For the last few weeks Channel Five’s Gadget Show have been running a campaign for broadband suppliers to be honest with the public about the broadband speeds we can realistically expect. The point of contention is the term “upto” as in “upto 8MB”. This leaves the broadband suppliers with a massive loophole to take advantage of as “upto” could mean anything from the advertised speed down to Zero!

The Gadget Show web-site features a speed test to gauge what speed your broadband is at the time of the test. There’s also a form you can fill out with the recorded speed to help the Gadget Show collect enough information to take to the broadband suppliers.

So, using the speed test feature, I’ve just tested my broadband speed, which should be close to the 16MB I’m paying for. They recommend that you take the test a few times:

1. Dec 6th 2:30pm: 2.6MB
2. Dec 7th 8:37am: 2.8MB
3. Dec 7th 9:00am: 2.8MB
4. Dec 7th 2:00pm: 2.6MB

I think it’s safe to say that my broadband speed will never come close to the “upto 16MB” I’m currently paying for! Time to downgrade methinks!

Check out your broadband speed here and join the campaign if yours isn’t what you’re paying for.

schoolsout.com is a US website that offers a unique service to parents.

This service offers US schools with a notification infrastructure to inform parents of emergencies, changes in schedule, closure e.g. due to extreme weather conditions, etc.

Offering 2 levels of service, the School’s Out Plus package costs $19.95 per annum and notifies parents by text to their cell phone, and the School’s Out Basic package informs/notifies parents by email for free.

When a school needs to inform parents it enters the notification into the School’s Out portal and this is immediately sent out to the relevant parents either by text or email depending on the level of service the parent subscribes to.

From the web-site’s Services page…

In the case of emergencies, delays, cancellations, or schedule changes for instance, you can spend hours watching TV or listening to the radio waiting to get an updated status of your child’s school. With School’s Out, you will immediately know when your child’s school has posted a notification.

I’ve just landed a job that requires me to know Python, which I don’t! And no, I don’t mean the snake either! Python is a well established programming language and I can’t wait to get to know it better.

To get some idea of what it involves I looked up ‘Python tutorials’ on Google and found a really nice, easy tutorial to get started with here - http://www.sthurlow.com/python/