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British GPO Operators - Before WWII I'm not sure what the date on this is, but it looks like maybe the late 1920s. Footage and sound from the GPO 'Overseas Service' - an operator exchange in London.

Thanks for the tips. I'll check some of those Logik models out. I might just look into modifying the kitchen to fit a normal fridge as it would give a lot more options.

I'm trying to track down a reasonably good fridge-freezer for an elderly relative of mine who has a very oddly shaped kitchen. It will be replacing an existing 48cm wide model from some unheard of brand. It's not a terrible fridge, but it's prone to building up a lot of ice. I'm trying to get...

In a lot of cases these old companies’ were a lot better in the old days, but they were also just surpassed and resting on their laurels too. Many of them just didn’t offer competitive products anymore - either too expensive, or they just let quality and R&D slip badly. You see the same thing...

An interesting piece of research from the University of Tübingen in Germany showing a possible link between certain aminopolyphosphonates, which are commonly used in European detergent formulation, and glyphosate pollution being detected in European waterways. It seemed the...

I keep hearing this being trotted out by various people online. If you spray your clothes with vodka, you’re going to smell like… vodka.

I just picked up a bottle of this new Persil Wonder Wash detergent from Unilever. It's supposedly designed for short cycles and has a 'Powered by Pro-S technology' label, whatever that means... Tried it and so far, seems fine. Fairly inoffensive sent and everything came out looking and smelling...

Throw a few T-shirts into a Miele on 1600 and it won’t take more than 10 mins. Most machines only get into balancing issues with bulky items, which aren’t suitable for quick wash anyway. Speaking of confusing and bad interfaces… I was trying to use a Hotpoint washer dryer earlier on and it...

They all seem to follow a design trend. The high end Bosch machines look like that too. One thing I don't like though is very heavily tinted porthole doors. It's a bit pointless not being able to see the laundry for the sake of a bit of styling.

There's one thing I really don't understand the logic of. Almost without exception, European washing machines have a short wash / fast wash cycle for refreshing a small load of clothes. It can be quite useful for a few t-shirts or something very lightly soiled and those cycles are widely used...

Well the aim of the system is to concentrate higher quality materials i.e. in this case aluminium and certain food grade plastics. Glass recycling here gets very high uptake, without any incentive through a mix of kerbside pick up and glassbanks, so it wasn't included in the deposit scheme...

Just a look beyond the Bell system - Ericsson. Telecom Australia (now Telstra) film from around 1980, but possibly could be a bit earlier. It just shows how their systems worked in a lot of detail. It just gives a view of Ericsson systems in quite a bit of detail and just day-to-day working...

The problem with this, certainly in an Irish context, is that consumers aren't all that motivated to engage with something like this. I studied consumer marketing once upon a time, and Ireland very much fits into the description of so called hedonistic consumers. We value the experience of...

The problem is that from a U.K. or Irish perspective red being seen as meaning live makes sense because that’s what we are used to. We also associate green with ground. However, that’s just because that’s a familiar convention. In Germany for example, in old wiring red was associated with...

Just over a month into the scheme and we have issues: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/millions-of-euro-go-unclaimed-in-first-40-days-of-plastic-bottle-and-can-deposit-return-scheme/a686157641.html “Millions of euro go unclaimed in first 40 days of plastic bottle and can deposit return...

That 1916 extension rental is $14.24 a month in 2024 money. Not much cheaper than an extra cable box or similar today.

It’s was an interesting era. I was just looking at the history of operator service here in Ireland. The very last manually operated local exchange in the network here was Mountshannon, County Clare (population 200). It closed on May 28, 1987. It went from straight from a magneto switchboard to...

Operator assisted long distance calling in the US in 1949 I'm not sure if this has already been posted, on a previous thread, but it's an accurate representation of a transcontinental, long distance call being made via multiple operators : This as recorded as part of a radio play to add...

Yeah, we've a pair of Miele ovens and I use it when they're particularly dirty. It works extremely well and isn't all that smoky - they seem to have a good ability to contain the odours, although I still open the roof windows and run an extractor hood. I didn't use it at all during the really...

I think they know they’re going to come under pressure over PVA used in the pods. There’s already pushback. Unilever Persil is now available in sheets but judging by the warning about hazards to aquatic life, it’s not very eco friendly other than less packaging. They ludicrously expensive...