The gaff banner by: @brulaw
"Lots of great news and photos to check out" -
@cass905
17th August 2018/Issue #279
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giffgaff Happenings
by bluemoonbaz
An update coming to Payback in December 2018
Starting from the next Payback period, December 1st 2018 - May 31st 2019, when you choose your Payback option, we will be asking you to confirm that you were over sixteen years of age when you earned your Payback.
This is something that we've asked of Super Recruiters for a while, and now we're bringing the community Payback process into line with it. We've got a fair while before this will come into place, so we're really interested in hearing your thoughts on how best to go about it - while it's something that has to happen, how we implement it is still up in the air. If you have any questions or suggestions on the best way to approach this, then head over here and give @t_will your thoughts and feedback.
Heads up on some scams - protect yourself
@lauracarruthers, our fraud and payments manager at giffgaff, has some information for the community: Number one - I want to remind everyone that we’re an online-only business, and we don’t do any business over the phone. We’ve seen a little bit of a rise in reports recently of people getting phone calls from scammers claiming to be from giffgaff, offering deals on new phones, and then collecting a lot of personal information from the person they’re calling, including payment or bank information. In some cases, there are actually phones ordered on their behalf, but only to further the scam - by ordering the wrong device, and then the fraudster collecting the phone (often pretending to be a courier who is returning the phone) and the purchaser losing out.
Number two - We’ve also seen a few scams floating around of dodgy sites offering bonuses on your topup. The scammers might offer something like £30 airtime credit for £15, and then once you’ve paid the £15 to them, they use a stolen card to buy you the credit. When the person who owns the card gets the fraud sorted out and the credit gets removed, you’re out of pocket, and it could affect future payments you make elsewhere. If anyone has any questions or concerns head over here.
What local communities do you belong to?
How many of you are part of communities in your local area? If you would like to feature on a campaign on social as a Local Legend, please do share your story by the end of the week or you can reach out to Amy here on @amy_b_d's post.
The future of The gaff
by willp789
Firstly, a big thank you from myself and the entire gaff team for reading The gaff. We're always looking for ways to improve The gaff, so this time we've decided that a survey is appropriate to gather your opinions. We want to know what you already like/dislike and as an added bonus, there are some questions about potential new sections for the gaff, and something about a podcast :smileysurprised:...
The survey is mostly multi-choice and should take less than 5 minutes to complete, so please hit the button below and let your voice be heard. All responses are anonymous, you do not need to log in with an account to complete the survey.
If you wish to know more or have any questions, I have posted a thread on contribute fully explaining how it works. My thanks go to @toxiic who helped me with putting this survey together.
Complete the survey
Hot Smartphone Tips
by toxiic
All this hot weather can be exhausting on not just us but our devices, too. Of course, you don’t want to damage your devices, so there are a number of tactics you can put in place to battle the weather that we’ve had to come accustomed to. Consequently, here are 4 tips that can turn down the heat on your phones or tablets and increase their lifespans!
Remove that case! Though this is fairly obvious, having a big bulky case (like I do) on your device is just keeping the heat near it whilst allowing it to vent as efficiently as possible to cool it down. Just be careful not to drop the device while it’s caseless!
Swipe ‘em away. Apps that are open in the background and aren’t being used are still working away, thus using resources and heating up the device. Closing these unused apps should make your device just a little bit cooler.
On some older devices, it’s possible for it to heat up once it’s at full battery and still charging. If you have this problem, try to remember to unplug it when it gets full or close to full. Alternatively, you could try a Timer Socket that you plug into a socket which turns off the power to the charger when the designated time is up.
Nasty viruses and malware can also increase the device temperature. These try to steal your data or generally cause the phone to slow down as it’s occupied with giving them the resources they want and keeping it from the actions that you actually want. Apps like malware scanners should safely remove this threat and cool down your device.
Thanks for viewing this short guide. If you’d like to check out my other content, you can do so here.
Say Hello!
by kathleen414
Say hello to @hockers62 right here.
Give @eugen99709 a hug over here.
Welcome @scrips1955, say hello here.
Photo Of The Week
by brulaw
This week's featured photo is Common blue butterfly by @gvmhb. Some of the comments included: "What a stunning photo of a beautiful butterfly" (jeanlk), "It looks beautiful and the photo is really good shot" (ellieclarke1989), "A colourful capture" (themrbarso), "Lovely shot of a lovely Common Blue" (markulous). Click here to see the original post. A tough choice again, as always, but thank you all for these brilliant pictures.
Tech Developments
by revilo10
Google Slides Into Retail
Ever since its birth, Google has been growing an ever-expanding empire of products, including phones, laptops, and more recently, it's Google Home Assistant.
Google has always relied on it's online store for sales. But also, across the pond in the US, and also here at home, Google has run pop-up shops and promotional stands to drive sales. This may all be about to change.
This week The Verge reported that Google is opening a trial store in to sell it's large range of products.
Unfortunately for us, the store is based in Chicago, down the road from a Google Office. Even though it's just one store, if successful, it could just be the tip of the iceberg for Google. However, this wouldn't be the first time Google has given this a shot. A while back, Google bought out a property in NYC, only to later abandon it. Could this be the start of something new for Google? Or yet another project to be forgotten?
Thanks for reading
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