Thierry Henry, Thierry Henry, Thierry Henry

Posted on January 11, 2012 by admin

Simply poetic. That’s the only way to describe events at The Emirates last night. With the match between Arsenal and Leeds United heading for stalemate, the stage was set. Some would say it was a gamble by Arsene Wenger to bring ‘Terry Henry’ back. Some say he isn’t the player he was five years ago when he last graced the turf at The Emirates, and this would be true, there is no getting away from the fact he is five years older.

However, the charisma of this humble hero (in a football context, the armed forces are the real heroes of this world), the arora around the man has been missing since he left Arsenal.

So back to the match, twenty minutes to go, the game had a draw written all over it. Enter Thierry Henry. You have never heard noise like it for a substitution. On he came, bald head, bearded, slightly stockier than I remember, but that class just can’t be removed or replaced…

With the ball ‘pinged’ to him, he placed the ball into the back of net like only he can. The ball bending away from the keeper, and then curling back towards the goal with all the finesse that those who follow the Arsenal have seen time and time again.

Just poetic…

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My Thoughts on Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security 2011

Posted on September 27, 2011 by admin

This is a micro review of Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security 2011…

I felt the need to check out alternatives to my current Kaspersky 2011 Internet Security product, of which I was happy with, but I like to keep in touch with other offerings.

I’ve heard good things about Trend Micro, from the great dection rates of the bad stuff to the easy to use interface. The price isn’t bad either.

I popped along to the Trend Micro website and downloaded the free trial product. It was easy to install, and my computer was once again protected.

However having had a dig around the settings, there was no option for me to set when it checks for updates. I like this feature to control bandwidth (that’s your Internet usage for the non-geeks) and so I can use different settings for different customers. Not to have this is bad news. My customers will ask me “So when does it update?”, to which I would have to say “I dunno”. Very professional.

I thought I might be missing a trick, so I reached for my my dog and bone to call their support line. I had just pressed the last digit, when I noticed the charges….a whooping £1 a minute!! I didn’t fancy racking up a mortgage size bill, so I knocked it on the head. Kaspersky support is 10p minute or free if you know what your doing with Google to find the local number.

In a Dragons Den style “for this reason, I’m out”.

I’m now on Kaspersky 2012, review to follow…

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Going in circles with Google…

Posted on September 21, 2011 by admin
A guest blog post written by April Hodgkins…

I’d heard about ‘Google Circles’ sometime ago and thought it sounded very interesting. Now I’m into my social networking sites, you can find me on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. Once upon a time I was on Bebo but we don’t need to discuss that (I also do have a normal social life and don’t spend all my time on these sites, honest).

So the prospect of another social network got me somewhat excited…

However Google Circles is very different to the others, which made it stand out to me. You can have all your friends on there in different categories hence the name ‘circles’. You have family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances. You can also create another circle and name it as you please, for example ‘customers’.

Google you amaze me!!

Google has come together with MSN, Yahoo and others so that you can transfer your contacts into Google Circles without looking up everyone’s addresses to invite them. Now you can see all your contacts in front of you, you can easily put them into which circle you want. (Google prompts you to let you know which category you have selected for the person, they don’t know which circle you have allocated them to and will be notified by email for them to sign up). If you have work colleagues like me and you don’t want them to see what a good weekend you have had, such as the messy photos, you can simply just share them with your friends by selecting share with friends circle. You can choose more than one circle, so you could share with friends and family. When it comes to the boring stuff you don’t what your friends and family to see to do with work, business or customers you can share with just them. If you do only want to see certain news feed of what everyone is up to instead of being bombarded with loads of feeds, you can choose what feeds you want to look at. So works well all round. Google has even put a video together to help you understand all this.

It gets better…

It took me just 30-40mins to set up and create a scrap book. You have your own profile just like a big social network beginning with F where you can upload pictures and your status. There is also an app for this where you can directly upload from your smart phone. You can get your pictures from Google Picasa Web and create photo albums and a scrap book. When popping on to the big social network beginning with F today I see they have somewhat changed their layout and added new features, some which are like the Google Circles. However this time I feel Google you have got a good leg to stand on! So if you want to keep your party side private to your working life you can, with thanks to Google.

Thanks Google!

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Playing eBay to locate bargains…

Posted on September 12, 2011 by admin

Following on from my previous post/rant, I’ve now purchased an Acer W500 Tablet on the mighty eBay. To use the aged old quote “Everything happens for a reason”, this can be applied here. If Currys / PC World had wanted to take my money off me, it would have cost be £450. However by playing the eBay system I saved £100 and picked it up, with delivery for £350. Granted it is a week old, but it still has the manufacturers twelve months warranty so I’m fine with that.

It made me think, even though eBay has been around since Dinosaurs disappeared off our planet, I still think people aren’t making the most of it to get themselves a bargain. Along with the new Tablet, recently I’ve picked up a new rug for home, a Dell computer I resold for a nice profit and some old albums for next to nothing.

So, what are my golden rules for a bargain?

Never, ever bid on an item until there are less than thirty seconds left to go. Now if it ends at 3am, I don’t expect you stay up or set an alarm. Just use an auction stealer tool to bid for you whilst you sleep. My favourite is Hammer Snipe.

Stick to your budget, but bid a random amount ever so slightly above this. For example if your budget is £100, bid £101.77. Why I hear you ask? Because lots of other people will have the same budget, so just bi da slightly higher random amount, and most of the time you will win!

If it’s a large item (like a rug!), use the Advanced Search to locate items within ten miles. This means you can pick the item up easily and get it cheaper by saving on the postage costs.

By patient. Stick to you’re budget (well maybe add a small random amount on!), and although you might not win on the first item, you will win on others if you stick to your guns (where does that phrase come from anyway?).

Happy bidding!!

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Currys & PC World | Do they care about customer service?

Posted on September 7, 2011 by admin

Let me paint a picture for you. Me, being a geek, got all excited about a new toy. The toy in question was an Acer W500 Tablet. This isn’t relevant, but I just wanted to paint the full picture. Having checked around the usual retailers, I found the said item at Currys PC World (the stores have combined). I carried out my usual checks, like checking stock and found that my local store in Redditch didn’t have stock. However it was a good news day as there were a couple in stock at the Merry Hill (some call it Merry Hell, I now agree) store.

A collegue of mine who lives near by offered to pick up the item on Thursday (his day off) and bring it to work with him on Friday. I was already excited about this acquistion though and patience isn’t my strong point, so I decided I would drive about twenty miles and pick it up this evening.

I drove up there, maybe with a slightly heavy foot and burst into the store like a child at Disney Land. If this was the case though, I would have been in tears shortly…

First of all, it took fifteen minutes for anyone to even acknowledge me and see how they could help this man child spend some money. I can forgive this though, it was fairly busy in there. I handed over my reservation slip (which showed the item in stock) and off went the sales assistant to wonder land. I say wonder land because I could have built the item myself in the time it took for him to ‘look out the back’. Another fifteen minutes passed when he emerged, like a badger from a den (or is it nest or warren?). There was something wrong with this picture though, there was no box in his hand…

“Sorry mate, we don’t have any of them”

“But I checked, it’s right there in your hand”

/Shrug of the shoulders

“The system is wrong, sorry”

So I had done a fourty mile round trip, wasted an hour and a half of my evening because of something which was no one’s fault. I tried to put across my disappointment to the store manager, but he was equally as bothered about my travel and wasted evening.

Now I don’t want to be all “Do you not know who I am” but as someone who gives advice to a few hundred people on a weekly basis about where to buy techy products, do you really think I will ever, ever, ever recommend Currys or PC World again?! Correct, ten points.

I could write to the store, I could write to the HQ, but you know what, no one will care.

You should see how your attitude might change if your livelihood was dependant on customer service.

Off for a cup of tea now and to count to ten.

Follow Up | 24 hours later…

Can you believe it, just got the below email:

PC World Customer Service

PC World Customer Service #fail

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How the football Transfer Deadline Day relates to IT Services…

Posted on September 1, 2011 by admin

Having observed all of the football goings on last night (I love Transfer Deadline Day) something occurred to me this morning whilst my brain was being engaged back into work mode; The Transfer Deadline Day can be related to how businesses treat their IT Services.

Stick with me and I’ll explain…

Manchester United | Carefully planned, no panic and a relaxed manager

Manchester United did their business very early in the summer. Their signings were well thought out. As the new players were brought in before a ball was kicked, they have had time to settle and get to know their new club and team mates. This represents the technically aware business owner. They know they need new services to improve their businesses productivity and efficiency. They bring in new services and solutions before anything has gone wrong. They can relax, safe in the knowledge that their business is utilising technology to develop.

Arsenal | Rebuilding after something has gone very wrong

You might not be a football fan, but to put this in context, Arsenal we’re well and truly punished by Manchester United last week, losing 8-2, which is unheard of. As a result they have had to go through a quick rebuilding process. They represent a business which only commits to new solutions after something has gone badly wrong. The attitude of ‘It’ll be alright’ can be seen in demonstration here. However when things to go wrong, it means a forced purchases, a little bit of panic and the business overall is affected.

Stoke City | Moving forward to the next level

Stoke City recently (as in over the last few years) joined the Premier League. They have settled in and found their feet. However they aren’t happy with this any more and want to push to the next level. As a result they have been attracting International players such as England striker Peter Crouch. A few years ago this would be have been unheard of, however as they have worked hard and improved over time, they can and rightly so. This relates to an up and coming business who knows IT can improve their business. They don’t rush into things, they simply add new solutions as and when the time is right for them. When it comes to a small business, you can’t really argue with this sound approach.

I hope that gives you some food for thought. Football isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, I understand that, but I hope you understand the context.

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Football Transfer Deadline Day | August 2011

Posted on August 31, 2011 by admin

I write this with twenty eight minutes left of the transfer window left, so anything you read is subject to change! I’m listening to BBC Radio Five Live who are providing great coverage from Darren Fletcher, David Pleat and of course ‘Sav’.

The main stories of the day so far the possibility of Mikel Arteta going to Arsenal, Benayoun possibly going to Arsenal, Peter Crouch heading to Stoke City and Joe Cole heading over to France with Lille.

I think it’s a shame Joe Cole has gone over to France, a few years ago he was one of the first names on the team sheet for England. At the same time, I think he has lost his way a little and perhaps a fresh challenge and Champions League football  will reinvent him. Good luck to him, always a player I admired.

Benayoun has just tweeted he is an Arsenal player, that’s good news for The Gooners, but he isn’t a Nasri or Fabregas. That could work well though for a crumbling Arsenal team.

Overall the winner of the transfer window is Sir Alex. He got all his business done early doors and he is no doubt sunning himself somewhere right now, safe in the knowledge he has recruited Young, Jones and the shaky keeper from Spain.

Liverpool have made some great signings since January overall, watch them between now and Christmas. There also recruiting Craig Bellamy again to boost their attack even more. The red side of Liverpool just might do something this season.

Eighteen minutes to go now…

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gavinmoorhouse.co.uk | Unique Geek explained

Posted on August 31, 2011 by admin

Hola!

You might have stumbled across this blog by accident or you’ve visited because you know me. Either way, welcome aboard.

This is my (Gavin Moorhouse) personal blog. What is posted here are my personal views on anything from geeky techy stuff, sport, music or anything else which I feel the need to blog about. You might not agree with my thoughts or feelings, but wouldn’t the world be a boring place if you did agree with everything I had to say?

I’ll be working hard to generate new posts every few days, so feel free to visit again on your lunch break or when your ‘pretending to be busy’. I’d also love to hear from you, if you would like to, please feel free to comment on my posts. Spammers though please take note, I’m not going to approve your post promoting ‘great plastic moulds from China’. I do read them all.

Hope you enjoy the site.

Gavin Moorhouse | Unique Geek | I can hold a conversation

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