Posts by kevjs
44 posts • joined Thursday 9th July 2009 14:45 GMT
Re: Where's the advantage over free space optics?
Plenty of unused spectrum space for Point to point links - the local wireless broadband supplier mounts the antennas needed for there service on the pole used for your TV aerial and simply runs an Ethernet cable into the house from where a standard router is connected. Doesn't matter that the signal doesn't get through walls as the antenna is on the roof.
As for dirt - that might be more of a problem!
It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if at least half those who claimed they had turned them off hadn't done so properly. Doing phone support for smartphone users the only way I can be certain they have really turned them off is to get them to remove the battery. Which is annoying when people have a Samsung iPhone.... (iPhone being a generic term for smart phone).
Re: I'm leaving
Sounds like my experience.
After going for the cheapest possible provider (Tesco) while at uni I joined Freedom2Surf - When Tiscalli took over I then ran for the hills; Migrated to ADSL24 (EntaNet reseller) and was happy with the service until a number of day long outages in quick succession (seriously one fibre run from Nottingham to Sheffield which kept getting half inched :( ) to BeThere - already left those as I will not give a penny to Murdoch if I can help it but alas they managed to cancel the phone line before my migration to EE was complete therefore OpenReach decided to cancel my fibre install - damn, and then on migration day Be decided to terminate the ADSL as there was no active phone line for it to run on top of.
After deciding to go for EE due to the price/availability/offerthey had on (and the realisation that any indy will be gobbled up by one of the borgs sooner rather than later) I was dreading dealing with there legendary customer services, but so far they have been brilliant and got the phone line working within minutes and less than 24 hours later a new fibre broadband order is booked and in hand! Hopefully it will all go as planned this time (time will tell of course). Thankfully the EE 3G network improvements means I can make use for my T-Mobile full-monty tethering at a reasonable speed until land line service is resumed.
The amplifier will be amplifying all frequencies coming into it and if the 4G base-station is nearby this has the potential to overload the amplifier (TETRA at the other end of the band can have the same issues - indeed it screwed BBC ONE East Midlands from the Nottingham transmitter for me a few years ago - alas an amplifier was needed for Freeview back then - but as Freeview was fine I didn't care analogue BBC ONE was unwatchable).
Alas here in the East Midlands (Waltham transmitter) we need to use Wideband aerials instead of the old C/D aerials and anyone using either an old C/D aerial or wideband antenna is going to be in the "we'll try doubly hard to screw your reception group" - as the 4G signals will be right where analogue ITV-1 and BBC TWO used to be.
For once I'm hoping mobile reception remains marginal (from masts around 90' to the aerial too) and the local TV multiplex is strong enough (just outside predicted coverage - and when I say just, the other end of the 600meter long street is inside coverage as is the next street over and it's not like it's hilly) to allow us to continue with just passive f-connector splitters! Still have a box full of the half dozen signal boosters we used pre-DSO.
Weren't the previous tests done in another Group A area too?
Apps FTW
The best thing about apps is the content is available when you open it - no need to wait for the pages to slowly drift in via GRPS. Shame so many don't have offline mode working properly :(
Re: Why bother putting the relays on vehicles?
Round here with the council turning lights off overnight I can hardly see them willing to pay a few extra quid for the electric for a network relay... They would probably wire it up so it's only one when it's dark and before midnight...
Re: EDF Suck
Which he just pointed out is a pain in the arse, and if you have used lead than the estimate it rejects the revised reading anyway....
reduce false positives...
When triggered why not have it call the car itself first, if there is no answer within 30 seconds or they say help! It dials 112, otherwise it just sends a text to a non emergency number (for catching hit and runs for example), presumably you would want the 112 operator to talk to the person if possible to attain the appropriate response
Posted in FolderSync
This is a brilliant bit of software - seams to handle the syncs quicker and more reliably than the official apps while using less resources.
The big boon is synching with my NaS drive via SSH - get home, plug the phone in and the photos are immediately backed up :) , while the files I wish to share between the NaS drive and phone are set to sync over the air.
Now if only there was an equally awesome equivalent for the desktop.
Posted in Google Drive stalls on LAUNCH DAY
I put in the request to be notified last night and was about two hours later. :)
Alas, it's like Drop Box and wants you to put your files in a specific folder, and doesn't appear to have the ability to upload automatically from my Android. Looks like I'll be sticking with Sugar Sync for now.
Posted in Punters want BBC iPlayer in TVs, not 3D
Re: My perfect telly!
Loads of HDMI ports would be neat - now there is HDMI Ethernet and CEC all we need now some way for boxes to add channels to the EPG (e.g. plug in a DVB-T2 tuner box and the HD channels on your pre-Freeview HD tv just appear the proper numbers) and for there to be power over HDMI (e.g. in five years time Lovefilm could roll out a new movie service using MPEG-5 over LTE2 and simply plugging a matchbox sized box into my TV with a HDMI cable would add that to the TV's on-demand menu)
And there was me thinking that "As Seen On TV" meant it had featured on Watchdog and should be avoided...
Looks like it's PingPlotter Pro (at the bottom of the images shown!)
Alas, the original contract still had a few years to run - 2015 IIRC, certainly wasn't the 2012 season!
And the other option which the beeb didn't entertain was to share with Channel 4 which would have left it all FTA.
You don't even need TNTSat - just get a multi-feed dish and a HD box - TF1 Suisse is FTA on 9'E (not HD but needs DVB-S2) :)
RTL + TF1 = FTA F1 and you can channel hop round the ads!
Neat
Been looking for something like this for a while!
It's ideal for printing receipts and the like - especially for those of use that prefer Google Mail to a full blown email client (i.e. Send to Email doesn't work on Windows) - Works very quick too - no need to faff around converting into a format Calibier supports then converting to AZW and then connecting the USB cable - just right click on the file, hit Send to Kindle and it appears around 30 seconds later.
Shame you can't set it to prompt you to login each time - bit rubbish when you are on a shared PC!
The simplicity of it all means I can now read those long documents/webpages on my Kindle rather than resorting to dead trees :)
k 800i browser
It certainly did have a browser, although it was a bit rubbish! I used opera mini for the life of that phone, worked well, as did the email - not as Nicely as my x10 though (but at least the battery would last a day!)
So Southern go round the clock - not sure if that's better or worse than and EDF which says something along the lines of "there was a problem processing this reading" - all I was trying to do was knock about 5 units off each bill! When you ring up you find that you can't submit a lower reading online.
Posted in Apple outs iPhone micro USB adaptor
Micro USB breaks the cable, Mini USB breaks the device.
On Mini-USB when extra strain is placed on the connector the result is the socket on the device breaks - the Micro-USB connector was apparently designed so that the plug on the cable itself would be the first to fail (after all it's cheaper to replace a £3 cable than a £500 smart phone). With our fleet of smart phones used by our field staff this seams to stack up - never had to replace a mini-USB cable (apart from ones cats have eaten) but have seen around 10% of our fleet of mini-USB devices have the connector fail. On the micro-USB side I have yet to see a connector fail on the device, but have seen around 15% of cables fail.
Also not all mini-USB chargers charge all mini-USB devices, but fortunately micro-USB ones do
Noooo.....
Not another one, first Last.FM, then Spotify and now We7.
The days of legal freeloading on demand music look to be over :(
Nice idea, except
01200 is used in Clitheroe
01204 is used in Bolton
01205 is used in Boston
01206 is used in Colchester
01207 is used in Consett
01208 is used in Bodmin
01209 is used in Redruth...
The funny thing here is that Bournemouth originally had 0(1)201 and 0(1)202....
Its quite simple really - it saves businesses in the area a lot of money and confusion.
For example, at the moment Bournemouth University has the number 01202 524111 - under OFCOM's Bournemouth will get around 200,000 new numbers and therefore the University will not need to make any changes to letterhead, signage, websites or anything else. The only difference is that people in Bournemouth will now need to call 01202 524111 instead of 524111.
If on the other hand Bournemouth was to get a new code the number would change to 023 2524111 nationally and 2524111 locally (for example) requiring significant expense of all business in the Bournemouth area.
All I can say is that I am glad all the numbers on our phone system at work include the area code should this change come nationally.
The number of numbers beginning 1 are used for stuff qute early in the number preventing use - e.g. anything starting 100 is out because of the operator, 101 for NHS direct, 112 for emergency calls, 118 for directory enquiries and god only knows what other short codes the operators use!
The ones we have at work (for SDSL) have "(0115) 0" numbers attached to them already... These being used as you can't dial them locally! (Not that it really matters too much as only "(0115) 9" and "(0115) 8" are used anyway!)
Erm, No!
On my phone I have a satnav which has maps stored on it, therefore doesn't require cellular coverage and doesn't cost me a penny after installation - this Co Pilot live application is even from a "real" sat nav manufacturer! A single payment of £20 was all that was required IIRC.
Oh, and Google caches your route so if you follow the instructions it doesn't matter if you lose cellular coverage.
The only issues I've had are:-
1) The pathetic volume level on my Xperia X10 - can't hear the directions unless I mute the radio (fortunately I generally know my route so this is a minor issue, and when I am in an unfamiliar area of the main roads I tend to lower the volume anyway)
2) When you end up actually needing it (Wakefield town centre signage I'm looking at you) sods law dictates you'll be on the phone (via the bluetooth system) and unable to see the sat nav screen or get the audio from it!
3) Androids "Don't Lock the screen while charging" setting is awesome as it means the satnav stays on screen, but once the battery is fully charged it stops charging and starts locking the screen - argh!!! (I wish it was smart enough to not lock the screen when the charger is connected). Fortunately it does pop up on screen when you are 1km from the next turning and stays on screen until you more than 1km from the next turning.
Even with those issues for a reactively light user like me mobile phone based sat nav works fine.
Using a courier why?
So you can sit in all day to find that when you needed the loo the courier came and you now have to trek to some industrial estate miles away at the arse end of nowhere to pick up a box containing your phone which looks like it's been sat in Gaddafi's compound for the last week...
At least when you go into a store you can actually see it working there and then and start using it too.
And some of us stick with the same network as they actually have some, admittedly rubbish, coverage where we live (in one of the UK's core cities)....
Vista does that already
Vista already does that - giving you the option to "Try Again", "Retry" or "Cancel", rather handy when Windows Media Player has decided it wants to keep a video open, again.
£400 per annum...
So £400 per year to the morally bankrupt News International for nothing more than the F1, or pop down to Maplin, spend £40 on a b-grade FTA satellite system to watch RTL and listen to the excellent five live commentary...
Posted in Channel VAT loophole shrunk, not shut
insert title.
Which lical music store shall I support, Asda, HMV, or Tesco? The indies are long gone here in one of the uks biggest cities....
micro usb. ..
Micro usb has supposadly been designed so the plug on the cheap cable takes all the strain and eventually breaks, and not the socket on the expensive device like mini usb.
Sony do use standard stuff...
My new Sony Ericsson Xperia X10i does use standard stuff - I.e. Micro SD cards and MicroUSB chargers - alas this means I no longer have a spare charger, but have about half a dozen fast port chargers lying around doing nothing...
T-Mobile do that by default
T-Mobile already do that - Twitter is blocked as I found out when our SDSL connection went down and I tried to find out if anyone else had issues... And in the past I have found a page on our website listing Essex Steet, Hull and another address in Scunthorpe also caused the page filter to kick in - argh!
Fortunately on personal contracts you can unlock from the My T-Mobile website.
Posted in Ofcom mulls popular number charge
The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.
They did - 050 IIRC, but no one liked it.
VOIP is good when you have an office in a certain area, and the boss elsewhere - you can all be inside the local PBAX and have the same outgoing number...
Anyway, local area codes don't really work anyway, especially when part of the urban area is classed as being in a different town, you end up with local radio needing to include the numbers in full anyway.
Posted in Orange and T-Mobile splice customers
Might finally get a decent 3G+ signal!
120,000 town - bah, that's nothing - try working in the centre of a 666,000 population city (Nottingham) and getting 1 bar of 3G signal on a good day - can't wait to be able to access the Orange 3G network (assuming they have got the data sides of things working in the seven years since I was last a customer).
And as for "I left Orange for T-Mobile a few years back due to a combination of awful customer support (i.e. they basically had none, where as T-Mobile were quite open in comparison)" me too - I have found T-Mobile Customer Service to be second to none since (so much so I haven't even felt the need to give the other operators a look when upgrades come) - and while I might not have a signal all the time, when I do get one it actually works without fail. I really hope that the good bits of T-Mobile are kept and coupled with Orange's superior coverage.
Not really
Except it doesn't really save 17% does it?
Some of the time it's on for a reason, and lets face it most of the time people turn the lights off when they go to bed - lets assume therefore that it's on a more realistic 17:00 - 23:00 every day of the year (possibly longer in winter, especially at weekends, and less in summer) - that takes you to the equivalent of leaving a 10 watt bulb on all day giving you a much more realistic total of 3%.
But then again you can't buy "normal" light bulbs in most retailers any-more, so it's probably an 11watt CFC bulb, so 1.84watts an hour equivalent which about 0.5% of the annual total - some of which it's probably being useful.
Assuming this is in somewhere like a lounge where you might be in for 3.5 hours of the evening turning it off for the thirty minutes you are out the room would save you about 0.1% of your average total - i.e. 1.8kWh, or running that 2kw fan heater just under an hour to heat your room up in winter because it's a bit parky.
According to EDF that is 21p here in the East Midlands - I dare say that saving is completely erased by having to buy a new bulb prematurely as the constant power cycling has caused it to fail - and I imagine the energy used in producing it is more than the energy I as an individual have saved.
And this is what the article set out to prove!
Posted in Apple fans drool over Liquidmetal widget
Paperclip
A paperclip works just as well, and you might actually be able to find it when your 24 month contract is up...
Posted in BT hikes call charges
Any chance of a line rental only...
I wonder if BT will ever provide a line rental only line?
I don't want one of your pathetic bundles as I don't even home a landline phone, I only need the pay you so I can have my ADSL connection placed on the line - stop trying to say I can avoid the price increases by buying a bundle - it will cost me more for no gain...
NHS = IE6
Isn't part of the reason for IE6 hanging round like a bad smell because most of the NHS' web-apps are written for IE6 using code that doesn't work in other browsers.....
Posted in Vodafone Access Gateway 3G
Where's the T-Mobile one
I wish T-Mobile would launch one on there network - I live in one of our core cities urban areas (i.e. Nottingham) and get just enough signal indoors for the phone to ring, but not enough to maintain a conversation, and standing outside in the cold and wet to make a voice call is not fun! (and switching to another network is not an option - only T-Mobile and Three appear on a network scan, but all the networks appear when in the garden - T-Mobile annoyingly with 5bars and HSDPA!)
Being inside Nottingham's urban area means I get decent ASDL coverage (18mbps from Be*) though so could easily use that for piggy backing on - Indeed I conserve the battery life on the phone by using WiFi and letting the RSS, Podcasts, and ActiveSync connections run over Wifi!
Not that Wifi is a brilliant solution as coverage inside is rather patchy.
Then again, perhaps a Femtocell with the ability to connect to an external UMTS aerial would be a better solution for many on the edge of network coverage! (i.e. uses the Mobile network rather than ADSL)
Posted in T-Mobile picks Orange for merger
Oh drat...
A few years ago I switched from Orange's abysmal network and customer services on my personal mobile, and later recommended a similar (and very successful) switch at work - now it looks like I'll be moving back :o(
While Orange and their network was a big pile of steaming mess; T-Mobile have been nothing but helpful and have been able to provide a network that works (when you have a signal - their only problem - at least having a signal means a working connection unlike Orange) - the people I feel sorry for are the polite and helpful folks in T-Mobile's CS.
Let us hope and pray that T-Mobile staffers are the ones that do the day to day running of the network and customer services - if it's left to Orange we'll be doomed....
12 months of my contract to go, hopefully that will give me enough idea of whether the network is heading to the dogs are not, without it become a big pile of plop.
C905
@Mad as a Bat - in my experience the C905 signal meter means diddley squat - often it's displaying zero bars, but paired with an "H" and the web browsing and phone calls work just fine - yet anything less that two bars on GSM and it's unusable.
Seams to hold connection to the network well (gets just about usable signal in the lounge unlike any other Sony Ericsson/Sony handset I have had - and unlike my housemate's Nokia) - certainly enough to answer the phone and walk into the garden! (Mind you if it wasn't for the local NIMBY's that wouldn't be a concern.)
Posted in Barclays online banking borked
You mean it's been working
Since they foisted the stupid card reader thingy onto me I have never been able to log in properly anyway - always rejects the code and I have to use the override mechanism (and what is the point in the stupid plastic calculator where the numbers were off showing the 4 digits in your PIN when you can override it anyway)
Much quicker to walk to the new fangled ATM's that are finally able to do what the TSB ones could do back in the 1990s (i.e. print statements) and which can also transfer money between accounts (can't give you cash mind).
teenagers and sim card
What teenager doesn't get a new SIM every few weeks anyway.... Used to get a text along the lines of "My new number is 07xxx xxx xxx" every few days when I was younger! Or even better - One2One sim is out of credit use my Orange number..... (ah, those were the days, when off-net meant somet)
Posted in Orange introduces mini-SIM
Orange make all the SIM mess anyway....
Anonymous Coward - "surely 1/3 of the entire population of planet earth" - if most networks around the world behave like Orange (SIM tied to phone, buy a new phone have to use a new SIM) then that may be possible - unlike 02 and T-Mobile where you keep the same SIM for years and years (I wonder how many of their customer have Cellnet and One2One SIMs?).
