Posts by Curtains

Switch to hit the fan as BT begins prep ahead of analog phone sunset

Re: I want to know the equipment...

I did similar a couple of years ago in the UK. Im with Zen Internet and have my own router, so cant plug a analogue phone into their own box.

So purchased a Grandstream VOIP set, plugged into a RJ port on router, signed up with Sipgate Basic (for free at the time), chose a landline number. Then... filled in some paperwork to Port my landline from BT to Sipgate. A few days later, I have 2 landline numbers that can ring on my VOIP phone - I didnt need the number I chose, so got them to remove it. Then installed a little app on my mobile that can take calls from SIPGATE and boom, I get my landline calls coming to my Granstream phone and mobile. I never make outgoing calls, so it continues to cost me nothing. No line rental, nothing.

Unfortunately Sipgate dont do this deal anymore, and I guess its only a matter of time before they write to me. But certainly any VOIP provider who can port your landline from BT to them is going to be cheaper than BT by more than half or more.

Im still shocked at how they can charge so much when they are on VOIP... oh wait... its BT.

Keir Starmer's techno-fix for the NHS: Déjà vu disaster or brave new blunder?

Re: Beer Korma? Really?

A little less $hit version of the Tories is probably more likely to get voted in, than a more left version. We can look to history to see that, going back to Tony Blair and New Labour, it was if it was still a conserative government. And when the Jeremy Corbyn's hard left tried, he failed miserably. In current times, the country is no longer a blue collar workers country and traditional labour values of the working class are no longer relevant. Sure, everyone is upset with the current Tory government, due to costs spiralling out of control - in part due to Ukraine, leaving the the EU, which is a disaster. Recovering from Covid - though I think Labour would have struggled to be any more generous that the Conseratives were during the pandemic and lockdowns.

Anyway - Its a good time for a switch, Tories have been in too long, and it needs to switch every now and again for balance. In 4 or 8 years it will switch back - out of 28 General Elections in the last 100 years, Conseratives won 28 and Labour just 9.

Samsung updates its most popular smartphone range

Re: Phone prices are crazy....

Most young people I know, don't use the phone part. My daughter would laugh if I asked her to call me or any of her friends. The communications is over chat apps and social media, not voice. Funny old world

Perhaps regretting those Instagram, WhatsApp acquisitions, UK watchdog suggests Facebook offloads GIF haven Giphy

Re: Giraffe Interchange Format

To quote the creator of the format - "Steve Wilhite created the Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF, while working for Compuserve in 1987. On Tuesday, he received a Webby Award for it and delivered his five-word acceptance speech (that's all the Webbys allow) by flashing a GIF on the big screens at the Cipriani Wall Street in New York.

And, in a flash, it all became clear:

"It's pronounced JIF, not GIF.""

To end the debate with my family, after reading the original white paper on the GIF format 30 years ago, its pronounced as JIF... Soft G, as in Giraffe!