SofaKingCool

Having problems with your mobile phone service provider?

If you are one of the many thousands of people who have ever tried to move their phone number from one network to another and failed then look no further.  What I will give you here is clear and concise information that is backed up with little known legislation and loopholes that the networks would rather you didn’t know.  How much do I want for this information you might ask because there are many consumer group websites out there charging for this info or charging for the privilege to use their site.  Well my fee is absolutely zero, which funnily enough is exactly how much money you have to pay to a network in order to port but I will explain this in greater detail later.

If you have a mobile phone;  contract or otherwise that you use and pay for according to the terms and conditions then the number associated is legally yours.  It is your legal right to use that telephone number on whatever network you chose, even if you have bad debt with the network!

Firstly it is worth noting that there are only 5 UK phone networks, Orange, T-Mobile, Three, o2 & Vodafone however there are a plethora of  “billing platforms” that buy minutes and texts from these networks and bill you separately.  For example you buy your phone from the Carphone Warehouse and they connect you to the o2 network yet you are still billed by Carphone Warehouse.  In any case you would need to speak with  the company who bill’s you not the company who provides the airtime.

In this post we will deal with consumer & Business accounts on the 5 major UK networks and later I will give advice and guidance for the billing platforms.

Your first port of call should be a telephone call to the customer service department of your network who will ultimately transfer you to their loyalty or retentions department.  Put simply you need to verbally ask them for your Port Authorisation Code (PAC), this is where the fun begins.  Depending on how long you have left to run on your contract depends on how much of a fight the network puts up.  o2 are well known for being very hard and pushy when you ask to cancel, they will try their hardest to retain you and a lot of the time will even make you feel rather bad for leaving them.  This is where you have to stand firm and fight your case, if you really want to leave then don’t be afraid to be blunt and not ask any questions about the new deal.  They will always attempt to better the deal you have been offered, if you want to stay then so be it however you should remember, why is it only when you want to leave are they offering you a better deal?

The simple rule to remember is that it is your legal right to take your number wherever you want and not let them bully you into staying.  o2 will offer your PAC in two parts, they will take your call as the initial request then 48 hours later they will text you the code.  If however you haven’t received the PAC don’t be afraid to call back up and ask them to read it out to you over the phone.

Ofcom have laid out strict rules that all networks MUST follow, these rules state that a network is obligated to issue you with a PAC within 48 hours of any reasonable request.

Three are another network that requires a lot of perseverance to get a PAC simply because they are mainly based overseas and are targeted on retentions.  However be firm and ensure that they give you the PAC over the phone in the same call, they will tell you it can take two hours but that is absolute rubbish!!!

All networks use the exact same system to generate PAC’s.  This system is an internet based system that can generate a PAC instantly, there is no 48 hour wait!

T-Mobile are actually a very good network to get PAC’s from, they will offer the usual retention deals but will back down once you make it clear that you are leaving.  The usual barrier that T-Mobile will put up is making you pay your early termination fee upfront.  If you are getting a cash back deal with your new network and are planning to use this money to pay the buyout then you would be better off getting the fee applied to the final bill.  I

The Network cannot refuse to issue a port authorisation code if:


The customer has not paid their final airtime bill, notice period (not served), disconnection charges, or any porting charge before the port date. These charges should be included in the final airtime bill, which will be settled according to the terms of the contract.  The customer is in bad debt but is still connected to the airtime at the time the request is received.

Vodafone are another company that seem to comply with Ofcom’s advice about excessive retention activity.  For consumers it is a simple phone call to the network requesting the PAC, they will advise you that it will be sent within 48 hours by text, again if you haven’t received it don’t hesitate on calling them, make sure they don’t make you wait a further 48 hours, they can generate the code over the phone.  For business requests they do require that you send the request in writing by either email or Fax, there is no way around this but once they have received the Fax/Email they must release your PAC within 48 hours.

The Network is entitled to insist on a written porting authorisation request with the customer’s signature before issuing a PAC, if it is their current business policy to require the customer’s signature for confirmation of a termination request.

I have attached a link below which should be used as your bible when requesting PAC’s, this is the document that all networks have agreed to abide by.

FAQ’s

I have received a couple of questions already and the most frequent ones will be listed here:

Q. I have just been told by T-Mobile that there is a £10 maximum to put on my final bill and they want the early termination penalty up front.

A. There is no maximum limit at all, the web system is not attached to their billing system.  Ask to speak to a manager and quote the following:

The Network cannot refuse to issue a port authorisation code if:

The customer has not paid their final airtime bill, notice period (not served), disconnection charges, or any porting charge before the port date. These charges should be included in the final airtime bill, which will be settled according to the terms of the contract.  The customer is in bad debt but is still connected to the airtime at the time the request is received.

Q. o2 have just told me that I am not eligible to cancel because I have too much time left on my contract.

A. This is a time wasting tactic used by the networks to make you have to call back!

Q. I was just told that I can’t have my PAC because they don’t think I am the person named on the bill

A. This is one of the only reasons a PAC can be refused, the best option is to call from the actual handset with your most recent bill with you.

Please see the below link for the Ofcom Porting Guide.

http://tinyurl.com/yz78obc

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Diamond cabs of Telford suck!!!

Sorry about the outburst I feel the need to get that in the sub heading of this post after my experience with them on Friday morning.  I get a message from my friend telling me they can’t give me a lift into work on Friday morning so I duly call a taxi and was told that it would take 20 minutes at 7.45am (it takes about 20 mins to get there.  I am due to start work at 8.45am so I believe that I have given plenty of notice.

At 8.15am I gave them a call to ask where my cab was and was told he was seconds away from me.  At 8.30 I called again and asked where my taxi was as I was told it was only seconds away 15 minutes ago.  At 8.45am I call again and ask the controller where exactly my taxi was and was told he was in an area about 700 yards from my house.  9.00am rolls around and I call again, this time I’m told he is literally pulling up outside, so I asked the controller if I was getting a discounted fare due to the fact I had lost 1 hours pay due to his crap planning and logistical skills.  He responded with “I can’t do anything about the fare because the drivers are self employed”.

Just out of interest I called another company who told me they could get a car outside in 10 mins as the Diamond Taxi Telford car pulled up.  The driver was uninterested in the fact I was late and made no effort to apologise for his poor punctuality.  The manners of the driver are not the issue but it is the failure of a public servant to do his job correctly.

It is a good job that I hold the position in my place of work where turning up late is not a sackable offence rather just a point of concern if it happens regularly.  However what would have happened if I had a job interview to attend or worked for a company that didn’t tolerate lateness?  Surely these taxi firms have a duty of care and if not they certainly should!

Do they not understand by lying to customers by promising to deliver you to a said destination is not only a pain in the arse but could affect peoples lives.  Had the controller said to me when I called “no taxis until after 9am) I would have thanked him and gone elsewhere however I would return to them.  But it seems that they would rather offer the customer a one off shite service based on a false promise!  Again when I called the first time it would have been much better for them to tell me the truth and say that due to unforeseen circumstances my taxi was going to be late?  It’s just a sad state of affairs when a taxi company would rather earn a fiver than ensure I get to work on time and continue to get repeat custom from me!

Maybe it is about time that all bus/taxi companies are required to show due diligence towards their customers as part of their operators licence just like the rail company.  The government is quick enough to fine FGW or Arriva if their trains are late and I strongly believe that it’s about time the same rules are forced upon the other “public transport” services.

A helping hand, Everything else arriva, diamond cabs, fgw, late taxis, shit taxis, taxi, taxi companies in telford

Recently I have been asked many times why “my CD drive isn’t detected anymore?”.  It seems that since the mammoth 34 vulnerabilities  Microsoft have recently released during its record “update Tuesday”.  This problem seems to affect laptops more than Desktop PC’s and it seems that it seems to kill the drivers for internal bluetooth adapters and built in webcams.  However do not despair because I have a fix for the CD/DVD ROM problem, and some helpful information about the webcam and bluetooth issues.

To make your computer detect your CD/DVD ROM then follow the below instructions.

Start the Command Prompt (CMD)

Type in “regedit” without the ” ” then click ok

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

Then SYSTEM

Then CURRENT CONTROL SET

Then CONTROL

Then CLASS

Then find {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

The whole thing looks like this:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Then delete the upper and lower filters….

There might be lots of identical keys just select the one that is for CD/DVD.

Restart your computer and all should be merry!

Before you attempt any registry edits please please please please backup first.  If you don’t backup you are at risk of killing your computer!

This post is for informational purposes and must not replace your manufacturers advice.  Do not attempt any sort of registry repair if:

1. You don’t know what the registry is.
2. You don’t know how to find it.
3. You have to google any of the above instructions.

Enjoy…

A helping hand 4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318, cd, cmd, detecting, dvd, fix, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, laptop, lower filters, not, registry, repair, rom, vista, windows, xp

A post mainly for my American Readers but due to its universal relevance I have decided to post it here.  According to a recently published white paper it would appear that the Internet Service Provider giant Comcast are now going to take proactive steps to prevent their customers computers being used as evil botnet slaves.  Now without going into too much detail about the technical side of Botnets I will give you a little background on them.

A Botnet is a series of computers that are remotely controlled to attack other machines, solicit spam or generally annoy the public.  To make a Botnet the creators will write a clever piece of Malware that opens certain ports onto your computer allowing it to be controlled by the Botnet or a master computer.  Generally you will not notice that your computer has been compromised but once you have, your computer can be used to commit all kinds of cyber crime.

So Comcast have decided to proactively monitor their broadband customers Internet traffic and will alert you via a browser pop up.  The browser pop will direct you to a site that will quickly and quietly scan your system and tell you what to do and how to do it.   It will offer customers to download and run a “special removal tool” which to me flies in the face of what the industry is advising PC users NOT to do.  To the customer this sounds all very lovely indeed unless you look at it from a techies point of view.  I have always advised clients to ignore any popup that they get stating that their computer is at risk, as it is just invasive advertising that is trying to get you to buy their crappy spyware/adware removal tool.  I just think this is a very risky way to “protect” their customer base by introducing this kind of popup.  Companies have been advising their customers for quite some time that they will never ask them to visit a site or ask for their details and yet Comcast are actively asking theirs to do exactly that.

Just think about the situation that Comcast have created, a Malware writer clones the browser popup and instead of directing customers to the Comcast site it redirects you to a nice copy of the original site.  Once there the customer will be required to download the removal tool but instead will be downloading the malicious payload.

I think it is really stupid method and is counter productive in the fight against cyber crime.

The news article covering this story can be read at http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-350878.html

A helping hand adware, botnets, comcast, counter productive, idiotic, popup, security, spyware

If you are reading this then you have probably “googled” something like “cheap xbox live subscriptions”.  Well that is what I did and I came across a UK based site called live-codes.com.  At first I was a little dubious as I am with all things that appear to good to be true so I asked around and found no negative comments anywhere (there is a good reason for that).

Let me tell you what I know about the site.  They are a UK based Limited company with a genuine registered office (not just a mailbox).  They use Google checkout so you can rest assured that they are not going to run off with your money and their support staff were available to answer my email within minutes at 10.30pm.

I had done my digging and researched the company before purchasing and decided to take the plunge and purchased a 12 month X-Box live subscription card for the fantastic price of £28.99.  Google Checkout was an absolute pleasure to use as I already have a gmail account and felt the transaction went smoother than most other online payment gateways from the largest corporations.

So at 10:22 I completed the transaction and in the time it took to open a new tab and press home the code was sat in my inbox.  It wasnt just an email with the numbers typed in it was an actual scan of the subscription card, I’m guessing they do this to reduce the possibility of problems should anything go wrong.  So as you can imagine I am over the moon at the speed my card was delivered I then entered the code into my X-Box and within seconds my Live account was refreshed for another 12 months.  I was so happy with the transaction I thought it would be nice to email them via their contact us form and tell them how impressed I was.  Within 5 minutes a very helpful person from live-codes.com had responded.  It wasn’t an automated response but a real human who replied to my every single compliment, this is something that will keep me going back time and time again.

It is very rare for an online retailer to have such an affect on me, I am still gobsmacked at the speed and reliablity of the service I recieved!

Now I know what you are all thinking, £28.99 is not as cheap as some of the Power Sellers on the evil Ebay.  This can be true however I have been burnt in the past ordering from a very trusted UK power seller who had 100% feedback.  It is also worth remembering that Ebay have changed their protection policy, so no longer are digitaly delivered items such as subscription codes covered by their buyer protection scheme.  So if you get sold a code that doesnt work then you have no protection whatsoever and will end up having to pay double to get your fix of online gaming.  Im not saying that every seller on Ebay is going to rip you off but in the current economic climate can you afford to take that risk?

I will be using live-codes.com again and will be more than happy to recommend them to friends and family, I suggest you do the same.

This is a snippet of the email that I recieved from them tonight:

We like to operate where; if you are pleased with our service you spread the word to friends and where you found our site (i.e forum etc). The site is fully automated so as soon as the payment is clear codes are emailed out immediately 24/7. We only ever deal in scanned cards, this avoids any typing mistakes and we feel scanned images gives confidence to the customer.

I think I should also add that it is not only X-Box live subscriptions that they sell, they also have Microsoft Points, Nintendo Points & World of Warcraft subscriptions and add-ons.

Go and check them out I guarantee you will not be disappointed!

Link Dump
Links to various sites mentioned in this blog.

Live-Codes.com: http://www.live-codes.com/
Google Checkout: http://www.google.com/
Ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/

Copyright information:

All images, logo’s names and product details are property of their repsective copyright holders.

Rob & Sofakingcool.org has made every reasonable effort to locate, contact and acknowledge copyright owners and wishes to be informed by any copyright owners who are not properly identified and acknowledged on this website so that we may make any necessary corrections.

A helping hand, Gaming stuff, Online shopping cheap, cheap subscriptions, codes, ebay, Gaming stuff, help, live, live-codes, microsft, microsoft, microsoft points, ms points, trustworthy, www.live-codes.com, xbox, xbox live

Ok this may come as a surprise to anyone who knows me, but this weekend I was afflicted with the dirtiest of dirty tricks.  I was attacked by a stinking ‘orrible Trojan, now before you start jumping up and down saying “you should have had a firewall on” or recommending me your favourite AV software I must make you aware of a few things.  My router uses a Nod32 firewall which for all intents and purposes is pretty bullet proof.  My was also running a fully patched, legal and up to date version of Nod 32 Firewall, Antivirus and Anti Spy-ware.  I haven’t been downloading illegal files and have not been on any dodgy websites recently.  The payload was delivered to my PC in a very stealthy manner and I’m guessing it was through an email from one of my friends or via a remote session with another computer.

The Trojan works in a very clever way, once you power up your computer it displays a very genuine looking Microsoft Anti Piracy[1] notice saying that someone has activated your copy of Windows and you must enter your details to validate yourself.  You have two choices either do it now over the Internet or do it later, if you choose to do it later it shuts down your machine.  You can get round this by starting your PC in safe mode but I wanted to have a play around first.  I knew this anti piracy window was bogus because it said my OS was xp[2] and my laptop is running Vista and uses the genuine advantage tool rather than the outdated anti piracy pop ups.

So I clicked the option to re-validate myself and entered a load of random numbers for my card details and some fake information about myself and it apparently scanned the MS database and verified my information as being correct.  However the Trojan does make some system changes when it shuts your computer down.  It firstly de-activates your task manager, hides itself from the start up menu (msconfig) de-activates your antivirus and tries to launch a key-logger which attempts to connect to the following IP: 81.29.241.170

Symantec have reported this Trojan last year and has stated that it only attacks MS machines but I can now confirm that this Trojan is back out in the wild and has been modified somewhat to attack Vista machines.  I have been in contact with the technical team at symantec who did a quick scan of my laptop and took a snapshot of my system including my registry.  They will be in touch with me if there are any traces of the Trojan left on my system.

I used Vipre to search for and destroy the Trojan successfully and also advised Eset that it got by its security without being noticed.

Below are the two images to keep an eye out for, if you do happen to get attacked by this Trojan you can either follow Symantec’s removal instructions which can be found in the link dump, or just stick in a load of bollocks and remove using your own antivirus.

Microsoft will NEVER ask you to provide any card details when validating a version of Windows (xp or vista).

[1]

[2]

Link Dump
Links to various sites mentioned in this blog

Symantec Karphisher details: http://tinyurl.com/yp2nlk
Microsoft: http://tinyurl.com/3oxra
Eset: http://www.eset.co.uk/
Vipre: http://www.vipreantivirus.com/

A helping hand attack, beware, eset, kardphisher, microsoft, nod32, phishing, ripoff, scam, scammers, vipre, virus, vista, xp

As a work project I was asked to compile a guide for setting up the Nokia 6301 so it can make calls using the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Most modern phones hitting the market will be enabled to do this but the Nokia 6301 is one of the first that will switch between the Internet and cellular network automatically to make calls.

Once the Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) subscription has been setup by your service provider I found the whole process very very simple.  I wrote this guide for my employer Geko Direct, one of the largest business to business mobile phone providers.  Therefore this article is now property of Geko Direct and may not be reproduced without express permission.

Introduction:

To use VoWi-Fi you must ensure that your ISP allows VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).  As it stands most UK ISP’s have VoIP enabled but it is worth just checking with them first.  I tested VoWi-Fi using the cloud network, BT HomeHub v2.0, Belkin USB dongle and a standard Belkin router using the following wireless protocols:  802.11 b, 802.11 b/g and 802.11 b/g/n.

About VoWi-Fi:

the following information is dependent on the Wi-Fi settings set to (Wi-Fi Preferred).

The VoWi-Fi service allows a seamless hand off of mobile voice and data from the mobile phone network to a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network).  When your phone is connected to a WLAN access point it will make all outbound calls using the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).  If you move out of range of the WLAN it will automatically attempt to connect your phone to another access point belonging to the same network.  However if the WLAN connection is lost, your phone will connect to the mobile phone network automatically.

If you try to make an emergency call (112, 999, 911 etc) the phone will try to connect to the normal mobile phone network.  However if there is no cellular network available the phone will switch to VoWi-Fi.  This is due to the established and reliable nature of the cellular network.

Data Transfer/Bandwidth Information:

On average a VoIP call will use up around 90KB of bandwidth or data transfer per second using the default settings.  Therefore a two minute call will use approximately 10.5MB of data transfer/bandwidth.  If a customer has a data transfer/bandwidth limit of 4GB per month they can make around 390 two minute calls per month.

BT’s option 1 has a monthly data transfer/bandwidth allowance of 10GB which equates to 975 two minute calls per month.  This does not include browsing, downloading or any other internet usage and making these calls will use up all of the customer’s allowance.

Other information:

Currently all of the main ISP’s BT, Virgin, Talk Talk, AOL and Tiscali support VoIP calls also the majority of modern wireless routers allow VoIP calls.

On some older routers/modems it is worth checking if the VoIP facility needs to be enabled on the customers router, this should be fairly simple if they consult the router handbook or the help guide in the router menu.

It might be a good idea to get the customer to check their ISP’s terms and conditions relating to VoIP calls, as some of the smaller ISP’s throttle users bandwidth at peak times which could affect the quality of the calls.

If the customer can answer yes to all the above questions then they are ready to set up the VoWi-Fi service on their phone.

Setting up VoWi-Fi at Orange:

Before you can start using the VoWi-Fi service from the handset it needs to be enabled by calling 345 from the compatible handset.  It can also be enabled when you connect the phone to Orange.  If you are advising a customer to do it or they have given third party access to do this then you will need to do the following:

You need to ask orange for an Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) subscription.  They will check the compatibility of the handset and provide you with a 4 digit PIN.  They then send a SIM update to the handset which will include the extra settings required to start the service.  Please note for Nokia 6301′s if the software version is v 04.62 or higher then there will be no further settings added to the handset.  You can check the software version by typing *#0000# from the handset.

When the message arrives click ‘ok’ to accept it and enter the 4 digit PIN and click ‘ok’.  Once the settings are installed delete the SIM update message and reset the phone by powering down for 10 seconds then power it back up.

Getting VoWi-Fi enabled on the Nokia 6301:

To setup VoWi-Fi on the Nokia 6301 handset you will need to navigate to the connectivity menu:   Menu  >  Settings  >  Connectivity  >  Wi-Fi  >  Wi-Fi radio.  You will be presented with the following options:

• Wi-Fi preferred – The phone will connect to the WLAN network if available otherwise it will connect to the normal cellular network.
• Wi-Fi only – The phone will only connect to the WLAN network.
• Wi-Fi off – The phone will only connect to the cellular network.

An icon will appear in the top right hand section of the screen to indicate that the Wi-Fi function is enabled and active.

Handover tone
To play a tone when the phone registers and deregisters on the WLAN, and when a voice call is handed over to and from another calling network, select Menu > Settings > Connectivity > Wi-Fi > Handover tone > On.

Connecting to a Wi-Fi network:

Please Note: You can download the user’s manual for the Nokia 6301 from http://nds1.nokia.com/phones/files/guides/Nokia_6301_UG_en.pdf

Quick connection - Connect in a convenient way to any available unsecure/ non key requiring Wi-Fi network with the best signal strength. Connections are attempted in the order of signal strength only to networks that have not been saved.
Please note. Most Wi-Fi networks are now encrypted and require a passkey or WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) key, so do not be surprised if the handset cannot find any connections using the quick connect option.

Select Menu > Settings > Connectivity > Wi-Fi > Quick Connect then follow the instructions on the display.

Find, save, and connect to networks – Display a list of locally available networks, connect to or save a network, or search for a hidden network.

Display available networks - Select Menu > Settings > Connectivity > Wi-Fi > Available networks.  This will then display a list of Wi-Fi networks that are available in your area. To update the list, select Options > Refresh.

To see the encryption type and other details of a network scroll to a network and select  Options > Details.

Locate a hidden network - A hidden network can only be found by searching for its service set identifier (SSID).  Select Options > Hidden networks, enter the SSID of the network, and select OK.  When you save the hidden network, it will appear in the list of available networks without searching again.

Connect to a network - Scroll to an available network, and select Connect. A successful connection to an UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) network is indicated by a green round icon at the top right of the screen.

If you attempt to connect without a valid UMA subscription, the message Contact your service provider is displayed.

Save a network - When you connect to a network, you are asked to save it. To save a network, scroll to the network in the list of available networks, and select Options > Save. Saved networks

Display, manage, connect to, and prioritize your saved networks - Select Menu > Settings > Connectivity > Wi-Fi > Saved networks. The networks are listed in order of priority. The network with the highest priority is the first one, to which an automatic connection attempt is made. To connect manually, scroll to a network and select Connect.

Manage saved networks Settings - Scroll to a network, and select Options and from the following:

• Conn. settings - to set automatic or manual connection to the network when it becomes available
• Rename - to rename the network.
• Forward settings - To forward the settings of the saved network. Enter a security code (preset code 12345), and the phone number, and select Send.
• Edit settings - to set the access data of a network.
• Delete - to delete the selected network.
• Add new network - to add a new network and set its access data manually.

Wi-Fi Call Settings – Select Menu > Settings > Connectivity > Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi call settings and from the following options:

• Configuration - to select an UMA configuration.
• Account - to select which UMA account to use.

Other information:

If the customer has BT Broadband and is using any version of the HomeHub then they will need to enter the WEP Key.  This can be found on the back of the HomeHub printed on the service label.  You can also obtain this code by contacting BT.

Most Routers that supports WEP encryption will either have the key codes printed on the service labels or will be given to the user during the setup of the router along with the username and password’s for router access.

Free Wi-Fi Hotspot locations:

There are many public Wi-Fi hotspots available for free all around the country to find these you can use the following website: http://www.myhotspots.co.uk/ and entering a postcode or town to get the locations of the hotspots.

99% of Wetherspoon pubs, hotels and restaurants provide a Wi-Fi service some are connected through the cloud network.  You will get 30 minutes of access free then charged at The Cloud’s usual rates after this time has expired.

There are many other social locations that provide free Wi-Fi access some of which listed below:

• Cafe Néro
• McDonalds
• Spirit Group Pub’s
• Coffee Republic
• Most Orchid Public Houses and Restaurants
• Many Spirit Group Public Houses, Hotels and Restaurants

Please Note: All of the above will support the VoWi-Fi function.

Other hotspot locations:

Please note: Some of these Wi-Fi providers require a subscription fee before allowing access.

The Cloud: http://www.thecloud.net/About-us/ A large subscription based Wi-Fi Provider with over 6000 access points across the UK.

BT Openzone: http://btopenzone.hotspot-directory.com/ This service is free to people who use BT Broadband option 3 service but a subscription can be bought from £5 per month.

Orange Partner Wi-Fi Locations: http://orange.hotspot-directory.com/ This directory lists the networks and locations that Orange have partnered with.  Some are free and others are subscription based.

Bt Fon: http://www.btfon.com/ Is a free opt in service for BT users and will give them access to over 100,000 Wi-Fi locations across the UK.  Unlike The Cloud network, users connect to BT customer’s HomeHubs.  Giving most of the Midlands a very good coverage wherever you are as BT is the main ISP in this area.

Please Note: All of the above will support the VoWi-Fi function.

Link Dump
Links to various sites mentioned in this blog.

BT Fon: http://www.btfon.com/
Orange Partner Wi-Fi locations: http://orange.hotspot-directory.com/
The Cloud Network: http://www.thecloud.net/About-us/
BT Openzone: http://btopenzone.hotspot-directory.com/
My Hotspots: http://orange.hotspot-directory.com/
Geko Direct: http://www.gekodirect.co.uk/
Nokia: http://europe.nokia.com/6301/
Orange: http://orange.com/

Copyright information:

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 If you are anything like me, organising things is a must in all aspects of life.  I think this is why I love Ebay selling so much, there is a lot of sorting out to do and organisation is needed.  I decided to make an Ebay profit/loss spreadsheet recentlty, it is a very simple little thing that made me happy because I can track how much I’m making or losing on postage and packing.  I created it using Microsoft Office 2007 and it is compatible with all earlier versions of Office.

The spreadsheet allows you to add your item, sale price, estimated postage cost and actual postage cost.  It will calculate how much you have gained or lost on postage, it will also calculate your overall profit or loss.

 

To download the .zip version Click Here

To download the .xls file Click Here

 

Link Dump:
Links to various sites mentioned in this blog.

Microsoft
Office 2007
Ebay

A helping hand, Online shopping ebay, help, microsoft, spreadsheets, tutorials

Time for a little Ebay related stuff! (Updated)

I have recently developed a new love for the internet devil that is Ebay.  Having two young children who appear to be growing up at an almost unhuman rate I have quite a lot of stuff that they have outgrown, so I decided to stick it all on Ebay.

Whilst listing things on Ebay I noticed that the gallery listing charge had been removed so it now costs nothing to have an image along side your listing title in the search result pages.  Now this alone is all very nice but it still costs to have extra images within your listing, or does it.  After playing around with the html editor it would appear that the <img> tag has not been disabled, so providing you can host your images somewhere you can insert images within your listing and avoid paying the extra charges.

I am going to explain to you how you can use this to your advantage and make the best of this.  First you will need to upload your image(s) preferably to a site like Flickr.  Once the image is uploaded you need to get the true address of your image, there are a couple of ways you can do this but these are the easy options.  You can right click on the image then select “View Image” and copy the URL from the address bar.  Or you will need to press the “share it” link in the top right of Flickr and select Embed it then copy and paste the link it provides into a notepad, you will end up with something that looks like this:

<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/parassassin/2894613154/” title=”Ebay Description by parassassin, on Flickr”><img src=”http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/2894613154_31334664db.jpg” width=”500″ height=”313″ alt=”Ebay Description” /></a>

The true address for your image is highlighted in red it, just delete all the other text until you are left with:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/2894613154_31334664db.jpg

Now it’s time to insert this URL into your ebay listing, now I could take you on a great html journey to explain everything you can do with it but for now Im just going to explain how to insert the image and float text next to it.  You will need to create your listing by choosing the Advanced Sell option, once you have completed all the fields you should begin your listing design.  First you should layout your listing as you would like it to appear by adding a title and/or a footer, once you have done this create a big space in the middle of your listing by pressing return a few times, you should end up with something that looks like the image displayed here.

Now you are ready to insert your image into your listing.  Click the html tab at the top of the editor, for someone who is new to html coding this may look a bit daunting but don’t worry as by creating a space in the middle of your listing you have created a reference point in the html code.  You should be able to see lots of <br> tags.  These are Line breaks, simply put they are the individual blank lines you created by pressing return.  Now it is time to add some html code to your image URL, I will be using some basic tags to get you started but these will do the trick quite nicely.  Below is the code you should enter in the middle of the <BR> tags in the Ebay editor, just don’t forget to add your image URL in between the inverted comma’s (” “)

<img src=”http://www.ENTER-YOUR-IMAGE-URL-HERE.COM” vspace=”6″ width=”200″ height=”200″ align=”left” border=”0″ hspace=”6″>

This will insert an image to the left of the page and will allow you to type to the right of it.  Once you have done this click the “Standard” tab on your Ebay editor and your image should be nicely displayed on the left of the page.  Then place your cursor to the right of your image an add your description, once you have done that you can remove the extra spaces above and below the image to tidy things up.  If you wish your image to display on the right just change “left to right”.  In fact every attribute can be changed in the above code to suit you.  After some playing around you will be creating Ebay listings full of images without paying the extra fee’s.

Link Dump
Links to various sites mentioned in this blog.

Flickr
Ebay

A helping hand, Online shopping beat ebay fees, ebay, flickr, help, tutorials