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  • Notes of Zoom meeting – 23rd June 2022

    First off can I thank Sianed for taking over the meeting for the “round the screen” session which enabled me to take notes and have the fun of “lifting my hand” to speak.

    There was not much to report back on from the previous meeting. I mentioned that I’d come to a determination that all media and messages in WhatsApp (and Signal) was held on the phone that was registered to WhatsApp (or Signal); the images on the desktop (and the iPad for Signal) were synced to the phone. This it was agreed could cause some phones to easily run out of memory.

    As far as News was concerned there were just a couple of items that I’d already added to the Flipboard magazine – one on moving chat histories from an Android phone to an iPhone, and another about new features that were to be added to Apple’s Homekit (for developers), which we might find some use of in our use of Smart devices in the future. [NB We need to give this area much more attention and look at the Smart home more.]

    I then thanked everyone who’d replied to the survey about a future venue for our face-to-face meetings. Not unexpectedly, nothing came out as a definite area of agreement for everyone, but some things did come through – no preference for room layout; a desire for a bit of social distancing (and good ventilation) from a couple of members; and no real need for catering. Taking these into consideration, it appeared to me that if we could return to URC that would be a good solution – probably using the Upper Room (rather than Meeting Room 1). I suggested that the meeting after next we should meet at URC and try the venue out – so that’s where we’ll meet on 21st July, our last meeting of the year. [Subsequently, I’ve re-visited URC, have been impressed that they have a new projector system for the Upper Room and I’m now working with them (Bob) to perhaps enhance the WiFi system which they badly want to improve themselves. Watch this space!

    We then had a very short break and Sianed took over!

    Paul returned to the issue he’d been having with Resources and Chrome; in discussion with Ted it became apparent that there was a need for a comprehensive article on where videos were stored in WhatsApp and I undertook to write such a post. [Following the meeting I did post a few links on Signal, which might be useful in the meantime.]

    David reported that his screen sharing from his iPad to the TV was now working well for his Bridge-playing Tutorials [a link to this is on Signal – thanks David].

    Ralph thanked Paul for the advice he’d given on driving licence renewal.

    Steve recommended investigating the use of iCloud – it’s not very expensive to get 50Gb of cloud storage – if you’re an Apple user.

    Christine reported that after a bit of a quiet period, the scams had started again and she’d had ones from Amazon and Paypal [I would recommend everyone consider subscribing to the Which Scam Alert Service] and perhaps one from Welsh Water, but there was some discussion over whether this was the Priority Registration Service – which is worth joining in case there’s a disruption in water supply, or indeed joining the similar registers for our utilities. [We’ve done this.]

    Fred had gone to the recent General meeting (Roald Dahl) and learnt a few things, and had also renewed his driving licence following Paul’s advice.

    Jim was still not sure about where WhatsApp/Signal stored images etc. and reserved the right to comment later, following my investigations.

    Renee reported that the online portal for registering a change in marital status was a nightmare. No further comment – we suspected that very few (if any) of us were likely to be needing to use that portal 🙂

    Ann had got into a pickle with downloading photos to her Google account that had then filled up her allotted storage and mail had stopped working. I sent a few links (on Signal) to help her work this one out but again promised to wrire n article on that as soon as possible.

    I had nothing to report – I’d been too busy in the garden!

    I then gave a brief review on the internet browser and search engine markets, the links I used are on Flipboard, but I will try and write an article about this too.

    Just like me, Sianed didn’t report on anything – something I too often forgot to do.

    That’s about it. A couple of articles for me to write which I’ll try and do as soon as I can.

    Our next meeting will be on July 7th which will be an outdoor social meeting at The Castle Coffee bar, where we met before. Pleas try and come along if you can.

    Finally, you’ll remember that I left the WhatsApp group and left Jim as the Admin. I asked him last week whether there had been any relevant activity on it. He reported that there had not. Therefore we agreed that he should close it, and that he’ll do shortly. Anyone not using Signal, I strongly encourage you to download the app and start using it. Let me know and I’ll add you to the Computer Group group on Signal.

  • Notes of Zoom meeting – 9th June 2022

    So I did return!! As did eleven of you. So many thanks to Owen and Ted for holding the fort and particularly to Ted for two sessions, on Paint and using Ancestry. There was once a time when I arranged for the group to go to the Barclay Innovation Centre and Paul and I weren’t able to go. I felt much the same about missing Ted’s Talks (not this TED of course – although its really worth a browse if there’s nothing on TV you fancy watching).

    Margaret, Ann, Christine and Owen weren’t able to join us and I had to interrupt Owen’s lunch to get a verification code for Zoom – apologies again, Owen.

    I started by just reviewing the notes from the previous meeting highlighting just a few of them. I supported Jim‘s assertion that Windows Defender was sufficient for us for anti-virus control, but could see (once I looked up the details) the logic of Don installing Norton as part of his contract with BT as it was not an add-on that would have to be paid for at the end of a year. I noted that I’d need to follow-up the item on Software Discounts through the Third Age Trust – I think Owen said he’d make some enquiries. I supported the answer that Jim had given to Stella on where messages (and images) are stored in Signal (and WhatsApp) – they are stored on your phone. That’s why Renee had been unable to rebuild her message store on her computer a few months back. [I’d also had to look into this as my sister was getting alarmed at the amount of space photos were taking-up on her phone. Unfortunately there’s no bulk download facility available. You have to select individual media items, save them to your device, then download them to your computer. That’s encrypted security for you!]

    I then referred members to my Reply to Ted’s notes of the meeting on 12th May and said I’d return to that matter at the end of the meeting.

    I then went through the significant items (imho) that had seemed to have happened since the last meeting I facilitated. These are posted to Flipboard so I won’t go through them in detail.I did in particular draw your attention to the announcement at Apple’s WWDC event, that the next version of their Operating Systems with biometric Passkeys, could be a real game-changer as FIDO was a standard that was being followed by Google and Microsoft as well. Finally I highlighted some of the changes we could expect to see in the next release of iOS (v16) – you would be able to see the WiFi password of your connected network (useful when a trusted visitor asks to connect to your network); there would be improved methods of deleting duplicate photos; dictation would be improved (ie speech-to-text); the Home app would get improvements (ie more Smart Controls), [and incidentally Hive would better integrate with the Apple Home Kit]; you would be able to track medication in the Health app; you would be able to edit/recall iMessages (but not SMS Texts) up to 15mins after they had been sent; and finally you would be able to use your iPhone as a webcam.

    Jenny advised us that her work on Digital Exclusion continues. She had a tight deadline to draw together threads and themes linked to Poverty and Digital Exclusion and asked for any help we could offer her on case studies or examples. [After the meeting I stumbled upon Jenny’s article in The Pensioner magazine – a rattling good read! Well done Jenny.]

    David mentioned that he’d had an invite to join/use “passwordless” LastPass. I seemed to remember something about this, but suggested that he didn’t volunteer to be in the first wave of adopters. I said that it quite possibly might be connected to FIDO developments … but it isn’t. It’s connected to using LastPass Authenticator. Authenticator software is useful – I’ve used both Google’s and LastPass apps. It replaces the code sent to your phone as a way of verifying your identity. He then described a sad story of failing to learn to play bridge, and then when he had found a suitable online course (from u3a) he’d been unable to use it as the text on his iPad was so small. Various solutions for using your TV to see an iPad or Android tablet were proffered, and it was generally believed that it should be possible. [After the meeting he reported success having “googled” the issue.] I (with Paul’s help) will try and post a short article on the site in due course.

    Sianed raised the issue of biometrics maybe not being the overall solution to replacing passwords as sweat on the finger has proven to be a barrier to correct identification, and anaesthetic (or a condition such as Bell’s Palsy) might make facial recognition challenging. I mentioned that Apple was now saying that its facial recognition could cope with masks – so there must be more attention being applied to eyes, perhaps. I also felt that, as with all new technologies, this would be an addition (at least initially) not a replacement. She also raised a problem she and her husband were having with network printer access from a shared computer. We suggested that she needed to look at the printer setup – to see if it was setup as a shared printer.

    Paul had to earlier drop out of the call because he was getting a message saying that he was running out of resources for audio. After closing Chrome, all was well. Chrome is a particularly “hungry” app, and members are advised to use Brave, or Bing – both based on the same code-base (Chromium) as alternatives. He advised us that you code use the textno. 7726 to report spam text, and telno. 159 to report bank scams.

    Mike had TV problems which had led eventually to getting a second new TV (one would be returned) whilst Budd Electrical and Beam Rite getting involved. They both seemed to suggest there was “no obvious problem”. However Paul gave some useful advice on certain channels appearing to pixelate more than others – my apologies, I didn’t jot down the reason/solution.

    Renee reported that her VirginMedia problem appeared to have been resolved and a refund given. She enquired as to whether anyone knew anyone who might repair the power socket on an Internet radio – we suggested Budds Electrical, or to go to where sh’e bough it (JLP) and see if they could repair. Alternatively, rechargeable batteries might be a workaround and acceptable solution.

    Stella enquired about how she could get the complete details of her computer (including serial number for instance) before she attempted an upgrade to Windows 11. Jim guided her to Windows 10 > Settings > System > About which hopefully would provide the information she needed. WE reminded her of the need to do a proper backup before attempting the upgrade.

    Finally Jenny advised us that she’d recently attended a meeting at Cardiff & Vale College where the facilities were very good. I said I’d follow that up, but indicated that cost was going to very likely drive our choice of venue for September when we restarted face-to-face meetings.

    The Future of the Group.

    I restated what I’d written in my reply to Ted’s notes of the meeting of 12th May. I corrected the impression I’d obviously left with Ted that I wanted to step down. If I’d said that, even inadvertently, I hadn’t meant to.

    I felt that taking Notes and maintaining the website was “a good thing” and I wanted to continue doing that, but also to be able to do more presentation-like stuff, like we used to do, whilst still retaining the intimate “round-the-screen” sharing stuff we’d developed during the pandemic.

    I felt that with Owen doing the calling notice, if members could take it in turn to “chair” the “round-the-screen” material, that would relieve me from doing that at the same time as taking notes. Similarly, if members would step forward and do short presentations, for instance on software they use – they don’t need to have slideshows, or Powerpoint; that would also help to refresh the group a little.

    I think it was generally felt that the taking of Notes did help, it provided a useful resource to go back to when issues re-occurred. I am pleased that Sianed “volunteered” to facilitate the “round-the-screen” part of the next meeting and am hopeful that others would follow subsequently.

  • What a surprise!

    Great article Jenny! I missed this when the mag. came out a couple of weeks back. Our Jenny has an article in “The Pensioner” – the magazine of the Civil Pensioners’ Alliance (which I joined because of the good deals on Insurance products).

  • Notes of Zoom Meeting – 26th May 2022

    Ted Richards facilitated this meeting in the continuing absence of “yours truly” from that role. A screenshot of the attendees (minus Sianed’s picture as her camera wasn’t working), is below and a copy of Ted’s presentation on his use of Paint is included as an embedded file below that. Just click on the arrows to move backwards and forwards through the presentation.

    Many thanks Ted, I’m sorry to have missed the meeting, but I’ll be with you all again on the 9th June, and then hopefully no more absences until the end of July when we’ll take a break.

  • Notes of Zoom Meeting – 12th May 2022

    Mario but no Fred
    Fred but no Mario!

    12 of us met although there were the odd appearance, re-appearance and disappearance of some members! Thanks to Jim for the screenshots.

    Owen took the lead in David’s absence, mentioned the news that Apple was no longer the world’s biggest company, led a remarkably short moment of silence for that fact and also mentioned the demise of the iPod Touch.

    David has a friend who had been locked out of Gmail. He was unsure whether this was a Google account problem or just spite. Renee mentioned that she had received prompts from Google to take extra security options.  David further lamented that his iPad was now too old to receive iOS updates (he’s locked on 12 when the current release is at 15) and that this was now beginning to case him issues with favourite apps that would no longer work.  Beyond commiserations, we were unable to offer much help.

    Jenny then kicked off a discussion about discounts available through u3a or the Third Age Trust. Owen indicated that there were some software discounts available but needed to look into the scheme again. Fred added his weight to the call for national-level negotiations. Jenny is also speaking at the Age Cymru conference, her topic is digital inclusion.

    Paul informed us that he had learned that the short phone number 159 can be used to report a banking scam (or attempt) [Thanks Rip Off Britain on the BBC]. He was unsure whether this was just a report or whether one then got through to one’s own bank to freeze cards etc.

    Stella had received a scam message on Signal which she had not opened but wanted to delete. We demonstrated how to do this and also slim down the number of messages. We were unsure as to whether the messages were stored on a local device or just on a remote server. Jim interpolated later that with WhatsApp, images and videos are held on the local device when delivered and the storage this takes needs to be managed to avoid filling up the phone’s capacity. We presume the same is true with Signal.

    Ralph needs to renew his driving licence having reached a certain age and enquired whether it was feasible to do this using a smart phone or would a PC/laptop be better. A PC/laptop was recommended as being more amenable to typing but we did think it could be done on a phone.  In response to Ted’s enquiry on this, it was indicated that no actual medical checks were involved but that there was some self-reporting required.

    Ted started off a discussion on the future of the group in view of David H’s decision to step down as facilitator in a couple of months. We kicked around a few ideas, thinking that as no member had thrown their hat in the ring yet, it might be necessary to reformulate how the group operates to attract candidates. No decisions were made but the following ideas were raised:

    • Frequency of meetings: monthly or fortnightly or a fixed pattern (e.g. 1st and 3rd Thursdays of a month)
    • Content of meetings: round table with occasional longer talks (as now) or just main talks
    • Mix and match options: face-to-face or zoom or do each type alternately [hybrid was discussed]
    • More than one convenor, possibly one running Zoom meetings and another running F2F.
    • No notes to be produced – this was raised to indicate that note taking and loading onto the website clearly involves some effort and may be putting off candidates – members to take their own notes as they think fit.

    Some members expressed preferences but there was little consensus at present.

    Jim added to his points on WhatsApp that there has been a message re a upgrade within the next few days that will be advisable to take.

    Steve had had some issues with new equipment. He also raised the recent reports on FIDO, the sharing of account details including passwords between Apple, Google and Microsoft, ostensibly to save money and hassles. It should be reported that there was a tinge of cynicism about comments on this.

    Mario reported that he had borrowed the URC’s new laptop and obtained much better speeds on his home wifi than he did with his own equipment. He also indicated that URC systems were improving and still hoped for better soon.

    In closing the meeting, Owen reminded members that he was not available on 26th May for the next meeting and Ted has agreed to start the Zoom session instead.

  • Notes of a Zoom meeting – 28th April 2022

    Thirteen of us met this week with Owen facilitating again in David’s absence in the Antipodes.


    Ted provided an extremely interesting talk on the use of the various software he uses in ancestry research. He demonstrated the use of paid-for and free software, including Ancestry.com and Find My Past in the former category and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Free BMD, the General Register Office and the Welsh newspaper archives available from the National Library of Wales in the latter category.

    Using a grandfather of David Hughes who was known to have died in the First World War as an example, he took us through the search process, moving from one application to another to add in material until we had a clear picture of William Hughes, his parents, wife and children. Ted was also able to add in the cause of death and location of his burial as well as background as to his work before the war and possible service in a territorial unit, perhaps in the Boer War or other imperial conflict.

    It was a trouble-free demonstration and Ted has provided a slideshow to accompany his talk for Thoughtgrazing members …

    There were some contributions from members: Jim mentioned WikiTree to which you can add your own family tree to help others find connections – their ultimate aim is to connect all living people on a single tree – and Jonathan mentioned Family Echo which enables one to draw up a tree – but not to do the searching.


    We moved on to our usual round-table discussions. Several members had nil returns but here are the others:


    David H has battery-life problems with his mobile phone and Ann and Jim were able to offer him advice on both identifying and ameliorating the problem.

    Christine had been selling things on Gumtree and eBay and was surprised by the level of scam offers she received. We discussed the difficulty in establishing the bona fides of purchasers. Christine has firmly decided on local and cash-only arrangements. Renee recommended the use of NextDoor for this.

    Don had received a letter from a charity he supports informing him of a data breach and is monitoring his accounts. He had also received a few scam phone calls using what appears to be a Cardiff number 029 2240 4135 and felt the ‘22’ was unusual. Some Penarth numbers use this, apparently.

    Renee has finally had a problem fixed by Virgin Media. She has lost incoming calls due to a problem which appeared when Virgin Media switched her phone to a hub. Of course, she didn’t know she had a problem until her callers informed her of failed attempts and she thinks three months have passed until the problem has been resolved.

    Ann has found a workaround of her printer problems using a smart phone app but still has signal problems.

    Owen closed the meeting reminding members that in David’s absence, substitute facilitators were required. He was able to do the next meeting on 12th May but not on 26th so asked for volunteers to contact him. He also reminded the group that David had indicated that he wished to step down from the role entirely after the Summer break and that someone was needed to take over if the group is to continue. Owen indicated that he was not in a position to offer to do this.

  • Android 12 Issues

    I recently had this message from the Royal Television Society, which David thought was worth passing on:-

    We have become aware that there are issues with the latest Android 12 version that is affecting the RTS app along with many others.
    The most common issues are that the App will not transfer to a new phone or will not download from the PlayStore.
    It appears that Android 12 has elements of incompatibility with a number of app development platforms including the one RTS uses.
    We are very sorry about the inconvenience and frustration this is causing.
    We have been informed it is not possible to de-bug the App in the platform to avoid the incompatibilities, the solution being for Google to patch Android 12 to negate the issues.

    A search has shown the range of issues arising.

    With possible fixes suggested but not with 100% success.

    Step 1: Clear the cache & data of the Play Store

    This gives the app a fresh start and can help fix issues.

    1. Open your device’s Settings app Settings.
    2. Tap Apps & notifications and then See all apps.
    3. Scroll down and tap Google Play Store Google Play.
    4. Tap Storage and then Clear Cache.
    5. Next, tap Clear data.
    6. Re-open the Play Store & try your download again.

    Step 2: Restart your device

    If you still can’t download after you clear the cache & data of the Play Store, restart your device.

    1. Press and hold the Power button until the menu pops up.
    2. Tap Power off or Restart if that is an option.
    3. If needed, press and hold the Power button until your device turns on again.

    Regrettably we will need to wait for an update to Android 12 but we will contact you again as soon as we have news of a patch to Android 12 and that the RTS App is working on that operating system.

    

  • Notes from Zoom meeting – 14th April 2022

    Members attending 14/4/2022

    We were much depleted this week with only nine members attending. Owen was facilitating as David was away on a break.

    In lieu of meeting notes from last time, we moved swiftly on to a round-screen chat.

    Sianed reported that she now had a new iPad (9th generation) to replace her old one which was now no longer receiving updates and therefore not of much use for her online activities.

    She had also updated per PC to Windows 11 but found it to be running more slowly, with a noticeably longer boot-time. Jim chipped in to say that his upgraded PC was actually running better under Windows 11 and recommended that Sianed implement any updates and see if that helped.

    Paul related a prospective battle with TalkTalk over increased charges an we had a discussion of just how they arrived at both increases and the figures upon which they were actually based. A new branch of mathematics perhaps…

    Jim is still pursuing the perfect image catalogue without any duplicates…

    Ralph was interested in our discussion but felt unable to contribute at this time.

    Don had downloaded Norton Anti Virus as it came packaged with his BT broadband offering. He had had some issues with browser extensions but felt he was now OK. He had also implemented a password manager.

    Jim referred us to an article which said basically what has been raised before, that Windows Defender was adequate and that paid-for anti-virus should not be necessary on top of it… but as Don said, it was free to him at present.

    We also discussed the efforts Don was undertaking in making grant applications for his church, which involved considerable downloading, loading into Word, editing and re-uploading.   He was also waiting for a new iPhone and planned to use it for the Signal group.

    Mario found his latest monthly meeting Zooming plagued by screen freeze and on investigation had discovered very poor connection speeds for downloads. We queried the age of his router and Paul suggested a battle with TalkTalk to see if upgrading was feasible for him.

    John talked about his iPhone photography and also that he was experiencing startup issues with his Dell PC. He is considering Windows 11 as well and was referred to the Microsoft site for the PC Health Check software.

    Fred has speed issues too and was interested in the discussions that had preceded him.

    Owen demonstrated the current state of the web redevelopment project using WordPress.

    We closed at around 3pm with Owen indicating that next time (28th April) Ted Richards would be leading on the use of ancestry software.

  • Immobilise App

    Immobilise is a free register of home items. It is available to the police if you are burgled.

    Immobilise System set up 2003

    1. Largest free system to register household property.
    2. Used for public and businesses.
    3. Police online checking service used 1000 s of times a day.
    4. Returns property to owners.
    5. Recommended by E-Bay to reduce fraud.
    6. Funded by the sale of marker pens and stickers.
    7. Displayed stickers mean you are less likely to be burgled.

    Benefits of Registration.

    1. Immobilise helps police identify the owners of recovered property.
    2. Property updates immediately available to the Police nationally.
    3. Combats the sale of stolen items in the second hand trade.
    4. Simplifies insurance claims and police reports.

  • Notes from Zoom meeting – 3rd March 2022

    Not one, but two images from our last Zoom meeting which took place 4 weeks ago – can you believe it. This must be a record for the delay in preparing notes, but we have had a social meeting at the Castle in between, and I have had a few other things on which I know you’d excuse me for – if I was to list them!!!

    So let’s go backwards, first, so-to-speak. It was great to see a few of you in the cafe at The Castle, and especially good to see Ralph, who I do hope manages to join us on Zoom from now on. The staff in the cafe were very obliging allowing us to move inside when rain threatened, and even helped us move a couple of tables so that we were all in the same place. So, a successful meeting, and one we’ll repeat … promise!

    Now we’ll go forwards, next, so-to-speak. I won’t be around to facilitate the next meeting due on April 14th as we’re having a family holiday in the Forest of Dean that week, but I think that Owen has agreed to cover that one. However, looking further ahead it’s looking increasingly likely that we’re going to jet off to Australia in late April – just because we can (now Covid rules have been relaxed) and because our son over there has said come now because who knows what will happen later in the year. So although we were (and still are) planning to go in November for Christmas, we’re going to do a quick dash for a couple of weeks to see our family over there who we haven’t seen since May 2018 – that’s a long time. So although we haven’t booked our flights yet it looks increasingly likely that I won’t be able to facilitate a meeting possibly on April 28th, definitely May 12th and then May 26th (when we will have returned, but are committed to a trip to the North East for a family homecoming). So we/you need to discuss what we should do about meetings. After that, no plans that clash with Group dates until the end of July – and I hope to keep it that way.

    Finally let’s go back, properly to March 3rd and our Zoom meeting on that date.

    Owen reported that the work on the new WordPress site for Cardiff u3a was progressing, and I offered advice, or assistance, if required.

    Don had bought a dual USB-A wall-charger for £20 (you can never have enough of them, but it’s the missing pesky cables that get me). He had found a solution to a problem he had with sharing with his iPad on YouTube – always the first port of call I find.

    Margaret told us about the latest NHS scam; advised us that she’d come across some free WordPress webinars and tips; had discovered a voice-to-text facility/app called “otter”. She also told us that she found that you could turn on live captions in many applications from the device settings. Ted asked whether you could capture text from live-capture; he advised us that he’d found that when the volume was switched on the only capture recorded was from the device, not the stream.

    Ted had now got fibre broadband from BT – initial results were looking favourable.

    Steve was still evaluating password managers, but thought that he might plump for an open source offering – Bitwarden. It will be interesting to see his decision – as he has done quite a lot of investigation. He also told us that Immobilise (a database linked to an app to record household possessions, etc) was also used by Neighbourhood Watch and the Police.

    Renee commented on WiFi extenders. She’d had good experience of using them. We then had a discussion of the merits of Proprietary WiFi Booster systems vs. Extenders vs Mesh vs Powerline. All have their place and merits.

    John had been having iPhone problems. Hopefully he’d got some way to resolving some of the problems, especially with email, and receiving it on his new phone. We did advise he to go back to JLP for assistance in getting things set up the way he wanted them.

    Christine told us about a Facebook scam that had nearly trapped her, but she’d exited quickly without any apparent harm.

    Ann had been having problems with opening Gmail accounts. She’d also cause to speak to Sky customer service, they were unable to help as she was out of contract. She’d been suffering a poor signal on WiFi, had deployed a WiFi analyser and had then found she needed to configure the Router as she had found that using the 2.4Ghz bandwidth was better for greater distances, and the 5Ghz was better for shorter distance and gave greater throughput. [We probably could do a revision session on Routers; always a good topic and sensible to re-visit.]

    Fred commented upon a NHS notification – that’s all my notes tell me, so apologies for lack of detail!

    Paul told us about a saga he’d had recently with Virgin Money and an ISA account that they’d moved to another provider that he then couldn’t access. The problem seems to have something to do with Vodafone(???) [Renee had experienced the same] – the Ombudsman had taken a year to reply. [Don had also had a problem but had managed to get £50 compensation as a complainant.] The problem seems to be connected to some building societies not being in the “transfer scheme”.

    David told us about his new internet bandwidth speeds obtained from Sky Superfast 35 – I smiled at the download/upload speeds of 23Mbps / 9Mbps and 30Mbps / 9Mbps but they are certainly better that the 11Mbps / 1Mbps he’d been experiencing before. He is now going to check the cost matches up to performance. He updated us on the question of EV charging points – a survey is going to be done 4th April. Christine suggested that he should make sure that FastCharge was being provided.

    Did I say anything? No idea – it was probably not worth recording anyway. However Jim has posted an article on his EXIF data project which I encourage you to go and read.