So I've just read the following article on The Register:

Workplace smoking bans may be good for workers' health, but could open the back door to hackers.

In a recent social engineering test undertaken by UK-based security consultancy NTA Monitor, a tester was able to easily gain access to a corporate building through a back door that was left open for smokers. Once inside, the penetration tester was able to easily bluff his way into a meeting room, claiming the IT department had sent him. Even without a pass, he gained access unchallenged and was then able to connect his laptop to the firm's VoIP network via a telephone connection point.

So after all the trouble getting our broadband connected mentioned by Zyle in the first rant about NTL, frustration after frustration has piled up.

The NTL broadband connection speed is terrible. We are supposed to have a 2mb connection, and a speed test on the NTL site just gave these results, the most positive one out of 5 tests:

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 00:36:08 GMT

1st 512K took 7250 ms = 70.6 KB/sec, approx 582 Kbps, 0.57 Mbps
2nd 512K took 12282 ms = 41.7 KB/sec, approx 344 Kbps, 0.34 Mbps
3rd 512K took 8578 ms = 59.7 KB/sec, approx 492 Kbps, 0.48 Mbps
4th 512K took 51312 ms = 10 KB/sec, approx 82 Kbps, 0.08 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 375 Kbps, 0.37 Mbps

I recently purchased some hardware in PC World as a Christmas gift, but needed to return it since the person I bought it for is actually getting a new PC in the meantime rendering my gift somewhat obsolete. I figured I'd nip in this morning and take it back whilst doing a bit of Christmas Shopping.

I entered the store and scanned the place for a Customer Services Desk.  The place bearing the closest resemblance I could see was the PC Clinic, so I decided I'd ask someone there whether that was the right place to get a refund.  There was only one customer in front of me, engaged in intense discussion about laptops and viruses with the pimply youth behind the desk.  Since it did look like the only realistic place to go in terms of refund-getting, I figured I'd rather wait a couple of minutes there to ask about it rather than attempt to find another member of staff to interrogate since they seemed pretty thin on the ground.