"We can make you rich!"

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Best of luck everyone!

Jed Miller has given me a list of all the Train Stations with ticket barriers, train stations due to have ticket barriers and information on the times they are open. Please click this link to view them.

So here I am, 18 years old today! I wrote more interesting stuff on yesterday's entry, so have a read and enjoy!

Today is my last day of being a child as it is my 18th birthday tomorrow on 23rd July 2010. Not really sure what I should say about becoming an adult 'officially' - same as before I guess, except everything I was doing that was illegal will now be legal, and I get to pay tax yay!

On a more interesting note, I am looking to buy a car. I have found that insurance prices for young male drivers is stupidly high, I was getting quotes for small cars in the regions of £3,500 to £4,000. After following some tips from friends and experts, I was getting quotes closer to £2,500 to £3,000. I have done a lot of research this week, I have been filling in online forms, phoning insurance companies and working through hour after hour - I have now officially done 500 car insurance quotes, and I have finally found something reasonable.

My advice to anyone who can afford £4k or more for a car, buy a 2005 Toyota Aygo. It has air conditioning, ABS brakes, power steering, is only 5 years old and has quite a nice style, as well as being a practical car - the insurance is really cheap (in comparison to other cars) - it's around £1,990. I would get one myself, but I don't have £6k at hand right now.

I can get insurance for my first year of driving for £1,420 on a 1997 Rover Mini Cooper 1.3l - However, getting hold of one that is road-worthy and in my price range is not easy, the Mini was never known for it's reliability after 13 years! If anyone has any idea where I might be able to get a 1997 (or later) classic Rover Mini Cooper for around £2,500 - please let me know!

In other news, I will be going out for my birthday party tomorrow night, meeting at the Playhouse in Colchester town at 8:00pm - You are invited, but please text me to let me know that you're coming so that we don't move onto another venue without you. My mobile number is on the contact page.

College is officially over and I am waiting for my A2 exam results, which will be available on the 19th August 2010. I will be seeking employment as from September, hopefully something working with computers.

I will be going to Germany on holiday this year, from 22nd to 29th August, so I'm sorry to say I won't be around, and probably won't be online much - so I'm not ignoring you!

Anyway, I am sure you have better things to be doing than reading about my life, so I'll leave it there for today. Take care and keep in touch!

I will soon be leaving my childhood behind and turning 18, so I have been looking into getting a contract mobile. As a very technically minded person, who loves gadgets, internet and anything that can go 'beep', I have been doing some research into the best network to go with, and why. Like many people, money doesn't grow on trees for me, so I am looking to keep costs down and get the best value for money that I can.

I have been a customer with O2 for many years, I have to say that over all, I have been very satisfied with the service they provide. I have nearly always had a mobile signal, the prices have been fair and I have managed to get some really good deals. For the past few years, I have had unlimited calls and text to other O2 phones and unlimited 3G (HSDPA) mobile broadband all for just £15.00/month. On top of that, as a Pay and Go customer, I have been able to keep £5.00 of the £15 on my phone as credit, allowing me to call and text other networks and landlines when I needed to. O2 also give me 10% of my top-ups back in credit as part of their "O2 Rewards" scheme. Meaning that every month, I get an additional £1.50 credit on my Pay and Go mobile, along with a guaranteed 'surprise' each month which can range from 'Free Calls' to big cash prizes. When I compare this to what some of my other friends pay on their networks, I have to say O2 have done an excellent job! My only concern with O2 is their poor customer service, long waiting times on hold, rude customer support staff who do not fully understand the O2 network and try to 'fob you off' with some excuse. Although this is very annoying, I rarely have to contact O2 support because their network is brilliant.

So why don't I just stay with O2? Well, things are starting to change. I have done some online research, tested a few of the major networks in different areas in the UK and been in touch with some friends who work in the mobile industry. It seems that it could be worth me moving to a different network.

My first piece of advice is to go directly to one of the major networks, other networks such as 'Tesco Mobile' and 'ASDA Mobile' simply use O2 and Vodafone's network and offer you some different tariffs, call me picky, but I like to be as direct as possible. So the networks I will be looking at are O2, Orange, Vodafone and 3.

Orange - An impressive history, Orange have the most mobile antenna's across the UK in attempt to have the best network coverage, and I would agree that on the surface of things, they do. Almost everywhere I have been, I have been able to get a signal on Orange - However, as soon as I try to actually make a call, send a text or use broadband, the signal becomes weak, slow speeds, poor sound quality when making calls and in some buildings, no signal at all. In conclusion, when it comes to the crunch, Orange just doesn't cut it.

Vodafone - I was impressed with Vodafone, their network is available in almost every country, and they have a great deal of experience when it comes to mobile networks. However, I am only really interested in the UK coverage. The first thing I have noticed is that Vodafone have a good all-round service, almost everywhere has a signal good enough to use, but when it comes to mobile broadband, Vodafone falls behind on download and upload speeds in comparison to some of the other networks. I was also shocked by Vodafone's prices, I certainly would not recommend Vodafone for anyone who is trying to cut down on their mobile bills! The network quality was good, but there is certainly room for improvement.

3 - I have always doubted 3 mobile, they have only been established in the UK since around 2003, and made an impressive start by introducing '3G' to the UK before any other network. I always had them down as a network with little to no coverage anywhere in the UK, but it seems that in recent years, the 3 mobile network coverage is rather impressive, but I still would not choose 3 as my network. Currently, 3 mobile do not support HSDPA which is currently the fastest mobile broadband technology available in the UK, they only support UMTS, which would probably be fine for most people, but I am a heavy mobile broadband user, and UMTS is just not enough for me. The prices are very competative, but unless you have a number of friends on the same network, there really isn't that much of a saving.

O2 - Recently, I have found several places where I have had no coverage from O2, but in all fairness, I have had no coverage on the other major networks either. It seems that on average, O2 have the best balance of speed and network coverage. Most places in the UK have a good signal from O2 and I have found that I can usually get speeds between 1.5Mbps and 2.5Mbps almost anywhere with O2's HSDPA mobile broadband. There is bad news though, O2 have recently decided to scrap their 'Unlimited Data' and now limit most customers to 500MB/month, some to 750MB/month and the highest paying customers to 1GB/month. It is true that for most people, 500MB is probably enough for mobile browsing and email - but what about those of us who use mobile broadband for a lot more? My internet connection at home is terrible due to my location and the conditions of my local BT exchange - So I use my mobile broadband as a 'backup' connection. I also like to recieve email on my phone, notifications from facebook, attachments from friends and of course, I use Google Maps and other applications which depend on internet. O2 have promised that I will not be charged if I exceed my limit, but my connection will be slowed down. They did not disclose what speed I will get after I exceed my limit, but I imagine it will be too slow to use in any ideal situation. I work with computers a lot and I love being able to use 'Remote Desktop' to view and control my computer at home while I am on the go, this is something that could be seriously affected by the 'speed limit'.

A conclusion, well I don't want to draw a conclusion straight from my analysis above, I need to also consider the future plans of the networks. All the major networks are spending millions on improving their networks every day, but I think the data limit that O2 are bringing in is something that all networks will be doing at some point within the next year. BT have also claimed that they will improve 40% of the broadband connections to homes in the UK by 2012, unfortunately, I am not in that 40%, but it does mean I may not need to think about using mobile broadband as an alternative or 'backup' at home within the next decade.

If you are somebody who rarely uses their phone for anything, but wants it to be reliable when they do use it - Vodafone is for you, they have an amazing coverage and for a very occasional Pay and Go call or text, you won't be spending much.

If you are more of a regular phone user, always chatting with friends and family, sending texts to all your mates, really, I would suggest choosing the network that the MAJORITY of your contacts are on, as this will enable you to save the most money, I personally wouldn't choose Orange right now as there are a number of areas with bad coverage, but things could change, and in my tests, Orange did come through a lot of the time.

If you love your mobile, have an iPhone or Smartphone and you want to use internet, apps, text friends and family and probably use your phone more as a gadget - O2 are definately for you. I have been a customer with O2 for a long time, and I can say from experience, that they have the best all-round service. Good signal for the majority of the UK, fair prices and reliable internet.

For me, I think O2 will always be my network, but who knows what will change in the future. Many people who have moved away from O2 have realised that the problems they had were far worse on other networks and have often moved back. O2 reward loyalty, and I am a loyal customer.

I launched my brand new File Sharing service today, it's called Free Public Sharing Bay (FPS Bay) and you can access it 24/7 at fpsbay.com.

So, what's so special about FPS Bay? - To be honest, not that much. It's very similar to existing popular file sharing sites such as RapidShare and MegaUpload, but I have developed this web resource with the intent of providing the BEST service I can at NO COST to the users. This is 100% free for everybody. Eventually, once the site kicks off and I start getting more interest, I hope to provide a file sharing service with all the great features that the existing websites offer, without any of the limitations, fees, waiting time or sign-ups.

FPS Bay is 100% free to use and doesn't require sign up. It's quick and easy to use and will allow you to upload anything (exclusions can be found in the terms and conditions). I really want everybody to please start using this service, not just 'for the hell of it' but whenever you need file sharing, think fpsbay.com! Tell your friends, family and co-workers, give it a try, spread the word!

It's simple to use - choose the file to upload, wait for it to upload, you are given 2 links, one you can share and allow anyone who has the link to download the file, the other you keep private and you can visit any time to delete the file you uploaded (just in case you don't want it on there anymore, or if you upload the wrong thing).

I am going to finance the service on donations and advertising, so please, let me help you out by helping me out - you spread the word, get people using the site, and i'll keep my end of the deal and keep improving it so that it is the best for everyone!

Thanks for reading, check back later for updates!

Jed Miller is a very good friend of mine, if you visit this site often, you probably have seen pictures of Jed. Well, for the first time in 2 years he has had a hair cut - I have never known a hair cut to start of so much discussion - it's the talk of the college!

You can see a photo of Jed's radical new hair cut here. Bare in mind that Jed's hair was very long, it looked something like this.

I think it looks awesome! Nice one dude! A new look for Jed... this could be the start of something good.

Once again, sorry for getting so behind updating this - I keep meaning to do it but just don't get the time. Thankfully though, I have finally finished and handed in all the coursework for all my subjects. I have to give a presentation tomorrow for my EPQ Computing project, other than that - it's just revision and exams now.

Had a nice time today down at Clacton, going around the Arcades and Pier with my Dad - surprisingly walked away with a profit (excluding petrol). Past week has been some really nice weather, it'll be good to be able to get out some more again as we break into the summer.

Wishing everyone the best of luck with their exams next month, feeling confident about mine. Sadly, as the end of college approaches, there won't be much more from JedCast, but it has been a real pleasure being involved with Storm Radio and the JedCast over the past year. Leaving college with some good memories, and some I'd rather forget. I wish everyone the best of luck for their future.

I don't plan on going to university, not this year at least - Hoping to go straight into work. I'll be 18 this July, one of the youngest of my academic year group, but hoping to be driving by then. I have passed my theory test and will be taking my practical test hopefully soon.

Over the Easter holidays I totally re-arranged my room. Put up a new desk and mounted my monitors on a different wall. I'll try and get some pictures on the site soon, but I'm terrible for getting round to doing these things while i'm approaching the end of my education.

I know it's late, but would like to say happy 18th birthday to Emily from techtoad, for last month (23rd March) glad to hear you had a great day!

Planning on going on holiday to Germany later this year - Will write more about it when I get back.

I would also just quickly like to say thank you to everyone who has been submitting quotes and suggestions to the site - it's much appreciated and they will be used!

Wishing everyone the best of luck with their future, hope you are well. That's all from me today.

Happy 18th Birthday to Saxon from Techtoad Love you lots! xxx

No, i'm not dead - it's been ages since I posted anything on here. Truth is, i've been very busy with college work, and a bit lazy with my free time. Nothing much has happened over the last few months, Christmas and New Year were good, bought myself a new laptop (customised Dell Latitude E5400) and been cracking down on my computing project which I have finally finished and submitted for assesment!

I have just completed my General Studies exams, not too bad, but not feeling confident of a high grade! That aside, I am focusing on the EPQ project I took on towards the end of 2009, CISCO CCNA2 and Electronics Coursework. I'll be learning to drive soon too - gonna be a busy few months!

In other news, i've been working with The Jed Cast, formerly with Storm Radio - I've been to a few recording sessions and have been helping out with a few activities outside of the studio. I'll try to mirror some of the PodCasts on the site so that you can download them directly.

I'd like to thank the JedCast for including me in the recent episodes, and hope to work with you more in future.

Personal life is great, it's nice to spend a bit of time and relax with Saxon when I don't have the pressures of college on, and there is always good 'ol Jed to make college a bit more fun ;)

Business news is good - been keeping busy with some private work, and am also happy to introduce a new price scheme that you literally won't believe - more about that soon! I have moved my Linode VPS from Atlanta US, to London UK. Not really much difference, but there is a smaller latency, which I understand is better for multiple small packets, and about the same for continuous or large data transfers.
 

Scan did get my order out to me only one day later than quoted, but I was not refunded the postage. Thankfully, I was able to sign for my items and it did not cause too much of a problem. The NAS' are quite good, they could do with an improvement of the users and share management, and Windows has some trouble calculating used space (because SMB emulates as NTFS and the drives are formatted using EXT2) but they do the job. I was going to buy a third, but in view of some of the minor problems I have had with the Edimax NAS, I am going to look at a QNAP NAS box. Promise I will get some pictures up soon!

I placed an order yesterday for 2 Edimax NAS Raid servers, total order was a few quid shy of £200, I ordered some time before 11am and paid for NEXT DAY 'GUARANTEED' DELIVERY. I got a text and email alert later at gone 10pm stating that my order had been delayed due to stock shortage. I have heard nothing for 24 hours about my order, and have filed a complaint with Scan's customer service requesting some form of compensation or refund for the postal cost. I am awaiting a response from them, and will update the site when I hear back from them.

On a less grumpy note, haven't been keeping this site up to date just recently! Sorry everyone, I'll try and give some more of my time to it. I got my AS, CISCO CCNA and NVQ certificates, will soon be doing my A2 exams and handing in coursework - I've taken on the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) for Computing at the sixth form, hopefully will keep on top of it all - seems to be going ok at the moment.

Personal life, can't complain! I am making some major modifications to my home network, will soon post some pictures on the site. A while ago I mounted two of my LCD monitors to the wall to save desk space, looks quite neat - planning on mounting my third wide screen LCD diagonally in the corner of my room - will upload pictures when i'm done.

I received my certificate for Web Design, I passed at NVQ level 3 - Very happy with that! Just waiting for my official certificates for my AS subjects.

Got my results today, they were not great, but I am happy with them. I got a B grade for Computing which I am pleased with, made up of an an A for the programming and a B for the fundamentals. I got a D grade for Electronics, was hoping to do better but at least its a pass. I got a D grade for Business Studies, made up of an A grade for Planning and Financing, but a U grade (fail) for Managing. I failed Psychology totally, but its not a problem - Psychology was more of an interest than a career path. I will be continuing at the Sixth Form next year, I will be doing Computing, Electronics, General Studies, Philosophy and CISCO CCNA. I passed my CISCO CCNA 1 and hopefully have passed my Web Design NVQ. Hope everyone else got the results they wanted!

Day 1: We arrive at the airport in Spain, got pushed out of the queue for passport control by the airport security officer. No idea why! We finally got through passport control and waited for our luggage, which seemed to all be there in tact. We spent a long time looking for our rental car, Amanda was getting much stressed and Rob was on the phone to the rental service seeking help. Mum and I just followed Rob. We finally found the car and were soon driving on our way to the villa, Rob getting used to driving a left-hand drive car on the wrong side of the road. We were getting lost and Amanda was getting stressed again. Eventually, we found the villa, nice place, 3 floors, indoor and outdoor shower, private swimming pool, marble floor, walls and stairs, decent kitchen and bathroom, two double bedrooms and a nice living area. We unpacked and got settled in. We figured we would need to get to know the local area and get some supplies, so we went out looking for shops and restaurants, after much getting lost, and Amanda getting stressed, we finally found a McDonalds, but they did not sell double cheeseburgers, so I had a big mac meal. We found a super market and bought some essentials, including drink, lots of drink! We made our way back to the villa and then had to walk in the scorching 31 degrees C for a take-away pizza and a pint of strongbow. The food was alright; we had some more drink, and then got an early night.

Day 2: Got up, had breakfast, then headed to the beach. Amanda was driving this time, so she got stressed. We passed 2 tolls on the same road, then turned around to go trough them again. We were lost. We finally found the beach, but Amanda got very stressed trying to park the car. Rob and I went for a walk to buy a hat and an ice cream, but ended up locked in someone’s private property and had to jump a very high wall to get out. We returned to the beach to meet Amanda and mum, and then soon after spotted a bar, where we both got through a few lagers. Mum bought a pizza for herself, rob and I to share. Amanda got stressed that we didn’t buy any for her, so she bought her own to share with Rob. We made our way back after a long hot day, got lost again, and Amanda got stressed again. When we got in, we quickly got changed and then went out to a really nice restaurant where there was live dinner jazz being played and an expensive but wonderful menu. We made our way back to the villa but my mobile internet had officially failed, so I had to get to bed for there was nothing else to do.

Day 3: Lazy day today, we got up late and had breakfast. Spent the morning watching various TV programs on my laptop, then headed off to the local shop to top up on some supplies, i.e. Beer, pukka-pies, pot noodles and some ingredients for dinner. We watched top gear when we got back home, played back gammon and Jenga, I lost both games so had to do the washing up. Rob cooked really nice pasta, chicken and mushroom meal, but forgot to wash the mushrooms, which we were all fine with... Except Amanda who got stressed. (Nobody died or got ill) We all went out for a swim, and were throwing goggles around playing piggy in the middle until 10pm when it got dark. We all came inside, had some drinks, sat down to watch a film, I ate a pot noodle and then went to bed.

Day 4: We decided to go to a water park today, expensive to get in, very long queue, but was an impressive place. We all went on the outdoor zigzag slides, but Rob lost his necklace and Amanda smashed her knee on a rock. I spent the rest of the day listening to my iPod while Rob read his book. We had a nice picture taken before Amanda got injured though, so that was good. We went home and decided to get a curry. I came up with a cunning scheme to exploit the free bottle of wine with every order over 20€ by sending in Amanda and Rob to order separately, their acting skills were epic and so we got 2 free bottles of wine. The evening was spent enjoying the curry which was very nice, and then drinking until we fell asleep.

Day 5: Today we went to the market and town to look for gifts and stuff. I bought some gifts for Saxon; the others bought various items for themselves. We decided to get some lunch and Rob and I pointed out a nice little cafe Amanda was not happy and caused a scene, so we had to leave. We got to the town centre where mum and Mandz broke into an argument about the time we would leave for the airport on our last day, Rob and I felt rather embarrassed by the scene they were causing and in the end, we headed off to another small cafe, the staff did not understand English and it was difficult to order. They made a few mistakes, but finally we all got our food, I had a strongbow and a cheeseburger. We made our way back to the villa and stopped off to buy a BBQ on the way back. Now, I'm writing this and the others are in the pool. We all went out for a really nice steak meal which was really good value and very nice food. We went back to the villa and were in bed shortly.

Day 6: Today was great fun, while Amanda and Mum got roasted on the beach, Rob and I went to get roasted at the pub. We started off with a few lagers and played some pool, 2 games, 1 all. We moved on to some strongbow, and I kept switching between a few brews of lager and cider. We had great food in the pub; ironically, it was called "the pub". We were there for 5 to 6 hours getting drinks in, but I must have had a few too many because in our last half hour, I spewed all over the outside of the toilet door in front of everyone, and more in the toilet itself. The bar staff made me clean up my mess, but good old Rob helped out. Mum and Mandz picked us up shortly after we had cleared my mess, they were not pleased, and Amanda got stressed about Rob using his card to buy in some lunch and more beer. I felt fine after throwing up, so was fairly soba and was able to enjoy a BBQ up on the roof. I stayed up quite late chatting to Saxon but eventually got to sleep, no hangover at all!

Day 7: went to a safari park today, watched the seals, birds and elephants perform in shows, and had a look around at the various tigers and other interesting animals. Managed to find a drink can with my initials on it, which was the highlight of my day! We headed back home and had a splash about in the pool, where I managed to push Rob in and got it on video! We also did a video of Rob trying to run across the water! We all went out for Mexican/USA food which was very nice, but I had to help finish everyone’s except Robs. Amanda didn’t seem to get stressed today, which is weird... We came home and went straight to bed.

Day 8: Last day, Amanda was getting stressed because we all wanted her to be ready on time and get packing, but she was sure we would have plenty of time and didn’t want to leave until later. It was a long day of packing, waiting around, getting through the airport etc, but we finally made it and arrived back in England at 9:45pm (UK Time), then after getting home, went to town to get a dominos pizza (Buy one get one free on Tuesdays!).

I will soon be adding photos to a new gallery, but as it is my first day back, I haven't got round to getting the photos from everyone yet, so they should be up in the next few weeks.

So I am leaving England today to go on holiday to Spain. Little concerned about the heat and possibility of catching the flu, but will try to make the best out of it, its the travelling I really enjoy. Going to miss Saxon and all my mates while i'm away! Hope everyone is having a good summer break, take care!

Hello World!

It's been a fairly different past few weeks for me. I regret to announce that I have grown apart from a dear friend recently, but have met many new people.

I have finally broken up from college for the holiday term, I will be off to Spain in a few weeks time, i'm not sure if I am looking forward to it, or worrying about the climate change!

It will be my birthday in just 2 days (Thursday, 23rd July), looking forward to a day out! I plan on changing my mobile network plan soon, but my number will NOT be changing.

I have recently had some private work from a friend, which has kept me busy and in good finance (Thanks Chris!)

Saxon and I have been plotting world domination and getting to know each other better, so far so good! I have had the pleasure of going out around Colchester dressed smartly as "The Master" from Doctor Who, as a request from Saxon - thankfully, and quite strangely, I already owned all of the clothes required, felt quite confident actually! We had great fun at the fair on Old Heath, despite it bucketing down with rain on the way home, still - I think it was worth it

I have plans to dye my hair electric blue once again, hoping for something a little more perminant this time though!

I am getting a little nervous about my AS results due in August, I am still defeated by the common rubicks cube (with the exception of taking it to pieces and putting it back completed).

Hope everyone is doing ok!

Happy 22nd Birthday to Amanda (Face) from Techtoad!

It's been half a year since I broke up with my ex girlfriend, and now I am happy to say that I am starting a new relationship with Saxon Happy 1st July everyone!

As from today, you can now buy official Techtoad t-shirts from the shop