Category: All IT

All IT

Google Calendar and Android Calendar one-way sync problem solved

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Google Calendar and Android Calendar one-way sync problem solved

I was having a problem where events I add on my Android phone would sync to Google, but events added on Google Calendar would not sync to my phone.  I searched Google Help, and a wider internet search on Google, but there were pages and pages of people having the opposite problem; their phone would get new events input on the web, but new events on the phone weren’t syncing.  Synchronizing is a major part of the Google-Android system, but there seemed to be nothing from Google about these problems.

Anyway, I found the answer to my problem.  On the Android phone, go to the Home Screen, Menu, Settings, Applications, Manage Applications, Calendar Storage. Then select Clear Cache.

If you found this useful. Please leave a comment or link to this site from your site.  Thanks.

IT - Other

Syncing Android phones with multiple Google gMail accounts

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Syncing Android phones with multiple Google gMail accounts

A rare post from me.  I don’t plan to post much for at least four months, but this one might help others.

I own a HTC Wildfire, an Android phone.  I added my Google account to it and it all synchronised well.  Although there is an option to add another account, after the entering the details it would say “Signing in”, and:

“Your phone is communicating with Google servers and setting up your account. This may take up to five minutes.” 

Well, it would rarely get to five minutes before reporting:

“Can’t establish a reliable data connection to the server. This could be a temporary problem or your SIM card may not be provisioned for data services. If it continues, call Customer Care.”

I finally found a solution:

Go to the phone’s YouTube app

If you have an account, sign in.  If not, create an account using your Google username and password.

That’s it!  The phone now has the new account.  You will probably want to go to settings, Syncing and Accounts, and set it to sync automatically.  You’ll then get your second or subsequent gMail accounts in the gMail app.

If you found this useful, please let me know with a comment.  I might start posting tech-related stuff again in 2011, but want to know if anyone is interested before I spend time on it.  Thanks.

IT News

Google’s interest-based advertising looks like Phorm/Webwise/spyware

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Google’s interest-based advertising looks like Phorm/Webwise/spyware

Google will replace their current Adsense advertising with Phorm-style interest-based advertising with effect from 1st April 2009.  They’re advising website owners to update their privacy policy becuase of this, but I don’t think that doing that is sufficient.

Their current Adsense ads show advertisements that are based on the content of the site on which the ads are shown.  For example, on this site the ads might include F1 race tickets or karting companies.  Google’s new Interest-based ads will show ads based on websites that the person has previously visited.  So, when someone visits a site that contains Google ads, Google assumes that the person is interested in the content of that site and records that person’s interest in it.  When that person visits another site with Google ads, Google will show ads based on the database of what Google considers interesting to that person.

This sounds like the Phorm (AKA Webwise) privacy scandal that BT and other ISPs got into before.  Basically, they installed equipment an advertising company’s equipment that monitored websites their customers visited, and served adverts related to those previous websites.  The Information Commissioner (Data Protection Act) and the EU law enforcers were concerned that privacy was being breached.  It seems that BT (and maybe Virgin and TalkTalk) are going to introduce this spyware-like technology at some point in the future.

Getting back to Google, they sent an email to website owners saying “your privacy policy will need to reflect the use of interest-based advertising”.  Well, I don’t have a privacy policy because I don’t collect personal data.  I’m certainly not going to spend time and money getting one drawn up so Google can earn more money by placing interest-based ads on my site; ads that might have nothing to do with the content of my site.

And having a privacy policy for a website is not sufficient legally, in my opinion.  In order to view the privacy policy, someone has to visit my website.  By visiting my website, their visit is logged by Google before the person has a chance to decide whether they want that data recorded or not.  So, in effect, data about their visit is collected without their consent, and that’s illegal in the UK.

Quite simply, this whole thing worries me.  It sounds like spyware.  After all, people’s browsing habits are being tracked without their express permission, and that to me is spyware.  So, come 1st April, my site will no longer be showing Google ads.  That leaves more space for me to add things that my visitors actually want to see.

Comments welcome, for or against.

Recent Jobs

Tech support from your ISP could be a costly waste of time

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Tech support from your ISP could be a costly waste of time

BBC News reported on a Which? report today which shows that most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are using premium rate numbers for their tech support.

Why would anyone want to pay premium rates for a call to India and have to wait (while paying) for their call to be answered? Why not contact me? My time is cheaper than some premium rate tech support calls, and I’ll help you in person. Most of the calls I get are from people who have called their ISP, spent around an hour on the phone, and still haven’t got a solution. Most of the time, it’s not a problem the ISP can fix directly anyway.

Take a recent case as an example. A couple, both computer novices, had been on the phone to BT for ages because they couldn’t get their PC connected to their internet service. BT tech support had asked them to do lots of stuff on the PC to try to fix the problem, but as novice’s this was slow and frustrating. They even told them to buy an unusual type of USB cable to connect the modem/router to the PC. They did, but that didn’t work either.

I went round and started my diagnostics. I found that my laptop easily connected to their internet service, so it wasn’t a problem with the BT end of things. Their PC couldn’t ‘see’ the modem using the USB cable; the reason is that the USB socket on their BT modem is for attaching an external hard disk, not a computer, so that was never going to work. This just illustrates that the BT helpline doesn’t even know how its own equipment works.

The solution was easy. I fitted an Ethernet card to the PC (having cleaned out the dust from the inside of the PC first) and we got a connection immediately. They’ll have a good, reliable internet connection now. It’s something a novice couldn’t do on his own, and a helpdesk can’t do over the phone.

It took 90 minutes from start to finish, including cleaning out the PC, explaining everything in terms they understood, and a good chat (I know them personally). 90 minutes of personal service, compared to long phone calls, trips to PC World for unnecessary purchases, and still no solution.

I offer:

  • In-you-home PC and IT services for residential clients in Essex, UK
  • In-your-office PC and IT services for business clients nationally (if it’s cost effective for you and me)
  • Online tech support. See the link on the homepage www.bowenracing.com (requires broadband connection)
  • Payment by cash, cheque, credit card, or PayPal

Whatever you need, if it involves computers or IT then please contact me by using the Contact menu item at the top of the page.

IT - Other

Twitter – Maxed out following, and un-following (should we feel bad)?

by Colin Bowen2 Comments on Twitter – Maxed out following, and un-following (should we feel bad)?

I’ve just exceeded the number of people I feel I can effectively follow, 60.  Any more than that and I feel that Twitter will become less interesting/useful to me.  I want to stay close to the people I follow, and see a decent proportion of their tweets. 

Already I have come to the conclusion that I can’t read all the tweets, I’ll just dip in and read what I can in the time available.  If I follow more people, it just reduces the number of tweets I see per person.

So, what do I do if someone new follows me now?  My initial thoughts are that if they have something really interesting to say then I’ll follow them, but it’s going to have to be really, really interesting.  If I do follow them, I’ll be looking for someone to un-follow so I keep the numbers effective. 

It’s hard to un-follow people, as I may have a relationship with that person.  I feel bad when someone un-follows me (and always wonder why).  So, should we feel un-follow people?  And if we do, should we feel bad about it?  Should we feel bad when we’re un-followed?

Please leave a comment.  Please include your @username.  Please also say how you found out about this post.  Thanks.

IT - Other

Thank you T-Mobile for your terrible Fair Use Policy

by Colin Bowen4 Comments on Thank you T-Mobile for your terrible Fair Use Policy

I just noticed that visitors to this website increased sharply over the last few weeks.  Looking into it further, it seems that 60% of the people who visited the site had searched for something about T-Mobile’s ‘Fair Use Policy’ (see earlier posts).

My guess is that most (if not all) of those people had had letters about so-called ‘excessive use’ of their T-Mobile broadband. 

T-Mobile still has “Browse as much as you want and never worry about cost with our unlimited price plans” on its website.  It is not unlimited!  There is a maximum speed, and if you download too much they slow the speed down so much that surfing is impracticable, and it’s slowed for the rest of the contract term.  How is that ‘unlimited’?

No other (major) mobile broadband provider caps the speed if you exceed the usage limit, but they do charge for any data you use in excess of the limit:

Vodafone Mobile Broadband charges £15 per GB if you exceed their limit.

3 Mobile Broadband charges £100 per GB thereafter if you exceed their limit.

O2 Mobile Broadband charges £200 per GB if you exceed their limit!  £200 per GB!!!!

If you feel that these caps and charges are unfair and/or extortionate, please leave a comment (even if it’s just “Me too”).

Still want to buy mobile broadband?  If so, check the ads to the right, and send a few pence my way (at no cost to you).  Thanks.

Well, I guess that ends any hope of a mobile telecoms company sponsoring my motor racing career.  Come to think of it, I’m looking for work at the moment too, so I guess these are four companies I won’t have to contact.

IT - Other

BBC – you are so Broadcaster 1.0

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on BBC – you are so Broadcaster 1.0

Argh!!!  I want to subscribe to all the Darwin programmes as podcasts, not just one of them.  Why do you insist on trying to force me to use the stupid iPlayer?  I don’t want to listen at my computer, I want to listen when it suits me, on whatever device I choose.

iPlayer looks nice, but it doesn’t function in a 2.0 way.  Maybe I’ll call you Broadcaster 1.1 (instead of 1.0) because you are trying, but iPlayer is just like a TV on a PC; it doesn’t give people the on-demand watch-anywhere experience that people now want.  We want to download when it’s convenient, and watch when it’s convenient; on our PCs or mobile devices (without using proprietry software), whether or not we have access to the internet at the time, on the train, in the car; whenever, wherever, however.  Only when we can do that will you be Broadcaster 2.0.  Come on!  It’s not the future, it’s now!

IT - Other

The ads are here. I hate ads!

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on The ads are here. I hate ads!

Edit 24/5/12 – Ads were removed ages ago.  If you want to support this site, please become a client of mine (for Computer Services or Financial Services), or contact me to make a donation.  Thanks.

 

I hate advertisments.  Sorry if you hate them too, but I need to use every income stream available to me at the moment.  I’ve tried to make them subtle; no flashing graphics, no lurid colours.  I’m hoping they’ll generate a little income for me as I get the the visitor numbers up.

I only get a few pennies when an ad is clicked, so I’m not expecting to get rich.  But please take a look at the ads from time to time, and if there’s anything that genuinely interests you, please go ahead and visit the advertiser’s site.

Thanks,

Colin.

PS. Please don’t click multiple times in the hope of sending me cash.  Google is wise to that and will cancel my account if such ‘abuse’ takes place. Ta very much.

IT - Other

T-Mobile ‘Fair Use’ policy – my verdict

by Colin Bowen2 Comments on T-Mobile ‘Fair Use’ policy – my verdict

Here’s an update on the T-Mobile mobile broadband (on my mobile phone) saga.  I received a nice email as a result of my letter to their customer services.  It informed me that my speed would not be reduced in December because my usage in November did not break their 1GB limit.  I don’t understand that, because (apart from the last few days of November) my download habits were the same in November as they were in October, and in October I used 4.27GB!

 

They did clarify that if I exceed the 1GB limit in the future, the speed would be reduced from the advertised ‘up to’ 1.8mbps to 64kbps (a 96% reduction in speed) for two weeks.  If I went over the limit again after that, it would be a permanent reduction.

 

So, is the ‘Fair Use’ policy fair?  No!  There is no way to monitor your data usage on the phone, and there’s no way to see it on their ‘My T-Mobile’ online service.  So, how are you supposed to know whether you’re getting close?

 

Since this all started, a voluntary code of conduct for ISPs has been introduced, part of which states that an ISP will make ‘timely’ contact with a customer to warn him or her that he/she is approaching their limit.  I don’t know whether T-Mobile has signed up, so Google if you want to find out.

 

What would be fairer is to say that (with adequate warnings) if someone exceeds the ‘fair use’ limit, then any data in excess of that limit would have the speed reduced.  In other words, 1.8mbps for the first 1GB of data, and 64kpbs thereafter.  Otherwise we’d be paying for 1.8mbps each month, but getting only 4% of that speed.

Of course, all ISPs should be banned, yes banned, from advertising ‘Unlimited’ broadband when there are limits as imposed by a ‘fair use’ policy.  If the normal speed is limited (ie 1.8mbps), and the amount of data is limited (to 1GB), then I ask; exactly what part of the service is ‘unlimited’?

IT - Other

T-Mobile update, and podcatching software for Windows Mobile 6.x

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on T-Mobile update, and podcatching software for Windows Mobile 6.x

Customer services told me that they can’t deal the matter further, and suggested I write to their customer services department in Doxford.  Sent the letter yesterday.  Will let you know the result.

What she did say on the phone is that the 64kbps speed will last two weeks, but if I subsequently exceed the data allowance then they’ll make it permanent.  I’ve asked for confirmation or clarification of the policy as I can’t find it on their site.

My phone, an MDA Vario III (HTC TyTN II) uses WiFi or HSDPA mobile broadband.  If I leave WiFi on, when I leave the house I get an annoying popup every time the phone finds a WiFi connection asking if I want to connect.  So, I’ve been using the mobile broadband exclusively.

What was putting me way over the data allowance was downloading audio and video podcasts overnight.  I use the excellent Beyondpod, a “free, open source, RSS feed reader and podcast manager (podcatcher) for Microsoft Smartphone and Pocket PC. ” 

I’ve set BeyondPod to download new podcasts at 4am daily.  What I didn’t know (and there was no way to find out) is that the podcasts used 4.27GB in October.  The T-Mobile ‘fair use’ amount is 1GB.  1GB = approx eight one-hour audio podcasts or less than three video podcasts a week.  I think it was October that I found the video podcasts, and BeyondPod will have downloaded some older podcasts too.  In any case, three hours worth of video podcasts isn’t that much.  That’s without any surfing too.

The day after my call to T-Mobile about their ‘fair use’ letter, BeyondPod released a new beta version.  One of the features of this new version is an setting that prevents the downloads if the only data connection is mobile broadband.  In other words, it only downloads if I’m connected to my home broadband via WiFi.  I also found a button on the keypad that toggles between WiFi and mobile broadband, so all I have to do is remember to toggle when Ieave or return to the house.  Even if I forget, BeyondPod won’t download the podcasts if the phone is set to mobile broadband.

In summary, I’ve worked out a way of reducing my mobile broadband usage considerably.  I’ve told T-Mobile about this in my letter.  Now I’m waiting to see whether they’re going to take a ‘fair’ view of my situation.