Do you ever wonder just how much brilliant music is out there that you'll never ever here?
The wonder of the internet and those many thousands of blogs etc that post music have over the years introduced me to tons of bands and musical styles I'd never have heard if I just listened to radio and bought music CD's.
Everytime I download an obscure bands songs from some blog just because I like the name and find out it's really good, or just go browsing through the millions of MySpace band pages and listen to some of their songs it makes you realise that you'll never live long enough to hear everything.
Plus there is over 60 years of stuff already recorded that I'll probably never ever hear, and in amongst it there is probably tons of songs that I would absolutely love.
Many of my favourite ever songs are album tracks that have never been released as singles, so the chance of hearing them on the radio is very small.
I still believe that a lot of artists record music because they want people to enjoy it, but if you've got to pay out over a tenner a time to buy a CD you're going to be choosy and the majority of people won't buy an unknown bands CD if they've never heard it.
I guess there are hundreds if not thousands of new albums released around the world every week so the chances are without the internet 99% of these would never be heard by people other than followers of the specific band.
It's nice to see so many high profile artists cottoning on to the trend such as Prince, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and most recently Iron Maiden all releasing their albums free on the net knowing that if people like the music they're far more likely to want to go and see the band or even buy some back catalogue, clever stuff.
But still the record companies are trying to hang on to their profits by hounding the free music sharers still believing that one day everyone will have to go back to the old method of having to buy all your music and paying the inflated prices charged by record companies.
Those days have gone thankfully, and despite the warnings of P2P etc killing the music industry, it is probably in the healthiest state it's ever been due to the rise of thousands of bands who got their fame due to the quality of their music and the ability of people being able to listen to it for free.
Monday 15 September 2008
Cynical 'ol me
Might just be me? but I get very cynical about company announcements.
Recent ones have included airlines who despite proof to the contrary have decided to keep their ban on liquids being carried as hand luggage because of terror fears, this ban of course includes all drinks that might be carried on long distance flights forcing passengers to cough up extra for drinks onboard.
Various supermarkets plan to charge for plastic carrier bags to "save the environment" while still overpacking just about everything they sell, nothing to do with not making a profit from the free bags I suppose? incidentaly They tell us these bags survive for thousands of years in landfills which is amazing as those I put some old books in and put in the loft have already crumbled to dust after only a couple of years?
My internet company Virgin are charging me extra to have my bill sent in paper form as they say that this is damaging to the environment and I should set up an internet account, while I receive at least one personal letter a week advertising their wares plus several leaflets from them shoved through my letterbox with the pile of junk mail I (and everyone else) get every week.
Now if they didn't send this crap out wouldn't that be better for the environment?
In some ways I admire inginuity of these people who come up with these ideas of how to turn anything into a profit making excercise, it shows great imagination.
Although stringing the lot of them up would make me happier.
Recent ones have included airlines who despite proof to the contrary have decided to keep their ban on liquids being carried as hand luggage because of terror fears, this ban of course includes all drinks that might be carried on long distance flights forcing passengers to cough up extra for drinks onboard.
Various supermarkets plan to charge for plastic carrier bags to "save the environment" while still overpacking just about everything they sell, nothing to do with not making a profit from the free bags I suppose? incidentaly They tell us these bags survive for thousands of years in landfills which is amazing as those I put some old books in and put in the loft have already crumbled to dust after only a couple of years?
My internet company Virgin are charging me extra to have my bill sent in paper form as they say that this is damaging to the environment and I should set up an internet account, while I receive at least one personal letter a week advertising their wares plus several leaflets from them shoved through my letterbox with the pile of junk mail I (and everyone else) get every week.
Now if they didn't send this crap out wouldn't that be better for the environment?
In some ways I admire inginuity of these people who come up with these ideas of how to turn anything into a profit making excercise, it shows great imagination.
Although stringing the lot of them up would make me happier.
Cop Shows
Do you ever find yourself ranting at the telly when watching these shows like "Police, camera action" and similar?
Every week you see the Police following stolen cars rampaging through the streets nearly killing people and smashing people's property, and after they catch them you assume they're going away for a few years and at the end of the programme they point out that the guy who's stolen a car and run down a mother and baby and smashed through some old persons garden has been given a warning or a suspended sentence?
I would much prefer the American methods to be used, they chase the car and run them off the road and if they survive that a dozen police officers drag them from the car and jump on them while sticking guns in their ear and battering them with sticks before hauling them off for a long stretch inside.
Not politically correct I know and downright brutal at times, but seems to be a better solution than our "imaginary slap on the wrist" methods.
Every week you see the Police following stolen cars rampaging through the streets nearly killing people and smashing people's property, and after they catch them you assume they're going away for a few years and at the end of the programme they point out that the guy who's stolen a car and run down a mother and baby and smashed through some old persons garden has been given a warning or a suspended sentence?
I would much prefer the American methods to be used, they chase the car and run them off the road and if they survive that a dozen police officers drag them from the car and jump on them while sticking guns in their ear and battering them with sticks before hauling them off for a long stretch inside.
Not politically correct I know and downright brutal at times, but seems to be a better solution than our "imaginary slap on the wrist" methods.
Wednesday 3 September 2008
Banks (Part 2)
Another 45 wasted minutes on the phone and I just end up with the opinion that they are a "shower of shit" (as an old guy I used to know called people who didn't know what they were doing).
I managed to get the number to ring the complaints department direct and after 10 minutes of recorded info about the ongoing court case over unfair charges I finally had someone to speak to, several holds later after explaining my concerns she said that as the payment was taken by DD they wouldn't have checked things like account name and signatures?
I said I wasn't happy about their anti-fraud measures and wanted to speak to someone in the anti-fraud department to register a complaint, eventually I was passed on to that department and another ten or so minutes was wasted voicing my concerns that anyone who had obtained my account number could withdraw money from my account even with the wrong name and no signature (I'm sure if the postie had nicked my Bank statement he would have even had the correct name), but they just kept saying that DD's were set up totally on the account number and other info wasn't checked.
So again I asked to register a complaint about the ease of fleecing bank customers and was passed onto yet another department, this time the DD Indemnity team? have to say he was the most knowledgable of the 3 people I spoke to even though he was in a department you wouldn't normally deal with.
But the basic outcome was that although you could cancel a DD after it had been taken, if anyone had set one up for the entire contents of my bank account the bank would pay them and the first you would know about it (if you didn't check your statement) is when they tried to charge you overdraft fees for a second month payments!
So advice to all fraudsters, use the Abbey as they only check if you try to pay money in?
No wonder banks are going bust.
I managed to get the number to ring the complaints department direct and after 10 minutes of recorded info about the ongoing court case over unfair charges I finally had someone to speak to, several holds later after explaining my concerns she said that as the payment was taken by DD they wouldn't have checked things like account name and signatures?
I said I wasn't happy about their anti-fraud measures and wanted to speak to someone in the anti-fraud department to register a complaint, eventually I was passed on to that department and another ten or so minutes was wasted voicing my concerns that anyone who had obtained my account number could withdraw money from my account even with the wrong name and no signature (I'm sure if the postie had nicked my Bank statement he would have even had the correct name), but they just kept saying that DD's were set up totally on the account number and other info wasn't checked.
So again I asked to register a complaint about the ease of fleecing bank customers and was passed onto yet another department, this time the DD Indemnity team? have to say he was the most knowledgable of the 3 people I spoke to even though he was in a department you wouldn't normally deal with.
But the basic outcome was that although you could cancel a DD after it had been taken, if anyone had set one up for the entire contents of my bank account the bank would pay them and the first you would know about it (if you didn't check your statement) is when they tried to charge you overdraft fees for a second month payments!
So advice to all fraudsters, use the Abbey as they only check if you try to pay money in?
No wonder banks are going bust.
Banks
A while back I tried to pay in 2 cheques made out to me in the name Lee, both banks that I have accounts with would not accept them because Lee is actually my second name (long story...).
A couple of months ago a guy from the Red Cross came around looking for a donation, seemed genuine and gave me a pile of info etc, so feeling charitable I said I'd give him some money at which he pointed out that they could not accept money at the door but I could set up a direct debit.
OK I said, give me the form and I'll post it to my bank but he insisted on seeing a bank card, at this despite still believing he was the genuine article the scam alarm bells started ringing.
So my cunning plan was to show him my bank card for my second account (current balance £18, set up for any internet dealings like e-bay etc) and give my name as Lee as I knew they wouldn't accept it without at least checking with me first as I was unable to pay in using that name even after showing them identification.
So imagine my surprise when the first monthly DD has been taken from my account without even a phone call to check?
So bank security is so tight that I am unable to pay money in to my account in person even with ID and my missus who has an account at the same bank standing beside me, but a complete stranger can set up a DD on my account by using my account number and a wrong name and no signature with no trouble at all?
No wonder fraud is so rife.
It does appear the money has gone to the Red Cross and I'm glad to help out, but if he had been a scammer it seems he would have no difficulty in clearing my account.
----
Oh and one other thing the bank in question is the Abbey, the complaints procedure is all on their website and you can make an online complaint which I tried to do but when you press "send" the fucking thing won't connect, tried it about 6 times.
So the other option is to ring them up which I tried and after waiting about 15 minutes I got a woman with very little grasp of English who after a minute put me on hold for another 10 minutes, then I got a different person who in broken English said that I needed to contact my branch!! so I asked for the number and got put on hold again, I gave up after another 10 minutes ..... Fucking useless Bastards.
A couple of months ago a guy from the Red Cross came around looking for a donation, seemed genuine and gave me a pile of info etc, so feeling charitable I said I'd give him some money at which he pointed out that they could not accept money at the door but I could set up a direct debit.
OK I said, give me the form and I'll post it to my bank but he insisted on seeing a bank card, at this despite still believing he was the genuine article the scam alarm bells started ringing.
So my cunning plan was to show him my bank card for my second account (current balance £18, set up for any internet dealings like e-bay etc) and give my name as Lee as I knew they wouldn't accept it without at least checking with me first as I was unable to pay in using that name even after showing them identification.
So imagine my surprise when the first monthly DD has been taken from my account without even a phone call to check?
So bank security is so tight that I am unable to pay money in to my account in person even with ID and my missus who has an account at the same bank standing beside me, but a complete stranger can set up a DD on my account by using my account number and a wrong name and no signature with no trouble at all?
No wonder fraud is so rife.
It does appear the money has gone to the Red Cross and I'm glad to help out, but if he had been a scammer it seems he would have no difficulty in clearing my account.
----
Oh and one other thing the bank in question is the Abbey, the complaints procedure is all on their website and you can make an online complaint which I tried to do but when you press "send" the fucking thing won't connect, tried it about 6 times.
So the other option is to ring them up which I tried and after waiting about 15 minutes I got a woman with very little grasp of English who after a minute put me on hold for another 10 minutes, then I got a different person who in broken English said that I needed to contact my branch!! so I asked for the number and got put on hold again, I gave up after another 10 minutes ..... Fucking useless Bastards.
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