Info and forum posts by 'MadPom'

This user hasn't used our main site yet, so has no main account at present.

Joined on: Monday, 2nd April 2001, 17:37, Last used: Saturday, 26th August 2006, 07:56

Access Level: Mostly Harmless

About this user: This user has chosen not to submit a description :(

This user has posted a total of 48 messages. On average, since joining, this user has posted 0.01 messages a day, or 0.04 messages a week. In the last 30 days, this user has posted 0 messages, which is on average 0 messages a day.

Recent Messages Posted:

RE: Wizbit abuse

I would have said it was an April Fool but it was posted 30th Apr 2004. Surely it can`t be real....can it?!?!?!

RE: Car insurance question

Since turning 25 Direct Line have included Business use and 3rd party cover in other people`s cars as standard. They`ve always given me quotes as I have good NCD and a clean licence - they generally only want the easy business however so if you have any points or accidents you may want to look elsewhere. Every insurer tends to favour a particular group, it really is a case of trying every single one every year. A pain I know but well worth it!

RE: Meeting Intermawebby people!

Many many moons ago I flew to Oz to meet a girl I`d got chatting with (had been chatting with her for over a year and it made for a cheap holiday!) Anyway we hit it off and had a (difficult) long distant relationship for two years after that.

RE: Advice Please! Car Audio Boffins needed

Your head unit is only capable of 4x18w RMS and the sub is rated at 600W. The head unit will drive it, but don`t expect it to be very loud or powerful. Consider a separate amp so that the sub "compliments" the 4 channels rather than replacing 2 of them! As a general guide, the speakers must be capable of a higher output (measured in Watts) than the Amp driving them. Also be careful on the exact measure of Watts - some use RMS (which is the most accurate) and some manufactures quote in PMPO (approx 4xRMS) to try and make their kit seem "better".

Hope this helps!
Rob

RE: Theiving B*****ds

Did you buy it on a credit card? If so they should offer insurance if you fail in your claim against PC World. Have you ever tried opening a parcel to check it before signing? The delivery drivers get seriously shirty!

Rob

RE: How many reviewer members do we have?

I just want the world to know I`m here...... Hello world!

:-)

Rob

RE: POLL: Should the British DNA database be compulsory?

There are several problems with the government keeping everyone`s DNA on record :-

Security - all it takes is one person to compromise the system and they have access to everyone`s DNA, and therefore render the entire idea of ID cards utterly pointless.

Cloning - It may sound very futuristic, but let`s just say in 30 years time scientists find a way to use recorded DNA samples to "program" a foetus - someone could be cloned with no knowledge whatsoever. I realise it sounds far fetched, but we just cannot predict what will be possible in the future!

Corruption - We are told that the chances of DNA evidence being incorrect are odds of many millions to one, so what if a corrupt official was to deliberately mis-match DNA evidence, or worse still "plant" evidence from the database (again potentially futuristic)?

SO am I a paranoid looney or do I have a point?
Rob

RE: Outsourcing part 2 Asda are at it again.

Surely there are enough McD`s knocking around by now... I can`t say I`ve ever eaten at a supermarket cafe but they can`t be any worse than a McD`s! This is potentially going to take child-parent pester-power to new levels. Forget the sweets and bars of chocolate next to the till when you can have a happy meal! :o

Just a thought - it could create a customer service "vortex" or other weird (made-up) phenomena by putting a firm with atrocious customer service inside a store with (in my experience) really good customer service... :/

RE: Problems with Screen Select

My experience was pretty much the same of SS. I was on the 3 disc/£15 package and most of the time I found it was 4-5 days between them receiving a disc back and me receiving a new one. I tested the return postage by sending one or two recorded. It was always received next day by them! Generally I received one title from my top 10 every 2-3 months.

Before SS took over I was actually a customer of MailBoxMovies and their service was fantastic. It used to alternate between one in my top 10 and one outside and delivery was very fast.

Before that I was with LoveFilm - all I can say about them is avoid! I never saw anything in my top 20, delivery was slow (if I posted a disc back on a Tuesday they only acknowledged receipt on a Saturday and despatched Monday). Their customer service was woeful - a disc went missing (the first and only time it happened to me) and it took three months before they finally responded to my report - by which time I had already decided to leave.

A further 3 months later I received a Royal Mail claim form for LoveFilm, and the wording did make me laugh - the missing disc was "Angry Kid Season 1" and the Royal Mail letter read something like...
"Dear Customer. We are currently investigating the loss of a mail item, notably an angry kid. Can you please......" :D

Rob

RE: Sunday trading to remain the same what are your views?

I can`t believe it`s to remain the same! 6 hours, seemingly chosen at random by the stores themselves is just a joke. Of all the large stores near me their opening times vary between 9am-11am to 3-5pm closing. It`s a lottery whether you`re too early or too late for a store.

I appreciate that workers need a break, but we already have laws in place to make sure people don`t have to work Sundays if they don`t want to. Extending Sunday trading hours should help to create more jobs as most staff already work maximum permitted hours, and give the consumer more choice. When I was a student I worked part time weekends at the supermarket, and would`ve killed for a few extra hours on a Sunday - I`m sure my student loan would`ve been paid off a few years ago with that little bit extra cash!

Remember shops are all about profit - and if the customers aren`t there on a Sunday then they won`t open whether legally entitled to or not.

Rob

RE: HEATWAVE!!! Noooooooooooooooooo!

I hate the heat as well - yesterday I just cowered in the living room with the AC unit running overtime. I like nice dry days, just don`t like the heat! :-(

RE: The Doctor is back at last!

Personally I felt the episode was a bit slow on pace - I was just willing something to happen. The second part is probably going to fly-by in a proper action-fest (or at least I hope so!) but it just feels like The Matrix 2+3 - the first part is just a bit of padding to build up to the "excitement". I think it would have worked better as just one long 90minute finale with the Torchwood intro/cybermen buildup lasting just 20mins instead of 45!

Overall the episode wasn`t bad, and clearly Rose leaving the show is the reason why virtually every episode has explored the emotional relationship between Rose and the Doctor, and how he would feel if anything happened to her. Also the Torchwood references were a bit overplayed - though after "Bad Wolf" last year I s`pose we were watching out for something.

I wasn`t impressed by the Eastenders skit - though I cannot stand soaps so that might be why! :/

The missus and I managed to suss out that the Daleks were in the Sphere, but only a min or two before it was revealed. It does leave us with an interesting finale - The Dr vs The Daleks vs The Cybermen....

RE: Trojan horses :(

At lot depends on the name of the trojan and how it infects your system rather than the filenames in particular. A lot of viruses modify existing files and "attach" themselves to legitimate files. If this is the first day your virus scanner has found the infection and you run it every day, then unless your AV definitions have just been updated you should be fairly safe.

Course of action is to make sure the infected files are cleaned if possible, or deleted otherwise. Then perform multiple scans until your system is confirmed clean. Then, just to be on the safe side, change all the passwords for websites, system accounts etc that you have used in recent days.

Hope this helps
Rob

RE: Anyone with a Sony-Ericsson W810i?

Cheers for the advice! Decided to take the plunge and get one. It arrived today and having spent the last couple of hours playing it does seem pretty decent. My thumbs are a bit sore actually from messing about, especially from the navigation pad. Keys are not as noisy as all the shop demo ones I`ve played with so I`m pleased about that. Also bluetooth seems quite stable (compared to a K750i I had to return last year) but have managed to crash it once!

Rob

RE: Bully gets his comeuppance!

Cracking video! Whish more bullies got sorted out this way. I just hope no charges were pressed against the bloke who sorted him out that`s all! Knowing the way the law is going in this country....

It does remind me of the time I was being bullied at school, one day I just snapped, turned round and grabbed my persecutor by the lapels, picked him up and slammed him backwards into a wall! He didn`t know what had hit him.....just my luck the headmaster came along at that point... :(

RE: local air pressure

Got to the BBC and enter their postcode. This will bring up the weather forecast for their area and also give the pressure reading (in mB) from the nearest weather recording station. That`s about as good as you`ll get unless there are other local enthusiasts!

Rob

RE: Auto restart after update download - how do you turn it off?

Glad to be of service! :B

RE: Anyone else subject to a `fair user policy`? (tiscali based thread)

Quote:
My direct debit will be cancelled and you will no
longer be obliged to provide me with a service.

Be careful as one of two things can happen
- if you still owe them money they can refuse to lift the "Flag" on your BT phoneline that you have ADSL - this will make it impossible to connect to another ISP
- If they disconnect ADSL you may end up paying a new connection charge to have ADSL re-enabled on your line, which is something like £50

Rob

RE: Auto restart after update download - how do you turn it off?

Follow this link

I assume that is what you are trying to do....It`s not for the faint hearted but it is a good step-by-step guide...

Hope this helps
Rob

RE: The Doctor is back at last!

Here is my one word description for each episode this series...

New Earth - Lackluster
Tooth & Claw - Fantastic
School Reunion - Amazing
Girl in Fireplace - Sentimental
Rise of Cybermen - Exciting
Age of Steel - Cliched
Idiots Lantern - Disappointing
Impossible Planet - Tiring
Satan Pit - Cheap Star Trek (OK OK that`s three words!)
Love & Monsters - Tripe

I think it was a promising start to the series, but it`s just dragged and dragged as it`s gone on, and they seem to be trying to attract as wide an audience as they possibly can.
Rob

RE: Anyone else subject to a `fair user policy`? (tiscali based thread)

No ISP will ever admit openly to applying traffic shaping. They want to sound as attractive as they possibly can to lure in customers without putting anyone off (e.g. "Unlimited Internet only £xxx"), whereas honest ISP`s who openly publish a cap or quota are less likely to generate the business.

Look for wolly terms in FUP`s that state the ISP reserves the right to do anything it likes to maintain it`s service. That`s usually a good clue. Other than that, ask other ISP users their own experiences. Most experienced users can tell if there`s any form of throttling/traffic management going on...

ISP`s I know to apply Traffic Management include Pipex, Ace (Mistral reseller), Eclipse (randomly according to user reports!), Entanet etc etc
Rob

RE: Anyone else subject to a `fair user policy`? (tiscali based thread)

Quote:
100% cap free and no intentions of introducing them.

Sorry don`t want to be a forecaster of doom here but my last two ISP`s have sworn blind they would not introduce caps of any kind when I have contacted them only to introduce them within 2 weeks of my joining! There is great debate over at ADSLGuide at the moment about the sustainability of truly uncapped ADSL connections and the notion is enjoy it whilst it lasts.

The cable companies are in a stronger position than ADSL-based providers dependant on BT`s infrastructure, as BT now charge by the amount of data for most connections meaning ISP`s need to keep usage down!

I have to confess I am a little jealous... no cable company has put the wires in within a few miles of my house! :(

Rob

RE: Anyone clued up on employment law?

Cheers for the advice everyone - my colleague has spoken to a lawer who reckons he has a good case! Watch this space! :o

RE: Handsets on the 3 network.

A mate of mine is desparate for the N80 as well! He told me that a 3 retailler had told him (sorry Chinese Whispers I know) it is due out tomorrow (Mon 19th June). Don`t expect it to be free though - O2 have only just mad it available for £100 minimum.

Hope this helps but remember it`s just what I have "heard" so don`t take it as gospel!

Rob

Anyone with a Sony-Ericsson W810i?

How do you find the phone? I`m quite interested but on the test one I "played" with I found the keys to be quite noisy, and the joystick rather small and fiddly. I currently have an old Nokia 6230 on PAYG but I`m going to need a new contract soon as my usage is about to go up again (new job further from home).

I did have a SE k750i for a week late last year but returned it due to problems with bluetooth (kept hanging, loosing connection to the headset etc). Searching Google reveals this is a common fault, but I haven`t found similar comments about the W810i - does this mean that the W810i is solid as far as bluetooth is concerned?

Thanks in advance for opinions!
Rob

RE: Anyone else subject to a `fair user policy`? (tiscali based thread)

There`s great concern in the industry at the moment over the use of the word "unlimited" when it is completely untrue. A number of people have lobbied both OFCOM and the ASA (advertising Standards Agency) however neither have decided that ISP`s are in breach of any code or regulation. Go figure!

If you look at the ADSLguide forums you will see almost every ISP now limits the amount of traffic through either a hard cap, a "hidden" FUP cap, or traffic management/throttling.

The ISP I joined 6 weeks ago advertised as "no restrictions" and have now just implemented traffic management. The days of truly unlimited connections are sadly over... :(

Rob

RE: Outsourcing - What`s your opinion on the new money saving venture?

At the moment the biggest driving factor for organisations is cost. That is why we are seeing a large number of positions moved across to India, South Africa and other parts of Asia. The labour costs are dramatically lower and with new VoIP technologies the phone calls can cross the world for little or no additional cost.

That said, the quality of support received is dramatically lower. For the most part, English is not their first language and considering the range of dialects within Endland alone, it is no wonder that there are communications issues.

In the long term, I think Powergen`s decision to move back to the UK is indicative of the market as a whole. The ratio between cost savings and lost customer base is quite fine, and if you have no customers left there`s no business!

The simple way to guarantee job security in the IT sector is to become involved on an account that requires security clearance. I currently work for a major outsourcer that supports a military hardware supplier and so whilst a lot of my colleagues are becomming redundant, I am quite safe. However I have just jumped ship to another firm who specialise in government contracts and again security clearance is required!

On the whole it`s an evolution thing for our economy. We started of as farming and manufacturing. That moved abroad and we then started financial and commercial services. Now that is moving abroad we need to move on to the "next big thing"! (Whatever that may be)

Rob

RE: The Doctor is back at last!

Both the missus and I agreed last night`s episode was painful to watch. Yes there were a few gems like the group "bonding" and becomming more musical, but on the whole it felt like we were watching a kids tv show. I wonder if that was deliberate, because the "monsters" were designed by Blue Peter viewers...? :/

On the whole I`ve been rather disappointed by the current series - the Sci-Fi element seems to be slowly evaporating and the programme is becomming more and more like an American tear-jerking soap opera! There`s just a bit too much sentimentality for me. If that`s what I wanted I`d watch a chick flick, but I want Sci-Fi action!

I never thought I`d say this but I`m disappointed that Billie is leaving - she`s a much more credible actress than I ever gave her credit for! Chris Eccleston was a bitter loss - he had a much better range than DT has, although DT can do the quirky element which CE couldn`t.

Sorry - wild gibbering rant over!
Rob

RE: What have you had stolen?

Had the car stereo pinched from my first ever motor. Was well p***ed off cos the stereo was only worth about £50 but the scum did over £250 damage to my car just to get it. Of course being 17 it wasn`t worth claiming off the insurance so I learnt a hard lesson - don`t bother having music in the car! :(

Anyone clued up on employment law?

A colleague at work applied (and was approved) for voluntary redundancy. He received a letter confirming the amount offered and signed his acceptance letter and returned it. He has since been told that the offer is to be withdrawn and he is required to stay at the company. I can`t help but feel if he had accepted then changed his mind and decided to stay the company would not have been quite so willing.

So is the company acting lawfully or not in these circumstances? At what point does my colleague`s signature form a legally binding case of Voluntary Redundancy? I know there are "if`s" and "but`s" relating to the exact wording of the letters but what is general opinion?

Cheers in advance
Rob