Letters
12
Tell us what’s on your mind
What’s the Issue...?
?
I want to try running Windows
from my new SSD. Didn’t you
explain how to do that recently?
Dean WrightCA SAYS We did – on page 56 of Issue
626’s Cover Feature.When was your round-up of the
best browser extensions for not
being tracked online?
Peter HamlinCA SAYS It was at the end of Issue625’s ‘Never Get
Tracked Online’
Cover Feature, on
page 57.I seem to recall you
recommending a Firefox tool
that stopped spammers emailing you- or did I dream it?
Simon Crawford
CA SAYS No, you’re right: it’s called
Firefox Relay (https://relay.firefox.
com). See Issue 621, page 38.from the tech monopolies to keep you
trapped into using their services. Sorry
Google, but I use Brave, not Chrome, and
DuckDuckGo, not your biased search
engine. I try to avoid these companies as
much as possible, though admittedly
that’s hard to do with phones. We badly
need an alternative to Android and iOS.
Brian CallaghanYou’ve got Windows 11
coverage right
You asked recently
whether we think
Computeractive is
obsessed with Windows
11, and whether you’ve
got the balance correct between that and
Windows 10. I was astounded to read Chris
Venables’ view that you should “concentrate
on Windows 10”. That operating system
has been around for a few years now and
most people (although not all) running it
have a fair handle on how it operates.
It’s important that you still provide
information when there are changes
for those running it, but Windows 11 is
not only new but also constantly
changing, so the information provided by
Computeractive is invaluable. So well
done for keeping us informed on what
we can (and can’t) do with it. I think you
have got the balance right.
Lorna GibbonCouriers dumped online
packages in puddles
I agree with the letters in Issue 632
saying that online shopping hasdeclined because we’re going back to the
high street. But another reason might be
that people are getting fed up with the
rubbish delivery standards of courier
companies. Over the years I’ve lost items
to thieving neighbours, had them dumped
in puddles next to wheelie bins, and even
thrown on top of my porch roof.
This behaviour seems to have got worse
since the first Covid lockdown. Couriers
are either employing the wrong sort of
people, or they’re forcing them to make
so many deliveries in a day that they’re
cutting corners.
These days, I’d rather put up with the
hassle of driving into town, because at
least I can guarantee that I’ll have an item
safely in my hands when I return home.
Michael SharpLeslie Bonham (Letters, Issue 632)
is right that service in high-street
stores has improved since they reopened,
but I also think their online help has
improved too.
Several shops that I used to visit
regularly in the years before the
pandemic survived the lockdowns by
establishing a new system of online
support. Some of this was by email, as
you might expect, but what really
surprised me was how quickly they set
up live-chat support too. A few shops
even invited customers to contact them
via WhatsApp.
I thought some of these communication
methods would be binned after
lockdown, but every store has kept using
them. One shopkeeper I spoke to saidCustomers will slash both
speed and bills
One of the side effects of
broadband providers sending
end-of-contract notifications is that
many customers will switch not to
cheaper deals and the same speed, but to
slower and cheaper deals. I suspect that’s
not what Ofcom had in mind though. It
wants to encourage a high uptake of fast
broadband, and so expects customers to
switch from one gigabit package to
another, maybe saving £5 a month. But
it’s just as likely that customers will slash
both their speed and their bills.
I don’t blame Ofcom for forcing
companies to send notifications.
Customers should be told when their
contracts are due to end. But if in a few
months time Ofcom is reporting a drop
in gigabit uptake, it could be because
those notifications it introduced are
sending people to slower speeds.
John FletcherUse phone as password?
I’ll stick to my own method
Reading
Issue 632’s
‘Question of the
Fortnight’ (‘Is your
phone about to
become your new
password?’,
pictured right), it
depresses me to
think I’ll end up
having to use my
phone even more
than I do now. We’re giving this tiny,
overrated device just too much power.
I can’t figure out what’s so wrong or
difficult about using passwords anyway.
I’m no Einstein, but I’ve still managed to
come up with a coded method for
remembering individual passwords for
each account I have. They’re easy to
remember and hopefully impossible to
guess. I’m going to keep typing them for
as long as I can, and avoid relinquishing
that power to my phone.
Katherine RentonSo let me get this straight: Apple,
Google and Microsoft want me to
hand over to them all responsibility for
signing into my accounts? They have got
to be joking. It’s just another power grab8– 21 June 2022 • Issue 633