Archive for August, 2007

eBay convinces An Post to reduce its high postage fees

Published August 25th, 2007 in ebay ireland, an post and rip off republic. 2 Comments

eBay.ie, the localised eBay website, and An Post, the Universal Service Obligation provider in the Republic of Ireland have joined forces to introduce a new pilot scheme for eBay sellers resident in Ireland.

The “e-Parcel Card” was launched on 21 August 2007 and will be reviewed in April 2008, offers eligible eBay users favourable prices on national and international parcels weighing up to 5kg, sent using An Post. Users save up to 45% on national parcels and 75% on international postage. As most of my buyers are in “Great Britain” - to use An Posts language - this should save me a fair amount of money.

The new service is free to join and open to all eBay users who

  • reside in the Republic Ireland
  • have a minimum feedback score of 90
  • with at least 98% positive

Eligible eBay users can effortlessly sign up for the scheme by visiting www.e-Parcel.ie Once registered, they will receive an e-Parcel Card, which they can produce at one of 1000 local “automated” post offices nationwide whenever they are sending an eBay parcel to allow them to benefit from the preferential pricing.

The An Post press release quotes random Irish eBayer, irgs025 as saying: “As a frequent seller on the eBay.ie website, I regularly post packages of all sizes nationally and internationally. The e-Parcel service takes the hassle out of posting packages, the site itself is easy to use and the cost of postage very favourable.” Not how he speaks in the present tense yet the card takes 28 days to arrive and was only launched this week, he must be a yes man.

I welcome the card but I expect when it is “reviewed in April 2008″ it will be cancelled. I’ve seen so many discount cards come and go over the years I have little faith in them, fortunately this is not a stored value card and it is free to apply so one cannot lose.

What if… real life was like a forum… LOL NSFW

Published August 25th, 2007 in nsfw, technology joke and meme. 0 Comments

Radio controlled car reaches 200mph

Published August 20th, 2007 in nitro RC, i hate it when a blog uses too many categories, pimped radio controlled car, play thing, for the man who has everything else, idle rich and rich mans toys. 0 Comments

It’s probably only the audio and video that is fast here, but if this is genuine it is the ultimate male toy, the kind of toy that is pushed and pushed past its limits and you aren’t happy until its broken.

IrishPassportAdvice.com

Published August 19th, 2007 in premium rate phone number, making money online, irish passport and passport. 0 Comments

I just stumbled across IrishPassportAdvice.com

I must credit those involved in the enterprise. Rather then copy and paste text from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs website and shove some Adsense on a side bar this crowd provide a Irish premium rate number!

I think this is walking a fine line. I haven’t phoned the number because Ambrand does not provide a telephone expense account, but I imagine the line consists of touch-tone accessible audio versions of the Departments webpage, or perhaps a human reading the Departments webpage.

The phone number is in the new and mysterious 0818 STD. This is not instantly recognisable as a premium rate number as traditionally those began with 15, for example 1550. IrishPassportAdvice.com also spaces the number as as “081 828 6628″ which suggests the STD is 081, this makes it look like a regional number, for example the Cork City region is 021.

It could be argued that as the website is advertised via Adwords they need to make their money back somehow.

Plus should we criticise a for-profit from charging money for providing information that may be found freely elsewhere, isin’t that what newspapers have being doing since time immemorial?

Well yes, I just rang the “081 828 6628″ number and listened to a slowly read introduction in a regional UK accent. I hung up after about 45 seconds when the message said something to the effect of “for more information phone 1590…” Now 1590 is a infact the most expensive premium rate number costing the caller about EUR 3.00 per minute. I think the line has been crossed.

and say, if you prefer to deal with expensive private information providers you might also enjoy birthsdeathsmarriages.ie over gro.ie

RFID blocking wallet

Published August 14th, 2007 in tinfoil hat, paranoid and ambrand. 0 Comments

When I mention the words “wallet” and “theft” you might think of pickpockets, and rightly so, but today - or at least in the last few years - a new form of theft has become possible, and it is electronic.

A thief needn’t physically steal your American Express card, instead he can read its contents by just walking past you. This is because many credit cards, and also Passports now include an hidden RFID chip. This contains the traditional data that already appears on the object, but it is readable from afar.

This has advantages to be sure, for example once enabled you’ll be able to use your American Express just by placing it near a merchants RFID reader, but alas a rogue could also manoeuvre his reader near to your wallet. While most RFID readers require proximity of 2 inches or less, a high powered model can work from up to 23 metres feet away, indeed that’s how the motorway EZ-Pass works. So how can you protect yourself?

There are two solutions

  • Destroy the RFID chip (the hole punch and microwave are aparently popular)
  • Use a faraday cage to control when the chip is readable (think of the tin-foil hat)

The latter option is the best.
RFID Blocking Wallets ensure that cards with RFID tags within the wallet can NOT be read while the wallet is closed. This gives you the ability to control when, how and by whom your cards are accessed. To allow the RFID tag in the card to be read, you simply open the wallet and direct it towards the reader.

There are two legitimate looking companies manufacturing protective wallets
DifrWear
Emvelope

Like everyone else I have settled on an ideal wallet design. To use the keywords I really like bi-fold webbing a velcro closing and zipped coin section.

Unfortunately neither company offers such a wallet. But Emvelope offer a nice bill section insert which makes a fine aftermarket upgrade for a third party wallet.

Steve Jobs introduces the I-rack

Published August 14th, 2007 in george w bush, irack, steve jobs and parody. 0 Comments

Whevever you think about Apple and US Foreign Policy you must agree this is an excellent parody of Steve Jobs and George W Bush

Nokia recalls BL-5C batteries

Published August 14th, 2007 in recall and nokia. 0 Comments

Nokia issued a recall notice covering some million “BL-5C” batteries manufactured between December 2005 and November 2006.

Nokia has several suppliers for BL-5C batteries who have collectively produced more than 300 million BL-5C batteries, it is only those produced by Matsushita that are in question.

The company stated that in rare cases, the batteries experience short curcuit, overheat , and dislodge while charging. The company has received more than 100 complaints of overheating globally.

In order to determine if a battery is subject to this advisory, it is necessary to remove the battery from the device. A Nokia battery will have “Nokia” (ie an original nokia part)  and “BL-5C” printed on the front of the battery. On the reverse, there is a 26 characters serial number.

I checked my battery and found it was bad. It looks like they’ll post another one to me for free, and they’ll send me the new one before I return the bad one, so I won’t be without a battery at any time. This must cost Nokia, or the Matsushita, or some insurance company! a fortune.

nokia.png

This issue speaks to the businessman in me. Is there a market for serial numbers? Some one has posted their batteries serial on a forum (0670400363563N452823100711) I haven’t reied it, but its possible if Nokia wrote their system quickly that serials aren’t cancelled once used, if this is true there must be thousands of Hong Kong chancers applying for free new batteries, which they’ll sell on ebay.

ParkByPhone.ie revisited

Published August 14th, 2007 in parkbyphone and no comment. 0 Comments

Greetings from Cork City, Ireland. Over one year ago I reviewed ParkByPhone and concluded I would not use it.

Well even after reading my review a fellow in my office joined. For the last year he has been telling me how great the service is. But last week the river of compliments evaporated to be replaced by a trickle of uncomplimentary words.

You see his credit card expired - as happens - and he had to tell ParkByPhone his new card details - as happens with “we’ll keep your card details on file” services. This is explained on the “How is the motorists billed?” (sic) page.

Following a previous bad experience with another Irish service provider that charges by credit card and doesn’t provide paper bills my collegaue elected to only give his credit card details in writing. But he was unable to contact ParkByPhone in writing

  • There is no secure contact form on their site
  • The number given for the fax doesn’t exist
  • There is no postal address on the site

and to top it off the site has been experiencing downtime.

A review of Pre-paid “credit” cards in Ireland

Published August 10th, 2007 in 3v review, virtual credit cards, polish ireland credit card, wirecard review, prepaid credit cards, 3v, unbanked and ambrand. 51 Comments

Pre-paid?
There are many pre-paid “credit cards” available worldwide. At Ambrand Dot Com we have an unexplainable interest in banking, and are pleased to share our knowledge with you gratis. (wow, banking and gratis in the same sentence)

The idea is to get a card that is as similar to a real credit card as possible. Now one thing that cannot be replicated is the credit element, but ideally everything else should be the same, i.e. paper statement or online statement, and most importantly a physical plastic card.

USA 1 - Ireland 0
The ultimate pre-paid card in the world is the Visa Buxx, which as with so many other ultimates is available to US residents only. It is the ultimate because it provides the user with a physical card, and that card isin’t just good for wallet flash value it allows the user to pay in bricks and mortar stores.

Virtual?
This brings us to the competition known as “virtual” pre-paid cards. As their name suggests they do not provide the user with a physical plastic card. This creates many problems, such “cards” will not work

  • in bricks and mortar stores
  • here a card is required to collect a paid item from a vending machine (eg. cinema tickets)
  • here a merchants asks for a fax of the front and back of a card to prove you have it in your possession (ie to prove its your card and not just a number you noted while you worked in a restaurant)

So ok, by process of elimation you can only use the card for online, mailorder and phone transactions. You can live with that right?

Why don’t you just a get a real “credit” card?
Well lets examine why anyone would want a pre-paid credit in the first instance, it will be because

  • They are unemployed (eg. student) and cannot be granted “credit” by a bank
  • They are employed, but have a history of defaulting on credit repayments.
  • They are an immigrant and their impressive credit history abroad is not recognised by the Irish cartel of banks that use the faceless Irish Credit Bureau.

Laser pointless
The students in the first category can easily get a Laser card (the Irish brandname for the Maestro debit card) from AIB Bank, indeed this is now an automatic feature of the 3rd Level Student Plus Account. The other Banks are not worth approaching; Bank of Ireland are stuck in the 1990s and don’t even use 3D secure! Permanent TSB don’t even offer Chip and Pin debit cards! But returning to the point the Laser card is only good in Ireland.

The options
So if you must get a pre-paid “card” in Ireland what are your options. There are two contenders 3V and Wirecard.

3v?
At first glance 3v looks good. Its provided “in association with” Permanent TSB, which is one of the large Irish Banks, and it is a Visa number and not a common MasterCard number as most pre-paid numbers are. However there are too many problems with 3v

  • EUR 5 immediate purchase fee (dead money, and in fairness there is no need for such a fee as Permanent TSB will make a profit every time the card is used from the percentage fee the merchant is obliged to pay)
  • 60 day expiration
  • A new card number every time your topup (this makes merchants think you are up to some scam, getting a new card every week, and many automatically freeze your account)
  • EUR 2.50 redemption of unused credit fee (there would be no need for a redemption if the card number didn’t change)
  • Its hard to topup, despite being offered “in association with” Permanent TSB who have an impressive nationwide branch network, you must visit a reseller such as a local newsagent or supermarket that has a terminal to buy a topup voucher (such shops are dropping 3v every day, and the list on the website is fantasy)

One user of boards.ie summed up how much 3v sucks in a succinct post

“Thats crap…”

and continued

“…so If you buy a €50 euro voucher, you have to pay a €5 fee and have to use that within 60 days, and if your balance goes to say €2.90, you have to pay €2.50 to get 40 cents back, and you cant top up on the €2.90…”

Wirecard
Wirecard is both the name of a German bank, and it’s flagship product. This explains the duplication in its URL https://www.wirecard.com/wirecard/

In the most learned and serene opinion of Ambrand Dot Com this is the best pre-paid virtual card available in Ireland today, of course it is still a virtual card, and we know the hinted physcal card option will never materialise for Irish customers thanks to the Irish Government stamp duty of EUR 40 on credit cards, which would make issuance  uneconomic for Wirecard, but it has many positives

  • 2 year validity
  • Same card number
  • A resonable EUR 1 topup fee
  • denominated in Euro (Germany is in the Eurozone)

Topups are done by a credit transfer to wirecards dublin Bank of Ireland account (which can be done online, or if you so desire in a Bank of Ireland branch) or topups are done by an IBAN credit transfer to your own account in Wirecard bank! its nice that Wirecard Bank are more involved in their product the Permanent TSB who seem to view 3v as a contractual obligation to 3V Transaction Services Ltd.

Youtube Celebrities

Published August 10th, 2007 in ambrand. 3 Comments

I use youtube to watch clips of my favourite TV shows, such as the Chaser’s War. Sometimes its necessary to trawl through pages of other videos to find them, and doing so reveals many cringeworthy “they’ll regret this when they are older” videos of teenage monologues and voice impersonations.

Exhibit A
youtube username thehill88

Exhibit B
[not required, point well made, lets move on -editor]

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