Technology Help Zone - Questions Answered

Discussion in 'Taylor's Tittle-Tattle - General Banter' started by a19tgg, Aug 12, 2020.

  1. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Ok, I just want to stress this is all theoretical but I could do with some input from any techies on here.

    I left my last company in Feb, I had occasionally used my personal laptop (and personal mobile daily) to access work systems, things like outlook, their CRM etc. Obviously at the point I left they severed all my access.

    Today I’ve been setting up a gsuite account for my own business, now I don’t know if this is a coincidence especially as gmail is obviously separate to outlook, but something happened and basically my old work outlook popped up with everything from the date I started up until mid December.

    So I’ve currently got access to all my emails sent, received, deleted and anything I saved in outlook up until mid December.

    So how did this happen? Am I still somehow connected to their server? Or was this information all just downloaded to my computer? Can they find out?

    I disconnected from the internet immediately but can still access everything.
     
  2. K9 Hornet

    K9 Hornet Border Collie Dog

    Probably cached on your laptop so you can "work offline" at some point in December. You won't be connected to their server, and even if you were, it's not your fault. They can't find out, and it's not your problem.
     
  3. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Thanks, that’s reassuring. I’m a complete dunce with things like this so had no idea. The information could be incredibly useful to me, I’ve also got a senior member of staffs inbox who I used to help manage going back over two years :eek:
     
  4. Who cares, dig out the juicy stuff and publish it online under a fake name
     
  5. K9 Hornet

    K9 Hornet Border Collie Dog

    Your only issue might be that if Google has imported these Outlook messages into a folder and you forward them on to someone with the old header information, but I guess you're not going to do that :)
    Technically any information in those emails are probably the legal property of your old company, so you should delete them...
     
  6. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    Outlook has a mode called cached mode which stores a certain amount of data (default 12months) locally on a device in an OST file.

    It’s pretty easy to remove if you no longer want it.
     
  7. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    I definitely don’t want to remove it, I just didn’t want them to know I could see it.
     
  8. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    There is realistically no way they can know that unless they made you install some kind of DLP software. It’s local data.

    If they had DLP or remote wipe software in place they would already have done something, so you’re probably in the clear.
     
  9. Teide1

    Teide1 Squad Player

    If not we will see you when you get out of the nick!
     
    a19tgg likes this.
  10. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Ironically they brought in a security consultant in the new year and beefed everything up, again I’m a complete dunce with this stuff, but it even went as far as preventing you from screen shotting anything on your phone. The last time I used my personal computer was around Xmas when I was working from home, so it makes sense that it’s cached information.
     
  11. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    Just relax.
     
  12. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Great (re)name and idea for a thread! Well at least for an idiot like me
     
  13. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    Not knowing this stuff doesn't make you an idiot. It's specialised info. :)
     
    a19tgg likes this.
  14. Look how far I've trawled through to add to an existing thread than starting a new one!

    I'm after some camera advice. I've always loved photography but never invested in any equipment. So now I want to.

    I want to spend circa £200-250 on a beginner's level camera to get me into it properly (and make sure it's not just a whim before investing more!).

    I don't really know anything else.

    Fast shutter speed to get birds and wildlife action shots. Good zoom I guess. Good resolution? WiFi enabled? Good lenses? What else is there to consider?

    I've looked at a few and the sheer number of specs seem a bit overwhelming.

    I'd happily go refurbished from a reliable seller to maybe get a bit more for my buck.

    Anyone out there with knowledge in this area with some good advice?
     
  15. scummybear

    scummybear Reservist

    How 'into it' are you hoping to get?

    Cameras can really be broken down into 4 main groups:

    1) Compact digital camera - Good for shooting in auto, typically standard 'touristy' photos but you can get creative. Typically with these you want the highest megapixels and optical zoom.

    2) Bridge camera - Like an upgraded compact, for those who want to take better quality photos than a compact but without the hassle of changing lenses and faffing about too much with settings. Again, megapixels and optical zoom are your friend here.

    3) Crop sensor DSLR - These are best for beginner to intermediate photography hobbyists (in my opinion), the lenses are sepearate and the settings offer more artistic flair. They also have an auto mode, as well as semi-auto modes and fully manual, which means you can be as creative as you like. Key features to look out for here are the sensor quality, megapixels, features and to an extent the brand. The name crop sensor alludes to them being a smaller sensor than a full frame, however they're significantly larger than the two types listed above. This also means that size-wise they sit between a bridge and a full frame.

    4) Full frame DSLR - These are the top of the range cameras, for intermediate to highly skilled photographers. They have the full range of features, have a large sensor, more convenient (but confusing) controls and more mega pixels. They're also bulky and cost 3-4x more than a crop.

    There's also mirrorless cameras, which replace the traditional flip-up mirror for the viewfinder with a digital display. This reduces size and weight, whilst the digital viewfinder means you can see the results of settings in real-time. It does however lose some of the atmosphere/feel of photography.

    My suggestion for a beginner who wants to get into it as a hobby would be to get a crop sensor DSLR. Around 20MP is a good area, then look at reviews of the low light performance - this will give you an idea of the sensor quality. I'd also suggest for you first camera, going for a Nikon or Canon - they've been around forever so frames and lenses are plentiful and cheap, plus if you ask an old pro for help they're almost certainly familiar with them.

    Lens-wise, you'll probably get a stock lens with a beginner camera but to be honest they're usually quite bad. For wildlife shots you'll want a telephoto with a decent zoom, probably 70-200mm plus. I'd advise you also get a 'nifty-fifty', they're just a fixed focal length lens of 50mm but it'll give you a very wide max aperture, which allows you to experiment a bit with depth of field. Unless you're a pro (and even then, sometimes) buy Sigma or Tamron lenses, the quality is slightly worse than the big brands but for half the price.

    Get yourself a UV filter for every lens. Most lenses don't actually need UV filtering any more, but they cost £10 and if you drop your lens they're sacrifical and smash instead. Trust me, I've found this out the fun way!

    My go-to second hand sites are camerajungle, wex and mpb.


    As you can tell by my camera version of War & Peace, photography is one of my hobbies, so if you need some specific guidance I'm happy to help.
     
  16. Hornpete

    Hornpete Squad Player

    What scummy bear said essentially.

    My personal view is to go to ebay and get an old dslr. There are reasonable deals out there. Then get 2nd hand 50mm and a couple of lenses, if you're lucky the seller may be selling a bundle that includes what you want with a camera body.

    This might cost more than your budget but when selling on again if it's not for you - it'll still be worth about what you bought it for. If you get into it and want to upgrade parts you can do so entirely or piece by piece.

    Modern cameras will be better than a 6 year old camera in low light and autofocus among other things, but for learning how to use it all you are almost better off with an older one because you have to control the camera to get a good shot.
     
  17. GoingDown

    GoingDown "The Stability"

    Very good posts from Scummybear and Horace, however I will slightly disagree with them.

    As someone who took the route you have, from wondering if I like it to actually doing it for a living, I think what I wish I knew at the start was to focus more on composition of photography rather than getting bogged down with equipment and whether you have the right camera.

    If you don’t know if you want to do it or want to just take a few shots I would go more for a point and shoot camera. These are cheaper and more designed for the first step. You get used to using a camera, get used to looking around and it’s far more simple to use than having a DSLR with multiple lenses.

    Personally, I’d look at something like this :- https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00G37XCVI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_G6JT9C92EXXERHB4RJGK

    It has a DSLR shape. Is good for a large range of photography types (most notably wildlife, which reviewers say it’s excellent for) and has an excellent zoom for its type. It’s kind of a half way house between what Scummybear and Horace have described and what I’m suggesting. Also, you can pick up a second hand one for around £90 which is a no-brainer for a newbie.

    That’s not to say Scummybear and Horace’s advice isn’t sound, it is. But in my humble opinion, get a cheaper, lighter and easier to use camera, take it everywhere, shoot everything, see if it works for you and then move onto DSLR/Mirrorless as a stage 2.
     
  18. Hornpete

    Hornpete Squad Player

    I agree with that, I've seen pros with boxes of kit pull out bridge cameras (for video mostly) because its easier to lump about, the fact they used a bridge leaves me to beleive the performance is more than acceptable... I had 2 Full Frame Dslrs I used for work, which with lenses and flashguns was a huge pain to carry about.
     
    Horace_goes_up_north likes this.
  19. scummybear

    scummybear Reservist

    GoingDown actually makes a good point, at all levels of photography it's important not to focus too much on equipment and spec, but it's particularly true when starting out. I have friends who have spent £2500 on their first camera, yet take average photos, whilst other people I know have a second hand camera for £300 but take amazing photos.

    Learn the rules of composition (and then ignore them). Take a lot of photos in all styles, you might think you want to take wildlife photos but end up enjoying portraits. Play around with the settings. Take bad photos - push your settings to find out what they do, even if they look bad. Get some free/cheap editing software before committing to Lightroom/Photoshop.

    But most of all remember who you are taking photos for. I had a spell last year where I was taking photos that would get Instagram likes, but didn't actually like them myself - don't do that. Take them for you and enjoy it.

    Don't worry too much about equipment. The best camera is the one that's with you.
     
    Horace_goes_up_north likes this.
  20. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    My DSLR gets dusted off once a year, I charge the batteries up and then it goes back in the drawer for another year. Apart from several thousands shots I took at LeMans back in 06 it's barely been used and I don't look at those images any more.

    2nd hand equipment is deffo the way to go as you're starting out. People often move on perfectly good stuff because it's a year or two out of date. Ultimately you will need an SLR but you can start off with a decent smart phone and apps.

    You'll probably want to get creative with controlling apperture & shutter speed etc. Whilst you can do this on some higher end compact cameras it will probably leave you wanting more. DSLRs will allow you to obtain specialist lenses & filters. You're really looking at Canon or Nikon and when you buy into a system get good lenses, which can then last you many new cameras. It's a long and ultimately expensive road, but so is supporting a football club.
     
  21. Thank you for all the fantastic replies. You see, this though, this is what's put me off in the past. Looks like a minefield and a rabbit hole of tech and equipment!

    I think £250 is a good starting point for a potential hobby that may ultimately end up as used as Hornmeisters! And I don't think I'll ever have the funds to push for £1000s for equipment due to rising costs and saving for my kid's future (unless the bug really gets me and I blow the kids college fund).

    I did get the hauwei p20 pro a couple of years ago just for the advanced camera and enjoyed taking some decent pics with that but now I want a bit more.

    I went this way with a telescope a few years back and bought a second hand one for a similar price of £200ish for a skyliner 200p with extra lenses. Used a few times and is currently in the garage. Think I was more put off with the light quality around Watford meaning the moon was the best I really viewed, and without a star locator became a chore rolling the beast out on the few clear nights we had just to look at the moon. In hindsight one with a computerized starfinder was the way to go with that so will probably end up selling the 200p and maybe getting a computerised version now I'm in a part of the country with less light pollution.

    I guess the way to go to begin with is maybe goingdowns Amazon starter option though I could push a bit further with an eBay option maybe. Seems like a decent camera with all the beginner/intermediate specs you suggested were good.
     
    GoingDown likes this.
  22. Clive_ofthe_Kremlin

    Clive_ofthe_Kremlin Squad Player

    Yesterday, I was washing up and finished by washing up the bowl from Ciff's slow cooker. When I'd done that, I looked at the inside metal bit and it was horribly gunged with I don't know what.

    I set about cleaning it, but the results weren't to my satisfaction. I noticed two screws in the bottom of the metal bowl and thought I would undo these, thereby releasing the bowl and allowing me to give it a proper clean.

    However when I did this and tried lifting the metal bowl out, I found that I could not because there were loads of wires attached to the underside and when I lifted it, loads of little washers and nuts and metal collars and rubber bushes and things all fell out.

    There was no way I could ever put it back together again. It's farked. :-(

    Ciff uses her slow cooker a lot. She likes it very much for making her beans "go to sleep" (making them soft and sloppy). At the moment she remains in blissful ignorance, since I've arranged the wreckage to artfully conceal the fact it's completely jiggered.

    I will buy another one before she finds out and tell her I just decided it was time we had a new one. Does anyone have any recommendations? I could try to buy exactly the same make and model and hope she doesn't notice, but I'm not sure they make them anymore. It was this one.....

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01KLW7V8A/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8
     
  23. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

  24. I've got a decent Wilko 5l slow cooker. Checked their site and they only seem to have the Wilko brand 3.5l but there are a few more on there at decent prices.
     
    Clive_ofthe_Kremlin likes this.
  25. scummybear

    scummybear Reservist

    For reference, this was my first proper camera and it falls in your price range:
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/Canon-EOS-700D-Digital-Cameras/31388/bn_7025747779

    It's not a world-beater, but for a hobbyist it's a great little camera.
     
  26. GoingDown

    GoingDown "The Stability"

    This is a good point. I’ve been using my iPhone for photos for ages now. The photo quality is akin to a good midrange DSLR now. Obviously it struggles to do things like long exposures, but there are apps that can facilitate that.
     
  27. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    This is a real rookie, borderline embarrassing technical question, so I apologise in advance but here goes. I’m going to Barcelona on a stag in June and last time I went I had my phone pick pocketed, I’ve got the IPhone 13 pro but don’t fancy taking that just in case. I use it a lot for work and I’ve got outlook and stuff like that on it. My basic question is, can I just buy a cheap old iPhone and temporarily swap my sim over and download things like outlook that I need etc without issue, then swap it back again later? I’ve only ever done it when I’ve got a new phone but the swap always seemed permanent. I may even just bring it with me and swap it over at night and leave the better iPhone at the hotel so I can take some half decent pictures at least.
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2022
  28. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    Can anyone actually log in to currys.co.uk at the moment, for me it keeps coming back to the log in screen, I looked online and it seems other people are having the same trouble.
     
  29. GoingDown

    GoingDown "The Stability"

    The short answer is yes, as long as it’s still a supported iPhone. But for the cost of a cheap old iPhone, you might as well buy a cheap 2nd hand camera much like the PAS one I mentioned earlier. Photos will probably be better than what an old iPhone does anyway.
     
  30. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    Rather than faff about with a 2nd phone just take one of those security bags that you wrap around your waist under a tshirt with a zip. Once you've been pickpocketed you learn not to keep anything in any pocket over there. It's not difficult to stay safe with a few small precautions so save your money.
     
  31. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    I've never done it with a UK phone but it does work in the US (assuming the SIM is compatible with the temporary phone, obviously). I assume it would also work in the UK.
     
  32. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Yeah not a bad idea, I’m just worried about what I might be like when I’ve had a bit to drink even with something like that. I remember when it happened last time I wasn’t drunk or anything, came out of a bar and two blokes came up and asked me something, didn’t realise until after that’s when it happened. They obviously look for people coming out with their phone on their hand and look at where they put it.
     
  33. Why is it harder to find a sub £100 13 or 15" monitor with decent reviews vs a 22 monitor on Amazon?

    Is it because smaller screens are harder to produce cheaply with decent resolution?

    I can find a few 22" on the first page with pretty decent reviews but finding any 13 or 15" with more than 4* seems to be a struggle.
     
  34. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    There's no demand for them, so hardly anyone makes them. That results in margins being thrown out of whack.

    Realistically there's no market for the high end 13" monitor.
     
    Horace_goes_up_north likes this.
  35. Yeah that makes sense. I just need something for the CCTV small enough for the cupboard but big enough and clear enough to view.

    Might have to push the spend out to £150-200 where there seems to be a few more options.
     

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