This page takes a while to load but once it does you'll be able to search all the 2002 news items by clicking on "Edit" at the top of the window and then on "Find on this page". Just type in a keyword and click on "Find Next" and the first occurence of the word will be highlighted, click on "Find Next" to find other entries. Some of the links won't work probably won't work anymore, if there's something of particular interest email me and I'll see what I can do.

(23.12.02) Check out the forum between Christmas Eve and Boxing day and play with the entirely pointless but hugely entertaining interactive toy! (Dear Santa, please make my interactive toy work or verily, I shall look a bit of a prat...).

Copying MS Works to a second computer, as we all know, is both illegal and impractical thanks to Microsoft's anti-piracy measures. What very few people are aware of (well me anyway) is that you can copy it to a laptop! The first clause of the agreement states "The primary user of the computer on which the software product is installed may make a second copy for his or her exclusive use on a portable computer". So now you know, could save a bob or two!. Thanks to Steve for this tip.

(22.12.02) Some of the installers aren't as well informed as might hoped, as a particularly poor piece of advice from one reveals. A new user collared one who happened to be in the area after they had problems installing the Office Service Packs 1 & 2. They were confused by the request to put in the Word disc and had abandoned the installation. The installer told them they shouldn't be installing the service pack as Office wasn't installed in the computer. It is a bit confusing the way that Microsoft refers to the Word SP as "Office" but you might expect a qualified installer to know what it is for, afterall, the general public are supposed to...

Having received a couple more emails about computers being sold on Mull, it seems I shouldn't have been so sceptical of information sent in by readers. There might be some truth in the story after all but I still don't know who to, where from or why they were sold though, so if you do, email me.

(21.12.02) Psst...Wanna buy a computer? I received another report of NAIDC computers being sold by their recipients yesterday, much like I did when they were first installed on Lismore. Apparently back then everyone on the island was flogging them in Oban. This time the story involved someone from Glasgow buying 5 computers from Mull for 200 quid each. I don't believe this story any more than I did the first, if they'd paid 200 for all five maybe...It would be surprising if no one at all tried to sell "theirs" but these stories don't really have the ring of truth that the ones the installers told of their adventures on NAIDCs sister project did. I still like to them though, so keep sending them in.

Argyll College will be interviewing people for the posts of mentor and tutors between January 7th and 9th. This might indicate that classes may start sometime in February? I'll let you know.

(20.12.02) Broadband News gets its own page today, which should please both its proponents and those who are bored with seeing it turn up here. All the relevant stories that have appeared in the past have been copied there and it will be the place to go to find info on the group I hope will start as a result of the email described below.

Yesterday I sent out an email to over 70 local addresses proposing the creation over a Broadband Group to promote awareness and gather information on the technology. There are many different alternatives to the conventional phone based link and many initiatives being undertaken by different bodies but there is not as far as I know a community based group for ordinary computer users to get involved. If you have been visiting the website for while you will know that such groups have had big impacts in many areas of the UK. Visit the new page by clicking the new link on the left, you can read a copy of the email at the forum (link on new page) and also send in emails on the subject. Creating this page has meant that Useful Numbers has been amalgamated with Useful Link. 

(19.12.02) A new page has been added today, "Computer Updates". Created at the suggestion of reader Steve Green and maintained with his help, it will keep us up to date with the all the latest patches, fixes, upgrades and critical bulletins that are continually being released for our computers. It will divided into four sections, the critical update bulletins from Microsoft, driver and software updates for the installed  programs and updates to the commonest programs people have added. It will replace the updates that used to be posted in Anorak News, which will now be just for computing news and provide a better service to readers. This has replaced the Computer Review page but I think we all know them by now!

I received a nice message today from Rona Hamilton of the Scottish Executive's Digital Inclusion Unit. At the end of the email she writes "I wish you continued success with the website and forum and thank you for the valuable contribution it has made." Thanks Rona.

(17.12.02) Digital Champions are to get their traveling expenses paid, well petrol money, when they're out and about helping folk. According to friends on Lismore these can fairly add up even on a wee place like that, so it's good thing. They also tell me that once people get going with the computers demand for help is quiet high and that they tend to be contacted directly rather than via the Scottish Executive helpline as originally planned. Lismore seems to be doing very well in this area of training due to having a well run and active computer users group established before the NAIDC project even started (see story below). Thanks to my friends there for helping with this.

(16.12.02) This week is the six month anniversary of the launching of the website (cue fireworks, champagne etc) and its been marked by the highest number of visitors yet. The forum is doing well too with page views consistently up. This trend should be set to continue with NAIDC putting a link on their website and awareness of the website generally rising. Look out for new pages appearing this week and offers and promotions over the next month. Thanks to all the people who have contributed encouragement, news stories, messages on the forum and money to keep all this going!

And a big thank you to forum member Ficklejade for redeeming members ½ price ink cartridge vouchers at PC World. The price turned out to be £12.98 rather than the £17.50 I was quoted over the phone and so a bit of a bargain for cartridges with a good guarantee. They'll be distributed this week, those of you who didn't take advantage of this offer have until the end of the month to cash yours in.

(15.12.02) Schools are to have their computers and possibly peripherals connected by wireless networks. This will allow equipment to be installed and changed much more quickly, so saving time for the installer and money for Argyll and Bute Council.

Also of interest  to those working in education will be the report just published by Becta, the governments lead agency for researching technology in education. They have been running a pilot project in 50 schools across the UK on the use of digital video in schools. It's a good thing apparently, read the report by clicking HERE.

(14.12.02) "e-government" is the big thing that the our NAIDC project is a small (but important) part of. Everyone from Jack McConnell to local councillors is trumpeting its virtues (I'm quiet enthusiastic myself) There isn't a single bit of government that doesn't have a multitude of things in development that will one day bring democracy closer to the you and me. The salient words in that sentence are "one day" because at the moment the people involved in delivering e-government to us haven't grasped the most basic element of it; communication.

There is no point in having email addresses on websites if you have no mechanism for answering mail, there isn't any point in asking for ideas and contributions if they just get ignored. In my experience and in the experience of the many people that running this website has put me in contact with, this is where it all falls apart. It is not at any particular level of government that this happens, it is at all levels.I get the impression that the core problem is understaffing, websites and departments actually need people there whose job is to respond to email. Instead of hiring consultants to tell councils to sack people and outsource more work (that'll be 50 000 quid please) the Scottish Executive should be spending the money on ensuring its various projects are adequately staffed.

And Its time for everyone involved in the (e-)government project to stop dreaming of the future and to start dealing with the present. (It's now 6 weeks since Jack McConell's office promised me a response within a month).

(13.12.02) Are user groups the way forward when it comes to promoting computer use in a community? The Isle of Lismore's group has been going since well before the NAIDC project and has done a lot for users on the island and it's members have given local people a head start with their new computers. They run regular "drop in" days at the village hall so people can get advice and offer great facilities such as a digital camera for people to borrow before they buy one and have an large size scanner for community use. Formed as a sub-group of the village hall they have charitable status and so are eligible for grants and other help. Visit their website by clicking HERE and ask yourself if a your community could benefit from a similar group. I know mine could. Thanks to TW for her help. Thanks to aardvark for pointing out the faulty link and apologies to IoL for the error.

Surprised to discover that some long standing forum members were unaware that this website existed. They thought that when "the website" was referred to it meant the forum. And why shouldn't they? I'd always imagined that people would find the forum via the this website, it just goes to show that you can never predict computer use.

3 more people have posted their modem speeds since the map was published, thanks to them and keep posting them in!

(12.12.02) Hate Spam? Me too. So I've been working on a way of cutting out as much as possible before it even gets downloaded. For most people the main method of stopping spam is to block the sender but this only stops email from one address but these change every day. This method identifies the common elements in the spam you receive and filters it out. At the same time it allows through emails that are sent from legitimate sources and it doesn't involve buying software. Click the HERE and give it a try!

(11.12.02) I've put together a map of all the connection speeds that have been send in via email, forum post and speed form. It's no surprise that it reveals a sorry story of bad lines, DACS boxes and old exchanges. Very few people are connecting at over 40kbps, practically no one at over 50 and to many at 28 or less. It's also no surprise that most of the responses are from Mull, the most populace island, what is a surprise is that some islands haven't contributed a single speed even though they visit the website. Don't you care? Click HERE for the map. (thanks to those who noticed that I had moved colonsay a few miles east!)

Note: I was going to post a story about a fantastic digital camera bargain (under £30!) but it's sold out, Forum members received a bargain alert about it a few days ago, quiet a few took advantage and if you were member you could have too. So sign up!

(10.12.02) It is time we took things into our own hands and set up a community based group(s) to bring broadband to the islands. It must be obvious to anyone who has tried to contact any level of government that they are overworked and understaffed when it comes to e-government and we should not expect them to cope with the connection needs of every island. We should follow the example set by other remote regions and set up our own services and tailor them to the needs of the local population. ClickHEREfor an example of what can be done when a community gets together. Like them we don't need to be restricted to technology of the telephone (see news story below for alternatives) and like them we can do it ourselves. Over the next few days I'll be sending out email's to everyone I can think of who might be interested and together we may be able to start something. If anyone wants to get in touch with me about this use the email button above. (Thanks to forum member Dr.Zog for sending me the BBC news item about EdenFaster (click to read it), I've already emailed them for more information). 

New Guides have been added to the message board (forum), covering some commonly asked questions. What to do with those "Allow access" pop up boxes that Norton generates, how to keep your computer running smoothly with defragmenter, Image toolbar explained and best of all, how to take a picture of your computer screen and email it. The last is particularly useful if you are trying to get help with something, it's much easier to send a picture of what is happening on the screen than to try and explain it!.

The Scottish Islands Network website is up and running. The organisation hopes to address the problems that have been caused by the way that Scottish islands are divided up between many authorities and aims to give us a loud, unified voice. The website, although very new, already has some good content, a great links page and a nice, easy to use interface. You can sign up for the excellent newsletter, which has something for just about everyone (planning changes, budget info, ferries etc) and even some good things to say about this website. Click on the logo above and have a look. (This link will be added to the useful links page). ClickHERE to go the Scottish Islands website. 

Stop! Don't unstick that very sticky sticker that's stuck on the monitor and tower! One unfortunate user who picked at the Open Scotland sticker discovered that not only was it stuck on with very sticky adhesive but the word "STOP" was repeatedly printed into the adhesive itself! He was left with half removed sticker and some messy adhesive that looks like it would damage the surface if you tried to remove it. Obviously this a security device to stop people selling them before the first year is up. No doubt the glue is so hi tec that it will dissolve on the first anniversary of the installation and the sticker will just fall off of it's own accord...

The Phone survey people are back and I keep getting reports of people putting the phone down on them again, just like I did the first time they phoned round. This is understandable because it's a pretty long survey and some of the questions are quiet, well, odd. That's due in part to the Scottish Executive tacking on some "quality of life" questions onto the end of a survey about our computers. But stick with it, the NAIDC project is a pilot scheme for the rest of Scotland and the UK, they need to know how we've got on with our new computers to see what the effect on the rest of the country might be. So when they call up, ask them to wait while you get a cup of tea and then settle down to answer the questions, afterall, we're shaping the future with our answers.

The Argyllcom reference to 2000friends is proving hard to find for some, so click HERE for a direct link to the Argyllcom news page and scroll down for the paragraph about this website. There's also info on the second phase of installations and training on the same page. The most significant items are that the second and last phase of installations is well under way (they've done Mull and will be on Lismore next week) and that they're no longer taking applications for computers. Can't say they didn't give people long enough to register though...

(07.12.02) Argyllcom update: Ahead of the launch of the Agyllcom portal there's been an update to the existing website. They've added to the front page, including a nice picture of a computer user from Lismore and some words about the launch. What's really exciting for me is that for the first time there is a link to and a paragraph, about, this website!  Click on the image to visit the website and then click on "Latest project information" and scroll down for the piece on your favourite website (what do you mean, it's not your favourite website...). Click HERE for the Argyllcom website.

Broadband News (Oh no, not again! Yes, again!): Oftel have published a report benchmarking (comparing) the performance of various western countries, including the UK's, roll out of broadband. In amongst the dense forest of statistics is a very interesting section that outlines the alternatives to a telephone based internet connection. As Councillor Ian Gillies said "broadband is essential if we are going to attract new businesses to the islands", one of these technologies could be the thing that breaks the log jam caused by our remoteness and the smallness of our exchanges. Read all about it HERE.

Potential mentors and tutors attended a meeting at the  Dunstaffnage branch of Argyll College (AC). 17 people from Lismore and Seil were given a chance to look over the course work, the CD based "IT for All", the BBC's "Webwise" and Surf Direct. AC has updated some of it's own course work, including "New to Computers" and  "Keyboard Skills", which will be available in PDF format. (Click on thumbnail for a larger picture of people looking at computers, thanks to SG for the shot) Click HERE for picture.

I'm struck by the large number of people at the Dunstaffnange meeting, there are only going to be about 7 computers in the two locations. So either there's going to be an awful lot of help for the students or mentors are going to have the work spread out quiet thinly. Edited 7.45p.m. the four people who got the laptops are part of the NAIDC digital champion set up, sorry for the error.

Remember the phone survey of a few months ago? Well they're carrying out the second round of calls and much to my surprise this website forms part of one of the questions! "Which online help services have you used since you got your computer, PCW, Scottish Exec helpline, NAIDC or 2000friends?" To be honest I don't expect to come to high in that league table, whereas the other three alternatives have their contact details bundled with the computers or its attendent publicity, I have not been allowed to publicise the website outside the immediate area. This means that even the Oban Times is out of bounds to me. Despite the information here and at the forum reaches a large audience and everyday I am doing my best to answer enquiries from members helping out neighbors. If you get surveyed remember the website!

(05.12.02) Today's Oban Times reported another paedophile conviction in Oban, a timely reminder that these people are not as far away as we might imagine. When Scotland Yard investigated 7000 online paedophiles as a result of an FBI tip off recently, they admitted that they just didn't have the resources to cope with the number of online offenders. If you haven't done so already, I urge you to read the "Protect your kids online" page on this website (the link is on the left), it has links to other websites and to step by step guides to keeping unsuitable web content off your computer and advice for safer surfing for children.

Thinking of buying a Playstation 2 for Christmas? Maybe you should think again, I heard that they will be releasing Playstation3 in Japan in the new year. Not only is it a far superior machine according to all press reports but its release will lead to the cost of a PS2 dropping through the floor. So save yourself a bob or two and by yourself a graphics card to tide yourself over. Click HERE for the Buyers Club for advice on buying a graphics card for under £50.

Correction: The Belkin UPS unit seems to have been left out of the latest Argos catalogue.

I don't know why I wanted to see this, I just did, it's the place that Argyllcom actually "lives". If, like me, you were brought up on movies with huge computers in serried ranks of gleeming aluminum, all tape reels and men in white coats, then this might be a bit disappointing. However if you are as technically minded as some people I know, then you'll recognise the half size boxes as UPS units (see below) and a lot of Compaq Proliant server units around. For the rest of us I've marked the box which actually holds Argyllcom. The whole thing is in a secret location though, in a hollowed out mountain I think...(thanks to the non-smoking man for his help with this...)

The UPS units are of some interest even to the non-technical, it stands for Uninterruptible Power Supply and is a good protection against our dodgy mains electricity. They will protect you against real surges and outages as well as back up data and keep a computer running for a while after a blackout. Argos sells a basic unit by Belkin for £60 (they're not the sort of thing you by over the internet because they're so heavy).Click for picture HERE. 

(03.11.02) A Report from the European Union highlights BTs failure to free up the Local Loop (local exchanges and lines) so that competitors can access them to install broadband. According to today's FT and the Register, the UK, Spain and Germany are marked out as particularly bad examples of how to open up the market. The UK has only allowed access to 150 exchanges so far.

I used to think that broadband was a bit of a red herring and that the real issue was basic connections but having talked to many people about this I now think that broadband and the freeing of the local loop maybe the key to improving everyones phone line. It will never be economic for a business to start installing broadband and upgrading our exchanges but we could. If an island was to set up a charity and then a company limited by guarantee for the purpose it could then take over and upgrade its own exchange(s) and lines. There is a lot of grant money out there and this would be a very suitable candidate for assistance. It's a thought! Read the Register story HERE and the FTs HERE (hope that last one works!).

(02.12.02)The first screenshot is up, click on the thumbnail for the larger version. This is just the "beta" or test version of the front page, there isn't really a new harbour planned (!) but the main elements are there. Across the top of the page are the links to the various sections of the website and down the side are links to sections devoted to each of the NAIDC islands. You'll notice a link for the Digital Community, this will lead to a password protected section with specific facilities for the beneficiaries of the NAIDC scheme. There are more pages available and I might publish more screenshots but they are basically variations on this one. The screenshot is 1/4 page because so many are on poor connections, apologies to those on good ones for the quality.

(01.12.02) NAIDC regards all the beneficiaries of the computer scheme to be students, which is true enough, we're all having to study hard to get to grips with darn things. They are also trying to get Microsoft to recognise us a such, which would bring significant benefits. Students are entitled to big discounts on software which would save those who want to get more from their PCs and the internet a lot of money. Learning to run a business with a computer for instance takes a lot of time and money, discounted software would make a big difference to a small business.

The 2000friends forum may become the official help forum for the Argyllcom users and this website could also be supplying content to the portal itself. Like other people and websites that supply content, the website will retain it's independence while gaining a much wider audience. NAIDC seem happy with editorial policies and with the tone of the forum, which has always been friendly and civil. I hope that access to more technical resources will mean the forum can provide a better service and be able to reach even more people than it does already. Have your say about this and anything else Argyllcom in the forum thread HEREI'm the screenshots and photo's of Argyllcom will have to wait until a later date due to technical difficulties, sorry.

(30.11.02) Argyllcom could be launching it's first pages as early as next weekend. So if you want to have some input you should start posting now, post in thread on the forum HERE or if you are not a member, email me. Argyllcom will be our website and this is our chance to shape it. Tell everyone what you want from it and what you think you can contribute!

Argyllcom may be offering "merchant services" to people hosting their websites on the portals server, giving even the smallest shop or hotel the opportunity to have a real web presence. The ability to take payment over the internet via credit or switch card will help spread the very seasonal incomes of many businesses and help them to compete with mainland rivals. Coupled with easy online web creation this could be a very attractive option for many people.

Telephone connections were an inevitable topic discussion, I making the point that most people weren't interested in broadband and just wanted a decent normal one with 24/7 access (a point backed up by the Governments advisors the Broadband Stakeholders Group). They said that pressure was being brought to bear on BT by all levels of government on this issue but they also made the point that if the islands hoped to attract new businesses then broadband was essential and that this was why they were investigating all methods of delivering it. Its a fair point. More on Argyllcom tomorrow. 

(29.11.02) The Argyllcom web portal is in its final stages of preparation and is anticipated to launch in first two weeks of December. I got a first look at it at a meeting in Helensburgh today in a presentation to prospective content providers. The site will attempt to bring together the various strands of the Digital Communities project and provide direct access for the local computer users to edit their own pages on it. This will done through an online webpage creator (MS GMS 2002) which is like a simplified version of Word. This means that no knowledge at all of html will be necessary and people will need only minimal training before contributing.

Those running existing websites will be offered the opportunity to move it to the new server in Helensburgh where it will be hosted for free for the forseeable future. They will be able to retain their current format or become a fully intergrated part of the portal if they wish.

One of the many services offered by the portal will be a comprehensive news service featuring items from each island. The News providers will add content to their "local" page and an editor will decide which news stories are highlighted on the front.

NAIDC and Unitech (who have provided the technology) hope to create a one stop shop for computer users that will act as both enabler to communities and sort of virtual "yellow pages" for Council and commercial services in the area. Why not email me via the button above and tell me what you would like to see there, this will be our website after all. More on this over the weekend including screenshots of the portal and pictures of the actual server (assuming my camera is working).

(28.11.02) Ever wondered what that odd silver button at the top of screen does or have you just got rid of it? Find out just how useful this button can be by reading the new guide to it, people who work with multiple documents and media will find it especially interesting but everyone will find some use for this versatile little utility. Read about the basics of Microsoft Portfolio by clicking HERE.

Fridays update will be as late as todays is early because I'm off to Helensburgh to meet with the people involved in running the Digital Community projects.

(27.11.02) Argyll College will be holding their Seil Isle classes for new computer users in a hotel. Four machines will be installed for the purpose and I imagine the venue will help boost attendance. I often feel like a drink after session wrangling with comp! Thanks to M for this.

Memory Prices are at their lowest for some time. Crucial, of whom I'm an affiliate, are selling 256 mb of RAM for under £20, the same amount was over £30 only a short time ago! I should say that I have a small financial interest in people buying through the Crucial advert at the forum but not in telling when to buy cheap. In fact if you could wait until prices go up again before buying....

More people are reporting disconnections with version 5 of Microsoft Messenger. I haven't found anything on the web about this so it's hard to say what the cause is, it maybe that we're amongst the first to spot the problem. Fortunately (for you) the webcam problem seems to be personal, thanks to those who have contacted me about it).

(26.11.02) A new version of Microsoft Messenger is available and little pop ups are appearing in the corners of users screens urging us to update. I've had reports of error messages and unexpected disconnections from the few people who have used the new version and it may be worth waiting until what is causing these before updating yours. If you have version 4.7 I'd stick with it, I am. Also I have been unable to video conference with anyone for sometime, everything checks out at my end, there's just no picture. If you use the video facility please email me via the News button with your experiences or if you are a forum member post in the thread in the Internet section.

Analysts are predicting a bumper Christmas for online retailers with spending predicted to top £2.6 billion! The UK has 15 million e-shoppers and the highest browse/buy rate in the world. With more and more people realising that using a credit card online is actually safer than in a city restaurant this trend will only continue. The basic rule for shoppers is only to use reputable online shops and to make sure they have a secure trading certificate, keep a record of all transaction and remember that you have the same rights online as you do shopping on the high street if you use a UK online shop.

(25.11.02) A government report has backed the introduction of wireless broadband to help rural areas to get access to the internet. The Broadband Stakeholders Group has called for unused frequencies to be sold off so that they could utilised by commercial operators. This is of interest to us partly because NAIDC are looking into mobile phones as a means of connecting and partly because if the idea reached fruition it would let BT off the hook when it comes to providing us all with decent connections.

Because that is the real issue. Broadband maybe of interest to a minority of online game players and people like me who run websites and transfer large amounts of data but most NAIDC users just need a decent phone line. The difference between connecting at 30k and 50 is enormous, at the lower speed the internet just doesn't work as it should, at the higher, a world of possibilities open up. One only has to read the threads on speed of connection at the forum to know which is of more importance. Broadband is a distraction from the real issue for rural areas, we have whole islands who are suffering from 2nd rate phonelines!  Go HERE for the full BBC online story.

Appeal for information. I have written in the past that one of the things to bear in mind when upgrading a computer is the fact that PC World will replace a faulty computer rather than repair it on the spot. One is unlikely to get the old one back. I have been told this on several occasions by the helpline engineers but does anyone know of this actually happening? I would be very grateful to anyone who knows of specific instances of people losing their computers like this and sends me the details via the big blue button above. Also email me if you have any other news or issues you would like raised, these pages do get read by the people who make the decisions!

Apologies for the lack of an update yesterday, for the first time in 5 months my server was unavailable for most of the evening, by the time it was back online it didn't seem worth posting anything. These hiatuses occur with every website at sometime but I'm really sorry it was on Sunday, the most popular day for visitors!

Forum News: The occasional but very annoying problems that some members have suffered logging in have been addressed by the forum hosts ezboard. There was also a glitch last week, which they didn't tell me about, with new registrations not receiving validation emails which has been sorted out. Which is good news I suppose. However if these occasional problems continue I will move the forum to another host, which I don't want to do because in every other respect they provide an excellent service.

A directory of members addresses has been launched today in after a forum poll got a near 100% vote in favour of having one. It gets round the main problem with internet based indexes because it is invisible to both the web-bots that collect addresses from web pages and to people who don't have the password to access it. To join the directory you must first join the forum, you'll find links to it and help registering on the left and on the home page of this website.

A number of forum guides have been added or updated. The new ones include guides to Outlook Express, describing how to configure it to your taste and how to change the text in an email etc and what the main elements of the Internet Explorer window are. The new ones have screenshots to make them easier to understand, check them out even if you are an experienced computer user, I was surprised what I learned when I wrote them! Click HERE to see the complete list of guides and how 2s. 

(22.11.02) NAIDC has completed the negotiations for the installation of the public access computers in eleven of the islands primary schools, which must be most of them I suppose. These will be available for public classes and the first place to see them will be Lismore in about a fortnight or so. It will be the first time that Windows based computers have been seen in our schools as they have all had Macintosh based systems up until now. Clarification: By "public access" I mean accessable by NAIDC users for the the classes, not the by the general public, sorry for any confusion. 

One of the hazards of running a website is getting abusive messages in the email. This week has seen people posting from as far away as Australia. Still I suppose it keeps them off the streets.

(20.11.02) The Norton Anti-Virus Expiry date (news passim) issue is being addressed NAIDC and PCW. The issue of our subscriptions to Norton Antivirus updates expiring some months before the the first anniversary of the computers being delivered has concerned me for some time. The computers were all "imaged" from the same discs while they were still at the PCW workshops back in July and this is the date the free protection ends. Resolving it must be an interesting problem to overcome and I look forward to finding out how they do it.

It seems that some people who had a phone installed for them by NAIDC to enable them to connect to the internet may have been using them to do more than just call the the helpline and connect to freeserve. It must be very tempting to do so with phone just sitting there but they will be liable for the bill when NAIDC find out (which they will)! Not only the cost of the calls but also the installation fee and the monthly rental. So don't be tempted if you got one of the phones, they will prosecute if necessary.

I've had enquiries regarding BT's progress with installing and upgrading telephone lines.  BT have so far installed or upgraded 124 homes, which is pretty good going but there are technical problems with 25 addresses. NAIDC are "encouraging" BT to get on with these as soon asd possible but are also looking at alternative solutions. One of which is the provision of mobile phones with internet capabilities but this will only be available in homes with a strong Vodaphone signal and it is still in the research stage. People who are concerned with the quality of their connection or have issues concerning DACS boxes etc should contact BT themselves and post their connection speed to me via the Help the DC page.

NAIDC and PC World are negotiating with Microsoft to for PCW to get a bulk delivery of XP update discs, which will then be sent out to individual households. This has long been a topic for this website and forum and is a very good move should it prove fruitful. I can stop going on about them for a start!

Home Secretary David Blunket announced changes to the laws on sexual offenses today. A new offense of "grooming" has been created carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years. Grooming is where an adult seduces, over time, a child with the view of committing a sexual offense. What is of particular interest to us is that this covers contacts made through internet chatrooms. In the words of the BBC News Online correspondent Peter Gould "children flock to these", of even more interest is his statement "The instructions to children are clear: never give out an address or phone number, the name of your school, or anything else that might identify you." Regular readers of this website will know that this has long been a matter of concern to it and the forum members. If you have children I urge you to click HERE and find out how to protect your children and why it is of particular importance to you. Click HERE for the full BBC story and HERE for the piece on grooming. Thanks to sgegreen for spotting that one of the links was broken, apologies to those who clicked to no avail.

Tony Blair has announced that every school in the UK will get a broadband connection! This will make a huge difference to many of us with NAIDC intent on installing public access computers in the schools for training purposes. The scheme will have a budget of £1 billion and take three years (so maybe a bit of a wait as they'll start in a deprived areas like Knightsbridge). As none of our exchanges are set up for Broadband it means the schools will have satelite access, unless BT really improves things dramatically. Many people might feel they should prioritize normal connections as some people locally are at only 14k (really) and getting a decent phoneline with a 50k connection would be like getting broadband for them. Read the whole BBC story HERE Thanks to forum member Dr.Zog for drawing this to my attention,

Computers seem to be crashing more often than expected, everyone I talk says so. From what I can gather around 10% of users have experienced serious problems and thats while a good many computers are still not in use. I thought from correspondence on the forum that a common cause might be people not having the latest version of Norton updater, you only get the updater if you manually download update the program. The resulting problems can usually be fixed by using a restore point and getting the update. However the ever helpful people on the helpline say that it's the people not installing XP Service pack1 that leads to the really serious problems and a complete system reinstall from disc.

So you need to get the Service pack now. There is a guide to updating HERE. There's also a guide to Norton and how to use a restore point to get your computer working again. There isn't a guide to doing a full system restore, you should call the helpline and they will talk you through it. Thanks to the help desk for their assistance with this.

(17.11.02) The UK is "Sleepwalking towards a broadband monopoly" according the think tank DEMOS. "Oh no it's not" (I paraphrase) says #10 spokesman Ed Richards. The argument revolves around BT's ownership of the local exchanges, known as the local loop, which gives them effective control over broadband (bb) pricing. In Demos's view they should be put into the hands of a non-profit making body. The government counters that, while the UK has a much lower number of bb subscribers, they have a much wider choice of supplier.

What's this got to do with us? Well phone connections are of vital interest to the islands economies and the success of the NAIDC project. It is hard to see the present situation continuing far into the future and harder to see how change would benefit us. While it may be viable for a private company to upgrade the exchanges of small towns like Oban, it will never be so for our small ones. At the same time the current unified pricing policy that we benefit from would be unlikely to continue if BT no longer controlled the loop. So how should we approach the change that is bound to happen and which side of the argument should our politicians lobby for? I think there is a way forward that would benefit us but what do you think? Have your say in the forum

.(16.11.02) Help cure cancer on your PC by doing nothing! All you have to do is download a small program from United Devices, use it as a screen saver and every time it runs it will process a small chunk of research data. When it's finished it sends it back to base and downloads another bit. This allows the researchers to farm out work that would otherwise require the purchase of a very expensive computer. Click HERE to get the program. Just make sure you run it as a screen saver and it won't use up resources while you work. I know this isn't strictly a news story but I really like this project and it's a slow day!

(15.11.02) The 1000th message was posted on the forum today by peabody. Sadly it wasn't one of great joy but then the forum is there to post problems. There were times when I didn't think it would make a hundred...thanks to all who have posted and made it all worthwhile.

Argyll & Bute Council on live TV? Yes really! Well sort of. They are the first Scottish Council to be part of the project to broadcast all council meeting across the UK and although the system is still in it's testing phase you can visit the website by clicking HERE . If you click on "Live Broadcast" next to the realplayer logo you can watch the Highland & Islands Convention introduced by Jack McConnell. The broadcast takes a while to load but once it does, works much better than a lot of streaming video I've seen and if you lose picture the sound carries on. The system seems to be in it's beta stage (final testing) to me but is showing great potential. Sadly the "Live" broadcast is actually archived from two weeks ago, I don't know whether it was actually broadcast or not. Big Thanks to forum member sgegreen for drawing the website to my attention.

Also a thanks go to Dr.Zog for spotting that Office service pack2 is available from the same page as service pack1 (see next story). Not only that but he points out that you can order 5 at a time. We'd soon get everyone updated at that rate! Where this news section would be without the forum members I dread to think...

(14.11.02) My free XP service pack 1 disc arrived today* from Microsoft after a months wait. I know I go on about this a lot but hardly anyone has installed the updates, yet everyone complains about having a glitchy computer. The service pack will cure of lot of these minor problems and also patch a lot of security holes. Best of all you can get rid of those irritating messages asking you to allow programs access to the internet! Get your free disc by clicking HERE AND you can also get the Office service packs (which stops another annoying message) by clicking HERE. All you have to do is fill in your name and address and they will send them to you absolutely free, you don't even pay p&p. They may take four weeks to arrive but you've had the computer ages now and not downloaded them, so what's another four weeks? This has been a 2000friends public service nag.

 *By curious coincidence so did that of another forum member who ordered later than me. I wonder if they do them in batches to cut costs

(13.11.02) Those lucky enough to live on the Ross of Mull will have to opportunity to attend a class on digital photography at the Columba Center, Fionnphort. The class will be held on Saturday the 7th of December between 2 and 6pm, will cost £5.04 (bargain!) and will be taken by James Westland. The course has been organised by Trish Haworth, wearing her Community Education hat and is a response to the meeting she held only last week, which seems amazingly efficient to me. You can contact her for more details on 01681 705582. Thanks to Trish for sending me the details, if you would like something to appear on the website just email the details using the big blue button above.

My apologies to Argyll College for inaccuracies in the item about tutors and mentors and for any inconvenience caused, it has been deleted.

Received an odd story from someone who had their computer installed while they were a away and friend was house sitting. When they returned they found they were unable to connect to the net and called the helpline on that had been added to the top of the installation sheet. After four calls and lots of changing of numbers etc they got connected. Then the phone bill came - £20! Although the line had announced that it was a 50p a minute line it is still a bit of shock when you see those minutes totted up and  the real question is why the engineer added the number in the first place when the excellent Scottish Executive one is just a local rate. To cap it all they were also one of the unlucky few who's computer arrived with wrong Logitech disc and so the camera wasn't installed! I'd just like to point out that this is only worth mentioning because the vast majority of the installations went so well.

(11.11.02)Two more guides added, setting up "user accounts", which allows you to personalise the computer for individual users and enabling "Content Advisor", which controls what websites can be visited and will be very useful for parents. See them and all the others by clicking HERE.

The Forum seems to have made significant progress in the last couple of weeks, whereas it used to be just me answering questions, now more members are posting replies to things that come up. This is partly due to the increasing membership and partly because some new members have real expertise in certain areas. Others are able to help out because people are posting problems that they have found solutions to, which is just what I hoped for when I created it. Thanks to all those who have contributed!

For people who find the process of registering a bit of a hassle a new way has been added. Just go to the "Easy Form" page on this website, fill in a few details, click send and the whole thing will be taken care of for you! If you know someone who might benefit from forum membership why not take a look at the page and email them the link (instructions on the page)?

(10.11.02) More Guides (I used to call them "Lessons" but thought it a bit pretentious) have been added and an index to make them easier to find. The new guides are; Norton Antivirus explained, how to open an email attachment safely, Updates, what they are and where to get them and adjusting your monitor for brightness (etc). The full list can be seen HERE with the new additions at the top. More is to come, the next addition are connected guides to setting up user accounts and configuring "Content Controls", which stop children visiting unsuitable websites. I just need to iron out a few details

.(09.11.02) Some people have contacted me pointing out that the computers that the Argyll College will be using for it's classes run on Win2000 rather than XP. This is true but they have come up with a rather clever way of getting round the problem. XP is based on Win2000 and by clicking on a desktop icon the computers will mimic XP in appearance and behavior, so the students will be able to learn XP without Argyll College having to upgrading it's computers. Even more cleverly this is the way this is achieved, via an internet download rather than an engineer going round all the centers.

Mentors and tutors piece deleted due inaccuracies.

(06.11.02) The computer classes are almost sorted out, the course material for beginners is being proof read at this very moment. Basically there are two sets of courses, one lot are part of the normal evening class schedule and the other designed to introduce the new computer users to their computers. Confusingly ( for me, writing thisanyway) they are both run by Argyll College, who already run many courses in computing and some of their centers have courses available now. To find out more and to contact your local AC representative click HERE to visit their website. More on the courses, tutors & mentors tomorrow.

.The normal evening class season is upon us as well and if you live on the Ross of Mull and would like to have a class in run on something in particular, go to the Heritage Center in Fionnphort this Friday. Trish Haworth is holding a meeting and waiting to hear from you what you want. If you can't attend in person you can email her by clicking on the button above.Trish Haworth also works for Argyll College.  Email Trish by clicking HERE

(05.11.02) FORUM ADS banished from whence they came thanks to a donation from the Kinloch Hotel! (click link for webcam) I promise they will never, ever, appear again.

(4.11.02) FORUM ADVERTS: I'm very sorry to say that the forum ads have reappeared on the pages of the forum, I regret even more the content of some of the ads. Consequently I've disabled the links on this site that would give a new user access to them. The ads are due to a shortage of funds to cover hosting fees and they will disappear as soon as they are paid, which will be this week. My apologies for the inconvenience.

There appears to be a hole in the Parental Controls big enough to drive a truck load of porn through. You set up the controls, then do a search on any search engine and many of the dodgy sites it finds are accessible. And you don't have to be trying to find porn to turn up websites containing it, something as innocent as "I luv bambi" will find some surprising results. I would be calling this an "Alert" but I know of hardly anyone who has actually enabled the controls. In my opinion Norton Internet Security, with it's reliance on excluding a list of URLs which take forever to download, was a poor choice of filtering software given the nature of the users and the poor connections they are often on. I suggest that concerned parents use the content controls in Internet Explorer (I'll post instructions at the forum tonight) in conjunction with Norton to give some protection to their children.

(03.11.02) Internet or online banking has seen a sharp rise since the installation of the new computers. The Clydesdale Bank is reporting an increase of 17%, which when you consider how few of the new computers are actually being used this is quite amazing. Look out for a feature on online banking in the near future.

Microsoft have released a cumulative update for Outlook Express for those people who have downloaded XP Service Pack 1 (and if you haven't, why?). The update includes all the security patches for OE and  fixes for some of the annoying glitches that can occur after applying SP1. Click HERE to download the OE update and HERE for XP Service Pack 1. Look out for a guide to these updates soon! Thanks to forum member sgegreen for the OE update tip!

(01.11.02) Gerry Wilson had some encouraging words to say about the website in this months issue of Mulls excellent free newspaper Round & About. Gerry runs A&B's IT department, I think and is on the NAIDC management committee, so it is a valuable endorsement. Not as valuable as cash but welcome none the less. He had quiet a lot of interesting things to say, including a word about the email addresses that Argyllcom will be offering, I'd get hold of a copy if you can. I may well be writing more about that and other aspects of the article in the future. 

Worlds first ever online free disc! Contains the complete 2000friends archive and more! (Only one per computer, no replacements possible, this website is not responsible for any damage to screen caused by the discs removal) This refers to cartoon that is now in the archive. It was very funny.

(01.11.02) Argyllcoms launch has been put back to Christmas apparently, which is good because this website may be taking a holiday (I should be so lucky). In the meantime check the scrolling banner what I made at the forum , I'm very proud of it (look, it's been a slow day,OK?). I

The Mull & Iona Community Trust (MICT) newsletter contains an appeal for everyone to register for broadband internet access, which this website heartily endorses. There is no prospect of our exchanges being updated unless substantial numbers do so and it would transform the economy of the island if it was available as teleworking would become a practical proposition. It needs as many as possible to register their desire for it though click HERE to do so. Go on, click and register, go on go on go on....

There is an alternative to broadband, it's not as fast but it would significantly improve everyones connection and bring many of the benefits of broadband and it's available now. ISDN is a 128k connection which employs two digital lines from a conventional exchange. To find out more click HERE.

(29.10.02) A hoax email has turned up in the community and some of you may receive a copy over the next few days. It claims to be a warning of an undetectable virus and instructs you how to search for and delete a particular file, it then goes on to urge you to blind carbon copy the email to everyone in your address book. You will find the file, it's part of your Java system and deleting it will cause some programs not to run, the file isn't the virus, the email is and I warned you about it three days ago in 'Tech News. Read the full email by clicking HERE, the page includes a link to the official Microsoft response page with instructions on what to do if you were taken in. Blowing my own trumpet this is just another thing that has appeared here before it struck the community or appeared in the national news, tell your friends - if they want to be ahead of the game like you are - they should visit this website regularly!

Sunday has turned out to be a quiet day for news but as I was transferring my old emails into my new computer I noticed that it's exactly eight months since I first wrote to NAIDC about the possibility of setting a website. When I first suggested the idea I knew nothing about how to do all this, I just knew it was a good idea and that changes to the technology had made website creation a lot easier. Well I was half right, you can read the email and more detail by clicking HERE.Fed up with getting your hotmail from the web? Well that's why I don't use it anyway - until now! Now with XP you can use it like your normal email account, sending and receiving from your PC without ever going to the website. So you can have all the security of an online email account without any of the hassle (see "Protect your kids online" for why this is a good thing). Find out how HERE.

There's an anti-war-with-Iraq petition circulating on the internet (never see a pro-war petition do you?) and it's washing up in some local inboxes. Don't bother signing it, it's not a scam, just a really badly thought out idea. It has got the protocol for email petitions wrong but more to the point it makes a false claim, the UN is not running the petition, as their website reveals. This isn't a malicious scam (see tech news for one of those) but you should always treat these things with caution, even if they come from a friend.

Free headset and microphone can be had from this months Computer Buyer magazine, it's part of a tie-in with the ViaVoice program on the cover disc. All you have to contribute is £2.50 p&p! This tip is from a new thread in the "General Discussion" section of the Forum, check it for info on magazines worth buying this month!

Fancy a chat? Well join the forum and join in at the new chatroom! Just click on the link at the forum and talk to whoever is about, a great way to get help or just to natter. You can get on with other things as you take part and there's no software to download. Also at the forum are new smilieys, cool ways to use text and of course, personal icons. Don't wait until you just bump into someone who can help you with your computer come to the one place where there's always help available!

Evening classes are so well subscribed that the answer phone message machine is full! Well the number on my poster anyway. This could be because German Sweet making is very popular or because everyone's signing up to learn about computers.

Argyllcom.net is back online and the same as ever, I think it'll be up and running on October 24th...

Another new page added, this time offering some basic tips for protecting your children online. Theres more to it than just updating your anti-virus program you know!

(19.10.02)A new page has been added! It's a basic guide to upgrading your computer and provides answers to the commonest questions, as well as making a some recommendations on where to start. Given the volatile nature of the component market it will update regularly.

Has anyone heard from NAIDC recently? There website is supposed to launch this week and it's apparently going to link to this one but I've heard nothing. I can't ask them myself because they've asked me to stop contacting them with questions because they're just so busy to answer(poor dears, it's 2 months since they agreed funding for this website and email do take a long time to write). If anyone has any info email me!

(18.10.02) Thanks to the extra space I've now got I'm able to offer forum users a user icon to next to their names when they post. Won't mean much to you but it all adds to the fun!

Other additions to the website are being worked on and will appear over the weekend, starting with a keyboard guide, which is actually there as a sub-page of computer tips but isn't finished yet.

Website Expansion! I'm happy to announce that this website has found the funds to expand! The changes won't be obvious at first but over time there'll be more content, more services and a general improvements all round. The first new pages will start appearing over the weekend, so keep checking in. A big thank to all those who have actually contributed to the website over it's brief but eventful life so far!

(16.10.02) What happens to all our documents, email addresses, pictures and updates when something goes wrong with the computer? I was advised when asking about upgrading the system that the only risk was that the item would have to be removed if the tower had to be replaced. Well fair enough, it was only some memory, I can take it out but what about all the stuff I mentioned above? Because they don't have any accredited engineers they can only take it away and replace it, this has already happened to some people. They don't give you the old one back when it's fixed so you lose all your work. You could fit a CD-RW so you could back it all up except that you'd lose that too!

What was once a cult is now a hit! Once upon a time this website was happy to get 5 hits in a day and most of them were probably me, now it's reaching many, many more and it won't be to long before weekly hits are into the thousands. The forum, which sometimes looks like a conversation between me and a few NAIDC members has access into five figures, people still aren't posting their own messages but they are using it as a source of information. Obviously I wish a few more would post regularly but it's good to know it's doing good!

(14.10.02)Get your free 2000friends email address TODAY! You may just want to have a totally wonderful email address or you maybe worried about having an email address that looks just like your homes actual address (and you should be), whatever the reason, just click the "Email News" button and ask for a FREE 2000friends email addy (as the young folk say)! It will open an email box, just put "I got a free computer from NAIDC" in the message and send you your new addy within 24 hrs. There's no catch, it won't passed on to advertisers, I can't read your emails.

Why am I doing this for free? Well, I've been concerned for sometime about the way that many of our email addresses are formatted, Name@address.fsnet.co.uk is just not a good thing to put on your emails or messenger. No need for anyone to ask your children where they live, they just need to get their email address.  Also I am giving members of the forum the opportunity of adding an auto-response to all emails to the address and for £5 per annum 3 extra email addresses, each with it's own auto-response, ideal for businesses or people running groups. For an extra £2p.a. emails are pre-scanned for viruses. See Forum for full details or email me! 

And, and (can there be anymore?) ALL emails are scanned for viruses BEFORE they reach you! GET YOURS NOW!

Messenger is one of the real highlights of the new computers but how many of you actually use it? If you don't you won't be using that webcam either and think it'll take to long to set up. But it doesn't take any time to set up, as soon as you sign up for messenger you can start using the camera, all you do to start a speech/video conversation is start a text conversation, then click "start camera"! It's really that easy. Signing up for messenger is very quick, there aren't any long forms to fill out or anything, just click on the icon of the little people in the bottom right of the screen and away you go! This sounds like an ad, it's not, I just love messenger.

Was Norton Internet Security the best choice when it comes to protecting the community's children. I can see why it was chosen, it's an excellent program, easy to configure and effective but I haven't met anyone who actually uses it and I know plenty who worry about their children on the internet.n It seems to me that there's two main problems. One parents don't know how to set it up in the first place, it should have been enabled when they were installed in my opinion and secondly if they were the weekly update is too big for most peoples internet connection to cope with. An easy but poor substitute is to click on Tools" in Internet Explorer, then on "Internet Options", then on the "Content" tab and choose a level of content allowed on the computer. It's not as good as a proper set of controls but it's better than nothing.

The XP service pack is also available from WH Smiths in Oban on the December edition of XP Magazine. Although not free as the mag's £4.99 you do a get the magazine and some people hate putting anything on the internet at all. Give Smiths a ring and reserve a copy, they'll take Switch etc over the phone and are very friendly. I really recommend everyone has hasn't updated to do this, it's saves hours downloading and really improves the performance of the computer.

(10.10.02)XP Service Pack is available FREE & ON DISC from HERE! The XP service pack is as essential as XPs continual demands to access the internet are annoying. Getting it cuts down on the Norton screen popping up when you're online, the pack sorts out a lot of XP problems, closes some security loop holes and is generally a good thing. MS will send it to you for nothing, not even p&p, which is just fantastic because it's a 134mb downnload! Do you think you should have had to wait for me to tell you this? Me niether. (Thanks to L for the tip)

I'm happy to announce that the website and forum have become affiliates to Crucial Technology! This is the first paid for advert I've carried and I'm well chuffed it's for such a good product. I used them when I added 256mb of memory and was very impressed. It only cost £24.55 (inc VAT+P&P) and arrived Monday having been ordered on Saturday! It's made a huge difference to the performance of the computer. Crucial have a system that selects exactly the right memory for your computer and guarantees its performance. Of course you are responsible for installation, so you may want to get a professional to do it for you. You can see the ad at the FORUM, they don't make just anybody an affiliate you know...

(09.10.02) In the national news this morning a sad tale of people being caught out after being caught out by an email scam. If you have been a regular reader of this website you will know all about it already because I carried the story about 6 weeks ago. The scam involves people being persuaded that a large sum of money is stuck in a bank account and all they need to do to get a cut of it is front the admin fees. The scammers even set up a fake website that looks just like the Bank Of S.A to convince people.

This has prompted me to write a piece on the forum listing the most common cons you'll get in your email or find on the net, read it HERE and be ahead of the game!

( 07.10.02) A quiet news day today but a nice thank you from Ian Gillies to those people who contributed to the "wrong number" story, Paul Cairns has forwarded the information to PC Business. Keep an eye on those phone bills but don't let it stop using your computer! It's very unlikely that you have been effected and PC B will compensate you if you are. (See below for details on how to check whether there's a problem.)

(06.10.02) Free Money! Grants of up to £1800 are available for the setting up of community based websites to anyone over the age of 13(!). The money comes from the Millennium Commission and is aimed at people who want to set up non-profit making projects that help others. It is for new projects only, so is of no use to me (sniff!) but may help you. Find further details inTHIS  section of the forum. I have application forms and guides which I'll be happy to forward to you, email me by clicking HERE.

You may not be eligible for a grant but still want to set up some sort of website. There are already things freely available to you with your Freeserve account. To help you choose what's best and to provide some pointers on how to get started I've created a new section in the forum. It will cover the basics, give examples and (hopefully) answer any questions you might have. Anyone can read it but only forum members can post questions (so join!). Click HERE  to go there.  

Virus alert has been moved to 'Tec News because, although it's all over the national news today (3rd), this website posted the story yesterday and so it's old hat for regular visitors. Incidentally this is the fastest spreading virus I can remember in my five years on the net.

Sat 5th Oct No new reports of wrong connections today but some new points to consider. Remember that the installers use a pay number to set up the system, this will appear on your phone as about £1-2. Some people have added their old ISPs to their dial-up connections, make sure this isn't the source of the problem (it's completely unnecessary anyway, you can get all your mail using the freeserve one) and freeserve contact customers if they notice that they are connecting to the wrong number after two weeks of the problem surfacing. Still check the connection though it's easy and saves worry. (Thanks to James, Gavin and Gazzumped with all this).

Fri 4th Sadly there have been more reports of the computers connecting to the wrong connection from Salen, still not a lot of computers but you should check that connection if you haven't done so yet! 

Thurs 3rd Connection update: Ian Gillies responded with his usual alacrity and tells me there have only been four cases reported so far. The engineers use an 0845 number to set the system up and this should be deleted when they've done so. PCB will assume recompense anyone affected so there should be no losers in the end. I hope there are only four cases but I think we should check our connections anyway and keep PCB's bill down. It should be pointed out that this is a very rare glitch in an otherwise very successful process. Did you know that some companies failure rate is 15%? Sort of puts thing in perspective. Thanks to all who helped with this story.  

(3.10.02)Check your connection number NOW! I've received reports of at least four people who have been connecting to the Freeserve "No Ties" number, at local rates, rather than the free "Anytime" number. At least one has had surprisingly high phone bill and a couple are not using the computer at all until someone puts it right. The problem seems to center on the IE desktop shortcut that leads to the Argyllcom website, when this is clicked it uses a different number to connect. Fortunately it's easy to check, click Start > Control Panel > Network Connections and if there is more than one icon under "Dial up" you have more than one connection. Right click on an icon, click "Properties". If the number starts with 0845 you have a problem. I have no idea how many or few people this effects but it's worth checking because it will be harder to sort out later when the bills come! Thanx to GD for this tip!

Someone posted a message on the forum saying that the NAIDC office had only received two messages of thanks since the computers had been installed! We are an ungrateful lot! So this is me saying a big THANK YOU to NAIDC, and everyone else connected to the project, for my new computer. Good work people!

No news today, I've been reinstalling everything on my computer (such fun! Thanx to the helpline ppl who helped me through it though). So I thought you all might like this tip. Click start, then Control Panel, then double click on Speech. In the box under "Use this text to preview voice" type "2000friends is the best website in the world" and click on the "Preview" button. Well it works for anything really, it even reads symbols like $ and >. Use it to surprise your friends when you voice/video messaging! See-computers aren't all about hard work, they're also for wasting large amounts of time on...

(30.09.02) SPEED UP TIME!  Ever heard of something called IAA or Intel Application Accelerator? As the name suggests it's made by Intel and it works by speeding up the way your the chipset works. I came across it in a magazine and got in touch with the Compaq (now HP) help desk and they emailed details of the program almost by return post (pretty amazing service for a weekend!). They confirmed the articles claims, going into more technical detail and so reassured, I downloaded and installed it.  What a difference! Programs like Word and OE open like they should and the start menu snaps to attention. I still have the glitchy boot up but once it's going the computer behaves as if it's got an extra 128mb of RAM.  Read all about it HERE , including the email from Compaq (thanks guys) and a link to the download site.   So a better day all round after yesterdays travails really...

(28.09.02) For the less experienced I've added  a lesson on a simple way to improve performance without doing anything complex or downloading a program. It's just matter of cutting down on some of the flashy things that XP does, like the shadow it puts underneath the cursor. It's pretty simple and you can read it HERE.

Buyers Club is launched today on the forum. If there's one thing I've figured out in my years on the internet, it's where to get good stuff cheap and the cheapest way of buying anything is buying in bulk. Forum members are invited to suggest and join buying groups and when there's five or more people who want the same thing I'll buy it from a reliable seller. This will save people time tracking things down, the worry that they may never see their goods and of course, money. Check out the first item today, memory, by clicking HERE, there'll be more in the near future including ink cartridges and grahics cards (DYK that a gcard costing under £40 could improve your comps performance by 350%?!).

Did you know that Norton Antivirus updates it's site every Wedensday? So what? I hear you ask but our anti-virus program automatically updates on a Wedensday too. This seems sensible until you realise that the Norton head office is at least 8 hrs behind us and we could be in fact getting last weeks virus definitions. That would mean that by Tuesday our virus definitions could be 13 days old, which is to old in my opinion. To get round this do an update yourself every Thursday, this has the added advantage of getting program updates as well, which you don't get with an automatic update. Thanks

Those people who registered late will getting their computers installed sometime in November, thats Mull, I don't have details for the other islands I'm afraid.Did you get that free Elvis Costello CD from the Sunday Times? Did you install it on your PC? If you did and followed the advice to upgrade to Windows Media player to version 9 (thats beta version mind) you will have installed the latest anti-piracy software on your computer. This will prevent you from copying or swopping over the internet modern CDs as you could before. Thats the bottom line, if you want to read the technical reasons click here.

(25.09.02) Coming as soon as I get the funding 2000friends email addresses! These will be available to all forum members and will direct the mail straight to their normal email address and yet will completely anonymous. As soon as some funds the expansion of the website and the upgrading of the forum registration there will be 500 available!

Some more incredibly useful lessons have been added to the forum, the new ones are on resizing the cursor, useful for people with poor site or who just keep lossing the darn thing.

I'm kicking myself for not noticing this myself but there's a free helpline for new Freeserve Anytime customers! Unfortunately you're only new for one month so this isn't going to help a lot you but for those who haven't had their computer that long it's an excellent chance to get advice on the various  Freeserve services. The free number is on the useful numbers page, thanks to Rob Jones for bringing this to my attention. I've spent a small fortune phoning their 50p technical line you know...

(23.09.02)Installations to start on Seil and Colonsay from next week apparently, this is not a confirmed date but comes from a pretty reliable source. Are those the last islands? It seems only yesterday we complaining how slow it seemed to be all going. Well done PC Business and installers!

(22.09.02) Today I publish the interview that will rock the NAIDC world to it's foundations. Oh ok, it won't but it is a very interseting interview with Ian Gillies, the councilor who has been involved in the project from the start, if you're interested in the past and future of the internet on the Islands you should read it! Click HEREto read it and if you're a member, have your say!

I've noticed that a lot of the new users struggle to find the find the right keys on the keyboard and so I've added a guide to the School section of the forum. Even if you are experienced with a computer you might find it useful. Did you know you can open OE without even pressing the start button for instance? There's really a lot there and not just for the complete newbie either. Check it out to find out how to move your email address book from your old computer or how to change or add an identity to your out going emails.

Most helplines for domestic customers have their busiest period first thing in the morning and after six in the evening. Because ours is run by PC Business and is open Mon-Fri, it peaks in the afternoon between 12 and 4 and it begins to get quieter around 4.30. The only other real peak is on Monday morning, which must be all of us logging on over the weekend and having to wait until Monday to get the helpline.  Of course you can get help via the Forum at almost any time and seven days week too...
People in Tiree will already know this but one of the  unique features of the Scottish Executives deal with PC Business is that we lightening insurance on our modems (the bit that connects us to the internet). This is very unusual, modems are excluded from most other computer insurance packages and they cause the most problems. Your modem is connected to the phone line (Dah!) and is very susceptible to lightening strikes and they cost about £50 or so to replace and often blow out other bits of the computer but when Tiree was had a lot of computers blown buy a recent strike, those wonderful people at PCB sent out an engineer to fix them! I still recommend that you get a  modem protector though, they're quiet cheap or at least disconnect if you think their might be a thunderstorm. Otherwise you might not be able to visit the site for days and think of all you'd miss!

Free gift for forum members! In a craven attempt to garner favour with forum members and to encourage even more of you to join, I am offering every registered member the complete list of fonts installed in Outlook and Word. Not just a word or phrase but every letter in every font. Not only that but it also lists the fonts in the font file that aren't actually installed. This may not sound that fantastic but it's one of the commonest requests that comes up on the big helpsites, "where can I view all the fonts" and font viewers are one of the most popular downloads on the net ( apart from Brittany videos obviously). now you can have them all to print out from one 21k zip file! Don't just get stuck in Arial or Times there's so much more to choose from!

Edited I previously reported that, in my opinion, computers were crashing due to a virus. It now appears that this might not be true and it might be due to a mistake at the installation stage (failure to activate XP maybe? No!). I'll have to check this out but in the meantime people are needing professional assistance to sort it out. Fortunately Tobermory has some good IT pro's in town.I couldn't check this out due to comp. probs but will do.

I'll look into this more and amend this if necessary.

Speaking of helplines, what do the deaf do when they need help? This point was posted on the forum and it's a good question. I suggest that with the messenger facilities in XP it should be easy enough to do via a white board or chat.

Still no news on either my application for funding (come on guys, I need help helping) and no response to my enquiries about the ink cartridges. It was a bit of an odd request I suppose in terms of a big company and we do have until the end of the year to redeem them.

Someones getting a connection of 33k in Fionnphort! They haven't pinged there server but this is the fastest speed reported for some time. Not actually in the village though but close and of course the same exchange.

My Norton subscription runs out before the 24/7 access! Now there is a possibility that this is just my computer but that seems unlikely. This won't be a problem for me but it will be for some people who can't afford to resubscribe or don't know where to buy an AV cheaply. There's plenty of time to sort it out though (10 months but time flies) and no doubt NAIDC will. You can find more details, including how to check when yours runs out by clicking here (opens in new window) to read the forum thread. Remember anyone can read it but you have to a member to post a reply. SO JOIN!

Want a fast connection? Then join the Police! Well almost, project Airwave will be installing ASDL for the emergency services, starting with the larger Police stations. This is just one of the interesting things that came up when I interviewed Councillor John Gillies, who was the driving force behind us getting the computers. I've got to write it up yet and when I do it'll be posted on the forum with a notice here.

Unbelievable but true connection speeds are down to as little as 14k in Fionnphort. My thanks to The Mackeral for managing to post the news there in the first place. Something needs to be done! Are you listening BT!

Absolutely no progress on getting my ink cartridge despite the best efforts of the helpline staff (thanks to all of them), I've now emailed PCW head office.

My contacts in the young community of Mull indicate that the most popular use for the new computer is copying music from a CD. Why? It's nice to have a bit of music on it for if you can't hear your stereo or if you want to send it to friend (which is illegal by the way) but otherwise it's just clogging up your hard drive and slowing your computer. One of the fundamental things about a computer is how memory works. It has what is called temporary memory where it stores recent files and this loads with each time you start your computer. If you are constantly recording music you fill it up and slow the computer down. Their might be some point if it had a CD drive!

The Bunessan Exchange is the latest to be hit by the poor connection problem. BT should put their hands up and admit that the Isle of Mull lacks the line capacity to run a digital community effectively and upgrade all the exchanges.

Half price ink jet cartridge? I was digging around in that box they left, the brown one with the newspaper in it and I found a voucher for 1/2 price black and colour ink jet cartridges. You need them to make your printer work (well it's not little elves painting away in there is it?) and they're quite expensive. Great I thought but how do I get hold of them? So I phoned PC World, the name on the voucher and they suggested I phone Currys in Oban as it's part of the same company, they phoned...Look these phone calls went on for an hour and a half and no one could help me. We can't redeem them in Currys, there's no mechanism for doing it by post and the nice folk at the helpline don't handle sales (fair enough). Until I find a solution to this (and I will) our only hope is to collect all the vouchers together and send someone to PC World in Glasgow. Keep watching this page, those cartridges aren't cheap!

I also found some free pix of Robbie Williams in amongst the discs. They're in the Epsom Printer bump behind the driver disc. If anyone wants to know how to look at them post in the forum and I'll tell you. I found this stuff while looking for the manual. There isn't one, something of an omission in my opinion.

What on earth is REN? A new one on me but it's another thing to think about when it comes to phone connections. As this is a bit long and confused (well I am) I'm going to post it in the internet section at the forum, you know where it is, there's links all over the place.

Is "Saving your settings" causing new users problems? I don't know if you've noticed this but when XP closes down a message sometimes appears saying "Saving your settings". I didn't think much of this until today. I was round a friends house and I couldn't figure out why the browser seemed to be missing the usual elements like the address bar. Then I realised it was set to full screen and it had opened like that. My friend had tried my email tip of pressing F11 so she could see more of a webpage. It was easy enough to reset and it didn't seem to be problem until I heard this story from another friend (they're all over the place!), a new user who was saying that they thought they'd got out of where they should be with their computer and nothing seemed like it was when they got it.

Now XP is pretty hard to screw up and very easy to customise. I wonder if people are making small changes to their settings which are being saved each time they close down  and over a short time they end up with a computer that looks nothing like it should.

If anyone is experiencing this they should phone the helpline or go back to the original install restore point.

BT have a two month backlog of work resulting from the introduction of the new computers and there's probably more to come as they reach Mulls' Bunnessan and Fionnphort. Some houses have had connections so poor that the modem has been unable to detect a dial tone, many homes have been victims of the Dax curse and many require second lines. I think they should run that article in the Oban Times again.

I spoke to Ian Gillies and he has agreed to do an interview for the site covering the setting up of the NAIDC project and the Councils vision for the future.It will be posted in the Forum on Saturday.

Many people are complaining of poor connection speeds, these are frequently reported on the message board and in emails to the website (thanks people!). I noticed a common factor in some of them and also in the Oban Times article last week . Dax lines. When there is a shortage of lines, either at the exchange or on a spur to a distant house, BT install a Dax box. This splits an existing line in two and effectively halves the speed a modem can connect at. This may happen when a customer requests a second line or when a new house is built and a line is requiered. For the domestic customer who has installed a 2nd line the solution is simple, get it taken out. As long as this is after the first twelve months there's no charge. For hotels and other businesses it's not so easy, they obviously need a greater number of lines. If new homes have been built and connected to an exchange that is at capacity, there's not much you can do about it. Except post your connection speed on the forum or via the address on the "Help the DC" page.

Just by the by , I spoke to Ian Gillies today, who has been the driving force behind the project. The conversation was brief but it was nice to speak to someone who had a real vision of what a digital community could do for the islands. It wasn't a formal interview but if I get a chance to get one with him, he's obviously very busy, I'll post the results.

I've added some new lessons to the School section of the forum. All the lessons are marked from "Easy" upwards and are of the step by step type, with interactivity where possible. They are designed to get people used to doing things with their computer and are all things that cannot cause problems accidently. So if you know of anyone who could benefit from learning to copy and paste, adding and organising their favorite websites, changing their homepage or transferring their Outlook Express Address Book, then point them towards the forum and "School".

I'm getting reports of printer problems, it's very hard to know what the problem is because I haven't seen the printers and the users are all first timers. I've heard of four cases and spoken to two of the users and in both cases the printer started to print and just kept churning out pages, in one case blank apart from one line and in the other a complete webpage.  This may not be widespread at all, after all even a 5% failure rate would be more then respectable in printer terms. If you have any information email me via the button above.

07.08.02) OMG it's another thing that needs updating! I was looking at the compatibility of documents in Word and Lotus and visited the Works2002 website. On their list of available downloads was a cumulative update for Word. The updates includes various fixes and enhancements to the program but also a patch to solve various security problems. It may seem odd that there are any security issues at all but Word has many functions in common with other programs like Outlook and IE. It also contains macros, mini executable programs that be exploited by virus writers. As Word docs are commonly sent as attachments and routinly just opened by the recipients this is quite serious. Luckily Microsoft makes the fixes readily available and you do get the program enhancements as well. Just open word press "help" in Word and follow the links to the download page.

Hmm....this 2 column look didn't work to well this time. 

Have you got your installation date yet? If your neighbors have got theirs some days ago and you haven't, maybe you should check that you're on the list.  I suggest you call the helpline on 0845 6090516 or the installers themselves on 01236 457991 and check your name is on the list. (Thanks to PC who spotted that I'd put up the NAIDC Fax line (Doh!)).

Forum membership is up again this week and more questions are popping up. Remember I'm not an IT professional and even if I was no one could answer all of them, please feel free to have your say!
(05.09.02) Virus creators are targetting peer to peer file sharing sites. Probably the most famous of these is the music site Napster but in the wake of their court defeat hundreds of others have sprung up. They don't only share music either but mpegs (mini movies) etc. As one of the most popular things young people do on the net is search for music and mpegs this very worrying. Kaspersky labs has issued a warning about something called "Duload". Variants of the virus are designed to give hackers access to an infected computer. Norton will be working on a solution but this will be recurring problem. Always be careful what you download and any program you acquire like this from the internet and, of course, keep your AV program up to date.

(04.09.02) It's over a month since I announced and I still expect to but the funds are taking a little longer than expected. This is not in itself news, what is though is that I now have a price for getting over the no publicity problem that has dogged the site and forum from the beginning. As you know I want the forum to be just for the digital community and so I have not been able to publicise it even in the Oban Times, this in turn makes it very unattractive to sponsors. Now, however, it has caught the eye of the hosts of the Forum, in fact the eye of the CEO. He is more used to speaking to the heads of large companies than people who run small community sites like this but something about the project tweaked his interest. He has offered to make the forum completely private for around £500 by giving a special registration form. (this usually costs $100 per hour of their time) If this happened I could make the forum and website public and a large number of my problems would go away. Now I just need to find the money! (For other good site news check "About this site" and "Useful Links"). 

Contrary to what I was told by the Freeserve your Anytime account does not transfer into your new free 12 month Anytime account. Apparently you have to cancel the old one and start a new one, which seems a bit absurd. I don't know what the situation is if you have another type of account with them but I'll try to find out.

So those of you who got an account to speed up the set up process will be disappointed and I'm sorry for any inconvenience. You still got several weeks free internet use though!

(02.09.02) This replaces yesterdays story about the flaw I had found in the way that the computers were being installed. I'm sorry if anyone who read it before I updated it last night was unduly worried.

I phoned the helpline (see review) and they were, well, very helpful. They agreed that my points were valid and agreed something should be done about it. However, and I think they are right, they said that if effected users take a few simple precautions any potential danger can be avoided.

You can phone them for advice on whether you are effected but if you want to save yours and their time, you can email me, including your real name and freeserve email address (so I know it is a legitimate enquiry) and I will tell if you are effected and what to do if you are. I won't tell you what the flaw is if you are not effected, I will however be adding safe surfing tips that will help you avoid any problems. These will apply to any computer not just those with effected computers.
 
Remember, it's just a computer, don't panic!

The most common problems reported to the helpline regard dial-up networking (your internet connection). I don't have the full details but many of them are due to people changing their connection settings. There have been problems with connection speeds in the past (see news items below) but you should not have to mess around with the settings yourself. Obviously you can if you're an experienced internet user but there's no need to.

For instance if you want to change your dial up number Freeserve have a page that will do it for you. Just visit their site and follow the links. If you don't want to do that I'm sure the helpline would rather talk you through it than clear up the mess afterwards.

All the instructions given on this site won't lead you to damaging anything if followed carefully and if you are uncertain about what you are doing don't click that "apply button and close the box. Then ask a question in the forum or phone the helpline.   

(01.09.02) Our commonest "serious" enquiries on the PCW helpline come from new users suffering computer crashes caused by dial-up networking (connecting to the internet). I don't have any details yet, the helpline is only open from 8 'til 8 Monday to Friday (unlike our message board) but I'll check this out on tomorrow and get back with details tomorrow night.

(31.08.02) There's an unexpected delay in the authentication of local champions (the volunteers). NAIDC has been informed that it must now comply with the Disclosure Scotland checks and forms have been sent for them to fill in and complete. This is bad enough in itself but we have all read of the delays affecting the schools and we're going to be part of the same process. Obviously there will be no officially sanctioned champions for some time and none of us will have recieved any of the training. Sometimes I feel quiet sorry for the guys at NAIDC.

I just got my form and it's not that much work. I have a some sort of blind spot when it comes to filling things in, I always put my postcode in the wrong box or something. This one is straight forward enough although you do have to send in some form of identification.

On a slightly brighter note NAIDC is close to concluding their negotiations with Argyll College (see Useful Links) over the training. Class rooms might be a bit empty for a while though...

(28.08.02) Installations will proceed as follows: (I should illustrate this with a map really) They're in Tobermory now, they will next go to Salen, then Dervaig, Craignure & Gruline, Loch Don (10th), Tiroran & Pennyghael (on the 10th-11th Sept), Bunessan, Fionnphort (14th-16th Sept) (thanks "the mackeral") and Iona. No info on the last islands yet!They originally anticipated being in Fionnphort on the 10th so it looks as if they're running a little behind schedule behind schedule but not that much all things considered.

I got over a fortnights notice of installation so they've obviously sorted out that side of things (although I have heard of someone getting one at 5 minutes notice!). Did you know that they are installing up to 40 in a day? (Thanks to Ross for his help with this).

I had a very helpful conversation with the people carrying out the phone survey that so many people have been curious about. It is being carried out NFO System 3 for the Scottish Executive and is part of the ongoing monitoring od the project. The reason they are contacting people who have not got the computers yet is that they are trying to see how it's arrival will effect peoples lives. Those contacted have been randomly selected from the NAIDC list and will be contacted again in three months to see how they have got on.

Many of us wondered why they wanted to know about various consumer products people owned. They are trying to find out if there's a connection between previous experience with things like video recorders and DVD players and how easy people find the new computers to use. Which seems fair enough, however the reasons for questions about happiness etc are little more obscure. It seems the Scottish Executive are using the survey as a way of gauging "quality of life", personally I'm my natural scepticism comes into play with this sort of thing but it is something that folk in cities are regularly surveyed for, so maybe it's a good thing.

They were very interested to hear that people had been confused about who was carrying out the survey and immediatally said that the callers would be told to make their connection with the project clearer. I found this the most reassuring part of the conversation actually, they seemed a very responsible, professional outfit and I suggest anyone contacted should co-operate . (Thanks to Katy and Mandy for their help with this)

If anyone has any queries about the survey they can phone the interview manager Atiya Sheika on 02087 7823000. 

(26.08.02) I was up in Tobermory today and met four people who had the new computers. One I was visiting to give them a helping hand but the rest just happened by. Two of the computers had completely crashed, progressively locking them out of the AV, internet explorer and finally desktop. Both were going to contact the engineers. This sounds like the work of the W32.Klez virus to me, hardly surprising considering how out of date the AV (anti-virus) program is. When I updated the one I was using it took a 13mb download to up date it! This should be the first thing you do when you get your new computer and if you know a new use, help them to do it. It's very easy to do, there's full instructions in Computer Tips.

BTW I haven't been able to track down the cold calling surveyors (see below) yet but new info confirms that they are a legitimate part of the whole NAIDC thing. What part I don't know yet but everyone I've spoken to so far has found the whole experience unsettling (I'm being polite here). More news as I get it.

(25.08.02) Are you happy? Do you own a DVD player? Just two of the questions that people round my way have asked in a phone survey last week, which apparently had something to do with our computers. The survey started normally enough, apart from being asked about how an installation that hadn't actually happened yet had gone, covering computer use and training needs but then veered off into completely unrelated areas. Are you close to your family, what single thing would most improve your life and enquiries about ownership various consumer goods followed. Very odd.

None of the people I've spoken to were quiet sure who was carrying out the survey, one person thought it was the same folk who did the recent one on housing needs but wasn't certain. Everyone contacted objected to the nature of some of the questions and it's easy to see why, some of them seem more suited to a consumer survey and some just downright intrusive.

There is no doubt a perfectly innocent explanation for all this, I shall endeavour to find out what it is and I'll update when I do. I want to know who this information is being collected for, who it will be available to and in what form. There is something wrong, however, with a survey that fails to clearly identify itself, explain it's purpose properly and asks so many apparently irrelevant questions. All the people  I've heard from are retired and although they don't fit the description "vulnerable", many in this age group do. If  people are half expecting to be cold called in this manner and no one has a clear idea who the callers are, it creates an ideal opportunity for the unscrupulous to extract personal information from the unwary. However's doing this should look into their methodology.

Thanks to all those who cantacted me with this story, if you have any views or news on it post them in the General Discussion thread at the forum. (opens in new window)

(24.08.02)Microsoft released their latest cumulative patch for IE 4,5 &6. As the name implies it fixes the various holes found in Explorer over the summer but unlike many of the previous patches it  has relevance for the domestic user rather than just the network server. As usual the accompanying information is full of jargon like "buffer overruns", "gopher protocols" and the like, which will mean little to most people (well me anyway). However they all refer to vulnerabilities that can allow a domestic computer to be remotely accessed and or tinkered with by a website or hacker, either for info theft, browser tweaking or as the starting point for an attack on another computer.

Dodgy and even some legitimate websites commonly like to do things like adding their site to your favorites. This happens a lot.

The risk of being remotely accessed is low but still significant. Hackers, and there's a lot of them, continually scan the internet for accessable computers. Not getting the MS patches is the same as not bothering with a firewall.

Also there's a new virus alert. Although it not as big as Klez (which infected a lot of local computers) yet, it has the potential to cause as much damage. W32.Urik.A is another mass mailing worm that sends itself out to all the addresses in your OE and arrives with "A windows trick" in the subject box. I think this makes it of particular concern locally as the new users will not yet have our experience handling this stuff.

Also on the loose is a new Trojan called Beway which attempts to disable security programs and download a back door program that allows unauthorized access to an infected computer. Look out for anything with the double extension ".jpg.exe".

Both of these threats are easy to counter but new users will need encouragement and help to do so. They will all think that because it's a new computer everything is up to date and how many of us didn't update our anti-virus program until after the first virus struck? Instructions on how to get the patch and up date Norton Anti-virus are in Computer tips.Be careful out there...

(19.08.02) The installation schedule seems to be falling into something approaching chaos. They have started in Tobermory as originally promised but they're also popping up in other places to. They've done a few in Salen, Ulva, Torloisk and no doubt elsewhere. Some people are getting as little as an hours notice, while others have had their visits cancelled, causing much frustration. I wonder if the short notice is the source of the problem, if they can' find someone in they have to find another house to go to and that could be somewhere else entirely. Even thought the guys on the ground seem very fast and efficient, this must cut down on the number they can do in a day.

It's obvious that if this carries on it will be impractical for me to update this page with all the changes, so I've created a thread at the forum so anyone who has any more info on where they are or where they're expected to install can post it. Click here to open the thread in a new window. 

I'll keep that link at the top of the page with an update date. In the meantime it's worth remembering that this is not the fault of the NAIDC or the installers but that of PC World who are organizing the installations. It's fair enough to phone the NAIDC to find out what's going on but there's less point in giving them grief for the chaos than there would be in going into DIxons and abusing them.* *Dixons is owned by by PCW, I'm not suggesting that we abuse them either, just that it's pointless to take out understandable frustration on the blameless.

(16.08.02) Fingers crossed but the future of the site looks a lot rosier after a very productive meeting with Gerry Wilson and Paul Cleave of NAIDC. I can't go into to much detail but check back for major announcements in the near future!

Installations: Well it was all a big fuss about nothing! After phoning a few folk in Salen and arranging to install, PC World changed their minds and started in Tobermory after all! This was due to a mix up between PC World headquarters and the people on the ground. It has nothing to do with the NAIDC office, they're as surprised and annoyed about the confusion as we are. Which is worth remembering when you're phoning them up to complain.

The installations themselves are going very well, with the installers getting much praise for their efficiency. The only niggles have involved the computers being put in slightly inconvenient places so they are close to the phone socket. So buy an extension cord and multi-socket if you want to put it somewhere away from your current phone, they're very cheap and available from Browns etc.

Each installer is putting in 5 a day and as there's up to 8 on the island at a time, we're all going to get them pretty soon. 

Contrary to expectations PC World have started installing in Salen instead of Tobermory! The only warning of this was a few lucky people in Salen being phoned by PCW, so if you live there expect a call soon. Or not as the case maybe....check back here because as soon as I know, you'll know (I think I might adopt that as a site motto!). 14.08.02 (see above!)

I haven't anything to add to that except that it was a bit of a surprise to everyone outside PCW. I've left the schedule below intact as I don't know what the implications are for dates or where they're going to go next, if they install a computer in your house ask them and let me know! I'd like to thank Claire for sending me the tip this morning and GW for confirming it, I really appreciate the help : )

Stop Press! No phone adaptor included with the computer apparently! See computer review for more details.

Not exactly news but might be helpful to some new users. A lot of people are restricted for space in which to put the new systems and they might like to know that Argus in Oban has a very good line in work stations at good prices. All are well thought out, have roll out draws for keyboards etc and space for all the components we're getting. Prices range from under £25 for something very simple to over £100 for a corner office,  with the something perfectly  usable for  £35-£45. You can see what's available here (opens in a new window) and then order it from Oban. Scroll down the pages in case there's a "next page" link. (I'm not getting paid for this BTW, when the site expands I'll have a page for things I think are very good value and maybe I'll figure out a way of getting some income from it!)

I'm about to expand the site because at the moment I'm restricted to twelve pages which is not enough to bring you all that I want to. How much it expands and the level of service it can provide depends on whether the people I've applied for funding from come up with some money. How I expand the site is partly up to you and I've started a thread on the forum so anyone put suggestions and comment on my ideas. For instance, should I list this site on search engines?

Freeserve are currently offering the first month free for new Anytime accounts! As most of us are getting our computers within the next month we can sign up now and get an extra month added to the  free access that comes with the system! Click the freeserve logo to go to the sign up page (opens in a new window) only that but we will also save the installers a lot of time and hassle creating an account when the computer is installed. And it really will save time later, it took me at least ten attempts to get an email address that wasn't already taken. I checked with freeserve and the account  will just morph into our free 24/7 access.

Whether or not you decide to accept the Freeserve offer is up to you, this information has been checked to the best of my ability but cannot be guaranteed. If you sign up and the computer takes more than a month to arrive you will have to pay for the intervening period. The Anytime installation page will automatically configure your computer for you or you can download the details and do it manually, creating a second connection. If you choose to the auto-install I suggest that you make a note of your current internet connection settings and create then a second connection so that you can easily check on your old email address. 

Something worth noting; in order to get a freeserve anytime account you must be a BT phone customer. I know that some of you have gone over to other suppliers and as far as I can tell you'll have to go back to BT in order to activate an account. You might want to check this for yourselves but I imagine this will be the case even if you wait for computer to be installed.Incidentally, I used the auto installer on the Anytime sign up page and it didn't actually overwrite my old connection but created a new one and made it the default. Now, I have a slightly odd connection set up, having one for each number that my previous provider (Clara) uses so I can change if one number seems to be a bit slow. I don't see how this would make a difference as it didn't overwrite "my connection". The speed seems exactly the same as well but I've only gone on line 4 times. It's a great feeling being able to connect at anytime!

Don't forget to mention where you heard this first!

(02.08.02) Hot news from NAIDC! We've all been wondering when they'll arrive, NAIDC was hoping for the 5th of August but have got a firm date for the 12th, which I'm sure you'll all agree is a bit of a result. Well done NAIDC. Here's the wheres and whens (actual schedule may vary):-  Tobermory 12th August, Salen 28th August, Ulva + Gometra 3rd Sept., Craignure 6th Sept., Fionnphort 10th Sept., Iona 13th Sept., Colonsay + Oronsay 20th, Seil + Easdale 27th Sept., Luig 11th Oct.

A lot of us aren't mentioned there and I'll try and get more info for outlying areas (like mine!) but I reckon they'll work their way around in a logical way and so we can infer our approximate installation dates from the above.(

Many local champions, like myself, have been wondering when we would be informed about training etc. Well they still haven't come up with a final list of those they will accept (so I might not even be one) which I find a bit surprising as they don't have that many to choose from but maybe there's more to check up on than I imagine. They're still negotiating with their partners over training and details will be posted on their website (don't worry, I'll keep you posted!). In the mean time new users are encouraged to use the helpline.

They're intending to ease the burden on the local champions by having a central service desk that automatically logs calls and routes them according to whether they're an engineering fault that needs to be directed to Compaq (or whoever) or a problem suitable to one of the champions. Apparently in past schemes champions have been overwhelmed by the volume of calls and by doing this they hope to prevent this happening here. Seems a good idea to me, of course the champions can help prevent this themselves by introducing their local users to our wonderful forum!

01.08.02 I'm really sorry about the adverts at the forum, I've been vainly hoping that I might get sponsorship from somewhere to support them but I've had a couple of rejections in  the last couple of days and NAIDC have gone quite on me again (got a news email today but no progress on support so far 02.08.02). In the end I paid up myself but there's a 3 day delay between my paypal payment and it registering with the hosts. Hopefully the ads should disappear over the weekend. This has been resolved (02.08.02)

The ads themselves are a perfect example of why I opted for a paid for board rather than a free one. I really wish they'd never appeared at all in all their gambling, pop-up glory. Apologies again for the intrusion, it should be over soon.27.07.02

Really obvious when you think about but all the people who've got new computers have changed their email addresses! Now I can't send my old contacts on Lismore, Kererra and Tiree the site and forum updates I annoy everyone else with. If anyone can help out with the new addresses please email me!Really obvious27.07.02

A big thank you to my friends on Lismore for telling me how they got on. They went to the page followed the instructions and changed there number. They are complete newcomers to computers too. It seems to have improved their connection as hoped. Well done them and well done Freeserve! (see below for story)

23.07.02 Poor internet connections have been reported on Lismore and the same is probably true on Kererra and Tiree. Lots of disconnections almost as soon as people go on line. Oddly this a result of the success of the project because just so many people going online and it's clogging up the system. Thankfully Freeserve have spotted this and have sent out emails to some householders with a link to a freeserve page that provides a new number. The new users should left click on the link and it will take them to the page. 

It's a bit hard for me to know because I would actually have to be the account holder to know what the page said but from my conversation with the Freeserve tech line it seems straight forward enough. 

After entering your email address and password, you are taken to the page with the new number. There is a configuration button that will install it for you or you can use the instructions to do it manually.

Don't forget that there is a helpline available and they will talk you through it step by step. It looks complicated, and theres a lot of buttons to press but really it's quite straight forward.

Obviously many people are unable to read this page because of the poor connection. If you can, pass the info on to anyone you know who can't.(23.07.02)

(19.07.02) I've been contacted by the digital community people! Hooray! Lets hope that with their help the site will realize it's full potential. A big thank you to them for the new information on this page.

Computers installed on Tiree! This part of the roll out is due for completion today, I hope some of those lucky people will visit the site and join the forum. We'd love to know how it all went and what the new systems are like.

Mull: They're presently negotiating with PC World Business (Part of the Dixons group) about the roll-out across the island and are proposing August 5th, so hopefully not long now. (Who can complain anyway, we're all to busy in the summer to learn about a new computer, early autumn is ideal!). Dates for the other islands depend on the Mull completion.

Rumours of a fall out between the project and PC World seem to have been exaggerated. This is an incredibly complex project, larger than anything similar undertaken before and it has not been completely problem free but these have just been the expected teething problems. Frankly getting free computers installed to most of the households on three remote Scottish islands seems a pretty smooth start to me.
And I love to complain. (19.07.02)

(13.07.02) I was a bit surprised at first when I received the second set of forms through the post recently. I thought this was covered when I first registered for my computer. This form is actually the terms and conditions (TAC) of the arrangement and seems straight forward enough.

Those of us, it must be all, who have signed up to various things on the internet might have been struck by how short the TACs were. This is proably because they wanted to give a broad outline rather than go in for the usual long agreement that generally goes unread (well I read them but I'm a bit obsessive like that).

I did wonder about a couple of points though. Why is my participation in the scheme dated the 11th of July (first page)? Surely it either dates from the time I signed the first set of forms, the date I sign these or the when the computer eventually arrives.

The clause on not doing anything to disrupt the scheme or the Scottish Executive is interesting. The scheme, fair enough, who wants to disrupt something that's giving us at least 600 quids worth of free stuff but the Scottish Executive? The mind boggles at the potential power of these new machines!

The big news in the agreement lies in sections 5 and 14, which reveal for the first time a dedicated help desk for the scheme, which is great news although I'm surprised they can afford it. Perhaps it's a sub-section of the general Compaq line. The fact that we have to pay for the calls will not suprise any experienced user, they always have to be payed for. I spent a fortune calling help desks when I first got a computer. Of course everyone can save money by getting advice from our free forum, which should also ease the burden on the helpdesk too.

One slightly disturbing thing, this might be my pedantic streak but this is a legal document, the community champions appear to be responsible for taking care of any "problems with the equipment". I'm sorry-if there are any problems with the equipment, phone the suppliers, I can only help with software issues. You could try the Forum of course, there's a much wider range of skills there or the helpline, on site repair is part of the deal I think.

The help boxes seem straight forward although it's hard to imagine that people who already have computers will have any trouble with any of it, while complete newbies have to tick everything. (13.07.02)(edited 19.07.02)

Equipment available for people with problems using a computer! The people running this thing have applied for extra money for equipment for anyone who has difficulty using the usual mouse and keyboard etc. It ranges from keyboards with bigger keys to joystick mice. Theres lots of things for all sorts of problems and if you think you or someone you know might benefit from it, application forms are available from your health visitor or from the Resource Center in Salen (tel. 01680 300624). There's some very basic tips in the internet thread at the forum too on how to change text size as well, I'll add more stuff soon. (10/7/02)

They've installed on Lismore and Kererra but apparently PC World is experiencing difficulties keeping to schedule. It's taking longer to install each system than they expected (I think they should have expected that!), I felt the 15mins they mentioned in the initial leaflet was a bit optimistic. It takes longer than that just to establish a connection and an account, let alone set up the webcam etc.

Regarding the forum I've written to the community site on Lismore, who have replied   and passed on the message to their local volunteers. Thank you very much people!

If anyone has a contact on Lismore I'd be grateful for an introduction, email me at the address below, thanks.

I'll update this page with news as I get it, keep checking back and if you have any to contribute email me by clicking here. Everything will be treated confidentially unless you state otherwise. (9/7/02)