COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[Tizer]

We haven't had that problem but we did have trouble with the last, recent full linux update. My PC accepted it with no problems but Mrs Tiz's PC (identical hardware and essentially identical programmes) threw a wobbly when it was restarted. The X server (display) didn't work and the PC defaulted into the safe mode. I had to uninstall the new linux update and run it on the previous version. That worked OK and the display was back to normal - but I'll have to check and see which version it's now on, whether it's still on the previous or in the meantime has received the new one. I remember some years ago when an Ubuntu update wrecked everyone's X server set-up and they had to put out a new one very quickly! (But once in several years isn't a bad record, really.)

[Stanley]

The amazing thing is how well the really radical updates function. Should I have a back-up disc to reboot if everything goes pear-shaped?
I'm getting fed up with Orange. I'm considering a new provider. Is Talk Talk as good as they say?

[Tizer]

Try Plusnet, based in Sheffield. Have a look at this comparison of Plusnet (yellow column) with Orange, Talk Talk and BT...
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compa ... it=Compare

This page shows Plusnet details on the same site...
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/plusnet.html

[PanBiker]

Talk Talk have their own kit at the Barlick exchange which gives me my 17Mbps service on the Croft. Talk Talk of course took over from Tiscali who originally installed the equipment. Only had one occassion to contact them about my broadband which was a line fault anyway and sorted by BT after instigation by Talk Talk. The customer service was exempliary when I had to use it as soon as you got past the script readers. This is common to all support lines I suppose. I have my broadband and telephone calls through them and have no cause for complaint.

[Stanley]

I suppose my concern is that if Talk Talk went down the same route as Orange I'd be back at square one..... Tiz, Plusnet don't show a good speed in Barlick.

[Pluggy]

The amazing thing is how well the really radical updates function. Should I have a back-up disc to reboot if everything goes pear-shaped?
I'm getting fed up with Orange. I'm considering a new provider. Is Talk Talk as good as they say?

You can download an image to burn an Installation CD for Ubuntu 10.04 here :

http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/

You want the "PC (Intel x86) desktop CD" "64-bit PC (AMD64) desktop CD version". Its a standard .ISO file. Ubuntu knows how to handle them as default.

Going to Ubuntu's main site gives you the current version (12.04).

http://www.ubuntu.com

I'm staying Orange, Being £7 or £8 a month cheaper than anyone else's short term offers has a strange pull....... Even if I am stuck on 8Mb/s and have a screwy second line system to make calls.

Have you got your old speeds back yet ?. Barlick is now officially 21CN.

[Big Kev]

WHen Orange "improved" the service, and put us on 8mbs ipstream, they said the 20mbs service would be restored on the Barlick exchange was 21cn. I have emailed, told them it is and asked for timescales.

[Callunna]

I’ve been relatively happy with TalkTalk but wouldn’t go so far as to recommend them - or any provider for that matter - because it only takes one blip for it all to go pear-shaped and I end up with egg on my face. Which as culinary experiences go, is not pleasant.

However, the TalkTalk speeds are more than adequate and for £29 pm I get a landline and unlimited anytime calls, unlimited broadband, calls to 10 selected mobiles included, and an HD recorder box thingy (like Sky+ but not Sky+) with access to loads of films and TV programmes which I can pause & rewind ... and it serves snacks and ice creams in the interval. OK, not the last bit. I have to pay £50 for an engineer to come and deliver/install it, but I reckon that’s fair enough.

[Pluggy]

Does the telly come over broadband or freeview ? or both ?

Barlicks crippled freeview isn't much to write home about.

[Callunna]

Does the telly come over broadband or freeview ? or both ?

It squeezes in through the aerial, apparently. They’re calling it a YouView box. YouTube meets Freeview, I suppose?
It’s not being installed till 15 October so until we get it and I see it working I wouldn’t dare recommend it in case it’s a pile of pants.
However, the other stuff (phone & broadband) has been relatively fine up to now. (Famous last words?)
Forgot to mention we also get voicemail (1571), and caller display thrown in free. And internet security, but I haven’t worked that one out yet.
Anybody would think I was a TalkTalk salesperson - I’m definitely not!

[Tizer]

How strange, you'd think those so so clever marketing noddies would have called these things uVu and FreeVu and then they could have had fun selling products such as uVu 4u and FreeVu 2u. And then they'd have got an email from Catgate congratulating them on selling ess aich one tee.

[Big Kev]

Does the telly come over broadband or freeview ? or both ?

It squeezes in through the aerial, apparently.

I'd be asking them what channels they're guaranteeing, if it's coming down the aerial it'll be the limited Freeview offering from the West Marton transmitter. Not aware of when they're adding any more transponders.

[Callunna]

Not mithered about the TV channels - I already get Freeview and the free Sky channels. What I like is the fact that I’m getting an HD box which will pause live telly and record it, along with having access to loads of films and whole TV series etc (eg every episode of Lost, though I wouldn’t particularly want to sit through them all).
At 50 quid installed I reckon that’s not too bad a bargain. I’m not a great TV watcher and I can happily live without Sports etc. For an extra fiver a month I can have more channels such as Discovery and National Geographic but I’m waiting to see whether I actually need them.

[Stanley]

Thanks for that link Pluggy, I shall burn one later today.
Kev, thanks for mailing Orange, I have been on the verge of doing the same thing of late. Come to think I shall still do it. (mail sent)
I know I can get a cheaper service if I change provider but have this antipathy towards change. If it isn't broke, don't fix it! However, Orange haven't treated us well. I'm still on less than 6mps.
I think I had the first Freesat box installed in Barlick and will stick with it until something breaks and I have to make a change. It has served me well and does all I want it to.

[Big Kev]

This appears to be genuine, I have been unable to find anywhere to say otherwise. If it turns out to be another scaremongering exercise I apologise for wasting your time.

Cheers, Kev

Beware any emails which claim to come from privacy@microsoft.com - it could be that you're being targeted in an attack designed to steal your AOL, Gmail, Yahoo or Windows Live password.

At first glance, if you don't look too carefully, the emails entitled "Microsoft Windows Update" may appear harmless enough. But the grammatical errors and occasional odd language should raise alarms bells that the emails may not really be from Microsoft.

Dear Windows User,
It has come to our attention that your Microsoft windows Installation records are out of date. Every Windows installation has to be tied to an email account for daily update.

This requires you to verify the Email Account. Failure to verify your records will result in account suspension. Click on the Verify button below and enter your login information on the following page to confirm your records.

VERIFY

Thank you,

Microsoft Windows Team.

If you do make the mistake of clicking on the link you are taken to a third party website (not the real Microsoft.com), where you are warned that your computer is at high risk and told to choose between logging in via Gmail, Windows Live, Yahoo or AOL.

[Stanley]

I only get the cold calls aimed at the same result, getting login information out of you. Had one yesterday, Told him he was a thief and hung up. Such a waste of my time but they must find it worthwhile.... Question is what do they do with the confidential information. Sell it on?

[Tizer]

Kev, it could be a sort of double bluff, hoping that people won't read it carefully and will simply see the word VERIFY and click it. Some people can't resist clicking every link they see. Have a look at the source code of the message and see if the word VERIFY is a live link or simply text. The scam emails are beginning to come from much cleverer people these days.

Stanley, they can sell it on forums which exist for people like themselves. Did you hear the discussion on Paul Lewis's Money Box programme about companies, especially banks, now using synthesised voice messages to contact customers to check if their account has been defrauded? Paul was getting agitated about the customer not be able to tell if the sender of the automated message (which asks for personal details) was authentic. But exactly the same applies to `human' calls from banks and insurance companies. They can only be authenticated if the caller first states the customer's password or PIN code but instead they want it the other way around - for you to give them your password or PIN. I'm sure these companies don't really understand security - its' a mind-boggling thought! (But then the head of online security at one of the big banks has just been prosecuted for defrauding the bank of millions of pounds.)

[Whyperion]

I wouldnt trust any email even if it did come from microsoft. (problem is other household users would do)

[Pluggy]

Windows update being tied to an email address is pure hokum. You only get email from Microsoft if you're on one of their paid services and then its got your name in it. Windows update is pretty anonymous, if Micosoft believe its a legit paid for copy of Windows, you get the updates - they don't care who it is, they'll flag your IP address, but that doesn't lead to you or your email address without a court order and your ISP disclosing the details.

[Big Kev]

WHen Orange "improved" the service, and put us on 8mbs ipstream, they said the 20mbs service would be restored on the Barlick exchange was 21cn. I have emailed, told them it is and asked for timescales.

Had a response from Orange today, fairly non-commital

Thank you for your email.

We are working towards installing our superfast broadband service for
all our customers.

Once a broadband exchange has been installed with the equipment to run
the superfast broadband service we will run trials and customers will be
informed as soon as it becomes available.

Owing to this we are unable to give any specific information however you
will be informed as soon as the service is available to you.

[Stanley]

Kev. The reply to my mail said that I needed to get the tech support to check my installation. I pointed out to them that we didn't need a diagnosis, just connection via the BT equipment. So you got more sense than I did.

[Tizer]

Remember I said Mrs Tiz's PC wouldn't fire up properly after the last big linux image update (around 18th September)? It would only go into safe mode, so I uninstalled the update and let it run on the previous linux image. It's been OK on that but I was a bit bothered that it might be less secure and she does all the online banking. I thought it might get the update again and be OK. Today I looked and it was still on the old version so I installed the new one again and it still didn't work. I went into the Package Manager and did a `complete removal' this time instead of simply `removal', restarted the PC then re-installed. This time it worked and the PC is now running normally on the latest version. I love the simplicity of Ubuntu!

[Stanley]

Kev, I must be talking to different people. I got mail this morning telling me to ring Tech support at 0844-5738586 (5.1p/min) and ask them to check the speed. If the 16mps is available they will make the change. I shall call them later and see whether it's as simple as that. By the way, we are no longer Orange but EE!
Tiz, if ever I do it I'll get Pluggy in! I wouldn't dare do anything as radical as that!

[Big Kev]

Kev, I must be talking to different people. I got mail this morning telling me to ring Tech support at 0844-5738586 (5.1p/min) and ask them to check the speed. If the 16mps is available they will make the change. I shall call them later and see whether it's as simple as that. By the way, we are no longer Orange but EE!
Tiz, if ever I do it I'll get Pluggy in! I wouldn't dare do anything as radical as that!

I shall email again and ask them to get their story straight

[Tizer]

Tiz, if ever I do it I'll get Pluggy in! I wouldn't dare do anything as radical as that!

It really isn't radical or difficult in Ubuntu, thanks to the Synaptic Package Manager (under System | Administration). It's not me that's clever, but Ubuntu! If I delete the current linux image it just defaults to the previous one which is still sitting there on the hard disk and then carries on as if nothing had happened (this is probably where Pluggy comes in to tell me the terrible things it does to my PC without me knowing!). Anyway, keep using Pluggy then you don't need to take any risks - you've got too much important stuff to do without wrecking your computer.