The gaff - 9th March 2018
on: 09/03/2018 | 18:05
The gaff banner by: brulaw
giffgaff Happenings
by bluemoonbaz
Creative Writing Challenge March 2018 entries
A great writing challenge from @gsklb04. This month has no theme so please enter anything you want no matter how small, but please try and keep it under 1500 words. If you enter more than once your first entry will be the one that's counted. Do you fancy a try? Then head over here 
.
Reminder be careful - Premium number scams
The current spate of activity giffgaff are seeing are from numbers that mostly begin with +223 (00223) and rather than being premium rate calls, they're directing to an international number that can cost you more than you might expect. giffgaff are trying to do what work they can to block these number ranges from being called, but it's possible for this scam to be operated from any number or area, so please be wary if you see one of these missed calls appear on your phone. So my advice is, if the number is not known to you... Don't call it back. I copy the number and search it online.
RBY fitgaff 2018: Have you joined?
Our members have joined together to get fitter and healthier. Of course, there's no better way than doing it together. So, how can you join in with this year-round challenge? Well, that's easy. We want you all to share your tips, recipes, diet plans and fitness routines with the other members. Come and join us, what are you waiting for... Hit this link!
Giffcoin (payback) - an alternative to bitcoin?
@jaymailsays has posed this interesting question for us. With the rapid growth in cryptocurrency, could this be something giffgaff could take on? There is definitely divided opinion within the community. You can find the debate here.
Lab Highlights
by as7861
Special Mentions
- Marvellous! @mcilwraith has been spotted in the comments for weeks!
- @sarahbanahnah has been spotted! Keep up the feedback on the ideas!
- @chinsndips has been spotted! Keep up the feedback on the Lab!
Changes / Idea Updates
- Courtesy email about new product/services and updates by @mariap8 is now being looked at by giffgaff.
- @fadlur_f released some more figures for the whole of February:
- Ideas in review at beginning of the month - 409
- Ideas in review at end of the month - 71
- Total amount of ideas reviewed - 882
- Ideas that went live - 54
- Ideas that did not go live - 828
- Trending ideas: Rollover data, Unlimited internet, App and website development ideas, Family account and sharing credit with family and friends. Help and support over the phone call.
New / Old / Amazing Ideas (written by ijustcantdoit)
- Add page for international messaging support by @shibolleth. This idea would help the members
- Show the stores where you can purchase top up on the SIM activation page by @jaymailsays. I like this idea, what do you think?
- Month-by-month points breakdown by @khairul. I think the members would love this amazing idea.
Glad you made it. You can now search for an idea you like by using the search bar located here. If you do not find the idea you are looking for, you can always post your idea in the contribute section, this would firstly allow you to get feedback on the idea and secondly there might be an idea that has been described very differently to what you were thinking. If all else fails, you have a chance to develop your idea and post your idea in the Lab. Good luck fellow inventors!
If you want to contribute to the changes (that will be listed under changes/idea updates section). Please free to join here, you just have to hit the join button.
High-Tech Highlights
by jammydodge
Drone-tracking system paves way for UK deliveries from air
Efforts to create an automated UK drone-tracking system pave the way for commercial operators to fly unmanned aircraft regularly over longer distances than is currently possible. At present, owners are required to keep drones within their own line of sight unless they have been given special permission to do otherwise. The new system is being co-developed by the air traffic control service Nats and a start-up, Altitude Angel. They aim to launch it in 2019 or 2020.
The aim is to keep the lower-level air space, to which drones would still be restricted, safe. That means preventing drones crashing into each other as well as eliminating the risk to passenger jets and other manned aircraft, which are already tracked. "This technology will enable us to be able to create a single picture so we can see where everyone is intending to fly and where they are already flying," the head of drones at Nats, Andrew Sage, told the BBC. "Altitude Angel has a lot of expertise in data management that we don't have within Nats... and we are deploying that technology so we can react more quickly." He added that the initiative should also help tackle the number of near-misses between drones and planes, which have been on the rise.
Nats says it has already had conversations with the drone industry and believes trials of the new system could begin within the UK before the end of 2018. Unmanned aircraft would still need to be fitted with technology to allow their locations to be shared, as well as sensors and software to react independently to collision threats. Mr Sage predicted that blood deliveries and search-and-rescue missions would be among early uses of drones that could fly beyond their operators' sightlines. But another expert said companies such as Amazon might be keen to shift parts of their logistics operations off the road.
"Drones flying beyond line of sight would be a very big deal - the scope of operations just changes dramatically," commented Dr Ravi Vaidyanathan, from Imperial College London. "Goods deliveries would be one example of how it could be put to use, because products could be sent from a warehouse to a distant location. "One could argue that if a drone has to be limited to being within line of sight, as at present, then it's probably easier to drop the package off yourself."
Say Hello!
by kathleen414
Say hello to @kerby33, click here.
Have a chat with @cocopommel over here.
Our intrigued newbie @palamedes can be found here.
Photo Of The Week
by brulaw
This week's featured photo is New Season Begins by @treadsoftly.
Member comments included: "Beautiful landscape photo" (jeanlk), "Great photo, really nice" (themzbiker), "It's like fire! You've got all the colours" (whitespeace), "Wow that's a beautiful photo there. What a beautitful sky" (bobrobinson) and "Lovely landscape and the gull's a nice touch!" (markulous).
I agree with all the above comments, it's a lovely picture. Click here to see the original post. Keep them coming all your super snappers!
Tech Developments
by revilo10
Google's Plans To Advance AMP
If you're used to reading the news on your phone, you're probably used to Google's AMP system, otherwise known as the Accelerated Mobile Pages Project.
The project was started in order to improve user experience when browsing the web on mobile technology. It aims to automatically index content and show it on an automated page hosted by Google. Due to the large expanse of Google's reach, most devices benefit from this feature as they are connected to Google's systems in some shape or form.
In a recent blog post, the AMP Project Lead, Malte Ubl, announced the project's future. He stated that the team has learned from the past, and will now be updating the entire system, to allow for pages to be loaded instantly, with no delay, even if they are not indexed by AMP/Google. This will allow for better user experiences and browsing. However, some critics call it just another move from Google to tighten its grip on the market and the web as a whole.
As this story advances I will keep you all updated.
Previous Edition | Next Edition (16th March 2018)
on: 09/03/2018 | 19:59
The drone info was especially interesting
on: 09/03/2018 | 20:26
@willp789 Thanks for the mentions in this diverse and interesting gaff edition. Something for everyone to mull over and hopefully enjoy, now and over the weekend.
