Chris Thompson   Chris Thompson on the internet

This particular blog will serve as something of an errata, I think.

Yesterday, I was rambling about how there is no point taking out home insurance: I was rambling about how you are not very likely to find a car smashing into your house, or a tree blowing down and spearing your roof. But it seems I have been proven wrong. A couple in West Virginia have had a lump of bridge crash into their home following a demolition, and I would hazard a guess that they would be quite happy to have their home insurance.

And then I moved on to the development of technology, where I probably should have provided a few more links for you in case you wanted to read up on the latest news and reviews of some of the incredible technology that’s at our fingertips, or just read up on smart phones in general.

And lastly, there is a good website here, if you have an old phone and are looking to get rid of it: mobile phone buyers like this one are only too happy to help you help the environment, and it couldn’t be more easy.

Anyway, that should round everything out nicely.

It has just occurred to me that I have been babbling on about my own internet woes, when all around the country there are people who can’t even access the internet. This article over at the Guardian website shows how there is a plan in place in the UK to introduce a tax on phone lines, which will apparently allow greater internet access in the countryside. Obviously there will be split opinions. There will be those who have their fast internet, and don’t know the troubles of trying to use it in the country. There will be those who just don’t want to pay even more money for no immediate benefit to themselves

But then you notice that it’s only £6 a year. It’s not very much really. And if it can help with places that don’t yet have internet access, or help increase the speed of slow internet access, or help with sustaining a connection that has a habit of disconnecting for no good reason – then is it not worth it? In the past, I’ve lived in the middle of nowhere – and the internet out there can be infuriating. Frequently, you can go for an entire day without connection, and just as frequently it can cut out for apparently no reason other than that you are living in the countryside, and that’s just what happens.

Now they are saying that half the country will have access to super fast broadband by 2012, which is quite good going, I think. To think that here, now, we’re talking about homes all over the country having 10MB broadband, when, back only five or six years, it was unheard of to have anything near that in homes, is quite staggering.

Day after day, technology advances steadily on. And I find quite incredible. Here in the era of the iPhone, it’s quite easy to lose sight of the fact that, not so long ago, we relied on a wireless for entertainment, and had to spin the dial on a phone. Now in a matter of minutes you can buy BT Synergy business phones, and talk to friends and family from the garden if you want to.

And there are companies out there that cater for all this sort of thing, companies like Brite Telecom, when, fifty years ago the word “internet” didn’t even mean anything.

It’s quite easy to take it all for granted.

To wrap up the day, here are a couple of interesting stories. First of all is something potentially very frightening: a possible outbreak of the bubonic plague in Libya, not far from the Egyptian border. Specialists have been called in, because they don’t know for certain what it is; but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on. Illness and disease has been such a prominent feature in the news recently, it’s almost like the god of illness has got bored, and sent a few playthings into the world:

“I am bird flu!”

“Pah! I am swine flu!”

“Puny illnesses! I am the BUBONIC PLAGUE!”

…

Here is an interesting (and random) (and slightly more upbeat) piece of news for you. Although it is more of a fact, than a piece of news: earwigs have two penises. I found the line about favouring their right penis quite amusing. It must be quite wonderful just to be able to say to your earwig girlfriend, I’m sorry, I tend to prefer my right penis, thank you.

…

If you’ve been following my blogs in the past, you’ll know that we (my flatmates and I) have been struggling with slow internet for a while now, and were wondering whether or not to get rid of it and go for one of the more business oriented, speedy SDSL providers.

Because there are ten of us between the two flats, the cost wouldn’t have been too huge for us. The more we researched all this kilostream circuiting stuff, though, the more confusing it became. And, at the end of the day, it’s easier to live with a little bit of slowdown and pay £5 each a month, than try out a completely new thing and have to pay £30 each.

And so, after weeks of deliberating, e’ve finally decided against it, it seems.

According to this news piece, a man has been given the equivalent of 86 cents in compensation, and that five years after the stabbing incident. I know compensation is a different beast to insurance, but even so, hearing things like this make me doubt the worth of any type of insurance. First of all, anything that warrants a claim is very unlikely to happen, and then if you are unfortunate enough for it to happen, then, like this poor person, there’s the worry that you don’t get anywhere near as much as you should do.

For a lot of things, I’ve never really been overly concerned with insurance. Often insurance brokers might seem attractive, but often they don’t tell you much about anything. Of course, sometimes the opposite is true, and they tell you a lot. But insurance, to me, is just a way for companies to make money. An example is the world of electronics. If you buy a laptop, they’re reasonably cheap at first, but the companies try and sell you insurance; it’s where they make their money. Is insuring your home really any different? Obviously there are benefits to it, but the reasons they give are slightly ridiculous. How likely is a truck driving off the road, and smashing into your house. Or a tree falling down only to slam into your roof.

The people I know who have taken out insurance feel secure in their homes. They say it’s all worth it. And they know that if something terrible happens, they’re sorted. Certainly, some home insurance providers offer still further benefits, special deals, and discounts. But aren’t they all just the same, in the end?

And then there’s the fact that no one that I know has ever had the misfortune of a lorry smashing into their wall, or a tree going through their roof. Perhaps I’m just ignorant, because I’ve never taken out insurance, and have, thus far, been lucky enough to be justified in that choice?

It would be interesting to hear your thoughts, because, particularly in these times, it might be an area people will be cutting back on. Or perhaps it’s so invaluable, so useful, that it’s more important than ever. Have you ever taken out insurance like this?

Looking at the weather today, which was both beautiful and frightening in its savagery, the word Biblical came to mind. It was pleasant enough in the morning. My dog and I were even sunbathing at one stage. But then it started clouding over…

And as the day progressed, it became more than simply cloudy. It was a uniform greyness, menacing and promising rain by the bucket load. Thunder rumbled and our house shook. The roads in the surrounding villages began to flood, too; becaming one-way where they otherwise wouldn’t have been as cars tried to drive around vast, rippling lakes. In one area there was even snow. It felt like the beginnings of The Day After Tomorrow.
It was only when the thunder subsided that the lightning came. But oh my, did it come. It lit up the sky for hours on end; there was quite literally a steady stream of it all across the horizon and everywhere in close proximity as well. It was easy to see why people in ages past believed in Zeus, the great thunderer.

It was a spectacle; beautiful to see. Yet, at the same time, it felt dangerous. It was quite frightening in a way – certainly, I’ve never seen anything like it before. The news stories have already started coming in. Rather horribly, sixteen cows have died after being struck by the lighting. It serves as a reminder of just how dangerous the weather can be.

Anything to do with travel, and my parents have been only to keen to find it, read it, digest it. They showed me this, which is a collection of travel blogs, and blogs on news and anything travel-related.

It seems that, quite recently, there was something on there that mentioned the Philippines, because after reading it, they mentioned looking into property there. I think it was light-hearted; not too seriously considered. However, from the looks of it, there is plenty on offer there. My dad especially likes his birds and wildlife, so the chance to see a Philippine Eagle would be something special; but even so, that’s the sort of thing you can do on holidays. You don’t need to look at property for sale in the Philippines in order to experience some of the magic on offer there.

The thing that worries me about it is the unavoidable danger of living in these places: just recently, there was quite large earthquake, with an aftershock that rumbled throughout the Philippines. I’m sure it would be tempting to use it as a holiday destination, and if they did get a house over there then perhaps they could rent it out through the year, and keep it as an option for themselves when they fancied a trip to warmer climes – but I’m certainly hoping it was proposed more in jest than seriousness, because it is a bit of a different beast to France.

You don’t often hear of earthquakes rattling the vineyards over there.

NFL.com is running a list of top-10 features on a myriad of different things at the moment. Already among them are the top 10 mobile quarterbacks, a top 10 offences, a top 10 clutch quarterback, and now, although I presume it’s been out for a while, I’ve stumbled across this: the top 10 most elusive runners in NFL history. It’s pretty awesome stuff.

Personally, I’m quite a recent fan of the NFL. My first Superbowl was in 2000, if I remember correctly; so I’m not too much of an NFL history buff. So when I see highlights of Barry Sanders running, I just sort of assumed that there was never anyone like him. Of course, there will never be another Barry Sanders – but at the same time, there have been a number of people who have demonstrated a similar evasive quality in the past. And it’s quite interesting to see how the styles have developed over the years.

I read the article on my phone, whilst on a train journey earlier in the day, and it certainly helped the time breeze by a little quicker.

The phone itself is only about two months old, but already it’s come in handy for so many things. Of course there are the little things, like on today’s train journey, but it’s also helped me navigate through towns that I’ve never been to before. Once, I was lost in London, and it got me home. I’m happy with it, and my brother obviously is too: after seeing it today he immediately stated he was going to get rid of his phone – on the spot, he asked me where I went to sell my mobile before picking up this one – and began scouring the internet for updated options.

There is a website here that, if you’re in the market for a new phone, or are even just interested in mobile phone reviews and news in general, is definitely worth checking out.
And now, bed.

It’s been a surprisingly nice day so far, and most of it has been spent relaxing in the sun with American Gods, which is getting better and better. The weather’s been a bit rubbish lately; I’d grown used to grey sky and drizzling rain, and having to dress up in a lot of layers before leaving the house – if it ever occurred to even leave the house in the first place. It’s nice to be able to sit around and read in the sun for a bit.

I also noticed that the American version of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here was on TV, so I’ve been catching snatches of it. I was quite surprised to see that there are some genuine celebrities on there. When the show’s on over here, the contestants are usually “famous” for sleeping with a footballer’s second cousin, and that sort of thing. It makes for quite a pleasant change to see actors that I’ve heard of, and people I’ve seen wrestling.

I thought I’d also share this article, about a boy who was hit by a meteorite. It’s automatic to assume it will be a big rock when you read the headline, whereas the pictures show it to be quite small in reality. Even so, if it’s true that a penny falling from a great height is enough to kill you, then even a meteorite of that size would be positively deadly, so the guy is lucky that he only suffered a graze.

I’ll try and dig up some more stories throughout the day, but for now, lunch.

Well, as it turns out, our internet is still as slow as ever. It was a week ago that I last wrote about it, back when I was faintly optimistic about it speeding back up again. But no, it’s still slow. So I’ve discussed it with the flatmates, and come to the conclusion that we should change it up.

The internet is supposed to be 2MB – but I’ve checked it on speed websites, and every time it has been wavering somewhere way below 1MB. Lately, it has even been so slow that you have to wait minutes just to load up and watch a one minute You Tube video.

Broadband news was the first stop; just looking through anything that I could find, searching for any other horror stories that I should avoid at all costs. One story that jumped out at me was one regarding a lack of speed in mobile internet – and I’m glad I noticed it, because it’s an option I was considering after noticing my mobile provider has some quite appealing deals. Of course, this sort of thing won’t be true for every such company, but I decided to avoid anyway.

Now, my flatmates and I are debating whether or not to give SDSL internet a go. It’s primarily business internet, which makes it somewhat expensive, but it works in a fashion that allows for vast speeds. And considering how many of us live here, the cost isn’t too huge when it gets split up.

Still, it’s quite a big move to make, and it will be a while yet, I think, before we’re ready one way or the other.

I fancied writing one more blog before bed, because I’ve just come across this, and I found it quite staggering.

From the sounds of it, in throwing away her mattress, a woman has lost $1 million. But first of all, I must ask: how can you possibly throw away 1 million dollars? It is, after all, a hefty sum of money. So much money that I don’t think I’d hide it in a mattress.

And even if I did hide it in a mattress, getting rid of a mattress is quite a big thing. It’s not like changing the trash, or throwing out a torn pair of jeans. It’s a big, unusual thing to get rid of. It’s not a spur of the moment thing. Surely it would dawn on you, as you decide to dispose of the thing, that this is where you keep your vast sums of money?

So, yes. I just thought I’d share the link – it was just such a surprising thing to read.