My tweets on 2010-03-10

March 9, 2010 – 11:59 pm

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My tweets on 2010-03-09

March 8, 2010 – 11:59 pm
  • RT @williamheath: RT @kim_cameron: RT @ch9 Deep Dive into U-Prove Cryptographic Protocols http://bit.ly/bZTxLH (downloaded to my iPhone) #
  • Yet another blog post, this time it's "Why virtual identities are real to some of us" at http://bit.ly/bhUB1r #
  • http://bit.ly/d766zL Where do I sign up to this "anti-copyright agenda" that the article refers to? #
  • Anyone else here at The International Payment Summit? #
  • £17 for wifi? Can pay, won't pay. #
  • @caterworld only after you've marched them up to the top :) in reply to caterworld #
  • Mobile Financial Services, Singapore 25th and 26th May, see you there http://bit.ly/ccNhvf #
  • More about looking to emerging markets for innovation in financial services http://tcrn.ch/ck1uDC #
  • Prof. Stephane Garelli funny and horrifying about budget defecits and economic outlook (uk has highest defecit at 14% yay we're no.1) #ips #
  • Garelli warns about the "gang of four"… Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. #
  • RT @charlesarthur * best user comment in Mail? "We should have hung them when they were ten. Killing children is wrong" http://bit.ly/cTnFrE #
  • Since I don't care about the Oscars, and particularly don't care about who wore what at the Oscars, there's not much to read in the paper. #
  • Wish I hadn't picked up the paper, #
  • Teenage gun crime up 70%, boy stabbed to death, hundreds dead in ethnic violence (at least this was in Nigeria)… That's enough news. #
  • Flattering! I've been asked to be a judge for the "Florin" awards. I will accept Oscar-style goody bags from all entrants naturally. #
  • RT @erinmccune: [what I'm reading] Here's How Blogs Are Making The Financial Press Worse http://bit.ly/c9uHLL #

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My tweets on 2010-03-07

March 7, 2010 – 11:59 pm

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We so don’t have a digital economy yet

March 7, 2010 – 9:39 pm

[Dave Birch] It’s been a bit crazy at home because we’ve been having some building work done. Last month I forgot to pay one of our Barclaycard bills, so I got charged a late fee. I didn’t want to get caught like this again, so I logged in to the super new online account management system and chose the option to set up a direct debit for the minimum payment. I double checked the account details and got a message that said something like “your direct debit is all set”. At this point, I marvelled at the efficiency of online financial services and promptly forgot about the whole thing.

Today I had a call from Barclaycard. The woman told me that I had missed my payment again this month.

“Impossible” I said “because I’ve got a direct debit set up to pay the minimum if I forget to pay the bill”.

She says she knows nothing about this and that I have to call Barclaycard. “Aren’t you Barclaycard?”, I say, “can’t you tell me?”

No, she insists, I have to call customer “service”.

I call the customer “service” number on the back of the card.

“Please enter the 16 digit number on the front of the card”.

I punch in the PAN and get through to customer “service” in India (I’m guessing: all of the agents sound Indian and have Indian names). The first thing that the guy asks me is “what is your card number?”.

I tell them that it’s the one I just punched in. No matter: the customer “service” agent tells me that his system doesn’t know the number, so I have to tell him.

“What was the point of asking me to punch it in then?” I asked, genuinely curious. He doesn’t know. I’ll bet some management consultants have advised them to install a new CRM system and it’s not connected to anything else.

I tell them the number again. They ask me for my name.

“David Birch”

And the first line of the address. I tell them I that someone just called and said that the monthly payment had been missed, and I want to know why. They transfer me to another customer “service” agent, who asks for my name.

“It’s still David Birch”

They tell me that the direct debit has had a “delay”, but they don’t know why, and they tell me to call my bank (which is also Barclays).

Since I’ve got nothing else to do, I call Barclays Premier Banking. I have, of course, forgotten the 5-digit PIN number, so I have to go and find my last bank statement for verification.

I explain the problem. The guy tells me that although the direct debit is set up on my account correctly, it takes FOUR TO SIX WEEKS for the “system” to process it, and that’s why the payment hasn’t gone through, because I only set it up a week before the payment.

Meanwhile, I cancelled one of my other credit cards (on which, incidentally, I bill several thousand pounds per month on average) because I was annoyed with them about something else. I couldn’t be bothered to look through The Telegraph or visit Money Supermarket, so I did what any normal person would do and asked the twitterverse. A follower made the excellent suggestion of a John Lewis MasterCard, which since we shop at Waitrose was a good idea. I went to their web site, filled out the form and shortly afterwards received an e-mail telling me that I had been accepted for the card. Great, I thought. But then it said that in a hommage to John Lewis’ origins in Victorian Britain, they were going to post me some forms to fill out and sign.

A couple of days later the forms arrived, I signed them and put them in an envelope, meaning to post them later on. Now, naturally, I haven’t the slightest idea what I did with them.

So much for e-finance.

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My tweets on 2010-03-07

March 6, 2010 – 11:59 pm

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My tweets on 2010-03-05

March 5, 2010 – 11:59 pm

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My tweets on 2010-03-04

March 4, 2010 – 11:59 pm
  • Bus is now 15 minutes late. My commitment to green commuting is blowing up in my face. No more public transport for me. #
  • SWT setting the standards for public transport as always. Ticket machine is broken so they've closed a ticket window as well. Massive Q. #
  • Morning saved by outstanding bacon butty at station: fresh bread, properly-cooked rashers and plenty of them, choice of brown or red sauce. #
  • @brandmidwife nice piece: I too genuinely look forward to IOT on iPod, like many other BBC podcasts. But current fave is 100 Objects. in reply to brandmidwife #
  • @N_Hickman Twitter to use DPI? I suggest we all begin to use Navajo Tweettalkers. in reply to N_Hickman #
  • RT @petervan More OIX http://thebankwatch.com/2010/03/04/holy-grail-or-another-false-start-for-identity/ (another step forward for openid?) #
  • I was in a discussion about multichromatic microspheres today. #
  • New report for the Department for Transport (DfT) reveals how mobile phones can be used for public transport ticketing http://bit.ly/bSZ96f #
  • Hey, it happens in the US too! Govt system is total waste of time and money (54% error rate detecting illegal workers) http://bit.ly/ayqTeD #
  • Stickers are the future, aren't they? http://bit.ly/bRTUgq #

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My tweets on 2010-03-04

March 3, 2010 – 11:59 pm
  • BBC: "Live Aid" money went to buy arms, only 5% went to food #
  • @tomilube You are much too kind, but thanks Tom. in reply to tomilube #
  • @resourceliving @ernieyacub @dgwbirch nice rumour about Live Aid buying arms" It's on the BBC, so it must be true http://bit.ly/cVHUHP in reply to resourceliving #
  • Listening to excellent yah-boo PMQs — Hague vs. Harman smackdown — almost restores your faith in democracy (almost) #
  • Coffee, catch up with the news: MI6 agent arrested trying to sell secrets, BA worker arrested foe raising money for Islamic militants, #
  • Suggestion for next Live Aid: "Happiness is a warm gun" followed by Copyright Pirate Fighters vs. Somali Pirate Fighters? #
  • Listening the legend that was Rory Gallagher to get in the right mood for some serious debating. #
  • @sirbonar OMG! £300m! That's, like, as much as U2 makes in A WHOLE YEAR. Please, Sir Bonar, prevail on Poo Bah to save the music industry in reply to sirbonar #
  • You can call it what you want / I call it messin' with kid #
  • via Peter Vander Auwera the noise about Facebook as the new PayPal is growing http://bit.ly/cUmzVs #
  • Yet another blog post, this time it's "Will the Tories abolish cash?" at http://bit.ly/dlcVce #
  • That was enjoyable, but under Chatham House rule, so no-one will be able to tell you that it wad me who said nice things about Microsoft #
  • RT @wendyg DE Bill adds amendment to censor Web: http://bit.ly/asimrl #cfpconf #debill (Poo Bah's mad bill to cripple the British economy) #

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My tweets on 2010-03-03

March 2, 2010 – 11:59 pm

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My tweets on 2010-03-02

March 1, 2010 – 11:59 pm
  • I've been invited to a thought leadership dinner, so I'd better start thinking now if I'm going to have any chance of getting ahead. #
  • Help! It's not even 8am and I'm making notes on a Federal Reserve report on payments. #
  • @billt "delivery leadership" is the day job :) in reply to billt #
  • @billt someone tell Rupert about norobots, job done. in reply to billt #
  • I've been in the car for 45 minutes, and I'm still only 2 miles from home. Traffic, roadworks, traffic. Still, got lots of email done. #
  • Morning is broken http://yfrog.com/3nwjylj #
  • Uh oh. Now the low fuel light is flashing. #
  • Listening to R5 phone in on saving money in local govt while browsing Guardian local govt jobs site. Thiswill get me sectioned. #
  • @dngusev No, I'm in Guildford. in reply to dngusev #
  • @dngusev and it only took me 1hr 40mins to go 9.5 miles, so much faster than Moscow! in reply to dngusev #
  • Yet another blog post, this time it's "Mark Ratcliffe, Murmur Research" at http://bit.ly/9lZoE2 #
  • PIV, PIV-C, eID, Federal Bridge, M2M, J2ME, OpenID, zigbee, microSD, long meeting. #
  • On the train listening to my favourite Smiths track. #
  • Dada dadadadadadadada In the city http://maps.google.com/?q=51.514406%2C-0.098563 #
  • RT @petervan * Facebook wins US patent for 'news feeds' http://jlne.ws/bV3mB2 (clever plot to bring patent system into further disrepute) #
  • Fascinating discussion about Oyster, fare policy and future technology. #
  • The Drain was shut when I got there and when I did make it to Waterloo the train was late. Not a good transport day, and still not home. #
  • RT * House of Lords are debating Analogue Economy (Preservation) Bill. Follow @glynwintle, who is livetweeting it… #

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