* Posts by Andy Livingstone

392 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Dec 2007

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Baroness Dido Harding lifts the lid on the NHS's manual contact tracing performance: 'We contact them up to 10 times over a 36-hour period'

Andy Livingstone

Tracing

Does ANYONE answer unknown numbers that persist with calls?

Analogue radio given 10-year stay of execution as the UK U-turns on DAB digital future

Andy Livingstone

DAB

It exists only to lock us into listening to UK radio stations.

Post Office burned £100m in UK taxpayer cash on Horizon IT scandal legal fees, MPs told

Andy Livingstone

Now we know why price of stamps will leap up on 23rd March.

Daylight robbery.

Y2K quick-fix crick? 1920s come roaring back after mystery blip at UK's vehicle licensing agency

Andy Livingstone

Re: Even Easier

Look to the right where the 2020 date appears in full glory.

Andy Livingstone

Even Easier

Write over it with a pen or pencil. No effort. No brains.

Windows 7 and Server 2008 end of support: What will change on 14 January?

Andy Livingstone

What Happens?

My old laptop gets binned and I might be happy never to buy any MS products again. Deep Joy!!!!

Revealed: NHS England bosses meet with tech and pharmaceutical giants to discuss price list of millions of Brits' medical data

Andy Livingstone

NHS ...... ENGLAND?????

I don't give a tuppeny damn what NHS England do, they don't hold my data as I live in different country of the United Kingdom. You sure you are correct to be writing about NHS England ion the first place?

Brit couch potatoes increasingly switching off telly boxes in favour of YouTube and Netflix

Andy Livingstone

Not as comoplex as you might think

Most likely the over 75s practicing how to live without TV once the Greed Squad gets its way. There is a lot of anger out there about BBC

Google to offer users a choice of default search engine on Android in the EU – but it's pay to play

Andy Livingstone

31st October

Have Google and the EC both noted carefully in their diaries that the potential change should not affect UK users as we hope to be will out of the sheep fold on that date and consequently they can play their little games without us?

People of Britain: You know that you're not locked into using the same ISP forever, right?

Andy Livingstone

Be careful

I don't mind switching ISPs but last time I did so all use of Gmail was scrubbed because they though I as an intruder to my own accounts. Pleased to say that there is life after Gmail.

UK's Openreach admits 50k premises on 'gigabit-capable' FTTP network can't get gigabit speeds

Andy Livingstone

Re: Whats this BT company?

My feelings exactly. I dumped BT and its Group associates and live a much happier life.

Shocker: UK smart meter rollout is crap, late and £500m over budget

Andy Livingstone

What is this nonsense all about?

According to the Gov.uk website right now;

"Smart meters put consumers in control of their energy use, allowing them to adopt ... will be no need for your energy supplier to visit your home to read your meter in future. ... But there is no legal obligation on you to have one."

Seems very clear, surely? So who says that UK homes need them?

Merry Christmas, you filthy directors: ICO granted powers to fine bosses for spam calls

Andy Livingstone

Stable door firmly closed?

Given that the number of nuisance calls currently being received is almost Zero, what's the point? Only two calls came in so far during October and November.

One was from abroad, so not covered, the other from a fake number 012855924834 , so even better luck with that.

Those were received on a phone line that used to be getting many nuisance calls daily and I don't expect other users to be seeing a different pattern of activity.

What chance of a Parliament that acts sensibly or in time to deal with citizens' problems?

Manchester nuisance-call biz fined £150k after ignoring opt-out list

Andy Livingstone

ICO information in reports

Why do they not include the phone numbers used by the offending business? Not much of an effort required.

Why treat like a Parking Charge with a reduction for prompt payment?

An Information Commissioner with teeth made of cotton wool?

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

Andy Livingstone

Tea Leafs

Happened as described by the article with a mobile on a network starting with a V. Guess which business will never see a penny of my money ever again, no matter how many services they offer. You can fool some of the people all of the time; all of the people some of the time....................

Next phone was bought for cash and a different service provider too. As for hearing from them when the contract was coming to an end? Forget that. Not a squeak. No sensible answers to letters either.

If only service was up to the same high standard as the contracts are written to.

GPU fairy visits Huawei owners, leaves graphics boost under phones

Andy Livingstone

Better aim

They should try to supply UK charging plugs here.

Microsoft pulls the plug on Windows 7, 8.1 support forums

Andy Livingstone

sfc /scannow

Do that and get "You must be an Administrator" straight back without even a hint on how to switch to that in DOS. Bless MS. Unthinking, unchanging, unwanted. Always the same quality of helpful support.

It could be you: National Lottery hands £16m to England's Jodrell Bank

Andy Livingstone

England's Jodrell Bank?

Really? It is in the UK. England is nothing more than a province of UK. Do try for accuracy, please.

BT bets farm on consumers: Announces one network to rule 'em all

Andy Livingstone

Re: So am I a BT customer now?

Yup, you are a BT Customer. Plusnet is BT with a Yorkshire accent. Same for John Lewis phone service too isn't it?

Andy Livingstone

Need to go to store.

Be very careful in your dealings with any Mobile phone business which requires you to go to a store to resolve things. If you are having that problem and cannot access the website but need to go to a store, are you certain you are not being charged in their records for the service they are convinced that you have?

Bitter experience says that might be safer.

Blighty stuffs itself in Galileo airlock and dares Europe to pull the lever

Andy Livingstone

Province of England.

Not possible. England is not a country. Try saying Great Britain instead. Yes, I know the true name is longer with lots of other words but that's too long to be bothered typing.

BT pushes ahead with plans to switch off telephone network

Andy Livingstone

No extra charge for spooky stories?

Really??

UK's data watchdog seizes suspected Scottish nuisance caller's kit

Andy Livingstone

Obama?

Is he now involved with Scottish Railway crossings? I How did he squeeze in here?

UK watchdog Ofcom tells broadband firms: '30 days to sort your speeds'

Andy Livingstone

So how do we feel about Google's speed test?

Comments?

Andy Livingstone

Sam Knows or does he?

According to Sam Knows I'm on a connection that does not exist. Changes shown for my local Exchange are several years out of date. The site is still in Bookmarks but no longer used for the reason given.

Stop calling, stop calling... ICO goes gaga after home improvement biz ignores warnings

Andy Livingstone

fined £400, ordered to pay £364.08 and a victim surcharge of £40.

Aieee Pain.

No wonder they are a bit of a joke.

Hua-no-wei! NSA, FBI, CIA bosses put Chinese mobe makers on blast

Andy Livingstone

Chinese goods

A lot of posts are written in exactly the way that was used some decades ago about "Japanese products". Will we ever learn?

I'm waiting for my refund on returned product supplied by British firm with a non-UK adapter plug.

Caveat Emptor --- but wait till you try before slagging off products or services.

Bloke sues Microsoft: Give me $600m – or my copy of Windows 7 back

Andy Livingstone

Aware of conditions on top of SCOTUS

We are???? Do tell!!!

A tiny Ohio village turned itself into a $3m speed-cam trap. Now it has to pay back the fines

Andy Livingstone

Do what they do in England

Don't fine them, send them on Speed Awareness Courses, at a fee roughly the same as the fine might be. Seems to get round the issue. Part of the fee to the town and the rest to the tutors. Same earnings and more likely to be "constitutional" too.

Shopper f-bombed PC shop staff, so they mocked her with too-polite tech tutorial

Andy Livingstone

Useful advice

I'd be reluctant to try anything different with the charger as I've done it before and found them badly overheating.

Will keep seller under pressure.

Andy Livingstone

Quality of British Business versus Service to British Customers

I confess that I am sometimes that angry customer. Like right now when I have spent a fortune on a well known brand of mobile phone which arrived beautifully sealed with all its ancillary bits sealed in its box all carefully packed within the courier's parcel..... just several days late. When opened the box had a Plug for the charger. Not a UK plug, but a useless Continental one.

I contacted the well-known seller concerned by phone and was promised an urgent delivery of the correct UK plug.

Last night I had a phone call informing me that their Agent wanted me to phone the Manufacturer to sort out my problem. NOT the Agent, but the Manufacturer MY PROBLEM. Have they ever heard of the Consumer Rights Act?

Angry??? Incandescent more like. Are there any UK businesses still capable of doing that business without being led by the hand or dragged by the hair?

.UK overseer Nominet abandons its own charitable foundation – and why this matters

Andy Livingstone

Re: What I want to know is

Too true. I moved far away from them some years ago when the signs first started to show.

UK taxman has domain typo-squatter stripped of HMRC web addresses

Andy Livingstone

Who?

Anybody in the world who is not involved with Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs, surely. Just as some people don't know that BBC is a broadcasting company and think it might be rude.

Andy Livingstone

Nominet

Seems simple enough?

Nominet is the relevant authority for ,uk registrations.

Nominet permitted ov4er 50,000 improper registrations.

Why keep Nominet?

Heathrow's air traffic radio set for shiny digital upgrade from Northrop

Andy Livingstone

Re: intelligible ATC

Just like apostrophes?

You, Google. Get in here and explain all this personal data slurping – Missouri AG subpoena

Andy Livingstone

Good On You

Well done, the SHOW ME State

Firefox 57: Good news? It's nippy. Bad news? It'll also trash your add-ons

Andy Livingstone

Whoopee

Does that mean the screwed up "about:blank" button will start working again?

Co-op Bank's users moan over online wobbles

Andy Livingstone

Handelsbanken is great but the fees made me leave .

BBC Telly Tax petition given new Parliament debate date

Andy Livingstone

Lord Reith

He knew how to sort out the BBC and about quality -- unlike the current lot.

For now I'm happy to be over 75 and tell BBC and Capita where to stick their license fee demands.

Money grabbing is now their National Sport.

44m UK consumers on Equifax's books. How many pwned? Blighty eagerly awaits spex on the breach

Andy Livingstone

Chocolate Fireguard?

"Notification in such cases is not mandatory under current UK data protection laws.

A spokeswoman at the ICO was not able to provide any guidance on the extent to which UK consumers were affected by the breach when we called."

London Tube tracking trial may make commuting less miserable

Andy Livingstone

Local Knowledge?

Am I the only person who finds it strange for someone in San Fransisco to be writing detailed and potentially useful notes about the London Tube?

US watchdog alert: Don't fall victim to crapto crypto-coin cons, people

Andy Livingstone

Re: Main use of cryptocurrencies...

Did they happen to mention the new Burger King WhopperCoin?

'Driverless' lorry platoons will soon be on a motorway near you

Andy Livingstone

Last I heard it was supposedly to be tested on the Northern M6 in 2016.

Where's it been?

Scrutiny? We've heard of it. Dot-UK supremo Nominet goes dark

Andy Livingstone

Easy Peasy.

Don't like them. Don't use them. Don't use .uk registrations.

TalkTalk fined £100k for exposing personal sensitive info

Andy Livingstone

Re: Out of India?

From personal experience the Philppines staff were unusual for Virgin Media in that they alone knew what they were doing and actually did it.

The Reg chats to Ordnance Survey's chief data wrangler

Andy Livingstone

20,000 updates a day.

Bought two copies of an Ordnance Survey map last year, one standard version, the other waterproof.

According to notes in the Customer Information Section printed in both maps it had not been revised for 10 years, but was copyright dated the previous year.

Not a happy bunny. Not rushing to buy again.

Nearly three-quarters of convicted TV Licence non-payers are women

Andy Livingstone

Easy enough Solution

Get a Granny or Grandad of 75 or over. Sit back. Watch BBC (if you really like crap) and laugh at the stupid law.

Virgin Media admits it 'fell short' in broadband speeds ahead of lashing from BBC's Watchdog

Andy Livingstone

says it all

"A letter from executive sales director Neil Bartholomew, seen by The Register, said: "Customers trust Virgin Media "

Yup...............................................

ICO fines Morrisons for emailing customers who didn't want to be emailed

Andy Livingstone

ICO

Common abbreviation for I Care Zero.

Examples to the contrary, anyone?

Ofcom fines Three £1.9m over vulnerability in emergency call handling

Andy Livingstone

Not breach of OFCOM rules?

If Three did not breach OFCOM rules then what right in law does OFCOM have to impose a penalty?

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