Category: Techo stuff

Google and you

What do you think that these guys know about you?

While reading about their new privacy policy I ended up examining what they think my ‘Ads preferences’ are.

They have me down as –

1) Arts & Entertainment – Comics & Animation
2) Beauty & Fitness
3) Finance – Credit & Lending
4) News – Weather
5) World Localities – Africa – Southern Africa – South Africa Continue reading “Google and you”

Marking Time – January 2012 CW Comp.

Marking Time

Len Larcombe, teacher of Chemistry and fifth form master sat at a small desk in the staff room of the provincial public school. It was the spring of 1928 and Larcombe was almost forty years old, ten years before he had been a captain of artillery and ten before that an amateur boxer of some note. His service in the war and in the ring had left him somewhat deaf in both of his large somewhat battered ears. He settled himself into the wooden chair and lit his pipe, pushing the glowing embers deep into the bowl with a calloused and nicotine stained forefinger.

Continue reading “Marking Time – January 2012 CW Comp.”

Effin dangerous

This is the story of a some innocent denizens of a village in County Limerick who wanted to be part of the great phenomenon called Facebook which only a few, like Backside and me, avoid like the famine (allegedly).

But as fate would have it their village is called Effin (in English, not in their native tongue). So as seems to occur with all such electronic media, it could not speak its name.

I presume (for I dare not put it to the test) that one should not refer to a festive furkin either?

(Please note this post is split into short, easy-to-read paragraphs and avoids any link to a media report or a relevant stock photo selected for the amusement of cherished members.) 🙂

Break the chain

Door to door security door salesmen that sold security door chains to duped door owners must have laughed at the ease with which they traded this non-safe implement. Simple to install and operate the door chain was not a very good deterrent against unwelcome callers. The useless door chain was marketed as an extra lock yet the door’s main lock had to be unlocked leaving the chain as the only defence against outsiders.

It would not take much force for a burglar, stalker or restraining order abuser to open the door. A hefty shoulder charge would loosen the screws in the door frame and access would be easy for the intruder. A safer alternative is the spy hole. The householder can see who is outside their door.

Unless the caller puts his thumb against the spy glass in which case after a -Who‘s there? Guess who? – exchange you think you recognise the voice and accordingly, open the door or keep the door closed.

Zoot tunes

There’s a young man lives up the road that every night plays his saxophone. Silhouetted behind the curtain, the notes are pleasant enough. While admitting that jazz is not my scene, I’ve always admired the sax solos of the late, great Clarence Clemons of E-Street band fame. Having never met a sax player before, a chance meeting in the street got me acquainted with my neighbour. He told me playing the sax is his job. Continue reading “Zoot tunes”

Adverts? What Adverts?

Two Charioteers have questioned me about advertisements appearing on The Chariot.

WordPress reserve the right to place adverts on free blogs, but ever since we began we have noticed that –

  • They never appear when one is logged in.
  • They sometimes, but not always, appear when one is not logged in.

If you are still seeing adverts after you have logged in, please let me know so that I can ask for clarification from WordPress.   We have no control over which adverts are displayed, or whether or not they appear.

A plea to Val

Please will you cease deleting your posts within a few hours of publishing them.   Of course you have every right to do so, but it is most disconcerting to go to re-read an interesting comment, or to have another squiz at your excellent photographs, only to find that yesterday’s post has disappeared without trace.

It also has the effect of removing your gravatar from the “Authors’ Archives”, and of leaving a large number of enormous image files orphaned within the media store.