OneGuyFromBarlick

I find that I have a recording of the brief scam attempt -
Let's see if it works.

PS - seems to for me. I think we spoke about recording phone calls a while ago. I got an App, and installed it - thought I'd have to switch it on each time I needed to, but actually it records every call in and out. Quite weird hearing your own voice, and I suppose I really ought to say "Calls may be recorded for training and quality purposes " but I don't.

This is fun isn't it?


Here's a souvenir of the recent pilgrimage to the Ashram - one for posterity . . .

He was lucky I picked the phone up, I usually ignore it.... Nice visit. David, did you see that the big carrier bag came in useful? Just the thing for carrying your clothes round in at the hospital.
As for the recording..... spooky isn't it.

Today I got a third one of those scam emails and so I had a look on the Web to see how common it is. It has been around in the US for a few months and seems to have started there with letters first. It's now happening here by email and is being referred to under the title `My nickname in darknet is'. An example of one of the web discussions from recent days is here: LINK One of the people posting on there has been checking the bitcoin account named in the email and says money is flowing into it, so some folk are paying up even though it's a scam. Presumably they have a guilty conscience. It's comforting to see others receiving the scam messages and confirming that it is a scam and that the perpetrators are not really getting access to computers.

Later...I followed advice on the Action Fraud web site and sent a text file with the message source of the three email messages to the City of London Police National Fraud Information Bureau.

Stanley wrote: ↑22 Oct 2018, 02:10 did you see that the big carrier bag came in useful?

Yes - I noticed that - happy to help - They last for ever.

As for the recording - I think I'll disable it for now; it is spooky, and the novelty is wearing off.

I couldn't understand where she said she was calling from. Did it mean anything to you?

It sounds to me like Mary Bandwin (?) from Silvershine Services. I've had a quick look around but found nothing that seems relevant. probably all fictitious anyway.

I found Holly Baldwin of Silver shine services with the number 01162581475 reported today as a telemarketer here: LINK

I'm impressed by your forensic abilities Tiz. What a good site OG is.

Only slightly off piste. I'm struggling to make any sense of the TV reception via a smart TV and recorder. In my simple layman's terms with the aerial plugged into the recorder then out again to the TV and both units switched to aerial supply, the smart TV gives ALL the freeview channels. But using the recorder output via the HDMI recorder connection the Multiplex PSB1 channels (Winter Hill 59) (BBC1, BBC2 etc) are available but none of the Multiplex PSB2 channels (Winter Hill 58) (ITV etc) Both these channels appear to have the same nominal strength when viewed by the smart TV. I'm suspecting that the smart TV and the recorder have different amplifier performance and the incoming signal is basically too weak for the recorder. I do have a rather long aerial cable run. Does any of this make sense to the experts?

You need Ian for this one P! (Unless of course Pluggy knows the answer.)

Its a slow burn item. No panic with it but I don't like bits of equipment lying around that can't be used just because I don't know how to fix them. My digging into the supply background has already taught me a lot that I was never aware of. I'll keep playing with it but any help is welcome.

Do you have a signal booster on the coax?

Kev. I tried a cheapo booster that I got some time ago from Aldi. (Tevilon). This is a set box type not a mast head booster. I got about 25% increase in signal as shown at the multiplex signal. The end result was still a failure on the ITV stations.

When did you last do a channel search on the recorder? It may not auto update if there have been any changes.

Kev, sorry for the delay higher management got the washer on child lock and didn't know how to release it, another one of the joys of electronics.
Back to the channel search. Every time I do something like changing the aerials round or fitting the booster etc, I do a channel update search. As I have said if i was only interested in the TV output (freeview and internet) its usable. But if I want to use the recorder all the ITV plus others won't record because of the lack of signal.

This is beyond my pay grade bit Kev taught me a long while ago that the best way to reliably get the most recent upgrade is to do 'new installation'. My last problem that Kev sorted for me was that the fact that my smart TV was picking up the wi-fi signal from my router, it was masking the fact that my Freesat box which was hard wired through smart plus wasn't actually getting a signal, cured by restarting the power plug connection from scratch. Only a thought.....
One an entirely different matter I have just heard a social media guru saying that one of the main reasons for the relative decline of Facebook and Twitter and the rise of channels like Snapchat is because the latter are for some reason a lot less abrasive and angry. I have no experience but if it's true I applaud it. He also said that anger was encouraged by the former because it tended to encourage people to post more and be more engaged.

http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/operations/p ... ring_works shows engineering works at Winter Hill week commencing 15/10/2018, it could be overrunning. Has the recorder received ITV channels previously? When did it stop?

Kev, Thanks for the link. The results show that there is no problem transmitter wise. Good reception predicted on all channels. As far as recording goes I was experiencing some difficulty when the Tour de France was being broadcast. It would record in the afternoon but not in the evening. This is a secondary use TV + recorder and only get used occasionally for recording when Mrs P has used up all the slots on the main one. I had a look at the outside aerial from ground level and it looks like the strong winds may have swung it off line by about 15 degrees. I'm not sure about this because we have three aerials, one for each TV, so I'm not sure that this is the one to this TV. Its a ladder job which is a bit off an effort for me. If it is it may be worthwhile going for a high gain aerial while I'm at it. .

Sounds like a signal issue so could well be aerial alignment (if it is that aerial).

P. JB Aerials 07522 309826, James Beech. A good man and doesn't overcharge.

I wonder if Pluggy has any further news on the latest Ubuntu long-term version? As the frequency of spam and scam gets higher it makes me a bit concerned about getting behind with security.

Its rock solid stable now, however one of the things that made it interesting has been removed. It used to upgrade automatically when you shut it down much like windows, but It killed mine on one occasion. Its reverted back to the standard Ubuntu upgrade model now and its been stable since. It has a different desktop system to 16.04, 14.04 and 12,04. I can't honestly say there is a compelling reason to upgrade 14.04 or 16.04 to 18.04. I prefer the settings system on 18.04 and using 16.04 looks sort of old fashioned after using it but if you're happy with 16.04 or 14.04 I see no real benefit in upgrading. 14.04 and 16.04 are still being upgraded so should still be secure. I'd move on from 12.04 if your still using it.

You could always download 18.04, burn it to a DVD or a USB stick and try it as a live system if you're curious.

I shall upgrade on principle but not until I have got through the current alarums and excursions.

P, if you have difficulty contacting James Beech (picked up on FB), Vicky at Handley Aerials (sorry dont have the number to hand) will sort you out. Used Handley Aerials for 20 years when I was in the trade.