ed_pete

In a way the council are making the streets safer by clearing up litter. Take a look at this research published in New Scientist that confirms the link between environments that aren't cared for and street crime.

Yes, I do. You get the impression that very few ever use the search function. They're either too lazy, don't know about it or assume that if there's no relevant post on the first page its out-of-date. (Edited to say sorry admin - this is kind of not relevant to this section and should be in the lounge).

I'm pretty sure this Southern and/or Railtracks responsibility. About 10 years ago I was part of a very small group of volunteers that made an attempt to clear up two banks either side of the platforms, led by the London Wildlife Trust who, IIRC, had to get permission and keys to the gates from the train operating company. BTW - APPLICATION DEADLINE IS 16TH MARCH.

OK so perhaps the title is a slight oversimplication, however the Southwark Council have just launched their 2009/10 "Cleaner, Greener, Safer" programme which historically "... has changed the quality of people's lives from creating picnic and recreational areas to making walkways safer and renovating buildings. The programme has supported a range of environmental and community improvements, and any local person or community organisation can apply." So you can see what's been done previously I've attached a list of in progress and completed projects for Dulwich. Applications can be made on line at http://www.southwark.gov.uk/YourCouncil/CommunityCouncils/cleanergreenersafer/ Before you ask I have no connection with Southwark Council other than being one of the council tax payers - I'm just trying to be community spirited.

Rubbish - the reason they use the Surrey Canal is because (a) it's darker and therefore easier to hide, (b) they're less likely to get caught and © it's regularly used by cyclists. I don't imagine the same group go about knocking cyclists off their bikes on the Walworth Road for example.

According the First Capital Connect site, trains are running every 30 minutes from Herne Hill to Bedford, passing through Blackfriars, St Pancras etc.

There a garden centre next to East Dulwhich station that will have a selection of pots. Similarly there's a place that specialises in pots, and has a much bigger selection, next door to North Dulwich station, the next station down the line.

Goto the EDF Home Page. Click on RSS link for your chosen section. The address should appear in your browser address bar, e.g. http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/rss.php?5 for "General ED issues / gossip". Select the address and do a control-c, or right-click copy. Go to the Wordle web site, click on Create, in the box entitled "Enter the URL of any blog, blog feed, or any other web page that has an Atom or RSS feed." do a control-v, or right-click paste. Click "Submit" and see what happens.

Have you ever seen those word clouds on websites ? Well I've discovered that you can create them using Wordle. You can point it at an RSS feed and it will generate one for you automatically. Here's one from the Lounge.

Try looking here.

From Southwark Website: Give and Take Day - Do toys, kitchenware, baby items, small electrical appliances or unwanted presents clutter your cupboards? Are you looking for something useful for free? There will be a Give and Take Day on January 24 2009, at East Dulwich Community Centre, 46-50 Darrell Road, London, SE22 9NL. It's a great opportunity for you to clear out unwanted items in the new year and get something in return, for free.

Headline figures for the UK as a whole are relatively meaningless because of huge regional variations. The same applies to the London wide numbers. The closest the Nationwide figures get to SE22 is Southwark as a whole, which again, given the size of the borough and different types of property are only vaguely representative and show average prices down 8%.

This is also being discussed here.

SW - sadly I can't argue against waiting for the next garden waste collection day which this year follows twelfth night (5th/6th Jan)...

Assuming that the bins at Sainsburys are still out-of-action (as you posted above) then you could try PM'ing Recycling Jenny (who also posted above) as suggested by PeckhamRose though she works for Tetra Pak and ACE UK, not Southwark Council. Failing that you could email [email protected] or phone them on 0870 442 6000. Lastly, there's a Tetra Pak recycling bin in the Forest Hill Sainsburys car-park so you could try that one.

See above - pretty much the same as last year, accept the dates have moved on to January 5 to 31 2009.

Santa was very generous this Christmas and endowed the ed_pete offspring with a Wii. As there seem to be a number of fellow Wii owners in here I thought I pose a question: I'm going to connect it to the internet and given the choice, is there much difference in performance between a wired and wireless connection ? I plan to download the browser app so I can use it to access the EDF from my Wii. Is wired best for web access or would the wireless performance be OK ? (It's OK on laptops in the house). Would online gaming (assuming we get that far) be better wired or wireless ? All advice gratefully received.

I tend to agree - the 2010 target for cyclists is 12 "seriously injured or killed" however the document goes on to say that "The increase in casualties should be seen in context of the growing popularity of cycling. Since 2000 there has been an 83% increase in the number of people making cycle trips each day."

The other day I received a questionnaire from Southwark Council asking me for views on their Road Safety Plan. What is the Road Safety Plan I hear you ask - well to quote from draft consultation document: "This road safety plan is primarily aimed at reducing road deaths and casualties and making sustainable transport safer and more attractive. In doing this, it will help to achieve wider council objectives such as encouraging shift to more active modes of travel, tackling issues of obesity and addressing issues surrounding climate change." ..and specifically for cyclists.. "Of all people injured on Southwark?s roads, 18% are cyclists and the vast majority of cyclists injured are males aged between 25 and 59. Cyclists are the only group of users to suffer an increase in the numbers who have been injured or killed on Southwark roads and therefore cyclist safety is paramount to the concerns of the council." If you are interested in reading the draft Road Safety Plan or getting a copy of the questionnaire then you can access it here.

I don't drink that often Mark, and locally even less so I am probably not the best person to ask. However, judging by the popular use of the :)-D smiley, I'd guess there are plenty of others on the EDF you could ask...

Does this need updating at some point ?

According to this site engineering work is taking place between November and May 09 on the Crystal Palace transmitter but there is supposed to be no effect on digital reception.

Freeview boxes also vary in quality. Until recently our Philips Freeview box (fed from a rooftop aerial) connected to our kitchen TV regularly froze and had to be turned off/on again to reset. I've switched to a Sony VTU-D800U - which seems to be considered "the daddy" of set-top boxes - and so far its worked perfectly. Regularly available on ebay for ?40-50 as people buy new TV's with in-built tuners. Can also be bought new for arounf ?80.

Analogue or digital, i.e Freeview ? Analogue is far more forgiving on signal quality.

I'm not an expert but I believe it's common misconception that the proximity of East Dulwich to the Crystal Palace transmitter should guarantee a good digital (Freeview) picture. With digital tv the signal quality is as important as signal strength and that is affected by the quality the aerial, cable and connections. In my case the strength of the signal was too high for my Freeview box decoder, which I cured using an attenuator - a gizmo that lowers the level of the signal. This could be worth a try if you are confident your aerial and cable are OK. Loads of information out there about digital tv and reception issues all over the internet - this site I found reasonable accessible to the layman.