Ancient body clock discovered

The mechanism that controls the internal 24-hour clock of all forms of life from human cells to algae has been identified by scientists.

Not only does the research provide important insight into health-related problems linked to individuals with disrupted clocks - such as pilots and shift workers - it also indicates that the 24-hour circadian clock found in human cells is the same as that found in algae and dates back millions of years to early life on Earth.

More from Cambridge University
Follow us on twitter
Latest posts

08009539090 calls from 'BT'

Despite being registered with the Telephone Preference Service and being ex-directory, I am getting an increasing number of 08009539090 telemarketing calls from CCA International saying that they 'represent BT'.

I have asked them on numerous occasions to stop phoning me and the last time they called me I said that I would make a complaint to the TPS. As the TPS requires details about the company that is phoning you - and as it can be difficult getting information from these telemarketing companies, I have done some research so that I already knew the answers to most of the questions that I would be asking them. (It's a sad fact that it is a waste of time phoning most Customer Services unless you already know the answers to your questions and the solutions to your problems.) As a result of this, these were the answers I got from them:

• Company: CCA International
• Person you spoke to: ------- -------
• Address: 78 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3RS*
• Telephone: 0207 418 4218
• Email: info.uk@ccainternational.com

* The address given on their website is: Arnold House, 21-33 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3EJ

The following questions also helped in extracting this information from them:

"If you are 'representing BT', then you are not BT. Who are you?"

"Near Old Street is not an address. I need your complete address with post code."

As the operators do not seem to have this information at hand, the time they spend getting it is time that is not spent phoning someone else.

If CCA International really does represent BT, then the TPS may reject my complaint as I am a BT customer. Of course, I won't know that until I get a response to my complaint - so watch this space. And then I will want to know why BT is passing my personal data on to a third-party marketing company...

Follow us on twitter
Latest posts

How much does a BT phone call cost?

I thought I knew the answer to this question until I looked more closely at my last BT phone bill.

What drew my attention to this question was a charge of 13p for a 30 second local call that was made after 7pm* - I would have paid less making the call with my Pay As You Go mobile phone. Surely, I thought, this shouldn't be more than 1p as BT's charge for a weekday evening call is 1.5p a minute - and shouldn't local calls be cheaper anyway? Further investigation showed that a similar call made in the daytime cost 18p.

I decided to check BT's charges on their website and after much searching I found a PDF document (Tariff Guide for Residential Customers) which after a lot of study provided the answers.

The key to understanding BT's pricing is their 'Call Set Up Fees':

BT Basic and BT Standard Rate Customers - 2.553 pence (ex VAT), 3.00 pence (Inc VAT). All other Residential Customers - 9.276 pence (exc VAT), 10.90 pence (inc VAT).

I thought that I was a Standard Rate Customer, but no - it seems that Standard Rate Customers were migrated to BT Calling Plans some time ago. With their cheapest calling plan, most people now pay a 10.9p set up fee on every call they make, the time is rounded up to the next full minute, the price is rounded up to the next 1p, local calls are charged at the national rate, but weekend calls are free.

Now that I think I understand their pricing, I will continue to make weekend calls using BT, but during the week I'll be making my calls via another service. I am considering three different services:

• 1899.com Dial 1899 before the number you are calling - 5p connection fee and 0p per minute for UK geographic calls. You need a BT line to use the 1899 prefix but they do provide but they do provide an 0808 number for non-BT landlines and an 020 number for mobiles. The only problem with the 1899.com service is that Caller ID shows these calls as 'Out of Area' (or something similar) which means that many people won't answer these calls.
  
  
• An Internet phone service like Skype. My preference is Sipgate.co.uk or Sipgate.de for price, reliability and features.
  
  
• Mobile phone. Use the inclusive calls on your mobile phone contract during the week.

In either case I will still need to make two chargeable or inclusive calls a month via BT otherwise they will charge me for the 'free' Privacy at Home (Caller ID) and BT 1571 (voicemail) features! If you are billed quarterly, you will need to make six chargeable/inclusive calls a quarter. If you have a BT line but your phone service is from another provider, you can try using the prefix 1280 to make these calls and route them through BT - but please be aware that this does not work for all providers.

As BT's pricing is complex, I would ask you to check these figures for yourselves before making any decisions based on them. The pricing for non-geographic numbers is even more complex but it is covered in their Specialised Numbers Tariff Guide. Please feel free to comment on this article if there are any errors or if you have any more information on BT pricing and the alternatives.

*BT's evening rates now apply from 7pm-7am. It used to be 6pm-6am.

Follow us on twitter
Latest posts

Do schools kill creativity?

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.



Follow us on twitter
Latest posts

New progression measures for pupils

Three new measures of pupils' progress are to be introduced to hold head teachers and ministers to account. These measures will be introduced at ages five and 11 to ensure children have the required skills to move on to the next stage of schooling. And a new "basics measure" is to be introduced for pupils at age 16.

More from the BBC
Follow us on twitter
Latest posts

Electric current to the brain 'boosts maths ability'

Applying a tiny electrical current to the brain could make you better at learning maths, according to Oxford University scientists. They found that targeting a part of the brain called the parietal lobe improved the ability of volunteers to solve numerical problems.

More from the BBC
Follow us on twitter
Latest posts

Tuition fees increasing to £9000

Universities in England will be able to charge tuition fees of up to £9000 per year from 2012, as the government transfers much of the cost of courses from the state to students.

More from the BBC
Follow us on twitter
Latest posts

How autistic are you?

The Autism Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, is a questionnaire published in 2001 by Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge, UK. Consisting of fifty questions, it aims to investigate whether adults of normal intelligence have symptoms of autism or one of the other autism spectrum conditions.

Take the test
Follow us on twitter
Home

2012 International Bank Holiday dates

Our 2012 Country Information and International Holidays resources have just added our Gold Collection.

Log in
Learn more about MWLS Gold Membership
LearningPages.org

James Baldwin quote on facing change

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." — James Baldwin (1924-1987)

More quotes

Quote: Carl Jung on understanding ourselves

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." — Carl Jung (1875–1961)

More quotes

2011 Almanac of Significant, Notable and Interesting Dates - just added our Gold Collection

Our 2011 Almanac of Significant, Notable and Interesting Dates has just added our Gold Collection.

Log in
Learn more about MWLS Gold Membership
LearningPages.org