Smartphone Coverage Not As Good As Networks Say
I have a very dumb phone with a robust constitution, that does everything I want of it. But there are reports in several papers, including the Daily Mail, that the major networks coverage isn’t as good as they claim.
I’ll stick with my trusty Nokia 6310i!
How To Get Lost On the Hills
According to this report, it would appear the best way is to navigate using your iPhone.
What’s wrong with a map and compass?
Let’s suppose that you are walking one of the London canals and you’re aiming to be out for most of the day. By the time you get back, your iPhone will have exhausted its battery, so if you feel like taking a phone, why not take something with a sensible battery life, like a Nokia 6310i.
A Call From 08000562422
I had a strange call from this number on my mobile phone. It told me my address and said it was from EDF Energy and asked if I was responsible for paying the bill, in which case I was to press 1. If I wasn’t I was to press 2. I hung up, as EDF Energy are not my supplier and anyway I pay by direct debit to another company, who did me a few favours when I moved in and were very professional. That’s not to say they are not professional too, as they have dealt with the writs sent to previous non-payers at this address with no hassle to me.
But I smelt a rat, as I have nothing to do with EDF Energy.
I checked the number on the Internet and this is what I found. Some items mention the number as a possible telepest.
I did try to phone EDF Energy, but their call centre was busy. This was one of the reasons, they didn’t get my business in the first place, as I couldn’t get through.
So if you get a call from this number, I suggest you do the sensible thing and hang up. I can’t find anything on the Internet to link it to EDF Energy.
What worries me is that someone had got my mobile phone number and linked it to my correct address. The only people who have that link are credit card companies, my bank and companies like John Lewis, IKEA and Dixons. I’m not accusing anybody, but it strikes me that there is a leak somewhere. But then these companies have my landline and I’ve never had such a call on that number.
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.
Calls From 253-802-0308 in the United States
I have been plagued by this number. Read more about others who have from this web page. What is interesting is this snippet in the page.
I have posted this before, so I will paste it here for others who may benefit. My husband and I both work in IT and Telecommunication. I researched the number and came up with the following. The company International Telecom has a service called Kallback. It says it does the following:
1. Kallback lets you change your callback® phone number as you travel. Or you can pick a single, permanent location
Standard Trigger Numbers allow you to receive calls at a single, permanent location.
Traveler Trigger Numbers allow you to change your callback® location.
Personalized Trigger Numbers ask for you by name at a permanent location.
You can also trigger a call from the internet.I also received a call from the number listed on this post. The carrier for this number is International Telcom, Ltd.
The thing with this service is that they can call you, but you can’t trace them. These calls originate from outside the Continental U.S. They do not come from Washington state. They are like calling cards. They show the trigger number, but not the number the call is actually coming from. It is deceptive.
I think the information is genuine, so perhaps it is time that International Telecom got shut down or at least stopped their system being used by scammers.
Stupid Calls From the United States
I have my old phone number at my previous house diverted to my mobile phone. It must be very frustrating for the scammers from the United States, who keep rnging me from Delaware, as O2 now properly display their number. so I let them ring and then end the call.
This is a new phenomenon. Until perhaps two weeks ago, these scam calls didn’t give a number, but now they do, so I can treat them with the contempt they deserve. After all, if they are important calls, the caller would probably know my e-mail address, so they’ll do that instead.
It’s funny though that all these calls seem to be from the United States, so is that country, now the new Nigeria?
Ektos City
My mobile phone was showing this for a lot of the time in Greece.
But on searching I found this page.
Which gave this explanation.
On the Telestet mobile phone network, your handset may display “Ektos City”. This isn’t a real place, it just means “Outside the city” i.e. away from one of the metropolitan areas. They use the English word “City” because it sounds cool.
Very simple really.
Free Phone Charging
As I walk along the towpath of the Regent’s Canal above the 400kV cables that power the City of London, I just wonder if I could use the magnetic fields from the cables to create enough power to charge my mobile phone.
Do We Need WikiPlates?
I think I know London and its various sites very well. And as I have read the excellent book; The Great Stink of London: Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the Cleansing of the Victorian Metropolis
But I was caught out on Wednesday, when I went to the Olympic Park, in that I hadn’t realised that the Greenway sat on top of Bazalgette’s Northern Outfall Sewer.
But there was nothing to tell me, that I was walking on the creation of a giant!
Obviously, a proper information board would be best, but these get damaged and if you made them from metal, then scrap thieves will take them.
But surely in this age of the Internet, all that is needed is a simple plate, which points you to the relevant place on the web.
If they linked to Wikipedia, through say a reference number, they could be called WikiPlates.
The possibilities for a simple system are endless, especially if you bring in smart phones and SMS messages.
The Anonymous Widower 