The more shock statistics that come out about these infernal devices, the more amazed I am that they seem to have no impact whatsoever on the use of them. They're as popular as ever. According to the latest figures, the average British person checks their phone every 12 minutes! One third of people wake up in the night to check their bloody phone. I heard an interview on the radio about it, with a lady user. "What are you checking for exactly?", she was asked. "Erm...I don't know really...erm...a message?" "A message about what?"..."Erm...I don't know really...erm." As I don't have and have never had a portable telephone, I'm just astonished by it all. I see there's an app now where those who are the toughest of the tough can sign up to not use their stupid bloody little lump of plastic for ten whole hours. If you can manage this Herculean task, if you've got the nerves of steel to tough it out, you can win a cup of watery Costa coffee. I despair I really do. I have to say that I honestly think these phones are making people a bit thick too. I don't mean to be impolite, but you can't help but notice. Why not put it away, at least for a week or so, and have a look at the real world instead?
It’s an addiction, pure and simple and much of the design of the whole ecosystem of mobile use promotes that addiction. Every half hour or so smokers get a ‘what do I do now’ feeling and gratefully remember they can have a fag. Now people check their phones. I think it’s what is driving the relentless hysteria behind this year’s pre-season. A need for dopamine. Took me 13 mins to reply to you. Having a slow day.
There seems to be a general vacuum of physically doing things. Instead it seems to be becoming the norm to be somewhere where something is happening and take pictures to show you were near where it all happened without really ever taking part.
I made a conscious decision a few weeks ago to not move out of the way of people with their heads down engaged in the phone Instead of looking where they're going So far I've had three direct hits and funnily enough it's always turned out to be my fault. I shall soon be adding walking out in front of cyclists who don't give a **** about red lights at crossings.
I'm just going through a period of enforced phone abstention due to the the totally unrelated circumstances of a group of "travellers" pitching up some 200m from my home earlier this week and my home being broken into yesterday morning and having, amongst other things notably my keys & car, my mobile phone stolen. I thought I wasn't that hooked but I found myself extremely agitated that I could look up who/what "les rallizes dénudés" were/are whilst watching Stewart Lee's latest (and exceptionally marmitey) stand-up earlier on this morning...
These scum are the modern menace, not mobile phones. A lawless group allowed to do whatever they d*mn well like and growing fast. What do the Police do about them? Jack sh*t. It's more than just burglary, it's the blight they put on older people who they take full advantage of. When will the authorities actually do something to stop these c****?
Gigs are a ******* state these days. Half the audience are on their phones or chatting. As for people idling on their phones while walking through busy areas, frankly shooting is too good for them.
This does my head in. People at concerts recording on their phone so they can post it to Facebook and show how cool they are being at a concert. Just watch the concert and enjoy the moment you idiots.
The other one. Tools reading their phones at the cinema. Random bright screen a few rows forward. Watch the film imbecile - you’ve paid to do so.
So Clive, you don't think having an App that lets you fill up your reusable water bottle free of charge is worth having? If it helps in just a little way to stop the need for having more unnecessary plastic bottles and letting people obtain free water for themselves, then why not? https://www.refill.org.uk/get-the-refill-app/
The trouble is I "sort of" understand the cops' dilemma. I'm certain the cops would like to have the locality under some sort of long-term surveillance, gathering intelligence building large cases (policework today is supposed to be "directed" and "intelligence led"). Or do they steam in, drive them off ASAP (much to the residents' relief) and basically give them a "guard of honour" / "armed escort" to move somewhere else and start the cycle (which is probably part of the thieves'/burglars' MO) all over again. I was (at least) one of three "done" that morning (according to the cop who interviewed me). I would be very interested in the opinions of anyone in "The Job".
ibot chicken is a game I love playing, the idiots are completely oblivious to they’re surroundings. I wonder how long will it take humans to evolve an extra eye in the top of the head?
I find it difficult to believe that Luna Lovegood and Strawberry Fields (or whatever you call your kids) don't have mobile phones.
Unfortunately these people have seen what this country is really like! Police can't touch them for whatever reason the government decides, not them their hands are tied! The UK is slipping into this kind of behaviour at an alarming rate and for me there seems like nothing to stop it! Can't do anything without being seen as either racist, ignorant, heartless or whatever!
Not sure what you expect the UK police to do about issues in Bahrain. It's a bit outside of their jurisdiction.
I'd heard about that one and by coincidence, a couple of days later, I was out with 4cyclones and he had an empty water bottle. So we went into a shop - I think it was a woman's clothes shop as I remember - and asked the lady if they had a tap and would mind filling his bottle for him. Of course she didn't mind and gladly did it for him in return for thanks. I don't suppose the shop was on the stupid app. We got our water bottle filled up by being polite and friendly and human decency. I suppose people got their water bottles filled up in that way decades before mobile phones or apps (or indeed overpriced plastic bottles of water for sale) were ever thought of. Finding directions to somewhere works the same way. Since I don't have a mobile, I ask an analogue person if they know the way to San Jose or wherever it is I'm trying to find. A bit of human to human contact. It works very well. For those who have listed their pet hates of mobile users, I'd like to add:- 1. School events such as plays and sports days etc, which are spoiled by a forest of dazzling little screens held aloft blocking everyone else's view. 2. 'Phubbing' - where you're talking to someone and rather than listen attentively to you, they instead stare into their little phone screen. I heard of one lady who fights back against phubbing by carrying a paperback novel in her handbag. When she gets phubbed by someone, she takes out her book and starts reading it, totally ignoring the other person. Well it's the same thing isn't it? 3. That perennial favourite, driving a car, van or lorry whilst happily chatting away or texting - often causing mayhem for other road users, or at worst running over and killing them, as happened locally with a girl in my daughter's class. They've put the penalty up to 6 points now and a bigger fine, but it doesn't seem to be much deterrent. You still see them regularly, taking the roundabout with their eyes glued to their little screen balanced on top of the steering wheel and both thumbs tapping away furiously. Just the occasional glance up at the road to see if they're about to run over any kids or grannies. Just what is so important? 4. Excuses for failure to function. It seems clear to me that the bloody things don't even seem to work very well a lot of the time. The messages don't arrive. The alarms don't go off. It won't connect. There's a whole raft of excuses for why. Oh the battery's run out, the wifi wasn't working, the vodafone was down, I pressed the wrong button ha ha ha. Seems like a load of old rubbish to me.
The most discriminated against group of people in Europe for centuries. Nobody has a good word to say about them, but plenty of bad words are invented to say against them. Is it any wonder that some of them get a 'screw the world' attitude and behave anti-socially? A group of them parked up locally for a short while a little bit ago and you've never heard such a fuss. It seems one of them had a yappy little dog that liked to chase and nip people. That proved to be the peg on which the outraged middle classers could hang a whole load of hatred. They should be hung, drawn and quartered. The police should be out there with rubber bullets and water cannon to give them a taste of the only medicine their sorts understands! The dog should be seized and destroyed! All sorts of terrible tortures and bizarre medieval punishments were advocated by the local nastyparty voters. http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/16196636.Child_bitten_by_dog_near_Witney_travellers__camp/ Notice by the way how the article confesses "Neither the boy nor the man were injured.". So a fuss about nothing in other words. If it were an old granny's little pooch that chased and nipped somebody, it wouldn't get anywhere near the newspapers, never mind the front pages and nobody would suggest blasting the granny with a water cannon, killing her dog or torturing her. So why the distinction? And finally, if you want to talk about who's really blighting the elderly, the infirm and the disabled, then the dear beloved Tory party does harm on a scale that is many magnitudes larger than any traveller or gypsy*. And the police and authorities also do Jask sh*t about them, who really deserve a blast of the water cannon and shooting with plastic bullets. Fun fact: The word 'Gypsy' is a slang adaption of the word 'Egyptian'. Because of ignorance and the same "bash the browns" attitude that existed then and persists today, many people believed romanies and travellers to be 'foreign' and probably from Egypt.
No need out here for the police to act on such a large scale as the youth of today here are quite respectful! I’m sure it will be the same in the Uk once everyone understands their worries and concerns! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
What does this group bring to society other than lawlessness, rubbish dumping and wife beating? I'd be genuinely interested to know.
Before I fully respond to "this" can I just ask for a clarification: are you conflating "gypsies" (who I've had lots of dealings with in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Kent) and "travellers"?
One annoying trend is if someone gets a penalty at a game, half the crowd whip out their phone and film it. Bang goes the focus on the penalty itself and the spontaneous celebration begins with stopping filming and or putting the phone away or holding it carefully.
It's bad to generalise and write off a group of people but the percentage of travellers that rob, steal and intimidate is incredibly high. Around Leighton Buzzard there are numerous traveller sites and in the town there is a genuine problem. Aside from the slavery cases, burglary and theft, there is a lot of intimidation of shop staff and the general public. A lot of events in town need a police presence as gangs will turn up and cause trouble. A few examples I've seen: - a van full drive into wetherspoons car park and leave it right in the middle of the car park, not in a space, so no one else can get in or out. In the pub the staff ask them to move it and get shouted at in their face to "f*** off". Only when the manager says he's not serving them until it's moved does anything happen. - town fête, gang of teenage travellers go on the kids bouncy castle without paying and deliberately knock kids under 5 over. - traveller picking up his dry cleaning which is £15, says "I'll give you £10, it's a good price". Bloke behind the counter tries to get what he is owed and suddenly it's a torrent of abuse, squaring up and the bloke has to give in and be ripped off to avoid the place being smashed up. The other problem is the culture of zero contribution but expect full healthcare and benefits. And why should they bother to put their rubbish away on someone else's land? I'm not stupid enough to write them all off. My wife works at a school with a fair few traveller kids, a lot of whom are decent kids and don't cause trouble. The parents are on the whole are ok too. I guess travellers who send their kids to school are those that are more inclined to be socially responsible. A lot are pulled out of school before GCSEs so never get a full education, which is a real shame. There is a real desire not to mix with non-profit travellers which doesn't help. I think it's easy to defend groups you have little experience of. There is a real problem with a majority of them and society can't keep bending over backwards to accommodate people who just want to take. The onus is completely on the travellers to change and behave decently as a group. There's probably an 80-20 rule where 80% of people are well behaved and law abiding, but with travellers that 80-20 is reversed.
I never used to get the concern about travelers when I was younger, and I put it down to unfair stereotyping. Then we had a group move into a field not to far away from our house, and the crime rate in the area suddenly shot up. It was a low-crime area so very, very noticeable; no break-ins had happened since our family moved into the area over 10 years prior, and suddenly there was a rash of them (not us, fortunately). A couple of years later I was working in a pub and a group of about 7 came in. They were a bit rude, but not actively causing trouble. Then the landlady noticed they were moving small valuable items around when going to the toilet, moving them closer to the exit doors. It was done in a deliberate and subtle fashion; they were positioning items near the door so they could pick them up and take them with them when they left, i.e. looking to steal everything that looked valuable and wasn't nailed down. We gathered up everything and put it in the back, although unfortunately a couple of items still vanished. Final incident I saw was when an older male traveler with a very strong Irish access got into an altercation over the fact a dog lived at the pub. The traveler was insisting the landlord got rid of the dog and started getting aggressive and threatening. The landlord was having none of it and shouted back (he was an irascible type with huge cojones) and threw him out yelling "clear off, I'd rather have the dog here than you." The guy left but his truck was spotted hanging around the pub a number of times over the following days so he was obviously trying to do something in retribution, even if it was only intimidate. Up until I left the UK, the number of times I was around serious issues in the vicinity of traveler communities/travelers was vastly disproportionate in comparison to the number I encountered on a regular basis, and this is coming from someone who used to think their reputation was undeserved. Sure, it's possible some chancers might take advantage of travelers being in the area and engage in a crime wave to paint someone else as the perpetrator, but is that more likely than the traveler community themselves being the source of the problem? Ultimately they don't have regular jobs and yet somehow manage to live in a society where money is required to do anything. It's a strong indicator for involvement in criminal activity.
Slightly embarrassed that I used my phone to record the statue unveiling yesterday - but I say 'slightly', because I held it aloft and just hoped that it was recording what I wanted whilst I actually watched the event with my own eyes. A sort of halfway house between the two, I guess. Can honestly say I've never taken a picture/video during a match. All my pics of the Vic have been before kick-off. I'm always far too emotionally involved in the games to even think about whipping the camera out, especially for penalties and free-kicks. Not sure if enjoying watching other people's videos later on (of something decent, such as a goal) makes me a hypocrite, though?! For anyone interested - here's my footage of the unveiling (mostly consisting of everything but the statue itself) : https://streamable.com/5lqvh
Most suitable song to add would be Ring of fire - because it felt like I was standing in the middle of one, damn it was hot in direct sunlight. Sod having to play football in it
The flat with the turd on the balcony has a grandstand view of Graham. And, reciprocally, Graham of the turd.
I think filming things like gigs comes about from a sense of insercurity. People feel the need to show everyone else they’re having a good time and they have a great life, that can only be insecurity. As I’ve got older I’ve given less and less of a **** about what other people think, whatever I’m doing I don’t feel the need to tell other people about it, I’m happy just to enjoy myself. It’s actually quite annoying sometimes, I’ve been to gigs recently and not taken a single picture. It’s not even occurred to me to take my phone out so I can show everybody how much fun I’ve been having, so I’ve had literally no memories of my own. I’d much rather that though than staring at it through the screen on my phone.
