
Hidden dungeons of the London Underground - superqwert
http://www.michalpaszkiewicz.co.uk/blog/tflhiddendungeons/
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Peroni
The BBC (unsurprisingly) have a fascinating documentary that goes behind the
scenes during the construction of a new tube line -
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04b7h1w](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04b7h1w)

It shows the unbelievable precision required to build a new tunnel given the
amount of existing tube lines and other, often unexpected, underground
structures. Well worth watching.

~~~
zrth
"BBC iPlayer only works in the UK. Sorry, it’s due to rights issues." Is there
a easy workaround?

~~~
seandougall
For a while you could use a VPN to make it look like you were in the UK. They
seem to have found some ways to crack down on this a bit recently.

It's as if they _want_ us to BitTorrent Great British Bake-Off.

~~~
giobox
Using a VPN still works fine for me on all my devices (iPhone, various
computers, streaming boxes etc) - as a UK expat iPlayer via VPN is a critical
lifeline to home.

Things are probably going to get trickier in this regard shortly though once
user accounts are made mandatory. Despite the BBC's claims, I wouldn't be
surprised if this is step one in a plan to ensure all viewers have paid the UK
TV Licence fee, especially following the recent closing of the loophole that
allowed you to legally view iPlayer content in the UK without a TV licence if
you didn't have a physical TV set.

(For those not familiar, UK residents are typically required to pay 147 quid
or so a year if they own a TV or access the iPlayer service, which contributes
to funding the BBC. Hilariously there is still a discount if you only have a
black and white TV...).

[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/11/iplayer-
catchu...](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/11/iplayer-catchup-
service-will-require-user-login-within-weeks-says-bbc-tv-licence-fee-evasion)

~~~
NTripleOne
Discount? I thought you didn't need one at all if you were using a B&W TV?

~~~
ldjb
A black and white TV Licence costs £49.50 (about a third of the price of the
standard licence), according to the TV Licensing website:

[http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-
your-...](http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-home)

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arethuza
If you like this article you might like Subterranea Britannica:

[http://www.subbrit.org.uk/](http://www.subbrit.org.uk/)

~~~
DonaldFisk
And also
[https://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/forum.php](https://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/forum.php)
and [https://www.28dayslater.co.uk](https://www.28dayslater.co.uk) for the
more adventurous, both of which have underground subforums.

I should mention that trespass on live railways (and a few other places) is a
criminal offence throughout the UK, so you must get permission if you want to
go anywhere on them not open to the public. Subbrit occasionally arrange tours
of closed tube stations such as Down Street and South Kentish Town.

~~~
mino
Both sites have intriguing reports of closed/abandoned Tube stations, tunnels
and bomb shelters. Very impressive.

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zegl
What is up with the blur effect when loading this site? It makes me dizzy.

~~~
x32
I was like, how bad could it be. Loaded up the page and it also made me dizzy.
Such an awful load screen.

~~~
coldpie
Another instance where NoScript makes the web work better, not worse.

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dsfyu404ed
>A number of the rooms included some fans - these were monstrously huge metal
tubes that hold fans inside that can be more powerful than airline jet engines

Are we talking CFM or specific impulse?

~~~
Animats
He's probably exaggerating, but smoke evacuation fans with very high power are
not unusual. I was at the LA convention center once when some bozo apparently
tossed a cigarette into a dumpster and set it on fire. This wasn't a big deal,
because the place is concrete and fully sprinklered, but it produced a lot of
smoke. The smoke evacuation fans high above the lobby were started, and wound
up to aircraft propeller noise level as they sucked the smoke out of the
building. Worked fine; SIGGRAPH went on as scheduled.

~~~
michjedi
Hi - author here. I'm afraid I don't have any statistics on this matter - in
this case I was relaying what the staff told me. I will see if any of my
friends in engineering can confirm this.

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barnaclejive
Why are the photos so dark, small, and black and white?

~~~
superqwert
for the ambience. The pictures were taken on a mobile phone. They may also be
particularly small if you are viewing them on a small device.

