My Column in "theFrenchPaper" is the basic information on various subjects on Technology, which I have tried to put in terms that most people can understand. I have repeated the the column on this page of the website and entered it in category and then by date. A fuller explaion of some of the sobjects covered can be found on other pages on this website.

If you have any comments quiries or questions please do not hesitate to contact me either by email tony@eymetit.com or by phone: 0553271337

1) June 09 Power cuts, surges and storm damage are a major problem in France, especially if you live in rural areas. Whether you have a dialup internet account or are have ADSL it is very important to disconnect the computer from the phone line during a storm, as most of the damage is caused by the electricity surge coming down the phone line. It is also advisable to disconnect from the mains electricity. Insurance - many people are not aware that their computer is normally covered for damage from storms and power surges. Depending on the age of the computer you can often receive enough to have it repaired or even get a replacement. Ask your insurer.

2) July 09 In last month’s Sound Bytes we mentioned the problem of power surges and storm damage, and what to do about them. We’ve since received questions about surge protectors - there are a number on the market and most electrical retailers stock them. These give a level of protection that depends on three factors - one that you purchase a good quality product, secondly the socket used for the protector has a good earth connection and thirdly that the computer and modem are connected correctly to the power surge device. The correct connection requires the phone cable to the modem/modem router to be linked through the power surge device. However the best form of protection from lightning is to disconnect the phone cable from the phone wall plug and disconnect the computer from the mains.

3) August 09 Virus guards: I have read articles that estimate 50 percent of computers are not properly protected against viruses or mal ware/spy ware. The main issues are out of date virus guards or none at all, or having more than one. This also applies to firewalls. Running multiple anti-virus programs can cause software conflicts and create performance problems on your computer. I have seen up to five virus guards on one computer; people do not realise the harm it is doing and they just assume the more protection the better. From my experience it not necessary to purchase an expensive security package, There are several free products on the market which, when tied in with windows Firewall and Windows Defender (free from Microsoft), offer a level of protection that should be good enough for the average user. Following on from the above, I recommend that you consider using some of the excellent free security software that \s available on the Internet. The one I use for my customers is AVG Free (http://free.avg.com/download?prd=afe). Just make sure that you download the free version and not the trial. There are several others that are free and work well - BitDefender (www.bitdefender.com) and a new one that seems good, Avira (www.free-av.com). There are others that readers may consider to be equally as effective, but based on my experience I prefer AVG.

4) September 09 In my opinion one of the best aspects of Window Vista is the ‘windows sidebar’ option which has various useful gadgets; the good news is that a ‘sidebar’ option is available to Window XP users. Both Google and Yahoo have produced versions of the sidebar which to be honest I could not do without. They are offering new gadgets/widgets all the time, also by third parties. The gadgets /widgets that I find most useful are clock, calendar, weather, BBC Radio or Sky TV News (sound only). Once you down load and install the sidebar from the Google or Yahoo website it will appear on the right hand side of the screen and is visible at all times. There are many other gadget/widgets available to suit most requirements. (Just one word of warning - the programme does use a lot of memory so may not be suitable for low specification computers). Open source software (OSS) is built and maintained by a network of volunteer programmers. Examples include Open Office, and the internet browser Mozilla Firefox. One of the most successful open source products is the operating system Linux. Sun Microsystems Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org/) is one of the most popular (OSS). Whilst it will read many Microsoft documents it is not 100% compatible; however it is a good alternative for those people that do not want to spend money on an Office product and are prepared to accept any compatibility issues. Free software are products that are offered by companies such as Google. The most useful of these are the Google translation program and Picasa which is a picture/photo management system, both of these are available from the Google website or from my website - just go to the download page.

5) October 09 What is Skype? Skype is a program that uses the internet to make calls and videocalls, to chat and to send texts and files and instant messages. It has over 300 million registered users in the world and is growing at a rapid rate. What is MSN? Windows Live Messenger (formerly named MSN Messenger, and usually referred to as simply MSN) is an instant messaging client created by Microsoft it allows you to transfer files send instant messages; in fact, most of the things that Skype does. It’s a matter of personal preference and as both are free you can try both. The deciding factor is which program the person you want to communicate with is using – you both have to use the same one. Skype can be downloaded from the website www.skype.com (MSN from www.msn.com). With Skype you are able call from one computer to any other Skype user in the world connected to the internet as well as to landlines and mobile phones. Calls between computers are completely free and the same applies to videocalls with the webcam, chats or to sending files. What equipment/software do I need to use Skype and MSM? Firstly you have to download the software. If you just want to use the instant messaging system then any internet connection will do; if you want to make calls then you need to have broadband as dialup is too slow. To communicate you can use either the computer's microphone and speakers or a headset. It’s worth considering buying a webcam as this enables the person you are talking to see you and vice versa. If you wish to phone landlines or mobiles you need to purchase credit from Skype using a credit card. The advantage of this is you can make very cheap calls to land lines and mobiles. Calling a Mobile phone is, I think, about half the price of phoning from a fixed phone.

6) November 09 Backing up Data on your Computer this is one of the most important actions that you should do on a regular basis, it is very prominent in my mind this month as my Computer ‘hard drive’ (HD) died this week; all my data lost. (Yes I had backed it up recently), that awful feeling when you see an error message ‘hard disk failure’ or something similar. This in fact quite unusual as the usual problem is where the HD it fails to boot or just keeps crashing in these cases the data can be recovered by a Computer Technician such as myself or someone that has a good knowledge of Computers. (Having said that, many people that think they know have managed to loose important data) I would also like to clarify a misconception at this point as I get many people when referring to the HD and in fact are referring to the Computer Tower, the Computer itself. The HD is a disk drive inside the Tower that holds all the data and operating systems. Backing up of the data systematically is very important and will be dealt with in depth next month.

7) December 09 Backing up data: These are the basic steps you need to follow to avoid the heartache of losing those important photos, documents that can never be replaced. The first option is already built into your computer and that is the CD/DVD RW, ( DVD stands for digital video disc) Just like CDs (compact discs) DVDs can be ‘burned’ - RW refers to a rewritable disk drive. Copying normal everyday data onto a disk is the easiest ways to backup your data. The reason being that ordinary data such as documents, spreadsheets, database files, photos, etc only require general DVD/CD burning software - you don’t need any special kind of software. Most computers come with DVD/CD burning software already installed and configured. You just need to open up the DVD/CD burner software, choose to burn a DATA DVD/CD and follow the prompts. A DVD will take about 4.7 GB of data and a CD about 650 MB. Alternatively there are two devices on the market that can help you to easily back up your data 1. A USB Dongle ‘memory stick’ - the standard now is about 4 gigabyte; 2. An external HD (hard drive) which now starts at about 160 gigabyte, this also fit’s into a USB port. The advantages of these are they are quick and easy to use and can be used over and over again, and can easily be taken with you when travelling.

8) January 10 Backing up data: This month we are looking at how to backup Outlook Express 6 Windows XP and Outlook. Unfortunately neither of these programs has a backup facility built into them so to preserve your data in the event of a crash it is important that you backup you emails and your address book. For those with Outlook Express the following procedure might seem complicated but is the easiest and best way of backing up those important emails: 1) Go to the Start Button bottom left and select My Computer click and open the C Drive then open the Documents and settings folder you will see several folders select the one that holds your documents and open it. 2) Go to Tools on the menu bar then choose folder options, select view then select show hidden files and folders then click OK. This process will allow you to see the folder where the Outlook Express files are stored. At this point you will see a folder called Local Settings open this, then open Application Data then open the folder Identities. The folders in the Identity folder hold the .dbx files that contain all your emails. You need to copy these folders and files so your emails can be restored at a future time. Make a short cut to the folder and backup on a regular basis. With Outlook it is necessary to copy the .pst files. I think that the easiest way is to use you search option in Windows remembering to select the option for it to search hidden files/folders. In the box for file name enter the following *.pst this will find all the .pst files on your hard drive, you just need to copy these onto a RW CD/DVD or memory stick for safe keeping. For those that want a more in-depth explanation the following website has an excellent page for all versions of Outlook with diagrams. http://www.sitedeveloper.ws/tutorials/outlook.htm

9) February 10 There are several things that everyone can do to improve the performance of their Computer. Some people are aware of the basics such as using ‘Defrag’. I am going to take you trough the procedures to include those people that have never done any maintenance to their Computer. It the Computer is running reasonable well then they should run a programme called ‘Defrag’ say once a month, this programme can be found in the following way. The quickest way is to go to the ‘My Computer’ or with Vista ‘Computer’ icon which will either be on the Desktop or by clicking on the ‘Start’ button bottom left of your Computer screen it varies for different versions of windows but is always in the same place. Once you have opened My Computer you will find all the drives that you have on your Computer. In this instance we are only concerned with Dive C: with your mouse right click on the C: Drive icon and the go to properties then click on tools you have two options a) Check Now and b) Defragment Now, select Defragment Now and follow the instructions. If your Computer is running slow then select the first option Check Now and I would recommend that you tick both the options and then click on start. You will then receive a message advising you in brief ‘that the Programme is unable to run at the moment do you want it to run next time you start your Computer, just click on Yes. Now just restart your Computer and the procedure will start, allow plenty of time as this can take several hours. Once this has finished then Defragment the Computer using the procedure above. Following on from last month it is important for people that use Outlook Express for them to backup the Address Book. This can be simply done by following this procedure. Open Outlook Express select tools at the top then select address book and open it. Then select file top left then select ‘Export’ then choose Address Book (WAB) you will then be asked to save it. Save it in a folder so you know where to find it, then copy it to disk or memory stick for safekeeping.

10) March 10(Sorry no colmn this month)

11) April: To continue with the spring clean in the February article, I would recommend the following: Check your virtual memory and increase if less than 2500mb, subject to you having sufficient disk space. Virtual memory is a very important to the operation of your computer; sometimes you will receive a message saying you do not have sufficient virtual memory. So what is virtual memory? Most people will be familiar with the term RAM or random access memory. All Computers will have between 512k and 4mb, unless it is very old. If your computer lacks the RAM needed to run a program or operation, Windows will use virtual memory to compensate. When RAM runs low, virtual memory moves data from RAM to a space called a ‘paging file’. This is in effect an area of your hard drive that has been reserved for this purpose and cannot be used for anything else. Therefore by moving data to and from the ‘paging’ file frees up RA) to allow the computer to work more effectively. To increase virtual memory you will need to go to the control panel on your computer, open the System File, and on the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings, On the Advanced tab, under virtual memory, click Change. Choose custom size and I usually enter 2500 in ‘initial size and maximum size’ then click on set. This should help to improve the speed and performance of your computer, if you have a lot of disk space set it higher, I have mine set at 4000. There is a comprehensive explanation on how to change virtual memory on my website http://www.eymetit.com/info.html#vm.

12) May: This month we are going to continue with spring cleaning your computer, looking at cleaning the hard drive and getting rid of unwanted files etc. Every time you load a webpage into your browser it will save information to your hard drive, this makes it quicker to load the pages on your next visit to the site. However these dumped pictures and text can take up a lot of space so it is worth deleting these ‘cached’ files as they are called, or ‘temporary internet files’, as Microsoft Internet Explorer prefers to call them. This can be done in two ways. One is to go to the control panel, select ‘internet options’ and clicking on delete. Here you have the option of deleting various things such as the temporary internet files, browsing history etc and cookies. I will take this opportunity to explain what a cookie is: a computer cookie is a small text file which contains a unique ID tag, which is placed on your computer by a website you have visited, for example your bank.. The website saves a file ‘cookie’ with a matching ID tag. The file stores various information about the pages you have visited on the site, information you have voluntarily given to the site. When you revisit the site days or weeks later, the site can recognize you by matching the cookie on your computer with the counterpart in its own database. This can be very useful; but you may think it is an invasion of your privacy and you can delete the cookies. The only disadvantage is that when you revisit a site you will be asked for information you may have given before; it will not remember your last visit because the cookies have been deleted. It is important that your hard drive has at least 20 percent of free space to enable Windows to function correctly. You can find out how much hard disk space you have by opening ‘my computer’, then right-click ‘local disk’, and click ‘properties’. This shows a diagram of your hard drive and how much free space you have. If you need to free up disk space or just to clean up the hard drive then use Microsoft’s ‘disk cleanup’ tool. Just click the ‘disk cleanup’ button. Disk cleanup will then spend a few minutes examining your disk. Its dialogue box shows you the space on your disk that you can free up. Then select the desired checkboxes in the ‘files to delete’ list, and then click ‘ok’. Disk cleanup will spend several minutes clearing the space. The ones I would always clear are ‘temporary internet files’, ‘temporary files’ and ‘recycle bin’; otherwise it’s at your discretion. Every week I have computers come into the workshop on which people have downloaded registry cleaners. I have tried them and I am not convinced that they are a benefit and am not in favour of them. Microsoft’s view on registry cleaners are as follows: ‘Some products available for free on the Internet suggest the registry needs regular maintenance or cleaning. Occasionally, a registry setting can become corrupt but, in general, the registry is self-sufficient. If you do decide to install a registry cleaner, be sure to research the product and only download and install programs from software publishers that you trust.’ The problem is you may be downloading a programme that is going to infect your computer - a programme that you do not need anyway.

13) June 2010:

1) June 09 A lot of people have trouble sending e-mails through Outlook Express when moving between France and the UK and other countries, and also when changing internet service provider (ISP). This is because the SMTP setting that controls outgoing mail in your mail program has to be changed to the service provider you are currently using. If for example you use TalkTalk in the UK your SMTP will be set at ‘smtp.talktalk.net’. If for example you are using Orange in France then by changing the SMTP to ‘smtp.orange.fr’ you will be able to send emails. For receiving emails you do not normally need to change anything. Where is the SMTP? Open Outlook Express-tools-accounts-properties-servers. Gmail from Google is one of the best e-mail accounts to use as it is easy to sign up to and free. Another advantages is that you can still receive your emails in Outlook Express, while Gmail also has a very good spam filter.

2) July 09 What is Twitter or Twittering? It is essentially a mini online diary. You can either follow the activities of people or organisations – or you can invite people to follow you. The messages, or ‘tweets’, of what people are up to arrive at your online Twitter home page in date order. You can also have the ‘tweets’ sent direct to your mobile. The first step is to open an account at www.twitter.com. It’s best then to see how it works by following someone, maybe a favourite pop star, journalist or news programme such as CNN. To start finding people to follow, go to ‘Find People’. Once you understand how it works you can start writing your own messages and invite people to follow you.

3)August 09 Email problems: I am having daily reports from people in France who are having problems emailing certain email addresses in the UK, Australia and Canada. Most of the reports are concerning the service provider Orange/ Wanadoo France. I have advised everyone that has contacted me to open a webmail account with Google or Yahoo and in each case they have successfully sent emails to the rejected accounts. I would stress that this only applies to the sending of emails - most people are able to receive okay. Internet browsers - should you have more than one? My advice is to always have at least two browsers, most already have Internet Explorer IE from Microsoft, which is part of the Windows package. There has been a lot of publicity about security risks with Internet Explorer and Microsoft recently introduced Explorer 8, which has apparently eliminated the problems with Explorer 7.1 would also use Firefox, which is a free download, and has the reputation of being one of the most secure browsers available. There's also Google Chrome, which has different features, and is quite fast and secure. The most important tip when downloading a new browser for the first time is not to import the settings from your old browser. It's far better to have the new one completely clean - you can easily import your favourites afterwards.

4) September 09 Translating documents to from any language. I use translation programmes all the time on my computer as well as my mobile phone. You can also use them to translate paper documents. For example, you receive a letter you don’t understand; scan the document with your scanner using the (OCR) Optical character recognition software supplied normally supplied with the scanner turning a scanned document into a text-based editable file. (Be sure to set the language in the OCR programme to the language you are copying otherwise it will not copy correctly). Once completed, you then have text in a format that you can copy and paste. Now you can paste the text into one of the many free online translating programs. One I use is Google and can be found at the following address: http://translate.google.com/translate_t# If you feel that the translation is not correct or you are not sure, just paste into another translating programme. A good tip, it is worth copying the text into a programme such as word that has a spell check as this will show up any errors that have occurred in the scanning process. This procedure can be applied to any language not just French and English

5) October 09 Last time I mentioned the Google online translator. There are other online programmes that are very useful for grammar, translation and helping you with your language. One is Word Reference www.wordreference.com. In my opinion this is one of the best online dictionaries. You can choose a word in any language to translate and it shows how it can be used in any context - particularly useful when a word has multiple meanings. Another useful programme on line is verb2Verbe http://www.verb2verbe.com while another is http://french.about.com. One that helps you with pronunciation is a text to speech website which covers a whole range of languages: http://text-to-speech-translator.paralink.com. Just type or copy the word or sentence and it is spoken back to you.

6) November 09 I am quite excited by the new version of ‘IncediMail’ having been a user for 10 years in fact since its conception in 1999, I personally think it is one of the best mail programmes on offer and you can use it Free, as long as you agree to them advertising on your emails, if you like it for a small one off charge you can upgrade to the premium version without advertising. IncediMail is supported by Microsoft and has all the features of Outlook Express plus many more features; the most important one is a backup facility which is absent in Outlook Express but has now been included in the Vista mail programme. Why not have a look at it, it is free to download and use and will automatically transfer data from your existing Email programme. I should mention that there are other Email programmes are very good and are free: Thunderbird, Windows Mail and Eudora just to name a few.

7) December 09 I find that one of the most useful programmes on the internet is the online phone directory. Here in France it is called the Pages Blanches for private individuals and Pages Jaunes for businesses. From my experience a lot of people do not use this programme even though they are aware of its existence because they can’t get the information they are looking for; the usual reason for this is that they are using it incorrectly. When using the directory it’s important not to put too much information into the boxes. When looking up a person I only put in the surname and the department - for example, 33. I then get a list of all the people in 33 with the surname I have entered; I can then easily find the person I am looking for. Whereas if I had entered a first name as well, whose would I have used, the husband’s or the wife’s? Should it be the full name or a shortened version? Of course I appreciate that this approach may not work so well in large towns; some additional information may be needed to refine the search. When using the business section I find it useful when looking for a restaurant in a certain area to just enter restaurant in the first box and the town or post code of the area I am look at. I then get a list of every restaurant in that area. I also use the plan option, as it tells me quite accurately where the person lives. Another useful function on these online directories is the ‘à qui est ce numéro?’ option. Someone phones, you miss the call but their number comes up. By putting this number into the à qui est ce numéro? box it will tell me who called – assuming they are in the phone directory. The website is as follows: www.pagesjaunes.fr/pagesblanches/

8) January 10 With Christmas/New Year upon us many of you will be travelling and will want to keep up-to-date by reading emails whilst you are away. For those with Laptops/Portable Computers it is quite strait forward they can find out where the local Internet WiFi hotspots are in the area you are visiting and connect to the Internet and download your emails. In most regions of France, UK, Spain there are Café’s that offer free WiFi internet access also a good tip is all MacDonald’s have free WiFi internet access. For those with portable Computers why not look at using a 3G Key/Dongle for accessing the internet. This facility is available almost every where; it gives you the freedom to have internet access when you want it without relying on Hotspots etc. Most service providers offer a pay-as-you-go service now, the Key/Dongle is under 80.00€ and comes with up to three hours of credit. It is best to purchase from the country that you are going to use it. For example if you want it for use in the UK then you should purchase the Key/Dongle in the UK. For those that do not have a portable they have several choices either use a friend or member of the family’s computer or go to a Cyber Café. In each of these cases the easiest way to get your emails is via ‘Webmail’. Webmail is a facility offered by every service provider to be able to read your emails on line any where in the world. To do this you just need to hand three things: 1) the web address of your service provider ‘for example the address for Orange France is: www.orange.fr’ 2) your email username 3) your email password. Do not get mixed up with your internet access codes which are usually different. **There is another option in Mobile Phones below.

9) February 10 I am still getting a lot of questions on Internet Browsers - should you have more than one? My advice is to always have at least two browsers, most already have Internet Explorer IE from Microsoft, which is part of all Windows packages. There has been a lot of publicity about security risks with Internet Explorer and Microsoft recently introduced Explorer 8, which has eliminated the problems that were being experienced with Explorer 7. There is no harm staying with Explorer 6 or upgrading to Explorer 8.My advice is to also use Firefox, which is a free download, and has the reputation of being one of the most secure browsers available. There's also Google Chrome, which has different features, and is quite fast and secure. The most important tip when downloading a new browser for the first time is not to import the settings from your old browser. It's far better to have the new one completely clean - you can easily import your favourites afterwards.

10) March (Sorry there was no Colmn this month)

11) April: This month I am going to take look at online identity theft and in particular in relation to the term ‘phishing’ which is now often used. ‘Phishing’ is a technique used to gain personal information for the purposes of identity theft, using fraudulent email messages that appear to come from legitimate businesses, such as banks. The term ‘phishing’ comes from ‘password fishing’. Attackers use their emails to take you to fake/spoof websites to obtain your passwords, usernames and other personal information. The internet addresses are disguised so that they appear identical to the originals - therefore it can be very difficult to identify the spoof site. The question is, how do we recognise a spoof email? It is often stated in genuine emails from, for example eBay, PayPal and some banks that they ‘will never ask you for your user name or password in an email’. In fact, eBay are now stating near the end of their emails that ‘eBay will not ask you for sensitive personal information (such as your password, credit card, bank account numbers) in an email’. On the French eBay site it is the same (eBay ne vous demandera JAMAIS de fournir par e-mail des informations personnelles telles que votre mot de passe, numéro de compte bancaire ou de carte de crédit.) Therefore, if an email requires you to enter your User ID, password, credit/debit card or banking details and card PIN Numbers then it is NOT a genuine email, it is a spoof. This sounds like a simple enough rule, but in reality the best spoof, bogus or hoax email would probably not ask that anyway - they will be more subtle. The problem is that an email could simply offer you a link to a web page for any innocuous sounding reason; indeed, the most convincing spoofs may refer you to a spoof web page where the user information is gleaned from you later. This problem is further complicated by the fact that we often receive genuine eBay and PayPal emails offering links to their site for various purposes. It is therefore not the case that these organizations will never ask you to click on a link. It would be better for us if there were never any links in eBay or PayPal emails, but many of us rely on those links to interact with their sites for various reasons. Therefore, you cannot believe the email to be genuine just because it does not ask for your private information alone. So, what is the answer? The main thing is to make sure you are protected with an up to date virus guard, most will check emails that are downloaded into programme’s such as Outlook Express, Outlook and IncrediMail, and report emails with ‘phishing’. However, you cannot rely on this alone. You must be vigilant and make sure that you do not give away personal information, and that you only follow links that you are confident are genuine. I personally think that on sites such as FaceBook people openly displaying personal information are putting themselves at risk to identity theft. My advice is just stop and think before you put any personal information on the internet..

12) May: I am getting a large number of emails this month as a result of a virus on other people’s computers; you can usually tell as the email is addressed to someone else and not to you. The reason is the virus has accessed a person’s address book and sent emails to everyone in it. The victim is often unaware of what has happened until they receive an email or a phone call advising them of what has happened. It is important to make sure that you have a virus guard that is up to date and that you do not open emails from sources that you do not know. I get a lot of people contacting me saying that Internet Explorer (IE) in not functioning properly, that it will not open certain pages or will not open anything even though the internet is operating correctly. This is the reason I have argued in the past that it is best to have more than one browser. However, for those who only have one browser or want to try to get Internet Explorer working again, it is possible to reset IE so that it returns to its original settings and operates as if it had just been installed. This will often clear problems that may have corrupted the browser, and as a result it should function correctly. The procedure is as follows: go to the control panel and select ‘internet options’. Choose the ‘advanced option’ along the top; at the bottom there is a reset option - just click and it will be reset, removing all your current settings. You will then need to restart Internet Explorer and it will go through the initial setting up procedure - just follow the instructions.

1) June 09 The best and often the cheapest way to receive UK television in France is using an old SKY Box, with the dish aimed at Astra 2. The box without a card will receive all the free-to-air channels, the same as a free-to-air box purchased in France. Channel 4 & 5: I have notice recently when retuning free-to-air boxes that both channel 4 & 5 are now available. It is also possible to get 4 & 5 on a SKY Box without a card by tuning manually.

2) July 09 Where to find out what is on English TV? One of the best internet sites is the Yahoo! UK TV guide http://uk.tv.yahoo.com. It has all the UK TV listings and latest news on your favourite programmes.

3) August I have had a lot of people phoning in because they have no signal on their free-to-air/Skybox following an electrical storm. In fact I had the same on my own system just a few weeks ago. The first thing to do is to disconnect all the leads to the box - power and scart as well as the lead to the dish. This will release the static charge and in many cases will result in it working once reconnected. If this does not work it is then a process of elimination. Take your box to a friend's house and find out if it works on their system - if it does then it is likely that the LNB ('low-noise block converter', the bit fitted to the arm on your dish) has been damaged and will need replacing.

4) September I have been looking at options to the Sky and free-to-air boxes for providing UK TV in France. An excellent alternative is the Freesat Box. Freesat is a British digital satellite television platform developed by the BBC and ITV plc. The service began broadcasting May 2008 and offers a satellite equivalent of the UK Freeview service. With Freesat there is a large selection of free channels available without subscription for users purchasing a receiver. There is a one-off charge built in to the purchase of the box. To install you just disconnect the old box and plug in the new Freesat Box and away you go.

5) October I have written about UK TV in France but I am often asked about the best way of getting French TV. Basic French TV can be received in two ways; one, through a standard TV Ariel and secondly through an analogue satellite system with an analogue box in the house connected to a satellite dish to receive the signal. Both these systems receive the 5 basic French TV channels. If you want more channels then TNT is one option the other is to subscribe to one of the French Services for example CANAL+.

6) November In last months Sound Bytes we touched on the subject of TNT. TNT in France is the same as the Digital service that is being introduced in the UK because the analogue TV is to be phased out. I have been advised that the French analogue TV will finish in November 2011. Therefore, in France you have two options to receive TNT, you can either get it through a standard TV antenna or from the Astra 1 Satellite at 19.2. To get the TNT programmes you need to purchase a TNT decoder which are available from all the major stores that sell electrical goods, they are very cheap to encourage people to switch over. There are two different boxes one for the system using the antenna or different one for Satellite. If want to know if TNT is available to you, go to the following website: www.matnt.tdf.fr/sources/mapview.php?rnd=946821 . Very good news for those people who want to get the BBC iPlayer or the ITV player to what those TV programs they have missed or wish to see again. There many sites on the internet that offer free ‘proxy servers’ which are just hit & miss, there are sites that offer a VPN server as an option for a monthly fee starting from 5.00€ a month. But now UKTelecom are now offering it free to their existing and future Broadband clients. Therefore, if you signup to one of their Broadband packages you get a VPN server address free of charge.

7) December Most people bring their UK TV with them when they move to France. This is ideal for most uses and as the first priority is often to receive UK TV it will enable you to do that with a Free to Air (FTA) digital receiver and satellite dish. However, if you intend to purchase a new TV and bring it over to France then you should take certain issues into consideration. Firstly, that French TV's, unlike most UK TVs, are compatible with most European systems. Secondly, if you purchase the TV in France and something goes wrong then it is covered by guarantee. If you choose the right make it can be up to 5 years onsite. I personally recommend considering using a local supplier who will normally install it for free. He is also available if something goes wrong as part of the service. France uses a transmission system known as SECAM L, the UK uses PAL-I, if you wish to receive French terrestrial TV which has six stations broadcasting throughout the country: TF1, France 2, France 3, Canal Plus, M6 and Arte then it may not be possible with your UK TV through an aerial. However, this is not a problem as there are other ways to view French TV using a digital or analogue box which will work with any TV.

8) January (No subject this month)

9) February I have had many phone calls from people who have the SKY Freeview Cards, with various messages indicating that the life of the card is coming to an end and needs to be renewed. Some people either acquired with the Sky Box or purchased from various sources. For most people the card will not be registered to themselves, and in many instances they will not have a clue to who it is registered to. Firstly the only benefit from a Sky Freeview card is Channel Five and 5 USA, however, channel 5 can be tuned in manually therefore for most people they may as well remove the SKY Card as they will have all the main channels for Free BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Film 4 etc. For those that want to keep it the same that they have have at moment will need to purchase a new card unless the Card is registered to themselves in the UK then they can apply for a new card having it sent to their UK address. I must advise that it illegal to receive programmes via a SKY Card in France, you are perfectly entitled to receive all the Free to air channels. Just another warning that whilst the SKY Card is inserted in your SKY BOX , SKY are able to access your system, once you remove the SKY Card your SKY BOX reverts to a stand alone Free to Air receiver. For instructions on how to tune channel 5 manually go to the following link http://www.eymetit.com/tvfrance.html#ch5

10) March ( Sorry no colun this month)

11) April: Following on from the February article on manually Tuning Ch5 on a SKYBOX, I have had requests from people that want the ITV regional stations. Regional BBC is already tuned into the SKYBOX between 971 and 992; but ITV has to be tuned in manually. The instructions and the coordinates can be found on the following link: http://www.eymetit.com/tvfrance.html#itv. It is also useful to have these additional channels as people that have a weak signal cannot always get ITV and by selecting ITV Central it can resolve the problem - as the signal for this station is a lot stronger.

12) May:

1) June 09 Remember to have your UK mobile phone unlocked before moving to France or on your next trip to the UK. It normally costs about £20 but enables you to use a French sim card in the phone.

2) July 09 What do you use them for? Most people just want a phone for basic things such as emergencies, for family and friends to make contact or for business. The question I pose is: are you missing out on the other useful things your phone can do? Technology is moving forward all the time and mobile phones are not just phones. For the next few months I am going to look at different things your phone can do and how it could make difference to your life in France. For example, I recently downloaded – via my computer – a French to English dictionary for my mobile phone that cost €25. All I need to do is type in a word (in French or English) and it translates it immediately – it also tells me how to pronounce it, plus much more. It is fast and efficient and I do not have to carry a dictionary with me, which I often forget anyway. For those who have 3G access there are plenty of online translation programs for free.

3) August

4) September There are many applications (‘apps’) for mobile phones - you see them all the time in TV adverts. Why not look and see what is available for your phone? Even if it is not the most modern phone, there is often an option to make a short cut to your favourite app just as you would on your computer. The shortcut can be an icon of your choice or one provided, on mine I have shortcut icons to a programme that converts weights measures, a calendar, French dictionary, address book and many other useful apps. Just go on line and put in the make and model of your phone and see what is available - many are free. If you find an app that you like download it to your computer first you can then transfer it to phone memory card and install it from there. It is difficult to put a full explanation here I will respond to emails if you require help and put more info on my website. If you have an old phone then apps may not be available to you, but most modern phones have this as an option.

5) October Some internet service providers (ISPs) sell internet packages without a fixed phone option. In this case the only available phone is an internet phone. These systems are sold on the basis of cheapness and not practicality - they are cheap because the customer does not have to pay €16 a month for the fixed phone line. The main problem with this option is that the phone is only operational when the internet is working. If the connection is down, you’re without a phone. Some homes in remote areas have unreliable internet connections, so if they use this internet-only phone system they may lose their phone connection for periods. People should think very carefully about this. I know money is tight but can you risk being without a fixed phone line? It is possible to change the package; do this you will have to contact your service provider

6) November In last months column I looked Skype as an option for cheap calls, this month I am going to look at fixed phone options. As mentioned previously fixed phone line rental is the same with most service providers 16.00€ per month. However the place where you can save on cost of calls is going for a call package (I emphasis that I am only discussing fixed phone i.e.: landline options) France Telecom do offer packages but from my experience you can do better. There are excellent packages for those who just make calls to the UK & France such as the UKTelecom ‘ONE BILL’ option where for 27.50€ per month it includes your line rental plus unlimited calls. There is also the pay-as-you-go option which is advertised by many service providers some as little as 0.0299 cents per minute, but be careful here because there are often hidden charges for example virtually every service provider with the exception of UKTelecom make a connection charge for every call you make. Just look at your phone bill you will be surprised; you can often half the cost of your calls by changing service provider.

7) December France Telecom/Orange had up until recently a free English language phone line for sales only. I understand this has been replaced by a new number that is for both sales and faults. This is 0969363900. This is a premium rate number and cannot be called from outside of France. For the contact number’s (in French) dial from a fixed line 3900 for internet, 1014 for customer services, 1013 fixed line faults, for business lines it is 1016 and 1015.

8) January An alternative for those that do not have a laptop/Portable is an iPod touch, a lot of people think it is just for Games in fact it has many features and one is WiFI internet access it incorporates the Safari internet browser therefore just like a laptop/portable Computer you can read your emails any place there is a ‘Hotspot’ internet WiFi connection you can also surf the internet and book flights etc. iPod touch supports rich HTML email, so images and photos appear alongside text. And you see email attachments in their original formats, not stripped-down versions. Rotate, zoom, and pan in more than a dozen standard file and image formats, including PDF; Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. For those that are travelling and want to keep in touch with Friends and family by mobile phone then it is worth considering having a sim card in each of the countries you are visiting. You just need an unlocked phone, you can purchase a pay-as-you-go sim card for the Country you are visiting, you can receive unlimited calls for free and make calls at the standard mobile rate.

9) February

10) March

11) April:

12) May: