tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29452714487001358602024-03-05T12:37:40.040+00:00speedyriteblogMy experiences with technologyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-13556239919119630532016-02-14T14:53:00.000+00:002016-02-14T14:55:56.844+00:00"One Box to View Them All"<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The speedyrite award for "One Box to View Them All" goes to:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u><b>Roku 2 Streaming Media Player (4205E) with Faster Processor (2015 model)</b></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The 2nd generation NOW TV box is a cut-down version of a Roku 2. But the Roku 2 is better because it is better featured.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Managed to pick up a Roku 2 recently on Amazon UK for £49 (versus the normal price of about £70).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Apps are available for all the main UK catch-up & on demand services:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">BBC iPlayer</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">itv Hub</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All 4</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Demand 5</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Also installed a couple of apps that provide access to TVCatchup and TVPlayer (effectively legitimately streaming Freeview channels over the internet), found courtesy of </span><a href="http://blog.artesea.co.uk/2016/01/tvplayer-on-roku-or-now-tv.html"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">http://blog.artesea.co.uk/2016/01/tvplayer-on-roku-or-now-tv.html</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are also apps for all the popular streaming services:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">NOW TV</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Netflix</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Amazon Video</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Google Play Movies & TV</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">YouTube</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Installing the PLEX app has enabled streaming of content from a local iTunes library on a computer that also has the PLEX server app installed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Flixster app provides access to a small number of movies purchased on DVD in the past that came with an Ultra-Violet copy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Radio is well served by the tunein radio app.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Finally, the Roku 2 has a USB port. So you can plug in a USB drive and access content from it via the Roku Media Player app.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So the NOW TV 2nd generation box, acquired a couple of months ago for £19 (together with a 6 month NOW TV Entertainment pass) from Amazon UK, has been replaced by the Roku 2.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What's not to like about Roku 2?!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-60626433905670640372016-01-05T09:19:00.003+00:002016-01-05T09:20:29.387+00:00Happy New Year & New TV Provider<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Sky TV subscription ended overnight.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last night, we finished viewing the last few recordings and downloads that were still on the remaining Sky+HD set-top box.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today's tasks are to disconnect and remove the Sky+HD from the "TV & LAN infrastructure" and pack it away. Will also attempt to rationalise and untangle the <strike>mass</strike> mess(!) of cables behind the cupboard whilst scrabbling about around the back.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Humax BT Youview+ DTR-T2110 has been handling recordings from Freeview channels since before Christmas, in parallel with mainly downloads from Sky Catch-Up/On Demand (supplemented with the odd recording).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over the same period, the </span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">TV (2nd Generation) has streamed NOW TV Movies, Netflix and some movies from our collection in iTunes on the Mac mini. Planning to replace it with the new </span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">TV </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4th Generation soon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, Happy New Year! Or should that be Happy New TV Provider?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Coming soon: Pros and Cons, Economics, Picture Quality, Hardware Reviews etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-3037087922499997812015-12-21T16:49:00.002+00:002015-12-21T16:50:19.289+00:00Farewell Sky+HD<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The last day of our Sky TV subscription looms near.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We shall soon be disconnecting the remaining Sky+HD box and packing it away, to join its sibling Sky+HD box that used to be our Multiroom box in the tech graveyard corner. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We're going (mainly) "over the top" for a 12 month experimental period using NOW TV & Netflix (maybe also Amazon Video as some stage) and a YouView+ recorder for recording stuff and watching Catch-Up from Freeview channels.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As far as our customer relationship with Sky is concerned, all is not lost.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We continue to be a Sky Fibre Pro broadband customer and, of course, Sky plc will continue to benefit from the re-direction of our (albeit reduced amounts of) entertainment spending into NOW TV.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No plans to sell my Sky shares at the present time. Why? Because I am confident that there are still plenty of people prepared to stick with Sky+HD, I'm sure there will be reasonable demand for Sky Q when it becomes available and Sky also have the somewhat unique proposition of NOW TV to mop up the rest.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But, in my opinion, the future of TV viewing will be non-linear. For various reasons, it won't be the right solution for everybody, but right now it looks like the right solution for us. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are excited to be (at least partially) cutting the cord!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-8632246130900600842014-04-02T12:38:00.000+01:002014-04-02T12:38:39.715+01:00Gone Fibre Pro<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An upgrade from Sky Fibre Unlimited (up to 38Mbps) to Sky Fibre Unlimited Pro (up to 76Mbps) took effect overnight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When the order was placed, the estimated maximum download speed given was 56.9Mbps.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is about what I was expecting, taking into account the distance from the cabinet (about 250 metres), according to this (taken from a thinkbroadband guide):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0id9Baf3ouImVwjjVxGbWrCX547dxQIIG362_as7qExRWroueTwB26xs4tkM-5xjrEZfCGqlYWcfTy32jvMNFLa_klYj5ptZngdBxY-k6Aaln7yaCZkiCt9SOHaQfD9Zsg28qUP9G6A/s1600/Screenshot+2014-04-02+10.08.55.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0id9Baf3ouImVwjjVxGbWrCX547dxQIIG362_as7qExRWroueTwB26xs4tkM-5xjrEZfCGqlYWcfTy32jvMNFLa_klYj5ptZngdBxY-k6Aaln7yaCZkiCt9SOHaQfD9Zsg28qUP9G6A/s1600/Screenshot+2014-04-02+10.08.55.png" height="444" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After rebooting the SR101 this morning, downstream sync speed has gone from 39998kbps to 61971kbps and upstream sync has gone from 9999kbps to 19999kbps.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over the past 12 months</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, the average downstream throughput speed has been 37.67Mbps and the average upstream throughput speed has been 9.12Mbps o</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">n Sky Fibre Unlimited </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(as measured by the "Whitebox").</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm waiting for SamKnows to update the profile of the "Whitebox" so that some proper results can be observed over the next few days, weeks, months!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks to a retention deal though, the cost is unchanged for 12 months.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-36026770566785272612014-04-01T08:56:00.004+01:002014-04-01T08:59:35.896+01:00Happy 29th Birthday to Speedyrite Limited<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">29 years ago today, on the 1st April 1985, was the first day of my very first freelance contract assignment (at Tesco Stores plc in Welwyn Garden City) - and Speedyrite Limited commenced trading!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A lot has changed over those 29 years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mobile phones were in their infancy - they were about the size of a house brick and had quite a short battery life. Video cameras were massive and shot onto tape - I remember once seeing a Japanese tourist wheeling around what looked like a small car battery mounted on a trolley and connected by a long cable to his VCR camera! Now all replaced by a smartphone more powerful than the computer that sent astronauts to the moon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Legacy application systems are still around though. The front end access to them may have changed though. Gone are the green screens (mostly), replaced by GUI front ends (not so much screen-scraping as there once was, now developed using more versatile tools). And, of course, access to all that data via a browser interface over the intranet & internet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm still here though...</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-68292063576768914192014-03-29T12:33:00.002+00:002014-03-31T11:53:49.341+01:00Sky high fibre broadband pricing!<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif;">Just been surveying the price of VDSL2 fibre broadband service, from what I consider to be the four leading mass-market providers in the UK, as I'm looking to maximise the value for money. Current provider is Sky on their "40/10" product.</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-box-shadow: none !important; background-color: #fafafa; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif;">I have ignored the cost of call packages and any one-off joining discounts, and I have assumed that both voice & data services will both be switched to the new provider (giving free activation in all cases, except </span><acronym style="-webkit-box-shadow: none !important; background-color: #fafafa; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #333333; cursor: help; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif;" title="British Telecom">BT</acronym><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif;"> Infinity 1 Unlimited which is £30).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif;">First of all, the annualised cost of an "80/20" product:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>VDSL2 “80/20”</b></span></td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Sky</b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>BT</b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 76.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>PlusNet</b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>TalkTalk</b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Line Rental</b></span></td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>£184.80</b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;">£141.00</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 76.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;">£131.88</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>£141.00</b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Broadband</b></span></td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>£360.00</b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;">£312.00</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 76.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;">£239.88</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>£222.00</b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>TOTAL</b></span></td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>£544.80</b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;">£453.00</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 76.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;">£371.76</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>£363.00</b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;">
<b><br /></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>* No Upfront LR</b></span></td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;">
<b><br /></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 76.0px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;">
<b><br /></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;">
<b><br /></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And the annualised cost of a "40/10" product:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>VDSL2 “40/10”</b></span></td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Sky</b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>BT</b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 76.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>PlusNet</b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>TalkTalk</b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Line Rental</b></span></td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>£184.80</b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;">£141.00</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 76.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;">£131.88</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>£141.00</b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Broadband</b></span></td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>£240.00</b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;">£276.00</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 76.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;">£191.88</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>£162.00</b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>TOTAL</b></span></td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>£424.80</b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;">£417.00</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 76.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;">£323.76</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 11.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>£303.00</b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>* No Upfront LR</b></span></td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 76.0px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 12.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 75.0px;" valign="top"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>* BB is “40/2”</b></span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In both cases, there</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">'s quite a big cost difference between my current provider and the cheapest mass-market provider.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If I wanted to stay on a "40/10" product, I would from £100 to £120 a year just by switching to another provider.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If I move up from the "40/10" product to the "80/20" product with Sky, it will cost me £120 a year more than it does now.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But if I switch to another provider's "80/20" product, it will save me at least £53 a year over the cost of my "40/10" product from Sky - and I will get higher throughput speed!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sky high fibre broadband pricing!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-31998095974844052562014-03-24T15:31:00.005+00:002014-03-31T11:53:57.906+01:00Year 1 of Fibre Broadband Performance Measurement<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are the results of the first year's performance measurement </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">using a SamKnows "Whitebox"</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">on a Sky Fibre Unlimited VDSL2 (FTTC) broadband connection.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj62Uzk8lpzPURvGxG6UhNDV-P6biYMYfi0SM5qGZusvWx3gOTfYcvji0hwokRni3BS2wHRq5pPmMwZVk8MBZk9sxhiivXd9H7T3MSqJW-FxWzjyCnmDeutylluq2KygdkdM_BrYjk2qis/s1600/Screenshot+2014-03-24+07.54.01.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj62Uzk8lpzPURvGxG6UhNDV-P6biYMYfi0SM5qGZusvWx3gOTfYcvji0hwokRni3BS2wHRq5pPmMwZVk8MBZk9sxhiivXd9H7T3MSqJW-FxWzjyCnmDeutylluq2KygdkdM_BrYjk2qis/s1600/Screenshot+2014-03-24+07.54.01.png" height="290" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Analysis of the Monthly Report Card results from SamKnows gives the average download throughput as 37.67Mbps.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeclOHfE5xtjRzano8ega3OmWB7hc0lVk_eklqVRdOr9VsmjTyBH7ObRfBg6KuoY4DXiJP0MN_G7IKVxqoTAYwyoEIreoIMD4dNOnj9_-p6ipQq6qki-KArTYO3uE-0XYezhvlcft1EYA/s1600/Screenshot+2014-03-24+07.53.06.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeclOHfE5xtjRzano8ega3OmWB7hc0lVk_eklqVRdOr9VsmjTyBH7ObRfBg6KuoY4DXiJP0MN_G7IKVxqoTAYwyoEIreoIMD4dNOnj9_-p6ipQq6qki-KArTYO3uE-0XYezhvlcft1EYA/s1600/Screenshot+2014-03-24+07.53.06.png" height="290" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Analysis of the Monthly Report Card results from SamKnows gives the average upload throughput as 9.12Mbps.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-43378348253468813572013-04-26T08:59:00.002+01:002013-04-26T08:59:37.117+01:00One Year on Sky Fibre
<br />
<div class="p1">
At 7:52 AM on Friday 13 April 2012, I placed my order to upgrade my broadband service to the long awaited and newly launched Sky Fibre Broadband. Not a bad Friday the Thirteenth.</div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Two weeks later, on 27 April 2012, an Openreach engineer phoned me from the street cabinet to say he was about to connect my line to the fibre cabinet. Ten minutes later, he turned up to install a vDSL faceplate on the master phone socket and fix the Openreach fibre modem (the Huawei HG612) to the wall.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">We chatted and had a cup of tea while he worked. Finally he ran some tests and showed me the results on his gizmo (JDSU). “Should be good for about 70Mbps max” he said. He waited while I connected the Sky router and got online, and he insisted on seeing the result of a speed test. About 36Mbps. Bit of a speed bump from the 3.5Mbps download speed on ADSL. Wowwww!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Wind forward to today - one year later. What has it been like to have a “superfast” broadband connection?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The obvious thing is that file downloads, software upgrades, movie rentals and Catch Up TV all download much faster. No more buffering - movies and on demand viewing is ready to watch almost immediately.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Upload is much faster too. Sky Fibre began as a “40/2” service, providing an up to 2Mbps upload speed. After a few weeks was upgraded to a “40/10” service, giving an up to 10Mbps upload speed. Sharing files and documents to “cloud” based services is now much more feasible.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Reliability has been excellent, throughput speed has been steady. To date, I have not been affected by the two major issues that have been hot topics on the Sky Help Forum: the “half-speed”/slow throughput problem that has been affecting some fibre users, and backhaul network congestion (which has been a problem for both fibre and ADSL users at some exchanges).</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">What about the future outlook for Sky Fibre?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Hopefully:</span></div>
<ul>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"> Successful completion of the fix rollout for he “half-speed”/slow throughput problem.</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"> Faster resolution of backhaul network congestion problems.</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"> A product/price restructuring to match Sky’s popular competitors.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Happy 1st Birthday to Sky Fibre.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-81207077028408890752013-03-03T14:55:00.000+00:002013-03-03T14:55:47.455+00:00Reporting payroll information to HMRC in real time<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, Geneva, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding: 0px 0px 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From 6 April 2013, employers will have to start reporting PAYE information to HMRC in real time. You may see this referred to as Real Time Information - or RTI.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, Geneva, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding: 0px 0px 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This means that employers (or their accountant, bookkeeper or payroll bureau) will have to:</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, Geneva, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding: 0px 0px 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><br /></strong></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>•</strong> send details to HMRC every time they pay an employee, at the time they pay them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><br /></strong></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>•</strong> use payroll software to send this information electronically as part of their routine payroll process.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, Geneva, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding: 0px 0px 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is your business ready yet?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, Geneva, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding: 0px 0px 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We have chosen Moneysoft as our payroll software provider and we have been using Payroll Manager 20 to process our payroll for a while now. It's easy to use and it's RTI compliant.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px 0px 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.moneysoft.co.uk/payroll-software/payroll-manager.htm" target="_blank">RTI Payroll Software</a> from <b>Moneysoft</b>.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-89931987747888109892012-03-04T10:30:00.001+00:002012-03-04T10:32:08.254+00:00Sky Broadband Unlimited Fibre<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana;font-size:medium;">I'm sure you will be pleased to hear that, on 31 January 2012, Sky finally announced the launch of a fibre broadband product.</span><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium; "><a href="http://corporate.sky.com/media/press_releases/2012/sky_builds_on_broadband_growth_with_increased_coverage_10000_wifi_hotspots_and_new_fibre_launch">http://corporate.sky.com/media/press_releases/2012/sky_builds_on_broadband_growth_with_increased_coverage_10000_wifi_hotspots_and_new_fibre_launch</a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium; ">The fibre broadband product launches in April, but Sky has already started contacting some customers (who have previously pre-registered an interest) to invite them to join a final trial. A few people are already connected and reporting massive speed improvement.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium; ">Obviously I am very keen to upgrade our internet connection to this product! I have pre-registered (both last year and this year) but I haven't heard anything yet. If they ever do call before the product launch, I will accept immediately. Otherwise, it's a case of waiting. In any case, hopefully by this summer, we will have a much faster internet connection.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium; ">Super-fast fibre broadband has been available where we live for at least a year now, but I have resisted changing to a different provider - mainly because initially it was quite expensive, but also because other providers restrict their service in many ways.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium; ">I'm quite keen to stay with Sky because their internet service is truly unlimited - both in terms of monthly usage and (allegedly) traffic management that can affect the speed of different types of traffic at certain times of day.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-4868847186821184202011-04-24T11:38:00.002+01:002011-04-24T11:58:05.364+01:00RIP TiVo UK Series 1<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">After almost 9 years of excellent service, we are retiring our TiVo UK Series 1 DVRs from active recording (there's still a backlog of unwatched TV so it will be a while before they are removed from the AV stacks).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>TiVo service ceases in the UK on 1 June, so a couple of the latest Sky+HD (DRX-890C) DVRs have been installed in preparation for "the end of TiVo in the UK" and they take over active recording duty from today.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Sky+HD EPG provides "Series Link" (but it's not an exact equivalent of TiVo's Season Pass) and there's no equivalent of TiVo's WishList facility. There is a facility to search the 7 day TV Guide in the Sky+HD EPG but </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; ">Locate TV and myDigiguide will be providing some additional support to make sure that we get our own version of "Smart DVR, Brilliant TV".</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; ">What the Sky+HD lacks in sophistication when compared to the TiVo user interface is somewhat compensated by other useful features such as viewing and recording of HD channels (which have even better picture quality than that provided by the "Mode 0" hack), Remote Recording via an iPhone app and access to Sky Anytime+ downloads.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-39366107598661589662011-04-15T17:18:00.002+01:002011-04-15T17:20:20.449+01:00Gadget Show Live 2011<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Another great "live" show today! And lots of interesting stuff to look at and play with, including NVIDIA demo of 3D gaming and a massive Sony 3D TV.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-70450361477091617862011-04-11T14:42:00.002+01:002011-04-11T14:52:58.996+01:00RIP iRobot Roomba 530Sadly the iRobot Roomba 530 is now deceased. A victim of too much carpet dust and dog hairs. Despite "open Roomba surgery" to correct the problem (i.e.major dis-assembly and interior cleaning), the alleged problem persisted and could not be resolved. Mrs. S., therefore, has given it a final dis-assembly...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-37062655593648847632011-04-03T08:21:00.002+01:002011-04-03T08:25:53.723+01:00Free Sat Nav app for iPhone<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I'm trying out "Navfree GPS UK & ROI" - it's a free Sat Nav app for iPhone. No charges, maps are stored on the iPhone and no data connection is required for map browsing/routing & address lookup. It uses map data from OpenStreetMap (OSM). Versions are available for many European countries, Canada and some US states.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-76668873966730625682011-04-02T15:51:00.005+01:002011-04-03T10:36:57.682+01:00World IPv6 Day<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(24, 24, 24); line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There's an event called </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">World IPv6 Day</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> on the 8th of June 2011 where there will be a number of tests across the Internet. It shouldn't affect the average web user. If you want to find out more, go to </span></span><a href="http://isoc.org/wp/worldipv6day/" style="color: rgb(159, 49, 8); "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">isoc.org/wp/worldipv6day/</span></span></b></a></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(24, 24, 24); line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Are you ready for IPv6? Test out your browser, router and Internet provider here: </span></span><b><a href="http://test-ipv6.com/" style="color: rgb(159, 49, 8); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://test-ipv6.com</span></span></a></b></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-43923661871760716922010-06-25T13:33:00.002+01:002010-06-25T13:33:55.610+01:00CCNA - Cisco Certified Network AssociateI am pleased to announce that I passed the CCNA on 24 June 2010.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-24715622232945675462010-06-14T08:13:00.003+01:002010-06-14T08:15:51.546+01:00CPS Networking TechnologiesWhat a great course this was at Birmingham City University TIC/TID/TEE! Four modules covered the Cisco CCNA syllabus, so ideal preparation for taking the certification exam (which is my next step)...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-83042052394634028342009-07-21T19:52:00.003+01:002009-07-21T19:57:08.778+01:00iPhone 3GSRecently upgraded from the iPod touch (1st gen) to the iPhone 3GS. Wow! Together with the 3.0 software, it's a superb package. The 3GS is much faster than the old touch. The on-board camera is pretty average from what I've seen of it to date but the video functionality is quite neat. 3G reception on the O2 data network is not too bad at home and in town centres, but there are plenty of notspots when out and about in rural Worcestershire.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-69772001745221237272009-05-15T22:14:00.003+01:002009-05-15T22:17:32.649+01:00BoxeeBoxee is now installed on Apple TV.<br /><br />See more info about Boxee at <a href="http://www.boxee.tv/">http://www.boxee.tv/</a><br /><br />BBC iPlayer is now accessible on the Apple TV!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-19805421009479468042009-05-02T13:28:00.005+01:002009-05-02T15:34:36.771+01:00iRobot Roomba 530<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTuu7_PdaorvNE35cWMZ7c94nfVCVacdvivHF4njNWCoppgztba3jdapZ-X-WEKoWZqEqv4TMKKFJJ7xbKEGJBq_pfsVrqH7_xJpUJ5zwf3FME-dn_8CBU2kAuts_JFguJDFvo5ROpA5I/s1600-h/IMG_2771.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTuu7_PdaorvNE35cWMZ7c94nfVCVacdvivHF4njNWCoppgztba3jdapZ-X-WEKoWZqEqv4TMKKFJJ7xbKEGJBq_pfsVrqH7_xJpUJ5zwf3FME-dn_8CBU2kAuts_JFguJDFvo5ROpA5I/s320/IMG_2771.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331234631253438850" border="0" /></a><br />Finally, it's here - the iRobot Roomba 530! An absolute bargain from Lakeland (compared to the official selling price). Here it is "earning its corn" in Robert's office.<br /><br />The upstairs carpets have never been so clean. Annie loves it. It's currently ranked up there with TiVo and the (sadly now long gone) Psion Series 3 as "one of the best gadgets ever" and loved almost as much as her MacBook Pro...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-92119162159666625332009-04-26T09:59:00.003+01:002009-04-26T10:06:49.668+01:00Gadget Show Live<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggN0Sp1PZ3UiPavs7PFCa51-irImJ2d8rrosDJrmSz-OI2dk8vgWazSlEuCmo0Ry-lDzFyEDt9VL-oFDxqbSL4dm6e3SPb9T8-eIOKzw9bMz-8Dt29Sp0NY_1GIj8ryB15yT4uFWsuZ88/s1600-h/images.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 116px; height: 66px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggN0Sp1PZ3UiPavs7PFCa51-irImJ2d8rrosDJrmSz-OI2dk8vgWazSlEuCmo0Ry-lDzFyEDt9VL-oFDxqbSL4dm6e3SPb9T8-eIOKzw9bMz-8Dt29Sp0NY_1GIj8ryB15yT4uFWsuZ88/s320/images.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328923718692106834" border="0" /></a><br />Lilly and I went to the NEC on Friday 17 April 2009 for day 1 of the first ever "Gadget Show Live" event.<br /><br />It was a 3 day sell out. Hall 1 had about 100 or so exhibitors, big and small. Hall 2 was set up to be the Sony Super Theatre. We went to the 2pm show. It was an hour of live fun and games! We're now looking forward to next year's event...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-73191702669804331932008-09-25T20:36:00.002+01:002008-09-25T20:45:29.243+01:00NetBooks and MacBooksI have finally got my 3G USB modem working with the Acer Aspire One running Linux (Linpus Lite)!<br /><br />After trying other flavours of Linux (Mandriva 2008 and Xubuntu 8.04) with varying success, I recovered to the Acer supplied OS from the supplied CD. This time, though, I decided not to run Live Update to get the latest patches for the operating system. Once again, I installed the Vodafone Mobile Connect Card Driver for Linux software, but this time it connected to the 3 network and I was online at HSDPA speed.<br /><br />Acer have recently announced a forthcoming patch to support 3G USB modems, so when that comes out I will hopefully be able to use Live Update to get the OS fully up-to-date.<br /><br />I had a bit of bother with my MacBook tonight after I popped in a blank DVD to backup my iTunes purchases. iTunes decided to display the spinning beach ball. Force quit iTunes didn't work. Then I made the big mistake - restarted the MacBook. It started up but didn't boot into Mac OS X, the optical disk drive just kept spinning and the fans started whirring!<br /><br />The first few recommended solutions didn't work at all. Hold down the trackpad bar. Nope. Press F12. Nope. Leave it for 10 minutes and it will eject itself. Nope. In the end, technician Annie shoved a business card into the slot to stop the disk from spinning. That did the trick! The disk immediately ejected itself...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-40686572217886055432008-05-31T10:06:00.002+01:002008-05-31T10:08:35.874+01:00Certified technologistI took the CompTIA DHTI+ certification exam on Thursday and passed - hurrah!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-38528814178803221082008-04-20T19:15:00.004+01:002008-04-20T19:19:42.237+01:00Back to realityNow that the course is over, I've started revising for the DHTI+ certification exam on 29 May (subject to confirmation). In the meantime, it's back to the dreary old day job tomorrow...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2945271448700135860.post-47881293223793888632008-04-16T20:56:00.002+01:002008-04-16T20:59:54.507+01:00DHTI+ courseThis week, I'm taking a short course at Birmingham City University technology innovation centre, which is located at Millenium Point in Birmingham. It's a 5 day course on Digital Home Technology Integration and I'm really enjoying it...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0