The gaff - 10th March 2017 - The giffgaff community

It's good news for international data users this week, as data rates for 20 countries around the world have been reduced drastically. The new data rates include Australia, USA, Japan and many more. More details on @gary_1989's thread.

Daylight Savings Reminder Competition, Spring 2017

It's almost time to put the clocks forward by an hour and giffgaff wants you to be the one to announce the change to other members, with a competition. If your message is selected, it will be seen by thousands on Twitter and other places. Entries close Wednesday 15th March. More info on @amy_b_d's thread.

Blog Highlights

The Google Pixel 2 is Landing this Year

It wouldn't be wrong to say the Google Pixel is one of the best smartphones ever released, and it's time for the second edition to come out. With up to 6GB RAM, 128GB storage and other amazing specs, it's one of the most interesting tech released to date.

Trying to use your phone less? Here is the app to help you - QualityTime

We all like to spend time on our phones, but it gets to a point where we spent a little too much time on our devices. So, to combat this issue, @willp789 found the perfect app to reduce the amount we use our phones. Check it out.

Real World Review - Anker PowerCore 20100

@flaxvert is back once again with an interesting review of the Anker PowerCore 20100. But, what exactly is it and what does it do? Steve shows us the capabilities of this might power bank, with a hands-on video review.

What's happening

General little bugbears - What are yours?

There's always that one little thing that annoys us, but what exactly annoys you? That's what giffgaff wants to know and to make it extra fun, they are turning your bugbears into funky advertisements. From having no teaspoons to treading in chewing gum, there's always something that annoys people. Share your bugbears and you could feature in the next paper ad.

App Beta: Android v4.7 now available for preview

If you're an Android user of the my giffgaff app then you're in for a treat this week, as @ianmorland brings us some exciting news on the app beta, v4.7. There's fixed login issue which some members experienced, some fixes and other exciting changes, so be sure to check that out and find out how to upgrade to v4.7.

An Interesting Discovery - March 2017 Creative Writing Competition

The Creative Writing Competition is back once again and this month's theme is 'An Interesting Discovery'. If you think you can write an interesting story, poem or play related to the theme then get your entries in, for a chance to win the first place prize of £50 payback. Entries close Friday 24th March.

My experience blogging and vlogging for giffgaff at MWC 2017

If you didn't already know, the Mobile World Congress happened recently and community member @wsjudd was invited to go along with hellen_b to get a hands-on review of the interesting tech being revealed. You can check out the event and hands-on review by Will, as well as some behind-the-scenes prep works, it's interesting stuff.

Phone Updates

New Refurb Phones

iPhone 6: £349
iPhone 6 Plus: £379
iPhone 6S: £419
iPhone 6S Plus: £499

Updated 22^nd December 2016. These prices are subject to change typically on a regular basis, new, refurb and marketplace phones are subject to availability.

Interested in one of these phones?

The phones listed above, and many more, can be purchased through the giffgaff mobile phone store and are subject to availability.

Say Hello!

@jules9 recently re-joined the community after a long break and wanted to drop in and say "Hi, and I look forward to chatting with you all soon". Welcome back, we are definitely glad to see you around again.

@casper1987000 joined this week from 02 and says "Hi giffgaff community, I'm new to this. I love the tariffs too!". We're glad you're enjoying your time so far, Casper.

JD's High-Tech Highlights by jammydodge

School makes millions from Snapchat IPO

If you're a parent, a letter home from school is common. But on Thursday, Simon Chiu, the president of Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California, wrote to parents to share some "monumental news". In 2012, he began, the school invested $15,000 in a cool new app that was being used incessantly by Andrew and Natalie Eggers, two siblings who attended the school. Their father Barry was a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, a local investment firm. After seeing how excited his children were to be using the app, and learning that their friends were as obsessed as they were, he decided to get involved. It was, of course, Snapchat.

He met with co-founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, who today are multi-millionnaires thanks to their company's incredible stock market debut, but back then were working out of a dorm room at Stanford.
Mr Eggers was suitably impressed, and so Lightspeed led a $500,000 investment round - Snapchat's first.

The firm invested $485,000, but Mr Eggers also convinced Saint Francis High School to throw in $15,000 from a school development fund set up in the 1990s. In what must go down as one of the understatements of the year, Mr Chiu's letter on Thursday continued: "The school's investment in Snap has matured and given us a significant boost as we continue our work towards realising the bold vision and goals."

One of those goals is to make education at Saint Francis - a private, Catholic school where tuition costs $17,000 a year - more affordable to more people in the surrounding community. So how much did the school earn? It's hard to say exactly right now. It sold many of its shares on Thursday at the $17 opening price. That raised a cool $24m. It kept hold of a third - and at the close of play on Thursday, Snap's stock was up by 44%. A great little earner - with perhaps a lot more still to come.

Featured Member

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General little bugbears - What are yours?

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Message 1 of 27

by: mitchell98
on: 10/03/2017 | 20:24

Hey guys,

Really happy to bring you another edition of the gaff this week - there's a few changes here and there, so be sure to let me know if you've found them and as always, let me know your thoughts.

Thanks to @jammydodge for his interesting article for JD's High-Tech Highlights this week, it's definitely a good read and well worth the time, if you've got a few minutes spare.

Thanks for reading,

Mitchell.

Message 2 of 27

by: germansheppard234
on: 10/03/2017 | 20:29

another good edition , thanks

Message 3 of 27

by: acetech
on: 10/03/2017 | 20:53 - edited: 10/03/2017 | 20:54

Thanks for another great roundup, I'd missed the DST thread so thanks for that too

Message 4 of 27

by: bobrobinson
on: 10/03/2017 | 21:01

Hiya @mitchell98 and the gaff team.

Thanks for another edition of the gaff. It was a realy nice read.

Concratulations to @premierphotosuk for being voted the featured member this week.

You realy deserve to be . Your work around the forums are great. So well done you.

Also welcome @jules9 And @casper1987000 to the wonderfull giffgaff network.

Great read from @jammydodge. Arealy interesting story so thanks for that.

Thanks again for a great edition.

All the best and hope you all have a great weekend.

Bob

Message 5 of 27

by: brulaw
on: 10/03/2017 | 21:43 - edited: 10/03/2017 | 21:46

@mitchell98 & @jammydodge .....

Thanks for another terrific edition of the giffgaffers tabloid .....

Congratulations to our most recent Featured Member ...... @premierphotosuk very well deserved recognition

Happy giffgaffing everyone

Message 6 of 27

by: pault1974
on: 10/03/2017 | 22:06

Thanks, @mitchell98 and @jammydodge for another great edition of the gaff.

Message 7 of 27

by: mcilwraith
on: 10/03/2017 | 22:06

woohoo its back

Message 8 of 27

by: brulaw
on: 10/03/2017 | 22:10

@mcilwraith

Thought you might want to ' pinch ' this ........

Message 9 of 27

by: premierphotosuk
on: 10/03/2017 | 22:13

Thanks @mitchell98 for this weeks gaff, and welcome to all the new members interesting read as always. Thanks for taking the time for composing this

Also well done @jammydodge for your highlights

And well done to everyone else that's contributed to the gaff.

Also a Big thanks to @brulaw @bobrobinson for thanking me for being this weeks Featured Member thanks everyone for supporting me for this. This is what I like about giffgaff Thanks community and whoever did the avatar/graphic for me for the Featured member its fantastic

Respect

And thank you all.

Message 10 of 27