“Success is never final, failure is never fatal,” - Conrad Hilton
6th December 2019 / Issue #347
giffgaff Happenings
by bluemoonbaz
Feedback Wanted - New Look Photography Tag
giffgaff have been updating the look and feel of the photography tag and the team want to know what the photographers think of the updates. You can see a preview here and you can give Blake your feedback here.
Reminder to choose your Payback method
If you haven't already done yours, then you can now choose how you will receive your Payback that you earned in the current Payback period, between June 2019 and November 2019. Pop over here and make your choice. Remember: if you don't make a choice, your Payback will roll over to the next period. Rollover only happens once for each set of Payback, so if you rolled over your Payback last period, make sure you make a selection or it will be lost. Payback 2019 timings can be found here:
- Wednesday 4th - Payback Calculations started
- Week of the 9th - Points Statement sent to members
- Sunday 15th - Payback selection closes as of 11:59pm. You will no longer be able to change your mind on how you get your Payback after this date.
- Monday 16th onwards - All Payback to begin being paid.
Further details can be found here.
giffgaff 10th birthday party stream
For the members who can't attend, giffgaff will be streaming the event for us all to see. Will you be watching? Head over here to find out more.
What do our post filter categories mean to you?
What does each of these options mean to you? How often do you use each of these options?
Please give @annesolano your feedback regarding the filter options here.
Ofcom allocates new (020)4 Landline numbers
Starting December 2019, (020)4 numbers will start being allocated from telecom companies. These numbers will be classified the same as any other landline number. Calls to these numbers will be included as part of member’s goodybag or will be charged at the standard lines rates. More info can be found on Ofcom's website here.
Our Members' Discussions
Here are a few of our fellow members' recent discussion threads, head over and give your views:
Say Hello!
by kathleen414
Please welcome our new member @rozlineve who finally took the hint from her sister and joined us. It's fab to see you here with us <3. Say hello here.
Welcome to our new member @chris42704 who joined us last week. It's great to see you've made the switch and we hope to see you around the community.
Our new member Ellen @thewt02 comes to us via @savage11. It's fab to see you're now a giffgaffer and we all hope to see you posting in the community very soon 👍. Say hello right over here.
On This Day In History
by jammydodge
1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie (real name Charles Edward Stewart) began retreating with his army during the 2nd Jacobite Rising from Derby.
2005 David Cameron succeeded in winning the Conservative Party leadership race beating David Davis.
2017 US President Donald Trump announced he officially recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and set in motion plans to move the US embassy to the city.
Photo Of The Week
by brulaw
This week's featured photo is Beautiful pitfour lake in Scotland by @jessi66885. Some of the comments on the photo included:
- "Very nice jessi66885, and one of very few 'Lakes' in Scotland. I think the Lake of Menteith is the only natural one, but there are some lovely man-made ones like Pitfour in your photo. Well done!" (kate1028)
- "Very nice, river pics always look so calming" (solid247)
- "Wow, really beautiful photograph! Thank you for sharing" (oliverspooner)
- "A peaceful place. Looks like the sort of spot where Mortimer and Whitehouse like to go fishing on BBC2" (amejoy)
- "Stunning, just as it is down the road in the Cairngorms. Fantastic part of the world and highly advise anyone who hasn't been up there to do so at least once" (wedgington)
The weather is turning colder and there's always a chance we might get some heavy frost or snow, so there's going to be some great opportunities to get photos. Thank you all for sharing your excellent photos, please keep them coming.
Amazon Add-On Bypass
by toxiic
Hello everyone. This week I thought I’d bring you a method of ordering Amazon Add on items (which require at least £20 worth of qualifying items in your Amazon basket to buy) without needing to purchase anything else. This is method is done via Alexa, though if you don’t have an Alexa device, you can still do it if you use the Alexa App (ensure it’s up to date). Here’s how…
- Ensure voice purchasing is enabled on your Amazon account To enable it, download, open and sign-in to the Alexa App, tap the 3 lines in the top left, tap Settings, tap Account Settings, Tap Voice Purchasing then tap the switch so the option turns blue. From here, ensure the debit card you want to use it chosen on 1 Click Settings. From here, it’s best to set a voice code given the option to stop anyone buying items from your Alexa device freely).
- On the Amazon Shopping app or any other device (on your laptop on the Amazon website, for example), add the Add-On item you want to your basket. Ensure this is the only item in your basket.
- Say to your Alexa device (Echo Dot, Echo Show etc) ‘Place my order’. If you don’t have an Alexa device, open the Alexa App, tap the blue Alexa icon at the bottom-middle part of the screen then say ‘Place my order’. When it asks if you want to buy now, just say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
Note that once you’ve enabled voice purchasing (and 1 Click Settings to the card you want to be charged), you don’t have to do it again - just go from step 2 for future orders.
Check out my original (more detailed) post here.
Disclaimer: giffgaff nor the gaff Team take any responsibility for any repercussions of using this method (such as extra fees). Please use this method at your own risk. If you’re interested, check out my content hub from the giffgaff forum here. (Method's basis was found at hotukdeals.com though the above guide was created by me).
Tech Developments
by revilo10
Huawei backs itself in Europe
It’s been a long and winding road for Huawei, and tensions have run high from the moment 2019 kicked in, and now we are nearing the end of what has no doubt been a stressful year for the technology industry, but Huawei execs won’t be able to breathe a sigh of relief just yet. They are still trying to push the notion that they can be trusted to take control of new 5G infrastructure across Europe, whilst the U.S continues to push the Chinese firm back.
As a part of it’s plans to try and increase its reputation across Europe, on November 20th, held the Brussels 5G Assembly, which brought together telecoms leaders from across Europe and key figures from Huawei. The event focused on the benefits of 5G to the future of the continent, and how important it is that progress is made. Huawei called itself a ‘key partner’ to Europe as a whole - it is important to note that this does somewhat relate to the European Union, but not entirely. We already know that 5G is making waves across the UK in many different industries. Large businesses are already using it and upgraded their internal systems many months ago, and it is key that 5G brings sustainability and innovation, which is what Huawei hopes it can convince key stakeholders across Europe that it can provide.
Speaking at the event, Abraham Liu - Huawei’s Chief Rep to the EU - said: “Europe’s digital sovereignty and its sustainable development are complementary objectives. At Huawei, we have built ‘green’ into our leading 5G products and services. Their deployment will set Europe on the path towards green 5G leadership, while ensuring that no-one is left behind,”
And whilst we are still very much in the phase of 5G rollout for businesses, the next phase that consumers are mad about is the opening up of the gates for the general public. That is, for use on mobile devices. For the European Union though, 5G is much more than a way to load Facebook pages faster, but it is a way to integrate and centralise all our societal systems and digitalise them in order to make them more sustainable, efficient and purposeful. This ranges from traffic management and parking to health and gas/electrical grid management. 5G will play a key role right across Europe, and undeniably Huawei is pointing fingers at itself claiming to be the right company for the job. But time will only tell if they will succeed, many bureaucratic stages have to be passed to get from this point anywhere near to the point at which Huawei will be trusted with the keys to the EU’s 5G.
Sources: Huawei, European Commission & European Union
Side note: I promise the refurbished iPhone 7 review will be out next week! It’s been a busy few weeks and it’s taken some time for me to get some things done, but before 2020 comes around you will see at least two more refurbished phone reviews.
Thanks for reading!
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