BBC Licence Fee: Let's call an end now

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The mandatory BBC licence fee charged to every household wishing to watch live television is increasingly regarded as an anachronism. Now, following evidence that some potential licence victims have the temerity to watch catch-up shows on their iPads, thus being able to claim exemption from the licence, the BBC wants to extend the scope of this 92-year-old tax. What makes this attitude even more unpalatable is that non-payment of a television licence is actually a criminal rather than a civil offence. 

Why should householders be charged £145 a year to watch television, even if they never actually choose to watch a BBC programme? Graeme Archer, writing in the Telegraph, doesn't know. But he does know that the licence fee is hopelessly out of step with our 21st-century lives.

The television licence fee should be abolished and the BBC should stand on its own feet just like any other commercial broadcaster. It would willingly submit all my electronic devices to a BBC-ectomy and amuse myself by listening to and watching other, free media. It would be absolutely no hardship. And what of the BBC? Well, if it wants to continue providing non-commercial programming it should devise a pay-per-view model which would ensure that those who want the service pay for it. Not the rest of us. 

Footnote: The BBC has just spent part of my £145 contributing to the purchase of 4,000 iPhones, 400 iPads and 800 MacBooks in the past two years. I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies.

Slow broadband knocks a fifth off UK house prices

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Property website Rightmove has added a broadband tool to help buyers check on the sort of broadband speeds they can expect when choosing a new home. Bernard Phillips of Rightmove says, "broadband has become ingrained in people's lives and is an important factor when choosing a home." Another property expert, Henry Pryor, has gone on record in today's Observer in maintaing that a home without even a basic broadband connection could be worth 20% less than a comparable property.

Harriet Mayer, writing for the Observer, says that many households, particularly some in rural and hard-to-reach areas are stuck on speeds of 2Mbps or less:

That can make anything aside from sending and receiving emails a struggle. The government's rollout of the superfast network to reach 95% of the UK, promising downloads at more than 30Mbps, has been pushed back to 2017. The latest figures from the communications regulator, Ofcom, show that 73% of the country is currently able to access these speeds.

Henry Pryor makes the valid point that broadband is now regarded as the fourth utility after gas, water and electricity. I would go further: It is probably considered as even more important than gas. At least it is possible to get by on electricity and oil if there is no gas but there is no substitute for a fast broadband connection.

Richard Branson and Usain Bolt in Virgin's push to faster Broadband

Richard Branson and Usain Bolt in Virgin's push to faster Broadband

In areas with higher-value properties such as parts of London, the gap between homes connected to speedy fibre optic networks and those relying on the telephone service will grow and will distort the market. People are relying ever more on ultra-fast broadband for downloading media and, simply, for the experience of web browsing.

We are lucky to be in a Virgin Media area for cable television and broadband services and the service continues to get faster. The current 120Mbps connection is to be upgraded to 152Mbps in the summer and this will further widen the gap between prime areas of the country and those still relying on the much slower speeds possible over copper wire. 

A 20% discount to the market is probably an extreme case but I have no doubt that the quality of broadband connection will become increasingly important when choosing where to live. 

Happy 25th birthday, dear World Wide Web

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Tim Berners-Lee, father of the World Wide Web

Tim Berners-Lee, father of the World Wide Web

Today WWW is 25 years old. Those under thirty have known nothing else. Yet we older citizens can remember what it was like before in the internet and before all the conveniences, such as mobile phones and smart phones, that have been spawned in its wake. For us, it is difficult to believe that all this has happened in the space of a quarter of a century. Today, therefore, is a significant one, not least for WWW's daddy, Sir Tim Berners-Lee. 

This morning The Telegraph features our favourite twenty-something in its how-the-web-was-born feature:

Berners-Lee had to start from scratch and build all the infrastructure. He wrote the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to outline how information would be transmitted between computers, HyperText Markup Language (HTML) to create web pages, the very first web browser called WorldWideWeb and the first HTTP and web server software.

He also wrote the very first web page to ever exist, which simply described his work on the project and how others could create a website. It was hosted on Berners-Lee’s own NeXT computer in his office, with a sticky label on the front saying: “This machine is a server. DO NOT POWER DOWN!”.

 

FaceTime Audio best app for Apple users

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A few years ago I used to spend a fortune on calls to other European countries and further afield. All that changed with the arrival of VoIP apps such Skype. WhatsApp, Google Voice and Fring all have their followers and all have had their moment in the sun. But I do have some concerns over security. In the past I have given several of these apps permission to access my contacts book and I now sort of regret that. In order to use them efficiently you do need to allow them to get inside Contacts but none of us has control of what other use is made of the information. 

I have come to the conclusion that I can trust Apple, probably alone, with the information since it is already sitting on their server farms dotted around the world. All my stuff is up there in the iCloud whether I like it or not.

This is not the only reason I have come to rely exclusively on Apple's FaceTime. It so happens that almost all my regular contacts use an iPhone and many also have Macs or iPads. Up to now, thought, the snag with FaceTime was that it offered only video communication―leading often to broken calls and constant "redialling". Last week, with the must-have update to Mavericks 10.9.2 we can now use FaceTime Audio. I've been giving it a run over the past few days and can report that voice clarity is exceptional most of the time, especially on my fast home network, and the reliability of calls is much improved over the more bandwidth-hungry video. If you haven't already tried FaceTime Audio, Jonny Evans at Computerworld has put together a mini guide to get you started.

With all these advances in communication, the poor old landline is nearing extinction. Mine seldom rings and when it does I get something of a shock. I confess to some irritation at having to pick up the phone and the first question that pops into my mind is why the caller didn't use the more convenient cellphone number. This is especially annoying when I am out and messages are left on the landline when I could have been contacted at any time on the iPhone. There is now no overriding need for landlines in the home and I expect them to be extinct within ten years. If I were to move home in the near future I would have to think hard about the need for a landline¹ and thousands must be in the same position. 

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¹ I acknowledge that a landline is still essential for many as a means of accessing the internet, so it will have a purpose until other means are found to deliver broadband services. In my case I am lucky enough to have Virgin cable broadband running at 120Mbps, shortly to be boosted at no extra cost to 152Mbps. So I could cut the landline and live happily.

Worldview: Early adopter or late convert?

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Ben Bajarin:

My worldview is that of an early adopter. I am an early adopter. I have a specific technologic worldview. My wife, on the other hand, is a text book late adopter. I approach technology emotionally where she approaches technology pragmatically. I have to have the latest and greatest gadget, and she will use her smartphone until it is no longer usable. Even then she will loathe the fact that it didn’t last longer. Our personality, exposure to certain types of technology, environments, and more, all contributed to each of our technological worldviews.

This is an astute observation. I have always been an early adopter, even to the point of buying a primitive Tandy TRS-80 computer in late 1978 in the (vain) hope that I could make it useful to my company. It was an expensive white elephant but, at least I was there first and I learned something. Others have to be dragged kicking and screaming to new technology.

Mavericks gets much-heralded security update

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Following a week of scathing criticism, Apple has finally updated OS X to close the notorious "gotofail" vulnerability. iOS 6, which also suffered problems, was updated last week. It is strongly recommended that all Macs and iOS devices are immediately upgraded to the latest operating-system versions. Here is Apple's crib sheet to help you on your way.

Updating your system

  1. You should back up your system before installation. To do this you can use Time Machine.
  2. Do not interrupt the installation process once you have started to update your system.
  3. You may experience unexpected results if you have third-party system software modifications installed, or if you've modified the operating system through other means.
  4. Choose Apple menu () > Software Update to check for the latest Apple software using the Mac App Store, including this update.
  5. Other software updates available for your computer may appear, which you should install. Note that an update's size may vary from computer to computer when installed using Software Update. Also, some updates must be installed prior to others.

You can also download the manual update installer. This is a useful option when you need to update multiple computers, but only want to download the update once. Standalone installers are available from Apple Support Downloads. 

About the update

The OS X Mavericks v10.9.2 Update is recommended for all OS X Mavericks users. It improves the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac. This update:

  • Adds the ability to make and receive FaceTime audio calls 
  • Adds call waiting support for FaceTime audio and video calls
  • Adds the ability to block incoming iMessages from individual senders
  • Includes general improvements to the stability and compatibility of Mail
  • Improves the accuracy of unread counts in Mail
  • Resolves an issue that prevented Mail from receiving new messages from certain providers 
  • Improves AutoFill compatibility in Safari
  • Fixes an issue that may cause audio distortion on certain Macs
  • Improves reliability when connecting to a file server using SMB2
  • Fixes an issue that may cause VPN connections to disconnect
  • Improves VoiceOver navigation in Mail and Finder
  • Improves VoiceOver reliability when navigating websites
  • Improves compatibility with Gmail Archive mailboxes
  • Includes improvements to Gmail labels
  • Improves Safari browsing and Software Update installation when using an authenticated web proxy
  • Fixes an issue that could cause the Mac App Store to offer updates for apps that are already up to date
  • Improves the reliability of diskless NetBoot service in OS X Server
  • Fixes braille driver support for specific HandyTech displays
  • Resolves an issue when using Safe Boot with some systems 
  • Improves ExpressCard compatibility for some MacBook Pro 2010 models
  • Resolves an issue which prevented printing to printers shared by Windows XP
  • Resolves an issue with Keychain that could cause repeated prompts to unlock the Local Items keychain
  • Fixes an issue that could prevent certain preference panes from opening in System Preferences
  • Fixes an issue that may prevent migration from completing while in Setup Assistant

WhatsApp "a bargain at $19 billion"

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I don't pretend to understand trillions or even billions. I'm more comfortable with £49.50 at Marks & Spencer and a bagful of stuff I can eat. But Mark Zuckerberg seems to be delighted with his purchase of just-another-comms-app WhatsApp using Facebook's small change. To me, though, this sounds like a lot of money for not a lot. I remains to be seen. Zuckerberg, meanwhile, admits to a bit of doubt: "I could be wrong."

WhatsApp, just like all similar "free" services, politely asks for your permission to access your contacts list. Invariably you agree because there isn't much sense in using the service unless you can readily find numbers. Some of these contacts-grabbing apps reside in very foreign climes with little control over your data. To avoid temptation, I've deleted WhatsApp.

Via The Telegraph

Apple Mail: Fit for purpose or what?

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Dr. Drang on Apple Mail:

I’ve often found that mail I’ve “sent” hasn’t actually left my computer; I usually don’t notice until much later that the message is stuck in my Outbox. You could argue that the badge on my Outbox is a clear indication that something is wrong, but I’m not in the habit of checking the Outbox. Twenty-plus years of using mail clients that actually send when I hit the Send button has conditioned me to expect behavior that Mavericks Mail somehow doesn’t provide.

This, and other problems with Mail, seem to be universal. It happens to me all the time. I also find that Apple's Mail repeatedly forgets the credentials I've entered for third-party IMAP servers, including GMX, Outlook, Gmail and, even, my own domain, @macfilos.com. This happens also in the iOS version of Mail. I have given up trying to send messages from any of these services via Mail and invariably change the reply sender to @icloud. Even then, as Dr. Drang points out, sent messages often get stuck in the Outbox. And sent messages constantly reappear in Drafts even when they have been sent. 

Mail's facilities are perfectly adequate for me, as they are for Dr.Drang, and I have no desire to move to a third-party application such as Mail Mate. The least we can expect from Mail, as with all Apple's built-in information-management solutions, is reliability. At the moment, I do not think Mail is fit for purpose.

Backup Strategy: Choosing a RAID or separate disks

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The Seagate Backup Plus USB 3.0 drives can be mounted on the two-port Thunderbolt Adapter to provide a very flexible expansion solution

The Seagate Backup Plus USB 3.0 drives can be mounted on the two-port Thunderbolt Adapter to provide a very flexible expansion solution

After writing about my photo archive backup strategy two days ago I did spent more time investigating RAID back-up options. While I did not change my conclusion about the effectiveness of the 6TB LaCie 2big Thunderbolt drive, I did acquire severe misgivings about the noise level from this unit. While reading a number of independent reviews, I decided I would more than likely regret having such a noisy drive near to the computer. Until we get longer (optical) Thunderbolt cables at a reasonable price, this is always going to be a factor. Instead, I settled on two 4TB Seagate Backup Plus USB 3.0 drives and one

Seagate Thunderbolt Adapter .

Although these drives are billed as USB 3.0, it is possible to add the Thunderbolt adaptor to increase data transmission speeds. The adaptor features two Thunderbolt ports (unlike many single-disk Thunderbolt drives such as those from LaCie) so additional drives can be daisychained. I would never again buy a Thunderbolt drive with just one port because it always has to be end of the line and kills expansion opportunities.

The three items, two drives and one adapter, work out at £50 less than the cost of the LaCie 2big Thunderbolt but there is no Thunderbolt cable included (as it is with the LaCie). So price is more or less on par.

I will use the Thunderbolt adaptor with one drive, thus establishing a fast storage location for my photo archives, while the second drive will be used for mirroring (a daily Carbon Copy Cloner backup) via USB 3.0. This works for me because my photo archive files seldom change (bearing in mind the current files are on the MacBook Pro's internal disk). If you are looking for an external drive for live use, perhaps for storing most of your computer's working data which changes from minute to minute, then RAID 1 configuration offers the most secure option.

Android like Europe says Cook: Surely it cannot be that bad?

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Tim Cook in his interview with the Wall Street Journal: 

Android is like Europe. Europe was a name that somebody came up with for Americans who didn’t understand that Europe was a lot of countries that weren’t like U.S. states. They were very different. Android is many things. How many people who use a Kindle know that they’re using Android? And you see what Samsung is doing by putting more and more software on top. I think it’s night and day. The compare is so off.

If Android is like Europe then things are looking dire. It surely cannot be that bad, can it?

Choosing a replacement for Finder

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Most of us are perfectly happy with the built-in Finder app in OS X, particularly with the Mavericks enhancements which include tabs. But there are several enhancement apps to add to Finder's functionality and, even, one complete replacement for Finder in Path Finder. I've used Path Finder off an on for some years.  While Finder is dumbed down for the majority of users and does not allow diving into dangerous waters, Path Finder needs to be approached with caution.

Harry Guinness's excellent Tuts+ tutorial guides you through all the options:

Path Finder allows you to totally customise the interface. It is built around a series of six modular panels that you can configure as needed. In addition to standard file browsing panels, you can display a number of panels showing information about your files. Path Finder also features the ability to create new files, perform basic image edits or connect to Git and Subversion. On top of all this, you can even include a Terminal window directly into the interface. And I have barely scratched the surface of its features!

But he reckons most people will go for one of the two alternatives, XtraFinder or TotalFinder. If you find your Mac's built-in finder lacking in features, read more here.

No fares please as cash gets off the bus

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From later this year it will no longer be possible buy a ticket on a London bus. Transport for London reckons that under one percent of travellers now use cash. The other ninety-nine use Oyster cards, contactless payment or pre-paid tickets from machines at bus stops. From personal observation (I am an incorrigible bus addict) this is probably a good assessment. The person who fumbles with cash to buy a ticket while the rest of the queue is outside in the rain had better have a thick skin. It's all a sign of the times and I can now believe pundits who say that cash will be extinct in a few years' time. 

Time was when I would fume in line at Starbucks when the customer in front tried to pay for a skinny latte with a credit card. Now, with increasing use of no-PIN-needed cards for small purchases, we are beginning to realise that it is actually quicker to pay by card than by cash. Roll on the day when I can pay for everything by waving my iPhone in the air.