May 2009 Archives

An email dropped into my inbox to tell me my paypal account had been 'temporarily limited' due to 'several failed log-in attempts'.

It provided a link to log in correctly otherwise: 'If you fail to log in correctly your account will be suspended for fraud prevention.'

Ok I'm not entirely daft and it's an obvious phishing attempt so I forwarded it to the Paypal security centre at spoof@paypal.com

They duly came back and informed me that it was indeed an attempted fraud to get my paypal log in details.

A while ago I spotted something I'd been after for ages on the gumtree online classifieds site.

I got in touch with the seller who provided a host of pics of the item, seemingly genuine.

At least seven million people in Britain use illegal downloads, costing the economy billions of pounds and thousands of jobs, according to a report published today.

Shared content on one network was worth about £12 billion per year according to the research commissioned by the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property (SABIP).

The peer-to-peer network had 1.3 million users sharing files at midday on a weekday. If each of them downloaded only one file per day this would amount to 4.73 billion items being consumed for free each year.

The ability to download or share content is continually getting easier with faster technologies and greater storage space.

This tremendous site works, as all great internet sites,, by relying on its users.

They can send in their family's dreadfully misconceived posed family photos.

There is no other thing to say except - even when they work they look forced and false - when they go wrong they are comedy gold.

Anyway go to http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/ for the full works and to keep you going here's a few examples:

Above: the family which is quite fond of the hair-do known as the mullet and much beloved of German footballers.

Above: what better way to mark a family gathering than whipping your top off and using your daughters' heads to cover it up?

Above: ah yes, the classic 'strangle mum' shot.

Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BenHurst

Patrick Swayze's 'death' this week shows the dangers of taking the online micro-blogging site Twitter too seriously as a reliable source of news.

The controversy arose when Florida radio station Kiss FM posted a message saying the Point Break star had died.

As usually happens on Twitter the message was picked up and 'retweeted' by users everywhere - meaning what was an error of judgement by one quick fingered radio station news person, soon became common knowledge.

It was made all the more plausible by the fact that Swayze, pictured with Keanu Reeves in the surfing epic, is widely known to be suffering from pancreatic cancer at the moment.

In some ways Twitter is the ultimate version of Chinese whispers, and because in most cases it is just normal people using the service privately, rather than authoritative news organisations, no checks are made whatsoever before 'news' is passed on.

And the lesson is...be careful where you get your 'news' from.

Follow me on Twitter for updates at: http://twitter.com/BenHurst

So is Facebook acting as a Trojan horse for all manner of strange things - including some which want to rob you blind?

I recently blogged on a problem I was having signing out of my Hotmail account - and the error message (https://ssl.facebook.com/accept_token.php) seemed to suggest that the well known social networking site might be behind the problem.

I contacted the Hotmail Live team and in a reasonably short time they came back with potential fixes - one of which was asking if I had added the Facebook module to Windows Live Hotmail (I hadn't - or at least I hadn't personally done so.)

Unions and businesses from the creative industries called for Government action today to require internet service providers (ISPs) to issue sanctions against customers who repeatedly download illegal content.

The London conference, called the Future of the Creative Economy, was led jointly by the UK Film Council and the Federation of Entertainment Unions, and hosted by Bafta.

It culminated in the launch of a set of recommendations to Government on a system for tackling the "damage" caused to the UK economy by illegal file-sharing.

The coalition called for the Government to require ISPs to use their direct relationship with their consumers to send notices to those customers who illegally file share and to introduce sanctions for those who ignore such notices and repeatedly download illegal content.

The recommendations included the statement: "We support early indications of Government's thinking that call on ISPs to send warning notices to offenders as a first stage of tackling the problem.

"We strongly recommend an additional option whereby, where multiple educational warnings are ignored by consumers, a graduated series of technical solutions are used which prevent further illegal activity, with a clear appeals process in place to protect consumers."

Almost a third of internet users are too frightened to hand over their credit details while shopping online, a report published today found.

The Office of Fair Trading said 30 per cent of internet users do not shop online because of a lack of trust.

It added that, although consumer confidence is gradually improving, online markets cannot reach their full potential because it is still too low.

Chief executive John Fingleton said: "Online retailing is the future for many businesses and increasingly important to the economy.

"If consumers are not confident online, demand will grow at a slower rate. So we must tackle these concerns right now if the online market is to grow at its full potential."

I've been having problems each time I try to log out of my hotmail account from my home computer.

On every occasion I was getting the following message:

"Signing out

You're signing out of the following sites:

MSN Account Services

https://ssl.facebook.com/accept_token.php

If we can sign you out of a site, appears next to its name. If we cannot sign you out of a site, appears next to its name.

If we couldn't sign you out of a site, click Try Again to try signing out again.

When you're done, click Done."

(I've posted both image and text in case people searching need help finding the solution)

I've discovered it's solved by deleting all private data from your internet browser (except saved passwords).

Does make you wonder what's causing it though - it seems lots of people are having the same issue, and as it was solved by deleting cookies etc, it seems to suggest it's something nasty which has been downloaded.

Given Facebook's obsession with giving access (see blog below) to all and sundry to ALL your private data, and given the hotmail error message specifies facebook, who's to say that popular social networking site isn't responsible?

I've raised it with the Hotmail technical bods and I'll report back if they come up with a reason why this is happening.

A round robin email lands in my inbox with the intriguing title: "Craig Phillips - May 2009 Newsletter".

A memory brainstorm later and I remember the pumped up builder who self aggrandisingly hectored 'Nasty' Nick on Big Brother after he admitted making up details of his past life.

I was vaguely aware that he may well at some point have appeared on daytime TV, but that aside Craig's subsequent career had passed me by.

No longer! For now I can find out from his newsletter (how on earth did I sign up to this???).

I began by enjoying his personally signed intro: "Hello, Hope you are all well. As ever these past few months have been extremely hectic but fun. Hope you enjoy the newsletter."

That's nice - hoping those of us who have signed up (?) to his missives are well.

The first piece of information is a blockbuster for the beleaguered publishing industry - his autobiography will be released in June this year!

There are a host of 'promotional' activities which are highlighted, including appearing with small screen legend Claire Sweeney plugging some paint, (we are informed the advert appeared during 'Dancing on Ice' so nice primetime exposure for the Craigster).

We are also told: "Craig recently spoke to radio stations across the UK on behalf of leading brand Homebase to help launch their new range of 'How To' guides whilst providing some top DIY tips. Alongside Craig was Andy Goddard, Homebase category manager for decorating and DIY."

A building expert as massive as Craig can't restrict himself to just one DIY supplier: "Craig was recently in Whitfield,Dover to help open a new B&Q Warehouse."

Even taking to the high seas wouldn't guarantee escaping from the media storm that is Craig Phillips: "Craig recently completed 2 up close and personal shows talking about his life and career in 'An Audience With Craig Phillips' onboard P&O ship Oceana in the caribbean."

So there you have it - there is life after Big Brother [opening diy stores and on cruise ships] (although to be fair to Mr Phillips there are extensive details of an array of charity fundraising dinners he attended!).

And you can catch him (if you're retired or a student or off sick) at 2pm on ITV1 each weekday on 60 Minute Makeover Craig fans!
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A father explained today how watching video clips on YouTube helped him deliver his baby son.

Marc Stephens said he had to act quickly when his wife Jo went into labour three weeks early as she had a history of fast births with her previous three children.

The 28-year-old Royal Navy air engineer searched "how to deliver a baby" on the internet and after viewing a few clips said he was ready to help.

Below: The Stephens family (children from left to right) Jasmine, Zoe, Sophie and Gabriel with Marc and Jo Stephens from Redruth, Cornwall.