Monarch Goes Bust
It is not a good time for airlines with Ryanair in a mess and now Monarch has gone bust.
The CAA has announced a web site at www.monarch.caa.co.uk, where passengers should look for information.
I checked the site out of curiosity and it seems to do what the chair of the CAA said it does on the BBC!
The internet would seem to help in these situations.
Even Vauxhall Corsas Have 4G Wi-Fi
This is the case according to adverts at the side of the pitch in the England Slovakia game at Wembley tonight.
I don’t drive, so I don’t care, but it appears that this increasingly features on cars.
Bombardier have fitted this feature to Crossrail’s Class 345 trains, so will we see it increasingly fitted to all trains, taxis and buses?
It’ll certainly be something that passengers on public transport will expect.
Does Your Energy Company Say Sorry When Its Web Site Gets Its Knickers In A Twist?
Mine does!
Ovo Says Sorry
I got this, when I clicked a link to view my statement!
I suppose it’s better than leaving me lost in cyberspace!
Is This How To Fight ISIS?
I first read about ISIS-Chan in The Times and I’m surprised that this Japanese character hasn’t spread into more of the media.
I did find this article about the anime in this article on CNN-Money.
The idea is to so fill Google and the other search engines with the harmless stories, that the real hardcore ISIS filth becomes impossible to find.
Let’s hope that the UK and other governments are creating masses of similar material in their fight against the evil madmen of ISIS and other terrorist groups.
Those that choose to spread their perverted material by the Internet should be strangled by the Internet.
FRS Logistics Ltd.
I received this e-mail from FRS Logistics.
Greetings
We would be glad to say that we are grateful that you count our crew as your future chief. Pay attention that all aspirants are greatly wrathful for our company.Our international B2B commerce company, peculiarly in EU and Asia.
� We started to collaborate in America, we possess a remarkable potential for Administrative
� in the United States. Just now, we are looking forward to finding the Sales Assistance .
We would like to remind that, we appreciate every applying candidate, so if you will fill in a questioner to get along with your future career, we would fully acknowledge your choice.
For additional employment information, please properly glance through the vacancy characterization, additional documents or find the information on our site. We also give all the allowed certificates that allow us to work in the United States.
We hope for your beforehand answer.
We are a leading large European global company, and we are going to open launch an American branch in order to provide supply our customers with world-class services. We need a Customer Service Representative who can start begin and handle our business needs for our company in the EU, United States.What we require need from you:
1. A Computer with reliable internet connection;
2. Skills enough to use computer;
3. Accessibility by phone or e-mail during business time five days a week. Supervisor can contact you at any time;
4. Strong communication skill.
Salary starts at $3,000\month + benefits.
If You are interested in our work, please contact us via e-mail to get further information concerning the position and the company.
Please, reply to this email address wankers@internet.comYours faithfully, Andrius Kubilius Hiring Department Senior Manager
LTD. frslogiscits
It is an absolute copybook scam, so if you get one, give it a touch of the Delete key.
Some of the English and spelling definitely needs putting out of its misery.
BT Annoys The Big Six Energy Companies
You would think that BT would be very much in bed with the Big Six energy companies, as they probably draw their directors and advisers from the same pool of fat cats.
So I was surprised to find this guide to the quirkier small energy companies on BT’s web site.
I doubt a big broadband/telephone/mobile company would get into the energy business, as the corporate world is littered with failures of companies trying to ride two horses at once. But with smart meters coming in and all the connectivity that a broadband company has, they could offer you a free lifestyle application that calculated your energy usage and suggest how you could save money.
I can certainly see these applications being developed and when properly connected to your house or flat they could make a lot of difference to your lifestyle and how you sustain and support.
Electricity, gas, phone and broadband usage can all be precisely monitored and relayed to the app on your phone, tablet or laptop.
Much modern housing also has an activity monitor in each room of the dwelling. I have one in each room here and they are the controllers for the underfloor central heating. My ones aren’t but others exist that could be connected into the system. As the average adult is quite a large heat source of upwards of a kilowatt, they can effect the heat input to the room to maintain the required temperature.
Given to, that the Internet of things is coming, which will know what’s going on in the dishwasher, microwave, cooker and washing machine, the best apps will be able to tell you why you’re lifestyle is expensive.
And of course, I haven’t linked this to your car and credit card bills, yet!
Suppose too, you had intelligent scales that weighed you each morning and automatically took things like blood pressure and pulse.
Hopefully, these apps will nudge people to a better lifestyle.
I suppose in some ways, they will be a bit like automatic lifestyle coaches, suggesting things you might or should do.
Is Google Burying The Truth?
In this blog, I do occasionally criticise individuals, but my comments are always fair and based on fact, unless it is something like fair comment on a design. As a supporter of the Libel Reform Campaign, and as someone who lived with a barrister for forty years, who did her first pupillage in Libel Chambers, I hope I know the difference between libel and fair comment.
But I am worried by the story of Robert Peston and his reporting of the banking troubles of the last decade, where Google has been asked to remove a story from their searches, he wrote in 2007. It’s all reported here on the BBC web site.
This morning the story is on the front page of The Times, and their report names the individual, who asked to be forgotten.
But they are also saying Google’s action might have backfired, as the story of the forgetting has been retweeted and commented on hundreds of times.
The story has been picked up by numerous newspapers including this story in the Mirror.
UKIP Would Shrink Without The Internet
This was the title of an article in The Times yesterday by Hugo Rifkind, in which he comes to some interesting conclusions. I particularly liked this bit.
The decline of traditional media — of printed newspapers, limited radio stations, and everybody watching the same TV news — is best understood as the end of media deference. No longer must we gain our understanding of the world via information collected, curated and presented by others. Instead, we can go looking for whatever we like. Consciously or otherwise, we each build our own little online universe.
I think that Rifkind is right and the world will be a worse place because people will not hear any views opposed to their own.
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 Anonymous Widower 