The Big PC/software conspiracy

Start Here: Its a loop...

1. You give your new software to the computer manufacturers... iPhones  bit.ly/IOSupgrades are a special case (same con though). The software has to be very system intensive, it runs OK on this new machine, but it would be really slow on a older (otherwise fine) machine.
2. This bit is crucial, the new software has to have some MINOR incompatibility with the old software. The files you create must be readable by people with an older machine with older software, but there must be a little something that makes it irritating for them to use. Maybe they need a compatibility patch, or it flashes up a message every once in a while warning them that they are not using the very latest software. The new software does not need to have any actual improvements over the old software whatsoever!!!
3. As more and more people get the new machine with the new software, people with the older software will occasionally, think, "oh bugger - I may as well upgrade to get rid of that irritating upgrade message- you never know, there may be some additional functionality [there may be none- but the victim does not know this] even though my current software seems fine". They upgrade.
4. These people who upgrade now find that actually, whilst the new software may look pretty... it has slightly slowed down their new machine*. Generally, they blame their PC, maybe they make the terrible mistake of blaming the operating system and choose to upgrade that!! Oh no... What a mistaker to maker!! These totally unnecessary upgrades have just made your perfectly good PC become obsolete. These users now invariably buy a new PC and get new software and return to "stage 1".
5. Many people feel no obligation to upgrade their software.... These are the smart guys, but the Software company is smarter. Ever noticed these constant urges to update your software. They claim this is for security reasons, bugs, added functionality. They do this for love right? WRONG!!!! The Software company is tricking/forcing you to download and install the new patches. They do it to SLOW down your system and precipitate you moving to "stage 4".
6. All ways up you are driven to upgrade your software, your machine slows down and you return to stage 1 and re-start the loop?

The solution? Well I guess all this currently legal, so the real solution would be for it to be legislated against the technique. There is little we little people can do apart from to resist upgrading your software at all costs.  I remember being tricked into purchase of mortgage endowments and worthless payment protection once.  Eventually, these banks got their come-up-pance. My optimistic view is that one day, the government will catch up with these sharp practises and force compensation to be paid by the software companies, for decades of abuse of customers.


*note that a re-install of your existing operating system will certainly speed up your computer.  It will then slow down again hence forth.  Alternatively if you upgrade your software it may take some before the slowdown takes place and temporary files are collected etc.

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Why Apple are so keen for us to all upgrade to IOS9

Now the general trick is described here: http://bit.ly/softwarescam

Here's how it will go with IOS9, the operating system that runs iPhones, iPads, iPod touch.

(1) You are invited to upgrade your IOS.

(2) Every time you do, your lovely little device will get slower and slower until you feel you have to buy a new device. If you stuck to the original IOS, you would be fine with that device, pretty much for ever.

(3) If you are able to withstand the small irritation of warnings that you have not yet upgraded, eventually, you will find one of your software products (installed on your device) Pages, Numbers, whatever... Will require you to upgrade to continue to work.... When you upgrade that, you will find that it cannot be used until you upgrade your entire IOS. Once you do that, you are again back to stage "(2)".

"BUT STOP NO Richard; I upgraded my IOS software to IOS9 and it was faster than it was before. QED".
Ah, they've really got you!!  "Non-QED" because all computers (including iPhones) slow down as storage space diminishes and temporary files build up etc.  Therefore a fresh install of your operating system may initially and *temporarily* seem faster, but this won't last.  It would be fun to install IOS6 on a brand new device and see how that zoomed along!!


So if it is not obvious to everyone, the reason they change this software is not to improve the product, but to tempt our "geek-gland" into upgrading and thence making our own perfectly good device obsolete. I think a nice new verb would be "to obseletize" if there is currently no such word already!



I guess it is all legal....
I wonder if some day this will come back to bite them on the backside!

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Can't work this software

Well that is pretty much it.... I don't even seem to be able to work this Blogging software!!!

Beer's Building Suppliers Customer Services

Went into Beers Buildling suppliers, Bootle on Sat am.  Discussed my needs with reception.  They printed me a job ticket... sent me back through to find one of the chaps in the workshop.  

Me: "Hello please can you cut me a strip of this 80mm wide"

Staff: "Oh f***ing hell"

"what's wrong?"

Staff: "nothing"

We walk to the wood supply

Staff: "We haven't got any"

Me: "Um... looks like you've got quite a lot"

Staff: "It's all shite"

Me, looking at the FIRST bit of about 5 5M planks

"this piece looks OK, I only need 2M"

Staff: "Oh all-right, well just tell me the bit you want and I'll cut it"

....

Athletics

This is not terribly "PC" in the year of the London Olympics...

But when exactly did the word athlete get misappropriated to mean: "a sports person"?

County Cricket Commentaries on an iPhone or iPad

Blog not yet complete
Ok, because Apple are at war with Adobe, Microsoft, Java and everyone else it would seem, listening to county cricket on an iPhone or iPad is not as straightforward as you might expect but it is certainly possible. There are several ways to do it.... But what you can't do is just go to the BBC website and listen from there:

OK, there have been developments here since I wrote this:
(1) The method used to stream the commentaries from the BBC website now runs from Safari on you IOS/Android app.  So you can just navigate to that and click play.
But this is still not as nice as listening with Tune-In (below)... however, just at the moment a Twitter user named @TuneInLiveEvent is regularly broadcasting the stream number for each county game which makes it dead easy to then just search TuneIn for Live Event xx, where x is your stream number. Checker her account out!!!

Second way is the easiest!!

First way: Using a Free App

Using the free app Fstream.
Step one

You go the BBC commentary page and below the regular player is a link that says:
"Windows Media Version of this Stream"

Press and hold this on your iPhone/iPad and when the menu springs up note down the end of the web address which is written at the top of the menu.... It will be "....int17.asx" for example, having made a note of the number choose "copy".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/englandcms/livestreams/int17.asx

I'm sorry, I don't know if this works on non-Apple products.  In that case I would suggest (although I don't know if it works, if you click on this "Windows Media Version of this Stream" link, it may take you to a page with that critical address above, which you can then note down or copy.


Step two
Favourites
Add new webradio
Type that int17.asx number in the name. Eg., "17"
Press and hold in the URL slot and then paste... This should paste in the full address you copied of the BBC website...
Save
Now go to play and select the stream you just created....
Now switch to your Fstream

Second Way: Using a 69p app
Fstream works OK, but the TuneIn app is way more sophisticated and this is what I use.
Step one
To start, you need to get hold of that URL address again as per "step one" in the Fstream method.

Step two
Now switch to The Tunein app. If you've got the stream number from above.... Find the search bar and simply type in "BBC live event xx" where xx is the stream number, generally between 1 and 20. The stream should appear below and you tap it.  Job done!

 
 Failing this...


Go to My Presets
Scroll to the bottom until you get to "Custom URL"
Push and hold to paste your full URL into the box:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/englandcms/livestreams/int5.asx for example

Then select the custom URL that appears below.
You should get sent back to the home page or My Presets section again....
Now your new custom stream will be playing, but it is not saved to your presets yet. On the iPad there is a little now paying window bottom left. Select that and then click the Add to Favourites button... (A love heart with a plus symbol). Now it will ask you to type in a sensible name (int5?) and save it for you.

Caveats
What has been going wrong so far this season is that the link which is held by the "Windows Media Version of this Stream" is actually wrong!!! That's just great. The only solution I have found so far is to then, over the weeks create presets for all 18 of the intxx.asx urls. (yes I am a cricket junkie!!!) and just go through them one by one until bingo, you here the dulcet tones of our commentary heros. For me it is the Essex guys of course, but should you support one of the rubbish teams like Kent, the same methods work.

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How did I get there...

I am still reeling from the news that on my 45th birthday my brain totally turned to worthless jelly.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16425522

One day perfectly normal.  The next, candles, cake, presents and....   the real world became lost in a sea of confusion.

OK, to be honest.  I didn't  notice the onset of the confusion.  I thought I was ALWAYS confused, but I am guessing that is my perspective now... following the onset of the brain meltdown.  So... I am thinking that my perception of having always been equally scatty and confused is merely an illusion caused by this  hit-45-and-you-brain-ceases-to-function phenomenon.

To start with.  I couldn't even get this blog working.  I tried to give myself a name Richard and it says already taken??  What!! "sorry your name is already taken" !!!?? What kind of a system is that.  IT IS my name?  I kept thinking of variants on my actual name to no avail.  All taken hence the title of this, my first ever blog.

Anyway.  Who reads blogs?  Nobody does do they? Streuth I hope no one I know does.

Hopefully that file I was downloading has now downloaded and I can get back to work....

bye...