[Drezha]

Dave Rice wrote:

Of the home users, only 2 other people besides me have changed the default SSID of their router so it’s easy to see the split of ISPs. BT = 12, TT – 10, Sky = 5, Vodaphone = 1, Plusnet = 1 All of the businesses use Cisco with the exception of the Nuffield Health gym which is TP-Link. Well I find it interesting Imagine how much of this sort of info Google has collected. You can sort of see why some Governments take a dim view of Google street view collection.

I considered changing the latest one but it seemed like more effort than not as it was WPA2 protected anyhow. Once I’m connected, I very rarely ever have to look for it again.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

I use Fastmail and they’ve been very good to date.

Recently however, their junk mail filter is being a bit dim but it’s not the end of the world. Yet. Lets me use my own domain names as well.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

Dave Rice wrote:

 I don’t think you can use Fon for guests as it looks like you have to buy a Fon pass Buy an Access Pass

Us using BT FON was what I was referring to, not the guests – we can only access FON if we allow others to access through our router (link). We’d be able to use BT WiFi though regardless as you say.

In regards to my Synology I believe I’ve only one share that’s “public” and that’s media I want to be able to share and I believe that it’s guest access for reading only.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

After a day of playing with the Homehub, we might not be able to replace it fully – the BT WiFi item is quite a good deal, letting us access BT WiFi for free anywhere on a BT WiFI hotspot or BT FON point. Means that we give some of our bandwidth away to people if they need to use it, but that might be better than having guest networks. I may just have to look into locking down the NAS more instead as that’s probably the bigger issue.

I might look at it again more seriously when we purchase again, but at the minute, the flat we’re in, the WiFi reaches everywhere we need it to and my PC is currently set up in the front room, so it’ll do for now. If the BT WiFi stuff doesn’t work, then I might change my mind sooner as well.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

I believe all the farm stuff is online – I’ve not been told to much about the workings, just can it be fixed (and recommendations for a new machine  :wacko: ) But was told that the farm package can be updated on the phone using an app (tracking the cows – injections and pregnancies I guess? It’s a dairy farm.) If all the accounts and farm stuff is online, then there probably isn’t a huge need for a NAS and backing up to mine might be sufficient.

The USB sticks is probably a good one. GF’s mum does burn photos to DVD every now and then but she reckons the last time was December, so not that regularly! They probably could get away with just Google Drive.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

Hadn’t thought about the seeding – that could work out fairly well. I’ll look into somehow getting the files onto a USB disk and sent over perhaps to start with. But if they’re comfortable with the data residing on my NAS, it may well be fairly good solution, as I backup my NAS offsite, currently via huBic and Hyper Backup and I’m experimenting with the Amazon Drive Backup option as well with the free trial – I’m still a bit wary about Glacier, though I see the costs are a bit more straight forward now and would only cost me $1 a month for about 250GB.

My DS116 is excellent (and a better step up from the DS115j that I used to have and passed to my Dad). With my Chromecast though, I’ve been trying to play items that aren’t encoded for it, so at some point I may consider the DS216play, just so it doesn’t cause issues (but I’ll see). However, getting them to pay out for an extra piece of hardware when they’ve just got to pay out for a new computer might be a hard sell.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

Dave Rice wrote:

Good backups with versioning. Synology gives me all the tools I need to mitigate as much as I can. Real time: Synology Cloud Station does versioning up to 32 deep and is not time limited. Daily Backup: Hyper Backup allows you to keep 256 versions (9 months) and has compression and deduplication to keep the size down. A real world example from a client: Source size 133GB, 3o days rotation, total used 106GB. You can also lock a particular backup so that it’s retained. Archive to AWS: Glacier backup allows you to archive to Amazon. This costs me less than $2 a month for 8 scheduled weekly jobs for myself and some clients. Everything is encrypted before it leaves the site. I have seen and used PC clients but they are really clunky.

That was my initial thought last night when asked about it. Except, rather than get them to purchase a Diskstation, next time I’m over in Ireland, I can set it up to back it up to my Synology over here, so they’ll also have offsite backup. That also provides the benefit that if it happens again, I can log on to the NAS here and restore all the files manually for when they sort the computer out (it’s also not limited by 30 days version history like Dropbox is). I think that in the past though they’ve had limited broadband as I was looking at possibly setting up Crashplan for them to backup to my computer. Last time I was over, I setup Crashplan on the PC to backup to an external drive in case of PC failure, but that was encrypted as well (apparently – I’ve not checked myself, but someone local to them apparently said it was).

Looking at the files that got encrypted in Dropbox, they were hit by the Sage 2.2 ransomware – $2000 to unlock them all! Makes spending some money on backups worth it!  I think they’re lucky that most of the farming stuff is done online and so are the accounts.

 

Dave – I think in this case, it wouldn’t even create a version as it changes the extension to .sage and therefore would just cause a mass deletion of the standard files. However, I would still be able to restore them easily enough!

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

If it’s a standard repayment mortgage, as you pay more off, the interest gets less each and your payments will end up being more of the capital than interest.

So year 1, you might be paying £500 a month say – £400 covers the interest, £100 towards capital. Towards the end of the mortgage, your £500 might be £100 interest, £400 towards the capital.

 

You can view it using a mortgage amortisation calculator. Here’s a calculator that will show how it declines over time. My mortgage firm also provided me with a sheet showing the repayment schedule and that showed how the monthly payment was split between capital and interest.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

The Hawks are still going – 100 Squadron still make use of the T1 Hawks and they’re the RAF aggressor squadron – the Arrows fly the newer T2’s and they have more of the fancy bells and whistles on than the aggressors!
Got to see them fly last year at Leeming – the Hawk is one of the best looking jets out there in my mind.

Did get a chance to see the Red Arrows at the Queens birthday last year. Would love to see a more dynamic show next time!

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

Currently this video on Youtube as I study for OASC next month

Though the rest of the day it has been the latest Public Service Broadcasting song as they prepare to release the new album that focuses on coal mining and Wales.

Progress – Public Service Broadcasting

Album Teaser

Edit: Bloody videos wont embed nicely so links it is.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

Other news articles suggest that it outstrips the current capability and at recent war games posed a considerable challenge to existing aircraft.

I’m taking both sides with a pinch of salt.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

I’ve done Flying Legends a couple of times and it’s a fantastic show. Last year, they even had an F22 turn up for a display with a P51 (looks like a case of the Yanks copying our Typhoon/Spitfire display from the year before celebrating 75 years since the Battle of Britain!) In the run up to the 75th anniversary, I did catch a Spitfire fly over Welwyn which had me stop and reaching for my phone camera!

This year I fancy RIAT or even getting down to the Scampton for the Scampton airshow. Downside to moving to Manchester, the nearest base to me will either be Linton-On-Ouse or Leeming and quite a way away. Spent the week at Leeming last year and that was great to see the Hawks fly (and the pilots showboating to the cadets!)

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

I read Flypast on occasion. Got the last one for the articles on the Mosquito (one of my favourite planes ever) and I got the latest one as it features the latest on XH588 (the Vulcan at Doncaster), which I got to go inside in January for a birthday present.

As for the Tonka’s, shame to see them go but time moves on.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

I’ve seen them before – Pizza Hut used to have them a lot and I’ve seen them at Argos as well as you said. However, having gone through a cashback site, I’ve always ignored the advert 😉

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

People that go to the self checkout machines and then complain they can’t use them and can the person overseeing them please do it for them?

NO – GO QUEUE UP LIKE EVERYONE ELSE AND LET THOSE OF US WHO CAN USE THEM DO SO!
Sorry, bugbear of mine  :whistle:

8 years of a weekend checkout boy means that I’m often as quick as going through a till, especially as I usually only have a basket and Morrisons have stopped the 10 items or less till.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

I use a Flirc for my media PC when I use it. Works with Windows and Linux and I can use my old Apple TV remote.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

Jason wrote:

Er … WTF?

One assumes he should have posted in the Google Wifi thread  :scratch:

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

Maybe BT have changed since I had to deal with them over 5 years ago.

Anyhow, I’ve got with them this time. £28.99 for 52Mb Infinity and the basic TV package. £70 upfront for line activation, the router and the TV box to be delivered.

£150 reward card from BT (once it’s set up) and Quidco has tracked cashback at £150 as well…. :whistle:

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

Yeah, I’ve watched all four so far and I’ve been dead impressed with them all and I’m not really a car person – it’s a good mix of entertainment and cars.

Loved last weeks trip round the Nürburgring!

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Drezha]

Calls we don’t need – everything is either done via the mobiles or via FaceTime. We’re only required to have a landline for the broadband 🙁

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

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