Re: Whilst I can see the value.....@Peter Gathercole

"My base load is still around 500W, and I'm struggling to identify where that is going. Probably not something that a smart meter would help with unless they also supplied per-plug metering devices."

Unfortunately domestic power monitors generally only measure apparent power, rather than true active power consumed.

I found this out when I was initially mortified by our new Induction hob. The monitor suggested it was burning 200W in standby, which luckily was clearly not the case or something would have been getting pretty hot. This lead me onto true power vs apparent power. Check out http://paulaowenconsulting.co.uk/2012/12/02/induction-hobs-the-question-of-standby-and-the-power-factor/

Ironically, the greener you go, the worse the apparent power seems on your monitor as your base load drops. I switched all our halogen kitchen lights to LED and the monitor reading went up. The LEDs are consuming so little true power, it gets masked by the apparent power.

Luckily the power companies bill for active power.

Re: Blocking access to Remote SMTP servers?

This is a joke. I bought a MiFi dongle from 3 and discovered that I couldn't send emails to my SMTP server. I had even specifically asked in the shop whether it was possible and was told that it was.

After a very protracted process of actually getting to speak to someone, they informed me that SMTP was blocked to stop spammers sending thousands of emails via the dongle. I can't think of a more expensive method of sending spam. Utter bollocks. The only way to send email was via their SMTP relay service, which is completely unreliable and also often triggers the recipients spam filtering. It also means they expect you to change the SMTP settings on your phone each time you switch from using their MiFi device to WiFi etc.

When they realised they were clearly on the losing side of the discussion, they then pointed out that on the box that it said you can "read emails", but sending them is not listed. Based on this they initially refused a return. Honestly, can you believe such bollocks even being suggested? Christ what a crappy world of spin we live in.

Upshot is I eventually managed to ditch the 3 dongle and bought an unlocked version of the same one and lived happily ever after with Orange. Well, so far...

Jobs for everyone?

I think that was the business strategy of the previous CEO of Apple :)

Re: Bet you wish

The Sun would have gone with "Scorn poured on Groupon coupon"

@AC 6th Feb 20:53

"Try to walk out of any broadband contract early and you will get nailed for a fee for the unused contract. Minimum contracts are 12-24 months to recoup the cost of the supplied equipment and infrastructure. Do you work for nothing?"

People just don't read things through do they. As stated, I had no new kit. I'd been a customer for over 4 years. I'd paid my dues. Secondly, Virgin recovered the box and modem the day before I moved. I didn't keep it like your client.

"Especially if you childishly went to Facebook and Twitter to whine about it.".

So what do I do, nothing? Sit there and be scalped in silence with a wry little smile? It was a form of protest. Pity more people aren't more active. Perhaps companies would improve their behaviour.

"If the people who bought your house changed their mind would you give them their money back or would you point at the contract signed?"

What a ridiculous analogy. LOL. A subscription service contract versus a multi hundred thousand pound property exchange. Plus, one last time, I did not change my mind! I moved to an area without coverage.

This is all about what is reasonable and what is not. Like I said, I had did not know when renewing my contract that I was going to move. What am I supposed to do? Not renew and have no service until I decide if I'm going to stay put for the length of the new contract? Ridiculous. Overlap is inevitable. When I did decide to move, was I expected to choose a house based on Virgin availability? Again, ridiculous.

Moving house is an common scenario that other companies seem to handle without this kind of hassle.

@AC

LOL. That made my day :) Hope you guys don't get messed around.

@Lee Dowling

"If you'd remained a Virgin customer, or you'd not signed up to that long a contract, or you were past your initial "non-profitable part"

This is exactly my point. How could I remain a customer if they had no service in my new area? It's not that I "didn't want it any more". They could not supply what I was paying for. I didn't "scarper" to avoid fees. I moved house. A common enough occurrence that is expensive and stressful enough without such shenanigans.

I was way beyond the profitable point. I had been a loyal customer for over 4 years up until that point.

"It might be "sneaky" but it was in the contract, and clearly stated". The use of the word "may" is ambiguous at best.

"It's no different to clauses on phone companies". In fact Vodafone were very good. I had no data signal where I had moved and they agreed to terminate without penalty as I could not receive the service I was paying for. Everyone except Virgin were very helpful.

Now is all this worth the £180 Virgin squeezed out of me?

Re: Dear Customer

Exactly. My point is the contract was unreasonable and used woolly terms such as "may" and "choose to leave". I did not even know when I "signed" the contract that I was going to move, let alone to an area with no coverage.

Thames Water don't supply to my new area, but didn't hit me with a penalty. Ditto npower. In fact, the npower call centre staff member couldn't believe Virgin were doing it. This was churlish unreasonable behaviour on Virgin's part. They could have been nice and everyone would have been happy.

As it is, Virgin lost other 3 customers because of this. My parents, brother in law and the new owners of my house after they heard what they'd done.

Looking back, I can't believe I was chucking £72 a month for 10MBit broadband (my speed doubling never happened), 200 channels I rarely watched and a phone service where I got charged before 7pm and for calling 0845 numbers.

Nice to see the Virgin staff down voting my posts LOL :)

Re: Dear Customer

Virgin's contracts are an absolute masterpiece. For example, I moved to an area with no Virgin coverage. I was told I was in breach of contract and had to pay a £186 exit penalty. They absolutely refused to budge on this.

Sure enough, buried away in the contract there is a clause that says if you move to an area without Virgin coverage you "may" be liable for a penalty "if you decide to leave" (WTF!). I tried contesting the "may" and not deciding but simply having no choice other than "leave". It didn't wash. I tried the usual name and shame Facebook and Twitter tactics, but no. Yes, I could have gone to small claims court and may have won, but after the stress of moving house I couldn't face it. Virgin knows this of course.

What was I supposed to do? Choose a new house based on Virgin coverage? Completely mean spirited penny pinching. Result is I will never go back to Virgin and if asked will not recommend. They seem to think this is acceptable.

So somewhere in the contract will be a clause stating in woolly legal obfuscation that they can impose price increases at will. No doubt with the phrase "if you decide to leave"...

Re: squaring the (vicious) circle

iv) Make a fast buck by selling off their car parks to one of these "Pay by phone" scalpers who then install APR and double the price.

Re: Eh?

That is maybe, but my point is the device was missed off the article and was considered by many to be one of the hottest products of the show.

Re: Let me get this straight... @Lost all faith...

I assumed because of the @Neill Mitchell, that your post was directed at me.

So happy to hear it was not, it did confuse me a little. Anyway, glad we're both pointing out the same thing. A thumbs up will balance everything out :)

Re: Let me get this straight... @Lost all faith...

Blimey, calm down. Not sure why you are shouting at me or calling me a moron. Nowhere did I say you could not have a brand that is a distinct representation of a word or having a trademark prevents others using the word in general context. That was precisely my point.

"I could launch a car brand called "Wheels". Just because every fucking car in the world has wheels, in no way does it stop me having a BRAND called "Wheels"."

Firstly, you can only have a trademark within a set of categories and sub classes. You could not simply trademark the word "Wheels" in general and start going after people who use it anywhere. As I say, that was the entire point of my post.

Secondly, you can only gain a trademark if your trademark was distinctive for the goods and services you provide. In other words they can be recognised as signs that differentiates your goods or service as different from someone else's within the categories and sub classes you have been granted the trademark.

So in your example, the "Wheels" would have to be formed of some distinct design unique to the automotive categories and classes you were trying to register it.

See, I do get it. Now go take a nice long cold shower.

Re: Let me get this straight...

For goodness sake. This one comes up every single time!

Microsoft have not got a trademark affecting anyone involved with the manufacturing, selling, purchasing, fitting or maintenance of panes of glass. They have a copyright on the term Windows in the context of computer software. It's specific.

Re: Jobs family have a problem with pricing?

€150m was for version two - the one with retina displays.

"That's as maybe, but it's too big for a phone, and this article is about phones"

In your opinion. In my opinion, which counts no more or less than yours except I actually own one, the Note 2 a great phone.

Due to it's size, the microphone is nearer my mouth and the call quality is excellent. It also makes a great speaker phone because it has a great speaker. Being a larger device, they can put a larger one in. Finally, for the same reason, it is the first phone I've owned for a long time where I can hear it ringing when in my pocket (yes it fits fine) in a busy street or pub.

It is also the first phone where I really do use the web browser all the time. The large screen and resolution, not to mention the sheer CPU grunt, makes it a very comfortable experience. I've hardly fired up my Asus Transformer since.

All the other great functionality is a bonus.

Re: It was a feature

I REM this. My neighbour used to complain loudly when I ran my Speccy because he said it used to POKE his TV reception. Said it also upset his DIM CAT. The CONT.

I got the POINT and so I went OUT to Tandy, had a PEEK and bought some metallic spray. Upon my RETURN I coated the inside of the case and then insulated with electrical tape. Sorted the problem FOR sure. CLEAR result. Try it out to VERIFY.

Re: What's the big deal?

Bass does not have a trademark on a red triangle. The name forms part of the context. Hence the name "Bass red triangle" http://www.burton-on-trent.org.uk/category/miscellany/bass-logo

National Geographic do not have a trademark on an orange rectangle. There is other context.

The Nike tick is clearly very stylised and therefore distinctive. It is not a simple geometric shape.

Blaupunkt, as previously noted here, does not have a trademark on a blue circle. There is other context.

HSBC does not have a trademark on a single triangle. Their grouping of a set of triangles is distinctive.

Next time try checking before down voting.

Re: What's the big deal?

Google have not trademarked the letter g. That would be ridiculous. As can be clearly seen, the mark consists of a lower case G on a square background. The lower case g is also a specific font.

The leaf is just a simple geometric shape.

Let's ask Bunny. He's a wimp.

Re: Simples

Job's done surely.

Re: hmmm

Costa doesn't charge any more than Starbucks, but they are paying their taxes. So I choose Costa over the other dodgers now.

A bit more tricky with Amazon though, especially now so many high street shops have gone to the wall :(

Re: Should be interesting

Gah!! The ridiculous Microsoft Windows and Dyson excuses again!

Microsoft have not got a design patent on panes of glass, they have a copyright on the term Windows in the context of computer software. FFS, this one comes up every single time.

Dyson, last time I looked, has not managed to patent a vacuum cleaner which is a simple geometric shape. The patents they hold are for technological components and innovations contained within their products.

Patenting a geometric shape is utter madness and no amount of apologist excuse making can justify it. This is very bad news for all consumers. If Apple get away with this then every other manufacturer is going to start trying it on.

Re: "windows reimagined"?

It could be worse. It could have "Leverage" in the text somewhere. Perhaps someone in the MS marketing department has "misspoke".

Re: Is there any truth

Some of my early CD's have this problem. If you hold them up to the light you can see daylight through numerous holes that have developed in the silver layer. They were not misused in any way or stored badly. I remember seeing it reported about 10 years ago on a tech site and being horrified to find some of mine were affected.

Re: External storage

"Yep: try and buy server hard disks or RAM upgrades from HP or IBM, but be prepared to whince!"

The Air is a server? How much is the rack mounting kit?

"I agree that the prices Apple charges for memory are insane. But then, they have always done so, it really shouldn't come as a surprise anymore."

That doesn't make it right.

"Every computer manufacturer since the beginning of time has charged "over the odds" for memory supplied by themselves. IBM, DEC, Sun, HP etc. etc. Apple is no different and this shouldn't be news."

You are being fleeced and no amount of apologist hand waving can hide the fact. I doubt HP get away with a 40%+ mark up these days. Ditto Lenovo, Dell etc.

Re: Apple Shops?

No they don't. They've got Sydney's is on the wrong side of the road :)

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/09/20/apples-ios-6-maps-app-fails_n_1899603.html#slide=1546612

Move the store...

It's no big deal.

over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over...

Like a monkey with a miniature cymbal.

Re: True Cost/Efficiency

"There are lots of people who simply commute from their house to the office every day, a journey that's well within the range of an electric car. For these people such a vehicle would be perfect."

Unfortunately they also have relatives to visit, or drive to holiday destinations a couple of times a year. May only be a handful of journeys, but not ones you can use an electric car for. So they would either need to buy 2 cars or one that satisfies both needs. So they choose a petrol/diesel car.

Re: .reg, .vulture, .lohan

Blimey, where do you drink in Soho for £1.20 a pint? Come on, spill the beans!