Helpful Colin

Not Enough Gift Wrap For That Gift? Wrap It Diagonally.

Introduction You start off with a nice roll of Gift Wrap, when you wrap those gifts for that festive occasion, and afterwards you have a small rectangle of unused paper left over. Eventually another small gift needs wrapping so you look through the small left-over pieces of Gift Wrap only to find several are nearly […]
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Published on:

11 December 2018

CATEGORIES:

Current, Human Interests, In The Home, New Ideas

TAGS:

gift wrap, paper, Royal Mail, wrapping
I Found Windows 10 Fast Startup Caused Problems

Introduction The following post will describe how to turn Windows 10 Fast Startup OFF or ON. I usually turn it off on my PCs because I’ve had startup problems as described in the following sections.
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Published on:

29 May 2018

CATEGORIES:

Computers, Current, Software

TAGS:

Control Panel, Cortana, fast startup, Power Options, Windows 10, Windows 7
A Fireplace Alcove Coloured Lighting Scheme

Introduction Here I will describe how I created a Fireplace Alcove Coloured Lighting Scheme using multi-coloured LED lighting. This article isn’t about lighting a small niche in the wall of a large Ingle Nook fireplace or anything like that. It’s about converting a modern domestic fireplace into an alcove where ornaments or a plant could […]
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Published on:

26 May 2018

CATEGORIES:

Current, Do It Yourself, In The Home, Lighting

TAGS:

alcove, central heating, chimney, chimney breast, coloured lighting, controller, fan heater, fireplace, fluorescent, Gloworm, Glowworm Majorca, LED, lighting, mdf, pattress, spur, wallpaper
Is My Dualit Model DMF2 Milk Frother Corroding?

Introduction Unfortunately besides my Dualit Milk Frother requiring a repair (see How I Repaired A Dualit Milk Frother Model DMF2) another problem has developed. I have to ask, “Is my Dualit Milk Frother corroding?” If not what is happening to it. Is the brown mark I can see copper or rust?
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Published on:

30 April 2018

CATEGORIES:

Cooking, Current, Home Appliances

TAGS:

copper, corrosion, Dualit, milk frother, stainless steel, whisk
How I Repaired A Dualit Milk Frother Model DMF2

Introduction My wife pressed the start button on the Dualit Milk Frother (Model DMF2) one day in the summer of 2017 and it no longer worked. This persisted so we had to heat the milk in the microwave oven for a week or two until we got a new frother. Of course, me being me, […]
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Published on:

28 April 2018

CATEGORIES:

Appliances, Cooking, Current, Do It Yourself, Home Appliances, In The Home

TAGS:

aeroccino, bowl, caution, coaxial, control button, disclaimer, Dualit, Earth, ground, jug body, live, milk frother, motor, Nespresso, neutral, shroud, soldering, spout, sub-frame, temperature sensor, thermal fuse, whisk
Dog Fouling Statistics

Preface This post just brings to light matters which become obvious when calculations are made regarding the number of deposits dogs can make in their lifetimes. It doesn’t discuss dog fouling statistics regarding quantity as would be expected if weight measurements had been taken.
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Published on:

15 March 2018

CATEGORIES:

Current, Dogs, Fauna, Mammals, Natural World

TAGS:

defecation, dog, fouling
Windows 10 File History Used To Backup My PC

Introduction Since the introduction of Windows 10 version 1709, and acquiring a new backup drive, I have chosen to use Windows 10 File History to backup my PC. So far so good. I have used it to backup my data and to restore some.. I will describe how this tool is used from my point […]
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Published on:

3 February 2018

CATEGORIES:

Computers, Current, Hardware, Software

TAGS:

backup, Buffalo, CD, Dragon, DriveStation, DVD, Eco Manager, File History, floppy-disk, hard disk, HDD, IDE, micro-drive, PC, QL, RAMDISK, restore, SB Computers, Secure Lock Manager Easy, Sinclair, TurboCopy, TurboPC, Windows, Windows 10, Windows 7
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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Published on:

30 October 2017

CATEGORIES:

Computers, Current, Internet

TAGS:

hyperlink, link, malicious, paint, tweet, tweetz, twitter, URL, website, Windows
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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Published on:

19 October 2017

CATEGORIES:

Current, Do It Yourself, In The Garden

TAGS:

block paving, chamfer, chanel, driveway, groove, mains extension, moss, paving, stiff-bristle brush, synthetic, weed sweeper, wire brush
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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Published on:

10 October 2017

CATEGORIES:

Amphibians, Current, Fauna, Natural World

TAGS:

common toad, European toad, RHS, RSPB, shed, slug eggs, slugs, toad

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