Received this from a friend and handy to know:

I have just successfully won a case against an online retailer, for defective goods, 4 years after the date I purchased them. Due to legal reasons I cannot divulge the names but I can advise you that I used the following two statutes to defend myself in the County Courts, Blackpool.

I had purchased some Skis for Winter that I used on holiday, three times, for a total of six weeks (3x 2week hols). I bought the skis and clothing set for £500. I had lost the receipt years ago but obtained a duplicate bank statement showing the transaction. 4yrs later the skis cracked and the clothing has become weak due to poor quality, admitting cold and rain into the inner sleeving.

This in my view presented a clear case of defective goods not fit for purpose and not at a reasonable level of durability that could be expected from their intended use and as such the responsibility was on the retailer to complete their half of the contract under EU and UK law (i.e. replace the lot). The retailer flatly refused to do anything citing the 1yr warranty period had expired and I need to provide the receipt… this was their position for years until I submitted Court proceedings on a simple 2page form back in July.

I won the case, got a full refund, plus interest, plus compensation. It took about 10 minutes to get a decision in my favour in Court. I completely wasted tons of time in fruitless correspondence with the Retailer. The cost of taking them to court was a mere £50.

The statutes are as follows and may be of some use to you in the future when corresponding with retailers/suppliers.

EU Directive 99/44/EC provisions for a statutory 2yr cover from purchase across EU states. This can be used to claim a refund for defective items 1yr past the [typical] manufacturers warranty period and/or retailer guarantee.

Sale of Goods Act provisions for upto six years from purchase [not may people are aware of this]. The six year is, however, dependent on ‘durability’ – a new word added only recently to the Act. For example, a pair of shoes worn each day would not be expected to be as durable as a pair of Winter Skis used once, for two weeks in every year. It’s a case by case basis, but clearly common sense should – and does – prevail.

What many people are also not aware of is the fact that the Supplier is under no obligation – by law – to provide a receipt for any goods and therefore you, the purchaser, are under no obligation to provide one either. However, it is reasonable for the Supplier to ask for proof of purchase – a bank statement identifying the transaction is acceptable in law.

Quadrophenia – The Rock Opera
http://www.quadrophenia.co.uk

“but that’s it, I don’t want to be like everyone else. That’s why I’m a Mod“

Quadrophenia one of my all time favourite films and the inspiration for my gerrymoth avatar (Its Jimmy on his scooter from the film with “The MOTH” on his visor), hits the theatre in a play (rock opera) starting on the 9th May in Plymouth and then in dates up and down the country. I’ll need to definitely go and see this, if only to hear the music of The WHO

MUSIC, LYRICS AND CONCEPT by PETE TOWNSHEND
Stage adaptation by Jeff Young, John O’Hara and Tom Critchley

UPDATE: If you have a scooter and fancy a FREE ticket to opening night, contact @edquadrophenia on twitter for the big ride-out

Register with OPDA HERE

NOTE: Below username just enter password twice.

Instructions on how to apply for Developer Certificate HERE

Request Developer Certificate HERE

NOTE: Add IMEI of your phone and any 11 digit number starting with 13, 15 or 18.

Install MobileSigner HERE on your Nokia phone and sign away to your hearts content using the developer certificate above Note: Leave Password BLANK in MobileSigner and use *.cer & *.key files.

I dual boot my laptop with Windows XP Pro and Ubuntu, recently I had installed Windows 7 to test out and lost my Ubuntu system at boot up, but after searching the Ubuntu Forums I realised I’d lost my GRUB settings and still had Ubuntu safety on my laptop. Here is what is did. 

Reinstall GRUB after Windows install:

Insert Ubuntu Live CD and restart system.

Open a terminal once in Ubuntu and do the following:-

sudo grub

find /boot/grub/stage1

Take not of whatever find states (hdx,x)

root (hdx,x)

setup (hdx)

quit

Now restart the system and remove the Live CD when instructed to. When the system restarts you’ll notice GRUB is back

I’ve put instructions together on how to change the Product Code of your E71 and update the firmware to the latest Generic EURO1 version.

1. Install latest version of NSS from B-Freaks (as Virtual device)
2. Connect E71 phone via USB cable (PC Suite connection mode)
3. Click NSS icon on desktop.
4. Click ‘Scan for new device’, see Figure 1.

5. Click ‘Phone Info’, see Figure 2.

6. Click the Actions ‘Scan’, see Figure 2
7. Click the Production Data Edit ‘Read’, see Figure 3.

Your current Product Code should be displayed, please take note of this.
8. Click the ‘Enable’ box next to Product Code and change the code from 0570631 (3UK) to 0567045 (EURO1).
9. Click the Production Data Edit ‘Write’, see Figure 4. You can check the write has worked by clicking the ‘Read’ again.

10. Close NSS and open Nokia Software Updater (NSU) which is part of PC Suite and update the firmware of your E71.

If your phone is still in warranty I advise when the firmware update is complete to run NSS again and change your product code back to the original one.

Foxmarks have now released their Internet Explorer add-on out of Beta. Now I only use Firefox myself, but some companies will only allow you IE in the workplace, so this release will be a joy for you.

Full Story HERE

If you have an iPhone you can now download the ‘WordPress for iPhone’ app from iTunes Store for FREE.  Checkout the developers website at http://iphone.wordpress.net

All I want to know if,  where is the S60 app for all us Nokia users? The http://m.wordpress.com doesn’t allow you to upload pictures.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – June 4, 2008 – sipgate Inc. (www.sipgate.com) today announces the immediate availability of a free application for the iPhone, which, for the first time allows consumers to natively use any VoIP service which uses the industry standard SIP. Consumers can now use their iPhones to make and receive VoIP calls from their devices over a Wi-Fi Internet connection using a wide variety of VoIP providers. The VoIP-enabling software is available from sipgate’s website www.sipgate.com.