Month: January 2009

Competition Series

I’m out of the competition :-(

by Colin Bowen5 Comments on I’m out of the competition :-(

Just a quick note to say I took part in Round 3 of the competition on Wednesday, but didn’t get through to Round 4 due to a combination of a bad car and my stupid driving. When (if) I get a chance, I’ll write more fully about what happened another time.

Thanks for all the messages of support I’ve had.

Competition Series, Karting

So F1 – Round 3 – Yes, I’m through!

by Colin Bowen1 Comment on So F1 – Round 3 – Yes, I’m through!

Quick post to say I have had confirmation that I’m through to Round 3 of this competition.  It takes place Wednesday.  Will let you know how it goes.  Wish me luck.

Competition Series

So You Want to be an F1 Driver – competition update

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on So You Want to be an F1 Driver – competition update

I’m getting a lot of visitors looking for information on the So World F1 Driver competition.  The current news is that Round 3 is on next week, and some people have received letters saying they’re through.  I haven’t had a letter so I’ve contacted So World and I’m waiting for confirmation one way or the other.

If you want to find all articles about this competition (and the previous one, which I was also in), [EDIT] click ‘So F1’ tag underneath the title of this post. [Previously under the category “So You Want to be an F1 Driver”.]

Wish me luck!

Thanks.

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.

Competition Series, Karting

So You Want to be an F1 Driver (SoWorld) – Round 3 – date announced

by Colin Bowen2 Comments on So You Want to be an F1 Driver (SoWorld) – Round 3 – date announced

Just heard from Kaz that Round 3 will be at Rye House for outdoor karting on 28 January 2009.  He received a letter about it.  I haven’t heard anything.  I was on the reserves list, so I hope the lack of a letter is not a bad omen.

Will post more when I have more info.

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!