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Richard Smith

Richard Smith

@raves.bsky.social

1.8K followers 420 following 1.2K posts

He/Him. Travels a lot. Posts a lot. Occasionally complains a lot. @richardavsmith on Twitter and @[email protected] on M

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Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · Feb 13

I'm travelling #TheLongWayDown through South East Asia and Australia by train (and plane!).

🇹🇭🇲🇾🇸🇬🇮🇩🇦🇺🇧🇭

This is my thread of my daily threads. (Assuming I don't give up due to a Bluesky bug.)

PART 1 (London, Doha, Bangkok)
In which I fly a lot, get tired, and fall prey to a shop's theme song.

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · Feb 12

Time to go further than I've ever gone before...

#TheLongWayDown
🇹🇭🇲🇾🇸🇬🇮🇩🇦🇺🇶🇦

Me at Heathrow Airport, in front of a screen saying Qatar Airways QR16 / BA7014 to Doha.

Reposted by Richard Smith

Nick Barlow @nickbwalking.bsky.social · 1d

The idea that the post-war order was created because they thought "everyone would want to be nice to each other" is not something you should be able to utter and still be taken seriously.

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 2d

Katie Lam tries to explain to the Sunday Times how her grandparents experience under Nazism informs her view that the postwar institutions forged after the horrors of war, dictatorship & the holicaust won't now work in our times - because "they assume everyone would want to be nice to each other"

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · 2d

Though the original sin was BR not being able to go "lol, no, this is our operation first and foremost", but then with Thatcher and then Major in charge what did anyone expect?

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · 2d

Sunak had and blew such an opportunity to get a decent share back at a knock down rate.

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · 2d

It was a hope, not an expectation!

(In an ideal world, you'd have a diverse set of shareholders who would see the threat of competition and revolt at the current management's complacency. Alas.)

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · 2d

Good riddance, hire someone from a UK TOC to manage it, give them the power to shake up the product significantly.

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · 2d

So much for "when the time is right".

Given her bio, I'm not remotely shocked, considering her lack of experience outside SNCF and Finance. Explains so much about their direction.

Also, fine dining my ass, they've given up on Plus dessert lately in favour of a single square of chocolate.

Reposted by Richard Smith

David Wheatley @davwheat.dev · 3d

I thought I'd take the opportunity to put together a website representation of these new Rail Clocks which launched yesterday.

railclock.davwheat.dev

Source code (MIT): github.com/davwheat/rai...

And, don't worry, it does have the special flourish every 12 hours!

A reproduction of the Great British Railways clock

railclock.davwheat.dev

Reposted by Richard Smith

Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 5d

The absolute bloody vandalism of austerity in one chart. Good analysis of the overall picture here.

Reposted by Richard Smith

ianVisits @ianvisits.co.uk · 21d

New DLR train!
New DLR train!
New DLR train!
New DLR train!

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · Sep 11

"I'm half a mile away. I'm half a mile away!"

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · Aug 7

Seats on the new NextGen Acela look like alien robots giving a lower back rub and/or needy hug, I saw it and now you will too.

(Hitchhiker's vibes.)

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · Aug 2

My review of The Greatest Gathering.

Me in front of a Class 50 locomotive with a temporary livery reading, in large white letters on a red background: "So. Many. Trains." Full stops are used for emphasis, which may confuse some screen readers.

Reposted by Richard Smith

Keff 🍊 @kefyor.bsky.social · Jul 11

Every UK petition is like this

Mockup drawing of a UK parliament petition where the petitioner has asked for "good thing please" with description "we think the UK needs this".
Government responded: "No."

Reposted by Richard Smith

Cable Contributes to Life @cctl.me · Jun 30

since it's the last day of pride month I figured I'd at least make one thing for it...

i now unveil to you my greatest invention:
color bars pride flag

An LGBTQ+ pride flag formatted in the layout of the SMPTE "color bars" test pattern used for broadcast television. The first set of columns use the colors of the gay pride flag, with the addition of the original SMPTE color on the final column. The second set of columns contains two pride flags - the pansexual flag horizontally, and the asexual flag flipped and horizontal. The final set of columns contains the three colors of the transgender flag and the two POC-inclusive colors, followed by the original bar gradient from the SMPTE ECR-1-1978 pattern.

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · Jun 27

Hotel in Vietnam.

Stood up from the toilet and the edge of the lid of the metal loo roll holder sliced through my elbow. It hadn't seen sandpaper or a file in its life.

Hotel cleaner got worried I'd damaged a towel cleaning up the blood, but fortunately realised this probably wasn't worth pushing.

Reposted by Richard Smith

Lindsay 👩‍🔬🚲 @llbroadwell.bsky.social · Jun 18

Read the entire thread, but especially take note of this part.

The Netherlands closed this loophole and so you now essentially *never* see the kinds of dangerous and illegal "e-bikes" that are very common in the UK.

Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · Jun 16

Our recommendations: close the substitution loophole and see delivery companies take responsibility; end sales of 'fake e-bikes'; and help police seize them. Create a safe kitemark for legitimate products to restore confidence and reverse bans; and a scrappage scheme. End the off-road-legal loophole

Reposted by Richard Smith

Georgia Harper @mindtheflap.bsky.social · Jun 15

I read the best-selling book on "overdiagnosis". I was not a fan. There are some really important ideas that don't quite stick the landing, but it gets very culture-war very quickly.

A first attempt at YouTube by @ftw.bsky.social and I:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDxV...

Is Autism Overdiagnosed? I Read "The Age Of Diagnosis"

YouTube video by Georgia Harper

www.youtube.com

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · Jun 15

Good news @jon.gruene.social.ap.brid.gy

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · Jun 15

Curiously

Google Search: "Is Andorra or Spain closer to the UK?"

AI result:
Spain is closer to the UK than Andorra. While both countries share a border with France, Spain is geographically closer to the UK than Andorra, which is nestled between Spain and France in the Pyrenees mountains.
Here's why:
Spain's location:
Spain is on the Iberian Peninsula, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, with a direct connection to France.
Andorra's location:
Andorra is a landlocked country situated high in the Pyrenees mountains, between Spain and France.
Distance:
The shortest distance between London and Spain is shorter than the distance between London and Andorra, according to distance calculators.

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · Jun 15

It's beautiful in a way.

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · Jun 15

Not the map I would have chosen but you do you

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · Jun 15

Folks, I think we're doomed.

Asked Google "is Spain or Andorra closer to the UK?"

Google AI Overview:

"Andorra is closer to the UK than Spain. The shortest distance (air line) between Andorra and London is 623.57 miles, while the shortest distance between Spain and England (which is what most people would think of when they say "Spain") is 4,645.93 miles according to a distance calculator.
To elaborate:
Andorra is a small, landlocked country located in the Pyrenees mountains, bordered by Spain to the south and France to the north.
The UK is an island nation located off the coast of mainland Europe.
Because Andorra is nestled between Spain and France, it's geographically closer to the UK than Spain itself.
The Channel Tunnel, which connects the UK to France, also makes travel to Andorra more direct than it would be to Spain. "

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · Jun 11

Customer. Journey. Times. Matter.

If you don't get that, get out of transport planning.

Richard Smith @raves.bsky.social · May 24

Touristing in Geneva.