Rukka Virium Gloves - the best gloves in the world? Gets my vote!

Rukka makes great gear; it’s rarely inexpensive, but it is often the best. 

The Virium is, in our opinion, probably the very best three-season glove on the market. And a three-season glove is about as good as you’ll ever find, because no glove out there is going to cope with the demands of the coldest winter days as well as the warmest summer ones. The Virium is not a winter glove. There are, without doubt, warmer gloves out there. But it is as waterproof as any glove you’ll ever wear, and that’s partly because there’s almost no leather on the outer surface. All the leather parts are on the inner side for better feel on the grips. If you have heated grips, the Virium will see you fairly deep into the winter months, although on the very coldest days you may want something with more thermal padding. 

For us, however, the outstanding feature of the Virium is its fit. It just seems to work on just about everybody, with a comfortable but snug fit that is totally reassuring. The lining is bonded at the finger tips for extra feeling. You get hard knuckle and scaphoid protection, and rubber reinforcement on the fingers. The palm has high-grip panelling, there are touchscreen-friendly fingertips, and you get a visor wipe on the left index finger. 

If you could only have one pair of glove, it would be these. 

The best all-round biking gloves you can buy? We would coco.

I have several pairs of bike gloves: Alpinestars SP2, Bering VX1, Spidi Honda MX, and by far my favourite: Rukka Virium. 

They fit, erm, like a glove! Good armour, warm, but not too thick. Dry - due to the Gore-Tex lining. Highly recommended!

Finally: the Ogri Compendium sees light of day! Order your copy now!

THE OGRI COMPENDIUM SUBSCRIBER EDITION

Well. I bet you never thought you’d be reading this. We’re not ashamed to admit we were starting to wonder ourselves. It’s been three years and a bloody lot of swearing - but here we are! Sales of the first, subscriber, edition of The Ogri Compendium are finally open. Please read the following carefully - right to the end - to find out how all this is going to work…

First, a bit about the books themselves. They are all hardbacks this year, in three binding options, ranging in price from £85 to £250. Our printer and binder is FJ Blissett & Co, with ninety years’ experience - and the holders of a royal warrant, no less, from Her Majesty the Queen. No word of a lie.

Inside, each book is made of 504 silky pages, 496 of which are content. All 443 published cartoons are in there, bigger than they ever appeared in the magazines, on pages which measure a whopping 324 by 355 millimetres. The strips themselves have been collected from all over the place, and painstakingly restored where necessary - though 102 examples are, incredibly, taken direct from original artworks which turned up just as we were finishing the first draft of the book. (muffled wails) Also featured are numbers 443/49 and 444/50, which Paul produced back in 2013, but which never made it to a magazine page.

On the cover is a pressed-on colour plate (laminated to prevent scuffing as it slides in and out of the handmade slipcases), and foil-blocked lettering in antique gold to reflect the fact that - purely by accident - this ridiculously ambitious project is being printed in Ogri’s 50th anniversary year. Exact specs of the three binding options are HERE, but first and most importantly, here is some information about what you’re buying between now and October 15th:

UNTIL OCTOBER 15TH this is a SUBSCRIBER’S FIRST EDITION, which means that everyone who buys a book between now and then is a subscriber to the publication, is enabling us to actually get them made, and will have their name printed with our gratitude in a subscribers’ list at the back - together with any short message or gift dedication you might like to add if it’s a present. Put your message in the instructions box as you pass through checkout - and equally, if you don’t want your name to appear, let us know in the same place and we’ll leave it out. Books bought after October 15th will just be normal books, numbered. Books bought after December 31st will no longer be numbered.

We’re currently working out how to automate a free pick-up for books at the NEC, but until we’ve got it sussed, please just get through checkout, include your pick-up request in the instructions box and we’ll be in touch to confirm & do a manual refund.

WE DO HEREBY SOLEMNLY UNDERTAKE TO HAVE YOUR BOOKS WITH YOU IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS. Malcolm is buying a bigger top box specially.

Get Some 'Ere: The Ogri Compendium

Virgin Red - for all you compo hounds out there!

Get access to offers and unique opportunities from Virgin and friends when you download the brand new free app from Virgin. 

Whether you're after a free coffee with a friend, a cheaper journey to visit family, or an opportunity to experience something new with a loved one, Virgin Red is the perfect way to start living life a more Virgin. 

Earn points, connect with the Virgin companies you're a customer of, and unlock exclusive offers and competitions each month.

Download the App for iOS or Android & get playing.

Use this invite code: T6RVCU for 50 points to get you started.

U2 - "You're The Best Thing About Me”

"I can see it all so clearly

I can see what you can't see

I can see you love her loudly

When she needs you quietly…"

U2 first played New York City in 1980... and they can’t keep away. 

The new video for "You’re The Best Thing About Me,” directed by Jonas Åkerlund, sees band members reveling in the sights and sounds of New York City where, as a young Dublin four-piece, they played their first U.S. club gig in December 1980, beginning a love affair with the city which has endured for almost 40 years.

I have loved U2 for around 35 years since my dear pals in the WLPAA (don't ask!) introduced me to their fantastic music. God Bless U2! 

Dedicated to my darling Kimmy xxx

www.youtube.com

Manage your email - zero that Inbox!

Donline often works with clients who have hundreds or even thousands of emails in their Inbox. Not only is this unnecessary, it leaves you in a "can't see the wood for the trees" situation.

I use my email Inbox as workflow, & try to keep my Inbox down to a tidal level of around 20-40 messages. It might sound like I don't get a lot of mail - far from it! I receive between 100-200 emails a day! So how do I stay on to of it? Glad you asked...

How to Use the 4 D’s to Tame Your Inbox

DELETE IT - This is the easiest D on the list. If an email isn’t important, delete it right now. This means that junk, spam, and promotional emails that come in need to go out just as quickly.

DO IT - Any message that takes 5 minutes or less to respond to should be done right now. No reason to put off such a simple email when you can just handle it on the spot and move on.

DELEGATE IT - It’s one thing to buckle down and get work done, and something else entirely to know when something either doesn’t concern you or would be handled better by someone else.

DEFER IT - Ah, everyone’s favorite way to deal with email. Also known as the mañana method of task management in Spanish-speaking countries, deferring email to a later date is the go-to method for most of us.

www.scrubly.com

Bit Rot - another good reason to backup!

Data degradation (often referred to as Bit Rot) can also be used to describe the phenomenon of storage media gradually decaying over the passage of time. The cause of data decay varies depending on the medium:

Solid-state media, such as EPROMs, flash memory and other solid-state drives, store data using electrical charges, which can slowly leak away due to imperfect insulation. The chip itself is not affected by this, so reprogramming it once per decade or so will prevent data decay. The biggest problem can be finding a clean copy of the master data from which the chip may be reprogrammed; frequently, by the time the user discovers the data decay, the master data may be lost.

Magnetic media, such as hard disk drives, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, may experience data decay as bits lose their magnetic orientation. Periodic refreshing by rewriting the data can alleviate this problem. Also, in warm and humid conditions these media, especially the ones poorly protected against aggressive air conditions, are prone to the decomposition of the very material they are fabricated from.

Optical media, such as CD-R, DVD-R and BD-R, may experience data decay from the breakdown of the material onto which the data is stored. This can be mitigated by storing discs in a dark, cool location with low humidity. "Archival quality" discs are also available, but do not necessarily provide a permanent solution to the onset of data decay or other types of data corruption beyond a certain amount of time.[citation needed] Some media (such as M-DISC) are designed to improve longevity over DVD-R and BD-R.

In a nutshell: make sure that you backup regularly! 

Any questions? Contact Donline for help and advice.

TalkTalk voted worst broadband provider in the UK

Which? has revealed TalkTalk as the worst broadband provider in the UK, with almost a quarter of customers saying their broadband speed is poor or very poor.

Sky also ranked badly in the company's customer satisfaction survey, with its position dropping by three places over the last six months, from eighth place to eleventh place. BT came in at third from bottom with a score of 46%, just one percent better than Sky.

At the top of the table, the smaller companies ranked much better. Zen came in at the top of the charts with a rating of 85%, followed by Utility Warehouse with a 76% rating and SSE in third.

Broadband in the UK officially sucks, lagging behind most of Europe and South East Asia

 Making Zen an even more favourable option is the ability to drop the £16.99 a month line rental by opting for a broadband-only package. Because of its flexibility and competitive cost, 92% of the provider's customers said they would recommend the ISP to friends and family.

Utility Warehouse also offers more flexibility in its packages compared to the bigger players, dropping standard 12 and 18-month packages and instead of a rolling monthly option costing just £26.49 a month including line rental. Existing customers of the broadband service described it as "excellent" and "good value for money."

Have you made the switch yet? Ready for better service & smaller bills? Talk to Donline about moving to the Utility Warehouse!

www.alphr.com

Equifax staff direct customers to fake website. It gets even worse for the beleaguered company...

Credit rating firm Equifax has apologised after it mistakenly directed some customers to an imposter website via its Twitter page.

The firm recently disclosed a data breach affecting more than 143 million people, and set up a new website to share information with customers.

But it mistakenly tweeted the wrong web address several times, leading some customers to a fake website.

One security researcher told the BBC it was a "massive faux-pas".

www.bbc.co.uk

CCleaner malware appears to actually be targeted espionage against at least 20 tech firms

Hundreds of thousands of computers getting penetrated by a corrupted version of an ultra-common piece of security software was never going to end well. But now it's becoming clear exactly how bad the results of the recent CCleaner malware outbreak may be. Researchers now believe that the hackers behind it were bent not only on mass infections, but on targeted espionage that tried to gain access to the networks of at least 20 tech firms.

Earlier this week, security firms Morphisec and Cisco revealed that CCleaner, a piece of security software distributed by Czech company Avast, had been hijacked by hackers and loaded with a backdoor that evaded the company's security checks. It wound up installed on more than 700,000 computers. On Wednesday, researchers at Cisco's Talos security division revealed that they've now analyzed the hackers' "command-and-control" server to which those malicious versions of CCleaner connected... (Read more).

www.wired.com

Some people need to be told not to eat raw chicken

Chicken sashimi (AKA raw chicken, AKA a Japanese delicacy, AKA potential salmonella poisoning) is growing in popularity - so much so that the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a warning reminding people it’s not safe to eat the uncooked bird.

The dish has been served throughout Japan as a delicacy for years, but overseas popularity has recently been growing, with a number of US restaurants adding the dish to their menus. As a result, the #chickensashimi Instagram feed now numbers over 1,000 uploads.

The FSA has felt the need to wade into the debate with the following statement:

“Raw chicken is not safe to eat – it could lead to food poisoning. Chicken should always be cooked thoroughly so that it is steaming hot all the way through before serving.

“To check, cut into the thickest part of the meat and ensure that it is steaming hot with no pink meat and that the juices run clear.

“Consuming raw chicken can lead to illness from campylobacter, salmonella and E. coli. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, and fever. In some cases, these bugs can lead to serious conditions.”

If, I might have my 2p worth... PLEASE do not eat this. About 25 years ago I spent a week in hospital with campylobacter poisoning from undercooked chicken. Very serious - and very unpleasant! Not worried enough? How about the risk of death? Raw chicken - just say no!

www.bbc.co.uk

Celebrating the 4 Millionth British built Vauxhall Astra

As the home of the Vauxhall Astra, Ellesmere Port has been making the British built car for almost 40 years.

And today, proud employees marked the landmark moment the 4 millionth car rolled off the production line, with a choreographed display of 236 Astra Sport Tourers to spell out the feat.

Making the iconic British car since 1981, the plant has provided employment for generations of local families, ploughing millions into the local economy.

The celebratory image (above), which took 12-hours, 57 red and 179 white cars to assemble, spelled out the achievement in Astra’s trademark red, honoring the thousands of employees who have contributed to the momentous milestone.

Ellesmere Port has produced all seven generations of the famous Astra, exporting over two million vehicles to 25 European markets and even Australia in the early years. Today it employs nearly 2,000 people and many more depend on it in the supply chain, as it builds approximately 680 Astras a day.

All of my personal cars for the last 15+ years have been Astras:

Astra SRi 1.4 Turbo 150bhp. White (Mk7 / Model K).

Astra SRi 2.0 CDTI 160bhp. Silver (Mk6 / Model J).

Astra SRi 1.9 CDTI. 150bhp. Silver (Mk5 / Model H).

Astra SRi 1.8i Petrol. 123bhp. 5 Door Hatchback. Silver (Mk4 / Model G).

Astra 1.4 GLSi 5 Door Hatchback. Maroon (Mk3 / Model F).

www.vauxhall.co.uk

CCleaner 5.33 infected with Malware!

Version 5.33 of the CCleaner app offered for download between August 15 and September 12 was modified to include the Floxif malware, according to a report published by Cisco Talos.

Floxif is a malware downloader that gathers information about infected systems and sends it back to its C&C server. The malware also had the ability to download and run other binaries, but at the time of writing, there is no evidence that Floxif downloaded additional second-stage payloads on infected hosts.

www.piriform.com

www.bleepingcomputer.com

What's the best Schuberth flip-lid (for me)?

For years now, the Schuberth C3 Pro has been the "go-to" flip-lid motorcycle helmet. It’s a top quality bit of kit that works. Bits don’t fall off, and it will stand up to the rigours of the daily commute. It’s technically the quietest helmet on the market, and Schuberth has always been ahead of the game when it comes to comms.

But earlier this year, Schuberth released a new helmet called the C4. So where does it fit? Will it replace the C3 Pro, or sit alongside it? And what about the original C3 that is now called the C3 Basic?

I can usually make a good quick decision on most things, but this one has me stumped! This is really not as simple one is better than the other: more like an "apples vs oranges" scenario - both great, just very different!

I'm off to Infinity Southampton later this week to find out more: watch this space!

Further reading / watching:

TranAmTV: Schuberth C4

TranAmTV: Schuberth C3Pro

C3Pro Vs C4 comparison at Motolegends

Schuberth C3 Pro Helmet Review at RevZilla.com

Best Modular Motorcycle Helmets at RevZilla.com

SpaceX on how not to land a rocket booster...

SpaceX showed some tongue in cheek humility today as it released a "blooper" video of the series of crashes and explosions leading up to the first successful landing of the Falcon 9 first stage booster. The two-minute compilation, titled "How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster," shows the many ways that things can go wrong during a landing, and that – like true love – the course of rocketry never did run smooth.

However, SpaceX appears to have now nailed the launch & recovery of their boosters - so well done them!

www.newatlas.com

POWDER checks for your motorbike - maintenance & safety

P.O.W.D.E.R stands for Petrol Oil Water Damage Electrics Rubber. 

I will now explain further how to use P.O.W.D.E.R as your pre-flight checks. 

Trust me it will soon become second nature to you.

Petrol. Not only check if you have enough fuel for your journey but also consider the following. If you decide to lay your bike up for a long period of time, “brim” your tank to the top with fuel. Petrol unlike other fuels is extremely cold; when it sits in a metal container (your tank) it will generate condensation which in turn will mix with the petrol. As everyone knows water mixed with petrol is a very bad thing and will seriously damage your engine. A lot of people lay up their bikes over the winter period in a cold garage and leave just a small amount of fuel in the bike’s tank, a very bad thing to do.

Oil. Check the oil level to make sure it is at the correct height either by a dipstick or a spy glass in the side of the engine casing. Remember to have the bike on its centre stand, use a paddock stand or get someone to sit on the bike to keep it vertical. Remember over filling an engine with oil is much worse than letting the level drop below the minimum mark. An over filled engine will blow oil seals everywhere around the engine and will cost loads to rectify.

Water. If you have a water cooled engine check the level of the coolant again with the bike on its centre stand or with the bike totally vertical. If the level is low remember not to use tap water. Always top up with a mix of distilled water and antifreeze. Antifreeze not only keeps the coolant from freezing in the winter but also helps to stop your bike from over heating in the summer. Don’t only check the water level but also check the antifreeze mix. You can buy a handy little tester from Halfords that measures the amount of antifreeze present in the coolant mix; the gadget only costs a few pounds. I have attached a picture and price of the coolant tester at the end of this topic.

Damage. Check over your bike totally for damage not only to fairings but also light lenses, brake and coolant hoses, cracks to the bike’s frame, missing fairing bolts, dents to the wheel rims from pot holes, loose brake calliper bolts from vibration, cuts or brakes to the wiring harness and most importantly damage to your crash helmet. If you accidently drop your lid or if it falls off your seat then don’t wear it until you have a specialist examine the helmet. Most bike clothing retailers will examine your crash helmet for you. I know for a fact Shoei will examine their helmets for a small fee. Whilst focusing on helmet security, always try and take your lid with you when away from your bike, you never know what can happen to it! A few years back before joining the Police, I smeared the whole interior of my mate’s crash helmet with black boot polish. When we returned from our ride out and my friend took his lid off, he looked like a coalminer, what a hoot! When you do leave your helmet with your bike place it between the clip on handle bars, it won’t roll of the bike and the bike’s screen will protect it from the rain. The other option is to place your gloves on the floor with the palms facing down and put the helmet on top, that’s the way I was taught during my advanced Police course.

Electrics. Complete a full lights check before a ride remember to check both the foot and hand brake switches. Give the horn a quick blip and if you are planning to lay the bike up for a while, it’ll be worth buying a trickle charger.

Rubber. Your hoops keep you in contact with the road so make sure you look after them. Check the tyre pressures when the tyres are cold because the pressure will read higher when the tyres are hot. Also place a bit of spit on your finger and smear it into the valve to ensure the valve is not leaking air bubbles. Obviously check the tread depth of both tyres and clear out any small stones from between the tread pattern. The minimum tread depth for motorcycle tyres in the UK is 1.0mm. Visually check both walls of each tyre to make sure there are no cracks starting to form due to lack of use or age. If you are going to lay the bike up for more than a month on a cold concrete floor, place a piece of carpet under both tyres because cold concrete with draw silica oil out of the rubber of the tyres and reduce the performance on the tyre.

www.saferrider.org

Equifax UK admits: 400,000 Brits caught up in mega-breach

As part of its investigation, Equifax has identified unauthorised access to limited personal information for certain UK consumers:

Regrettably, the investigation shows that a file containing UK consumer information may potentially have been accessed. This was due to a process failure, corrected in 2016, which led to a limited amount of UK data being stored in the US between 2011 and 2016.

The information was restricted to: Name, date of birth, email address and a telephone number, and Equifax can confirm that the data does not include any residential address information, password information or financial data.

www.theregister.co.uk

Don't forget that computers are tools. Use them, put them down, then go live your life!

You Are Already Living Inside a Computer. Futurists predict a rapture of machines, but reality beat them to it by turning computing into a way of life.

Suddenly, everything is a computer. Phones, of course, and televisions. Also toasters and door locks, baby monitors and juicers, doorbells and gas grills. Even faucets. Even garden hoses. Even fidget spinners. Supposedly “smart” gadgets are everywhere, spreading the gospel of computation to everyday objects.

Nowadays, people often don’t seek out computers in order to get things done; they do the things that let them use computers.

Computers are a tool.

Use them to get the job done, then go & do something more interesting instead!

 Anyway, when did the gadgets get smart, and the people become dumb?

www.theatlantic.com

Visordown reviews: Honda CB1100 RS/EX & CMX500 Rebel

Visordown have ridden three new Honda retros: the CB100 EX and higher-spec CB1100 RS, plus the slightly more sedate CMX500 Rebel. 

Watch their verdicts on all three, from guest reviewer Simon Hargreaves.

My verdict is I love the CB1100 RS!

If the Mrs wasn't paying such close attention, I would try to sneak one into our garage! ;0)

www.youtube.com

Important Microsoft patches just released: PATCH NOW!

Microsoft has just released a batch of essential security updates for users of its software. In this Patch Tuesday release, Microsoft addressed 81 new vulnerabilities – of which 27 have been given the highest rating of “critical”.

One of the flaws (CVE-2017-8759) addressed by Microsoft’s patches is a previously unknown vulnerability in the .Net framework. The zero-day vulnerability was being actively exploited in attacks which targeted Russian-speaking users with poisoned Word documents that served up a version of the FinFisher spyware.

Also of note is that Microsoft has revealed it has pushed out a fix for the newly-announced BlueBorne exploits (CVE-2017-8628), which could allow an attacker to initiate a Bluetooth connection to a targeted device without the user’s knowledge, and open opportunities for man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks.

As always: make sure your computing devices are fully patched up to date.

www.hotforsecurity.bitdefender.com

Don't buy Bitcoin, it's a 'fraud' and heading for a crash says JPMorgan CEO

Since the beginning of 2017, the price of Bitcoin has increased by a huge 320%, from $997 (£751) on 1 January to $4,148 (£3,126) on Tuesday’s close. The price reached an all-time high on 1 September. While the price has been gradually falling since then, the trajectory it has been on this year is almost continuously in the upwards direction.

But the long-term prospect of the cryptocurrency is not strong, according to Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan. Speaking at a conference, Dimon called Bitcoin a fraud worse than "tulip bulbs". This alludes to a market bubble that appeared in the Netherlands in the 1600s, which, at its height, saw the rarest bulbs priced at six times the average person’s salary.

I'm amazed that people put their hard earned money into Bitcoin. 

If/when it all goes wrong, they will be left with nothing at all.

It reminds me of the Dot-com bubble: people seeing all this high-tech "stuff" & thought they'd better have a bit of that. At the time (& as a techie): it didn't make a bit of sense to me!

From a business perspective I could see people pouring huge amounts of DO$H into hare-brained schemes that were clearly doomed to fail - just because they had a website attached to them.

Moral of this story: engage brain before putting do$h into gear!

www.alphr.com

Office 2007 End of Life: 10th October 2017

Office 2007, like almost all Microsoft products, has a support lifecycle during which we provide new features, bug fixes, security fixes, and so on. This lifecycle typically lasts for 10 years from the date of the product’s initial release, and the end of this lifecycle is known as the product’s End of Life. When Office 2007 reaches its End of Life on October 10, 2017, Microsoft will no longer provide:

• Technical support for issues

• Bug fixes for issues that are discovered

• Security fixes for vulnerabilities that are discovered

In addition, as of October 31, 2017, Outlook 2007 will be unable to connect to Office 365 mailboxes, which means Outlook 2007 clients using Office 365 will not be able to receive and send mail. For more information, see RPC over HTTP deprecated in Office 365 on October 31, 2017.

Because of the changes listed above, we strongly recommend that you upgrade as soon as possible.

If you need assistance with this, contact Donline ASAP.

support.office.com

Google details plan to distrust Symantec Digital Certificates

After a series of incidents involving Symantec and its wrongfully issued certificates, Google eventually decided to distrust Symantec’s certificates in March. The company is now releasing a more detailed plan for how that process will go.

The plan was first discussed on the Blink (Chrome’s rendering engine) development mailing list with the community, and it started taking shape by the end of July of this year.

On January 19, after the incidents between Symantec and Google, a public posting to the mozilla.dev.security.policy newsgroup drew attention to some questionable website certificates issued by Symantec that did not comply with the CA/Browser Forum Baseline Requirements. Symantec’s Corporate Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) operates a series of certificate authorities under the brand names Thawte, VeriSign, Equifax, GeoTrust, and RapidSSL.

In the follow-up investigation, it was revealed that Symantec had entrusted several organizations with the ability to issue certificates without the appropriate or necessary oversight. Google also claimed that Symantec had been aware of the security deficiencies of these organizations for some time, but took little or no action to fix them.

This was just one more of the several incidents that made the Chrome engineers lose trust in Symantec’s certificate infrastructure and all the certificates that could be issued by it. After Google announced its plan to distrust Symantec’s certificates, Symantec decided to sell its certificate business to DigiCert, a competitor, which would also have to rebuild the Symantec infrastructure to be more trustworthy. 

www.tomshardware.com

The Foo Fighters pub - for one week only!

The Foo Fighters have announced they’re opening a pub in London for one week only.

After an invite-only launch party on Thursday (14th September), The Foo Fighters Arms will open its doors to the public on Friday to celebrate the release of Foo Fighters’ ninth studio album ‘Concrete & Gold’ that day.

The pub – essentially a rebrand of the existing boozer The Dundee Arms at 339 Cambridge Heath Road in Bethnal Green - will be selling exclusive merchandise throughout the week and will host a Foo Fighters themed quiz next Monday before it closes on Wednesday (20th September).  

www.planetrock.com

Will you be buying the new iPhone? Lets see what the techies think...

Will you be buying the next iPhone (announced on Sept 12)?

I'm not an Apple fan. I do however support many clients who use Apple tech (iPod, iPad, iPhone, iMac, MacBook, etc). It's well designed, nicely made kit. 

However, for the vast majority of Donline clients, on a bang-for-buck basis, I don't & wouldn't recommend it. 

Donline uses, & supplies Toshiba & Fujitsu personal computers to my clients.

There is a small subset of computer users (high end production of Video, Music, Design) where Apple kit may (debatable!) be an appropriate solution: the correct tool for the job.

Generally though, using any metric you care to look at: compatibility, supportability, ease of use, longevity, security, price - I can offer a Wintel solution which will do the job better, faster, cheaper.

Regarding mobiles, generally I recommend Android.

For example: over the last two years I have been using Sony Xperia Z3 Compact phones in the business. I just upgraded the Donline phones last week, & was so happy with the Z3s, I have switched to Sony Xperia X Compact phones. These new devices are even better & I'm very happy to recommend them if you are looking for a new mobile phone.

Virtually none of the techies that I know, use or recommend Apple kit.

Hmmm, what is the moral of this story...

www.slashdot.org

Motorcycles fit for royalty

They could probably have any bike they choose, and Princes William and Harry have chosen a few over the years. What better endorsement for a motorcycle than Royal appointment? These are the machines to have earned the accolade.

I wonder where they get it from?

Queen Elizabeth II on a BSA C10

www.visordown.com

Southsea to Ryde hovercraft taken out of service.

Two hovercraft costing £10m have been withdrawn from service until further notice after suffering numerous faults.

The Island Flyer and Solent Flyer hovercraft began running between Southsea and Ryde last summer.

They have had ongoing technical issues since their launch with Island Flyer recently suffering an engine breakdown.

Hovertravel said its Island Express craft and Freedom 90 craft which are nearly 30 years old had been brought back into service to operate the route.

Looks like the Summer of 2017 hasn't been a good one for travel over water to & on the IOW: following the Cowes "floating bridge" debacle.

www.bbc.co.uk