Pay as you go microsim’s for iPhones & iPads

Just recently I was looking to buy a sim card for use in a 3G iPad, so that I could easily manage my emails and do some web browsing on a large screen during the daytime in between client visits. I didn’t want to be tied into a long contract like our company mobile phones are, and I already had the 3G iPad so just needed a sim only. Pay As You Go (PAYG) with no contact seemed the most appropriate for my needs.

First problem was the iPad (and iPhone) do not use a standard sim card, they use a tiny card called a micro sim. Second problem was that finding a cost effective PAYG tariff including data usage was not easy.

I finally found a PAYG tariff that was £5 for 500mb data over 30 days (or 1000mb for £7.50). No contract tie in as you just buy a 30 day bundle of data whenever you need it (or pre buy one to start as soon as the current one expires for uninterrupted use) The same provider does iPhone voice & data bundles as well (e.g. 250 minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited data, 30 day bundle for £10).

So now all I needed was to convert the full sized sim into a micro sim. I experimented with some old sim cards cutting them down with a stanley knife. This method was very hit and miss, resulting in lots of non working micro sims, and very few functioning ones. Finally I found a way of producing micro sims with 100 % success rate.

If anyone needs a PAYG micro sim for iPhone or iPad on the O2 network, with the above tariffs let us know. We can supply them for £5 each. When you register & activate the sim by topping up with a minimum of £10 you will receive a bonus of £5 so in effect you get the cost of the sim card back (£5 sim plus £10 top up for £15 credit towards data & voice bundles, which would give you up to 3 months 3G data use on an iPad).

Contact us by phone or email if you want one of these micro sims. We are happy to post them to you royal mail 1st class included in the £5 cost, recorded delivery £1.50 extra if required.

Chris Moody
info@aslcs.co.uk or 01788298034

Must have software part 4: Ditto

Being able to cut and paste text using the Windows clipboard is a great facility when editing documents. However, Windows only stores one entry in the clipboard, overwriting what was in there previously.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could retrieve any item that you had copied previously to the clipboard. Well you can with Ditto Clipboard Manager. Ditto is an extension to the standard windows clipboard. It saves each item placed on the clipboard allowing you access to any of those items at a later time. Ditto allows you to save any type of information that can be put on the clipboard, text, images, html, etc.

Chris Moody (ASL Computer Services)

Must have software part 3: ResophNotes

The third program to get installed on my new Netbook was ResophNotes, a Windows application that synchronises with Simplenote.

Simplenote is a note taking application which works on iPhones, iPads, Anroid phones, PC’s and Macs. It’s great for making lists or just storing useful information where fancy text formatting is not a requirement. You can jot down an idea on your smartphone while out and about, then review it and expand on it on your PC when back in the office.

Chris Moody (ASL Computer Services)

Must have software for my new laptop part 2: Dropbox

The new laptop is setup and the Anti Virus software is installed. So what software was next on my list to install?

Dropbox

Dropbox synchronises files and folders on your PC with your dropbox storage “in the cloud”. So why is that so useful? Let me explain.

You update a document in your dropbox folder on your desktop PC. It immediately gets synchronised up to “the cloud”. Later that day you turn on your laptop, and the updated file gets synchronised automatically by dropbox onto your laptop. You update the file again, on the laptop, and it’s synced back to the cloud (and your desktop PC). Still later you access the file again using dropbox on your IOS or Android smartphone and modify it. It gets synced again up to the cloud and all your other devices. In summary dropbox makes sure all your files are kept in sync & up to date across all your devices, automatically.

Perhaps now you can see why dropbox is so useful. For a free account with 2.25Gb dropbox storage use the link below:

Free Dropbox account with 2.25gb storage **

Chris Moody (ASL Computer Services)

** Using this referal link gives both the new dropbox account & myself an extra 0.25Gb storage. If you are not happy with this, sign up using the dropbox link near the top of the article.

What software do you install straight away when setting up a new PC ?

I have just got myself a new work laptop and thought it would be interesting to produce a series of short blogs on those really useful items of software that you just cannot work efficiently without.

The first piece of software to be installed after setting up the PC has to be Anti Virus software to keep it safe from Virus attacks. My choice was between:

• AVG Internet Security
• Microsoft Security Essentials
• Avira Anti Virus Premium

My previous Laptop was running Avira (without any problems at all), and we use AVG Internet Security on some of the other PC’s in the office. So I decided this time to use Microsoft Security Essentials on my new laptop. All three products are excellent, and we have installed each of them on numerous systems, both in-house and for clients. I just like to make sure I use each of them personally from time to time, just to prove to myself they are still the best Anti Virus products out there.

Over the next couple of weeks I will share with you the other bits of software that just had to be installed straight away to make the laptop useable.

Chris

Viruses from web browsing

Over the weekend I was searching Google for suppliers of electric panel radiators. The search could have been for anything, I just happened to have a requirement for some electric heating. On clicking on a link to the website of a known company that I had previously purchased items from, my anti virus program went beserk, identifying a virus attack immediately.  I suspect that this companies website has been compromised without their knowledge, and unsuspecting customers are being attacked by this virus if their AV protection is not up to scratch.

My PC was thankfully not infected because I am running a very good Anti Virus program and it is kept up to date with regular virus signature file updates. But this made me realise how easy it is to get your PC infected with a virus, even if you only visit websites of companies that you know and trust.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could isolate your Web browsing with a secure ring fence from the rest of your computer so that viruses could not get into your PC files and Operating System? And when you finished your Web browsing any viruses in this ring fenced area just get deleted. Well this is possible, at very little cost, on any Windows PC. I  am going to be trying out this technology over the next couple of weeks and will then report back on my findings.

Chris Moody
ASL Computer Services

Really Useful Software – Ditto Clipboard Manager

Windows “Cut and Paste” is a simple but really useful feature. It enable us to reuse bits of text from one document in another document. It makes copying cells in a speadsheet really easy. However, the standard windows clipboard has some limitations:

• It can only store one item at a time
• The contents of the clipboard get lost when you reboot windows

I have been using a Clipboard replacement utility, called ditto, for several months now, which fixes these limitations in the standard windows clipboard.

Why not give it a try, you can download it from:

http://ditto-cp.sourceforge.net/

Chris
ASL Computer Services
Unit 7, Sir Frank Whittle Business Centre,
Great Central Way, Rugby, CV21 3XH
Tel: 01788 298034

Really Useful Software – KeePass

Do you find it hard keeping track of all the passwords that you have to remember?

• Internet banking
• Webmail
• Shopping online
• Suppliers websites
• Twitter
• Facebook

I have been trying out a software package called KeeePass. You store all your passwords and login information in the KeePass’s encrypted database. When you want to logon to a website KeePass will enter the username and password for you (just drag and drop). The passwords are hidden so nobody looking over your shoulder can guess your password. And all you need to remember is the master password for KeePass.

You can download KeePass from  http://keepass.info/

Chris
ASL Computer Services