With the phone line and broadband company market being big business these day, there is no surprise companies are doing their upmost best to get our custom. Internet adverts, high street shops, junk mail, television adverts you can’t go very long through the day without seeing a supplier offering you a faster, better service than your current or a.n. other supplier. I get so used to receiving junk mail from the same companies on a monthly basis I now don’t need to open these letters as I already know who it’s from and what they’re offering I can simply put these letters straight into my recycle bin.
In case you haven’t seen my previous blogs I have been with Sky television for over fifteen years, my family is growing, more technology is finding its way onto my router that my children are asking me more and more for the WIFI password. Although the broadband speed into the house isn’t too bad. When you divide this speed up now amongst all the devices being used simultaneously, it comes to a grinding halt and simple web pages load so slowly at times I feel I might be using a Windows 98 computer with a 56.6K Modem. In this modern day where speed should come as standard, I started to look for a solution, a faster broadband supplier.
My research highlighted a few teething problems but considering my property is exactly one mile from our phone exchange I couldn’t see this being too much of a problem regarding distance. Well it is as although or exchange is scheduled for a upgrade, according to BT OpenReach work has not been started and even after a year there is no scheduled start date which is quite a nuisance. This now means companies who supply the latest Fibre broadband service (Not broadband itself but fibre, there's a difference) I will not be able to subscribe to them as our exchange is not ready yet. This now means Sky, BT, EE, Vodafone, TalkTalk, PlusNet, and O2 would not be able to benefit from my custom as this service cannot be supplied due to us living near and old exchange station. An alternative would be to switch to a cable supplier. The only cable supplier available is Virgin Media. Virgin Media on paper moving your package away from and in my example, Sky to Virgin would save my household an incredible amount of money per month! Multiply that over the term of the contract and you wouldn’t need to be Einstein to work out the huge financial savings i would make. Then when this contract is about to expire the trick here is to renegotiate with your supplier and if this fails then join/ re-join the rival supplier as a new customer to maintain your cheaper and monthly outlay. Sneaky? No common sense to save money.
Sitting in stores, listening to sales persons and speaking on the phone Virgin Media assured me as a new household receiving a new cable to connect me to Virgin Media would be straight forward and easy to lay a brand new cable. The fact over the last two years, monthly i have received mail from Virgin themselves stating we are ina Virgin enabled area and its easy to switch as the infrastructure is already in place, it makes sense to move my services to Virgin. I currently receive an average broadband speed of 8mb per second (Already i can hear some of you laughing! a measly 8mbps) switching my broadband speed would increase to nearer 200MB. For less than I am currently paying BT and Sky! A faster broadband speed for less each month? Brilliant I thought so I went online and signed up to Virgin…
This was four months ago! This has entailed promises of installation dates virgin have given to me that they can connect me to their network. These are dates I have then had to arrange time off from work so an engineer can complete my installation in house. These are THREE promised installations, cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice with excuses of leaf blockages (I kid you not!!) of not being able to push a cable through a pipe, or needing council permission to gain access to a cabinet or exchange. Please note above I said Virgin have given me! dates that they can connect me to their services, so I would have thought within the timescale they have given to me!... That they could have made sure whatever behind the work needs to take place that they are capable of completing the task by the agreed date. What surprises me now this has failed to happen on three occasions and now three months after my initial connection date, this would have meant me being three months or a quarter of the way though my current contract. A period where Virgin would be monitoring me that i keep up with payments and me monitoring Virgin Media’s service and contemplating my next move if my contract is worth extending albeit in nine months’ time? As it is my contract has now not even started! I have spent a lot of time and energy ringing their customer service team, spending however long being kept in the queuing system, sending emails and writing letters, awaiting for call backs just to hear broken promises or excuses as to why it’s so hard to obtain council permission to various sites to complete the necessary work. This takes four months to complete does it? This happens every time Virgin themselves give me an installation date to fulfil this work that they then decide they now need more time to complete the connection. Even before my connection and binding contract, how can they promise that they will complete the work in hand and then... move the goal posts? The most recent cancelation I rang their offices at 12:45 to confirm their attendance the following day, which indeed I was assured an engineer would be attending. By 18:30 that same day I received a TEXT message to inform me that the booked installation has now been cancelled?
Just as in December 2016 when my installation then was cancelled the assistant informed me that they are cancelling but cannot give me a new rearranged date due to the length of the repairs needed at their end. Having rung in January t confirm the work had now been completed and to now book my third installation scheduled for 7th February 2017. This was cancelled and again just as it was in December and I have no new rearranged date installation date until they finish the necessary work behind the scenes.... again??
I cannot fathom how a company as large as Virgin Media functions this way, telling me in more than one way that they can provide my household with a service, making promises and then repeatedly breaking them way before the service has even started. Rubbing salt into my wounds on by sending me text messages on the day of the cancelled installation that If I were to refer a family or friend to Virgin Media we would both receive £50!!…. They assume, after the last four months I would honestly offer to refer a family or friend to Virgin Media to experience the same poor customer service that i have had to endure. It’s not as if I had received a good, prompt and reliable service so what positivity and praise could I possibly find and tell my family, friends and neighbours about Virgin Media’s wonderful service because after four months there is nothing in my experience that even springs to mind that I could possibly say to influence anyone to leave their current supplier for a company who are still not delivering what they said they could to me since October 2016.
My time spent complaining to Virgin Media has reached my maximum effort. Emails, Phone conversations and letters and it feels no one is listening and no one is prepared to take responsibility regarding this issue to get me a protentially new customer connected to Virgin Media.
Therefore my next option is to complain and raise a case against Virgin Media via the Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (CISAS). A company who regulate and oversea that companies such as Virgin Media are doing just what they advertise they do. (clearly they are not with false advertising) CISAS are the equivalent to OFCOM who a company name you may be more familiar with.
Thank you and goodbye Virgin Media!
Having knocked premiership team Bournemouth out of the FA Cup 3-0 in round 3. Millwall found themselves drawn at home again this time playing against Watford. Could Millwall do the same again, this time to another premiership team? Sitting in 10th place in league 1 to those that bet Millwall were clearly the underdogs for this game. Which make this completion a wonderful event as in these games the underdogs can cause an upset! For Millwall this was VB Day – Victory in Bermondsey Day – Not only could fans celebrate the club’s escape from a compulsory purchase order to redevelop the surrounding area that threatened their existence in this part of London. They had an FA Cup game being broadcast live on BBC1. So far it had been a great week and a victory on the pitch in this game would without doubt make every Lions fan roar! And roar they did!
The midday kick off meant an early start to the game for myself. Upon walking down Zampa Road at 09:15 I was shocked to see I wasn’t the first to arrive! The concourse was already heaving with fans, queuing for their match tickets or hanging around the player’s entrance trying to grab a selfie or autograph of their idols. The photographer area sits on the second floor of the Barry Kitchener stand and lugging a case up the narrow stairs is quite a work out. Once in the photographer’s area I couldn’t believe there was hardly an empty sit to be seen. Journalists typing away, photographers setting up their gear. It was a bit too overcrowded for me so I chose to take me gear pitch side, early and to get myself prepared for the game ahead outside in the drizzle.
As kick off approached and the ground started to fil up the atmosphere started to increase to a much higher level than my previous visit. Mainly due to the Magic of this the FA Cup.
As the home team Millwall started the game well and the early chances fell to Millwall who played with great togetherness and showed the desire to win. Neil Harris’s men were not intimidated by facing a team who currently sit 39 league places above them and created the majority of chances and eventually got the goal their display deserved. Sitting on the side-lines it wasn’t surprising. Personally and IN MY OPINION felt Watford assumed they would win, and didn’t show much desire. Substitutes who warmed up heard their name being shouted from the crowd and often turned to smile and wave, laugh and joke, which doesn’t usually happen but to me a sign they was not focussed on this game. Yes Walter Mazzari made player changes before the game. That’s the managers choice and decision he felt these players would still be sufficient to win the game. You cannot hold this against Millwall as they are there to play and all they can do is beat the team that’s put in front of them. This they did so credit goes to Millwall for completing the task in hand and should no way like any underdog winning be a reflection of you won but against a reserve side! I reiterate credit goes to the winning team regardless of changes made so I give credit always to the team that one. Excuses.. I take very little notice of hearing them that’s pretty bad sportsmanship.
Morison’s goal was a bitter blow for Watford but, in truth, it was their own doing as Walter Mazzarri made seven changes to his team and it was clear to see. Watford performed below par and apart from a promising spell during the second half when they were denied a possible penalty after Byron Webster pulled Stefano Okaka’s shirt as the striker tried to connect with Adlène Guedioura’s cross, Watford have little to complain about.
With just five minutes of the game remaining, Steve Morison, the League One side’s top scorer, connected with Shane Ferguson’s cross. He was left totally unmarked and with a perfectly timed volley at the back post. The ball went straight through the legs of Heurelho Gomes. Three sides of the ground rose to their feet screaming and shouting queue the traditional celebration from the fans of Miiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllllll ………… and Millwall were on their way and sealed their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup which is for the the third time in six seasons.
With 5 minutes remaining plus injury time it was down to Millwall to play the game out They had appeared to be the stronger team on the day and even with such little time left Watford didn’t appear to have much of an idea how to test keeper Jordan Archer in such little time of the game left. At the final whistle the ground was filled with euphoria while the traveling yellow army from Watford showed their disapproval by booing their own players.
The next round of the Emirates FA Cup was drawn on the One Show on Monday night and Millwall now have a home match again against either Premiership team Leicester City or Championship team Derby County. The date of the game is still be decided as television companies decide which games they will want to show live. At present the game will be played on 17-20th February 2017.
Using You Memory card - Memory card tips!
That small piece of plastic we insert into our camera’s and mobile phones, how many of us overlook its importance! So if you enjoy taking digital photos on a memory card (and you probably are), SPEND A FEW MOMENTS AND READ THIS!
Most people look at a memory card as a piece of plastic or metal, and they don't think much about them (To a certain degree me included). But inside those covers, there is a LOT of technology to save our memories. There is flash memory, a controller and much more. The quality of that memory and often determines the speed and quality of your card.
Your memory card has something called a File Allocation Table, otherwise known as a FAT Table. Think of your memory card as a book and the FAT Table as a Table of Contents. When you format a memory card, you are not actually erasing the card, you are just clearing the FAT Table. So...you have removed the Table of Contents, but the chapters of the book still remain. All the images will remain on your card until you take more pictures and overwrite them. This is why you Lexar's with their memory cards supply a free software program Image Rescue, While SanDisk's use Rescue Pro. To be honest there are other data recovery software to help recover images from a card even after it is formatted.
So that said : -
1. DON’T erase images from your memory card in your camera! Even I am guilty of this from time to time but do not go through your photos and delete them one by one using your camera. I see family and friends doing this all the time and it isn’t a good idea. Your camera does a good job in taking photos, but it is not very smart at managing the data on your memory card. Deleting individual images from the card using your camera is a great way to scramble the FAT Table. DON'T DO THAT! Memory cards have gotten so inexpensive and large, that you should not have to delete images to save space. Just pop in a new card and keep shooting. Once you have downloaded to your computer, and backed up the images THEN by all means format your card to use it time after time again.
2. Format your memory cards in your camera, not on your computer. This should be common sense but I have seen advice given to people to format their memory cards on your computer. Nooo, please don’t’ do this! You want to format the cards in the camera. And you should do this on the camera you are shooting with. You are reading this correctly...I do not format in one Canon camera and move it to another. Will they work? Yes, they will. But in time when you run into issues this will be the cause as to why. Speaking of this, it is not a good idea to pull a memory card out of one camera model and putting it into another without formatting.
3. Formatting: It’s a good idea to format your cards after each shoot. Actually I do it before its event but same rule applies. Once you have downloaded your card and have the images stored on your hard drive (In more than one place is sensible), you should format that card before it's next use. It keeps things cleaner on the card.
4. Use a fast card reader! There is no point buying reliable memory cards to insert into a cheap card reader that cannot cope with the file size or an acceptable transfer speed. it really kills me. Its simple. Buy fast reliable cars then also by fast reliable card readers to speed up the transfer rate and connectivity. Keep an eye on technology improvements. At present USB 3.0 is quite common, buying USB 3.0 devices which will be compatible with USB 2.0 devices for not much more expense. Trust me this will save you an incredible amount of time waiting for images to transfer due to its increased speed. as the speed
5. Don't fill a card completely. Try not too but thee may be that odd occasion. But even though most memory cards are built well, it is not a good idea to fill a card completely. One of the reasons that I love shooting with large memory cards, is so that I have tons of head room to shoot a lot of photos and not worry about overfilling the card.
6. Don't pull a memory card out of your camera or card reader when data is being written or read from the card. While data is being transferred to/from the card and the user interrupts that process, There is a high chance now that you will lose some or all of your photos. And don't always trust the red light either on your camera to determine is data is being transferred. Before I pull my memory cards, I always wait an extra couple of seconds after the red light on the cameras goes off, signifying that the data is done being written to the card.
7. If you have two card slots in your camera, write your images redundantly to both cards to have more peace of mind. This way, if one card gets corrupted, you can most likely get the images off of the other card. Seems tedious to do so but if one card were to fail, imagine your joy as the second card steps in to save the day and all your work
8. Purchase name brand memory cards. Oh my god please, please do this! Not cheap ones bought and imported from eBay. People have tried to tell me how they bought a massive sized memory card on eBay for peanuts and I should too… (Sound the Klaxon) Absolutely not a chance in hell I will purchase these cheap and possibly… fake cards. When they fail (oh and they will) I haven’t got time to add this kind of stress into my life and fight with a machine trying to recover a day’s work which I won’t have a chance in recovering. When cheap cards fail! That’s it, everythings gone with a lot of time work and effort also! I use SanDisk or Lexar memory cards in all my cameras, but there are others too, These two brands are my preferred choices but make sure that you do not use one of those cards made by a no-named company. Remember, you are trusting your images to the card! And you are going to be using the card over and over, so spend a little more to get a better product, in the long term, will not cost you much more. Nothing kills me more than seeing someone shooting with a great camera, expensive lens with a cheap and slow memory card.
They myth that * If memory cards get dropped in water, the data will be lost forever!* Nope, not true. Memory cards are made with solid state memory these days, it is not uncommon for them to go through the washer and dryer and still be useable. Would I keep using that card after a situation like this? Probably not. But most likely your data will still be on the card and can be recovered
9. Storing your cards I have my cards loose in my bags all the time. I do not use the little jewel cases that come with the cards. But would a little extra card protection be a bad thing? Try and use the jewell cases the cards came in or think about purchasing the ThinkTank Pixel PocketRockets.
10. X-Ray machines can’t damage your cards I have had many people ask me how they should travel with their memory cards, especially at airports. In the old days, the X-Ray machines could damage 1000 speed film, but they pose no threat to the solid state memory cards you own today.
In conclusion...
I hope this helps you have a better understanding of your memory cards and readers and appreciate them a little more. There is so much technology packed into these small devices. They’re so small now that it is easy for us to take them for granted.
Just a few and simple tips that could save you from a disastrous situation. I hope this helps. Keep your cards safe and happy shooting.
After registering with Virgin back on 15th October 2016 to take over my phone line and broadband service todate this shambolic customer service and feeble transfer is still continuing. My first blog on this can still be read :HERE:
I have rung the customer support team on so many occasions, I have been kept on hold and been fed unhelpful information that ive now given up speaking on the phone to these people as spending 20 – 30 minutes each occasion to a number that isn’t free to me is a pointless exercise. So I have written three letters to their headquarters in Swansea and have received one reply :-
I appreciate this has been a very frustrating time and you were looking forward to enjoying your new service. We want nothing more than to provide the service but the problem as you may have been made aware is one of construction. Construction? My house is fine thanks. Problem does not lie with me?
We do not come across these issues until we action the installation. When you first call, the sales team check to see the address is marked as serviceable. This simply means the architecture is in place. In this case it is :- I knew this anyway as for the last two years I receive the same advertisement brochure every single month which starts :- “ *** Road is already connected to Virgin Media. Claim your irresistible prices today” So far, my house address is “serviceable” and my street is already connected to the virgin network. Prior to your install a crew come out to what we term pre-pull the external cable. It is at this point we sometimes come across constructions issues or capacity. Services are subject to availability.
In most areas the cabinets, cables, ducting for the cables etc has been in situe for a number of years. Ducting can become blocked or crushed. Access points outside homes called T Plates get covered over, if councils resurface pavements etc. So we have to clear whatever presents itself before we can install. Now, I am not a engineer or technician so this last paragraph is totally irrelevant to me and not my problem so why try burden me wanting me to show empathy here? What Virgin are failing to understand… Is that on 15th October I wanted their services and placed an order for this to commence and start a month later on 15th November. Since this date they have had ample of opportunity to assess the situation and provide the appropriate manpower to rectify any problem behind the scenes so my service starts on the date we both agreed it would on 15th November 2016. It was VIRGIN who cancelled this installation and told me a new date their work would now be completed and my installation would be 2nd December 2016. Hey they cancelled this agreed installation too and now as a third attempt my installation is scheduled for 7th February, or as before will they ring me again and cancel this on 6th February?
In my position at work if I have been given a deadline to complete a task, you do it. If this timescale does not allow do you pull from other resources to achieve this deadline? I would have thought so but to Virgin, getting one extra customer isn’t a necessity it seems. Surely if the work had been carried out as agreed, and I was happy with the service? Would I not recommend to neighbours, friends and family to make this switch to Virgin? From this experience… what positive things could I possibly say about my ‘smooth’ transfer and Virgins customer service team?
We will continue to monitor the install and contact you after the installation to further discuss the complaint and hopefully be able to close it once you are satisfied with the outcome.
If you require any further assistance please give us a call on 0345-6503131 … Give you a call. Spend more hours of my already busy life ringing you, who will waste my time with feeble excuses which will cost me money! Should you not be making the effort and contacting me !! Virgin???
The Whites won a 15th-minute penalty when Bruno handled, but David Stockdale saved Stefan Johansen's spot-kick.
The hosts dominated the first half and were rewarded after the break as Lucas Piazon curled into the corner.
However, the game turned when Tomer Hemed levelled from the penalty spot after he was fouled, before Lewis Dunk was quickest to a loose ball to score Brighton's winner two minutes later.
The win for the visitors, coupled with Newcastle's surprising loss at Blackburn, sent the Seagulls two points clear at the top after they extended their unbeaten run to 18 league games.
Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic left striker Chris Martin out of his squad, with the forward linked with an early return to parent club Derby County from his season-long loan.
It did not seem to affect the hosts in the opening hour. They forced the early penalty and also had Matt Smith go close in the first half, before Piazon's opener soon after the break.
The Seagulls drew level when Ragnar Sigurdsson brought down Hemed in the box and the Israel striker scored his sixth goal of the season.
And before Fulham had time to gather themselves, Dunk was on hand to head in the rebound after Anthony Knockaert's effort had been saved.
Chris Hughton, Brighton manager :
"We probably didn't deserve the win but we showed enough.
"There were periods in the game where Fulham looked very good. It is very difficult when you are playing a team as expansive as these are. You have to make sure you don't allow them opportunities to play.
"We found it difficult but we came away with the best chance in the first half but we needed a goalkeeper who was very good today and sometimes those ingredients win you games."
"The challenge for the players is to stay at the top. We have stressed to the players the second half of the season will be harder because everyone is pushing harder, expectation levels rise and we have to manage that.
Tom Ince put Derby ahead with his seventh goal in as many games when Johnny Russell's through-ball gave him time to shoot low past David Button.
The hosts grabbed a deserved equaliser when Ryan Fredericks teed up Floyd Ayite for a tap-in.
Stefan Johansen's shot from the edge of the box put Fulham in front, but Alex Pearce headed in Ince's corner.
Fulham, who are unbeaten at home in six matches, started at a furious pace but Ince struck for the Rams with their first noteable chance.
Scott Carson then saved from Fredericks and Kevin McDonald, but the Derby keeper was finally beaten for the first time in six matches by Ayite.
The Cottagers again forced the pace after half-time, with Scott Malone having a shot well blocked before Johansen's strike threatened to inflict only a second defeat on Derby boss Steve McClaren since his return.
But Pearce's equaliser forced a fifth draw in the last six matches between the two sides at Craven Cottage, despite a late scare for the visitors when Lucas Piazon's free-kick hit the bar.
The visitors, who have lost just once in 13 matches, drop two places to seventh, while Fulham, with just two defeats in 11, move up a place to ninth.
Derby manager Steve McClaren:
"What the boys have done for the past seven games has been incredible. To win seven in any division is difficult - to win seven and keep six clean sheets is even harder.
"It had to end sometime and I'm pleased it didn't end in defeat. I'm so proud of the players and the staff.
"Fulham kept coming at us and had our backs to the wall. This was the first time during our run we'd been behind and the players reacted well and got their reward."
Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic:
"I cannot be completely satisfied. We paid a heavy price for making a mistake. We played all the football, dominated the game and created chances.
"But it wasn't enough to win the game and this isn't the first time it's happened. We must work to improve ourselves and make ourselves more solid and competitive.
"They scored twice after our mistakes and in this competition that's not acceptable."
Rovers led through Joel Lynch’s eighth minute goal, an advantage they doubled on the hour mark through Liam Feeney's close-range finish.
Their two goal advantage lasted for just a minute however, with Jake Bidwell reducing the deficit from the spot after Gordon Greer was penalised for a push.
However, they saw the game through to make it two wins from two at the start of 2017.
Owen Coyle made four changes for the FA Cup tie, with returns for David Raya, Ben Marshall, Elliott Bennett and Sam Gallagher.
However, with Craig Conway injured, and Marvin Emnes cup-tied, it was a near full-strength Rovers line-up for the game at Loftus Road.
Raya didn’t have to wait long for his first save, that coming in the fourth minute from a Grant Hall free-kick. The midifelder tried his luck from 25 yards after Jason Lowe fouled Ebere Eze, but it was easy for the Spaniard to collect on the bounce.
That came moments before Rovers threatened from a free-kick of their own, with Danny Graham flashing a header wide from an Elliott Bennett inswinger.
Bennett would then have a big hand in the goal which put Rovers 1-0 infront just eight minutes in. He won the ball deep in his own half and embarked on a terrific surging run forward. His cross was headed goalwards by Sam Gallagher, and although Matt Ingram saved, the ball hit Joel Lynch and rolled over the line.
It was reward for a bright start from the visitors, with Ben Marshall firing wide as the 10 minute mark passed.
That brought about something of a lull in the game, with QPR enjoying plenty of possession, but much of it in front of Rovers who were looking to play on the break.
And it was Rovers who would threaten next, as after a sustained spell of pressure, Charlie Mulgrew found room from Jason Lowe’s header, but his header was excellently blocked, before Sam Gallagher turned over, albeit from an offside position inside the six yard box.
Liam Feeney was looking particularly bright on the right wing, and forced several corners for his side.
Such was the frustration the hosts were feeling, Joel Lynch tried an effort from all of 35 yards after striding out from the back. Although well hit, it was wide of Raya’s post, as QPR waited for a standout chance.
A half which Rovers had looked comfortable in ended with a Ben Marshall strike going just over, as they took their advantage in to the break.
QPR started the second half stronger, looking for a way back in to the game. Elliott Bennett was forced in to an excellent defensive clearance just three minutes after the re-start, after Jamie Mackie had wriggled his way in to the box.
Paul Lambert secured his first win as Wolves manager with a 2-1 victory over QPR in the Sky Bet Championship at Loftus Road on Thursday 1st December.
The former Norwich boss took over the post on November 5 following Walter Zenga's departure and only managed a draw and a defeat from his opening two games, but this was was going to now be a memorable trip to west London.
Both managers rang the changes to their starting XIs with QPR boss Ian Holloway making three changes following the 3-0 loss to Ipswich and Lambert changing five players, including goalkeeper Carl Ikeme who would go off injured late on.
QPR started the game well and looked in control and more likely to score first. This was until QPR were reduced to 10 men after 35 minutes when James Perch was shown his second yellow card of the game. This tackle was a little reckless and there were very few complaints as Perch was shown his marching orders. The 31-year-old, who had been booked early in the match for dissent, brought down Doherty with a mistimed lunge and referee Tim Robinson had no hesitation in issuing a second booking.
So inevitably it was Wolves who broke the deadlock on the hour mark through Dave Edwards' first-time shot before doubling their lead just six minutes later through Helder Costa.
The home side battled back in the last 10 minutes was too little too late and mustered a consolation goal when Joel Lynch beat substitute goalkeeper Andy Lonergan.
Wolves, who were without a league win in nine games before kick-off, tried to make the most of having an extra man yet it was the Hoops that started the second half the stronger side.
As the 10 men of QPR began to tire, Wolves picked up their attack and on the stroke of the hour mark the visitors finally found the back of the net.
Dominic Iorfa made a run down the wing and his cross into the box fell to Edwards whose first-time volley went past everyone on its way into the net.
The midfielder went close to a second just five minutes later but his shot was blocked by a low diving save from Alex Smithies, however just a minute later Wolves doubled their lead.
Costa collected the ball outside the area and after dummying the QPR defenders twice, found the bottom corner.
The game looked won but QPR found an extra burst of power and in the 90th minute Lynch gave Holloway's men a glimmer of hope when his shot went past Lonergan.
Tt was just too little, too late for the home side who, despite seven minutes of injury time, could not find a leveller.
In this day and age we all receive emails, letters, phone calls, text messages or get hassled in shopping precincts from companies wishing to sell us more and more services. The phone and television market is no different, those can remember from having three television channels which ceased broadcasting at midnight with programs for children at set times only! Fortunately channel 4 arrived and then channel 5. Then finally Cable and Satellite channel’s brings us up to this modern and digital age.
What an insane market to choose from for our home entertainment Sky, Virgin, EE, BT, TalkTalk (have I missed anyone?) All claiming to be cheaper and faster than their rivals. Let’s be honest and just take a step back. They all supply a service charge us all for simple things which regardless who we choose we’re all probably spending £60 PLUS on this entertainment. I do know families spending over £100. Per month sounds a lot but to spend this in a 24 or 18 month contract! What a rip-off.
Needless to say for the last 15 plus years I’ve been with Sky TV why?, probably just too lazy to move to another supplier and I have got to know the channel numbers off the top of my head so there is no need to move right? Why would I want to learn different numbers all over again for the same channels? Well…. My family has grown which needs telly sharing, we all have different interests which now requires us watching our favourite programs at different times. I have found myself having to record programs and watch them late at night with peace and quiet or view them on the computer with SkyGo. The clue in the above sentence is “viewing on a computer”. Now considering I’m watch a program on the computer, children have tablets, wife is on her device, games console, printer uploading pictures to clients. Our internet is breaking and that broadband speed is an all time slow as it struggles to share its bandwidth to all these devices. According in my supplier ”We have the fastest broadband” around, which I’m starting to doubt the truth behind this actual statement. Every device in our house is requiring a share of that speed. This frustration turned my head as I walked past the Virgin media store with the same sales persons over the last few months couldn’t believe his luck as I was actually stepping into this shop to hear what he had to say. Viewing the assistant’s computer screen along with our constant junk mail posted through our door our street has already installed the latest cables and we live in a virgin compatible area.
As the assistant explained, the answer to my problem here is Fibre. Fibre the latest technology to cope with our modern day demand. I need this service to help with the work load I intend to burden its shoulders with. Believe me I will! The problem is that although a majority In our area with streets full of copper wires, not one supplier can offer us the fibre service Sky, BT, EE, Vodafone, TalkTalk, PlusNet, absolutely no one except …. VIRGIN MEDIA using its “cable” service. So I all I need to do now is arrange a cancelation and a connection for my phone line and broadband supplier to transfer to Virgin’s stronger and faster infrastructure to solve all of my in house problems.
On 15th October 2016, I decided to place my order and looked at the list of available dates to start my new service. As this would require a day off from work I took a day off planning installation for a month later on 15th November. Well this date couldn’t come fast enough for me. Download speeds of up to 200MB/Sec Uploading pictures to client’s galleries at nearly 20MB/Sec will mean I won’t have to leave my computer on overnight as it uploads pictures to the correct albums I can now upload in a fraction of this time! What a result a real winner…. I was rubbing my hands with glee
Well low and behold 18:30!! On the 14th November Virgin rang to cancel my installation! CANCEL why??? What because down the road there was blockage. Wait for it!!.... This blockage was due to leaves and the leaves are preventing the cable being pushed through for connection. Can you believe this! LEAVES are stopping a modern day high speed digital phone line from being connected. I held this phone to my ear in utter disbelief and listened over and over at this excuse, expecting any minute now the assistant to crack out into fits of laughter with the punchline “GOTCHA!” …. I waited and waited until it dawned on me, he was actually serious. From being completely puzzled and confused my tone of voice changed into and no matter how much I argued, Virgin were just not coming out to install my service. They did however arrange “themselves” to come out again on 2nd December and credit my account with £50. Remember my account that hasn’t official opened yet?.
So restraining myself and trying to be patient I looked forward to the new date on 2nd December…. Well I could not believe whilst at work 13:30 on 1st December my phone rings again from Virgin with another problem that they couldn’t fix in the THREE weeks that they could have done from the last cancelation.
Let’s get this right… Each time a date has been arranged its’ been down to VIRGIN to tell me the date when they can perform this installation and when it has come down to it, they have not been able to complete what they promised? Two installations and now two! Failed bookings. Not to mention twice going into work, asking/begging for the day off work for this to be a completed has been a complete waste of time. In total Virgin Media have had SEVEN weeks altogether to perform all the necessary checks and installations needed in the high street to perform the final installation within my property on the agreed date in question. The fact these are issues away from my property with blockages or applying to the council for access permission is not my or any customers fault. Its a procedure virgin have performed millions of times already so what could possibly be preventing m connection on this occasion?
Is this a sign just to stay with my current supplier and stay with the company I have been connected too for many years? Eventually when I do get connected, is Virgin’s network going to break down every two minutes? To which I have to contact this customer service team who have already proved, even before my installation has been completed that they are just not up to the task, with their attitude on the phone to me and service? I have spent more than enough time on the phone to the customer service team, calling from another phone supplier is hardly going to be a free phone call is it? I have had to continue paying BT and SKY for the service they give me when it should have been cancelled and have been paying just the one …. VIRGIN who clearly are making so much money already that their profit margins are so high they can afford to mess me about and for me not to pay them for a service.
This is a true story not factual in anyway. If you thought this blog was long just, wait until you see my letter I’m sending to virgin media’s head office to finally conclude this matter.
Regardless of what device you use you’ll probably notice that you need storage space to keep all your pictures, songs and general documents that are important to you on this device to make them work for you. In this day and age the more space you have the more data you can store. Buying this storage in many forms E.G micro SD, SD Card, Flash drive or Compact Flash card etc. can be quite expensive and with the biggest decision being how much storage do I need. In photography do I buy many small memory cards so on a day’s shooting I can take the full card out, keep it safe and insert the new card? Or buy one gigantic card to store all the pictures conveniently from the days shoot but if I lose or something happens to that one card, you can imagine how I would feel losing all the pictures from that day and my clients well, they’ll be livid, no? It is a dilemma and one that should have some thought behind your decision basically what works for you?
Of course I bet you’ve had a someone suggest certain companies or websites that have sold them incredibly cheap memory cards and you should buy yours from there too! But how cheap is too cheap? How would you feel buying a cheap memory card loading it full of pictures, music and personal files that at some point a few weeks or months later it fails and you’ve lost everything? This cheap memory card you inserted you wouldn’t feel that it was much of a bargain now would you? I know I’d be full of regret and feel the fool. Another issue of care must be the “fake” cards in huge circulation and to be honest normally found on eBay I’m sad to say? They look like the real deal, the description say they are too…. But a big give away that they’re not, is the too good to be true price and location from around the world that they’re being posted from. Don’t forget eBay offers feedback from others who have bought items from them in the past and any negative feedback with complaints of a previous purchase is more indication not to buy from there. If reliability doesn’t concern you then can I quickly ask you to read this article :HERE: The reason behind an expensive camera falling into the lake to rust away is quite shocking. The photographer fearing the camera and pictures have been lost forever needed a lot of luck for someone happily fishing one day to drag it back to the surface. I’m sure the camera could be repairable not sure it could be cost effective but I’m sure a cheap or fake memory card would not have been able to store and save the 1700 memorable pictures from the bottom of the lake that this photographer had taken on there. If the camera couldn’t be saved at least this photographers memories have been! Im sure anyone would settle for that, memories are part of our lives and photography help us remember key moments and loved ones.
You must realise by now you will need a reliable card and a cards speed should be part of your decision too. A cards reading and writing speed will affect your devices performance. Obviously you live in a modern world and time is all important! You’ll probably want a responsive device and limit waiting time so fast cards able to read your information are always beneficial. A lot of my cards that I use are in my DSLR cameras. It is very frustrating taking a burst of shots filling the buffer too quickly because the camera can’t write the images quickly enough to the memory cards. This results in shutter delay and this lag time where pictures are not getting taken, you guessed it will be the split second I want the picture taken of that match winning goal or incredible celebration.
With the above taken into consideration it doesn’t mean you must buy the most expensive cards out there because that too isn’t value for money, and will seriously dent your pocket. Please do your research and maybe through previous experience stick to what you know. I actually stick to one or two proven brands only!! And for me a good time to buy memory cards too…. Black Friday Amazon sales!! November 26th 2016 I believe it is this year Compact Flash and SD cards are on my list and Micro SD cards for mine and my households mobile phones.