By Dan Cash Do It Yourself • General Information • Home Cinema • Home Entertainment • Tips and Tricks • • • 0 Comments

Adjusting Your TV For The Perfect Picture

Large flatscreen television mounted in the center of a wall with a black soundbar mounted underneathGetting the best picture from your television is a matter of personal preference, some people like a really saturated picture as it gives them a sense of really seeing something on television while others prefer a more muted picture where the colours are a little more gentle than in real life. But in either and any case, there are certain things to consider when setting up your picture and sound.

The theory is that your prime seating position is directly in front of your TV set, at a distance 150% of the width of the TV while the set should be mounted at a height where the bottom third of the screen is in line with your eyes when you sit in your favourite chair. In theory this will mean that the screen will fill your field of vision as fully as possible without you needing to move your head to see the full picture and you won’t have to raise your head to look up at the screen. Read more

By Dan Cash General Information • Home Cinema • Home Entertainment • • • 0 Comments

Watching Television In The Age Of Advertising & Fake News

Child watching television, ads, advert, advertising, TV, marketing, People, especially young people, are watching less and less broadcast television despite the ever increasing number of channels available on Freeview, Freesat and subscription charging satellite broadcasters such as Sky.

At first glance it’s easy to see why. Despite the vast number of channels the variety and content of what’s available to watch is uninspiring. If you don’t like reality TV in the form of Big Brother, Love Island, Made In Chelsea, Geordy Shore or The Only Way is Essex your viewing choices are actually rather limited. Your options for avoidance become narrower when the ‘personalities’ these shows throw up become loose in the wold, appearing on other shows. You’ll see them appearing on panel shows, news quizzes, even offering their considered opinions on daytime chat and current affairs programming, and, in an arch example of media eating itself, celebrity iterations of other reality television shows.

If you are in the position that you want to watch something on broadcast TV you reach the second obstacle to enjoying a television show: the adverts. There has to be a saturation point where advertising is so frequent that viewers simply won’t watch any more and on most of the commercial stations that point seems to have been reached. Read more

By Dan Cash General Information • Home Cinema • Home Entertainment • Tips and Tricks • • 0 Comments

Esports At The Olympics? Why Not!?

The International Olympics Committee is currently considering whether to include esports in the future Olympic Games.

By 2020, and if not then by 2024, we may be able to see video games played at an international competitive level, or we may not. The IOC says it needs more time and information before it can make a decision on whether they can be included. The IOC said that while some games are not “compatible with the Olympic values” they also recognise that “competitive gaming entails physical activity which can be compared to that required in more traditional sports”.

Now, purists and traditionalists will naturally say that computer games are clearly not sports as they don’t require the skill, training, aptitude or physical prowess that’s required by IRL sports whereas anyone who’s ever played or watched a tournament of esports will tell you that’s clearly not the case. Huge numbers of solid hours are required to learn how to play games at a competitive level, requiring skill, dedication and whatever else is needed to get to international competition level. Read more

By Dan Cash Business Security • CCTV • Design • Do It Yourself • General Information • Tips and Tricks • • • • 0 Comments

Take Everything A Smart Home Provides To Work

Modern meeting roof with large television, webcam and meeting table and chairs.Is your company jumping aboard the Smart revolution and giving you Alexa and Google Smart Home Assistant on your desk?

If you’re like me and need a quiet office in order to work you probably won’t appreciate the addition of a Smart Assistant right off, but they do have their advantages. However, they take commitment. Reading the installation ‘managing devices’ instructions for Alexa for Business would make a sensible person run away screaming, but I guess that’s what IT support are for.

However, if you survive that, the advantages of having an assistant there on your desk are many.

One of the most common uses for a Smart Assistant in our office is spelling. Rather than taking a stab in word and right-clicking when it comes up with a red line, we have people yelling things such as “Alexa, spell bureaucracy!” across the room. And as if to point out the fault of relying on Word to pick up your slack, it suggested ‘plutocracy’ when I tried and failed to spell bureaucracy. Read more

By Dan Cash CCTV • Do It Yourself • General Information • Home Entertainment • Older People • Tips and Tricks • Uncategorized • • 0 Comments

Smart Advantages Make Life Easier For People With Disabilities.

As we age we have to accept that we generally start to lose our faculties. It’s natural and accepted that our hearing will go, our eyesight will become weak and our cognitive skills will also be less sharp from our middle age onwards, compared to our youth. Spectacles and hearing aids are no longer the cumbersome, unattractive ‘utility over aesthetic’ devices they once were. Now they not only serve their primary function of helping your see and hear, they look stylish (or are virtually invisible) and actively improve on what nature gave us. 

My case in point here is Smart hearing aids and Smart glasses. I recently went to stay with family and noticed my uncle has Smart hearing aids. I’m not certain he’s got the hang of them yet as he was watching TV very low and told us off for talking too loud while we were watching England snatch victory from certain defeat at the hands of New Zealand. Read more

By Dan Cash Business Security • General Information • Home Security • Tips and Tricks • WiFi • • 0 Comments

Your Business Best Practice For Data Security

Meeting room and table with chairs facing a large television and webcamBusiness security is so much more than just fitting security shutters to the windows and a sturdy lock on the door. Of course keeping unwanted visitors out, protecting premises against vandalism and graffiti are all important considerations, however, there’s much more to consider than a comprehensive CCTV system and functioning burglar alarm. We’re talking data security.

The risks business face are so much more than simply premises and inventory. Everyone who comes through the doors, staff, customers, and visitors have to be protected as does all the company’s sensitive data. Security screens and alarms keep burglars out, staff and security keep visitors safe from harm and also protect property, but what about data? Read more

By Dan Cash Business Security • General Information • Home Security • Tips and Tricks • WiFi 0 Comments

What You Need To Know About Fraud And Cyber Security In Summer

girl phone beach internet accessIt’s been a long time coming but the summer is here again and for thousands of us that means a fortnight in the sun, or, for the less lucky, few days in a rainy caravan park or unsanitary holiday camp.

But from the very best to the outstandingly mediocre, there’s something which all holiday destinations have in common: free wifi.

Who doesn’t love free wifi? You can keep up with you email, if you have a smart home you can keep tabs on what’s happening indoors and out, and you can look up all the local excursions, places of interest, restaurant and tourist attraction reviews.

All Fine And Dandy, Or So It Seems

The first rule of the hospitality industry is ‘anticipate a guest’s needs and fulfil them before they realise that’s what they want’ and for all of us now these days that means having wifi you can connect to without the hassle of finding the right network or faffing with passwords. But that in itself is problematic. Read more

By Dan Cash Business Security • CCTV • Do It Yourself • General Information • Home Security • • • 0 Comments

46% Of A Burglar Alarm Not Switched On When The Burglars Came Back

burglar alarms, cctv systemsWhat’s The Point Of Having A Burglar Alarm If It’s Not Switched On?

Almost half of homeowners who have security systems fitted admitted that they were switched off when their homes were broken into. A poorly set up and calibrated burglar alarm could well go off when it’s not wanted, leading to disturbing your neighbours, upsetting your sleep, and becoming a public nuisance if it happens a lot. But switching it off isn’t the answer.

It may be that people have visible alarm units on their walls and a sticker in the window and rely on this deterrent to keep the intruders away. But studies show that dummy burglar alarms, and those which aren’t switched on every time the house is left empty, or the residents are asleep, are ineffective at keeping burglars at bay compared with an active alarm system.

And while it’s reassuring to think that burglaries only happen in affluent areas or in shops in the middle of the night, statistics don’t support this at all. In fact 2/3 burglaries take place in residential properties and they’re not as random as might seem. Most burglars live within a 2 mile radius of their victims and know the area, your neighbour’s habits and even your own patterns of behaviour. That’s not to say you’re being actively stalked, but a professional housebreaker will have a number of target properties on their mind and will watch the street to see who leaves when, and if anyone returns during the day. They’ll watch for the post too, to ensure they’re not making a get-away just as they try to deliver your gas bill. Read more

By Dan Cash Uncategorized 0 Comments

Simple, Effective Security For Small Business

Not long ago a business’ security relied on secure windows and shutters, a large safe sturdy gates and a regular beat police officer making their rounds, keeping an eye on everything.

And of course crime was rife in those days. Don’t let anyone ever fool you that ‘back in my day you could leave your door unlocked all night and nobody would break in!’ Because the fact is that back in those days ordinary people had nothing of value to steal. The temptation for criminals and opportunists to steal from businesses and banks on the other hand was everywhere.

Bank robberies and larceny from shops, trains, security vans and businesses has largely gone by the wayside too. Staff are no longer paid in cash so there’s no point doing a wages snatch and banks do all their business electronically, meaning that there is only a couple of thousand pounds float in cash on site at any point during the day. Thanks to improved security and the low take on offer it’s not worth the risk of breaking into a bank or shop any longer if cash is what you’re looking for. Read more