h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My broadband account when I purchased it from Freeserve didn't have a data transfer limit. After the company was taken over by Wanadoo - which *still* sounds like a brand of nappies to my ears, but hey, that's another story - the new company started imposing limits for new customers.

Well now it looks like they are going to impose these limits on their old Freeserve customers.

I recieved an e-mail this evening detailing changes to the terms and conditions of my account, and one of the clauses is this:

"Wanadoo operates a fair usage policy if you send and/or receive data in any month which is more than your Usage Allowance or you exceed 30GB we believe that your use of the Service in this way is adversely affecting our network and the Service to other customers. We therefore reserve the right (at our sole discretion) to suspend your Service, make a charge for additional usage or on 30 days written notice terminate your Service."

Whilst, one it could do with a bit more punctuation , it, two tells me that I'm only going to get 30Gb of data up 'n' down in a month

Well that's peanuts for my usage. If I've got a serious bittorrent running I can be pushing 4.5Gb in a SINGLE DAY.

Time to start looking for a new ISP

I think I might just have found my new ISP - http://www.waitrose.com/web_access/broadband/index.asp

... and I'll have a bag of sprouts and a bottle of your finest balsamic vinegar to go with my 1Mb service please

Also this site is quite useful in giving you the gen on who is creeping and doing what to screw their broadband customers - http://www.anticap.co.uk/index.php

Friend of mine swears by Tesco, but I've never checked it out, I'm not a heavy user.

Bit torrent is the hound's goolies isn't it

It sure is, OJ

BTW, does the glove fit?

I couldn't possibly say... sub judice and all that

'Brantisvogan' is *not* up for grabs btw

And shouldn't it be OK not OJ?

It depends upon the pronunciation I guess

BTW, what or who the f*ck is Oojakapiv? When I google it, the *only* hit I get is this --> http://www.oojakapiv.com/

It's a word from way back in my childhood I think... maybe something one of my uncles used to say

Or not.

I make it just approaching 8am in the UK... you up early, or just not been to bed?

Oh - Oojakapiv... it's also the name of my D drive, or is it my E drive?

That is as maybe, I've still never heard of the word before.

I'm up early this morning. I couldn't sleep once I heard the seagulls arsing around outside and causing a general rumpus

And if it's 8am here, doesn't that mean that it is 2am with you? I always got the impression that you were one for getting an early night's sleep

It's just after 1am - our clocks change tomorrow... or tonight, depending on how you look at it, so we're currently seven hours behind you instead of six, for another 25 hours anyway.

And yes, I'm off to bed. Got out of work around 11.45pm tonight after a busy one - Sin City opened today and the cinema was showing it on three screens out of six - all sold out for both the 7pm and the 10pm shows. It's taken me a good hour to wind down

That explains it. I'd forgotten that this was the week that the whole world changes their clocks, but you lot don't.

No doubt my Mum will take the opportunity to give me a ring at a time when she thinks that it is just 'late' here in the UK, but in fact it is actually so late that I'm actually in bed and asleep

Goodnight, and I'll see you later on today

The people I work with swear by Tescos as well. But then I work for tescos. I did think about changing over to them, but I couldn't bear to have the humiliation of a tesco email address.

Virgin looked good, but my ISP put my price down when I rang to tell them to sod off, so I stayed.

£19.97 a month for a 512k service, and no download limits is tempting. But I do have a couple of reservations about signing up:
1) If I'm going to go for a new unlimited package, I'd like a 1Mb service thank you.
2) Their partner in the broadband business is NTL. You know, the ones who are swimming against squillions of pounds of debt.
3) Tesco is dead common. I would just *die* of embarrassment if anyone I knew ever saw me shopping there

Are you in an area that you can get access to UKOnline's 8Mb broadband? sure it's £40 a month but at least it's stupidly fast and sensibly capped at about half a terabyte a month.

Think how I feel working there. On the induction day they asked what our perception of different supermarkets were and I did say I think of Tescos as cheap and nasty and that sainsburys was much nicer.

When I think of those blue and white stripes on packages I just shudder. When they give the free samples away at work I won't even take those for nothing.

What? Tesco's is a great supermarket, so cheap! Do you think people actually care? Tesco's basics range are great, I wish I lived nearer a Tesco.

I'm really struggling with this do people actually care where you shop for food? Other than unbeliveable shallow people.. I mean, the sort of people who think buying second hand clothes is disgusting. But we laugh at these people because they are really being very stupid about things.

Well I do. I mean why waste money on new clothes when the second hand ones are usually better quality.

I try and shop locally because I live above a shop and I like my neighbours, but sometimes you have to go to a supermarket, because the local store just doesn't do pesto or something essential.

I'm off to Waitrose in a minute because I'm at Ben's and just annoyed with Cheltenham for not having a Kwik Save or an Aldi. They do have a Tesco but Ben currently has her head under a cold towel and I don't have car so it will have to be Waitrose.

You said that, Mina! Well then they'll have got you marked down as a trouble maker, and to be first up against the wall

I guess I'm blessed living in Brighton. I just don't need to shop in supermarkets for my groceries. There are enough independent butchers, bakers, fishmongers, greengrocers and delis around the place such that I don't need to venture into a branch of Sainsburys or the like.

I'm certain that the success of all these businesses is down to the interesting population mix that we've got in this town. Brighton has by far and away the greatest population density of lesbians and gay men in the UK. Thus there is a large chunk of the local population who are liberalish and into trying green and new age etc, plus they have a decent amount of disposable income as they've got no kids. Therefore it is piece of cake for an independent trader to set up in business and sell their fresh pesto


Croz, I tried UKOnline. They're not doing my neighbourhood just yet. But they say they have plans to do so in the next six months.