and then the
464/6128 home computers, PCW word processors, 1512/1640 PC clones, about
half a dozen 286/386 AT-clones, the PPC luggable, a clamshell portable,
and several re-launched Sinclair machines. Plus a fax machine and a
couple of printers. That was all in the six years I was there (until 1989).

I think that people who watched early Apprentice series might have got the
impression that the ridiculous eMailer was the only Amstrad product, as it
appeared in as many scenes as possible. It was that sort of product
placement that put me off watching it. In fact Amstrad was almost history
by the time the Apprentice started, and I think Viglen was by then AMS's
only computer product. Wasn't he also into satellite set-top boxes by then?

It's catching
 

On Sun, 5 Apr 2015 19:54:51 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

Huh? Amstrad made scores of audio/tv/ video products, and then the
464/6128 home computers, PCW word processors, 1512/1640 PC clones, about
half a dozen 286/386 AT-clones, the PPC luggable, a clamshell portable,
and several re-launched Sinclair machines. Plus a fax machine and a
couple of printers. That was all in the six years I was there (until
1989).

I remember PC reviewers mocking Amstrad for integrating components on
the motherboard - common practice now.

It's catching
 

In message
-septem
ber.org, at 19:04:56 on Sun, 5 Apr 2015, Recliner
remarked:
In fact Amstrad was almost history by the time the Apprentice started,

Yes, it had changed a lot.

and I think Viglen was by then AMS's only computer product.

Very likely.

Wasn't he also into satellite set-top boxes by then?

Had been since the beginning, started in about 1989.
--
Roland Perry

It's catching
 

In message , at 20:43:14 on
Sun, 5 Apr 2015, Peter Johnson
remarked:
I remember PC reviewers mocking Amstrad for integrating components on
the motherboard - common practice now.

What people didn't understand was that we were using the latest silicon
technology to reduce the parts count and make the computers easier to
build and more reliable. As well as lowering the cost. iirc there were
as many chips on IBM's graphics adapter card as in the whole of the
PCW1512, and similarly the parts count inside a contemporary EPSON
matrix printer was higher than the whole PCW - system unit, VDU,
keyboard and printer combined.
--
Roland Perry

It's catching
 

In message , at 21:39:38 on Sun, 5
Apr 2015, Roland Perry remarked:
In message , at 20:43:14 on
Sun, 5 Apr 2015, Peter Johnson
remarked:
I remember PC reviewers mocking Amstrad for integrating components on
the motherboard - common practice now.

What people didn't understand was that we were using the latest silicon
technology to reduce the parts count and make the computers easier to
build and more reliable. As well as lowering the cost. iirc there were
as many chips on IBM's graphics adapter card as in the whole of the
PCW1512,

Sorry, that's PC1512.

and similarly the parts count inside a contemporary EPSON matrix
printer was higher than the whole PCW - system unit, VDU, keyboard and
printer combined.

--
Roland Perry

It's catching
 

In article , (Roland
Perry) wrote:

In message ,
at 10:38:20 on Sun, 5 Apr 2015, Offramp remarked:
The odd thing about Amstrad was that they only made one product, the
eMailer, and it was total and utter garbage!

Huh? Amstrad made scores of audio/tv/ video products, and then the
464/6128 home computers, PCW word processors, 1512/1640 PC clones,
about half a dozen 286/386 AT-clones, the PPC luggable, a clamshell
portable, and several re-launched Sinclair machines. Plus a fax
machine and a couple of printers. That was all in the six years I was
there (until 1989).


I read Alan as they were good and only the eMailer was garbage. I looked at
the spec when it came out and wondered who on earth would want one.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

It's catching
 

In message , at 16:19:12
on Sun, 5 Apr 2015, remarked:
In article , (Roland
Perry) wrote:

In message ,
at 10:38:20 on Sun, 5 Apr 2015, Offramp remarked:
The odd thing about Amstrad was that they only made one product, the
eMailer, and it was total and utter garbage!

Huh? Amstrad made scores of audio/tv/ video products, and then the
464/6128 home computers, PCW word processors, 1512/1640 PC clones,
about half a dozen 286/386 AT-clones, the PPC luggable, a clamshell
portable, and several re-launched Sinclair machines. Plus a fax
machine and a couple of printers. That was all in the six years I was
there (until 1989).

I read Alan as they were good and only the eMailer was garbage. I looked at
the spec when it came out and wondered who on earth would want one.

The eMailer was long after my time, and was trying to appeal to people
who:

Wanted to be able to send and receive a few emails, but without the
expense and complication of a PC.

Where it made sense to integrate the functionality with a phone.

Were happy to have the equipment subsidised by higher cost phone calls.

Didn't mind a few adverts as part of the subsidy.

And in later versions: wanted to be able to video calls to relatives.

This all sounds very much like a landline version of a contract
smartphone with Skype and paid-by-ads apps. But that didn't have a
critical mass of users.

I had some ideas (which I didn't follow through) about generating
affinity groups, larger than families, who might be interested in all
getting a phone to swap diaries, notes and other information. The result
would have been a bit like Facebook Groups (but before Facebook was
started).
--
Roland Perry