I've got 3 different ecosystems running at my place at the moment – Hue, Switchbot and Tuya – and want to rationalise them. The lamps and buttons are connected via Zigbee to my original Hue Bridge hub. If I reset them, will they connect instead to my Tuya Zigbee hub, or are they somehow not compatible?
Thanks!
I signed up to the Más Renfe loyalty programme, because they said I'd get a 10% discount off a journey. But every time I try to use the code, it gives an error message "Error on obtaining place prices (G001-PTBB)". Anyone else seen this and know how to resolve it?
The journey is in 60 days time, so the voucher isn't expired, and it’s an AVE train. I'm booking directly on the Renfe website.
I emailed Renfe but of course they didn't reply.
For those who don't love the "Wall" electronic advertising screens, you'll appreciate this… workers dropped and smashed a screen which was about to be installed in Frankfurter Allee.
…but at least they observed the no G policy ;)
(seen on the portable toilet outside the front 😄 )
Easyjet shifted my flight by 6 hours, so instead of arriving in London at lunchtime, I'll be arriving at dinner time. I tried contacting them to find out what their policy is for refunds, but after half an hour on hold, I gave up. Anyone here had a similar experience and know if they'll refund in full, or if I'll have to fight them for it?
I paid additional NI contributions based on info provided by HMRC.
They then wrote to me to say they got the calculation wrong, and where should they send back the overpayment. This was April 2025. As I'm not in UK, the only reply option was by post, so I wrote back to them immediately with my UK bank details.
The £350 refund arrived on Friday – ie, 16 months later!
When do they generally release details of planned engineering works?
I want to travel on Thameslink on Sunday 18 October (~11 weeks away). I have the choice of either Luton or Gatwick, but of course trouble on the trains will dictate which one. The planner currently only goes up to 16 October. https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/service-updates/planned-engineering-work?date=2026-10-04#engineering-departure-board
I also know that there's usually (but not always!) weekend engineering works on Thameslink between Mill Hill and Gatwick.
Is this a common problem?
Support told me this happens when it becomes corrupted during an auto update. It’s easy to fix by downloading again from the very bottom line of their website, but if I happen to be out and about, with slow wifi, it’s so annoying.
But this is the only app I ever get it with, and honestly, considering the amount they charge, they could really do better!
I got stopped by police for a minor infringement of the rules. They fined me 10€. I paid by card. I was on my way again in minutes. They never asked my name, let alone for ID. And I didn't get a telling off either.
My question: what's the point of such low fines?
Surely a police fine is meant to be a deterrent, but few people would avoid doing something just because a police officer may be hiding round the corner with a credit card machine!
Anyone good at troubleshooting book covers on Calibre/Kobo?
This happens to me occasionally: the cover is shown correctly in Calibre, but Kobo refuses to show it, like the file is missing. Most books are OK, just one or two never work. I tried removing and re-adding the book, but that didn't help.
Update:
I went via several different bike shops, all told me it’s not right; one guy didn't have time to fix it, but came out to look anyway, and told me the wrong brake pads were installed.
I went to a different shop to replace them (he did it while I waited); he also told me that (as suggested here), the pistons weren't reset; and the first shop had overfilled the brake fluid, so he needed to bleed some out before he could even get started.
Not going to name and shame, but have written an appropriate google review!
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I had the brakes on my bike replaced on Monday – the problem is the wheel doesn't go round freely. They said there should be some "bedding in", and that it takes 3 weeks. Does this sound right to you?
At the moment, it feels like when I ride, I'm pulling the brakes the whole time, even after 3 days of use, and I've never had that before.
I ride about 15km a day, which doesn't seem that much to me, but the bike shop man told me it’s a lot, and I should go for a service more than once a year.
I'm freelance, and one of my clients geoblocks email access (via Outlook); you can only get to it from one of the countries they operate in. Which means it doesn't work when I'm visiting family in UK, unless I tell them in advance – once I'm in a "foreign" country, the form to tell them doesn't work!
Is this a good way to ensure IT security? Seems like a blunt instrument to me.
(Yes, I know I can probably use VPN, but I don't see why I should!)
Hi! My pea plant isn't happy :(. It’s planted in a window box (about 30cm / 1ft) deep on my balcony, and not growing nearly as tall as I expected (1 or 2 are growing maybe 1m max, but the rest only maybe 30cm). Lots of natural light.
My biggest problem is this white stuff on the leaves. The lower leaves are dying, and a lot of the upper leaves look like this.
Any ideas what it is and how I can help it?
Watering: I've been using a soil tester to make sure the soil is never too wet. I water a little and often.
Drainage: there's holes in the bottom of the pots to avoid them sitting in water.
Just having a rant, please bear with me!
Yesterday, I couldn't access Mixcloud (I found myself logged out, and it told me my email address or username didn't exist) so I gave up and tried again today. Today, I logged in OK but my entire playlist was gone – many hours of music cued up ready, all gone.
I've lost my next-up playlist before, but only when I accidentally clicked on a link on desktop. So frustrating and makes me want to move to a different platform!
I'm not sure if the people involved are on Reddit, but whoever worked on the rewriting of the Calibre web server (where I can access books directly on my Kobo), I'd like to buy you a beer / give you a big hug!
It used to be that if you touched a book title, nothing happened. You couldn't get any info about the book. Now, you can touch the title and a whole new page appears with all the info that should have always been shown but wasn't. They also tidied up the page and made it look a bit more modern and easier to use.
Thanks, whoever you are!
For once, someone not asking tech questions or reporting a fault. I just wanted to share:
I've got to the stage of a book where I'm excited to go home, curl up on the sofa with a cat, and finish the last hundred pages in one go!
What was the last book you read that you couldn't put down, and 100% recommend?
I bought a t-shirt that has bold "Alpha Industries" branding across the middle. But I remembered something about Alpha having a right wing/skinhead/n*zi association.
Is this true? Will people make negative assumptions about me when I wear it?
I bought a t-shirt that has bold "Alpha Industries" branding across the middle. But I remembered something about Alpha having a right wing/skinhead/n*zi association.
Is this true? Will people make negative assumptions about me when I wear it?
Anyone got experience with the Tuya app? I created a tap-to-run scene in Tuya's Smart Life app, but Homey's Tuya app can't see it 😞. When I click the "tuya scene" option, it’s blank. I can't figure out what I did wrong.
