Ant's FRESH PLASTIC

I've just heard that VOX is closing.  My blog will be no more from the 30th of this month.  There couldn't be better timing.  Anyone that actually reads mine (you could probably count on one hand) will know that I grew tired of it long ago.  This is the kick up the arse I needed to really start afresh.

I don't think I'll be importing any of my posts into any new blog.  None are so astoundingly superb to warrant that.  But I will have to go through each and everyone to see if there's anything worth keeping locally.

Anyhoo.  It's been fun.  See you after the jump (not literally, it's just something those cool kids at Engadget say).

I don't often talk about the pain I'm in or the knock on effects it has.  I mean, who wants to read that?  And anyway, this isn't what this blog's for.  But my pain, which comes and goes, is the worst it's been in quite a while and it's coming more than going of late.

Having just re-freshed my living room (again), and because I did so partly with pain management in mind, I figured I may as well blog about it as it involves some fairly fresh plastic.  And, who knows, it may prove useful for someone else in a similar boat.

I've always used games and gadgets to help take my mind off things - be it California Games' BMXing on the Atari Lynx in hospital as a kid, to Dr Kawashima training my brain on the DS at lunchtime today as an old person.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that distractions are good.  In fact, they probably do a better job than painkillers a lot of the time.  Add those, big cushions and a comfy chair and, well, it can work wonders.

You may have seen a previous post where I repurposed an old 32" LCD TV as a computer monitor - having a three screen setup on the dining table/desk.  It was all well and good but a little OTT.  So now it's joined the 42" Samsung.  More on that a little later.

My Digital Distractions... from above

Convergence, Convergence, Convergence

When I feel good, my mini office is great.  An old physio of mine would be proud that I was sitting upright on my dining chairs, 'cos we can't have slouching, can we?

When I'm in pain though, it's the last place I want to be.  So here's the clever part...

I'm currently not using my laptop's own screen.  Yes, I've gone from 3 screens down to 1.  I'm now only using my Samsung LD190 at my desk.  And, as it has the exact same resolution as my 32" Mirai, I've mirrored it.  So, when I'm not feeling my best, I grab my wireless keyboard and mouse, walk around to the other side, grab a few cushion and crash out on my nice, comfy, reclining swivel chair.

Ultimate distractions

By the way - I hope you like my handiwork, that's two TV trolleys bodged together as one and turned back to front.  They really should get me on one of those home makeover shows, I'm a genius at such things.

And finally, a look from deep inside and my awesome cable management skills.  Oh yeah, and a repurposed bedside table that was being thrown out.  Waste not, want not.

Cable and wire-mess

Cable management - AKA The 'Snakes'

Rear view. Or front view. Depends how you look at it.

Actually it could be round 3, 4, 5 or whatever - I have no idea, it's just a random number I pulled out of my Derry Airport.

With Bing, Microsoft always seems to be playing a game of catchup with Google - both in terms of technology and users.  Having just seen a couple of demos of Bing's StreetSide I think Microsoft are now street's ahead (don't excuse the pun, I know you like it!)

StreetSide features smoother transitions, a more immersive experience and, using a stitch-up of numerous side shots, a street-side view (hence the name, I guess).  My God, I sound like a walking, talking press release - but that just came out of my head - so it did.

From this video it would appear that Microsoft are using Google's Street View vans as well as their own lasers.  Yes, lasers!  They've been firing them at people's walls apparently.  I'm sure this is perfectly safe and not as scary as it first sounds.  Saying that, I expect quite a few horror stories adorning certain British tabloids - if they get hold of this.  No doubt the Daily Mail will proclaim the lasers give people cancer, are an invasion of our privacy or, somehow, help illegal immigrants enter the country.

And here's a bit of an update...

And finally...

It's been a while since I last bothered to actually use Bing Maps.  Google are the ones I always turn to for my mapping needs.  The only thing I've liked over the latter is their aerial views.  Anyway, I had another look at Bing today and they now have Ordnance Survey maps.  Not sure how long they've been available but they're are a nice, handy addition for UK users - especially for hikers and others who like to go off the beaten track.

OS maps on Bing

Despite this recession we're having, people still throw away perfectly good items or leave them in cupboards gathering dust.  I don't like doing either - I try to find new uses for old things and making the most of what I've already got...

Repurposed table and telly (and sofa)

My dining table's pretty rock solid - which is more than can be said for the chairs that came with it.  Grrr Homebase!  After months of shouting 'don't sit down' to unwary visitors I was faced with the prospect of fixing or replacing them.  Screw that, I thought, both options are too costly.  But what good's a dining table without chairs?

After a little thought I considered chopping the legs down to make a giant coffee table.  After a lot of thought I considered a much better option... cannibalism.

The four broken chairs were broken in four different ways.  With a bit of a rejig I could have two perfectly good chairs.  So that's what I did.  This, however, posed a new problem.  The dining table now seemed overly large for just two.  Well, I thought, I only use it as a computer desk anyway - so let's just make it official!

Flat screens double as radiators - saving on central heating!

You've probably spotted the three screens I have running.  Again, this is making the most of what I've got.  The one on the right is a Samsung LD190G 'Lapfit'.  It cost around £75 which I'd just made from 'recycling' an old phone.  The one in the middle was an unwanted TV.  The laptop both are connected to is far better than my budget allowed - but that's more a lesson in buying refurbished and/or complaining when things go wrong (rather than making the most of what one's got).

This is not exactly a great set-up for PC gamers or anyone wanting to do intensive graphic work (both extra screens are only 720p) but it works for me.  I can watch and edit video, images and surf - which is all that really matters to me (oh yeah, and write overly long blog posts no one reads...)

The coolest thing is the big screen starts where the table stops which is reminiscent of that visual effect found in infinity edge swimming pools.  It's rather weird at first, but now I'm getting used to it.

Cheap wireless keyboard and mouse means my laptop should last a little longer

Because my arms aren't six feet long, the wireless deskset I had lying around has come in rather handy.  And, hopefully, should take some wear and tear off the hands of my laptop (can you see the shiny keys and trackpad?)

The TV also means I don't have to invest in a pair of computer speakers (my laptop's are barely audible at times - I've heard louder feathers!)

And now a view from the other side (without some silly woman called Yvette...)

Spot the 20-year-old tech still going strong!

As you can probably see, there's more furniture being repurposed and/or being pushed to its limits.  There's also some technology that's probably older than some of my blog's visitors, half hidden away.  All looks neat and tidy, doesn't appear too silly or out of place, and didn't require any more overpriced, crappy, flat-packed furniture.

As for the nice shiny plasma - I'd saved up some money for a new bed (mine being on its last legs since the late 90s) and, just as I was about to go out and buy one, I was given a near-new one.  Gratis.  This, of course, gave me the opportunity to repurpose the contents of 'piggy' for something far more important!

Incidentally, this Samsung (yep, another Samsung - I fell in love with their screens with the i8910 their PR gave me) isn't full HD yet it looks stunning.  It won't ever make for a good computer monitor though as the pixels are the wrong shape/horizontal resolution's too low.  Works great with HD sources such as Xbox 360 though.  Anyway, more on that in another post

After hiring a tonne of specialists and experts in their respective fields, it came to my attention that my blog was a pile of crap and needed a serious overhaul. (Bugger, I knew that already - that's ten grand down the drain!)

So here I am, relaunching. A re-Fresh, if you will.

All my posts will be shorter, snappier and more focused. Oh, and hopefully funny.

If you're one of my international visitors, sorry - this post probably isn't of much relevance to you and I can't be bothered explaining it.   Anyhoo..

ITV are now blaming French company Technicolor for the technical problems that plagued ITV HD on Saturday night.  'Some problems' - as one of their presenters so eloquently put it - included missing England's one and only intended goal in the team's first World Cup match, then showing the rest in standard definition.

A funny thing was rival broadcaster, Sky, reporting the events with such relish and making a similar, but less public, mistake.  I only caught it as I couldn't sleep.  Check this out for your daily recommended amount of irony (and read my previous post on their messing up of the Lost finale).

Looks like Gordon Brown isn't the first person to have been caught out by Sky News.  In his case it was a Frank Drebin-style opps-I've-left-my-radio-mic-on situation.  In the case of these news anchors - they didn't know they were live on air...

The following is from Mike over at The Scream forums.  He's @Schroedinger99 on Twitter, and well worth a follow.

Quick backgrounder, Simon Bates is Director of Standards and Communications at premium rate services regulator PhonepayPlus and is responsible for their Phonebrain, let's-get-kids-using-premium-services-whilst-pretending-to-be-teaching-them-of-the-dangers-involved initiatve.

As I'm very busy at the moment, this is an as-is quote with no additional background info, links and maybe even nice pictures.  I will flesh it out in the next few days.

'This gem from Simon Bates 50 minutes in:

You & Yours

"We're all part of the same thing"

Never a truer word spoken Simon!

As usual, none of his claims were properly challenged by the journalists. You'd think they might do some research before inviting people like this on.

Simon also repeats the standard made-up-on-the-spot "statistic" that 99% of premium rate is honest.

This would have been a good time to ask Simon:

Well if there's a 99% honesty rate, perhaps you could provided us with a list of the 99% of dialler firms who applied for (& were granted) prior permission to run an honest dialler service after PhonepayPlus tightened up the rules on diallers. (remember, diallers were never actually banned).

And then you could provided us with a list of the 99% of websites advertising "free" ringtones that actually provide free ringtones.

And/or, if these examples are too specific, you could provided us with a list of the 99% of service providers (of any "services") who never team up with crooked content providers to scam the public.

In response to a question from a lady who had had over £60 stolen from her phone credit and tried, and failed, to get it back, Simon B was very apologetic. I'm not sure why. They was nothing in the slightest bit unusual about her case.

Anyone who is the victim of premium rate fraud or theft, will typically go the the network in the first instance. The network will typically put the victim in touch with PhonepayPlus. PhonepayPlus will typically put the victim in touch with the service provider and the service provider will typically put the victim in touch with the content provider. The content provider will typically be difficult or impossible to contact.

That's how the system works!

If the victim is lucky, PhonepayPlus may also lauch their own investigation (or they may simply refuse to help as here). This investigation will supposedly take about 12 weeks - though every investigation I've followed has taken 6 months or longer. At the end of the investigation, PhonepayPlus may fine the firm some of the money they have made and may (and often do - in spite of their claims to the contrary) order refunds. But this time the content provider may well have disappeared, and the victim will have to chase the service provider for a refund.

Again, that's how the system works. PhonepayPlus refuse point blank to change the system to stop it working like this or to discuss any alternatives.

Again, I'm mystified by Simon's response.

So this might have been a good time for the You & Yours team to ask Simon some more questions:

1) Why won't PP+(& Ofcom) force the networks to allow us to simply opt out of ALL PRS (including reverse charge SMS) when we take out a mobile phone contract - especially when we take out a phone contract for a child?

2) Why won't PP+(& Ofcom) force the networks to identify items on bill using the relevant phone-number (which points to the service provider) rather than (for eg) 7000 prefix numbers (used by Virgin and T-Mobile)?

3) Why won't PP+ force service providers to use a robust and verifiable mechanism for singing "customers" up to ALL reverse charge SMS? If a firm wants to charge me for a "service", they should be required to prove (using electronic records) that I requested that service.

4) Why won't PP+(& Ofcom) force the networks to deal with complaints from PRS victims? The networks are the retailers in the "value chain". They supply the "service" and bill the victim for the service. The have reputations to defend. Some networks actually provide premium rate service in house. Most subcontract. If network chooses to subcontract to dodgy firms, that should be their lookout not their customers'. The networks could then make refunds direct to customer accounts instead of victims having to wait for postal-orders sent by snail mail from dubious addresses.

4) Why won't PP+(& Ofcom) seek criminal prosecutions when there is clear evidence of fraud or theft?

I could go on.....

I suppose the most bizarre statement by Simon Bates is the "once bitten twice shy" bit. No Simon, not only will Liz not be going back to your "industry", she never went there in the first place. They came to her.

I no longer blame the crooks, they are just out there trying to make a dishonest living and they continue to do this because they can.

These days I reserve my anger for the "regulators" who could but won't put a stop to these activities.'

As someone that still considers themselves a mobile blogger, even if it's only a small part of what I write about now, it does me no favours pointing out the industry's faults.  It's a very small, very connected world - and stepping on even one person's toes can lead to some serious fallout.

No matter, sometimes things have to be said regardless.  If you're a regular reader you'll know I've got a beef with the premium rate industry in Britain and you'll know it's for good reason.  The whole 'value chain' is involved in ripping off British consumers, including the industry regulator itself.  You don't even need to be a muppet that uses premium rate to have money stolen from your PAYG or contract account, but it helps!

Simply owning a mobile phone is enough for the premium rate industry to skim money from you.  You don't need to sign up for anything, vote by text for anything, download a crummy ringtone or anything.  No.  Just by having a mobile, a premium rate company can take your money from you and there's not a whole load you can do about it.

Neither Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile, Orange nor 3 will help you out if your phone's skimmed.  They won't give you your money back - and they actually get to keep a cut of the money from the skimmer.  PhonepayPlus, the stupidly named regulator, is as useful as a chocolate teapot.  They won't really help you either, no surprise there as it's a self-regulating industry.  Their role is to regulate the market yet, in reality, they are the cheerleaders of the industry.  They even go as far as promoting the use of premium rate services to children.  Yes, children!

This has seriously been winding me up for a while, but even more so in the last couple of weeks.  I'm not alone though, so over to Mike @Schroedinger99 who is equally peeved as I.  He's kindly let me repost a forum message of his and it'll be in the next post...