Freeview - an example of a lack of planning

Once again I have had to return my Freeview box in order to accommodate another shuffle of channels. While a retune is understandably necessary if the transmitters alter their frequencies this piecemeal operation should have been rendered unnecessary from the beginning and I'll explain why.

Firstly it's always easy to render judgements and opinions in hindsight; as a result I will present those facts that were known or assumed at the time the system was set-up and proceed from those:

Read More >>

Bank branch closures

Hardly a surprise that the proposed internal banking guidelines provide no protection for smaller communities, banks are businesses and obliged to return a profit. If a branch is not making money then it's only obvious it should be closed; the invisible hand of the free market dictates a simple logic: if people wanted a branch they would use it, if they used it then it would be profitable.

Except what dictates profit in these cases? If a customer makes a withdrawal does that count as a loss, is it how many loans and mortgages a bank sells that determines its success?

Can I be charitable and simply confidethat it's the number of transactions that a branch deals with? If so then with a decline in numbers, a branch would hardly be missed. But why would numbers decline? To listen to the banks its the advent of new technology, you can do your banking, apply for a loan etc. online. There is no longer a need to physically present oneself at a local branch, how much more convenient.

Except is this really the case or an example of false cause and effect, is the drive to online banking driven by the customer or rather by the banks themselves? Consider the operation of bank branches in the latter 20th and early 21st centuries compared to other businesses.

What time does your local branch open, what tine does it close? Chances are it opens at 9am (or even 10am) and shuts at 5pm (or even 4pm) and then only Monday to Friday. Where is your local branch? Probably in the main thoroughfare of your town or village.

Given that most employed work the same hours (although with the rise in shift work that's changing) that the banks are open and that places of employment became out of town estates, is it any wonder that the branches started to empty and that when an opportunity to bank at a time and location of your own choosing became available it was jumped on?

Does this mean that people don't want or need physical branches and points of contact? Not necessarily merely that the banks have slowly been removing them and providing no other option.

So is there an option available to maintain branches while acknowledging the main point of a bank's existence (making profit) and the addition of online services, I think the answer is yes and an example is already up and running in the form of every major airport in this country.

Unlike supermarkets and other convenience stores banks offer exactly the same non-physical goods, no requirement for any major physical storage just a desk and a computer; sound familiar.

Could banks pool funds for a 'bank terminal' and staff it 24/7 with separate kiosks? Reduced overheads, better footfall (anyone banking with a rival will get to see your offers), stops the whinging from the government (regardless of Party), and heck might even bring more customers in. Certainly better than just pulling services and shutting out or displacing customers to your rivals and certainly better than sticking your fingers in your ears and reciting "but this is what the customer wants" over and over again.

Chancel Repair Liability Insurance

I'm hearing stories of those buying new houses or moving house being contacted by their solicitors or mortgage brokers with regard to the taking out of chancel repair lability insurance.

I'm guessing this has been prompted by stories of landowners suddenly being presented with invoices from their local church as their property, being within the diocese, are liable for its upkeep.

As such it seems that such insurance is being made a compulsory part of the mortgage agreement or that solicitors are badgering homeowners into taking it out.

All well and good if your particular church has such a provision in place, not so good if they don't. Not that such niceties seem to be concerning those pushing this insurance.

(Oh wait it seems the premiums for this insurance is quite low until it's confirmed that the property may actually be liable at which point they increase)

Indeed one homeowner pointed out to an insistent firm of solicitors that their local church had no such provision in place with written documentation to back up their claim yet this same firm continued with their selling tactics to the point they handed over money just to shut them up.

Given the PPI mis-selling scandal does this have the makings of another?

Tesco and the Squirrel Inn at Stourport

Once again Tesco puts the moves on Stourport this time over the river and in Areley Kings, this time with a bid to turn the old Squirrel Inn into a Tesco Express.To some this may seem a little odd given the hold-up with the new store that, rumour has it, will finally be built and ready by September this year. However this isn't odd in the slightest given the proximity of a Londis, a newsagents, and a pharmacy.

Read More >>

Eye operation

After some eye troubles at the weekend I was booked into Kidderminster hospital with a detached retina in one eye. The operation apparently went well but for the next couple of weeks I'm pretty much blind in that eye.

Hopefully the jobcentre will accept "can barely read or write" as a good reason die not pursuing jobs as diligently as normal

The joys of the job hunt - an open letter to politicians

I have now been unemployed for 3 months, by the rhetoric of most government  politicians I am some sort of lazy soul who simply isn't looking hard enough as such let me elucidate those who have never had to look for a job in their lives (i.e. most government politicians) or deal with the many ways of searching for one.

Read More >>

The problem with shift work

Huzzah unemployment is down with less young people signed on and there are more private sector jobs being created every day. Proof, if proof were need, that the Conservative economic policies are working. Really?

Take the new apprenticeship scheme, a government funded package aimed at 16-19 year olds and pays half the minimum wage. Anyone think they count towards the unemployment figures?

But what about all these jobs? Awesome except most are part-time shift work. There's nothing wrong with shift work, however there does seem to be a problem with employers who offer it.

I'm not talking about the government's current "gosh we must do something about this" zero hour contacts, but something more insidious.

Three tales to tell that were simply offered to me with no pushing, I'll start with the shortest I've already told in another entry.

A gentleman working morning shifts applies for extra work doing afternoon shifts elsewhere, the new company expects him to quit his morning job.

A young mother working at a food retailer drops her children at school, works her shift, collects her children, goes back to work more. She's told she's not "committing enough" and is fired.

A lady workng for a different food retailer on an 8-hour week is told which days she'll be working 4-hours for, is called up at various times to cover other shifts. If she can't "there are plenty of other people who can".

A part-time job that doesn't offer enough to live on and excludes the ability to get another complimentary part-time job.

That's what this government is crowing about.

Job seeking - the Conservative Party conference 2013

The headline news this morning was the multi-million trust-fund owner and tax-break giver George Osbourne stating that they'll be no money for nothing under their administration. They're going to make the long-term unemployed do community work.

What I find annoying anything about this is that they're partially right, but due to their indulgent background and rigid dogma they're doing it wrong.

First up is the non-explicitly stated, but easily-inferred, assumption that these people can't get jobs because they're lazy so let me tell you a tale.

A friend of mine works part-time and, coincidentally, also does voluntary community work. He was looking to supplement his earnings with another part-time job that complimented his existing employment. He applies for suitable positions and gets asked: "So you'll be giving up your other part-time job then?".

Why this question? Because they don't just want him to work the stipulated hours they want to be able to whistle and have him run.

Take my position - I've 20 years of IT and office admin experience and I can't get a job. Why? Well I saw one company advertising for an Admin post, an IT post, a Marketing post and for a PA. No that wasn't four jobs, that was one job combining skills that don't normally go together. I've applied for jobs that turn out to be nothing like what's been advertised and for ones in which I've been deemed too old and/or overskilled.

If it's a choice between employing someone young that you're not legally obliged to pay as much as someone older; or someone with no skills (or long-term unemployed) who has to take whatever shit the job shovels at them who would you take?

Yet according to good old George this is all our own fault. But is there a way around this, possibly.

Consider the local councils creating two 4-hour shifts a day over the whole week. Someone doing three shifts for the ~£70 a week in benefit would be on minimum wage. Given that technically they're already paid by the government why not work for the government?

As the local councils are already cutting staff etc. it's not really going to affect full-time staff and may require more managerial positions to oversee the 'community' workers. At the same time we'll see a reduction in litter, graffiti as well as tidier verges etc.

Except that's not going to happen as that would be an expansion of government over private enterprise. Far better to make people work for free for privately hived off services and charities than for the public sector.

Bioshock Infinite - Lady Comstock 1999 mode

I'm playing through Bioshock Infinite at the moment and trying it on the hardest difficulty setting 1999'
s mode.

It's not been too bad until I reached Lady Comstock, oh boy.

The graveyard encounter was okay thanks to the numerous medkits around. The bank encounter was made easier by staying behind a thick vault door. But outside the house was a major pain in the proverbial.

I checked various sites, watched videos and so many went with the run and hide technique that proved dicey. It was the bank encounter that provided me with the clue to a method that allowed me to win without once needing health.

Lady Comstock is restricted to her movements, she cannot step beyond the carts at the bottom of the steps. Except the dead soldiers she revives can. Ah but she can only revive and re-revive soldiers within her range. Getting the idea?

Head to the area with the machines and use the range boosted vigour "Undertow" to grab soldiers then kill them. If you run out of salts stay put and you only need to deal with the few melee soldiers before Elizabeth will throw you some.  Use the Mosquito to whittle things down.

Once all the soldiers are piled up at your feet just let the Mosquito take her out.

Job done

Christmas

In 2011 I noted that Christmas now started in October because of all the "[holiday] starts earlier every year" comments.

September 11th and Christmas stuff is now out, yeesh

Weights without scales

I have a 1kg box of moss killer I need to mix it at 120g per 10 litres. I have no scales.

1. Assume the box is full. It measures 6x13x21 cm or 1638 cm3
2. I need 0.12 of a box or 196.56 cm3
3. I have a roughly cylindrical jug of diameter 12.5 cm
4. The bottom of the jug therefore has an area of 122.71 cm2
5. I therefore need to fill the jug to the 1.6 cm line

Or I could just go and buy some scales, but where's the fun in that?

Bus journeys

As mentioned previously due to the lack of parking at my training facility I've been having to catch the bus into Kidderminster from Stourport, it's been a while since I've had to do this for an extended period and it's led me to note a few things.

There are no return tickets anymore.

It used to be I'd travel in and then just want to return. I'd ask for a return and get a ticket that was punched to prevent reuse. Now I get an "Adult Day Saver" that gives me a whole day of being able to travel around on the bus.

Except I don't want to, and I doubt anyone who uses the bus to commute does either. I'd love to see the figures for how many of these tickets get used more than once.

Competition doesn't work

It should. Unlike trains that need to leave a massive gap between them there's nothing to stop buses following each other, it's the lack of information that renders this useless.

There are two main franchises in my area Diamond and Whittles, a day ticket with Diamond costs £2.60, with Whittles it's £2.30. They both arrive at my stop approximately 5 minutes apart. So if the Diamond arrives first I should decline it and wait for the Whittles.

However I have no information as to whether the Whittles service is running or even if I've just missed it, given the timeframes involved if I have to wait for the next 'cycle' I may only just make it in on time. I therefore pick the first to arrive.

However having done so I am now tied to that company, my day saver ticket is not redeemable with the other franchise.

Bus companies do not like day saver passengers.

Waiting to return with my Diamond ticket the correct Diamond service arrived, this was closely followed by the equivalent Whittles who upon seeing the Diamond was already there simply drove past. Had I a Whittles ticket I'd have been stuck.

Buses always have right of way

At least according to their drivers anyway. The route I was on always took me past the new council building. I've watched several times as the bus I was on pulled out to overtake a parked car while there was an oncoming vehicle, I've watched them pull out into traffic without indicating, I've watched them pull over without indicating. They've switched lanes on islands with no acknowledgment of traffic on either their left or right and pulled out onto said islands when they clearly haven't enough time.

All this in the certain knowledge that they are big and the other vehicle will stop.

Week tickets are a con for business use

If I were working a standard week catching the Whittles bus it would cost me £2.30*5 or £11.50. A week ticket costs £12. Supposedly though this would work with either company so some benefit there.

All the rolling stock is different

How hard is it to make a bus? It's a box with seats, yet I've not been on two alike. Some have more jump seats at the front, some have two levels, some have three levels. All have poles and bells at different places.

There are some benefits

For example the ability to take in your surroundings. Most notably driving past that massive overgrown concrete slab opposite the new council building that might well be ideal to turn into a Traveller site housing caravans. Odd that I don't recall seeing that as being one of the potential sites.

Training over

A week's worth of training over and I pray to gods that the accrediting body involved has nothing to do with the education of this country's children.

"It is i--------t that employees keep their workplaces c-----"
That should be "important" and "clean" rather than "importantt" and "clean-" oh so many of those.

A whole morning being told that something is the responsibility of both employer and employee and the multiple-choice question asks who is responsible? The answer, of course, being the employer, contradicting everything in the teaching materials.

The teaching material listed three statistics regarding a subject and then had a question regarding a fourth unmentioned one.

One module explained the acronym SMARTER another related module then asked what the acronym SMART meant, the ER being suddenly deemed unimportant.

The course was also obviously designed as a company aid as we were constantly being exhorted to explain how things were done in our "company"; a little difficult in a group of the unemployed.

Amusingly the actual teaching of the course was fine, though on occasion it did rattle through a bit too quickly. In group round-robin events the next task would often be described as the last member was just finishing their turn.

That all said I did learn a few new things, just not that much, and hopefully I'll get some pretty pieces of paper out of it.

Training Day

Ah the opportunity to learn new skills and gain qualifications. It all promises to be so fun and them devolves into endless PowerPoint presentations. Well at least mine wasn't like that although rather simplistic questions to answer with only a little learning so far.

The main problem I had was with the initial organisation. Contrary times on the documentation, a singular instruction with two options, and zero information on access our structure until I and the others turned up.

[Bit I missed - got back home to a letter thanking me for my intention to attend the training]

There's no parking for trainees, we're expected to park our cars all day on the pay and display at about £4 a time, actually I lie we're expected to take public transport for which we can claim the money back. That's great for me provided they don't start digging up outside the old British Sugar site past which 90% of the buses travel. So I cadged a lift in and took the bus back, only to find no bloody roadworks. Bet they'll start tomorrow when I do try to catch the bus in. Oh but can I get a return before 9am? Never used to be able to, but with all the competition has that changed? Either that or a week card.

So with no idea as to catering, so many places kick you out, I brought nothing with the determination to grab a burger and drink and ready outside in the fine weather.

Since when did a cup of coffee cost more than the actual meal? Yeesh! Given my proximity I thought it would be nice to sit by the canal. Ha yeah right take my pick from the zero number of seating areas arrayed along the wide grass verges. I ended up propped against a bridge wall.

It's just a joke if this were Stourport I'd be spoiled for choice as to where I could eat my lunch from pretty much any location in town. Kidderminster's a hell hole.

Either sit in the hot confines of a café or restaurant, a bench in the middle of the busy town, or just try to make do. It's not designed for people to enjoy.

Hello your computer has a trojan

A phone call in the middle of eating asking about my computer and that it was infected by a trojan horse and could I get in front of my computer

"No it's not" I replied "How did you get this number?"
"It came up a part of the server report"
"No how did you connect my IP address to this number?" Given that my land line doesn't have broadband and isn't even with the same company
"You've registered this number"
"With whom? Also as it's a dynamic address the only easy you could connect it up is via my ISP whom you have not mentioned"
"It's part of the server report"
"What server?"
"The World Wide Web server"
"There's no such thing, who are you what company are you from?"
"As I said the World Wide Web"
"There's no such entity"
"So what does www mean on the Internet?"
"That's just an address protocol it's not an entity it's not a company, who are you?"
"I think you should just hang up sir"
"Why don't you?"
"I can't"

I'm still around

Wow has it really been that long since I've published anything? Okay there's been a lot going on which has kept me busy, I resigned from my job so I've been job hunting and jumping through hoops for the job centre. More to come

Wyre Forest by-elections - the blame game

Not the best of times for UKIP. With two members elected to the Worcestershire County Council within the Wyre Forest district one resigns due to comments they made on Facebook and the other dies. That means two new elections and while anyone's death is not a pleasant occurrence it's possible to learn from this experience regarding cost and blame for the by-elections.

Read More >>

Video game expiry dates and the second hand market

The new XBone will tie your game to your account so that if you lend the disc or (bom bom bah) actually want to sell it on; the person on the receiving end may have to pay full price once they stick into their system. It appears to be Microsoft's answer to both a) piracy and b) the scourge of the second-hand market.

If they can't force you to buy everything from their digital store where they can charge what they like and keep it at that price in perpetuity they can damn well stop the physical used market dead in it's tracks.

Read More >>

Tax avoidance

Still popping up in the news are the tales of the big UK companies who barely pay any of the 20% corporation tax on their profits; nothing new their. What did catch my eye were those trying to justify it.

Read More >>

The condemnation of Islam? Part 2

In Part 1 I provided a transcript of an interview spouting intolerance and hate purporting to be on behalf of the Islamic religion and tried to answer why we treat such radicals as representations of the whole. Here I want to try to answer a question posed by a newspaper editorial asking why when such attacks happen the media turns to the 'Muslim community' for answers.

Read More >>