Annoyances In My InBox
Every day, I get at least two e-mails asking me to register PDF Suite 2014. I’ve never used it or bothered with this company before.
I also get something every day from IT Brief.
How do we stop spam coming from these companies? All the unsubscribe requests have failed and of course spam like this from across the pond is impossible to stop.
Who Wants A $20 Smartphone?
I found an article entitled Why ARM Believes We’ll See a $20 Smartphone
This is the first paragraph.
ARM Holdings (ARMH) believes the company’s future will be brighter because it’s embracing both ends of the computing business – high-end devices such as smartphones and tablets with quad-core, 64-bit processors, as well as increasingly inexpensive mobile devices running on new single-core chips.
The future seems to be ARM
Open Data Will Improve Public Transport
I was actually looking to see if anybody else had spotted that London buses now have time displays, which I reported here.
But I did find this article entitled, Smart data will only work if the network data is truly open.
The article says that London has one of the biggest real-time passenger information systems in the world. All of the data is available free for developers. The article then says this.
Developers have created more than 100 apps for the city’s buses alone. They offer everything from route planners for the disabled to scalable tube maps, with live updates when lines are disrupted, and apps that let you know where to board a train so you can get off as close to your exit as possible.
So is it right to think that as time goes on, more and better apps will be written to make difficult journeys easier?
You could envisage apps, where you entered your start and destination and the system made suggestions, as to how to get there fastest, when say the local low life had nicked the signal cable or a bus or train had broken down.
The one thing that the article misses, is the data connection from the smart device to the central system.
Surely to cope in the near future, all vehicles will have a wi-fi connection. First Manchester is reported here to be fitting wi-fi to all its buses.
Once you have a fast local connection between vehicles and passengers, other possibilities will become feasible.
As an example, I often catch a 38 bus to the Angel, where to get to Kings Cross, I change to a 73 bus or take the Northern line. If the bus had a rearward facing camera, I could link to this to check for the 73 bus.
One of the great things about this technology is that you don’t need everybody to be using it on a bus, as bus passengers will talk to each other and share their information. I say this because you see people at bus stops texting to find the arrivals and then showing them to other passengers.
None of the apps because of the open data will cost Transport for London a penny. The reverse could be true in that the apps might encourage more passengers to travel and travel on the more lightly-used part of the network. If more people travelled by bus, hopefully this would reduce car traffic, thus allowing more road space for buses.
Such is the power of software!
Free Wi-Fi In Gdansk
I was very surprised to find that Gdansk city centre had a totally open and free Wi-fi network.
Free Wi-Fi In Gdansk
I sat in a cafe in the main square and checked all my regular web sites like the BBC on my phone.
There is a list of places listed here on Wikipedia under Municipal Wireless Network. Blackpool, Bristol, Liverpool and Norwich are listed for the UK.
How long will it be before we’ll just list the cities which don’t have it?
One of the reasons, I use Carluccio’s so often is that they have free wi-fi and after connecting once, you get all of their restaurants.
Changing From A Large To A Small Energy Supplier
I recently changed from a large energy supplier; NPower, to a small one; OVO.
So how has the experience been and would I change now, knowing what I now know?
1. Costs
If I compare my actual costs for 2013, when I was with NPower to the estimated costs for 2014 on OVO, they are about the same at £143-145 a month for both gas and electricity. I suspect that for a modern three-bedroomed house, where I cook by electricity, do one load of washing a week and have a deep bath every day, that these figures could be a bit low.
But it is surprising how close the two suppliers are in terms of costs. Partly, this is because OVO set the level of the standing order based on what I was paying NPower
2. Account Management
I am just getting to grips with managing my account to my benefit.
In the previous section, I said that OVO set my initial payments based on my NPower usage.
I have now adjusted my standing order to my usage , as OVO allow you to do. I estimate that when I get this adjusted correctly, my bill could reduce to about £120 a month.
One thing that happens with OVO, is that if you are in credit, they give you a small interest payment. It may only be pence, but it’s more than a big supplier would give. You can also request that the balance be withdrawn to your bank account.
3. The OVO Web Site
Like all new web sites, the OVO web site has a few problems and could be better. In their case, things like remembering your login ID and the general handling of passwords are areas I would improve.
As to the login, they could do a lot worse than look at how Zopa has created a secure login. Zopa’s is certainly one of the best!
I would also recommend that you login once a month and give it a good look around.
4. Customer Support
I don’t think I have any complaint in this area.
You phone them on an 0800 number.
5. Would I Change Again?
Not at the moment, but if I did want to change, I’ve got a single A4 piece of paper with all of my details and relevant numbers on it, so change would be easy.
So for that reason alone, I would advise anybody to change at least once to an energy supplier with good paperwork and web site.
The Computer Software Update Problem
I don’t like automatic updates of computer software and this story from the BBC about Kaspersky Labs and their anti-virus software is vindication of my view . Here’s the first two paragraphs.
Thousands of computers running Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system were unable to connect to the internet after installing an anti-virus update.
Users said they were also unable to access their internal company networks.
I only update my software, when I find the current system has a serious bug, as I’ve been stung so many times in the past. And then I update software, when I want to, so I have time to test it before it drops me in the doo-dah.
Another question thatr has to be asked here, is given the current political situation, why would anybody use Russian anti-virus software.
Google Chrome Problems
I use two computers; an old Compaq 6720s, running Windows Vista and Office 2007 and a newer Sony running Windows 7 and Office 2010.
To access the Internet, I generally use Google Chrome. And to update this blog, I use Chrome, as sometimes Internet Explorer doesn’t work with WordPress.
I’m putting this post on the Internet using Chrome on the ancient Compaq, as for some reason Chrome on the Sony won’t access this web site. I can access it and create new pages with Internet Explorer.
With all the money they make, you’d think Google could get a browser that worked corrrectly.
I spoke too soon, as Chrome now won’t access this web site on the Compaq. So I’m creating this post in Internet Explorer on the Sony.
If anybody has any problem accessing this blog in Chrome could they please tell me!
A Domain Name Ending For East Enders Fans
I misread something and I thought that they were talking of domains with an ending of .cotton.
So I thought, that this would of course be good for the fans of East Enders or at least the Dot Cotton Fan Club.
Beware Tesco Customer Surveys
I don’t shop at Tesco’s except to buy the odd EatNakd bar or a newspaper, so why should they ask me to fill out a customer satisfaction survey? Especially, as it was e-mailed from South Africa!
It’s nothing to do with Tesco and is probably a dangerous scam, so beware!
The Anonymous Widower 