COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[Stanley]

Good, glad you are getting on with it. Change is always traumatic till it settles down. I'll be glad when I've mastered the changeover of ISP on Tuesday.....

[Stanley]

Midnight tonight I lose landline and ISP. Scary.... Must read the instructions with the Talk Talk changeover kit!

[Pluggy]

Don't take any notice of anything to do with the supplied CD. its for Windows. (The same could be said for Windows, because it will be all about branding and the internet works perfectly well without it).

Just plug it in, it should work.

[Stanley]

You're right Plugs it does but I'm going to have to ring them for a password for my email , I've tried everything!

[Big Kev]

You're right Plugs it does but I'm going to have to ring them for a password for my email , I've tried everything!

Is there not a "forgotten password" option when you log in?

[Pluggy]

Got a call this morning from Stanley asking me to check my email. He can send but not receive. Theres been a mix up with his email address as well by the looks of it.

With SMTP sent email, you often don't need the password, you just need a recognised IP address, which comes with the territory if you're using the mail server belonging to the ISP.

He said he'd continue the battle on the phone to his new ISP.

[Stanley]

Doc came round and put me on the right track. It was more simple to just set up another address so I'm scg1936@talktalk.net. Nice and short! Everything is working and I've sent change of address emails out to everyone. Speed hasn't picked up a lot yet but I suppose that will happen over the next few days....
One by-product of the change is that my phone is a lot clearer now its wired directly into the main socket.
One thing which would make you laugh. I decided to re-make the connection direct into the back of the main socket and was devastated when I found I had no connection. Then I realised I had to plug the unit back into the body.... Old Bloke very relieved!

[David Whipp]

It was more simple to just set up another address so I'm scg1936@talktalk.net.

Stanley, I'm assuming it doesn't have the full stop after 'net'? The same "." is also on the address you've emailed round.

(Glad I've not had to change my email address for a while!)

[Tizer]

David, he's got it right (unless he's edited it since your post!) - note that the final stop (denoting end of sentence) is not in blue and it not part of the web address (in both his email and the post above). If you right click on the address and copy & paste it you'll find the final stop isn't included.

[Stanley]

Masses of mail from old contacts this morning, all glad to know I am still vertical! I had another senior moment yesterday, my mouse went crazy! Couldn't understand it till I realised I was holding it the wrong way round after cleaning it. Try it, very disconcerting!
Complete update of both Firefox and Thunderbird this morning.....
Speed not improved, I'll give it a day or two and then ring them.... Main thing is everything is working!

[Pluggy]

Another advantage to old steam driven wired mice. Its immediately obvious which end is which.

Must be getting old, worked professionally with computers for going on 30 years and I'm turning into a Luddite...........

[Stanley]

Nowt wrong with being a Luddite in the right areas but you aren't afraid of new technologies... look at your energy monitoring. I like wireless keyboards and mice because it's two wires less cluttering the place up!

[Stanley]

Download speed seems to be rising slowly.... Perhaps I won't have to call them after all.

[Stanley]

Talk talk are delivering. Speed is still rising, ping 25ms, download almost 18mps.

[Tripps]

What is a hashtag that I hear so much about lately? Or is it unwise to enquire at my age?

[PostmanPete]

What is a hashtag that I hear so much about lately? Or is it unwise to enquire at my age?

Hi Tripps - it's the # symbol (just to the right of the @ symbol on the keyboard)

[Pluggy]

Thats a hash or hash key, a hashtag is what social networking sites (typically twitter) use as a topic header for convenient access. Much loved by television programmes as they are shorter and easier to read than URLs to websites. Have I got news for you has the hashtag #HIGNFY and Winterwatch #winterwatch for example.

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23HIGNFY&src=hash

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashtag

[Tripps]

Thanks for the help - knew I shouldn't have asked - I still don't really get it. I tried Twitter a while ago -lasted about an hour, then spent two hours trying to "unjoin". Achieved it in the end - I didn't really want to be friends with Stephen Fry, Wayne Rooney, or Victoria Beckham, and it seemed to be compulsory.
Sam Goldwyn had it right - 'Include me out'. Aren't we lucky to have this site upon which to unburden ourselves. They've just bought me an "I love Barnoldswick" mousemat for my birthday.

[Stanley]

Many happy returns David. Got the bill for my first three days on Talktalk. No surprises and yes, the international calls are free because I took the £3.50 per month option. A good deal!

[Pluggy]

I nominally have a Twitter and a Facebook account. Somebody was raving about how I should be advertising on them. I signed up, played around a bit and gradually lost the will to live. I haven't been back since. I'm spammed everyday from facebook asking me if I know all these people I've never heard of......

It's my business to know how they work even if I can't face 'em.

Do I really want to know that XXX has just fed the cat or paid the milkman ?

[Tizer]

Like Tripps and Pluggy, I had a go at Twitter but found it terrible - words like trite, banal and boring come to mind. Also, it's much loved by companies using it to promote themselves or their products by pretending they're joining in and being helpful. There must be a lot of gullible folk around these days. I get the Facebook messages too...so-and-so wanting me to join them and look at their page. Facebook encourage people to do it because it pushes up the numbers of `subscribers' and inflates Facebook's profile.

[Stanley]

Thank God I managed to avoid Facebook and Twitter... Mind you I did fall for Linked in but simply ignore the emails.... I am simply an old curmudgeon, I'll choose my own 'friends' thank you!

[Stanley]

The move to Talktalk looks good. Steady download at about 17mps, I think it's settled down now. This is slightly better than Orange at its best and a lot cheaper. By the way, BT haven't asked me for my old telephone... yet! They appear to have closed the account because I get a refund for the amount I paid in advance for the line rental.

[Pluggy]

If its the physical phone Stanley, you get to keep it. They won't want it back, they can't re-use it and it will cost them money to process it, so it gets left with the old customer. Broadband routers are the same.

[Stanley]

Funny thing is that I was considering getting a new phone because I was having problems hearing what callers were saying. Perhaps it was time for a special phone for the partially deaf. However, now it's plugged directly into the main socket instead of going through the Onetel line box it's as clear as a bell! The line box must have been degrading the signal.