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[TheBoy]

My missus got the train to London from Wakefield last Tuesday. 1hr 57minutes, bang on time, table seat booked, not overcrowded, scan a QR code and order your breakfast straight to the table. Seamless. Tell me what difference £100 billion will make to that journey.

Nothing as it doesn't go that far north 

What it will do is allow more freight on the west coast mainline (which is saturated at the moment)

It can't free up any slots on WCML without impacting existing passenger services, as there are so few express services - and even if you could remove a few express services from WCML, that's not enough to create a freight slot.

Additionally, WCML is not at capacity, hence Network Rail recently suddenly finding 400 free slots on it, but only after the current government committed to HS2 Phase 1....


As you know, my office is in central Brum, and most of the hardware I look after is in Londonium, so I do get to use both existing lines regularly.  The WCML express trains are under utilised, because hardly anyone travels from New St to Euston. The slower trains on WCML tend to be much busier, as the vast majority get off en-route, usually around Coventry, MK or Leighton Buzzoff from trains from Brum, and Watford, Hemel, Tring, Leighton Buzzoff and MK for London trains.

Chiltern tend to run 2, 3 and 4 carriage DMUs, but all stations can support 8 carriage trains, so no shortage of capacity there either.  Just the trains are old, unreliable, and always late

[YZ250]

Google Health app for Fitbit watches completely screwing up their take-over of the Fitbit app. What a crock of shite they’ve turned it into. As it’s heavily AI/Gemini dependent, it’s constantly syncing, searching and whatever else they do, so it kills the watch battery life. I’ve disabled Gemini so it can’t guess how long I sleep for.    Luckily I only used mine as a watch with heart rate BPM (I have Kardia Mobile for more accurate recordable heart readings), but many use them as fitness recorders when jogging/exercising etc. and to record sleep patterns if they suffer from sleep apnea.
Google have made a right dogs dinner of their app, and boy oh boy are people making their feelings about it known. Garmin (which I also have) must be laughing their tits off.

[TheBoy]

Google Health app for Fitbit watches completely screwing up their take-over of the Fitbit app. What a crock of shite they’ve turned it into. As it’s heavily AI/Gemini dependent, it’s constantly syncing, searching and whatever else they do, so it kills the watch battery life. I’ve disabled Gemini so it can’t guess how long I sleep for.    Luckily I only used mine as a watch with heart rate BPM (I have Kardia Mobile for more accurate recordable heart readings), but many use them as fitness recorders when jogging/exercising etc. and to record sleep patterns if they suffer from sleep apnea.
Google have made a right dogs dinner of their app, and boy oh boy are people making their feelings about it known. Garmin (which I also have) must be laughing their tits off.

Mrs TB has been non stop moaning about Google moving it to the Google Health app on her iPhone, and telling me at every opportunity how crap it is

[Doctor Gollum]

Google Health app for Fitbit watches completely screwing up their take-over of the Fitbit app. What a crock of shite they’ve turned it into. As it’s heavily AI/Gemini dependent, it’s constantly syncing, searching and whatever else they do, so it kills the watch battery life. I’ve disabled Gemini so it can’t guess how long I sleep for.    Luckily I only used mine as a watch with heart rate BPM (I have Kardia Mobile for more accurate recordable heart readings), but many use them as fitness recorders when jogging/exercising etc. and to record sleep patterns if they suffer from sleep apnea.
Google have made a right dogs dinner of their app, and boy oh boy are people making their feelings about it known. Garmin (which I also have) must be laughing their tits off.

Mrs TB has been non stop moaning about Google moving it to the Google Health app on her iPhone, and telling me at every opportunity how crap it is

Having an iPhone won't be helping matters

[YZ250]

Google Health app for Fitbit watches completely screwing up their take-over of the Fitbit app. What a crock of shite they’ve turned it into. As it’s heavily AI/Gemini dependent, it’s constantly syncing, searching and whatever else they do, so it kills the watch battery life. I’ve disabled Gemini so it can’t guess how long I sleep for.    Luckily I only used mine as a watch with heart rate BPM (I have Kardia Mobile for more accurate recordable heart readings), but many use them as fitness recorders when jogging/exercising etc. and to record sleep patterns if they suffer from sleep apnea.
Google have made a right dogs dinner of their app, and boy oh boy are people making their feelings about it known. Garmin (which I also have) must be laughing their tits off.

Mrs TB has been non stop moaning about Google moving it to the Google Health app on her iPhone, and telling me at every opportunity how crap it is

The Google app developers have removed a fair bit and managed to spread what they had left over 4 separate tabs, whereas Fitbit had more stuff on one tab. It really hasn’t been well received at all. 
I’m on Android so I could potentially delete the Google Health app and rewind to a pre-Google Fitbit app from somewhere like APKMirror site, which is what a lot of people are doing apparently. I’d have to disable auto-update though and to be honest I can’t be bothered. My wife has rebelled by chucking hers in the bin. 

[TheBoy]

Google Health app for Fitbit watches completely screwing up their take-over of the Fitbit app. What a crock of shite they’ve turned it into. As it’s heavily AI/Gemini dependent, it’s constantly syncing, searching and whatever else they do, so it kills the watch battery life. I’ve disabled Gemini so it can’t guess how long I sleep for.    Luckily I only used mine as a watch with heart rate BPM (I have Kardia Mobile for more accurate recordable heart readings), but many use them as fitness recorders when jogging/exercising etc. and to record sleep patterns if they suffer from sleep apnea.
Google have made a right dogs dinner of their app, and boy oh boy are people making their feelings about it known. Garmin (which I also have) must be laughing their tits off.

Mrs TB has been non stop moaning about Google moving it to the Google Health app on her iPhone, and telling me at every opportunity how crap it is

Having an iPhone won't be helping matters

The same issue impacts Android as well.  Google seem to be following in Microsoft's footprints, making simple stuff hard, claiming its what people want without being able to prove it.  Like Windows 11. And Co-Pilot rammed into every oriface.

[Dave_G]

Back in ‘the day’ it used to be “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”

Google seem to have adjusted that to be “if it ain’t broke, break it then fix it in a really crap way”.

Just saying.

[Varche]

Service enhancement that no one wanted but someone will get a bonus for creating it.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Not me but this will piss off the Oxfordshire lads! 

https://www.regit.cars/car-news/oxfordshire-quiet-lanes-pilot-scheme-rural-roads-to-close

Although it could spread like a rash around rural Britain, so if they start closing lanes in Devonshire, Somersetshire and Dorsetshire...   

[TheBoy]

For my entire life, Oxford council has been hell bent on banning cars.  They genuinely believe public transport is viable, and that people are happy to walk/cycle 15 miles each way every day for work.

You might recall a year or 2 ago it was LTNs in parts of Oxford city, which when they surveyed the residents, wasn't wanted but the council said the residence did want it.

They are a strange lo.  Best plan is to avoid Oxfordshire if you can, and definitely avoid the shithole known as Oxford

[YZ250]

………..
They are a strange lot.  Best plan is to avoid Oxfordshire if you can, and definitely avoid the shithole known as Oxford

Agreed.    Oxfordshire council aren’t the brightest of people. They’ve killed the city centre trade with their hatred of the motor vehicle. They live purely on a reputation of the colleges but is otherwise definitely a place to avoid.
The road they have chosen for their ‘quiet cycling’ scheme trial has the odd couple of houses on but is also used by a lot of farm vehicles. It’s a cut through from Stanton Saint John to Bayswater Road (Oxford Crematorium) and I doubt the farmers will stop using it as it’s mostly farm land.
I have no issue with cyclists having this road as their ‘quiet road’, as long as they stay there and don’t venture on to our roads. 

[TheBoy]

I know the road well, my old stomping ground when I used to fix phones.

Not been down it for a couple of years now, but last time I went down it, it was so badly maintained, no cyclist would use it.

[TheBoy]

Is the Seven Stars still a thing there, or has it gone all wanky like most Oxfordshire pubs??  I might have had a few lock-ins back in the day

[YZ250]

I know the road well, my old stomping ground when I used to fix phones.

Not been down it for a couple of years now, but last time I went down it, it was so badly maintained, no cyclist would use it.

You’re right, it’s a shite road, so the cyclists can have it. 

Is the Seven Stars still a thing there, or has it gone all wanky like most Oxfordshire pubs??  I might have had a few lock-ins back in the day

It was renamed The Star Inn, but then closed permanently around 2018. Permission was granted to build 5 houses on the land, even though it was a Grade 11 listed building. 
I don’t go that way too often as it’s too near to Barton. 

[ronnyd]

Not me but this will piss off the Oxfordshire lads! 

https://www.regit.cars/car-news/oxfordshire-quiet-lanes-pilot-scheme-rural-roads-to-close

Although it could spread like a rash around rural Britain, so if they start closing lanes in Devonshire, Somersetshire and Dorsetshire...   

They've had quiet lanes around north Norfolk for a number of years now, but at least the roads were still open to cars. it's just that pedestrians and cyclists have priority. Haven't been up there for a while so don't know if they are still in operation.