Linux Fresh install - Just plain out dumb!

 

This is not a question but a statement!

What put me off Linux soo many years ago, were that First you install and set up everything to your liking, then whenever you have to switch to a new version, everyone says fresh install, which means you loose everything you did to make it look and act the way you wanted it.

And I went "What? That is stupid"!

And today its still stupid!

Yeah, most distro can upgrade to newer version by command line or through software(Why I chose Linux Mint) - But people still say "Its better with fresh install"!

This makes me angry, it is true that fresh install might be more stable, and people most likely have Written down their steps to set up their system again - But people, its a stupid way and you will never get those hours back!

We are in 2024 and no one has figured out to do this in a safe way so fresh install is not needed? That is why many people choose Windows(Not good choice, but better than this stupid sh. t), instead of Linux.

In my days as a supporter I did things the right way, I often heard "fresh out of College" so called IT support, tell customers to just do reinstall for any problem and I mean any problem. Because that would shorten the time of the call and the supporter could get more calls in a day.

My call log were not as good as the "Just reinstall guys", but I got to be the manager of Compaq, HP(not same company as that time), and Packard Bell accounts. These were business accounts, reinstall were the last option, as the field engineers, architects and other specialist couldn't afford to loose their data and I would fight to the last drop of blood for those guys, and my company knew that.

To this day I see more and more "lazy support", because todays IT is Quantity over Quality.

I call this fresh install lazy IT!

Rolling distro is not much better, but at least they got the upgrade working!

That your system might catch fire and burn down because of an bad upgrade(because these days nobody check their updates before posting them), that we are used to from Windows and Mac, these days everyone makes backups(Right😉).

Demand more of your distribution and if they can't handle it, change to something else!
Yes, its free, but I take pride in doing something the right way, shouldn't the makers of your distro do the same?

Or is it a race to be at the top of distrowatch? 

Firmware problem on many newer ThinkPads

Many dealers in the Philippines are not aware of this problem or don't care enough to keep themselves informed, this problem is from 2019 up until 2024.

If you have stock of these models you better read on. You need to update the firmware immediately, if you have not already done it.

Or you will end up with systems that can't be repaired and Lenovo don't care about out of warranty laptops. You should also contact all the customers that you sold these models to and make sure the Firmware get updated or you might end up with a lot of angry people who want refund! 

Symptom

Systems may experience any of the following symptoms:

USB-C port not working

Intel Thunderbolt controller not visible in the OS/Device Manager

USB-C or Thunderbolt docking stations not visible or having connectivity problems

HDMI output not available

System battery not charging with a USB-C power adapter connected to the USB-C port

Intel Thunderbolt pop-up error message

Intel Thunderbolt safe mode error message

BIOS Thunderbolt communication error or hang during POST

These symptoms may occur after 6 to 12 months of typical usage.

Applicable Systems

P43s (Type 20RH, 20RJ)

P51 (Type 20MM, 20MN)

P51 (Type 20HH, 20HJ)

P51s (Type 20HB, 20HC)

P51s (Type 20JY, 20K0)

P52 (Type 20M9, 20MA)

P52s (Type 20LB, 20LC)

P53s (Type 20N6, 20N7)

P71 (type 20HK, 20HL)

T470 (Type 20HD, 20HE)

T470 (Type 20JM, 20JN)

T470s (type 20HF, 20HG)

T470s (type 20JS, 20JT)

T480 (Type 20L5, 20L6)

T480s (type 20L7, 20L8)

T490 (Type 20N2, 20N3)

T490 (Type 20RY, 20RX)

T490 (Type 20Q9, 20QH)

T490s (Type 20NX, 20NY)

T570 (Type 20H9,20HA)

T570 (Type 20JW, 20JX)

T580 (Type 20L9, 20LA)

T590 (Type 20N4, 20N5)

X1 Carbon 5th Gen - (Type 20HR, 20HQ)

X1 Carbon 6th Gen - (Type 20KH, 20KG)

X1 Carbon 7th Gen - (Type 20QD, 20QE)

X1 Carbon 7th Gen - (Type 20R1, 20R2)

X1 Yoga 2nd Gen (Type 20JD, 20JE, 20JF, 20JG)

X1 Yoga 3rd Gen (Type 20LD, 20LE, 20LF, 20LG)

X1 Yoga 4th Gen (Type 20QF, 20QG)

X1 Yoga 4th Gen (Type 20SA, 20SB)

X1 Tablet 3rd Gen (Type 20KJ, 20KK)

X280 (Type 20KF, 20KE)

X380 Yoga (Type 20LH, 20LJ)

X390 (Type 20Q0, 20Q1)

X390 Yoga (Type 20NN, 20NQ)

Yoga 370 (Type 20JJ, 20JH)

https://support.lenovo.com/ie/en/solutions/ht508988-critical-intel-thunderbolt-software-and-firmware-updates-thinkpad

Converge Security issues - Protect yourself from intruders!

Converge ICT, one of the Major ISP's in the Philippines, has shipped ALL their Fiber ZTE F760L Modem Routers, with serious Security issues, they are listed here and below each issue, is the solution :

1. All the ZTE F760L modems come with a standard Setup password, the same on ALL the modems, and someone in Converge ICT has leaked this password to the internet, so anyone can access the modems and change whatever they want. 

This is really bad, and happened because Converge ICT careless IT Department cloned all the modems with the same Config file, and didn't bother to assign individual Password linked to each modems serial number, before shipping them out. I raised this issue with them 2 years ago, but nothing has been done to rectify the situation, they just ignored it(as usual). I have raised it with them again, but still nothing has been done. 

Solution : Access the modem on http://192.168.1.1 with 

Username admin 

Password Converge@zte123 

Go to Administration -> User User Management ->WEB User Management

Type in the standard password from Converge ICT in Old Password Converge@zte123 

Then type your New password make sure it is at least 8 characters long and has special signs. I would make it longer than 8 characters, as AI now can hack your password, since some Dumbasses carelessly made it available to anyone in the world(Google, Microsoft). 

Confirm the New password 

Click on SUBMIT in bottom right corner of the Setup screen. 

You have now saved yourself from serious future headaches. 

2. The WIFI password is written on the back of the modem, this again pose a serious Security issue, because anyone who can see the back of the modem, can access it through WIFI. 

Solution : You have to change the standard password to one of your own. 

Login into the modem on 5Ghz, as you did above, then go to Network -> WLAN Radio2.4G- > Security

Here you click the small check box next to WPA Passphrase, delete what is there and type your own WIFI password, make it longer than 8 characters and use special signs, when finished Click on SUBMIT in the bottom right corner of the screen. 

Make sure to login to 2.4Ghz with this new password and make sure to write it down. 

Next, Login into the modem on 2.4Ghz, as you did above, then go to Network -> WLAN Radio5G- > Security

Here you click the small check box next to WPA Passphrase, delete what is there and type your own WIFI password(For convenience you can use the same password as you did with the 2.4Ghz WIFI, or make a different one), make it longer than 8 characters and use special signs, when finished Click on SUBMIT in the bottom right corner of the screen. 

Make sure to login to 5Ghz with this new password and make sure to write it down. 

3. There is another security issue, Converge ICT set the modem to be able to accept any login through WIFI, all you need is the password, this is ok but this modem is not secure enough and anyone with a Password scanner app can get the Password to your WIFI, then use your internet for whatever they want, even illegal activities. Converge is aware of this, because I told them, they just don't care to fix it! 

NOTE : Be aware, the following fix means that nobody can access your WIFI unless you add them yourself! Just do the same as below, for anyone you want to add to your WIFI. 

Solution : Find your phones MAC Address either in your settings or on the Box it came in, write it down as you will need it next. Also make sure your phone is set to use Device MAC Address and not Randomized MAC Address. 

Login to your WIFI as 5Ghz, go to Network -> WLAN Radio2.4G -> Access Control List and change the Mode from Disabled to Permit.

In the small boxes below add your MAC Address and click on Add, then click on SUBMIT. Make sure you can connect to the 2.4Ghz WIFI and then continue to next step. 

If you can't connect, make sure your MAC Address is correct in the list below, if not then add the correct MAC Address and delete the wrong one. 

Now login to the 2.4Ghz WIFI, go to Network -> WLAN Radio5G -> Access Control List and change the Mode from Disabled to Permit.

In the small boxes below add your MAC Address and click on Add, then click on SUBMIT. Make sure you can connect to the 5Ghz WIFI. 

NOTE : If your Phone has different MAC Addresses for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, make sure to use the correct ones. Most cheap phones only have 1 MAC Address. 

4. Converge ICT left the modem open to hackers, by not enabling Anti-Hacking Protection, I seriously don't understand this one, it means that anyone can hack your modem. A friend of mine has 21 unwanted users on his WIFI, I will be going there to fix that in the near future. 

Solution : Go to Security -> Firewall and put a check in Enable Anti-Hacking Protection, then click on SUBMIT. 

This what you can expect from Converge ICT, I can't recommend anyone to chose them as their ISP, their service level is good in the start, but after some time its really bad. 

If you have issue with your connection, you might have to contact them 20 times before they fix it - IF they fix it - I am 3 months in a service, or lack of, that should have been fixed on April 23(they came April 28), my Fiber cable has a break that show up in strong wind, and only strong wind, so it can't be detected in their office or on the modem, because its Random and only for a few seconds to minutes. But it break any up/download! Support never read what I write, always assign new case numbers, and every new Agent have me do stupid shit to troubleshoot, which I have done 20 times before. 

Stay safe and have a nice day😉

GCASH number 1 problem

The number one problem with GCASH is that if you need to contact customer service immediately, then you can't, you have to use their ticket system and it takes up to 24 hours for them to get back to you - If they even do that!

I seriously don't understand how Philippine goverment can allow this behaviour. 

There are posts on the net that you can call 2882 from a Globe phone, but that does not work anymore.

There are posts that claim you can contact them on Messenger on m.me/gcashcare but that does not work at all.

And the landline numbers does not work either. Even their email addresses doesn't work anymore. 

You can try to chat with Gigi, GCASH chat bot, but it will only suggest you to file a ticket.

The ticket system is useable, but it ask for things that the App ought to have pulled by itself, because you are already logged in, like:

Your email address 

Registered GCASH account name

Phone number 

Mobile OS version 

For me that is just dumb. 

There are other online payment options available here in the Philippines, take Palawanpay at least they offer you a hotline you can call if you need immediate assistance. 

And the GCASH problems are most likely just to add, not to be solved, since Globe is behind it, and we all know how difficult it is to contact them! 

Just this morning, Pay bills in GCASH, have been down for several hours. No explanation to why or any estimated time for when it will be back online. 

That is just total disregard to the GCASH customers! 

GLOBE SIM registration disaaster

Whenever a Prepaid customer register their SIM card this go without major hickups, 

BUT when a Postpaid customer try to register their SIM card, they are met with a message that this is not possible and a customer service agent is going to contact them.

Unfortunately this rarely happens, instead Globe sends a text message to the customer to register their SIM card, and then its like the snake eating its own tail - a never ending story!

That is just stupid!

Face it Globe, test your solutions before implementing them. It will cost you customers and thereby money - but then again, you never listen anyway, so good luck to you!

Globe and Sim registration law - problems again!

 The new sim card registration law is implemented from today december 27 2022, but Globe made mistake as usual. 

The website for registration is not working https://new.globe.com.ph/simreg 

Customers are sent back to the https://www.globe.com.ph/help/sim-registration-act.html page instead of going to the registration portal.

Also, Globe use outdated information in the FAQ and procedure for registration, they want foreigners who are here as tourists to provide copy of Passports main page with biodata and the page where the current VISA is stamped - only problem is that Immigration has not used the stamped procedure for more than 5 years now, instead they give a document with the information on the current VISA status.

But the portal is not asking for a document and will most likely not accept that as documentation.

These days its not humans that check these registrations, its a computer(sometimes called bot) and if something is a little bit off from the programming then its rejected - A human would be able to understand the reasoning for the document instead of Passport page, a bot will not.

--

This is the information from Globe Telecom : For foreigners visiting as tourists, their registered SIMs shall only be valid for 30 days, and shall automatically be deactivated upon expiration of the SIM. The requirements are as follows: 

Passport (i.e., copy of the bio-page and pages where the current visa is stamped or shown); and

Proof of address in the Philippines (booking in a hotel or other type of accommodation, or in the absence thereof, an affidavit/letter from the owner of the house or residence where such foreign national will stay); and

Return ticket to country of origin or to another country indicating date and time of departure from the Philippines

Foreign nationals with other types of visas shall present:

Passport (i.e., copy of the bio-page and pages where the current visa is stamped or shown) indicating passport number, full name and nationality; and

Proof of address in the Philippines (booking in a hotel or other type of accommodation, or in the absence thereof, an affidavit/letter from the owner of the house or residence where such foreign national will stay); and 

Other pertinent document, whichever is applicable:

Alien Certificate of Registration Identification Card (ACRI-Card) from the Bureau of Immigration or other types of official ID issued by any other visa-issuing agency;

Alien Employment Permit from the Department of Labor and Employment School registration and ID for students; or

For Persons of Concern or POCs, the type of travel or admission document validly issued by the Department of Justice

---

As an IT Consultant and IT Blogger through many years, I find it despicable that Globe have not checked the facts before implementing these rules and I suggest that every person with problem contact Globe through their Messenger, I already did yesterday, but arrogant as they are Globe Support(not real Globe, but a company that handles their support), did not forward my concerns to 2nd level support (the real Globe). 

Then we just have to wait and see if things will get in order, though my experience with Globe say that Globe shot themselves in the foot. Because if people have so much problems with the registration and Globe don't fix the problems(usually it takes them years to fix anything), before the sim cards expire, then people will cancel Globe and go to another teleprovider, like SMART or Dito. 

And Globe will have huge losses in income. 

But you can't cure matigas ulo!

UPDATE: Globe finally got their matigas ulo in check and fixed the problem - use https://new.globe.com.ph

and choose Register SIM in the menu at the top right corner. 

MitID and the consequences it will have for Globe Telecom

Since 2020, the goverment in Denmark, have been pushing out a new National Digital ID solution, named MitID to take over for NemID - for all danish citizens. This is old news.

What is not old news, is the consequences this have and will have in the future for Globe Telecom and the app. 20.000 danish Globe Telecom users, living permanently in the Philippines.

Many danish citizens know by now, that there is a serious problem with recieving SMS from MitID when having a mobile number with Globe Telecom, and many have made a temporary solution and registered and activated their MitID with a SMART SIM card.

SMART do not have as good coverage in the Philippines, as Globe Telecom have. 

Here comes the problem for Globe Telecom and their danish users, the use of MitID demands that SMS can be sent out to the user, when ever there is activity on their MitID account, so in order for that to be future proof, the 20.000 danish citizens will have to make a permanent switch to SMART - unless Globe Telecom finally fix the 17 years old communication problem they have with TDC in Denmark!

The reason for this problem, is as mentioned above, 17 years old and has to do with TDC not having a roaming agreement with Globe Telecom and vice versa.

TDC is used by majorly all goverment agentcies and offices, and also Banks, Hospitals, and now everything that has to do with MitID.

This is because TDC is the company with the most resources and the largest Nation wide network and the one, that the developer of the MitID solution, Nets, has chosen to use. 

So either Globe Telecom and TDC. finally figure out to solve their communication problem or Globe Telecom will most likely loose 20.000 costumers. 

Globe Support has been far from helpful in registering that there is a serious problem or even offer any solutions. 

The same can be said for Nets, who is the one in Denmark, responsible for chosing a tele provider that can't deliver worldwide. And even after they were made aware of the situation and the major problem, they did nothing to solve it and blamed Globe Telecom. 

For Nets, the solution is easy, switch to Telia or Telenor and the problem is solved. Because both of these companies have for years been able to deliver SMS to Globe Telecom, without any problems at all. 

For the users, there is only 1 solution and it is a bad one, if they are so unlucky to live in an area with no coverage by SMART. 

In the end it seems that neither Nets nor Globe Telecom actually care about this. 

When Globe Telecom, eventually are scratching their heads and asking "what happened?" - the answer is simple:

You set up a system where nobody can contact you, so nobody could inform you! The company you hired to take care of your support, failed to inform you about the problem - because of the way you set it up! 

You could have been ahead of this, but in the end, its your own fault! 

My Review of Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 power saving feature

Over the years I have owned a few smartphones, not many, like most in my profession. The common thing is that I did my research before buying.

My present phone, Xiaomi Redmi Note 7, recently had battery failure, but that is not uncommon, since it has a few years on its back(bought in 2019), so I went above and beyond to find a new battery and found one on Lazada - DON'T, they are all fake, Xiaomi don't sell batteries separately(Do NOT argue with me on this, I have letter from them stating this as a fact), and this is to avoid scams. If you want a new ORIGINAL battery, then you have to go to their service center(NOT mi store). If your phone is out of warranty, then they charge you around 500p for the repair and around 390-560p for the battery, and you have warranty on this repair. I had to do this when the battery from Lazada started to fail. 

Enough about this, the story today is about something else.

Most Smartphones these days has some sort of power saving feature build-in from factory, but Xiaomi go above and beyond on this part, in my Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 there are 2 power saving options, unlike most other phones that have only 1.

Xiaomi claims that my battery can last 21h and 3min on normal setting, with no power option enabled, in factory testing maybe but not in real life use, because on normal use with a few games and some web browsing using Wi-Fi only, streaming video to Chromecast, it last about 12 hours.

If I game hard, only stop to eat breakfast and lunch, then it last about 4 hours.

Now, if I turn ON Battery saver, I get 19 hours normal use and 8 hours hard gaming. That is very nice.

What is more ever more nice is what happens if I turn ON Ultra battery saver, now I have a little more than 3 days of normal use(72 hours+). It is not very good for gaming. But it is good for travel.

GSMArena measured the battery to last 108 hours, in their endurance rating, I am not sure how they got that, but 72 hours+ is better than what the Ultra battery saver claims and what most other phones can do, and this on a 4000mAh battery.

I really like this phone and I will get a New battery again, when this one is worn out, basically I will wear this phone out. And that would be the time I will get a new one.

I don't care that Xiaomi stopped the updates for this model, I know how to keep my phone safe.

Attached below, screenshots of Battery with normal and the 2 power saving options.

Thats it folks, until next time 🙂

GLOBE Toy store

It has taken almost 2 1/2 month for my Girlfriend to add 2 additional lines with Devices, to her existing account at GLOBE - and it is still not done.

Right now she is on the phone with GLOBE Sales team, again. And this is after she has talked with them numerous times before and every time they promised that everything now where in order and the devices would be shiped within 7 days.

Still, nothing happened. 

It should never have taken this long! 

It is like dealing with a Toy store, where the employees don't really know what they are doing.

I don't know why it is like this, maybe GLOBE don't care about new business or they just have incompetent employees.

Either way, it has been like this since this money machine COVID-19 started.

First they closed their hotline, so customers could not get any help, in case of problems. 

Then they lowered the Pre-paid Mobile internet speed in areas they didn't considered important - This is their largest income, so that does not make sense at all.

They lost lots of customers, to SMART, PLDT AND CONVERGE.

So again, I can only imagine that it is because of incompetent employees and "blind" managers. And leaders that only care about getting their salary and not doing their job. 

Be aware GCash problem again!

Since GCash came out there has been numerous problems with it, actually very understandable because its one of Globe's companies. And Globe is notoriously known for their lack in fixing anything.

Lately Globe cancelled the Rewards App they were using together with GCash, for customers to redeem their Rewards points into Coins, they then could use to buy load from the GCash App, instead they put this option into their New GlobeOne App.

Unfortunately it does not work as before, now the coins are no longer sent to GCash main Balance, so I urge you to be extremely careful when using this or your coins might just end up in the useless part of GCash, GSave Piggy Bank.

Globe GCash has made this so only Filipino can open a savings account, so it is racist(because if you discriminate a person because of their ethnic origin, then it is racisme) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_discrimination

And it means that any foreigner that uses Globe GCash can't use the coins that ended up in Piggy Bank, the coins are stuck there until they expire, which is usually after 60 days. Meaning the foreigner loose these coins, because Globe GCash don't want to fix the problem.

Before this change, the coins were deposited in the main GCash balance - Whether this change is a programming error or someone overlooked this problem, or it was made deliberately -  it is real problem and Globe GCash team are unwilling to fix it.

So, if you need to transfer your rewards to your GCash, do NOT transfer them as GSave coins(the only option available regarding coins), instead redeem a 20p Load voucher, wait the 3 working days and find it in GCash App under your Profile tab. Now you can use the Load voucher to buy load.

If you have many rewards points, you might have to do this many times - just remember you can only redeem 5 times in a day(and even this sometimes don't work and claim 5 times used already, after just 2 times - again something not getting fixed).

If you coins already ended up in GSave Piggy bank, well then you should consider them lost. 

I do urge you to open a ticket and let them know what you think of this! There are of course no option in the list for this, so use something else.

Globe again demostrates how little they care for their customers

The last couple of days I have had problems with my Globe Prepaid account.

Yesterday I could go on internet but not call or text for several hours, even though I had internet it didn't really matter because when I contacted Globe on their Twitter account they never replied.

Later in the day call and text were restored, but still no reply from Globe. 

Since yesterday there were also an issue with their Apps, both the old GlobeOne App and the New GlobeOne App had problems showing the current promo I'm using.

When I contacted globe on Twitter, still no reply. So I tried their Messenger, and here GIE were more helpful than any of the humans working at Globe, after transferring me to the Prepaid specialist the help stopped totally.

Here now, several hours later, there are still no reply from this so called specialist - I guess they went to lunch and didn't come back.

Globe is just one of the many companies who take advantage of the situation with the pandemic, and NTC seem to either be unable or simply don't care to do anything about it.

I say take at advantage, because they can do whatever they want, since they closed their hotline, supposedly because of the pandemic, but it looks like its on purpose, because if you can't contact them, then they don't have to fix anything - Just collect money.

 Funny enough, it would seem that I am the only one writing about these issues. 

 

Problem with Lazada again!

 

This is sad news to many of you, but it has to be told:

It is becoming more and more difficult to find what you are looking for on Lazada, the reason is fake sellers and Lazada CS lack of will to fix the things that are not working. Like sellers posting "out of stock" items. Or CS lack of effort to check what is being posted before it is allowed online.

 

Just today, I have run into 10 Laptops listed for around 5000php, which turned out to be out of stock, some not even stated as out of stock - but only option was to add to wish list.

 

Or are there is something else behind this? The number of items listed, make people believe how good a platform Lazada is - though the numbers are actually not real, because "out of stuck" items are not real.

 

So this is actually in a way, cheating these people - whether this is done intentionally or not.

 

I hope after I have written this, that Lazada take these problems seriously and start to do something about it!

 

I will be writing about this here and follow up to see if Lazada takes this seriously and start doing something about it or just ignore the problems as they have done in the past - their search engine is still not fixed - issue previously described on here on my tech blog.

WARNING: Be careful with Globes GO+ promos

My readers know that Globe Telecom and I are not friends, and I just had another unpleasent experience with them.

In this case it was the total lack of support when something go wrong with one of their products, in my case their GO+250 promo which gives the user 15GB data for surfing and 15GB data for any addon you choose, and the last one don't count against the users data. The promo last for 15 days, or should I say it should do that!

Last night my sim card in my Huawei B315-936 router, went inactive and the remaining data 9.43GB and the GoWATCH(the addon I choose) remaining 14.33GB, all drained down in Globes Infamous Black drain and went to 0.

I tried all the ways I could, to contact Globe to get my sim card active again and my data back.

Finally I gave up and went to bed, this morning the sim card were active again, but sadly the data were still 0.

I have spent most of the day trying to get hold of CS and have them refund me, and at 12.10Pm on Twitter I finally got a reply. Not really quality support, as the CS agent didn't carefully read my complaint and I had to repeat myself several times. Finally He/She (they don't give a name) looked into my issue and came back, 2 hours later, with the message:

Sorry for the hassle. As check here, you still have an active promo. However, your data allocation is already used up with data remaining of 0.30. May we know if you have other browsing activities? Thank you.

2:03 PM

I replied that it was not. me who used the data, but Globes system that emptied my data balance when it made my sim card inactive, but after the CS last message I were ignored. 

Nice support job where you can sit on your ass and do absolutely nothing! 

Sarcasme aside, I tried several times to get the CS back, but without luck, continued to ignore me. 

My readers will know, that this attitude is a bad idea, as when I get ticked off by bad behaviour, I get creative and start writting complaint emails to Globe on all the email adresses I have, and an article here on my Blog. 

I also filed a case against Globe to Office Of The President. 

I told the CS this on Twitter, but still got ignored. 

I hope he/she gets reprimanded and are askes to find another job, staying at home im COVID-19 time is stressful enough and then have to deal with Globe stupidity is over the top. 

So I will not recomend anyone to use GO+250, before this issue is settled. Maybe a direct hit of loosing money will get Globe to fix the Drain BUG that has been around for almost 21 years now. 

It has happened to Senators, actors and The President and still Globe do NOTHING to fix it. 

So my dear readers, follow my advice or don't, but do not come crying when Globe empty your account. 

UPDATE WARNING: GCASH unreliable

Update on november 10 2021:

Even though the previous issue eventually were fixed by GCash, it has now happened to me again. 

This time using the New GlobeOne App to redeem a 20p Load voucher, this was on October 13, and on October 19 I got a text message from GCash confiming that I recieved a 20p Load voucher, but it were never deposited to my GCash account. 

Subsequently I contacted GCash support, who instead of reading the ticket, just refered me to contact GlobeOne team. GlobeOne team opened a ticket and closed it without doing anything. 

But, since GCash by text confirmed that I had recieved the 20p Load voucher and didn't deposit it to my account, it is not a GlobeOne team issue, it is a GCash issue. 

I have tried to. make them understand this, but as happened before, GCash support is not doing anything to solve this issue, so I can't in good faith recomend to anyone to use GCash until they solve this issue, as they can't be trusted to handle peoples money.

--------

I will start by saying that Globe GCash support flat out(Omar) refused to re-imburse me, and that is why I'm witting this post.

Ok, you will say, its only 20p - But its my money, not Globe's. And whatnif it was 2000 or 5000p, would you then agree with me? 

On march 03 2021, I tranferred 10 Reward points to my GCash by chosing the correct Digital Voucher, instead of going to my Main GCash like all previous transfers, it went to Save money Piggy bank(an option I never used and never will, because it demands you to have a Philippine bank account, and I don't trust the banks here after numerous problems - but that is a different story). 

After 5 support Tickets which were all closed by GCash support, without solvimg the problem, someone at GCash emptied my Save money Piggy bank Without my permission or consent!! 

I had enough and filed a formal complaint against support for mishandling of my money. 

It was ignored! 

On may 21 2021, I tranferred 20points to my Main GCash by Digital Voucher, and they were there 2 days later. 

Yesterday I checked my account and there were only 10 coins there, I checked transaction history and I had not used them by mistake, they went the same way as the other 10 coins, down the drain in Globe system. 

I filed my complaint again with all documentation attached, to support@gcash.com, GCash on Twitter, Talk2Globe on Twitter and their advertising departement, asking it to be forwarded to their General Manager. 

Today, Omar called "understanding my point", and after much discussion, he finally managed to piss me off in a degree were I told him and Globe to G. F. H and hanged up - when he flat out refused to re-imburse me. 

I have had many dealings with Globe over the last 21 years, some because they emptied. my account, some because their system had me as online though my phone were offline, some because of internet expirimg the day after I signed up for it with only 10mb download, some because another drain of account. 

Why, do I keep using Globe, because no other can deliver to my location. And that is the only reason! 

Tomorrow I will file my 5th DTI Complaint And my 2nd NTC complaint. Not that it help much, because they ignore them, but they are there for evidence.

So, be careful when you use GCash, make sure you load your phone as soon as the coins are there. And make sure to take screenshot of ALL transactions.

Good luck

AGAIN, Shame on you Globe! 

Are Globe so desperate, that their support have to lie to the customers to keep them?

So we all know that Globe do very strange things all the time, and that sometimes that backfires. this time I were trying to get Globe to improve tha internet connection in our area as it always get discriminated than other areas in Puerto Galera. I can prove that Globe can deliver, they just don't - in fact they lower our speed down to almost nothing, if no one complain. But that is not what this story is about.

While trying to get the support team on Twitter to recognize the problem and increase the speed they had me go through all the hoops of troubleshooting, and I had to (again) tell them that I have worked IT for over 35 years and already done all the troubleshooting and that it were not my router nor the external antenna that were the problem. Then they looked at my routers phone number and realized that this were a pre-.paid number and not the one that came with my router, and here comes the juicy part.

The Globe support member actually tried to have me believe that the modem/router might break if I used another SIM card.

Qoute: "The number you provided is not a Home prepaid Wifi number, did you replace the SIM attached to the Home prepaid Wifi Modem? If yes, We would like to inform you that it is not advisable to remove and replace the SIM customized with Home prepaid Wifi modem. The modem may break or have connection problems.

Feb 12, 2021, 5:31 AM"

 

 

I asked him/her, they don't provide names, who told them that, because it's not true that your modem/router will break if using another SIM. I asked if I put that question to Huawei then they would agree with Globe support or if the support team would like to change that statement. They didn't!

And later the lies continued:

"As we have checked, the concerned mobile number you have provided was all Globe Prepaid SIM. We want to inform you that there's a SIM designed for Home Prepaid wifi only. You can change it with new SIM as long as it was Home Prepaid wifi SIM but changing it with simple Globe Prepaid SIM, it may affect the quality of your connection. Hope you understand.

Sat 11:19 AM"

 

That is not true either, the Pre-paid SIM cards Globe are selling are all LTE capable and can reach the same speed as the ones that comes with the Modem/router.

 

So my question: Is Globe so desperate to keep their customers that they feel the need for their support team to lie to the customers, to scare them? Or is it an initiative taken by the support team, all by themselves? 

 

Either way, the support team is a representative of Globe, and as such they speak for Globe, their actions are Globe's actions.

 

 If Globe really want to keep their customers, then they should put a stop to this immediately and improve the service level and speed in all areas, not just the ones they think are important - right now we have very few tourists here in Puerto Galera, due to COVID-19 restrictions. So having the tourist areas have up to 300Mbps speed and other areas suffer, makes absolutely no sense at all.

And if they already proven they can deliver up to 25Mbps in the daytime and up to 50Mbps in the nighttime, why is is that they can't make that a permanent solution, but instead they keep decreasing that speed to almost nothing and increasing if someone complains enough.

Do they only have a certain amount of speed that they have to shuffle from one place to another, in order to supply if someone complains? Like Kalah.

KALAH

It seems to me that Globe like Kalah takes speed from one area and give to another area to comply with complaints. Do this behavior comply with the rules of the Philippines, I doubt that very much. 

So Globe up your service and make sure you support don't lie to the customers!

Shopee too, not only Lazada

In my search for a new second hand laptop, I use different search engines, where mostly it's Carousell, Lazada and Shopee.

This time I ran into a problem with Shopee's search engine, similar to the one I wrote about from Lazada. I have informed Shopee so lets see if they want to fix it.

The problem:

When changing the Sort/listing type from "Relevance" to "Price Low to High", the search engine lowers the results found - it is not suppose to do that - it means that some sellers ads are discarded by changing the sort type and that is a serious error in the search engine's code.

It could lead to a lawsuit.

Yet another problem with Lazada search engine - what do playing cards have to do with Traditional laptops?

When I search Lazada for Traditional laptops, and chose "Price low to high" and "Cash on delivery" the amount of hits get lowered(I wrote another article about this before - link to the article in the bottom) - but that is not what I'm writing about today.

This time I get playing cards instead of actual laptops, and after scrolling through 55 out of 55 pages, I still have not seen any Traditional laptops - but a heck of a lot playing cards.

So yet another problem with Lazada search engine(did the website maintaner go on vacation to another country and can't come back because of Covid-19?).

Because what the heck has playing cards to do in the section of Traditional laptops????

Link to page 55:

https://www.lazada.com.ph/shop-traditional-laptops/?page=55&service=COD&sort=priceasc

Page about the lowered hits:

https://jbj-tech-notes.blogspot.com/2020/06/problem-with-lazada-search-engine-which.html

Problem with Lazada search engine - Which they seem unwilling to fix

I have used Lazada for many years now, and is used to how it works, I found a problem with Lazada search engine - that their CS(customer Service) refuse to fix.

Its a annoying problem that affects the way I search for things on Lazada and cause me to be there longer than I want to, wasting my time.

Therefore I have tried many times to get CS to fix it.

Why am I teling you?

Because it affects anyone randomly, who try to either sell or buy something on Lazada, in my case in the Laptop/phone area. I don't know if the problem extend to other areas, as I have not tried that, but I suspect it does, as it is the same search engine.

The Problem: when a buyer is searching for something and gets lets say 500 hits of the item they are looking for, and then want to change the Sort type from "Popularity" to "Price low to high" or anything else, then the amount of hits change to a lower amount lets say 300 - it is not suppose to do that!

It will affect that some ads are not being shown, could be any sellers ads. That affect sales for sellers, because their ads could be between the ones excluded!

Changing the Sort Type from "Popularity" to something else should not affect the amount of hits, it should only change the way it is listed on the page!  Changing the amount of hits and even lessen them is a serious error in the code of the search engine!

I talked to the CS a couple of times about this and they refuse to send it to their technician, and claim that this is normal - it is not! 
I even tried getting hold of the owners through their facebook page and Lazada in another country - to no avail!

I have done IT for over 35 years, even before search engines. It is an error in the code and that they refuse to fix can only come down to a question of money - this is not something that the CS agents should decide, but the owners of Lazada, as if they want to fix it or not - And if the sellers loose money because their ads are being excluded then Lazada might face a bigger problem as this could be cause for a lawsuit.

Back to why I'm telling you, you are either a seller or a buyer, and can check this out yourself, just search for something and write down the amount of hits, then change the Sort type from Popular to something else and see what happens to the hits.

Screenshots below, just click on them and they will come up larger.

UPDATE June 15 2020, the problem persist:

 

UPDATE: I contacted CS again after having another incident, and this time the CS agent realized how serious this is and decided to send it and the other problems on to the tech team - we just have to wait and see what happens.

Houston we have a problem, Again: This time PayPal

I don't know if any of you have tried to get in touch with PayPal's customer service, but I can tell you that it's not as easy as you may think.

In order to contact customer service you need to login.

So if your problem is that you can't login, well then you can't use your account until PayPal open their phones again and you then can call them - the phones are closed durring COVID-19.

You can't even contact them though Messenger and Facebook, because they closed that too.

The contact to customer service, hiding behind login, is not very clever, as it blocks people with login problems from contacting the customer service who are the only ones who are able to help.

I would go as far as say that this is straight out dumb!

Manufacturers: New cheap Laptops Please!

Since the Calamity started woldwide, the Laptop market has been flooded with Celeron laptops and  Chromebooks, that is understandable from the manufacturers point of view, but not of the consumers.

We need something different, and it is up to you as manufacturers to make that happen, we need cheap, and by that I mean for every person to buy, affordable laptops with at least Core i5 or Ryzen CPU/APU, 8GB Ram(Upgradable) and 180-256 GB SSD(Upgradable), 13-15" screen, Bluetooth 4.0, SDcard reader, a 10-15 hour battery(Wifi and video, not factory claim(there has been too much of that), Ok speakers, with or without OS(for the ones who like to run something else than Windows) and driver support for Windows, Linux and Chromebooks.

And for the maximum price of 200$ to 300$.

Most blogs, review and rapport new Hardware, I'm calling out for a change, and instead asking.

I know you can do it, and I call out to the companies of Intel and AMD to make their own laptops, fitting this price range instead of passing it on to other companies.

Again, with my personal experience as System builder, Supporter and technician through 35 years, I'm convinced that you can do it.

Please make it happen😊 Not everyone live in America and have big income, so you should actually focus of the ones who don't.

JBJ