It is a common sight these days – the ambling human, head down and hands clamped to their Smartphone tapping away and oblivious to what is going on around them. It is a personal pet hate of mine as I make my way to and from work, and encounter these people on a daily basis. Not only does it give you a frowny face, but it also puts you in danger – wandering along and not looking where you are going will not only get annoyed words from your fellow pedestrians but it can also mean you are shuffling your way into the road and into oncoming traffic. In America, this is called jaywalking and it is illegal. Well, jaywalking isn’t specifically wandering along with a phone, but it is being in a road and putting yourself in danger. In Fort Lee, New Jersey over a two week period there were 117 people that received fines for jaywalking and this is after three people actually died as they walked engrossed in their Smartphones. New Jersey Police used to just warn the texters and a staggering 572 people were given a warning since the beginning of the year, but they have now upped the ante with on the spot fines of $85 in an attempt to deter the people from being so silly. I just wish that jaywalking was illegal in the UK as it may deter some of the people that I see on a daily basis from walking and tapping. Prosyn can advise which Smartphone would be best for your company, and also advise that stopping and standing to the side when that text or email just can’t wait, just to be sure you can live to see another day.
TalkTalk Do The Parents Job
With the world cracking down on what their little darlings should and shouldn’t be exposed to when they go online, has come a barrage of new things from internet service providers. The latest is from TalkTalk which will automatically block all porn sites – along with gambling websites, drug-related websites and violent websites – for all new customers with their HomeSafe filter. The UK government plan to make all ISPs implement this filter when law is passed but it begs the question once again – why is it down to the ISP? Why can’t the parents keep an eye on what their children browse and activate the parental controls that are already available on the device? TalkTalk has another filter that has been forced upon it – to block the Pirate Bay website, along with some other ISPs. Pirate Bay is another in a long line of file sharing websites that breach copyright rules, and the site is doing all it can to keep from being shut down. The block may be in place with the ISPs but those in the know can easily work around this which makes the block pointless, and the legal battle behind it a waste of money. So, if you have just signed up to TalkTalk, you are going to have to contact them if you want to access any of the sites that are currently blocked. Prosyn can advise which ISP would be best for your business, and do all the leg work for you getting it all organised. We will liaise with all your third party providers to make sure that an office move for example is headache free. Give us a call today for your small business IT support requirements.
Apple drop the 4G
When Apple launched their New iPad, the third incarnation of their tablet, it was described as a 4G device. Now, as you know as an avid follower of this blog, we aren’t 4G capable in the UK yet, along with numerous other countries. The technology behind 4G in the US, which is called Long Term Evolution, was just being deployed across America when Apple hurled their new offering into the marketplace. When Long Term Evolution launches in the UK however, it will be using a different frequency than in the US and the iPad won’t be compatible with UK 4G. The same goes for other countries that already have and are implementing 4G so Apple has received a slapped wrist for telling fibs in their description of their new fiddlepad. Apple have argued that 4G is an umbrella name for different types of high-speed technology, but they have still agreed to remove the 4G claim from their description of the product and changed to description to now say ’Wi-Fi + cellular’ instead. The confusion led to Australian customer who had been misled receiving a refund which is usually unheard of for Apple products, as their return policy is very strict. For help deciding which tablet could fit well into your business, and for all of your other small business IT support needs, get in touch with Prosyn today.
Is it the parent’s fault…?
There has been a lot of information and ideas in the press about protecting children from the internet, and how there should be things that websites, service providers and hardware manufacturers should do to protect children against paedophiles, pornography and bullying. The question is however, should it be down to the parents to make sure that their children aren’t accessing things that they shouldn’t? Children have access to the internet in so many ways now – mobiles, laptops, and games consoles – and these devices all have ways to block certain pages, domains and genres of content that are inappropriate for children, but the parents are the first people to complain when their children are put in danger or are seeing things that they shouldn’t. Are the parents just too lazy or computer illiterate to activate these programmes to block content? The programmes are even called Parental Controls so the clue is in the name, and they are all password protected so even the most nerdy teenager shouldn’t be able to override the settings. Sadly though, it seems that parents don’t take advantage of these controls that are built into their machines, and instead let their little darlings run riot – spending hours online, alone, looking at hardcore porn and chatting to all manner of randomers. Prosyn can of course help to get you familiar with Parental Controls that are available so that you can use those skills to make your home devices safer for your little ones. We aren’t just an IT support company – we care.