It is finally here, and I am really chuffed by the result. A brand new squeaky clean website for theopenworldtechnician.com was uploaded late on Sunday night. (more…)

Whilst the world seems to be flooding, this would probably be a good time to remind everybody to back-up any important data on their PCs. If you need help backing up the essentials, you know who to ask.

Further to my announcement back in May about accepting credit card payments, theopenworldtechnician.com is pleased to announce that I now also accept payment through Google Checkout. (more…)

Whilst Heroes maybe starting on BBC Two this week (Wednesday at 9pm - link here).

Real heroes can help by joining theopenworldtechnician.com in a very important project - which means you.

Just follow this link to learn more.

Thank you.

We all have to call a call centre at some point or another, and we all get that sinking feeling when we dial. The labyrinth of options, then being placed in a queue, and then, to top if off, whilst waiting you are told that “your call will be answered as soon as possible”, “your call is important to us” and “you are caller number 2, the expected wait time is 3 minutes” (lie). Then your have to listen to Beethoven, Dido, or some “celeb” singing a version of songs by another artist. If you’re nodding your head and thinking “yes I know” - you are not alone. The shear terror and horror is not worth thinking about. (more…)

I have had a couple of old mobile phones rattling around for a while. Fortunately I know that they can be recycled and best of all I get a bit of dosh for it.

I’ve compiled the best payers for you, the golden rule is try a few to see who’ll give you the most for your phone. In one comparison where two companies said one old phone was worthless, a third was prepared to pay £20; for another phone the amounts varied from £25 to £75. So don’t give up too soon.

For phones in good condition:

• Fast, high paying and reliable. Web only company Envirofone pays an alright sum, though not the best prices, but wins due to its simple procedure and strong feedback from websites such as moneysavingexpert.com. Enter the phone’s details and it instantly gives you a price. This is either paid in cash (by cheque) or you can opt for roughly 15% more in Argos points. It also donates £1 to charity per phone.
• The highest payer for high spec mobiles in top notch condition. Cex comes out top for many higher value models, because rather than ship your phones abroad, it simply tarts them up and sells them to others. But this means it’s very picky about the phone’s condition. To sell your item simply click on ‘Sell to CEX’ at the top of the page. It won’t send you a jiffy bag, you’ll have to bundle it up yourself. Yet if it’s good enough you could consider flogging it yourself (see Alternative methods).

Damaged phones:

• Envirofone, Mopay and Mobilephonebuyer will look at non-working phones, offering a reduced price for these (expect to get around 10-50% of the working price) or at the very least will re-cycle them for you. Alternatively Greener Solutions (who also run Mobile2cash) works in partnership with Tesco and offers 100 Clubcard points (worth £4 in Deals vouchers) for non-working phones or donates £1 to Tesco’s current charity. Disposal bags are available from Tesco customer services.
• There’s also a mobile recycling scheme operated via Nectar which pays out its points, but it usually doesn’t come close to the best of the cash payers, so it’s best left as a last resort.

Whilst browsing my collection of 3831 songs on my iPod, 300 of which are paid for downloads, the rest is from the CD collection, I got to wondering: what do insurance companies do in the case of digital downloads? What happens if your computer is destroyed by flooding, fire, children, etc? (more…)

To celebrate my 100th post on the Blogberry, I discovered this excellently funny short film (and the long version of it I would like to add). If you like it, don’t forget to share it. Just press the green button below to do so.

This film is actually to promote Robbie William Rudebox album, which Williams commissioned a series of short films. Goodbye to the Normals was directed by Jim Field Smith and features “Burslem Normals” by Robbie Williams.

I was having trouble with my computer. So I called Harold, the computer guy, to come over. Harold clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem. He gave me a bill for a minimum service call.

As he was walking away, I called after him, “So, what was wrong?”

He replied, “It was an ID ten T error.”

I didn’t want to appear stupid, but nonetheless inquired, “An ID ten T Error? What’s that? In case I need to fix it again?”

Harold grinned… “Haven’t you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?”

“No” I replied.

“Write it down,” he said, “and I think you’ll figure it out.”

So I wrote it down.

I D 1 0 T

I used to like Harold…….

In case you have been on the International Space Station since January of this year, Apple’s much hyped iPhone started selling in the States on Friday. Whilst users in Europe have to wait until at least the 3rd quarter of 2007 to get their hands on it, it looks like (according to rumours the world over) Orange may well be awarded the European contract. (more…)