Travel, Hotel Web Sites
This is just a general observation really, as I’ve just booked an evening in Crewe to see Ipswich play.
I have a feeling that the general shenanikins I have with my left hand has put my computer into some sort of alien mode, as the mouse sometimes doesn’t seem to response in the way I want it to! Anyway I sometimes seem to select the wrong thing and have to restart. This happened on the excellent Virgin Trains web site, when I was booking for Crewe and I got the wrong train back. No problem, as I was able to just select another, but on the hotel web site for some reason I ended up with two rooms and had to change my reservation. I suspect it was my problem, but there was no way on the site to remove one after I’d booked without going through a full change procedure. Not too annoying, but web designers should impose more validity checks.
Two things often annoy me.
- Sites which don’t allow me to select my address by entering a post code and then choosing from a list. Virgin does this address lookup and it makes things so much easier, as I usually make at least two miswtakes, when I type my full address.
- Why can’t sites ask you simple questions, when you do things like forget to check the “Do I accept the Terms and Conditions?” box. Often forgetting this means that tou have to retype a lot of information. All they need to do is bring up a check dialog.
Religous Spam
I hate spam with a vengeance, but if it has a fake religous bent, it really gets my goat. Does anybody know why we use goats in this context?
Look at this loan spam from someone called Margaret Nicholas.
We are Christian Organization formed to help people in need.So if you are in financial difficulty or you need a loan,contact us today via email holytrinityfinancialhome2009@gmail.com for the bible says””Luke 11:10 Everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened”.So do not let these opportunity pass you by because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever more.Please these is for serious minded and God fearing People.
* Refinance
* Personal Loans (Secure and Unsecured)
* Business Loans (Secure and Unsecured)
* Consolidation Loan
* Combination Loan
* Individuals Loans
* Companies LoanBORROWER’S INFORMATION
I have treated it with the utter contempt it deserves and applied the Delete key.
The stupid woman, who supposedly sent the e-mail, couldn’t even spell her name the same twice.
Your Wife Photos Attached
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been getting several e-mails every day with a title of “Your Wife Photos Attached” and just a zip file enclosed. My ISP marks them as spam and as I’m careful, I have never opened the zip, so they have been no threat to my computer until now.
As a widower though, who sorely misses his wife, I don’t like theses messages.
So finally curiosity got the better of me and I this morning I decided to find out what the zip files contain.
I don’t recommend doing this, but if you are careful it is a perfectly safe procedure. I copied the zip file on to an SD card and then transferred this to an old laptop, which is unconnected to the network and the Internet The laptop also has nothing of value on its hard drive, except gigabytes of nothing.
So what did the zip file contain?
Just an image containing a Russian web address, that if you typed it into your browser would give you access to cheap Viagra-type drugs. They would probably be cheap, but useless fakes.
So from a computing point of view they would appear to be safe at present!
But never take the chance of clicking on one of these zip files. Someone will start distributing ones, that are dangerous rather than just annoying!
Java Problems
I’m having a few problems on web sites that run a lot of Java. Nothing serious, but my computer tends to lock and I find that I have to reboot once a day or so. What worries me though, is that friends have also reported problems. There also seems to be threads in web site forums saying that some flavours of Windows, add-ons and Java have interaction problems.
I think that it is livable with, but I have stopped updating to the latest version of Java.
WiFi on East Coast
It seems to be working fine and was a very easy connection.
Follow Me On Twitter
For the next few days, I shall not be posting too much, as I’m travelling without a laptop. You can follow me on Twitter. My ID is VagueShot.
A New Test for Autism
This report on the BBC shows the way that modern medicine is going. I know that I don’t suffer from autism, although I’m a bit weird, but then programmers are a lot of the time. These sort of scans though, will help doctors sort out stroke sufferers like me.
Let’s hope the medics and the programmers, who work with them keep going!
They have had one of the researchers involved, Christine Ecker, on BBC Breakfast this morning. She reckons that soon they will be able to use the test with children. They have even developed a quiet non-claustrophobic scanner, so children won’t be frightened.
I am very enthusiastic about this test and feel it will have other beneficial effects. Obviously, as the research techniques get better and we know more about the brain, they will benefit people like me, who have had strokes to those with more serious brain problems or injuries.
I also think that C, my late wife, would have welcomed this test. She was a barrister and most of her work was with families, divorce and children. She said to me many times, that childen with things a like autism and ADHD, put a tremendous strain on the marriage and often caused the break-up. Sometimes, that strain was caused by the difficulty of getting a diagnosis.
Hopefully, this test will reduce those problems and might even help couples to stay together!
Benefit Fraud and Daisy
My software, Daisy, has been used several times to combat mass fraud.
It was used to check winter fuel payments by the DSS. They drew a chart based on Surname and Post Code. In some cases they found severalclaimants at the same place. Some were genuine as they were old peoples’ homes, but others were fraud.
The software was also used to check student loan applications. I’m not saying how, but there was a large amount of multiple applications from people, who were never seen again.
It is possible to set up a system, where a large database of claimants for benefits or grants is analysed and then split down into groups, say based on town, post code or street. These can then be e-mailed as individual Excel spreadsheets to the fraud investigators responsible for that area.
I have just set up my mobile phone, so that it can post to Twitter. If you want to follow me on this, my user name is VagueShot.
Viruses on Smart Phones
It is being reported that smart phones are now being targeted using apps that contain trojans and viruses.
This is just another reason, why I stick to my Nokia 6310i.
It is now ten years old and may be a bit battered like me, but it sends texts and hey, it makes phone calls too!
I can drop it, which because of my stroke, I frequently do and if I go away for a few days, I know it will stay charged long enough, so I don’t have to take the charger.
The Anonymous Widower 