OT:RIP Jessops

[Tim Streater]

Big mistake if they do.

[Part Timer]

authorities are driving useful businesses out with extortionate rates and driving shoppers away with predatory wardens and punitive parking fines.

OK

Sounds like a plan!

when a sign falls onto public pavement.

Is this falling sign a story I've missed?

(especially Physio), Law & Accountancy & Council sitting in the wings.

Medicine and physio? You've lost me.

on bank, doctors & pharmacy - and multitude of solicitors, charity shops, fast food. The downsizing of the highstreet was partly engineered, partly inevitable.

anymore. Become a courier, drive the weak out because you only need to survive to benefit from their business when they fail. Talking of weak, Royal Mail is merely a business without a parachute through bonkers decisions.

RM makes you proud to be British when posting postcards on holiday.

[Dave Liquorice]

I've got several pairs from M&S with the same problem, a year or two old. I reckon there was a large batch of duff (counterfiet?) YKK zips, more recent pairs haven't suffered failure (yet...).

The pressed brass cap comes off and the toggle falls away, even if you have the bits I haven't found away of squeezing the cap hard enough for it to stay on.

[tim.....]

In what sense?

(I don't necessarily disagree, but it might not be for the same reason)

tim

[Huge]

My (American) down jacket did this a while ago. I used a centre punch on a metal surface (my vice) to "pinch" it back on. Seems to be OK so far.

[Dave Liquorice]

Not enough clearance to get a center punch in at a steep enough angle. Do have a nail punch that might to it though, thanks.

[Tim Streater]

Because certain authorities will tend to crank up the local business rate and then be surprised when said business buggers off to another authority. I though the whole point of taking the setting of BR away LAs was to avoid that.

[djc]

Exactly. Businesses don't have a vote so -in the long run- they vote with their feet.

[Mark]

That seems to be a common problem whereever you buy clothing.

[Mark]

And systems like this are available off the shelf. I've worked on similar products myself.

And often it isn't correct.

Good idea but probably only available in cities?

[Tim Watts]

On Monday 14 January 2013 09:33 Mark wrote in uk.d-i-y:

That's very interesting.

Are you at liberty to name a system (I'd like to read up on it). Are they expensive and what sort of equipment needs to go in the van?

Cheers

Tim

[Mark]

And there used to be a thriving market for secondhand cameras and I would prefer to check it works myself before parting with my cash.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I think all the van needs is real time sending of GPS data. And a mobile phone to HQ.

[Tim Watts]

On Monday 14 January 2013 10:26 The Natural Philosopher wrote in uk.d-i-y:

To be fully effective it needs to relay the delivered and signature info (so you can see if the package was left with a neighbour or they did in fact catch your missus in (and the milkman signed for it).

[John Williamson]

I thought that was the way that the "scribble on glass" signature thingies did it. Sign, and the image of the signature, package details and GPS or base station position were sent back to base at the push of a button.

Then again, I get a couple of packages a year, if that.

[Roland Perry]

In message , at 12:21:49 on Mon, 14 Jan 2013, John Williamson remarked:

Some of them (whatever that bit of the Post Office is called this week in particular) almost certainly only download the info when they get back to base. Which might be the following morning when they pick up their next batch of deliveries.

[Mark]

This was quite a few years ago and this product never was sold in this country. This system only tracked locations but it could have easily interfaced with route planners etc.

I was a subcontractor for a while and the company no longer exists AFAIK.

All that would go in the van would be a small module with the GPS, GSM and controller. This would transmit it's location via SMS or GPRS back to the server which would then track the person or vehicle.

[Huge]

The Parcel Force website was updated within about 90 minutes of the parcel delivery I had at 11:17 this morning. It was a "scribble on glass" thingy. It may have been sooner, but I only checked out of idle curiousity, since I knew exactly where the parcel was - I was looking at it ...

[polygonum]

That tallies with our recent experience of PF. Unlike some others...

[tim.....]

I don't believe that that is the change to take place.

the rate will still be set centrally by national government, with the money distributed locally

tim