Technology and Online
Free money advice service launched today. What's the point?
Filed under: Technology and Online, Budgeting & Planning
Weyhay, it's the end of the country's financial woes!A new service has launched today offering free money advice to everyone. The service, called Moneymadeclear is run by the Financial Services Authority, funded by the money lying unclaimed in bank accounts that people have forgotten about.
The website will provide information on all sorts of things, from how to invest, to how to go about buying a car, getting a credit card or avoiding scams.
Genius. Now we need never wonder about anything money-related ever again.
There's only one tiny flaw in the plan. It's a complete waste of time.
School computer schemes slammed by new report
Filed under: Technology and Online, Families
Parents are being encouraged to sign up to school computing schemes that do not offer value for money, according to a new report from Which? Computing magazine. It claims that schools are pressurising parents to agree to donate money each month to give children access to laptops in their homes, even if they already have a computer at home and could get the same laptop for less elsewhere.
The report also raises concerns about commercial schemes such as Tesco's Computers for Schools, under which a parent would have to spend £265,000 on groceries to earn enough coupons to get an Apple iMac available to buy online for £660.
Protect your child against sky-high mobile phone charges
Filed under: Technology and Online, Families
Premium rate mobile phone service operators are targeting schoolchildren with ringtones and games that the kids subscribe to without having any idea of the cost, shocking figures show.A third of 11 to 17-year-olds who subscribe to premium rate services on their mobiles have no idea what they cost, according to new research from phone paid services watchdog PhonepayPlus.
It hopes that its PhoneBrain initiative, which takes place in schools and teaches children how to use mobile phone services safely, will help to prevent kids spending more than they can afford.
You can now send money to your Facebook friends
Filed under: Technology and Online
You can now send money through Facebook. A new application, Buxter, allows you to send small amounts of cash in Euros or US Dollars. In the next few weeks, you will be able to send pounds to your Facebook friends.
Sending money with Buxter from one Facebook account to another is free, but if you withdraw the money to a bank account you pay 1.9% commission, with a minimum fee of £2, €2 or $3.
Has email eroded your telephone skills?
Filed under: Work & Careers, Weird and Wonderful, Technology and Online
Unless you work as a shepherd it's very likely that you do a lot of your work on email. Most people have a phone on their desk as well as a computer but this is slowly gathering dust. That's a shame, because good use of the telephone is good business and, if you're really good at it, you don't even have to use email!
Calls = profit
When a phone rings in your office do people look round slightly startled wondering what that strange ringing is? Do they start filing out of the building thinking it's a fire alarm? And if your people know what the ringing is are they slumping lower in their seats hoping someone else will stop the awful noise. Ideally people will be vying to take the call in the shortest possible time. That's because it could well be a customer on the line or your boss asking you why you didn't answer the last customer. Learn to love the phone; it's your chance to meet interesting new people and take money from them.
Collective buying power - what's it all about?
Filed under: Freebies and Bargains, Technology and Online
I don't know if you've noticed, but a whole bunch of new websites have sprung up recently, claiming to harness the power of 'collective buying'. You might have seen we told you about one of these websites recently.
Essentially what they mean is that they use bulk buying to give you a discount. Nothing particularly new or clever then right? Actually, the theory behind these sites is so brilliantly clever and simple you'll wish you'd thought of it yourself.
Free iPad scam spreads through Facebook and Twitter
Filed under: Fraud , Technology and Online
A scam claiming to give away free iPads is spreading through Facebook and Twitter. Facebook groups appear with eye-catching names such as 'Free iPad'. The Facebook groups claim that they are giving away iPads to be tested.
When you join you are told to invite all your friends to join the group too. You then have to complete some sort of quiz and enter your date of birth and mobile phone number.
That's where they get you, because you are then signed up to a premium-rate phone service.
There's a 50% chance you're already a victim of ID theft
Filed under: Fraud , Technology and Online
Feel safe online? Think you're taking all the right precautions? Then think again, because there's every chance your identity has already been hijacked. But while this doesn't seem great news for the state of trust in our relationships, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Because it's not just your loved ones who have easy access to all your details. Any stranger could steal your identity with just two pieces of information.
So what are these key facts, and how can we protect ourselves?
Today's rules mean the end of massive mobile bill mistakes
Filed under: Travel, Technology and Online
New mobile roaming EU regulation comes into effect today with the aim of protecting customers from "bill shocks".
The past couple of years have seen many holidaymakers return from their travels to mobile phone bills of thousand of pounds because they have used the internet or downloaded data on their phones while abroad.
Under the new rule a cut-off mechanism will be introduced once the bill reaches €50 unless the customer specifies another cut-off limit.
So is this really necessary - how big is the problem?
A cheaper way to use mobile internet abroad
Filed under: Travel, Technology and Online
Virgin Media has launched a new "Travel Pass" for people using its mobile internet service abroad.
Users can access the internet on their mobile phone for £6 a day or on their laptop for £10 a day within Europe.
So how does the Virgin Travel Pass compare against rival services?
