Forum Topics

ITV1 series needs storage customers

TV production company Twofour (The Hotel Inspector and Cornwall with Caroline Quentin) are looking for people with belongings in self-storage for a major new ITV1 daytime series.With a clutter-busting format along the lines of ‘The Life Laundry’ and ‘Cash in the Attic’ the series will feature couples, families and friends who have had their items in self-storage for some time and who are now willing to send some of their hidden treasures to auction.We are looking for:- Couples/families with items in storage that are no longer needed- Individuals who store belongings that are not welcome in the house- Long-standing collectors with no space left in their home- Or people who just can’t let go of their stuff because it has sentimental value and currently doesn’t have a place in the homeUltimately you need to be willing to “Skip it”, “Sell it” or “Keep it”.Perhaps your partner, family or friends are nagging you to look at your storage situation! If this sounds like you, or you know someone who fits the bill, then please contact us – we might be able to turn your possessions into hard cash.Email via storageshow@twofour.co.uk

Sheryl Bawden ● 5125d1 Comments ● 5125d

Any Talk Talk broadband users out there?

I keep getting letters about this and the price looks good.just wondered if there are any customers on this site who would give me their opinion on the service.

Jamie James ● 5136d9 Comments ● 5126d

Why was Bombay Bistro closed this evening?

Was all poised for yummy grub and all the shutters were down.I hope all is well.

Sara Nathan ● 5209d6 Comments ● 5126d

Dog Walking Recommendations Sought

We are seeking a local dog walking service to provide occasional dog walking for a new addition to our family. We are located in Poets Corner. Sarah

Sarah Allan ● 5148d4 Comments ● 5126d

Cafe Bleu, North Acton

Does anyone know what has happened to Cafe Bleu at the top of the ramp at North Acton Station?  This was a favourite lunchtime haunt of ours, but the place has been closed for a good couple of months.

Paul Scullion ● 5126d0 Comments ● 5126d

3 year old idea bed going for free

Wooden base with metal legs. Collection only. Reply if interested.

Michael Arthur ● 5127d2 Comments ● 5126d

HD Reception on my PVR

Can anyone help please with  my problems on my HD PVR The first problem is that when playing back recorded programmes (especially HD programmes) there is a constant problem with pixilation which makes many recorded programmes unwatchable.  I'm having to resort to recording on standard channels to reduce the occurrence of this problem.  Clearly this defeats the object of owning an HD PVR! The other thing that happens frequently is that when I'm watching an HD channel and recording another the sound on the live TV programme I'm watching cuts out completely and I have to switch to a non-HD channel to get proper sound back. I also notice when viewing HD channels in 'live TV' mode that the picture jumps frequently, which is at best annoying and at worst  makes me switch to another channel.The strength  shows as 100% but the quality shows as about 25-30%.  We are fully switched to HD in our area  and the Freeview website tells us we can receive HD channels. Do you know of any equipment or  suggestions to improve the signal quality (e.g boosters?)Many thanks

Philippe Bruyer ● 5128d4 Comments ● 5127d

Petrol

Petrol station at Asda now open. Unleaded 1.28 and a bit, beats BP Horn Lane

riejet oliver ● 5158d18 Comments ● 5129d

SAVE THE BLUE CROSS  STALL IN ACTON MARKET

I went today to hand in some clothes/videos etc to Mary, the lady who runs the Blue Cross Charity Stall in Acton Market every Saturday.  I was upset to learn that she is no longer running the "second hand" side of it because the market officials have deemed that it is not a suitable venture anymore for the image of the market.  Instead, they are giving her a temporary stall outside Morrisons for selling Christmas cards and new items etc but not second hand items.  Can anything be done to stop this?  The stall has been there for over 4 years and she and her daughter (Mandy) have worked tirelessly to raise funds for the Blue Cross animal charity. They are there in all weathers and are a key point of contact for some elderly and vulnerable people who cannot afford to buy items at expensive prices. I watched them today greeting passerbys and having a chat with people, some of whom may not have spoken to someone all week! Social interactions like these all do there bit to boost the community spirit of an area....As it is, the market space has far too few stalls in it and surely it would be nice to have a bit of diversity in the wares that are being sold?  In these recessionary times, I would have thought that the recycling of clothes/videos/pictures etc should be encouraged.  We produce far too much waste in this country and stalls like these reduce the amount of waste going to landfill sites, as well as providing valuable funding for charity.  Perhaps we should organise a petition to save it! The whole point of a market is to have second-hand/thrift stalls - look at Portobello and Brick Lane.

Eileen Francis ● 5429d20 Comments ● 5130d

Acton Business Forum: 'Win It in a Minute' B2B exhibition

Win It in a MinuteThe Ealing Hotel (formerly Ramada London Ealing), Ealing CommonThursday 20 September 2012, 3–7pmWhat is Win It in a Minute?    A friendly, low-cost B2B exhibition targeted at small and micro businesses    An opportunity to make a one-minute pitch to all visitors    Networking opportunities over afternoon tea    A chance to build relationships at a networking dinner immediately following the event.It's a fun, affordable event for businesses selling goods and services to small-business owners. It also provides an opportunity for you to practise your presentation skills by making a one-minute pitch to all visitors and exhibitors and to learn how to do it by observing others in action.The event is being promoted widely to business organisations in West London and will be publicised on social media and in the traditional press. Each exhibitor will get free visitor passes to give to their customers and prospects, and every visitor will get an exhibition guide featuring details of each exhibitor, plus afternoon tea.After the event, you can move on to the optional networking dinner. This will give you a chance to relax, mingle and talk to other businesses over a meal and coffee.BOOK HERE.The early bird price runs until midnight, Friday, 31 August.If you think you'd like to exhibit but are unsure, we're prepared to negotiate. We're particularly keen on making special offers to businesses in their first year. To discuss what we have to offer, email Glenda Shawley, aBf chair, at glenda@thetrainingpack.co.uk.

Nancy Duin ● 5132d1 Comments ● 5132d

Microsoft Windows Scam Operating Again

Please be aware of the scam that is going around again where someone purporting to be from Microsoft Windows telephones to tell you that your computer has a virus or that the firewall is broken or other such problem.They explain that your computer is in some way faulty. This fault may vary from phone call to phone call but it is very believable. The caller will say that your computer is running very slowly and that it may crash at any minute. The caller may even get you to open a program called “Windows Event Viewer” which will produce a list of what seems like program errors but is of no significance to the general user.The entire preface is to get you to agree to allow the caller to “rectify” the computer. The caller will give you a website address and ask you to open that site and then a dialogue box will appear with a request for a six digit number. The caller will give you this number and after you have entered it then the caller has full access to your computer! After a few minutes of seemingly frenetic work, the caller announces that the computer is fixed and that a fee of around £200 is now payable!  If you give details of your credit card, then you will find that not £200 is taken but a very quick £1 – to check that the account is valid. Then further amounts are taken without authorisation. I have been told that many, many hundreds of pounds can be taken out of an account this way.If you don’t pay and slam the phone down in disgust then the second part of the scam comes into play. While the caller was “fixing” the user’s computer, a “keystroke tracker” was planted deep into the workings of the computer system. This little file tracks all the keystrokes that the user makes while the computer is switched on. These include any password used, any bank account details or any security network phrase. This tracker is also usually accompanied by a website tracker that records any website visited. Every time that the user accesses the internet, these two trackers send information to the scammers. You can imagine the potential for a thief who can see what financial website a user visits together with all the keystrokes used at that site.The reason for this warning is because, a few weeks ago, I spent four hours working on a friend’s computer after she had been scammed this way. Let me say immediately that she is very intelligent, is relatively street-wise, and has a level of computer knowledge but still fell for it!  The man on the other end of the phone was superb at his job, had all the answers necessary and was extremely polite and helpful – or so it seemed.  She phoned me after the event to ask whether she had done the right thing. I told her it was a scam and to immediately contact her bank/card company. Less than an hour after the scam had taken place an initial £1 had been taken from her account in readiness for further amounts. So acting very quickly meant that she had only lost a £1 but her card has now been stopped and she has to wait for a new card to arrive. It would seem that the scammers are extremely diligent in covering all possible angles to try and get money. Once they get their hook into a possible victim then it is very difficult to get rid of them.  My friend had stopped the scammers taking more money from her card and so ….. they phoned her to tell her that there was a problem with her card and please would she give them details of another card to use!  She declined and put the phone down. The scammers phoned a further three times to try to persuade her to give up some details of her bank account or credit cards as obviously she “owes them money for all the work that they had done on her behalf”. The final master stoke came one morning when a gentleman with an Indian accent phoned from the Western Union Anti-Scam Department. He said that he understood that a scam had been perpetrated against her and that if she provided him with details of her credit card and bank details then they would investigate! My friend thanked him for his concern and then told him to go away and put the phone down on him.I know that a number of people have received these scam calls in recent weeks and today another friend, who is in her late 70's and confined to a wheelchair, received a call purporting to be from Microsoft. She had the sense to get a friend staying with her to phone me on a mobile phone to check if this was in fact a scam. After she got the message from me that it was indeed a scam she then asked the scammer for his telephone number so that she could phone him back. He said that the company did not allow incoming calls! She then used some vocabulary to him that I cannot repeat here and put the phone down.If a scam victim allows the scammer access to their computer then the problem is knowing what the scammer may have placed placed on that victim's computer. This is what takes a lot of time and a level of expertise. Sometimes the only solution is to get the hard disk formatted and the operating system re-installed.So please, if someone phones to tell you that they are from Microsoft Windows and that your computer is at fault; please slam the phone down; you may wish to precede this with some genuine anglo-saxon words of your choice directed at the caller. You will be saving yourself a lot of aggravation and potentially a lot of money.

Paul Ambridge ● 5133d9 Comments ● 5132d

Acton Christmas Fair planning meeting

Acton Christmas Fair is taking place on Saturday, 8 December on The Mount. It will comprise the regular market, craft and community stalls, family activities, Father Christmas, performances (singing, dance, instrumental music, etc.) and more.If you'd like to participate in some way - taking a stall, helping with the organisation, offering advise and/or the benefit of your own experience - we'd like you to come to a planning meeting:Friday, 14 September, 12.30pmOak Tree Fellowship (in what was the Old Fire Station), next to the King's Head on the High StreetLunch supplied courtesy of Oak TreePlease let me know if you're coming (and, if so, if you have any dietary requirements) so that I can let Oak Tree know how many to provide lunch for. You can reach me on nduin@nancyduin.netIf you know of anyone else who should be invited - e.g. who would like to take a stall or participate in some way or who can offer the benefit of their own experience - please let me know asap and I'll get in touch with them.I look forward to hearing from you!Nancy DuinActon Christmas Fair organisernduin@nancyduin.net

Nancy Duin ● 5132d0 Comments ● 5132d

Missing dog

Our dog Farah has this morning; in the last hour escaped our garden in Cumberland Park. She is a very friendly staffie cross whippet. My husband is scouring the area on my mountain bike. If you do see her please can you give us a call on 07881630133.She is chipped and has her address and my phone number on her collar which is embellished with dog bonesThanksSarah

Sarah Allan ● 5132d2 Comments ● 5132d

Goldsmiths Residents Association Meeting 7pm 4th September

Just a quick reminder to all residents of the Goldsmiths Estate that there is a residents meeting in the hall at the back of St Dunstan's church on Tuesday 4th September. 7pm for tea or coffee and a chat with the neighbours and 7.30pm for the start of the meeting.  All residents welcome.  More information and a copy of the agenda is on our website www.goldsmithsresidents.org.ukHope to see you there.

Jacqueline Davis ● 5132d0 Comments ● 5132d

News allert:

Asda has choosen Derwentwater's  "Global Garden Project" as one of this month's three charity causes.  If by any chance you go there,please take a couple of kids (extra tokens), bring some shopping bags (extra tokens) and make sure that you get your tokens at the till(please ask if they have run out) and place them in the middle Community Charity box.   Please ask your familly, friends & neighbours etc. to do the same. Thank you very much!

Ireen Esmann ● 5133d0 Comments ● 5133d

Can you speak Hindi?

My friend has asked me to post this message for him:"Do you speak Hindi, or know anyone who is fluent in Hindi?I'm looking for someone to help me learn to speak Hindi so that I can chat with my in-laws when I meet them in India this December.I would like to meet somewhere around Acton/Ealing area, or alternatively speak over the phone or Skype.I took a course around two years ago, but I have not had any practice since then.In return I can do any of the following:* Teach English (I am a very patient teacher, and can explain any rules of grammar and English phrases in detail for you)* Build a website for your business or hobby - I have a decade of experience as a professional software developer* Fix your computer - remove viruses, make it faster, install software, give general advice, etc.Please email Will at this address: its.will.sheppard (at) gmail.com

Greg Pickett ● 5134d1 Comments ● 5134d

Adjacent threads - unintentional comedy moment

The following two threads appear on this forum next to next:Rampant Drug Dealing in ActonFirst Acton High Street Pot SpottedWell, it made me smile...

Gill Hothersall ● 5136d2 Comments ● 5136d

painter

Anyone know of a RELIABLE painter/decorator who can quote me for painting the outside front of my small cottage in Shakespeare Road?

Frederik Mauwer ● 5143d7 Comments ● 5136d

Wanted: double room for 2/3 months from Oct

My parents are looking for a double room to rent in/around Poets Corner for a few months from October. They're planning a trip to London to help out with childcare whilst I work.  They're a respectable, mature couple. References are available from friends/ex-employers in Chiswick (where they lived for 34 years). If you have a spare room and are able to help, please contact me (Nat) at powderpink@hotmail.com or call/text 07736 799968. Much appreciated.

Natalie Bonaventura ● 5136d0 Comments ● 5136d

Free Home Brewing Beer Bottles

Some of you may remember the micro-brewery that was on the Uxbridge Road opposite Morrisons. We were fairly regular users of the facility where we brewed various beers and purchased 100+ crown cap pint beer bottles from them.All the beer was drunk a long time ago and we no longer brew our own. We are now clearing the garage where the bottles are stored. If anyone would like the bottles then they are free to collect (most are in plastic crates).

Paul Ambridge ● 5136d0 Comments ● 5136d