For a couple of weeks I have been getting increasingly annoyed by my desktop PC (Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition Version 2002 Service Pack 2) no longer shutting down when I click on ‘Turn Off Computer… Turn Off’. It would close most of the active applications, but then stop mid-way through shutting down and then remain in an idle state. The only way to shutdown the computer was to go through the Turn Off / shutdown sequence twice each time. After a process of elimination I finally traced the culprit to a process named skypePM.exe.

A Google search has found an interesting thread on the Skype support forum where other Skype users have experienced the same problem. Fortunately there is a solution!

Uninstall Skype using ‘Add or Remove Programs’ in Control Panel, then download SkypeSetup.exe and reinstall, but this time click on Options at the first page and deselect ‘Install Skype Extras Manager’. This ensures that the rogue skypePM.exe is not installed and prevents the double shutdown issue.

Picture this scene. You are waiting expectantly in a busy auction room packed with interested bidders from all around the world. Your lot is presented and you watch on intently as your prized heirloom goes under the hammer. Bidding starts slowly, but soon picks up as a small group of interested parties get involved in a bidding war against each other.

The price rises steadily and you rub your hands in anticipation of a record sale. Then at the height of the auction frenzy, the auctioneer abruptly ends the auction, sells to the last bidder and goes for lunch.

This may sound ridiculous but it is the basic premise of eBay auctions. There is no concept of ending an auction only after all bids have been exhausted, the last bid received before an arbitrary end point is the winner. How does it benefit the seller to end their auction while bidding is still active?

Then there is the ridiculous feedback system. Aside from the various underhand methods to boost your own feedback rating, the scheme is fundamentally flawed as it does not empower buyers with the freedom to report bad or fraudulent transactions. The reason for this is that regardless of who was really at fault, the eBay feedback system permits a seller to leave unsubstantiated negative feedback and comments, thereby tarnishing your record.

If you do leave negative feedback for a seller, it is actually in their best interest to make reciprocal negative claims in order to force you into agreeing to a ‘mutual’ feedback withdrawal, which wipes out both sets of negative feedback scores. eBay does not get involved in disputes, they do not impose fines or suspend the accounts of rogue traders. The consequences of all this is that if you have a bad experience with a seller, it serves no purpose to leave them a negative response as all it will do is risk damaging your reputation. How can that be fair to the buyer?

eBay is unfair to both sellers and buyers, their market monopoly and ownership of PayPal makes transaction fees exhorbitant and impressive feedback scores are no guarantee of a trader’s integrity.

Chavs have a new leader – the leader of our country!

I gazed in utter disbelief at the Red Nose Day comedy sketch in which Tony Blair featured last weekend. It is a disgrace that a serving Prime Minister should so publicly demonstrate such lack of dignity and disrespect for his elected position. For those that did not witness the spectacle, it is available here for your amusement and derision.

By all means show your support for a charitable cause, but would any of our previous premiers have been so foolish as to appear in a self-deprecating parody, which only served to further exhibit their failure to educate and control our disaffected youth? Can you imagine Baroness Thatcher volunteering to ridicule herself like this on television? No, because she demonstrated propriety and decorum and is consequently still revered by public and statesmen alike.

Blair is an embarassment and his gradual erosion of moral values and apathetic acceptance of chav ‘culture’ is destroying this once proud nation. To use his own vernacular, he ain’t bovvered though.

As you may be aware, calls to supposedly free 0800 numbers from your mobile telephone are usually charged at national rate and are excluded from bundles of free inclusive minutes. However there is a solution!

Store this magic number in your mobile handset: 020 0222 0700 (also 020 0222 0900)

This number is interpreted as a standard 020 London number by most mobile operators and once connected it allows you to onward-dial any 0800 number at no additional charge.

Also don’t forget Say No To 0870 which lists alternative geographic numbers for most UK businesses.

I have been a Sky customer since the days of analogue satellite. I originally subscribed mainly for the sports and movie channels, but dropped the movies in favour of DVD rentals (see this previous post). I upgraded to SkyHD in May and was hugely impressed with the superior clarity (particularly football), but all this comes at too high a price. Subscribing to the sports premium mix to watch the occasional FA Premier League football match was costing me £19 a month. I probably would not have cared so much had my team actually won the odd game, but paying £228 for the ‘privilege’ of regular disappointment was a bitter pill to swallow. As a result I jettisoned sports and reduced my subscription level to the minimal two entertainment mixes (£15/month) and Sky+ service (£10/month).

£300 a year is still quite a chunk of change to hand over on top of the mandatory annual £131.50 TV Licence fee. I am a great advocate of the Sky+ service, which has undeniably revolutionised viewing habits, and I was quite prepared to pay the tenner a month for the simplicity and convenience that it provides. However when I analysed what I was actually recording the vast majority were programmes from the terrestrial broadcasters.

So what was I paying Sky for when I so rarely watched their programming?

After some careful research I purchased a Humax PVR-9200T (affectionally dubbed “Hummy” by it’s devotees). This set top box comprises a terrestrial twin-tuner and capacious 160GB hard disk for recordings. It has a similar programme guide and planner to the Sky+ system and works every bit as well, in fact I would argue that it includes more functionality that Sky+ and so far has proven to be more stable.

I receive all the regular terrestrial channels that you would expect (BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel4, five) – plus some others that perhaps you would not expect if you were not a Freeview aficionado: BBC3, E4, Film4, ITV2/3/4, Sky News and Sky Sports News. I didn’t even receive Sky Sports News with my basic Sky subscription!

So I am now a happy Freeview user, with no perceived differences in viewing choice or quality and for no monthly outlay. Ask yourself, is it really worth £300 a year for 24-hour Simpsons?

There is a life after Sky – be free!