Category: Technology

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Free stuff

An acquaintance recently needed a new computer and asked for advice. He had very specific needs, and we found him one, but he was surprised at the price. There were cheaper machines around, but the new one he has will do everything he wanted and for a good time. And he is very happy.

But budget being tight, we looked for cheaper software.

I used to create websites for people. I bought a product more than 15 years ago for maybe £75 and it did what I wanted. But recently they have changed to a subscription model, £10 per month, plus VAT, every month, and while I’m sure some people will find that good value, for me, it’s too much, especially for the little sites I do.

So many companies are changing to monthly billing. You don’t realise how much it adds up.

So, for my person, we looked for cheaper/free solutions that would do what he wanted.

Since he did lots of typing and spreadsheets, we installed LibreOffice. It does pretty much everything Word and Excel can do, at least, what he wanted. His very special need was not obvious but someone in a forum had done it before and gave him support.

There are plenty of packages out there that have most or all of the features of more expensive stuff.

We do occasional video editing, very simple stuff. Kdenlive works well for that.

There are many programs that help you manipulate graphics. We use GIMP and it does what we want.

With all of these, we have never got into all the advanced features. We know they all, and others, can be very powerful. My colleague runs his business using Libreoffice and he is very happy. Just because it’s free, does not mean you skimp on features.

This is not an advert for any product, just an account of what we did and a reminder to at least consider the free stuff. There are websites and YouTube videos that will talk about all these alternatives. And if you like them, consider a contribution.

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Police scam

I was talking to a friend the other day and he revealed that his elderly parents had been targetted in the so-called police scam.

We’ve had this. If you don’t know, someone rings at random, identifies himself as officer (eg) Jonathan Brown at (eg) Highgate Police Station, and there was some problem with your cards/bank accounts/finances, something, and they need more details and so on.

Of course, your initial reaction is to panic. Don’t.

As we have said before, assume anyone ringing is a scammer until they prove otherwise. A voice on a phone saying they are police is not proof.

Don’t give out any information. A good tactic is to say you need to check something (eg your bank account) and you will ring back and what’s the number. They won’t give you a number, and the police station does not exist.

Ring off. Do check your accounts. Then ring 101 and report it.

Then, have a nice day.

We’ve had several of another call recently. In a thick Indian accent: “Hello, this is Jonathan Brown from The Microsoft, how are you today? I am calling about your compuder”

There are so many things wrong, from the number they are calling from, what they say, how they say it, even the fact that Microsoft would never call you. They don’t even know your name. Just hang up.

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Not so social

I don’t use any social networking and haven’t for years, maybe a decade.

I did have a Myspace account once. I see that is still going, sort of, but my account is long dead.

I was on FaceBook for a time and had many real friends. I posted pictures and news, but eventually left. The advertising got intrusive, the scammers were a daily occurrence and, while I posted stuff, many of my friends did not, making it unfair and a bit one way. And my best friend on FB died, and that was a blow.

After I left, a couple of people, folk I had known for decades, got very nasty. Why had I unfriended them? I hadn’t, I just quit. They have refused to speak to me since.

Twitter was just the same with more hate and fake facts. I lasted a week.

I also looked at Bluesky, but really wasn’t interested. Can’t tell you anything about any of the others.

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