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Internet gaming goes Web 2.0 with gwap!
Posted by David | Filed under The Web
I don’t often like to Internet game, the main reason being the games are usually not very good! I have my consoles and computer to feed my gaming thirst! This site got my attention though! They are simple but highly addictive word games, and the great thing is you play against other real life people anonymously.
The site has five games on it: ESP Game, Tag a Tune, Verbosity, Squigl and Matchin. All are great though it can be surprising how hard some of them are!
To summarise each game, in ESP Game you and your randomly selected partner must tag an image with description words, you both continue tagging until both people get the same answer. In Tag a Tune you have to describe music to your partner deciding whether you are both hearing the same song or a different one! Thinking on the spot in this one can be quite difficult but not as hard as Verbosity! In Verbosity you have to describe a word to your partner, I found this probably one of the hardest games to do! Squigl is more light hearted where you and your partner both trace the same object and you get more points for the closer your “Squigls” are to each other! Finally Matchin, probably the easiest after a long day, simply involves choosing an image you like most, the more you and your partner chose the same of the more points you get! It’s highly addictive and there is an element of psychology in it, choosing the picture you think your partner will have chosen!
Unlike many other games sites there is a point to this one, according to the gwap “About” section you are helping to train computers solves problems for humans. This includes more efficient image tagging so that search engines can understand what a picture is of etc. So you can be happy in the thought that your trivial time wasting isn’t going to waste after all!
External Link: gwap
Tags: gwap, Internet Game
Choosing the right Student Account (2008/09)
Posted by David | Filed under Student Saving Tips
Home > Student Index > Choosing the right Student Account (2008/09)
There are loads of student accounts out there trying to entice you to do business with them. There main way of doing this is by throwing lots of freebies at you! The reason why banks market to students so much is that most people once they have a bank account remain loyal, and tend not to swap to get better deals as they graduate and then as they go into full time employment.
Below are two tables created for the main 2008/09 student accounts on offer, including the freebies and the more important information such as overdraft limit split per year of study.
Update: We now have a more up to date article Student Accounts 2009-2010.
It is important to also check with the bank you are going to chose what they think a student is! All the banks have their own definition, but if you go to University and are doing a Bachelor degree or a 5 year Medicine, Veterinary or Architecture course you will be fine as well.
| Bank | Unauthorised Overdraft (EAR) | Formal Overdraft Limit | ||||
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | ||
| NatWest | 17.81% | £1250 | £1400 | £1600 | £1800 | £2000 |
| HSBC | 3% above their Base Rate. | £1000 | £1250 | £1500 | £1750 | £2000 |
| Barclays | 8.9% | £1000 | £1250 | £1500 | £1750 | £2000 |
| Abbey | 28.7% | £1000 | £1250 | £1500 | £1800 | £2000 |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | 29.84% | £2750 | £2750 | £2750 | £2750 | £2750 |
| Lloyds TSB* | 8.2% | £1500 | £1500 | £1500 | £2000 | £2000 |
| Co-operative Bank | 15.9% | £1400 | £1700 | £2000 | £2000 | £2000 |
| Halifax | 24.2% | £3000 | £3000 | £3000 | £3000 | £3000 |
*Lloyds TSB also offer an Islamic Students account at the same rates
It is strongly recommended you do not go above the overdraft limits of your account! Despite the numbers in the table above, many banks have stepped overdrafts which prevent you taking that sum at one time, usually its around £500 in the first six months and the remaining later in the year. Student accounts are not good for savers, if you are a saver consider an actual Savings Account as well as a student account.
Lloyds TSB student account offers a “Save the Pennies” type of scheme putting all the “change” you have left after a transaction into a savings account for you. HSBC are also doing a scheme of 6.00AER interest on actual credit for the first year of their student account as well. My advice though would be if you want to save go get a savings account with something higher than base rate interest! Online accounts often have much higher rates, but be careful how much you lock up your money.
While high overdraft looks great, check out the charges if you do go into the unauthorised territory. They can be steep and they can be painful. HSBC do have a fair charging policy, and Lloyds TSB will forgive you charge wise the first time you go overboard! While RBS looks like a great overdraft it does have a very high EAR if you go over.
Freebies Table (Don’t use this to judge who to go for though!)
| Bank | Notable Freebies |
| NatWest |
|
| HSBC |
|
| Barclays |
|
| Royal Bank of Scotland |
|
| Lloyds TSB |
|
Don’t go for a bank because it offers lots of freebies! Unless of course you are happy you won’t be going into the deep red, then you can consider taking advantage. In particular you may like the NatWest railcard deal and Lloyds TSB £100 cash deal. Many of the others are rather gimmicky voucher deals. Just because a bank isn’t offering freebies doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a good overdraft amount. Beware though banks will commit you to a certain amount of money and to a certain number of transcations to get these freebies!
My Recommendations
My recommendations would be the HSBC, Lloyds TSB and the NatWest accounts currently. Although the Royal Bank of Scotland and Halifax offers look appealing. You will also find that HSBC and NatWest are likely to be one of the banks located in your student union making things more convenientfor you to pay in cheques etc. The young persons railcard in the case of NatWest makes it appealing especially if you use the train a lot.
Bank Websites can be confusing, reading through all the bank websites to get this information took quite some time, if you think I’ve made a mistake please get in touch.
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Tags: Barclays, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, NatWest, RBS, Student Account, Student Accounts, Student Bank Account, Student Bank Accounts, Student Current Accounts, Student Saving Tips
Building Your Own Computer (Part 5)
Posted by David | Filed under Hardware
Well its the final post on this now, and really today’s is not much about building computers at all! Just general suggestions of things you can get to support your new desktop!
Sound Systems
You can get speakers for as little as £20 these days, but they won’t be that amazing. If sound isn’t something you’re worried about then that’s fair enough but if you want the best then consider a THX set of speakers. When considering speaker systems you have to consider two things: what you can afford, and how much space you have! Sub-woofers can be huge! Especially with the bigger 7.1 and 5.1 systems. Think about your neighbours as well, a 500W system is not going to go down well if you live in a terrace house!
Personally I think I have a good compromise I get quality sound from my pair of 2.1 Z2300 Logitech THX speakers, the subwoofer is still pretty massive, but it all fits nicely in my room. The total cost for this is around £80, some may think that is alot for two speakers but when you hear the sound you realise it is worth it! They are a decent set of speakers including dust covers and tweeters – both a rarity in the modern speaker world!
What Else To Consider?
Well when you build your own computer you can decide everything! No longer are you stuck with the bundled cheapo mouse and keyboard, you can splash out on a stylish optical wireless mouse and keyboard, and why not get a decent WebCam as well?
One of the great things about building your own computer is you don’t have to ever finish building it! Even now I can still add new devices. Currently I want to purchase a Blu-ray drive, installing one in my machine will take less than 5 minutes! Card-Readers, Floppy Drives, special LCD and LED displays to display various stats are all the kind of thing you can add to your PC. Have a look through Ebuyer or whatever store you use to purchase your components and you’ll find all sorts of delightful accessories for your new computer. Don’t have enough RAM, well it won’t take more than 5 minutes to install more!
That is all when it comes to building your own computer for now, in the future I may go through certain processes in more detail but for now that is a quick overview which will hopefully give someone somewhere the confidence to go and build their own computer!
Good Luck to all those who take the risk!
Tags: Building Your Own Computer, Sound Systems
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