Sky pull through

Just when I was thinking what I need to do to cancel Sky HD, they pull through and get it all working again. Once I got through to the right people it only took a couple of hours and is now fully woking.

So a week late, but I now have the full HD package that I originally should have.

Sky HD - the saga continues

177 hours and counting.

I still don't have my premium channels on my HD box. This is bizarre. For a company like Sky, who can address any smartcard from their office, which then zaps through the satellite to my specific box/card, WHY CAN'T THEY ACTIVATE MY CARD???

The smartcard in the other room, in the Sky+ works fine - sports movies etc. No Problem. So why not wit the Sky HD card/box? It's away with the people at System Enquiries or something. As it has since Friday. But still no channels.

I'm getting close to binning the whole things and getting my money back.

A word of advice - if you want to get HD now, get a Humax HD box which will give you BBC HD. Sky HD is currently a big can of worms.

Power sockets.

I was just sorting out my office and had to move a PC around. This involved the following electrical plugs:

1. PC
2. LCD screen
3. Speaker system
4. Network switch
5. Laser printer
6. Inkjet printer
7. Paper shredder
8. Answer phone
9. Phone charger 1
10. Phone charger 2

Obviously they all have other cables: cat5, USB etc. IT'S SUCH A PAIN! The whole world is drowing in PVC covered cables and wall warts! And it doesn't look like getting any better.

Is there a solution to this mess? Is there some kind of (safe for the home!) power rail system that can be used?

Sky HD - a bit of progress...

After 104.5 hours I still don't have full service.

Yesterday my HD channels activated! Horray! So, after 68 hours, I finally had HD channels.

But.

I still have no premium channels, so missed the England B game the other night, which would have been my first HD footy match. Now with the bank holiday looming, it looks like nothing will happen before Tuesday.

I'm getting close to just cancelling the HD sub, getting a Humax HD decoder for the BBC HD channel and going back to Sky+. Hopefully the Sky compensation team will offer me a bribe.

Sky HD - Still not working

Well, I managed to get a Sky HD box on Monday, all installed and kind of working. Kind of.

I get a picture, and the BBC HD channel looks spectacular! But the problem is that is all I can get. I mean I get all the standard channels, but I don't get any other HD channels and I don't even get the Premium Sports and Movies that I'm paying for.

The reason is some technical issue with the Sky systems that are confused about where my smartcards are and which services are enabled. Despite talking to customer services at Sky for what seems like hours over the last couple of days, swapping the cards numerous times, initiating callbacks - nothing is progressing.

there is a small, but growing, number of people with the same issue on Digital Spy and AVforums, but still no real solution. The Sky IT people need to fix each customer with this problem manually - but no-one's really sure whether they even have a solution yet.

So 2.5 days in, and I would love to tell you all about Sky HD. But I can't. And I currently have no idea when it'll be fixed.

Search engine update

Well, we started this about three weeks ago, so let's check what's happened since:

Positions @ 18:30, Monday 22nd May
Search: site:http://www.stevebrowne.com
Google: 1 page listed
Yahoo: 2 pages listed
MSN: 1 page listed

Search: Steve Browne
Google: First page, 2nd result!
Yahoo: NOT on first page
MSN: First page, 9th result!

So a little better, but not major. We'll check again in a few weeks time.

Finance Bill 2006 - Empty Your Pockets Now Please

This government are renowned for extracting as much tax as they think they can get away with, at every opportunity they have. The Finance Bill 2006 extends this further.

As I read the paper, I assumed that it was mistaken, or that they had an axe to grind about some technical point. But no. They were right:

The government is planning to tax you on use of your office computer.

I'll say that again: they want you to pay a benefit in kind tax if you use your work computers for personal things. The example given in the paper is that a £2k computer will incur £160 tax on the employee, with the employer paying a further £51.20. So for each £2k computer that the taxman can get his claws into earns the Treasury an additional £211.20 a year in tax revenue.

Now this is getting daft. It's like taxing you for breathing air supplied via a company run air con system. Or taxing you on the bog roll you use at work.

Will John Prescott be taxed for shagging in his office or other residences paid for by us, the taxpayer? No.

More and more rules like this are destroying. They destroy the country and they destroy the will to succeed. Those in their high castles (paid for by us) are OK. The rest of us suffer.

The party of the people? Give me strength.

Things can only get better.

sore throat

We popped out to the shops and I mde the mistake of buying Sing Star 80s for the PS2. The kids have had a great laugh at each other and at me, and we've now all had to stop as we can hear and feel our throats starting to go. Hopefully I'll still be able to talk in the morning!