If you get pop-ups on your computer telling you it has a virus - do not click on them, as they could be part of a scam.
Got anti-virus software? Run a scan and follow the steps on screen to remove any malicious software detected.
Some viruses can stop anti-virus software working. If this is the case, or you don't have anti-virus software, visit Microsoft.com/security/scanner. Use the free scanner then bin any dodgy items highlighted.
If you cannot access the internet to download the programme, restart the machine and when you see the logo of the PC maker, hit the F8 key until the Advanced Boot Options are displayed on-screen. You may need to hit the F8 key several times in quick succession until this appears. Select Safe Mode With Networking using the arrow keys and press Enter. Once the machine has booted, follow the steps above to download and run Microsoft's Security Scanner. If Security Scanner fails to identify and remove the virus, try another free virus removal tool, such as Norton Power Eraser or ESET Online Scanner.
Once the virus has been removed, install anti-virus software on your computer if you don't already have it, run regular scans, don't open attachments or emails from strangers and only download software from trusted sites, to help your computer stay virus free in the future.
Feature in Good Housekeeping, February 2016.
Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Monday, 12 September 2016
Charities and Fund Raising
Giving to charity is a good thing to do, but how do we choose which charity to support. In 2014, there were 1,939 active charities focused on children; 581 trying to find a cure for cancer; 354 charities for birds; 255 charities for animals; 81 charities for people with alcohol problems and 69 charities fighting leukemia. This leads to duplication not only of effort, but of donated money spent on staff salaries and buildings.
The Prostate Cancer Research Foundation, Prostate Action and Prostate Cancer UK merged, with the result that money spent on charitable causes and scientific grants doubled from £8.2 million to £16.5 million, largely due to significant savings in management costs.
There is a trend these days for more exotic fund raising activities than a cake sale or car boot sale. However, there can be hidden costs. Some sponsorship activities can leave you injured - resulting in needing help from rescue services and/or the health service. Charity sky-jumps in 2015: for every £1 raised, it costs the NHS £13 to treat injuries.
Asking people on the street to set up a direct debit of £5 or £10 monthly is known as 'chugging'. Chugging agencies pay chuggers between £7.50 and £9.50 an hour. Since charities usually pay the agency between £80 and £120 for each person who signs up, most of your first year's donations, and possibly nearly two year's donations, go to the agency and the chugger. It's only after this that the charity gets any money.
David Craig in his 2014 book The Charity Scandal proposes that the Charity Commision should:
The Prostate Cancer Research Foundation, Prostate Action and Prostate Cancer UK merged, with the result that money spent on charitable causes and scientific grants doubled from £8.2 million to £16.5 million, largely due to significant savings in management costs.
There is a trend these days for more exotic fund raising activities than a cake sale or car boot sale. However, there can be hidden costs. Some sponsorship activities can leave you injured - resulting in needing help from rescue services and/or the health service. Charity sky-jumps in 2015: for every £1 raised, it costs the NHS £13 to treat injuries.
Asking people on the street to set up a direct debit of £5 or £10 monthly is known as 'chugging'. Chugging agencies pay chuggers between £7.50 and £9.50 an hour. Since charities usually pay the agency between £80 and £120 for each person who signs up, most of your first year's donations, and possibly nearly two year's donations, go to the agency and the chugger. It's only after this that the charity gets any money.
David Craig in his 2014 book The Charity Scandal proposes that the Charity Commision should:
- Force similar charities to merge.
- Create different classes of charity.
- Care charities would have to show that no more than 15% of revenue is spent on administration and fundraising and no more than 10% on campaigning, and a minimum of 70% on genuine relief.
- Campaigning charities could be allowed to spend more on campaigning.
- Organisations with charitable status (OCS) could have the benefits of being a charity without seeking to raise money from the public; e.g.educational or political charities.
- When a charity asks for money or appears in the media, it must let us know what kind of charity it is.
- The Commission currently has no oversight over how charities spend our money. Each year, under the Gift Aid scheme, HMRC passes on £1bn to them. Just one per cent of this money would allow the Commission to hire 200 auditors.
- In the Third World, a single agency should have prime responsibility for organising all charity work in ach country to avoid waste and duplication.
Sunday, 11 September 2016
Receipts
People are now trying to be as paper-free as possible, but receipts are important.
The receipt is an itemised record of what you have purchased, from whom, when and by what method. Without a store's bag, it is also proof that you have paid for the item.
If you have a problem with your goods, the receipt is your best proof of purchase. Yes, you can show a bank statement, but it may not be itemised if the total is for several purchases. While high street retailers can check their electronic till records, they need to know the day and a rough time of purchase.
Receipts are also invaluable to check against your bank statement to make sure you have not been overcharged.
Digital receipts. Some retailers may wish to cut their paper waste. For others is is part of their digital strategy. You have to give retailers your email address but this also means they get an insight into your shopping habits - to sell you more stuff.
Feature in Good Housekeeping February 2016
The receipt is an itemised record of what you have purchased, from whom, when and by what method. Without a store's bag, it is also proof that you have paid for the item.
If you have a problem with your goods, the receipt is your best proof of purchase. Yes, you can show a bank statement, but it may not be itemised if the total is for several purchases. While high street retailers can check their electronic till records, they need to know the day and a rough time of purchase.
Receipts are also invaluable to check against your bank statement to make sure you have not been overcharged.
Digital receipts. Some retailers may wish to cut their paper waste. For others is is part of their digital strategy. You have to give retailers your email address but this also means they get an insight into your shopping habits - to sell you more stuff.
Feature in Good Housekeeping February 2016
Saturday, 10 September 2016
Immigration
Brexiteers focused on figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which record net migration (a surplus of inward migrants) at 330,000.
Immigration policy tends to focus in one of two ways.
The British public does not support the current restrictions on asylum.
Public opinion data records that British attitudes to migrants are shaped more by a sense of fairness than attitudes regarding race, nationality, skills or language. The British public do believe:
Source: Prof. Brad K.Blitz (a leading expert in migration studies) in pop-up newspaper The New European, issue 15-21 July 2016
There has always been some racism in the UK; it's almost impossible to find a country in which racism, at some level, does not exist. The suspicion of the outsider, the person who is not part ofyour group but may try to take it over, is deep inside all of us. We are more comfortable with those who are similar to us, and - whatever group we belong to - we tend to believe that our group is superior to others.
What we do with the differences is the key to racist beliefs and behaviour. Feeling that your group is best can tip into rating all others below you; in other words, you feel prejudiced against an entire group of individuals as a result of your sense of place in the world. This can be exacerbated by the sort of low esteem that may already have been growing in parts of the UK. Countering arguments are ignored as political correctness nonsense.
Even if you think you are not, you may well be a bit racist. The Implicit Association Test (bit.ly/1m808ph) was devised by a group of US universities, including Harvard, to measure the strength of associations between concepts (black people, gay people) and evaluations (good, bad) and stereotypes (athletic, clumsy). Take it some time - you may be surprised at what it reveals of hidden, unconscious prejudices of all kinds,including race.
Source: Louise Chun in pop-up newspaper The New European, issue 15-21 July 2016
- This figure includes British nationals returning to the UK.
- Many migrants do not settle in the UK; the reality is that people come and go.
- These are required for formal work and access to state benefits.
Immigration policy tends to focus in one of two ways.
- The USA, Australia and Canada use 'objective' measures and points-based systems which prioritise skills, education and language ability.
- States with less of an immigration history often give greater weight to cultural factors they believe will promote integration.
- When formulating policy, governments test for material threats (affecting housing and schooling) and symbolic threats (cultural values and issues).
The British public does not support the current restrictions on asylum.
Public opinion data records that British attitudes to migrants are shaped more by a sense of fairness than attitudes regarding race, nationality, skills or language. The British public do believe:
- That benefits draw migrants to the UK.
- That access to social rights should be conditional and not automatically available to EU citizens. (A 2008-9 ESS survey foudn almost 50% feel new arrivals should acquire the right to social benefits only after they have worked and paid taxes for at least a year.)
Source: Prof. Brad K.Blitz (a leading expert in migration studies) in pop-up newspaper The New European, issue 15-21 July 2016
There has always been some racism in the UK; it's almost impossible to find a country in which racism, at some level, does not exist. The suspicion of the outsider, the person who is not part ofyour group but may try to take it over, is deep inside all of us. We are more comfortable with those who are similar to us, and - whatever group we belong to - we tend to believe that our group is superior to others.
What we do with the differences is the key to racist beliefs and behaviour. Feeling that your group is best can tip into rating all others below you; in other words, you feel prejudiced against an entire group of individuals as a result of your sense of place in the world. This can be exacerbated by the sort of low esteem that may already have been growing in parts of the UK. Countering arguments are ignored as political correctness nonsense.
Even if you think you are not, you may well be a bit racist. The Implicit Association Test (bit.ly/1m808ph) was devised by a group of US universities, including Harvard, to measure the strength of associations between concepts (black people, gay people) and evaluations (good, bad) and stereotypes (athletic, clumsy). Take it some time - you may be surprised at what it reveals of hidden, unconscious prejudices of all kinds,including race.
Source: Louise Chun in pop-up newspaper The New European, issue 15-21 July 2016
Friday, 9 September 2016
Count Your Blessings
Regular appreciation (of anything from healthy children or great friends to the sun shining) will boost feelings of contentment and optimism by 25% and it can also improve your well-being in other ways.
- Activity. It can motivate you to exercise. A study found people who kept a gratitude journal for 10 weeks were active for one and a half hours more a week than non-journallers. One theory is that focusing on positive points helps reduce stress and anxiety, which frees up energy for exercise.
- Heart. People who have a grateful mindset tend to have a more toned vagus nerve, which connects the heart to the brain and abdomen. The better its tone, the less risk there is for cardiovascular disease. They are less likely to have a heart attack and to recover faster if they do. Feeling thankful has also been shown to lower blood pressure by 10% and may help to regulate glucose levels and immune responses.
- Willpower. A recent study found that after writing about an event that made them feel grateful, people were much more likely to choose a larger cheque in the post over cash on the spot. This suggests a link between gratitude and thinking about the big picture.
- Fewer colds. Research shows that feelings of gratitude trigger physiological changes. It reduces stress, which boosts the immune system and motivates you to take better care of yourself, so improving physical health.
- Greater resilience. Facing serious challenges like relationship difficulties or financial strain, it can be difficult to see the bright side, but finding things to be thankful for in tough times can really help. Noting postive feelings reduces levels of stress, depression and physical symptoms.
- Fewer aches and pains. People who write a one-page letter every two weeks, thanking someone who has had a favourable influence on their lives, report an improvement in both symptoms of depression and physical aches and pains after just eight weeks - even if they don't send the letters. When we put our feelings into words our brain begins to change. [The fact that we physically write something down may also be important, as shown in educational studies. Blog author.] Recent neuro-imaging studies suggest the possibility of a gratitude-driven neuroplasticity.
- Sleep better. Studies show that people who mentally ran through what's going right in their life last thing at night fell asleep more quickly, and woke up feeling more refreshed than those who just thought about their day in general.
- Thank you notes. Writing a letter of appreciation to someone who has made a difference to your life, then handing it to them in person, will boost your mood for up to a month afterwards. You'll also reap benefits from sending quick notes, texts and emails.
- Take time to savour. The more you appreciate the good things, however small (a great cup of tea, a clear blue sky, a shared joke), the more you increase your capacity to notice them.
- Pin down grateful thoughts. Jot them down in a gratitude App like Gratitude Journal or Attitudes of Gratitude (free from iTunes or GooglePlay), then simply scroll through them when you need a boost.
- Use the negative. Try imagining what might have happened if you had not met your partner, had your children, changed career or lost weight - it helps counteract the tendency to take benefits for granted.
- Watch a sad film. A tale of tragedy can give you an enhanced sense of gratitude for your own life. And Dutch researchers found that people who cry at films feel sad at first, but experience an upsurge in happiness 90 minutes later.
- Make gratitude a bedtime habit. Its easier to stick to a new habit if you link it to something you already do regularly. So when you brush your teeth at night, ask yourself "What is good in my life today? What went well?"
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