I’ve crossed to the red side

24/01/2010 — efan78

Yes, it is with a heavy heart that I have left my current broadband provider for beardy Branson’s baby.  After updating my PC last year and getting a new Laptop, along with my G1, Andy’s laptop, Sam’s laptop and the Wii (as well as Lee’s PS3 when he brings it over) I began to notice that the broadband wasn’t as robust as it had been.

I used all the tricks to get a better signal into the router – changing the microfilters, moving the router to the Master socket, rebooting it regularly, but it just wasn’t enough.

Don’t get me wrong, the service that I received from the team over at BE broadband was fantastic.  In fact, I’m following them over on twitter and will continue to do so.  My second account (which we set up for Andy’s mum) is also going to be kept, although with the updates to their prices I think the lower package may be the best for her.  There’ll be no difference in speed but if she exceeds the 40GB/month limit I’ll be wondering just what it is she’s doing with her computer!

I really like BE.  The team in their technical support and accounts call centres are fantastic.  They pitch their advice to the level you’re at, simple and straightforward for those who aren’t techie.  Slightly moreso for those who are, and I’m sure if you were some sort of l33t H@XX0r – they’d be able to match you acronym for acronym.  As a call centre worker I think the highest praise I can give them is that I don’t care that they’re not based in the UK.  Well, actually I do!  If they were I’d have applied for a job ;-D

They give the impression that they’re a small company who values it’s customers – and value each and every one of those customers.  They arrange socials, meetings and even conference calls to discuss changes to the service.  They are truly everything I look for in a company.

So why do you want to leave?  I’m sure you’re asking.

It’s simple and has nothing whatsoever to do with BE.  The simple answer is BT.

For years BT had a complete monopoly on telephone services, competition didn’t exist and any that did was swiftly quashed (anyone remember the Mercury button?) But the powers that be decided to break that monopoly (and quite rightly so).  But the problem is – like the gas companies with Transco – new broadband and telephone companies have to use BT Openreach and its outdated copper wires.  This means that they just can’t offer the speeds that we need in this always on, always connected world, because BT can’t keep up – never mind get ahead of the game for the future.

So, it is with a heavy heart that I have swallowed my dislike for Richard Branson and his awful media-pandering ways and gone to Virgin Media for my Broadband.  I’ve been assured that I’ll be able to get 18-20Mb through the fibre-optic cable that allegedly runs into my house, and I’ve also been told that they aren’t running a fair usage policy any more.  But we’ll wait to see.

In the meantime my advice to you is this.  If you’re not in a cable area, or the speed that you can get down a BT line is good enough for you then I urge you to look at BE.  Their customer service is second to none and they’re the company that Branson wants us to think Virgin are.  But if it’s speed you need then I’m afraid you’re going to have to head to the red too.  Sorry!

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ADC2 – Android Developer’s Challenge

26/09/2009 — efan78
Image from AndroidGuys.com

Image from AndroidGuys.com

OK, so the second Android Developer Challenge is underway and the ADC2 team have released an app to allow the community to vote.  It’s a bit of a mare to find as they haven’t released it into the “Sort Apps by Date” category so you either need to do a search for ‘Challenge’ (it’s up there at the top) or follow this handy QR code that Phandroid provided on their review of the app :-D adc2qr1

Now, as the Phandroid guys mentioned, there are a couple of issues with the app, for me the first one is that it’s incessant!  But I just cleared the notification and now I know that I can just pop into and out of the app when I want.  The second is that most of the apps can only be downloaded through the ADC2 app itself, and – like the Mission Impossible tapes – they self destruct after you’ve reviewed them.  You can’t start reviewing a new app until you’ve reviewed the old one, even if it’s something that you have no interest in, or even can’t understand!  (I had an app in Japanese that I had to review so I just did my best with the limited info I could get).  Another problem is if you are given an app that asks for permissions you don’t want to allow – you can’t refuse to download it and move on to the next one you HAVE to install the app and then review it then it will be removed.

Has no-one in the ADC2 team heard of security???  One example that particularly concerned me was NovuPhone.  It’s an intriguing concept and I really wish them well, but I’m not comfortable giving my personal details to a company that can’t even fill in the links on their homepage, and particularly not an app that needs my IMEI number, phone number, and the permissions to take full control of my phone.  I’m sure they’re a nice enough company and I doubt that they have any malice but I don’t want to take that risk.

It makes me wonder if these limitations are going to skew the voting somewhat – it seems a very draconian process and I don’t think everyone will have the patience to trawl through all the apps they get bombarded with.  But we shall see.

Anyway, I started making a few notes because the ADC2 app only allows you to mark apps with the usual 5 star rating but this time in categories:  Originality of Concept, Effective Use of the Android Platform, Polish and Appeal & Indispensability.  And I thought I’d share those notes here (As I make more I’ll probably just tag them on later!):

Design Draw by Moplix Software

This is a fun app, although not something that I’d want to keep. It gives plenty of scope for users to tweak the designs and would be quite good for scrapbookers etc… I’m not sure that it’ll be much use to actual companies or people who want to create their own personal brand. It makes good use of the touchscreen and trackball although the input buttons do seem to be a bit lethargic and unresponsive. While it makes use of the functions of the platform it doesn’t actually take into account what has become standard practice across the OS (no use of the Menu button etc…) and so isn’t as user friendly as other apps. The GUI also looks a little unpolished and dated, almost like it had been designed for Windows 3.1 era. I only had one forceclose issue when closing my G1 and the screen moving from Landscape to Portrait but the programme rescued itself admirably!

White Noise Free by TMSOFT

This app looks quite professional, with 11 sounds including airplane engines, thunder, rain and the (to be expected) white noise. The images that are included to demonstrate the sound are a high quality and the previous & next buttons fit well with the Android GUI. The timer option is great and works well.

There is however some difficulty because the prev & next buttons are the only way to navigate. This app could probably do with a menu to get to the sound you want quickly.

The 10.5 MB size of the app is a huge problem too!

Virtual Q by Antony Jose Vijay David

I really don’t understand what’s going on with this one, it’s very user unfriendly, just a selection of 4 buttons, a search function which needs the exact name of the queue you want to join.

This app needs a help function, preferably with some description of what people would use this for. It feels like it has potential, I just don’t know what the potential is for!

Xeeku Reader by Xeeku Services

This is an excellent and attractive RSS/Google Reader app that’s straightforward and easy to use. The only concern that I have is that it does seem a bit like information overkill.  You can find a couple of their other apps here.

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@BullyingUK – #CharityTuesday

02/06/2009 — efan78

I know a lot of the people I follow on twitter are also following @BullyingUK, and there’s a good reason for this.  Many of us have been bullied at some point in our lives and know just how awful it can be.  Being scared to go to school, or to leave the house, because the bully will be there.

But bullying isn’t just physical.  As a young person I faced bullying, firstly I was from a different area.  Originally from Lancashire – when I first moved to the North East everyone thought I was a little backwards because “I talked right slow like” (try saying that in a Lancashire accent!) and so people thought I wasn’t so quick on the uptake.  Couple that with the fact that my parents were on benefits so I couldn’t have all the latest gear (oh how I would have loved a pair of British Knights trainers!), I wore glasses, was good at lessons but bad at sports and I had target written all over me.  And do you know what?  Myparents made it even worse – they named me Michael Jackson!  I’m not kidding!

I lived with that for years but then realised that the worst was yet to come.  I was gay.  There was nothing I could do about it, but my family weren’t the most accepting of people.  So at 16 I left home (not as voluntarily as I would have liked!)

It was only after I left home and stopped speaking to my family that I realised.  I was a nice person.  I was friendly, outgoing, intelligent and had a lot to offer to the world.  But years of being told I was slow, I was a four-eyes, a swot, Wacko Jacko, a child molester, a faggot, puff, homo and a million other things really hit me.  In fact – I didn’t realise how much until I typed this – I’m getting a bit emotional now and so I’m sorry if this is a bit disjointed, but I’m going to carry on.

I’m 30 years old now.  Sometimes people say something to me in the street about my sexuality.  I am a bit of a stereotype sometimes!  But do you know what?  It doesn’t hurt any more.  That’s because I have friends who care for me because of who I am, what I am and what I offer them.  I am a friend, a partner, a step-parent, work colleague, agony aunt and tweeter.  

I am more than the nothing my father said I would be, and I’m more than the joke that the school bullies once picked on.

I am Ethan Kristopher-Hartley.  I was bullied and came out of it the other side better, stronger and more aware of everything that made me.  And you can too.

128x128_bloggingforacause1 

This is why I support @BullyingUK – and why you should too.  Take a couple of seconds to vote to win them some advertising on the sides of buses from Up Everyone’s Street.  Visit their website at Bullying.co.uk and donate to them as well.  And if you’re a blogger you have 4 days left to help them in the Blogging for a Cause campaign. 

This blog post is part of Zemanta’s “Blogging For a Cause” campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.
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#babyphotos

23/05/2009 — efan78

FizzyDuck OK, @FizzyDuck got me thinking with photos like this one.  How would people like to play the “Who’s child/baby photo is this?” game?

Of course I’d need to get a prize of some sort, so the question is – what would be a suitable prize, and – more importantly – would people be up for it?

If there’s enough support then I’ll be happy to run it but it depends entirely on you!  If @BullyingUK are OK with the idea I’d like to tie this in with raising awareness for the great work that they do in supporting children and young people (like we used to be!) through what can be a hugely difficult time.

So, if you’re interested in joining in, or would like to suggest a (sensible) prize please drop me a message on twitter (@efan78), leave a comment here on the blog, or email the special address: photo@efan78.com!

 

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#Eurovision, thank you twitter!

17/05/2009 — efan78

eurovision-2009_logo

So, that’s it.  Another year over with congratulations to Norway with their entry Alexander Rybek, and (if you believe the way the results were reported this morning) the UK were shat on from a great height again.  But you see, I don’t agree with this idea.  I don’t think that Jade should have won just because the song was written by Andrew Lloyd-Webber.  In fact I think that’s probably why I don’t think that It’s My Time was a Eurovision hit.  You see it’s just too much like a song from a show.  It reminds me of With One Look or Tell Me On a Sunday.

That’s no bad thing, it managed to get lots of votes, and the Europe-wide campaign that Jade and Andrew did certainly seems to have helped so well done to them, douze points for effort!

But that wasn’t the point of this post, you see this year I decided to spend the evening at home.  Andy was in from work and (because he was up early in the morning) wasn’t going out so I stayed in with him.  Now Andy’s one of the type that I hate when it comes to Eurovision – You know who you are!  You sit there and spit vitriolic bile all through the run up.  You see someone who enjoys the show and understands that the comedic put downs are meant to be just that, comedic, and you decide to deride them.  And no, “Eurovision’s shit hur hur hur!” is not a comic comment, and “You must be really sad wanting to watch that” doesn’t count as witty banter.

I don’t like football, planting myself in front of the TV for 90 mins (plus breaks) every week, sometimes 2 or 3 times a week doesn’t interest me.  22 men running round a garden, kicking a bag of wind and earning enough each year to pay the staffing costs for my whole department makes me more angry than excited.  But I know what the football fans are feeling, you see I am a Eurovision fan.

For one week of every year I know that a spectacle is being finalised.  I know that Europe-wide (and in Israel & Azerbaijan too) acts are preparing, votes are being cast, sequins are being sewn and the wheels of the ESC roll on in preperation for that week.  I know that, for that week, I will have 7 or 8 hours of TV that I will enjoy.  Yes, even the songs I don’t like I can still enjoy because I can let lose my inner bitch.

So, this year I was at home instead of the party that I wanted to go to, with a partner who openly scorns the show in public and yet avidly watches it when in the house with me.  What can I do?  Last year I was able to have a text conversation with one of my friends, but too much of that was spent explaining the rules, why don’t they read out all the scores?  Why aren’t Ireland in it anymore?  What, there are semi finals now?  And so on. 

twitter-logo-birdBut this year was different, I’d seen people watching Britain’s Got Talent using the hashtag #BGT and I’d tweeted through the semis using #Eurovision (which was what others were using it seemed via the trending topics) so I set myself up a few tabs (one with a Eurovision search, one with a search set for @ThoroughlyGood who I’d been tweeting with earlier and who was a great host! and one for my own @replies) and sat down to enjoy.

And do you know what?  It was great fun!  I tweeted at people, I was DM’d, I made sweeping statements and got feedback instantly, I saw other people’s comments and answered back.  It was just like being at a Eurovision party with all my friends, except I didn’t need to dress up or have to find my way home at silly o’clock in the morning.

So, thank you to all the people that joined in with the twitter Eurovision party, and I’m looking forward to doing it all over again for Oslo 2010!

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I am not a number!

15/04/2009 — efan78

i-am-not-a-number-logo
So, Ashton Kutcher and CNN have decided to compete for followers. Am I the only person who’s offended by the fact that two of the largest names on twitter have decided to have a pissing contest and use the number of people who want to hear what they have to say as a marker?It can be difficult enough to explain twitter to some people (see my last post about this) and this concept of followers and following’s purely as a scoreboard just rankles me. As I said in that last post, twitter is a truly social concept. It depends on people saying something interesting or fun as well as the retweet and the @reply. Those numbers, whether they be 1, 100 or 1 million aren’t numbers, each and every one of them is a person and each and every one deserves respect.

I’ll admit, I started following @StephenFry when I came onto twitter, and I still do. Not because I expect him to notice me or even be interested in a word I have to say, but because I’m interested in what he has to say. I also follow @DaveGorman and completely agree with him about people who follow thousands of others.

But the thing is that I’m just so annoyed by this that I can’t even explain why.  This competition just seems to have cheapened twitter, just as it starts to come of age. So I ask you, are you a number, or are you a free (wo)man?

(Oh, and I know it’s an awful attempt – I’m not a graphic designer or artist or anything, and it was all done in Paint, but if you want a copy of the Logo head over to Flickr.)

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