Apple, Audio, BBC Radio Suffolk, Bluetooth, Cooking Gadgets, Gadget Man, Internet Radio, James Hazell, Music, Radio, Radio Interview, retro, Speakers, Technology, The Gadget Man

Gadget Man – Episode 129 – Gadgets in the Home

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It was great to be on BBC Radio Suffolk this morning, talking with Wayne Bavin about Gadgets used in the home.

Following the first episode of Hard to Please OAP’s on ITV1, I spoke to Wayne about Gadgets which are used regularly and less regularly in our homes.

It was fun to chat about Soda-Stream, Amazon Alexa, Sandwich Toasters, Waffle Irons and all the good and bad tech now found in our homes.

You can listen in to the latest podcast to hear what I had to say and also how I managed to link this to watching an old episode of Terry and June.

Enjoy listening and don’t forget to Like, Share, Subscribe and I will see you next time!

Matt

Gadgets Featured in this Podcast on Amazon
Gadgets Featured in this Podcast on Amazon

 

Technology, The Gadget Man, Wireless broadband

It’s Time We Had A Chat About Router Channels

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Granted, router settings aren’t the sexiest of topics. But when you consider the merriment that a router in good working order can bring to your life, you soon discover that spending a few minutes reading something turgid on the subject is probably worthwhile.

Channels are signal bands that different devices use to connect to your router to tell it that they are there. Your laptop might link to your router on one channel, while dear old Amazon Alexa might on another.

Most routers have three independent, non-overlapping channels that don’t interfere with each other, 1, 6, and 11. Devices transmitting on these channels will, therefore, carry on communicating to your router, oblivious to the fact that other devices are also sending information too. That’s what you want.

Channel Setting Problems

The problem comes when the automatic settings on your router lead several devices to connect to it using the same bandwidth. Two or three is usually okay, but the more devices you add to a particular channel, the less stable your connection. In the worst case scenario, some devices won’t connect at all while others are in use on the same channel.

Rather than spending hours fiddling around with internet settings and getting nowhere, it usually pays to go into your router settings and look at which devices are connecting on which channels. If you find that you have a bunch of devices all running through channel 6, then consider moving some of them to 1 and some to 11. Doing that will help to spread the load, reduce interference and, hopefully, restore reliable internet connectivity.

Neighbouring Networks

Okay, here’s where things get a little trickier. Even though the data being sent by neighbouring networks is encrypted, and even though you can’t use their router to send and receive data to the internet without a key, their signals can still interfere with yours.

People who live in flats, for instance, often find that their internet connections are unstable. Blaming the overall internet speed probably isn’t correct, but blaming your neighbours might be. Signals from your neighbour’s devices interfere with your own, causing your channels to become thick with interference, leading to dropped internet connections.

So what can you do about it?

You’ve generally got two options: you can either spend hours manually conducting experiments to see which channels work and which don’t, or you can use special programmes that automatically scan current channel usage in your vicinity and then tell you the optimal one to pick.

When boffins came up with the modern router, they didn’t envision just how many different signals would have to cram into such as small space on the electromagnetic spectrum (used for WiFi). But as the proliferation of devices continued, and more people used high-bandwidth broadband, people are going to have to learn much more about channels, including how to troubleshoot problems.

Knowing about channels can save you potentially hours wasted looking for a solution in the bowels of Windows 10 network settings and simple deal with the problem on the router itself.

Audio, BBC Radio Suffolk, Bluetooth, Gadget Man, Internet Radio, Mark Murphy, Matt Porter, Podcast, Radio Interview, Speakers, Streaming, Technology, The Gadget Man

Gadget Man Episode 128 – The World Wide Web turns 30!!

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It only seems like yesterday when I was talking about the World Wide Web turning 25 years old and now before we know it, it’s now 30 years since the first HTML web page was authored and published by Sir Tim Berners-Lee.

The Web is, without doubt, the greatest invention of all time. It has made our planet smaller, brought together people from all walks of life and from every corner of the globe. It has made the world a much more accessible place, we can reach out to our idols and they can communicate back to us. We can transverse the globe and watch sunrises on opposite sides of the planet as they happen.

It truly is a modern wonder of the world. Cheers, Sir Tim!!

Sir Tim arriving at the Guildhall to receive the Honorary Freedom of the City of London - Image Credit - Paul Clarke
Sir Tim arriving at the Guildhall to receive the Honorary Freedom of the City of London – Image Credit – Paul Clarke

To find out how Sir Tim Berners-Lee is working towards a better Internet, visit his website.

To find out how CERN is celebrating, visit the World Wide Web at 30.

With the wonders of the web brings ‘Smart Assistants’, they are on our phones, computers and now independently as ‘Smart Speakers’, another true wonder borne from the internet, serving our every need and answering the answerable. These ubiquitous electronic pucks offer a gateway to enormous artificial intelligence-driven knowledgebases that are themselves learning as well learn from us, Machine Learning is driven by millions of users.

Of course, every now and then our assistants flicker or make strange noises, we might wonder if these are simply glitches or the first sparks of self-awareness?

I spoke to Mark Murphy at BBC Radio Suffolk about both Smart Speakers and the 30th Anniversary of the Web. Listen in above and don’t forget to LIKE, SHARE and SUBSCRIBE. See you next time!!

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Gadget Man, James Hazell, Matt Porter, Podcast

Gadget Man Episode 127 – What happens to my passwords after I’ve gone?

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Who would have believed that at the dawn of the World Wide Web 30 years ago that almost all of our lives would be controlled via logins and passwords exchanged over the internet?

Whilst it is incredibly convenient to be able to access our bank accounts, insurance policies, email, social networks, discussion forums and many many other services. It is also very important to remember that ALL of the services require user names and passwords.

So, what happens when suddenly the owner of all these credentials passes away or becomes unable to continue to access the services independently?

On this episode, James Hazell discusses just that with both myself and a solicitor to explain what can be done to avoid all of our lives being locked away indefinitely.

You can tune in to the podcast above or subscribe via your favourite Podcast app. If you enjoy what you hear, don’t forget to Like, Share and Subscribe and I will see you next time!

BBC Radio Suffolk, Gadget Man, Gadget Road Trip, Instagram, Internet Security, Matt Porter, Radio, Radio Interview, WhatsApp

Gadget Man – Episode 126 – Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were DOWN!!!

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For the last 24 hours, there has been collective panic across the digital world! Was this panic caused by the continued disaster that is the Brexit negotiations and repeated House of Commons votes?

No, it was because the worlds largest Social Networks were failing all around us. Literally MILLIONS of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users were panicking at the loss or at least interruption of their services.

There are many reasons for these failures, Facebook has denied DDoS attacks, but there is a myriad of other reasons, software corruption, network failure or hardware issues. There has even been the discussion of AI being involved in the problems!

** UPDATE – 14/03/19 21:59 ***

Facebook has now officially explained the reasons for the issues suffered over the past 24 hours as follows:-

Facebook Datacenter - Image Credit: Facebook Inc.
Facebook Datacenter – Image Credit: Facebook Inc.

Currently, we haven’t had an explanation and as soon as we do (see above), I will post it on this blog, until then, you can listen in to me talking to James Hazell at BBC Radio Suffolk about the problem.

Before I go, make sure you watch The Truman Show, in particular watch the very end, as the show draws to an end, everyone goes back to their normal lives. Maybe, we should too.

Don’t forget to Like, Subscribe and Share using the appropriate buttons.

Cyber Security, Security, wifi, Wireless broadband

Keeping Customer Data Safe In Your Business

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You’ve got a business, and you’ve got plenty of customers milling in and out of it every day you’re open and operating. Even when you’re closed, you’ve got an ecommerce website that allows people to order what they want from you whenever they want, allowing you to ship out products or services as soon as you’re next able to. It’s a great element to have to your business, and increases your exposure, outreach, and potential sales from these by tenfold.

But that means you’ve got a lot of data to keep track of at the same time. And this data is very important, so you need to keep it safe. So here’s just a couple of details to remember about storing customer data, in the safe and right ways.

 

Always Give Customers an Option

Whenever a customer comes through your ecommerce site, give them plenty of choice over how their details are used. Let them know how their information will be used whilst they’re on the site. Let your customers know they have the option to store their credit or debit details when they use your site, and that they also have the option for the system to forget all about their card. After all, it’s completely up to the person shopping with you whether or not you have their details on file, and you shouldn’t want it any other way.

Move On From Physical Storage

If you’re using physical storage to keep a track of your customer details, you might be missing a trick here. Not only do things like hard drives, USB sticks, and filing cabinets all have a maximum capacity to them, but they’re also quite hard to sort through. Flash drives alone have a huge risk to them, in that the data stored on them can be lost at any moment, and pieces are chipped away every time you log one in and out of your computer. And then you’ll have to look up a guide like https://setapp.com/how-to/usb-data-recovery.

So use cloud storage, or server based storage, instead. There’s a lot more room for expansion, and you can invest in private storage that only you have access to. End to end encryption, as well as the ability to search for the right files in seconds – it’s a real upgrade to have a look into at least.

Keep Outside Connections to a Minimum

If you’re looking to stay safe and secure in the modern day and age, you need to be sure as few people as possible have access to your company files. Especially the customer details you have stored for ease of access on both sides of the screen. So make sure only a select few people have the passwords or keys to the storage, and make sure only secured WIFIs have access.

Customer data is a priority. Security is a big part of maintaining business longevity, so it needs to be something you prioritise in your quest to take your company higher.

CCTV, Voice Recorders

Top Surveillance Gadgets for Small Businesses

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We are living in an increasingly technological age and there are all sorts of different gadgets that you have probably already considered incorporating into your business. But for now, let’s focus on surveillance gadgets! Sure, Orwell might have foretold that we’d end up living in an age where “Big Brother” is always watching – but surveillance gadgets have proven indispensable for small business owners time and time again. Here are a couple you might like to consider investing in.

CCTV

Top of the list when it comes to surveillance gadgets, of course, is CCTV. CCTV stands for “closed circuit television” and is a form of surveillance camera system that has become commonly used by small business owners, large business owners, and even domestic households alike. Now, CCTV can be used in a very obvious way. It can be placed outside of your commercial property to prevent would-be vandals from defacing your store front, smashing glass, or causing other damage to your commercial property’s exteriors. It can also be placed inside your commercial property, reducing theft (people have been found much less likely to steal when they feel they are being recorded) and general shoplifting. But CCTV can have other benefits too! Studies have determined that many business owners, unfortunately, lose profit from staff theft. So, you could place CCTV in important areas such as stock rooms or overlooking cash registers too. This, again, deters crime, but can also be used as evidence if you find yourself in the sad situation of having to prove a staff member’s guilt. Finally, CCTV can be used to draw up footage if there is ever any incident in your commercial premises. If someone is hurt, the footage can determine whether it was an accident or whether someone was at fault. This could come in extremely useful during court cases. If this interests you, you can find facts about security cameras here.

Voice Recorders

Of course, you can’t just record people without their permission. You really will have to have consent to record conversations that you hold with anyone. But voice recorders can come in extremely useful when you are conducting important meetings with members of staff. Employees, of course, have rights, and it’s extremely important that you meet requirements when dealing with them. But it also serves well to have a recorded copy of important issues that have been discussed in meetings with HR. These can include one to one meetings where progression is noted and targets are set out, meetings where concerning behaviour is brought up, or any other formal discussion that you might need to refer back to at a later date. Just make sure any recordings are stored confidentially.

These are just two different surveillance gadgets that you might want to consider when it comes to running a small business successfully. Having footage of particular scenarios can serve you well in the long run! So, don’t hesitate to look further into these options that you have and invest where you need to!

Cyber Security, Technology

Technology And Cyber Security

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Crimes that are associated with cybersecurity are from being problems created by the digital age as some would have you believe. Things like fraud and identity theft both existed long before the first computer was invented and criminals were finding ways of evolving their plans without the use of the internet. However, it is fair to say that now they have moved their operations on to the digital landscape it is time we are all prepared.

With that in mind, we are going to take a look at some of the tech options available to you so that you can stay safe and secure.

Understanding The Threat

The first thing you should do when it comes to cybersecurity is to build up your knowledge of what the threat actually is. That means learning what the different types of attacks are that might come your way and what form they are going to take. Before we look into these areas it is important to note that while the threat might seem extreme, there will always be people creating tools to help you combat these problems and sometimes common sense is your best line of defense.

Two of the common types of cyber attacks are listed below and the way they are used is also given as a brief description, this information will be critical to your success in staying safe online and in the digital world:

  • Malware

This term refers to malicious software such as:

  • Spyware
  • Ransomware
  • Viruses
  • Worms

Usually these types of software breach a computer’s security due to the user clicking on a link or downloading them without knowledge. This is where common sense will be a big factor in your security. To avoid having your information stolen through your PC or having malicious software break your home network, don’t click on links from unknown sources.

  • Phishing

This might be one of the terms you are most familiar with. Phishing refers to the practice of sending out communications that are fraudulent such as from a bank or government official that asks for private information. The aim is to steal sensitive data or payment details by posing as a trustworthy source. Once again you should use your own initiative to avoid these attacks where possible.

Software To Help

So, now you know some of the threats you are facing, what can you do? Well, there are some great basic tools that you can use to prevent falling victim to these attacks. The first is to ensure that you have a secure antivirus installed on your device. Companies like McAfee and Norton have been working tirelessly for years to provide you with software that will fight off malware that finds its way onto your computer.

However, sometimes you can get a data breach through alternative methods due to the fact that phishing scams can be highly evolved. Something you can do is sign up to protection services such as https://budgetboost.co/lifelock-cost-review/ that will look for breaches of your private information and secure it up.

BBC Radio Suffolk, Gadget Man, James Hazell, Matt Porter, The Gadget Man

Gadget Man – Episode 125 – What to do if you are involved in a car chase

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Some 30 years ago, I was inexplicably drawn into a high-speed car chase across my home town of Hitchin.

When I left The Bird in Hand in Gosmore on that rainy night in 1987, I had no idea that the following 10 or so minutes would stay with me until now.

In my case, I managed to ‘lose my tail’, but it has always troubled me how the Police would have viewed my plight at the time. Back then, we didn’t have mobile phones in order to call the authorities, so I took it upon myself to try and outrun my potential assailant. If the same had happened now, I would have driven to the nearest Police Station whilst calling them on the way.

Suffolk Police Officer
Suffolk Police Officer

Now, thirty-two years later, I have my answer (sort of), in the form of a Police Inspector from Suffolk.

In the above audio, you can find out what happened to cause the chase, how I evaded them and what the Police’s view is three decades later.

Don’t forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, SHARE and COMMENT, see you next time!!

Thanks to James Hazell for chatting to me about the chase and for contacting the police about it!!

Matt
The Gadget Man

Gadget Man

How The Television Has Changed

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Are you someone who loves to sit down in front of the telly on a Saturday night and binge watch all the programming saved specially for the weekend? Maybe you like to watch midweek daytime TV, and you’ve always got the channel tuned into the regular opinion programs that play at this time? Maybe you only tune in to access services like BBC iPlayer, or Netflix, which you’ve had enabled for the past couple of years now? And because of this, you realise you’ve stopped watching normal TV, and you don’t quite know when you did.

The TV has always been a centre point of the household, for as long as it’s been around. But in recent years, say the last twenty years or so, our television sets have changed, and so have the way we use them. A lot of us like to use them to just load up a DVD we know and love, some of us have a Smart TV that allows us to connect to the internet, and then some of us don’t even turn the screen on anymore. But it’s still there in the middle of the room, just in case we need it.

So to try and explore this change, whether you think it’s been a gradual or fast paced rise into the modern day, here’s some of the main ways our new technology has revolutionised the TV set and all its uses. And why some of us may have no use for a TV anymore.

It Started with the Radio

The radio has been around since the late 1800s, with the first radio waves sent and received in about 1895 in Italy. And radio is still around today, with an established presence across the world – we listen to it in our cars, we have it on the background when we clean the house, it’s playing in most of the stores we walk into when we’re out shopping. But if you asked someone what kind of entertainment mediums they turn to, radio would probably be the last of the list.

But that’s not to say it isn’t a popular option anymore. Simply, it has different forms and different names in the modern day and age. And a lot of the time, people no longer tend to look to radio personalities for funny quips and stories of the day. Maybe you like to listen to the breakfast show whilst you’re on your way to work, joining in with the back and forth the presenters have between them, but at least two or three people around you are just waiting for the next song to come on.

The shift from radio to TV happened quite a few years ago, with the TV growing fast in popularity because of its visual medium – humans like to have something to watch, and it’s a great way to keep your brain occupied. And the fact that you can access radio channels via the TV as well means the two mediums often go hand in hand, and rely on each for exposure.

From Analogue to Digital

Analogue TV is something we don’t hear too much about anymore. It used to be that you could access analogue channels, such as the BBC and Channel 4, without an aerial. And if you didn’t have much use for a TV, or you couldn’t afford to upgrade, it was a fine yet limited selection to have at hand. But since 2013, that’s not been the case – no longer do we see analogue television sets, nor the ability to access analogue channels – as everything is now broadcast in digital.

And whilst on the one hand that increases the want and need for digital aerials, in order to receive the freeview channels at the very least, it also represents a shift in access to the TV and how it can become more and more limited down the line. Back in the early and mid 2000s, only those with the budget had the option of taking out a digital line, but now it’s a necessity. And seeing as your wifi, phone line, and TV channels are often bought out as packages or bundles, a lot of people like to cut the expense of the premise by leaving out the latter.

Television is a Little Too Expensive for Some

As we began to talk about above, television can get a little too expensive for some people. Hundreds of channels at your disposal, yes, but little want or need to watch more than ten to fifteen of them. And then, with many providers requiring you to pay more each month if you want music or movie channels as well, the whole premise of needing to pay for satellite service becomes too much.

The television service in the UK is often described as being one of the most expensive in the world, as you need to pay for a licence to even switch on the TV. The cost of a TV licence has gone up in the last year, and now you are required to pay £3.50 more per year for use of your television. And when most channels are sponsored in the own right, such as every channel outside of the BBC, there’s been quite a lot of debate around this matter.

Mostly, whether the cost is worth it, considering all the alternatives available to us thanks to the internet. When you have streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, and a one time payment per month for access to their entire database whenever the fancy takes you, you can save yourself a lot of money. Of course, in order to compete with this kind of availability, prices of traditional TV viewing do have to go up (as well as adjusting for inflation), but that can still leave consumers with a bad taste in their mouth.

Then Came Internet Access

As mentioned above, the internet has removed a lot of the use behind owning and being able to operate a TV, what with free streaming services like Youtube available, and then bigger companies such as Amazon Prime allowing you to buy and download any TV program straight to a device you have linked. You don’t even need a television set – computers, laptops, tablets, and mobiles all have this kind of viewing capability.

And traditional TV itself has sat up and taken notice of this. Many networks have now moved their rights and availability to the online world, such as BBC Three and parts of NBC in America. This allows traditional TV a new medium – they become part of the new streaming world, and any loyal viewers can watch the TV programs they know and love whenever they want.

Many people can see the bonuses of this: get some old classics downloaded to your phone, and watch them whilst you’re on the bus into work, or settle down at night with your tablet in hand, if setting up a TV in your bedroom was just a little too expensive for you. Of course, there’s still some complaints over this kind of change, what with the idea of ‘revolutionsing TV’ not sitting well with someone, but it can save both TV executives and the avid consumer themselves hundreds and thousands, and even millions in the long run.

Some People See a Lack of Interactivity

The final point we have here about the change of our use of the TV in the past fifty years is that many people see the television as having a lack of interactivity, and it no longer satisfies them because of it. What with online streaming, in both official and personal standards, and the use of other social media, people can feel more and more isolated from having to rely on the TV for their entertainment alone.

People can now talk directly to the personalities they know and love, with apps like Periscope and Twitch opening up direct channels between ‘celebrities’ and their fans. Video games are becoming more and more of an artform, with VR capability and the choice to pick the direction a game’s storyline can go in. And then comes the role of social media – you can tweet your favourite TV personality directly, engage in conversation with them, open up groups of fans similar to you and speculate about upcoming episodes, and even vote in polls about what you want to see a program do next. And all in all, isn’t that just a lovely idea to think about? You certainly wouldn’t have minded it when you were younger.

So, TV Has Changed

The TV has changed a lot since its inception, and it will continue to change as our habits and our technological capabilities do to. Being able to watch this change, and adapt with it, is one of the highlights of modern life, and finding new and interesting ways to put yourself to use within it can mean a great career is ahead of you. Make sure you’re never discounting this ability.

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