Winter of discontent

Update

Peter — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:09:56 +0000

I have posted the url of this blog to campaignoffice@tvlicensing.info
which seems to be the only contact possible unless you feel like ringing them, can’t imagine why I would want to do that

Stupidity as an artform

Peter — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:54:48 +0000

Sometimes, just when you think You have seen ultimate in human stupidity yet another example appears.

Take for example the following missive, now this is the last of many, all of which repeat the same old threats as to what will happen to me if I don’t buy a TV license.The fact the someone without an apparatus capable of receiving a TV broadcast has no need of a TV licence appears to be thought irrelevant.

I notice the person responsible for this communication is one Michelle Tunstall so I think I will address the remainder of this blog to you personally and deal with your points one by one.

I do not need a license for a mobile phone, PC, Laptop, etc. unless they are capable of receiving a TV signal. This small point you seem quite prepared to overlook.
You claim I am required to inform you that I don’t use a TV receiving device, this is completely untrue, I am not required to inform anyone that I am not committing a crime. And since you go on to say that you will call back to confirm this why should I bother?
In any case you have already sent one of your “TV Licensing officers” which is an impressive name for a debt collector working on a commission basis and he was informed of my TV less state.
It is possible I suppose that some people might be sufficiently frightened by your idiotic bluster that they buy a license despite not owning a TV, but I doubt it, people who refuse to watch the drivel that passes for entertainment are unlikely to be that stupid.
In view of the above there seems to be only one remaining question. Tell me Michelle are you blond?

Just for the sake of good order I confirm that

I do not own nor is there any apparatus capable of receiving a TV signal on this property.

Can you enter my property to confirm this?

Can you hell!

Limitations on legalised murder

Peter — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:39:45 +0000

Interesting decision by the coroner in the Jean Charles de Menezes inquest, Apparently the verdict of unlawful killing is not allowed, they can decided it’s lawful or they can return an open verdict.

England is getting to be a dangerous place to live, or is the use of the future tense overly optimistic?

Open letter to the License Enforcement Agency

Peter — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:38:20 +0000

This missive is slightly less offensive then your previous efforts over the last four years have been, but still impertinent and full of misinformation. So let us take your points one by one.

The banner heading “You need to take action”. No, I am under no obligation, legal or otherwise to take any action at all. Even allowing for the erosion of civil liberties that have occurred under the stewardship of new Labour, citizens of this country are not required to declare that they are not in breach of the law. I do not possess a TV set, I have not owned one for years and I have no intention of ever owing one again.

You say in point three, “If you don’t watch of record TV” I can call you on 0844 800 5888. That is a 084 number. I can see no reason why I should pay for a call that I have no obligation to make, especially as you say you may need to send an “Officer” to confirm this. This “Officer” will be refused entry, if you believe that life without a TV is impossible then it’s your job to prove it, not mine to disprove it.

Now lets have some reality, the “Officer” is not an officer of the law in fact he is a debt collector working on a commission basis. The TV Licensing Agency is not a government agency; they and their operatives have no legal right to enter private premises without the presence of an officer of the law with a valid search warrant.

In view of the above you must forgive me if your threat of a visit from the “license Enforcement Team” if I don’t reply before the 25th Nov does not exactly fill me with foreboding. It does however irritate me, Since you obviously lack the social skills to communicate in a civilised manner why should I co-operate in any way shape of form with you?

One thing does interest me though, I moved into this flat of the 27th Oct, this missive is dated 10th Nov, Now how did you get that information that fast?
Do you have access to the council database and if so why? Or do you buy their information?, considering the amount of money spent on advertising your threatening presence this does seem possible. I don’t know, but I would have thought that people who are being threatened are less likely to be co-operative then those who are not.

Saving energy by stumbling in the dark

Peter — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:45:40 +0000

Ever wonder how the light output of an energy saving light bulb is measured?

I know I do.

On the pack of a 20 W bulb it says “equal to 100 W incandescent bulb”.

Hmmm, really? Looks a lot darker to me.

So I thought I’d check it out. One Canon D350, One 100 W incandescent bulb and one 20 W energy saving bulb.

Camera on tripod to eliminate distance errors.

Result were as expected:

Incandescent bulb 1/125 f8 ISO 100.

Energy saving bulb 1/50 f8 ISO 100

So in other words the energy saving bulb is less then half as bright as the incandescent.

So it’s using 20% of the power. If I use a 100 W incandescent bulb for 10 hours it is going to cost me around 19 pence.

If I live in semi darkness I save around 15 pence.

I agree that we do need to cut back on the energy we use but substituting a clothes line for the tumble dryer and using a washing machine only when it’s full will save a lot more than than trying to convince people to evolve into owls.

Losing the SUV would help too.

Google Chrome – looking ridiculously good

Peter — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:31:20 +0000

Just downloaded Chrome for XP, gotta admit it’s impressive, minimalism that works and very fast.

The lack of a bookmark menu seems odd but it’s just a new way of doing things,open a new tab and it’s all there ….. Well more or less.

I think this browser will cause serious damage to both Explorer and Firefox, which as far as firefox is concerned is regretable. I think what really makes me nervous is the possibility that Google will become the all controlling tyrant that Microsoft would really like to be.

Talktalk update 27/08/08

Peter — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:47:49 +0000

Just a minor update regarding Talktalk’s downloadspeed, about three weeks back my connection went down, it was still down 24 hours later, so time to ring Talktalk.

The first time I got through pretty easy, not too long a wait but although they could see that there was a problem they couldn’t see what it was. After thinking about it they gave me a another number to ring, they would know.

judging from the accent I think the call centre was not on the UK mainland but ok first suggestion, change the splitter, tried that didn’t work so rang them back, got a young lady this time also with exotic accent who said yes, it was a problem with the exchange and would be fixed within 24 hours. And indeed it was.

But so slow it was almost comatose, so I searched to see if other people were having this problem and discovered there is a forum, the Talktalk members forum which you can find here where I posted all relevant details (after registering) and got a reply within a quarter hour. It seems I had been set on a fixed 512 KB/s speed level and that was altered the next day.

I was also told that the profile I was on could be altered to something faster it the line could take it so I’ll try that next week some time ( I’m getting between 2 and 4MB at the moment).

So my trust in Talktalk is still pretty intact.

Talktalk update

Peter — Fri, 30 May 2008 09:45:25 +0000

The thing that’s inspired this particular musing is the lack of speed of my broadband connection these days, these last few weeks it’s been getting abysmally slow, less then 1 MB some days and at one point I was getting over 6 MB Hmmm.

Ok to be fair from whers I live I can see between 2 and 6 wireless routers and none of them are reading over 50% so maybe it’s “improvements” at the local exchange, I do live in the backside of beyond, a place called Thorne, but hey it used to be a good connection, over 90% all the time.

What else? the Nectar problem got sorted, only took 6 month , Talktalk are still throttling torrents which combined with this slow speed in general just might make me consider a change of provider. And Kubuntu 8.04 just rocks

Hardy Heron, it’s looking good

Peter — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:07:46 +0000

I have to admit my first impression of the new Ubuntu version was a tad doubtful, I downloaded the Gnome version first for my el cheapo but very reliable NovaTech laptop. Not good, couldn’t get the wifi to work and the screen resolution refused to budge from 800 x 600, so not a very viable idea.

So downloaded version with the beta KDE 4 desktop (it is nice with fast broadband,yeah still with Talktalk) and same set of problems plus the whole seemed about as stable as a jelly but ok we are talking beta here.

So last ditch attempt Kubuntu LTS which despite using the beta version of FIrefox 3 seems rock steady and everything works so ok It looks like I’ve got Kubuntu on my machine for another year or so,

TalkTalk and Nectar

Peter — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:45:57 +0000

Just an update on Talktalk experience, first I have to say that I personally have had no serious problems with the service, a few times it’s been slow or even down completely but by enlarge it’s been fine.

But ……., I recommended Talktalk to my Mother and Sister and at that time (last November) Talktalk had a deal that each new member received 2000 Nectar point. Neither my Mother or Sister have ever received these points, now I know that 2000 points will possibly get you a deluxe paper clip but that’s not the point, is it?

Now I’ve email Talktalk, I’ve called Talktalk, my mother has emailed Talktalk, and when we have had a reply it’s always been “they’ll be credited in 4 weeks time” So far this hasn’t happened.

Now I’m curious, is this Talktalk trying to economise? Or is it an employee who running a scam to become a Nectar point millionaire? I dunno, but I think I’ll have to email Nectar and see if they’re aware of this problem.