rsmck

consumer rights

3G/4G Router Stores

Update May 2020: Westlake Communications entered liquidation, and has ceased trading, these websites are now operated by Millbeck Communications who are not associated with Westlake Communicatons and hopefully have a better approach to customer care and understand UK trading laws. Most of my comments, therefore, are hopefully no longer relevant

flying

First Solo

Firstly, I hate selfies... and photos of me in general, but this is a moment I don't want to forget... Sitting on the taxiway for the first time, in a plane by myself this whole "being a pilot" things suddenly feels quite real, particularly since I&

A Revolut-ionary way to pay abroad

I recently went to the USA for the first time and, in common with my travel anywhere else, didn't take any foreign currency. I took the following; * A Revolut Card * A Curve Card * My American Express Card * My UK Debit Card I was impressed with the simplicity (and

mobile

SMS 2FA and the Modern Smartphone

SMS has been around for over 20 years now and yet this basic 160 character instant messaging service is still widely used for marketing, transactional messages and two-factor authentication ("2FA") This was just a random thought when trying to log into something for the third time today

security

Alarm Monitoring (With Raspberry Pi)

I'm responsible for a commercial buildings that, as you would expect, have monitored alarms, access control and such like. However, commercial alarm monitoring is horrendously expensive, and most of them are stuck in the dark ages; I want to be able to monitor the condition of my alarm

security

iMessage Preview

So, iMessage has a handy new feature - both on iOS and MacOS - where if you send someone a URL it will extract some metadata from this URL and display it as a clickable link; You'll be used to this behaviour if you use Facebook or Slack, as it

What a difference a 0 makes

Or, why it's really important to dial the correct phone number. Or, alternatively, how to have people willingly hand over personal details to scammers. Nuances of the UK phone system Two thing conspire to make this possible in the UK; Overdialling The UK phone network supports 'over-

I'd like an Invoice please (Avis)

As someone who reasonably regularly has to claim expenses for business travel it never ceases to amaze me quite how inept some companies (for whom people like me make up a large percentage of their business) are at the simplest of things. I regularly book cars with Avis. This is

moving

Estate Agents - a follow up...

One of the professions many love to hate, estate agents. I recently posted my rant/review of a few estate agents [https://rsmck.co.uk/blog/estate-agents/] when selling in Glasgow for a move north to the Highlands. The right choice? After inviting four agencies to quote (three of

rants

How not to do APIs

The company involved here will remain anonymous, as they offer a good (and relatively unique) service and I don't want to damage any relationship with them, nor discourage others from using them just for this reason! Additionally, their support has been excellent. I hope others find this though,

lx

Eurobeat: Moldova!

I have provided voting for numerous (almost 20 now!) productions of Eurobeat: Almost Eurovision and am pleased to announce that one again I am providing the voting for the new professional production of Eurobeat (and the visuals are looking better than ever!) And the only thing better than a new

automower

Husqvarna Automower Challenge - Communication

For a bit of background on this see my first post [https://rsmck.co.uk/blog/husqvarna-automower-challenge/] on this. But, in summary, I am a participant in the automower challenge [http://www.automowerchallenge.co.uk/]. Automower Connect The larger Automowers (430X, 450X) support a smartphone app called "

The Wrong Lizard

So, in a tumultuous week in UK politics our Prime Minister resigned after losing a referendum he didn't want to hold in the first place which was basically the result of trying to appease some internal party squabbling. Now, when an MP resigns, we hold a by-election

security

Phishing at LLoyds

Today I received a phishing eMail, nothing unusual there... I get loads of them, but this is a little more convincing than most for one reason, it contained my postal address (ok, one from many years ago, but nonetheless it proves that it was a lot more targeted than some)

telecoms

Reverse Lookup ("CNAM") in the UK

For many years the USA has had a 'CNAM' service (or Caller ID Name), allowing telecoms operators to show the name of the caller rather than a number. There are obvious advantages to this, having "BT" show when they phone rather than 0800 800 150 would

automower

Husqvarna Automower Challenge - Navigation

For a bit of background on this see my first post [https://rsmck.co.uk/blog/husqvarna-automower-challenge/] on this. But, in summary, I am a participant in the automower challenge [http://www.automowerchallenge.co.uk/]. GPS Assisted Navigation The Automower Connect app shows a map view under the

Brexit

So, the decision has been made and the British public has voted (somewhat underwhelmingly) to leave the EU by 48% Remain, to 52% leave. What does that remind me of... > "In a 52-48 referendum this would be unfinished business by a long way" * Nigel Farage Except,

husqvarna

Husqvarna Automower Challenge - 1 week on

For a bit of background on this see my first post [https://rsmck.co.uk/blog/husqvarna-automower-challenge/] on this. But, in summary, I am a participant in the automower challenge [http://www.automowerchallenge.co.uk/]. A week away I've been away for the last week, with

highland life

Estate Agents...

Probably second only to used car salesmen in the list of professions I can't really abide dealing with on a regular basis. I've never reviewed an Estate Agent, nor really had the need to compare them, so I present my own experiences below in the hope

husqvarna

Husqvarna Automower Challenge - Day 1

For a bit of background on this see my first post [https://rsmck.co.uk/blog/husqvarna-automower-challenge/] on this. But, in summary, I am a participant in the automower challenge [http://www.automowerchallenge.co.uk/]. Day 1 It's here! Many of the other participants have posted

husqvarna

Husqvarna Automower Challenge - Day 0

I'm not a gardener, nor do I pretend to be, but I do like cool technology and when I saw the Husqvarna Automower® I was intrigued. When they accepted me to take part in the automower challenge [http://www.automowerchallenge.co.uk/] I was somewhat surprised; I guess

telecoms

Nuisance calls, no drama.

Have you received a call from a number starting 020 7946? I have, and it took me by surprise, because these numbers can never exist. A little background; I am, and have been for many years, very actively engaged in trying to prevent misuse of telephone networks. This is a

security

Security Theatre, Brussels and Beyond.

Somewhat shocked by Brussels today... and, especially since I know people there just now, my thoughts are with all those caught up in it :( Although, as I've intimated to a few close friends for many years but not been stupid enough to put on a public forum, I&

accidental domain squatting

> Being a developer = buying domains for personal projects, never having time to use them and then suddenly you're one year further :') — Caroline Vermeir (@hellosayscaro) March 15, 2016 [https://twitter.com/hellosayscaro/status/709721320909619201] The above was posted on Twitter today, and I could immediately relate to

net2

Paxton Net2, meet Slack.

December 2017 : As of recent versions of net2, the way SMS messages are sent has been changed, which breaks this hack, an update will follow. The advice below may still help you with other hard-coded SMS solutions. This is my (somwhat hacky) attempt to make Paxton net2 talk to