This really is a Boeing specific issue rather than a BA one, although individual airlines obviously manage this slightly differently, a sensible discussion on an area that encompasses more than just BA may be appropriate.

I personally prefer to control the blind myself and perhaps now I need to start bringing suncream for my flights.

Cosmic rays are a killer, it is one of the reasons that flight crew's hours are limited and submariners actually gain in their life expectancy when they are at sea under the water despite often working within a few metres of a nuclear reactor.