Posts by csimon

BT delays deadline for digital landline switch off date

Access to emergency services from the home should be available 24/7.

Electricity companies: Not our problem if there's no mobile service in your area or PSTN providers have decided to switch off your service. Power cuts happen.

Mobile companies: Not our problem if there's a power cut or PSTN providers have decided to switch off your service. It's not profitable to erect a mast in your area.

Phone providers: Not our problem if there is no mobile reception in your area or there is a power cut. We need to make more money from old copper.

I've had 11 power cuts so far this year, the longest were 6.2 hours, 2.5 hours and 5.5 hours, in some cases they were only fixed quickly becuase I was able to phone and report them as soon as they happened. If ovenight, you wouldn't necessarily notice. No mobile reception here. UPS ran out before power restored. Good job I didn't need police, ambulance, fire service or even need to contact family or friends, in that time.

I'm not a "vulnerable" person, but that doesn't make me less likely to need emergency services in a power cut. And what happens if a vulnerable person needs emergency access after that "reasonable" 1 hour UPS time, or missed the window of opportunity overnight to report the fault?

Can't believe that we're going backwards. And that there are some people still trying to justify it.

People who have problems with power interruption and/or mobile reception are the ones most likely to have a corded phone.

"You want to not be cut off at home? Buy a mobile phone. Or a UPS. Problem solved."

No mobile reception here.

UPS's don't last very long, and if a power cut happens overnight then it would run out before you've noticed. Even if they last 2 hours, if you have an emergency after that time, you're stuiffed.

Problem not solved. But you're all right Jack.

Global EV sales continue to increase, but Plug-in Hybrid momentum is growing

"In its simplest form, I think it can be boiled down to: how do we balance the needs of the environment against the needs of those who have made choices based upon being able to afford to run a car, in a way that is fair to those who have made involuntary choices based upon not currently being able to afford a car?"

I think you've missed out the option of those who've made involuntary choices to have a car because it's essential. And I think you've got an agenda.

Re: no one needs a car to live

Eek. If you live in an area where there is decent public transport, everything you need is within walking distance, and you don't need to visit people or go outside your area, then maybe you don't need a car.

But the reality is that a car is essential in many places around the UK.

There is a public bus service from where I live to the nearest village (a few miles away), once a day, but it sort of then turns around and comes back. So not much use really.

Brits pay £490m extra for mobes they already own – Citizens Advice

It's all very well making a song and dance about this but....the mobile operators are private companies whose main consideration is to make money and profits. Therefore if people are educated more about these contracts and then switch as soon as they can, the companies' profits will reduce and they'll find other ways to claw that back, i.e. raising SIM only prices, increasing costs of calls etc. Competition and market-forces don't work to keep prices down when they all decide to do the same thing. Like the energy companies and TV providers...switching all the time, forcing them to indicate when there are better offers, automatically putting customers on the lowest tariffs etc, it's all just a distraction. In many years of this envrionment, prices and bills should now be rock bottom due to all this switching and regulation, but it hasn't happened has it?

Solid password practice on Capital One's site? Don't bank on it

Capital One have an odd view of security, so much so I recently stubbornly cancelled my long-standing credit card with them after they stubbornly refused to admit they'd dropped the ball. They'd brought their outsourced customer portal in-house therefore it had been rewritten and required everyone to set up their account again. But they forced two-factor authentication via SMS to activate it, where the one-time code expires after 10 minutes. I live in an area where there is no mobile reception, so there was actually no way I could activate the new portal, while sat at home. I couldn't drive up the road to where there is a signal in order to receive the code because by the time I got back it would have expired. I tried to contact them, which was difficult as there were no contact details or help info on the registration page and you have to go through hoops to contact them, but their only reply was to use someone else's computer to register, where there will be mobile reception. Using an unknown network/computer is aginst their own secutiy advice, and SMS TFA is now starting to be considered insecure anyway. For a bank that is supposed to take security seriously, they don't instil any trust that they actually know what they're doing.

BT pushes ahead with plans to switch off telephone network

Re: Oh well

> Because you can flee AND call, rather than have to stay in the emergency area.

You reckon that the only people who need to call 999 or those that can get out the house and drive a few miles down the road? What if you have a heart attack? Or a fall? What if your house is on fire and the escape route is blocked? What if you have no mobile reception at the house or in the vicinity? What if there is an intruder in the house and you need to stay hidden?

Never mind, you're all right Jack.

Facebook admits it does track non-users, for their own good

Re: social disease

I've just registered for an account for the first time just to upvote you for being a Fish-era Marillion fan.