Ariel my CB1000R is in for a service @ Doble - look what I have for a 24 hour loan!

Ariel: my lovely CB1000R+ is in Doble Motorcycles for a somewhat overcooked 600 mile service. While arranging the service I asked the nice chaps if I could have a 48 hour loan of the 2020 GoldWing - they agreed - so I have her from Weds to Fri this week!

When I woke up this morning, it was raining cats & dogs in Denmead! I thought this is going to be a very wet day's riding! Doble are in Coulsden (near Croydon) so a fair old trek in the rain... However, as it happens (thanks Lord!) the ride up was pretty much bone dry. Ariel is a fantastic bike - wonderfully quick, nimble & satisfying to ride, especially on fast, twisty A roads. This morning I didn't notice the buffeting (she's a naked bike - so no wind protection) that has plagued me on motorway journeys in the past. Perhaps that's just an issue on particularly blustery days? I went up the A3 to Tolworth, then East to Ewell, Banstead, Coulsden - a fab ride!

After a good chat with Robin, Steve & Paul at Doble, we swapped bikes & I headed back home - the scenic route: via Reigate, Dorking, Horsham, Petworth, Goodwood, Chichester, Denmead. Great roads, but terrible weather! Varied between fine skies, absolutely throwing it down, howling wind, roads were very wet & loads of slushy leaves - so not ideal conditions for playing with this wonderful & very powerful machine - ho hum. Fortunately my Rukka gear kept me dry & warm. What also helped was the the GoldWing's excellent weather protection including an electrically adjustable windscreen and toasty heated grips & seats!

I have previously spent an hour or so in the seat of a big wing - loved it then, still love it now! Deffo one for my fantasy garage. More of my thoughts & findings on this remarkable bike to follow over the next couple of days. TTFN!

www.doble.co.uk

Ooo, look! Zoom now has end-to-end encryption at last!

 

Zoom’s end-to-end encryption (E2EE) has arrived, letting both free and paid users secure their meetings so that only participants, not Zoom or anyone else, can access their content. 

Zoom says E2EE is supported across its Mac, PC, iOS, and Android apps, as well as Zoom Rooms, but not its web client or third-party clients that use the Zoom SDK.

E2EE has launched in technical preview, which means Zoom is asking for feedback on the feature for 30 days. However, the company says that E2EE will continue to be available after this period. Instructions on how to enable it can be found in Zoom’s help centre.

Once E2EE is enabled, you can check Zoom is using the more secure kind of encryption using the green shield at the top left of a meeting window. The shield will show a padlock rather than a checkmark if the meeting is encrypted end-to-end.

www.theverge.com

Allow me to introduce a friend: James Leeper - Executive, Career Management & Change (Life & Spiritual) Coach.

JAMES LEEPER BA (Hons): I am an Executive, Career Management & Change (Life & Spiritual) Coach. I offer 1-to-1 Coaching for those aspiring to lead a ‘Full Life' successfully when encountering job, or life transition. I am a Unitive™ trained coach and an Accredited Practitioner with PRISM Brain Mapping

I coach people who are encountering change. I delight in supporting individuals encountering change in challenging environments. I work with people who have ambitions, who want time-out to download, review and re-energise; those who are facing anxious or are in turbulent times; those who would like to have a steadying, helping hand. I accompany people in setting out to find their direction, in obtaining and maintaining fulfilling work that is right for them - “no panic buying!”

There are so many possible situations that can be a cause of concern, very likely with fear or uncertainty and trepidation or even possibly with a sense of despondency and despair when we are meeting change head on. What situation, change or transition are you encountering? These are just some I know people can experience: -

• Working from home and isolation is sapping or impairing your focus.

• Undergoing job loss.

• Wanting to, yet, finding it a real difficulty to change jobs.

• Struggling to move on in life.

• The CV is not working.

• Failing to get any interviews.

• Making a hash of interviews.

• Your manager is the “demon from the devil’s side”.

• Being impacted by events from outside work.

• Wanting to perform better to meet your aspirations and ambitions.

• A new role through promotion or secondment.

• Seeking a return to work after having had time out for a break.

• Being in a family supportive role with loneliness and despair creeping in.

• After a period of illness, need help in rebuilding confidence in finding the right job for you.

People value me as a calm and caring person with sensitivity, underpinned by my own set of values founded upon and around “Generosity of Heart”. I empathise with the difficulties people face and how it can impact upon performance and self-worth. This allows me to engage as a trusted companion on their journey; to motivate and navigate them in their desire to manage and develop in their life.

My own change journey started when I became a self-employed Consultant after working within Specialty Insurance in the Lloyd’s of London Insurance Market for 20 years. I hired a Sales Coach and a Personal Coach so that I could learn, develop and grow. My Personal coach, Charles Bentley, inspired me to become a coach because he saw and believed in my skill as Coach. 

When I was a seconded Non-Exec Director/Charity Trustee of SCOPE, this introduced me into the emerging world of Diversity and Inclusion. My own functional dyslexia, along with a family member coping with mental wellbeing means that my whole life experience enables me to journey with others to explore the ‘Undiscovered Country’, to step beyond seemingly daunting change frontiers and be true to ourselves and the world around us.

I am married (40 years) to a lovely wife and we have 4 grown up children and one grandchild. We live in a small cottage in Cumbria in the beauty of the surrounding Howgills. We have a young and very exuberant “Blue” Great Dane”, who occasionally likes to be my personal assistant in “recycling” my recycling! We share our garden with Red Squirrels and a variety of extraordinary wildlife, that all adds to the wellbeing and spiritual side of my coaching for you.

Give me a call on 03330 064219 (standard rate) or send an e-mail - and let’s arrange a video call. We can discuss what’s going on in your life? and let’s get you moving on.

www.adsumaux.co.uk

Reading for today: Hold fast to the truth, but quid est veritas?

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy, Chapter 4

Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Gospel of John, Chapter 8

www.gotquestions.org - What is Truth?

Disposing of rechargeable batteries or appliances with fixed batteries? Please recycle safely!

 

Small fires like the above are surprisingly common at recycling centres. Somewhere in the UK there is one every day, on average.

As a result the industry has become good at extinguishing them, but they would rather not deal with them at all, particularly as recycling centres are full of combustible materials.

The problem is that however attentive staff might be to the threat of fire, they can't control what people put in their recycling bins.

The Environmental Services Association (ESA), which represents waste firms like Biffa, Veolia and Suez, says too many batteries are going into either recycling bins or black rubbish bags, where they are easily damaged by sorting equipment and start to burn - so-called "zombie" batteries.

The ESA has launched a campaign called Take Charge which encourages people to dispose of batteries properly.

"Unfortunately, the majority of batteries thrown away in the UK at the moment are not put in the proper recycling bins. Fires caused by carelessly discarded zombie batteries endanger lives, cause millions of pounds of damage and disrupt waste services," says Jacob Hayler, executive director of ESA.

www.bbc.co.uk

What’s new in the Windows 10 October 2020 Update

 

The Windows 10 October 2020 Update has started to become available to customers as a free update.

This year has continued to bring about change for many of us. Change in how we connect to one another, how we work, how we learn, even how we have fun. And that change is starting to feel more permanent, especially with kids going back to school adapting to remote learning and connection with their teachers and classmates or workplaces shifting to hybrid environments. Throughout all of this, the PC has become the essential device to keep us connected across our lives; it’s become our office, our classroom, even our playground. As we all adapt, live and learn through this together, one constant that remains is our commitment to you, our customers. We know you are counting on us, on Windows to stay connected to what matters.

As part of this commitment, we’re pleased to share the features and improvements coming with the Windows 10 October 2020 Update, many of which are requested features from you to help make your experience on Windows even better. 

www.windows.com

Former Google CEO Calls Social Networks "Amplifiers for Idiots"

Former Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said the “excesses” of social media are likely to result in greater regulation of internet platforms in the coming years.

Schmidt, who left the board of Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. in 2019 but is still one of its largest shareholders, said the antitrust lawsuit the U.S. government filed against the company on Tuesday was misplaced, but that more regulation may be in order for social networks in general.

“The context of social networks serving as amplifiers for idiots and crazy people is not what we intended,” Schmidt said at a virtual conference hosted by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. “Unless the industry gets its act together in a really clever way, there will be regulation.”

www.bloomberg.com