Table of contents for 724 in Computeractive

Search photos of Victorian prisoners By the 1870s, it was common practice to photograph prisoners for identification and recordkeeping. A number of archives and collections have preserved these images, giving us a rare glimpse of our ancestors behind bars. The National Archives holds licences for the early release of prisoners in the records PCOM 3 (males, www.snipca.com/57000) and PCOM 4 (females, www.snipca.com/57001). Issued under the Penal Servitude Acts of 1853 and 1864, licences were granted to convicts released early for good behaviour. The records span 1853–1887, with files from 1871 onwards often including photos. Many also contain letters or notes from the prisoner, medical histories and reports of any misconduct during their sentence. These records have been digitised and are available in Findmypast’s ‘England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment,…

BLUETOOTH SPEAKER | £100 from Amazon www.snipca.com/57042 Party piece This British-designed Bluetooth speaker comes with a hidden side. Out front, its wooden case and studded grille give it a retro Hi-Fi feel, but at the back a strip of multi-coloured ambient lighting provides ‘party time’ quirkiness. The eight LEDs in the rear-facing panel create a halo of coloured light on the wall behind, which can be set to remain static or to change dynamically with the beat of the music. Like an ageing dad hitting the dancefloor after a beer or two, it’s eye-catching if not always quite on time. You connect to the speaker via Bluetooth 5.3 or a 3.5mm audio jack line-in, and the built-in battery pack gives you 30 hours of playback from one charge. In practice,…

You may know that under Ofcom’s rules (www.snipca.com/57199), broadband providers have to pay you £31.19 compensation if an engineer fails to turn up at your home, or cancels with less than 24 hours’ notice. But what you might not realise is that they can also charge you if you’re not home when they call. Missed appointments work both ways. This came to the public’s attention in November when the website ISPreview got hold of a leaked internal email from BT. It said that in future customers could face a charge of £50 if they’re not in when an engineer calls. The email claims that customers miss around 10 per cent of appointments despite being reminded several times about them. “Customers miss around 10 per cent of appointments despite being reminded…

Why can’t I install 0patch’s Windows 10 updates? Q I’m 90 and want my six-year-old Windows 10 PC to last me out. Following your advice I subscribed to 0patch (https://0patch.com) and then tried to download ‘0patch Agent 22.11.11.10550’ several times. But I keep getting stuck with the message, ‘Installation incomplete. The Installation was interrupted…’. I’ve contacted 0patch’s support for help, but all I’m told is to read the Article ‘0patch Agent fails to install, see No. 7’. I’m worried 0patch might be a scam. Can you reassure me? Bob Coleman A First, rest assured that 0patch definitely isn’t a scam. It’s run by Acros Security, a reputable Slovenian company. We’ve installed it successfully on several PCs and it’s a very reliable, cost-effective way to keep using Windows 10. However, we…

I’m tempted to buy your new favourite Buy It! mini PC from Wired2Fire (see page 32) because I’ve had great service from the company in the past. I wanted to buy a desktop PC powerful enough to deal with Microsoft Flight Simulator, but didn’t know where to start. Thankfully the team at Wired2Fire said they’d had many similar requests and so knew which components to offer me. They gave me some differently priced options and explained what I’d be getting for my money. What impressed me is how easy it was to contact them by phone or email. I’ve been using the PC for over a year now and it’s fantastic. I don’t know whether Wired2Fire’s new mini PC (AMD R8845) will suit me, but I do know that the…