labby.co.uk

Sent today to Alex Gourlay, Boots UK CEO:

[redacted]

28 July 2010

Sir

I am a father of 3 young children and have used Boots own brand nappies loyally with all of them.

At the moment I am having constant and repetitive issues with the tabs that affix the nappies snapping off – always in the same place.

This has occurred on the last few packs of nappies I have purchased which leads me to believe there may be a batch with a manufacturing defect.

So far I have simply thrown the nappies away but as it seems to be ongoing with the packs I buy I have realised the best course of action would be to contact you directly.

After unsuccessfully scouring the packaging for a batch number I finally found it on the nappy itself, entered below for your information:
Nappy:
Boots Super Dry
Batch number: [redacted]
Purchased from: Boots, [redacted]

As I hope you can appreciate changing a nappy is quite an important task, and ensuring you have the right nappy is critical.

Brand loyalty will only get a company so far, and I am seriously considering taking my business elsewhere because of this issue.

When it first happened I wrote it off but as it occurs more and more regularly I am not willing to keep throwing good money after bad unless I am convinced that it is just a bad batch or a manufacturing defect that has now been corrected.

Yours faithfully

Gregory [redacted]

Related Posts:

• Dangerous iCandy pushchair issues
• Vodafone Nexus One Preorder out of stock
• Comet UK delivery problems and Belling Range cookers

Amend this script for your own needs

Note that it converts filenames to lowercase and replaces spaces with _

The playlist is saved as playlist.plist

You may need to install efixtool if it is not included in your distro:
sudo apt-get install libimage-exiftool-perl

Here’s the script, enjoy.
p=$(pwd)

for i in *flv
do
echo Scanning $i
x=$(exiftool "$i" | grep Totalduration | awk '{print $3}')
x=${x%%.*}
let x=x+1
echo $i is ${x%%.*} seconds long.
f=$p/$i
echo LOAD $f >> playlist.plist
echo SIZE 160x120 >> playlist.plist
echo LOOP >> playlist.plist
echo OPACITY 100 >> playlist.plist
echo POSITION 0,0 >> playlist.plist
echo PLAY $f,$x >> playlist.plist
echo >> playlist.plist
done

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Don’t ask me why but for some reason people keep arriving on my site looking for animated flag cursors.

Never being one to miss an opportunity to give people what they want if at all possible I have gone and grabbed some from www.totallyfreecursors.com and present them here for your use.

 afghanistan.gif
 alabama.gif
 alaska.gif
 albania.gif
 americansamoa.gif
 andorra.gif
 angola.gif
 anguilla.gif
 antigua.gif
 argentina.gif
 arizona.gif
 arkansas.gif
 armenia.gif
 aruba.gif
 australia.gif
 austria.gif
 azerbaijan.gif
 azores.gif
 bahrain.gif
 bangladesh.gif
 barbados.gif
 belarus.gif
 belgium.gif
 belize.gif
 benin.gif
 bermuda.gif
 bhutan.gif
 bolivia.gif
 bosniaandherzegovina.gif
 botswana.gif
 brazil.gif
 britain.gif
 britishvirginislands.gif
 brunei.gif
 bulgaria.gif
 burkinafaso.gif
 burundi.gif
 caicosislands.gif
 california.gif
 cambodia.gif
 cameroon.gif
 canada.gif
 capeverde.gif
 caymanislands.gif
 centralafricanrepublic.gif
 chad.gif
 chile.gif
 china.gif
 colombia.gif
 colorado.gif
 comoros.gif
 congo.gif
 congorepublic.gif
 connecticut.gif
 cookislands.gif
 costarica.gif
 croatia.gif
 cuba.gif
 cyprus.gif
 czechrepublic.gif
 delaware.gif
 denmark.gif
 dijbouti.gif
 dominica.gif
 dominicanrepublic.gif
 ecuador.gif
 egypt.gif
 elsalvador.gif
 england.gif
 equatorialguinea.gif
 eritea.gif
 estonia.gif
 ethiopia.gif
 falklandislands.gif
 faroeislands.gif
 fiji.gif
 finland.gif
 flag1.gif
 flag2.gif
 flag3.gif
 flag4.gif
 flag.gif
 florida.gif
 france.gif
 frenchpolynesia.gif
 gabon.gif
 georgia.gif
 georgiastate.gif
 germany.gif
 ghana.gif
 gibraltar.gif
 greece.gif
 greenland.gif
 grenada.gif
 guam.gif
 guatemala.gif
 guernsey.gif
 guinea-bissau.gif
 guinea.gif
 guyana.gif
 haiti.gif
 hawaii-flag.gif
 hawaii.gif
 heartflag.gif
 honduras.gif
 hongkong.gif
 hungary.gif
 iceland.gif
 idaho.gif
 illinois.gif
 india.gif
 indiana.gif
 indonesia.gif
 iowa.gif
 iran.gif
 iraq.gif
 ireland.gif
 isleofman.gif
 israel.gif
 italy.gif
 ivorycoast.gif
 jamaica.gif
 jamaican-flag1.gif
 jamaican-flag2.gif
 japan.gif
 jersey.gif
 jordan.gif
 kansas.gif
 kazakhstan.gif
 kentucky.gif
 kenya.gif
 kiribati.gif
 kuwait.gif
 kyrgystan.gif
 laos.gif
 latvia.gif
 lebanon.gif
 lesotho.gif
 liberia.gif
 libya.gif
 liechtenstein.gif
 lithuania.gif
 louisiana.gif
 luxembourg.gif
 macedonia.gif
 madagascar.gif
 madeira.gif
 maine.gif
 malawi.gif
 malaysia.gif
 maldives.gif
 mali.gif
 malta.gif
 marshallislands.gif
 maryland.gif
 massachusetts.gif
 mauritania.gif
 mauritius.gif
 mexican-flag1.gif
 mexican-flag2.gif
 mexico.gif
 michigan.gif
 micronesia.gif
 minnesota.gif
 mississippi.gif
 missouri.gif
 moldova.gif
 monaco.gif
 mongolia.gif
 montana.gif
 montserrat.gif
 morocco.gif
 mozambique.gif
 myanmar.gif
 namibia.gif
 nauru.gif
 nebraska.gif
 nepal.gif
 netherlandsantilles.gif
 netherlands.gif
 nevada.gif
 newhampshire.gif
 newjersey.gif
 newmexico.gif
 newyork.gif
 newzealand.gif
 nicaragua.gif
 niger.gif
 nigeria.gif
 niue.gif
 norfolkisland.gif
 northcarolina.gif
 northdakota.gif
 northkorea.gif
 norway.gif
 ohio.gif
 oklahoma.gif
 oman.gif
 oregon.gif
 pakistan.gif
 palau.gif
 palestine.gif
 panama.gif
 paraguay.gif
 pauanewguinea.gif
 pennsylvania.gif
 peru.gif
 philippines.gif
 pirateflag.gif
 pitcairnislands.gif
 poland.gif
 portugal.gif
 puerto-rico-flag.gif
 puertorico.gif
 qatar.gif
 rebel1.gif
 rebel2.gif
 redflag.gif
 rhodeisland.gif
 romania.gif
 russia.gif
 rwanda.gif
 sainthelena.gif
 saintkitts.gif
 saintlucia.gif
 saintvincentandthegrenadines.gif
 samoa.gif
 sanmarino.gif
 saudiarabia3.gif
 scotland.gif
 senegal.gif
 seychelles.gif
 sierraleone.gif
 singapore.gif
 slovakia.gif
 slovenia.gif
 solomonislands.gif
 somailia.gif
 southafrica.gif
 southcarolina.gif
 southdakota.gif
 southkorea.gif
 spain.gif
 spanish-flag1.gif
 spanish-flag2.gif
 srilanka.gif
 sudan.gif
 suriname.gif
 swaziland.gif
 sweden.gif
 switzerland.gif
 syria.gif
 taiwan.gif
 tajikistan.gif
 tanzania.gif
 tennessee.gif
 texas.gif
 thailand.gif
 thebahamas.gif
 thegambia.gif
 togo.gif
 tonga.gif
 trinidadandtobago.gif
 tunisia.gif
 turkey.gif
 turkmenistan.gif
 tuvalu.gif
 uganda.gif
 uk.gif
 ukraine.gif
 unitedarabemirates.gif
 uruguay.gif
 usa.gif
 utah.gif
 uzbekistan.gif
 vanuatu.gif
 vaticancity.gif
 venezuela.gif
 vermont.gif
 vietnam.gif
 virginia.gif
 virginislands.gif
 wales.gif
 washington.gif
 westvirginia.gif
 wisconsin.gif
 wyoming.gif
 yemen.gif
 yugoslavia.gif
 zambia.gif
 zimbabwe.gif

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

How’s this for a novel idea?

A production team wants to get sponsored for manufacturing a movie.
The movie will be released on bittorrent (copyright free) as well as traditional formats (DVD, VOD).

To get the funding the producers are selling individual frames of the movie (135,000 in all) for $1 per frame, $25 for 1 second (25 frames) or whatever number you wish to purchase.

Here’s where it gets interesting – one of the people that buys a frame will be picked at random to share in the profits of the film to the tune of 1%.

The film will be shipped on traditional media (DVD) as well as torrents, and if the last movie they made in this fashion is anything to go on they sold 120,000 DVDs and are still selling them. 1% of that would be a nice present for someone.

I just bought 3 frames and feel pleased to help an independent film team show that the RIAA way is not the only way.

Here’s the spiel from the website:

In 2007 the New South Wales government suddenly scrapped a plan to utilise the water in the disused underground train tunnels beneath Sydney’s St James Train Station.

In 2008, chasing rumours of a government coverup and urban legends surrounding the sudden backflip, investigative journalist Natasha Warner led a crew of four into the underground labyrinth.

They went down into the tunnels looking for a story – until the story found them.

This is the film of their harrowing ordeal. With unprecedented access to the recently declassified tapes they shot in the claustrophobic subway tunnels, as well as a series of candid interviews with the survivors, we come face to face with the terrifying truth.

The Tunnel also marks the first time that missing sound recordist, Jim “Tangles” Williams, speaks about his experience during those chilling hours…

This never before seen footage takes us deep inside the tunnels bringing the darkness to life and capturing the raw fear that threatens to tear the crew apart, leaving each one of them fighting for their lives.

Under every big city around the world are networks of hidden and often unknown tunnels. Sydney, Australia’s largest city is no exception. The most mysterious are the rail tunnels that lie beneath the very heart of city. Their centrepiece is a flooded tunnel known as Lake St James. The tunnels were meant to be part of a new rail line but construction was abandoned part way through. Two decades later they were briefly used as an air raid shelter and U.S. General Macarthur’s headquarters during the Second World War. Then they were left deserted for decades and all but forgotten.

A couple of years ago, the New South Wales Government proposed a plan to use the water in Lake St James to help with water shortages in the city. After much fanfare the proposal mysteriously vanished… and so the story begins…

Sound far-fetched? Google it.

Who: Julian Harvey and Enzo Tedeschi are Distracted Media. We are two filmmakers from Sydney that have been working in Film and TV for over a decade, and The 135K Project is our brainchild. Since we first dreamed up the idea, we’ve been joined by a crew of talented actors, an award winning director and a host of other creative professionals. These include Zapruder’s other films, an innovative production company, and our online team, DLSHS, who have all saddled up, buckled in, and are ready for the ride into the unknown…

To learn more visit http://thetunnelmovie.net

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

The following information is taken verbatim from Ofcom’s website:

Recording and monitoring telephone calls or e-mails.
A general overview of interception, recording and monitoring of communications.

The interception, recording and monitoring of telephone calls is governed by a number of different pieces of UK legislation. The requirements of all relevant legislation must be complied with. The main ones are:

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (“RIPA”)
Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice)(Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000 (“LBP Regulations”)
Data Protection Act 1998
Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999
Human Rights Act 1998
It is not possible to provide comprehensive detail of that legislation here. Any person considering interception, recording or monitoring of telephone calls or e-mails is strongly advised to seek his/her own independent legal advice and should not seek to rely on the general information provided below. It should be borne in mind that criminal offences and civil actions may occur when the relevant legislation is not complied with. Accordingly, Ofcom accepts no liability for reliance by any person on the following information.

Can I record telephone conversations on my home phone?
Yes. The relevant law, RIPA, does not prohibit individuals from recording their own communications provided that the recording is for their own use. Recording or monitoring are only prohibited where some of the contents of the communication – which can be a phone conversation or an e-mail – are made available to a third party, ie someone who was neither the caller or sender nor the intended recipient of the original communication. For further information see the Home Office website where RIPA is posted.

Do I have to let people know that I intend to record their telephone conversations with me?
No, provided you are not intending to make the contents of the communication available to a third party. If you are you will need the consent of the person you are recording.

Can a business or other organisation record or monitor my phone calls or e-mail correspondence with them?
Yes they can, but only in a limited set of circumstances relevant for that business which have been defined by the LBP Regulations. The main ones are:

to provide evidence of a business transaction
to ensure that a business complies with regulatory procedures
to see that quality standards or targets are being met in the interests of national security
to prevent or detect crime to investigate the unauthorised use of a telecom system
to secure the effective operation of the telecom system.
In addition, businesses can monitor, but not record, phone calls or e-mails that have been received to see whether they are relevant to the business (ie open an employee’s voicemail or mailbox systems while they are away to see if there are any business communications stored there). For further information see the BERR website where the LBP Regulations are posted.

However any interception of employees’ communications must be proportionate and in accordance with Data Protection principles. The Information Commissioner has published a Data Protection Code on “Monitoring at Work” available on its website here. The Code is designed to help employers comply with the legal requirements of Data Protection Act 1988. Any enforcement action would be based on a failure to meet the requirements of the act – however relevant parts of the Code are likely to be cited in connection with any enforcement action relating to the processing of personal information in the employment context. Accordingly this Code of Practice and the Data Protection Act must also be considered by any business before it intercepts employees’ communications.

Do businesses have to tell me if they are going to record or monitor my phone calls or e-mails?
No. as long as the recording or monitoring is done for one of the above purposes the only obligation on businesses is to inform their own employees. If businesses want to record for any other purpose, such as market research, they will have to obtain your consent.

What do I do if my calls have been recorded unlawfully?
Under RIPA it is a tort to record or monitor a communication unlawfully. This means that if you think you have suffered from unlawful interception of your phone calls or e-mails you have the right to seek redress by taking civil action against the offender in the courts.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

We recently (about 6 months or so ago) purchased an iCandy Cherry (grape coloured) pushchair and extra accessories (footmuff etc) for our youngest child.

The pushchair looks great and seems very sturdy – oval metal frame rather than the generic skinny round tubes that grace most other pushchairs.

I am having a few serious issues with the pushchair now:
* The hubs of both front wheels are separating which makes the pushchair dangerous to use – I do not want to risk the wheels breaking apart while I am pushing the pushchair or even worse while pushing the pushchair across a road
* The seat attaches to the pushchair using two metal plates with sliding catches which are in turn screwed to the pushchair. Over time the metal plates have loosened and one screw has completely come out making the likelihood that other screws will come out very high indeed which I can only conclude will make the plate fall off with the very likely outcome of the chair becoming dangerously unattached to the pushchair.

Both of these flaws are clearly design issues and they need immediate and urgent rectification before a child or adult is injured or worse.

Images shown below, higher resolution images are available on request.
Missing screw in seat holding plate:

Front wheel showing where they are separating:

The manufacturer has been contacted and informed about these issues as well as the existence of this blog.

Related Posts:

• Boots Super Dry Nappies issues with fastening tabs
• Vodafone Nexus One Preorder out of stock

Sky have just changed my satellite installation time without even bothering to notify me.

Guess who is doing his “not a happy bunny” bit.

Sent to Sky:

I have just taken out a new account with yourselves and was given an installation date and time of 20 May 2010 from 12PM to 5PM.

Today I happened to check on my account and clicked on “Track your order” and saw that without notifying me you have changed the time from 12PM-5PM to 12PM -8PM.

I do not appreciate changes, especially when the changes are not notified to me. You have my email address and telephone number and did not contact me on either.

As a new customer I must express my extreme displeasure at being treated so offhandedly and am seriously considering using my cooling off period right and cancelling the contract entirely.

Let’s see what happens now..

Related Posts:

• Adding a new IP to apache2 web server

I just had a card delivered from Virgin Media with the following message (see my thoughts at the bottom of the article):

THANK YOU

Hi there,

Because we think you’re a great customer we’ve added a little something special to your phone package.

From now on you’ll get free calls to Virgin mobiles as part of the free calls in your home phone call plan.

It’s our way of saying thanks.

All the best,
The Virgin Media Team.

P.S. To find out a bit more, go to virginmedia.com/freecalls

On the back page is the small print which is as follows:

Calls to “active” Virgin Mobile numbers are free. As with your landline calls, re-dial before 60 mins to avoid call charges. To be “active” the Virgin Mobile number called must have originated a chargeable outbound event (call, sms, data session) within the previous 90 days. Remember that if you call a Virgin Mobile number that is roaming overseas, that number will still be charged any applicable roaming tariff, even though your part of the call may be free.

So if you are on Virgin Media and buy a Pay As you Go SIM card (they cost pennies nowadays, the market is flooded with them) and top up the minimum amount and send one SMS message every 90 days you basically have a phone with free inbound calls for years to come.

Just remember to hang up the landline and redial when you are approaching an hour or the call will be charged for time over an hour.

Virgin Mobile minimum top up is £5.00, just stay off the internet with the phone and you’ll be set for ages.

Text to other Virgin Mobiles cost 10p per text, so it would take 4500 days to go through the £5.00 (£5.00 / 10p = 50 messages, 50 messages every 90 days = 4500 days).

Don’t know anyone else with a Virgin Mobile? Simple, just text a message to yourself.

Related Posts:

• Virgin Media V+ box disable hdmi reset scart
• Software I ship across Europe

I just emailed this to the Vodafone CEO (personal details removed):

Mr. Lawrence

Re: order number [redacted], [redacted]

Recently I signed up for a preorder Google Nexus One phone and have suffered systemic failure after systemic failure which I would like to share with you.

My blog http://labby.co.uk covers my main issues, but I would like to give you a full summary in the hope that something can be done to prevent the errors reoccurring in the future.

Issue 1:
I preordered the Nexus One on the day the prerelease opened and was promised delivery on the release day.
The next day I received an email from yourselves telling me the Nexus One was out of stock and I would not be receiving it for at leat 7-10 working days.
I contacted the number on the email (0844 854 0430, please see issue 2 below for my problems with this) and spoke to one of your agents who told me that you were indeed out of stock and could not give any sort of delivery timeline at all.

I blogged about the email I received at http://labby.co.uk/2010/04/vodafone-nexus-one-preorder-out-of-stock/ and the story was rapidly taken up by the Metro newspaper and became a featured story on MSN Tech http://tech.uk.msn.com/news/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=153203392 as well as countless other blogs and tech sites.

I started a thread on the Vodafone E-forums http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/topic/58308-vodafone-online-store-confirmation-needed-for-email-i-received/ to see if there was anything that could be done and one of the moderators on there informed me that it appeared to be in error even though the person I spoke to directly told me the email was correct.

After much going backwards and forwards I received an email telling me the original email was indeed in error, but the situation definitely removed the pleasure I had thinking about the phone I would be receiving soon.

Issue 2:
The email I received in issue 1 above gave me 2 options for help – the 0844 number or the info@ email address. I wanted the matter resolved speedily so I called the 0844 number.

I was waiting for over 20 minutes simply for someone to pick up the telephone which I find completely unacceptable – especially as it is a local rate non geographic number meaning that I would be charged for the cost of the call.

At the end of the telephone call I told the agent about the fact that I had been on hold for a very long time and it was unacceptable, her flippant reply was that I should have just called 191 and it would have been free. I told her that the email made no mention of calling 191 (“If you have any further queries please contact us on 0844 854 0430 or email info@v-store.co.uk, quoting your order number as your reference.”) and she agreed to credit me for the call charges involved once I received my telephone bill.

Issue 3:
The delivery address had been entered incorrectly instore when I preordered ([redacted] rather than the correct [redacted]). When I realised the error I called Vodafone and was told that web orders cannot be dealt with via the 0844 number (see issue 4 below).
I returned to the store and the store manager emailed your info@ address with me CC’d into the email asking for the address to be altered and for me to be informed when it was done. To this day I have received no reply regarding this, and after several attempts at trying to get the address changed both instore and via the telephone I was eventually told by a sales agent instore that the address had been successfully changed.

The phone was still delivered to the wrong address which is a clear systemic failure.

Issue 4:
As far as the customer is concerned it makes no difference whether an order is placed online, instore or using smoke signals. When a customer wishes to discuss issues with an order the last thing they expect to hear is that the person at the other end of the phone cannot do anything (“We don’t have access to that system”), they expect Vodafone to be able to deal with their account queries.

Issue 5:
Vodafone stores should give their contact numbers out as a matter of course.
I called the 0844 number and asked for a contact telephone number for the store I made the purchase from and was told that they could not give store numbers out.
I thought you were a Phone company, surely it makes sense to give store numbers out to resolve problems.

The above has been posted to my blog and I await your reply.

In good faith

[redacted]

Related Posts:

• I have one of the first Nexus One phones on release day!
• Nexus One box contents for Vodafone UK
• Vodafone Nexus One Preorder out of stock
• I have just pre-ordered the first Nexus One on Vodafone!
• Comet UK delivery problems and Belling Range cookers

My wordpress blog has wp-spamfree installed and protecting me from spam comments.

It does a great job and I heartily recommend it.

One of the features is a log file with the contents of any spam comments so you can check for false positives or to see just how much spam your blog is being protected from.
The log file defaults to [yourserver]/wp-content/plugins/wp-spamfree/data/temp-comments-log.txt

I tried to read mine but I got a 403 forbidden error and couldn’t figure out why, I had a standard install.

I tracked it down to the .htaccess file in /wp-content/plugins/wp-spamfree/data/ which has[code]SetEnvIfNoCase Referer http://labby\.co\.uk/wordpress/wp-admin/ wpsf_access
SetEnvIf Remote_Addr ^my.ip.address$ wpsf_access

order deny,allow
deny from all
allow from env=wpsf_access
[/code]Insert the line with my.ip.address above and add your own IP address, save and you should be up and running.

Related Posts:

• Apache server logs “GET /w00tw00t.isc.sans.dfind:)” fix
• Adding a new IP to apache2 web server
• Yet another email spammer identified
• I just helped catch a new email spammer o/
• wordpress, google translate and <code>