Posts by CJ_C 50 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Apr 2016
I have no Facebook account, so when occasionally cookies are not blocked, my wife gets my targetted advertising instead of me. So I am interrogated by her along the lines of: Have you (me) been buying wine again... You do not need another Raspberry Pi. We are doing no more jigsaws until Christmas...
Ubuntu Touch *is* still a thing, supported by UBports (see https://ubports.com/), used by thousands, now based on Ubuntu 20.04, and running on modernish hardware such as PIxel 3a and Fairphone 4. It might seem very barebone to those used to modern smart phones, but it is Google and Apple free and it suits me.
This article grossly understates the damage. There were over 900 prosecutions of subpostmasters, but many many more people had their lives damaged or ruined. The Post Office falsely demanded money from many that it never prosecuted and suspicion fell on all the staff in a branch. Families were ruined through the feelings of guilt and shame. Friendships were lost and whole communities were affected. The stress caused suicides and illness. In a few cases the friendships were so strong that the community were brought together but even so the stress caused by the untrustworthy evidence from Horizon and bullying by enforcers was enormous. The current Post Office and Fujitsu organisations need to be replaced with bosses losing their jobs.
The only way to deal with Google is not to deal with them. So it has to be Linux, Firefox, DuckDuckGo and on my phone UBports Ubuntu Touch.
I went this way, over 5 years ago, when I discovered that Google were so desperate for private data that the Chromecast Audio Streamer ceased playing local media files if the broadband went down. Google were not and are not playing nice. Will the legislators make them behave, eventually?
Sadly I have real solution for the (Android) TV except trying to set settings, not using YouTV, and using accounts dedicated to the device.
I also hate rental, but ULEZ is not about perpetual rental. It is also not about saving the planet from warming due to CO2 emissions, whatever tories and the popular press may say. It is instead about deterring the use of dirty diesels in built up areas because the emissions damage and kill the young.
Support and screen size are why I have a Pixel 3a running Ubuntu Touch and supported by UBports. Now on 20.04 with only a few wrinkles.
I have had mine for a couple of years and I expect it to last the same again. It cost over £100 secondhand. I needed a protective cover and replace screen protectors from time to time. Battery still fine but not user replaceable. Lack of memory card not currently an issue.
YMMV.
I am 71 and don't do social media...
UBports works really well on a number of phones, like Nexus5 and Pixel 3a. It depends on your use set but it is good enought to be my only phone. There are big development issues, including VOLTE and up to date linux base (Ubuntu 20.04), but there is a good community working well together. It is one of the few phone systems independent of Apple and Google, with I hope a good long future. Give it a go!
The first embarrasdment on this holiday was booking new flight after the first was cancelled. No mobile data so logged into the wifi. MS bleated but safe UK so did not suspend. Ordered tickets. Bank wanted verfication. Was too slow realising why no txt, so bank froze account...
Was able to get tickets later, but this is all getting too hard for me.
I am dependent on these. Are they going to end. MS already making them harder. I have had to givr up on Gmail.
When I log into a new wifi, MS warns, but now having travelled to unsafe France, my accounts were suspended. Embarrassing when try to accesss flight tickets...
Do I need to transition? If so to what? Needs to work with UBports and conventional Linux
UK Universities had extensive but not fully connected networks by 1973, based mainly around the Regional Centres. The Wells report from the Network working Party of that year eventually led to the formation of JNT (Joint Network Team) in 1979. By 1986 a recognisable national JANET network running a single set of protocols with with backbone was in place. See: Janet: The First 25 Years, by Christoper S. Cooper, ISBN 0954920724.
It would be nice if the Pinephone worked as a phone. Really nice. Currently it cannot wake quickly enough for a call to be answered, if I understand correctly. I hope the Pro is better.
In the meantime there are phones repurposed from Android which work well with Linux if you can do without apps. I recently ran up a modern(Ish) version of Android, to update the kernel of a Pixel 3a for UBPorts. What an unpleasant experience that was, but now UBPorts runs like a dream...
To end the nightmare of multiple remotes, we (I) bought a Sony only to discover that it is Android. It was a big mistake. You need a Google account just to get updates to apps. The default TV app(!) is YouTV which monitors even broadcast watching. The satellite tuner is unusable without monitoring because its EPG comes from the internet via YouTV. It will record but on to a hard disk only ( you know the old fashioned spinny things) and you can't watch TV while recording!
I think we will disconnect it from the internet and go back to the past of using the Humax box with proper record for satellite and a ROKU for internet.
Do not get me started on the BBC who now insist you have a linked smart phone/tablet to watch iPlayer.
Fibre to the premises, with the right to light it, opens up all sorts of possibilities for scalability, cost saving through consolidation and improved disaster recovery. Higher education has depended on such services for over 10 years. Telcos will still generally only trade it with other telcos and BT will not deal at all. UK industry generally is the loser.
At the end of 2015, there were still ousiders like Blackberry, Sailfish, Ubuntu and Windows. Backberry and Sailfish have passed. Ubuntu has not had a phone to buy for 6 months. Windows share is miniscule with no hope of improvement. I would mention Tizen if there was anything to say. The Android, IOS duopoly looks here to stay and is bad for consumers.
As many quizzers will know, Shakespeare was very rude and wished to refer to issues of lust, sex and womens bits. He used the term "country matters", which is an unexpected delight for teenagers.who study the texts in schools where the works have not been censored. Handle that with your porn filters!
on the appearance, but not the (generally lacking) content. They often ask for and I always offer my services to draft and/or review content. I am however clearly square peg because they never come back to me. Also Most .gov.uk sites (and almost all others) are flouting the law by saying they will track you. They only give me an option to delete the tracking information notice, not to stop tacking...
I am also tired of commercial sites, which continually invite me to review them. The most annoying pop up is from Rcher Sounds, try it. I now longer us such sites.
Can we have an icon for Luddites?
So I was assured that my detail were not leaked, but I still got phishing calls where the caller seemed to know a surprising amount about my TalkTalk account, but what do I know? I still get calls offering to help fix my Windows PCs and there are none.
I then get this helpful email (headers clipped,, personal information redacted and the layout has been messed up)
Important safety information – stay safe from scams
16 Jun (5 days ago)
Stay safe from scams
TalkTalk
Beat the scammers
Hello [My Christian Name]
Phone and email scams are on the rise. Over 2.5 million UK households received a scam call in the last month, this shows scams can happen to anyone.
That’s why we have made your security our priority.
We're the only provider to offer free privacy features, allowing you to block calls from withheld numbers, block the last number that called you, and to see the phone numbers of incoming calls.
We offer a free reporting service for nuisance and malicious calls.
We actively review incoming calls to find malicious callers and we block 70 million calls a month.
But unfortunately we can’t block them all, which is why we’ve launched a national campaign with our partner Get Safe Online. It’s called Beat the Scammers and helps you spot the scammers and stop them in their tracks.
What you should do to protect yourself:
Set up your free privacy features – Caller Display, Last Caller Barring and Anonymous Caller Reject – in My Account.
Trust your instincts. If you suspect a scammer is calling you, hang up, wait a few minutes and call back on an official number.
Report suspicious calls to us. We have advisors who will investigate the suspicious activity for you and block these numbers for all TalkTalk customers if they are found to be scammers.
Visit talktalk.co.uk/scamcalls for more information.
How to spot a scam call
There are common techniques scammers use to get you to part with your cash and personal information. These range from pretending to be from a trusted company to asking you to stay on the line so your bank can’t call to verify a transaction.
Remember:
We will NEVER ASK you for your full password or your bank details to process a refund; ask you to send money through services like MoneyGram or Western Union; nor quote your TalkTalk account number to prove the call is genuine.
Take a look at our video below to learn more about how to spot scams.
Tips from our Experts
Our security help, all in one place
Knowing how to avoid scams is only part of the fight to stay secure. There’s a wealth of up-to-date information on our Security Hub, including more information on our Beat the Scammers campaign and details of the security products that all TalkTalk customers get for free – HomeSafe® and SuperSafe Boost.
Find out more
Keep an eye out for more security updates over the next few months.
Tristia Harrison
Managing Director
TalkTalk Consumer
Is this email genuine?
Click here for help and advice on how to stay safe online
Please do not reply to this email, emails are not monitored.
TalkTalk Telecom Limited, 11 Evesham Street, London W11 4AR.
Registered in England & Wales No. 4633015.
But most of the calls I get (three in the last week?) are about TalkTalk and there is nothing about a further breach of data here. Instead I have to learn of that via the Register. I am a patient person but even I have my my limits...
v
Talktalk say may details have not been compromised, but I still get fake calls to my ex-directory number saying I am a customer. Is this just phishing or are Talktalk being economical with the truth?
It does mean that I have pissed off apparently genuine Talktalk callers by accusing them of being fake...
Not changing password was recommended by IBM many years ago. It is a mystery why so many organisations were fixed on a counter productive change regime. If somebody who wants it gets your password they will use it now not in 4 weeks time.
I reuse a few passwords not written down, with salt for sites that I regard as not being important, like TheRegister. For my machine passwords they are not written but then I have not changed them in many many years. For important sites like banks, they are hugely complex and written down, because that is the only way I can remember them, in a book kept next to my computer, in a mildly obscured form that I trust would fool a passing opportunist, but not I am sure a real spook, but then they have, I am also sure other means of accessing my accounts...
I think I have been safe, so far, touch wood, but who can be sure? I did have card details stolen once, but my bank spotted it before it was used. I think they were for sale on a list somewhere.
All the above is very slightly inaccurate, but I will not say how.
I just wish there was a pay as you go deal where data allowance does not get set to zero at the end of a month whether I used it or not. Instead I stick with the best day data rate and almost never use it, unless I want to check a bus time or whatever and there is no paper timetable at the bus stop. I am of course a dinosaur, spending less than £5 a month unless I do something stupid like leaving data on so the sort of customer that no provider is really interested in.
I trust that the Performing Rights Society are pursuing YouTube and others. Any other broadcaster, pub or music hall has to make a return in the UK so is YouTube making one in respect of UK users? Or perhaps they think like some other internet companies (mainly US) that the law does not apply to them?
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