Named and shamed: the “unlimited” liars

Friday, March 25th, 2011

For years, fixed and mobile broadband providers have used the term “unlimited” to advertise services that are anything but.

We’ve moaned about it for years, and last month even our normally docile telecoms regulator said the term “unlimited” was being abused.  “There are people offering unlimited packages that contain a fair-use policy that means what you are getting is not unlimited,” said Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards. “If you are claiming unlimited then it needs to be unlimited.”

It seems the industry wasn’t listening. New data tariffs are still being advertised as “unlimited” even when they have specific download caps.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been conducting a review of broadband advertising, but frankly, we’re tired of waiting for this weak-kneed, self-regulating body to get its act together.

So, from now on, whenever we see a new tariff being advertised as “unlimited” when it patently isn’t, we’re going to add it to our blog of shame.

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The iPad 2: looks nice, plays ugly

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

The dust has begun to settle on the announcement of the new iPad 2 and first reaction has generally been positive. Not everyone’s persuaded, however. Darien Graham-Smith’s objection – The iPad 2: yes, but still, what’s it for? – is that it’s still just a cross between a glorified smartphone and cut-down netbook, so what’s the fuss?

Darien’s right: tablets are just another form of existing computers, but I think that they are as revolutionary as Apple claims. In particular I think they will come to provide our main platform for consuming web-based content. Key to this is the tablet’s new, book-like, handheld form factor which allows computers to become truly personal and enables their users to move on from merely browsing content to actively and immersively engaging with it (the activity previously known as “reading”).

Apple, as well as pioneering the tablet format, currently produces the best implementation of it and the iPad 2 will raise the bar even higher. Moreover, by providing a superior system for the same price, end users will clearly be getting more for their money.

However, I won’t be buying an iPad for the foreseeable future. And I don’t think that you should either…

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A letter on behalf of the world’s PC fixers

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

I was going to contribute to Stewart Mitchell’s request for horror stories about computer repair people; then I was completely diverted by a panic phone call from an old friend, which helped me to realise that I was far more of a repairer than a customer of repairers.

That 72 hours of raw-edged panic was quite enough for me to focus on the sins of those who come and ask for help, which can be every bit as difficult as the sins of the fixers. So pardon me while I abuse the Pro blogs to let my friend know how I felt about her approach to the whole sorry matter.

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Sex and online shopping: do women need more protection?

Friday, March 4th, 2011

F-Secure is coming over all chivalrous: the security firm has decided to take us little ladies by the hand, and help the weaker sex manoeuvre the confusing and complicated world of online security.

This support comes in the form of a press release that landed in my inbox, and despite it lacking anything pink or pretty, I actually bothered to read it.  According to a survey by F-Secure and a “research” firm called OnePoll1:

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The iPad 2: yes, but still, what’s it for?

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

I’m disappointed with the iPad 2. It’s not that I was desperately hoping it would have a Thunderbolt connector, or an SD card slot, or any particular feature.

I was just hoping that it would appeal to me, that it would instinctively make sense in a way the original iPad never has.

Because I do want to love the iPad. I’ve lived through enough technological revolutions to know how tremendously exciting and life-changing they can be. Frankly, I’m frustrated at being on the outside of this one.

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Why I’ll be setting the ASA on dodgy online estate agents

Tuesday, March 1st, 2011

I’ve been hunting for a new flat for months now — so long, that no-one around the office even pretends to listen to my various estate agent complaints anymore.

As my search invariably focuses on online listings and websites, the one thing that gets my back up more than anything is adverts for flats that don’t exist or have long since been let, or ads that use photos that aren’t remotely accurate (as in, of entirely different, invariably nicer places).

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Can you trust Google sponsored results?

Friday, February 18th, 2011

It’s a simple question, do you trust Google? My confusing answer is yes and no. Yes, I trust Google to find more relevant information in less time than other search engines. No, I don’t trust Google to filter out all the cons and scams.

Indeed, the level of trust that I associate with Google search declines dramatically when it comes to those results that appear at the top and side of the page, you know, the ones with the very light text saying ‘Ads’ next to them. I cannot recall ever clicking on a ’sponsored search result’ for a couple of very good reasons:

1. The whole point of using Google is to uncover information that has been deemed relevant courtesy of the hugely complex algorithm at the heart of the search engine’s success, and not which has been dropped onto the page simply because someone paid for it to be there.

2. The bad guys have, for as long as I can remember, been using such sponsored results to lure people to their sites and whatever nefarious activity lies within.

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CorelDRAW – a 19-year-old problem transformed

Friday, February 11th, 2011

I’m sure that everyone has the odd infuriating niggle with the software that they use most regularly, but I’m delighted to say that I’ve just found the solution to a problem with CorelDRAW that has been driving me mad for almost 19 years.

That’s how long I’ve been producing a regular quarterly publication based on charts that I tidy up ready for print. Key to this is the ability to resize whole series of elements in the same way. No problem you might think; simply use CorelDRAW’s Transformations palette.

The problem is that this treats the selection as a group. I need to be able to change each object’s scale independently, without changing its positioning, and that’s just not possible automatically. Instead I’ve been forced to apply the transformation to a single object then select all the others in turn (Tab is useful here) and then repeat the last command (Ctrl+R). Trust me, after a hundred or so times, the attraction soon fades.

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Deck.ly: the TweetDeck update that breaks Twitter

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Twitter. Some people love it, some people don’t see the point. Others, like me, don’t see the point, make a song and dance about deleting their account, then sheepishly create a new one months later and admit that everyone else was right. Not my problem, Twitter must have got better in the interim.

But I think we can all agree that Twitter’s appeal lies in its short and sweet format. The 140-character limit is what makes “following” someone so appealing: it keeps things snappy, streamlined and often surprisingly creative. Even the most interesting Twitter user will post tweets that aren’t for you; the key is that every tweet is short and sweet and as easily skippable as any other.

At least it was, until a light bulb pinged on above the head of some bright spark at TweetDeck. Yes, its new deck.ly feature lets you keep typing beyond that 140th character. Instead of a warning red – you’re droning on… – you get an encouraging green: keep typing, you really are fascinating! (more…)

The only foolproof internet filter

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

I feel bad for Ed Vaizey. First he didn’t support net neutrality, then he decided he did, to the cat-calls of the geek community. Now he’s been tasked by the Conservatives to pick off some of the ripest low-hanging fruit: child safety.

Everyone likes children; everyone hates things that aren’t safe for children. Not so much low-hanging fruit, in fact, but pre-picked, washed and packaged fruit. An open goal.

Better yet, he’s taking on the internet. Give the tabloids a choice between putting a child in a room with an annoyed Rottweiler or a room with an internet-connected computer, and the child will be attempting to disengage its arms from Fido’s jaws before you can say ISDN.

It’s Safer Internet Day today, which means we get to watch ministers wring their hands over the FILTH our kids are watching online. We also get to watch this patently absurd video which, I guess, tries to get across a point about cyber-bullying through the medium of 90s Euro house music and teleporting teenagers.

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