Fubar

There's nothing as soothing and relaxing as an old clock ticking and whirring in the background.

Can't see any sign of rifling on the bullet either.

When I started in computers this was the norm. Size of a foolscap sheet of paper. Can't remember how many bytes that was. something like 256 bits per patch and double sided. Didn't really have a programming language. Hex machine code did my head in. From that to PCs in a little over 10 years. From change a chip to chuck it away. 1980s mostly.

Jack of all trades and..........

I can't make out if Baldwins handle their own internet bids or they go through The Saleroom and/or Invaluable. Bids on commission left with Baldwins should be timed and earliest bid wins. As I've explained elsewhere it's up to the auctioneer to get his increments correct so that he finishes on his highest commission. The Saleroom bid timing is unknown to the auctioneer in my experience as a porter and operator. Any "apparent" leading bid with them is purely leading on their books and has nothing to do with the auction house. So if the auction house has a bid either in the room or as a commission it will take precedence over any third party internet bid. It may be that the highest internet bid that came up was £460 but that is not a normal increment. At that stage he could be going up in 50s so the next would be £500 negating any further internet bids to that value. The increments are determined by the software and preset by the auction house. Internet bidders can only bid to the next increment as can local bidders. Starting price is determined by the auctioneer and until that figure is entered by the operator no bids are entertained. At that point the internet can take over and once settled on a price the auctioneer can either sell to the highest internet, ask for further room bids or go to his commission if higher. I've attended as a punter and worked in auction houses since 1977 and find that a lot of the fun and buzz has gone out of it now that technology has taken over. We have a local sale on Friday and I'm not looking forward giving the normal operator a lunch break.

The joy of finding you're not the only one.

There are cheaper ways to get to London. http://metro.co.uk/2017/06/27/man-flies-from-newcastle-to-london-via-spain-because-its-cheaper-than-the-train-6737975/

Condolences to you and yours on the sad news.

There is a button on the screen that allows the operator to send messages like that but normally there isn't time to choose a message. I'm afraid all they get from me is the fair warning whenever there's a lull. That normally wakes them up but some just hang there as if they're waiting for something to happen. As I said before any long delays are probably in the hope that someone will bid to reach a reserve or a decent amount rather than pass unsold. I know one of our punters who is regularly in a field at a boot fair or such with two mobile phones and an ipad bidding on several auctions at once. He admits to keeping his finger on the bid button but he won't leave commission bids.

Just as the auctioneer will give the room time to bid again he will do the same for the internet. Usually only when he can see an internet bidder hovering over the bid button on his screen. Particularly if a reserve has not been reached or he feels his duty to the vendor to achieve the best price has not been met. Usually hammer down means sold but when is the hammer down? When it goes down? When the internet bidder hears it go down? When the operator presses the sold button? I wonder what the delay time is for someone in Australia? We regularly have punters registered from all over the world. The normal response to a late internet bid after the hammer has gone down is "Please bid a little quicker internet!". A lot of what the auctioneer is allowed to do can be misinterpreted. The sign of a good one is that you won't notice. I've been an auction punter and vendor since 1977 and on the "inside" for about the last ten. I can count the "good" auctioneers on the fingers of one hand. After all it's all smoke and mirrors and all the fun of the fair is in the saleroom.

I have a job as a porter/valuer/general dogsbody in a local auction house and on busy days I operate the internet bidding system for meal breaks etc. There is a definite delay between the hammer going down and the sound reaching those viewing online. We can hear it distinctly if viewing the auction from an adjoining room. A bit like an echo. Sometimes it's worse than others depending on how many are online and the broadband speed. It can also be observed in the time it takes the saleroom screen to update when entering the minimum bid or the next bid or next item. This is because the signal from input has to go to the internet house and then back to the monitor. Personally I find it annoying that some auctioneers bow to the internet too much. Giving them too much time. Another bid is, after all, more money for the vendor and the auction house. Prime responsiblity is always to the vendor. I do think they should give the room preference in such matters because they have made the effort to turn up. The other factor is internet bidders trying to snipe. Constant hovering over the bid button shows on the auctioneer's and operator's screens and the auctioneer has to make up his mind at some time. Normally this will be in the form of a chastisement if the internet bidder is too late. Late bidding from the internet also causes all sorts of problems if it arrives before the operator has chance to hit the sold button. In this case, technically, even though the hammer has gone down the lot has not been marked as sold. This can get even worse if the internet sale is going through more than one internet auction house. I'm heartily glad that we only deal with the one. Add to this that the normal saleroom rules don't apply in certain instances because it's the distance selling rules that count. All the above simply means that, as a retired computer and control engineer, I'm amazed that the system works at all let alone goes wrong so little. Kris

Hardly any problems here either apart from some upgrades resetting some personalised settings but that hasn't happened for a while.

Looks very much like the Royal Engineers cap badge. I can just make out a GvR in the middle. That would make it trench art and probably WWI. Can't understand why it's been obliterated. Maybe defaced by a grieving relative?

Problem is I can't be a*sed to sit through even one second let alone the other one hour eleven minutes of Brexit. Same applies to the other side. Got better things to do with my time. And there's the main point. Being 70 next month I suppose I shouldn't even vote because it's not going to affect me all that much in the long run. Now I'm regretting the few minutes it's taken to make this reply.

DIdn't vote the first time. Away at sea and couldn't care less. Although I seem to remember that I wasn't too keen. Now. Definitely stay and no argument will sway me from that and I can't be bothered to explain why.