Changing Repayment Dates on Loans
I’ve mentioned this before with respect to Zopa.
I just wondered how many of the loans that changed payment dates had a rather chequered history, so I went through all of my loans, where the payment date had changed.
Of the 16 loans that had changed the date, only one was late and the amount owing on that one was just a few pence. Interestingly some were a bit chequered until the date changed, but immaculate afterwards.
So it looks like this feature is good for both borrowers and lenders.
MPs Want to Keep Cheques
Reports are appearing that MPs want to stop banks scrapping cheques.
I did write one a few weeks ago and it took three weeks to clear into my account. So why does anybody bother writing them, except to stretch their cash flow.
I also had three panes of double glazing replaced. I did the transfer before the glazier left. That way, if they don’t get the payment it’s not my fault.
Liverpool Takes on Its Biggest Challenge
The reports today about Liverpool University’s leadership of a large trial of a pancreatic cancer vaccine is very much to be welcomed.
If there was a motto that sums up the city, it is “Think Big”. Just think.
- Architecturally, it is the Second City of the UK.
- St. George’s Hall is one of the most magnificent neo-classical buildings anywhere.
- Liverpool City Centre is a World Heritage Site.
- It has two cathedrals, one of which is one of the largest in the world in many ways.
- The Beatles transformed the world of music more than anybody else.
So you can never say the city is full of shrinking violets.
So when Liverpool established itself as a world-class cancer centre, it didn’t take on the easiest of targets. It concentrated on one of the biggest and morst deadly;pancreatic cancer, which has one of the lowest survival rates.
Now are we starting to see a small step on the road to a successful fight against this awful disease, which killed my son at the early age of just 37?
You will see a link to their research on this blog. Click it and donate!
Mobile Phone Hacking
Quite a few years ago, one of C’s clients told her that she thought her violent husband was listening to the messages on her mobile phone. I did a bit of research and found that C’s mobile phone pin number was still set to the factory default and that meant I could read her messages, when I found out what that was. And of course once you’ve read them they disappear from your new messages list. A hacker could also delete the message if they wanted. She was astonished, when I showed her how I’d done it and asked me how it could be stopped. I just changed the pin number, gsve her a few simple lessons and she was now secure.
She got better later in her life, but ten years ago, C was very technically non-savvy and if she’d been a celebrity, she’d have been easy prey to a phone hacker. Looking at those who claim they have been hacked, I see a lot of people there, who could best be described as a couple of bricks short of a full load. Especially, when it comes to technology.
So perhaps, they got hacked because they didn’t take the sort of precautions, that an eight-year-old would take.
A Greedy Mobile Phone Company
There has been an outcry over phone company Everything Everywhere has been taking cuts of charity money donated by text messages. Others like O2, Vodafone and Virgin don’t take anything.
Even if as has been reported, they have now stopped the cut, it does seem to me, that this company might be one that isn’t one you’d want to use to get a good deal.
After all they’ll have to raise that charity cut from somewhere else.
A Glimmer of Hope in Palestine
The Times yesterday had an article and a leader about how things are getting better in Palestine.
Let’s hope so!
They give the credit to Salam Fayyad, who has been concentrating on economic development of the country.
They sum it all up with this last paragraph.
Mr Fayyad’s efforts are embattled and small-scale, but they are far from futile. They exemplify the principle that statecraft is better practised by improving people’s lives than by promoting sweeping revolutionary schemes. They are a good deed in a weary region.
I wish Mr. Fayyad well.
But perhaps he may turn out to be the right person in the right place at the right time! Palestine and the world for that matter needs a great statesman to move things forward.
The Anonymous Widower 