Helpful Colin Presents A World of Information
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Discussing Malicious Website URLs On Twitter
Introduction I have recently come across an issue where good people wish to convey information about malicious websites to everyone. They’re doing very good work tying to keep us all safe and informed by discussing malicious website URLs (Universal Resource Locators), particularly on Twitter. Unfortunately Twitter creates a link in the text to anything looking…
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Removing Block Paving Moss From My Driveway
Introduction I recently spent half a day removing block paving moss from my driveway. The paving, laid in 1993, has been cleaned more than once but moss soon grows under damp conditions. Because the blocks have a chamfered edge there is a V shaped recess at the junction between blocks. This is a space where…
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I Found A Common Toad Hiding Behind My Shed
Introduction During the 39 years I’ve lived at this house I have seen several frogs and toads passing through the garden. I was never able to say any actually lived here. Well now (6th October 2017) I’ve found a Common Toad hiding behind my shed and living here. Note: This Common Toad1 is also known…
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Mains Safety Issues With Extension Cables & 13 Amp Plugs
Introduction There are three mains safety issues regarding extension cables and 13 amp plugs covered in this post which are: UK 13 amp plugs have mains safety issues where sockets can become dangerously exposed. I came across it by chance when I landed on the PlugSafe site. I’ve linked to their site in this post…
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Unblocking A Blocked Toilet
Preface This post describes: How to clear a blocked toilet and includes how to remove the trap water so it can safely be disconnected from the sewer without spilling anything. As you can see I’ve censored the featured image for this post. I decided somethings are best left to the imagination. Imagine the water level…
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What Is A Retractable Clothes Washing Line?
Introduction Consider the benefits of having a retractable clothes washing line: Coiling it up in a box keeps it clean. If you have a nice vista you won’t want it permanently scared with one or more lines cutting across it.
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Retractable Clothes Washing Line Repair
Introduction What is a retractable clothes washing line? Find out here. Generally I have found retractable clothes washing lines very useful. They mainly keep the line clean so that it doesn’t dirty the washing pegged out on it. My problem has been breakage. I have had them break because they are not capable of taking…
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Radio Controlled Wall Clock In My Shed
Introduction I have for some time wanted a reliable time piece outside my house. I don’t actually require an exact time outside anymore than I do elsewhere, but I do need to get the grass cut by teatime. So, I have acquired a Radio Controlled Wall Clock for my shed. I have had the difficulty of…
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Railway Experiences I’ve Had At Home and Abroad
Introduction I think people who search for articles and pictures of railway experiences are usually keen to see them all and not miss any. To help them I have written this short post to bring all my articles together so they can be easily found. I have already written several posts about my railway experiences and there…
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Securing Shed Doors
Introduction In 1997 both of my sheds were burgled. I thought I’d made them secure enough. I’d used hasps with the thickest staples I could find on the market (similar to these) and disc padlocks with hardened shackles. But the burglars cut through each staple in two places making a gap through which the padlock shackle…
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Making A Condensation-free Bathroom Mirror
This post describes how to make a condensation-free bathroom mirror using an automatic mirror heater. Without a heater it would be impossible to use the mirror without first wiping it with a cloth. With an active mirror heater, it’s possible to get straight out of a bath or shower and use the mirror immediately.
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Making An Insulated Loft Trapdoor
Introduction I recently had a ground floor extension built which required access to the loft space in the pitched roof to provide and service pipes and cables. So I asked the builder to create an insulated loft trapdoor. I made it clear that it should not just be a sheet of MDF or plywood. It must have thermal insulation…
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Replacing A Toilet Fill Valve
Preface This post describes: Replacing a Toilet Fill Valve with a new one. I have also written another article about How A Toilet Silent Fill Valve Works which is appropriate to a specific type of fill valve.
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Preventing Office-chair Castors Damaging Carpets
Introduction When I first had a Microsoft Windows personal computer I put it on a computer desk in the lounge and bought a typical office chair with five castors. Over the next few years wheeling that chair around the desk area with my weight on it seriously damaged the carpet in that location. So I had to…
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LastPass Password Phishing Exploit
The LastPass password phishing exploit could trick users into giving away their password. If you use LastPass check this exploit out at The Hacker Blog and IT Pro. It involves unscrupulous people phishing for LastPass passwords. Update for LastPass Password Phishing Exploit This issue is now fixed for all the latest versions of Lastpass on Chrome…
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Using A Digital Signature With Outlook
Introduction This article covers some of the issues involved when using a Digital Signature. Each Digital Signature is generated from a Digital Certificate (otherwise known as a Digital ID) issued by a certifying authority. All examples given are created using Microsoft Outlook 2010 on a PC using Microsoft Windows 10, but the principles apply to other versions of…
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How To Make Safe Financial Transactions
Warning NOTE: “I am trying to help people make safe financial transactions but I take no responsibility for anyone’s financial loss. Reading and following this information is done at your own risk.” — HC Introduction This Article About Safe Financial Transactions Covers: How to avoid being persuaded to send money to a fraudsters account,
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My Weight Is Reducing Slowly But Surely
Introduction Since my last post on body weight (Excel Templates for Body Weight Records) I have continued to try and lose weight. Well slowly but surely my weight is reducing and I have my latest graph to demonstrate it below (select it to enlarge it): I have struggled to lose 35 pounds (2½ stones) over…
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Lighting Charts – Which Lamp Do I Need?
Introduction We are all trying to reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions by choosing modern alternatives to incandescent lamps. Here are some lighting charts to help you select the best lamp for your situation. Since the decline of incandescent lamps there have been many alternatives made available based on fluorescent tubes bent in many ways to…
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Repairing Rotten Garden Seat Legs
Preface This post describes: How to repair garden seat legs that have gone rotten where they come in contact with the ground. The basic method is to remove the rotten wood and replace it with polyester resin. In particular: See the update for 3rd October 2019 entitled, “Replacing The Cap On A Leg.”
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WordPress Fatal Error Out of Memory
How I Resolved ‘Fatal Error Out of Memory’ For A Single Post After much editing of my WordPress post entitled ‘How A Toilet Silent Fill Valve Works’, since I wrote it in May 2014, (there must have been at least 150 edits, and I changed it from a page to a post too) I suddenly had this ‘Fatal…
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Postures And Movements To Test Agility
Introduction As people grow older they often lose their agility and so lose their ability to take up certain postures and movements to test agility. This article offers a list of postures and movements to test agility which I have concocted and tried. I would expect these postures and movements to test agility to be easily formed by…
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Bionic Prosthetic Hand For The 21st Century
Introduction I listened to the BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine show on 23rd June and heard a great article about a young woman who had been given a bionic prosthetic hand. A 21st century creation. Her name is Nicky Ashwell and here she is in the following video tweet being interviewed by Jeremy Vine who…
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Magnetic Levitation Using A Superconductor
Introduction Before demonstrating magnetic levitation this video shows a small magnet being cooled to a superconducting temperature using liquid nitrogen. Once cooled the superconducting magnet is shown levitating above a section of magnetic track as seen in the featured image. Further in the video the magnet is kept longer at superconducting temperatures by building a container of …
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Using Bread Maker Panasonic SD206
Introduction I made this video of myself using a bread maker (Panasonic SD206) in 2001 but had no means of publishing it back then. So I have decided to publish it now so that the effort wasn’t completely wasted. I hope it helps people who are considering getting a bread maker but are not sure how one…
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Kitchen Appliance Connection Points
Introduction Everyone has to design their kitchen or utility room to suite their circumstances but when my kitchen came up for renewal in 2003 I made specific use of the considerable space behind my pan drawers. I discarded my pan drawer carcase back panel and brought together many of my kitchen appliance connection points onto this large area…
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Give Dog Tablets Wrapped In Pastrami
Introduction If you have ever tried to give medicine to an animal you’ll appreciate how hard it can be to give dog tablets to a dog. Our dog Leo (a Border Collie) is required to take two worming tablets every three months. These are large as tablets go. Large enough to be shaped like a bone.…
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A North Norfolk Railway Journey On The Poppy Line
Introduction The North Norfolk Railway (NNR), known as The Poppy Line, runs from Holt to Sheringham via Kelling Heath Halt (for Kelling Heath Park) and Weybourne. A total distance of 5¼ miles. It runs along the eastern section of the North Norfolk coast but stays inland from Holt to Weybourne at the western end. After Weybourne it runs nearer…
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Mira Shower Thermal Switch Replacement
Introduction This article advises how I have replaced a Mira Shower thermal switch in a MIRA Sport 9kW Thermostatic Shower on several occasions. Originally I installed a MIRA Sport 9kW Thermostatic Shower as part of a new bathroom and had it tested and certified by a qualified electrician on 1st May 2007. I was very pleased with it…
