The Spectranet Deception

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Wednesday, March 30, 2016

It was around 8.30pm and I just couldn’t to get my surf on. I had just bought recharge cards for my Spectranet modem and was eager to get back online and surf the web. As a person that needed to be online a lot of the time, I had always done my browsing either via my phone, office or through a small dongle I had gotten from Etisalat. While the office offered enough bandwidth that I could only get to use when I was free, the other two were limiting in a number of ways, so when I got wind of the services being offered by Spectranet and its costs, I was excited that it was worth having.

Before, I always ignored major internet providers because of how costly their services and subscriptions were; I wasn’t ready to pay anything above N3,000 but this company called Spectranet came into the picture with the offer to give me 20 gig worth of browsing data for a month at N4k which would be active from 6pm to 8am on weekdays and 24 hours on weekends and public holidays.

Compared to other Internet providers like Swift and Smile, this was a good and affordable offer and so I got me a Spectranet modem which came with free 20 gig due to a promo. My first experience with their service was exhilarating; I was wowed by the sweet flow of bandwidth, the instant response from page to page….

Then the day came when I reloaded a fresh card of the usual N4,000 for another subscription and got a response that told me the voucher loaded was insufficient. I tried again and got the same thing. I opened the site afresh, used a different browser, refreshed and refreshed…the fund was said to still not be efficient. I then went to their website to check the listings and lo and behold what was N4,000 had now been changed to N7,500, almost double the cost!

I was enraged. What kind of witchery is this?

Why the increase in rates? They are currently running some deceptive Ad in which they talk some mumbo jumbo about unified tariff plans part of their effort to ensure everyone has access to affordable and faster internet.

Affordable? I’m sorry…where in the jumping diddlyskunk is the affordability in this?

I laugh in Spanish.

Some people who think they can pull the wool over our eyes are mistaken because we can smell the shit before it hits the fan. Not even having Linda Ikeji publish a ‘good post’ about them can save them from the flak that is coming.

Reading through the post, I was shocked at the rubbish and lies painted on the site. The Head of Marketing, Mike Ogor was making blasphemous utterances like:

The unified tariff is another way of telling our subscribers that they matter to us.

Really? We matter? That’s why you’re ripping us off? Liar…

’We understand the needs of our customers and subscribers and have kept improving our services to offer the best internet solutions in the country. ‘’The new tariff plan has been designed in such a way that suits individual pockets irrespective of their income and status-whether they are students, professionals, family, or business enterprise owners’’.

Why? Why all these lies and fabrication?

‘’when a customer buys data ranging from 20GB to 200GB each customer is automatically entitled to an extra10GB monthly and unlimited free night browsing and this will go a long way in helping customer connects to what matters to them’’.

This is quite confusing. While I saw nothing like extra 10GB on my own subscription, who cares about free night browsing when my plan already covers overnight?

Mr Ogor stated that Spectranet has improved its service to enhance seamless video streaming as streaming videos online require a fast internet connection.

This is another lie because just as their rates went up, their service apparently plummeted; it was always timing out like a toddler’s aggravated hiccup.

To know how pissed people are, you need to check out the comments under the post on Linda Ikeji’s blog…people are NOT SMILING at all!

Source

 Right now, I'm seriously considering switching to another Internet provider. There's no difference between their cost and that of Spectranet's.

The most annoying thing is that I just recommeded Spectranet to my parents recently. No I have to take back my word!

What You Never Knew About Your Mobile Phone - Sage Harman

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Its amazing how one can own an indispensable gadget such as a mobile phone and not know half of what it can really do. My guest writer; Sage Harman, gives us the lowdown on the much more you can do with your phones. I went through his list and I was like 'Darn! For reals?' How much are you familiar with the intelligence of your mobile phone? Let's hear what Sage Harman has to say.... 

Mobile phones have come a long way over the years - from big, bulky monstrosities to ultrachic and sleek smartphones we carry these days, offering quite the same functions as computers. They have become a crucial part of our everyday life too, capable of making calls, sending emails, playing music and games, taking videos and photos and surfing the Web. But did you know that most smartphones can do so much more? Yes, here's a few other practical features and apps you may not know about.

Measuring Tool - you can use your smartphone for various measurements like distance, height, area and width.

Tracker - you can locate not only people, but even your lost or stolen phone using your smartphone's GPS tracking apps.

Webcam - you can video chat using your smartphone.

Health Monitor - you can become more health conscious by monitoring your diet and exercise using your phone. You can also use it to track your blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

Wireless Router - share your data access with your friends by turning your smartphone into a mobile hotspot.

GPS Unit - with the right apps, your smartphone can be a decent GPS device you can use online and offline.

Courtesy www.englishblog.com

Universal Remote Control - you can program your smartphone to control various home appliances.

eReader - you can turn your smartphone into an excellent reading device by installing eBooks and eBook apps.

Scanner - you can make your phone a barcode or QR code scanner with the help of various apps.

Television - you can live stream your favorite TV shows on your phone.

Digital Cookbook - you can turn your phone into a portable, virtual cookbook by saving recipes and cooking apps.

Digital Wallet - you can store your credit card and banking information on your smartphone so you can shop credit card and cash-free.

Do you know of any other cool uses for your smartphone, don't forget to comment and share! In the market for a new smartphone? Compare plans and get free information at http://www.no-contract-plans.com.

A frugal living enthusiast, wife and mother, Sage Harman runs http://www.no-contract-plans.com, a site dedicated to providing free information to consumers trying to find viable no-contract phone and internet plans.

Creepy Video: The Mark of The Beast Will Make You Superhuman??

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Sunday, December 15, 2013

Biblical Prophecies have been starring at us right in the face and with every passing day, the reality gets clearer. A few years back, stories went round about this Biochip which will revolutionize life as we know it; a chip that will register your identity and allow you access to a host of things. Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to the mark of the beast; prophecy is being fulfilled before our korokoro eyes.
In this video, we get to see the so called 'benefits' of having this chip in you. 

Watch as this woman (who has worked for DARPA and now with google and is at the forefront of this Anti-Christ technology), explains how it gives you superhuman abilities. Also watch the propaganda infocommercial that tries to make us see the 'good' in embracing this technology.

I guess the makers of this product came to realize that people will kick against the chip and thus decided to 'sugar coat' it with what it would allow you to do. Of course, its only the good stuff that we will hear about, nobody will tell you about the bad stuff, after all its an advertising gimmick; a way of fooling people into buying into an idea they would naturally hate.

Hosea 4:6 in the Bible states that "My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge." The more we are aware and knowledgeable of this prophetic Anti-Christ hi-tech shenanigans, the better we are set to brace ourselves for the fulfillment of end time prophecy and most importantly embrace God.

The Smartphone Influence [Illustrated]

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Smart phones...those technical little bastards that have totally taken over our lives on the entire planet. Years back when a mobile phone was a device you carried about in a suitcase, nobody would have thought that in years to come this constantly evolving gadget would soon take over the world. And with the help of social media networks that have bridged the world into one network, everybody has access to any part of the world. But we still can't deny the fact that there's a fast growing addiction to smartphones. 

I had a colleague who did a modelling gig and got paid about 100 grand and the next thing she did was use it to buy a smartphone that cost 98 grand! That sounded so familiar - like a crack addict blowing all his money on his addiction. I'm not saying smartphones are not a good thing; they have their pros and cons. Unfortunately, too many people are stuck on the cons and have become smartphone zombies. 

Here are some hilarious facts and representations of life with smartphones from C-Section Comics and Pablo Stanley on MemeCentre.    

An addict just can't resist the allure of a stupid meme
trending via smartphones

Many relationships may have been complicated by smartphones

Majority of smartphone owners are guilty of this!

Lesson: Never check other people's smartphones
if you don't want to see what you do not want to see.

Smartphone addicts watch less TV and do more phone browsing

Now you see why Cinemas campaign for phones to be switched off during shows?

Some even deliberately decide to take a crap for the sake of
browsing their smartphones

Because goons like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. have taken over...

All on a phone oh! What a way to keep us constantly distracted!

 And this strip is not lying in portraying the possible life of a smartphone addict!

I think books need to come to the rescue...oh, now I'm veering into another subject. That's for another topic, another post. May Smartphones not turn us into complete technical zombies!

The 'Witchcraft' of Technology

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Tuesday, September 03, 2013

It would have been hard to believe this TV spot back in the year 2010. Many of the advancements shown in it look like serious far-fetched science fiction. Apparently all this is meant to make life simpler and more compacted but at the same time it kind of also looks complex.

But hey...that's probably because of the fact that its meant for the future. By the time they all surface, it would all be simple.

Check out all the technology we have today with all the ipads, androids, insane smart phones et al - these things were not that common far back then. It shows that technology is rapidly evolving.

And its becoming tough catching up. There's so much coming up.

Watching the video again, I can't help but just sigh...this is definitely witchcraft on a tech level...lol.

The Most Annoying Web Ad So Far

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Saturday, February 02, 2013

Has anyone ever come across the Ad pictured below?

It's an interactive Ad which compels you to kill a roach darting about the space in order to win an iPhone. When you move your mouse over the square space, the slipper or sandal moves with it and when you click to kill the roach, another page pops up advertising stuff as usual.

I'm not against creative and sometimes leading advertising like this but the visual of that roach darting about creeps me out. Fact is, I hate roaches and kill them anytime I see them with disgust and anger. This Ad almost made me want to smash my screen as the roach was getting on my nerves.

This has no doubt got to be the most annoying Web Ad I've come across so far.

Or am I the only one who sees this?

Blackberry Zombies

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Wednesday, February 09, 2011

The meeting was about to start but the MD was not yet on seat.  While waiting at the round table someone played with his pen on the table, another drew sketches of meaningless abstract art on his jotter, another person read a newspaper or while another a magazine, someone listened to music via earpiece connected to her phone and four people sat glued to their blackberry phones tapping away on the keypads like their life depended on it.

I’m walking down the corridor to the Audio-Visual studio and I come across an intern leaning against the wall, a blackberry in her hands, her face glued like an electrified zombie to its screen. She hardly notices me passing by.

A colleague boards a commercial bus and hands his fare to the conductor. Next to him is seated a casually dressed young man tapping away on his blackberry. The conductor calls for his fare, dude hears not. His eyes are glued with glee to his phone, all attention totally sucked into the little glowing demon in his hands. The conductor hollers at him, jerking his attention. Dude holds blackberry in one hand, eyes still hooked to the screen, uses the other hand to bring out fare and hand it over to the pissed-off conductor without turning from his phone or paying mind to the invective from the conductor.

Ever seen a car pull over just for its driver to whip out his blackberry and ping on it? Or a person spend a long time in the toilet not because the shit was too harsh to offload but because they had to do something very ‘important’ on their blackberry?

Okay. I don’t need to give too many examples. By now you might have guessed the issue I’m trying to hit.

 The blackberry phone, no doubt, is a gadget of convenience; it’s like carrying your own computer and internet around. It gives you instant access to your network of friends and you are able to chat or do business anytime, anywhere. I know it’s not a new technology so don’t get the idea that I’m talking like it’s one.

A few years earlier in Nigeria the blackberry was not a phone that just anybody could afford because it fell in the category of high end phones but as the GSM awareness caught Naija by storm with tech savvy phones appearing now and again, and with Asian copycat versions flooding the market, the prize fell and the blackberry became a ‘pure water’ phone. To make matters worse, the Chinese copycat is also available at a cheaper price (Chai! These Chinkos sabi spoil market!).

So what happens when people find out they can own a blackberry without paying thru the nose? You guessed right – every Tom, Dick and Hilary gets one. Don’t be surprised if you see a Naija commercial bus conductor tapping away on a blackberry.

Well, those may be the pros but the cons would be the fact that this hand held mobile cretin has stolen the lives of many its owners. Now people are so comfy wasting precious time on their blackberry phones they end up not having time for other things. Nope, it’s not because they are doing any important research but because it’s become the bonafide ‘amebo’ social network thanks to its benefit of instant ping chatting and Facebook. It has turned many people into zombies; their attention is more fixed on the thrills of useless gists, downloading and forwarding of pics, images, music and videos. I remember I blogged about the menace Facebook had become some time back. Thanks to the blackberry, it’s more amplified than ever. 

Image courtesy www.blackberrycool.com

Everywhere you find a blackberry, there’s constant lack of attention. Don’t ever discuss anything with anybody who’s holding onto a blackberry. If a chat ping comes in, you just might get ignored for some minutes. And trust me, it can be so annoying.

Oh…did I tell you that there’s a toy version for kids? Kai! Isn't that a bit too early for dem youngsters?

For that lady or guy that loves attention from his/her man or woman, please don’t ever buy him/her a blackberry for a gift! The moment you do that, you’ve got yourself a RIVAL! I know this because even my wife had to fight me over the fact that my laptop was becoming her rival for attention…lol.

I like the idea of the blackberry and its use…but I’m just afraid of ever getting one. Apart from the fact that I usually hate joining a bandwagon trend, I also dread the fact that it might steal some of my hard-conserved precious time – like the one I spend reading and meditating on my Bible. 

That’s true…even without the blackberry, many who take their spiritual life serious are still try hard to have time to spend with God. Now that the blackberry is here and they own one what happens?

Oh Blackberry…you’re such a distractive devil!

Hence I keep away from this 'winch' of a gadget before it infects me with its telephony virus and turn me into one of its zombies!

Worth having - The Water Maker

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Monday, October 06, 2008

It looks like a water dispenser but you can’t help noticing the striking difference. This is simply because it has no water refill or replacement bottle which most dispensers happen to have. 
This amazing contraption not only dispenses water, it also MAKES water. Yes you heard me. That’s why it’s called the Water Maker. 
Using the technology similar to the way Air conditioners work, it takes in air and condenses it into water. Then it filters and purifiers it before it’s dispensed in either hot or cold variants.

Some of the folks in my office are a bit afraid to use it. I don’t blame them. Most of them are too used to normal refillable dispensers and are trying to fathom how a dispenser that doesn’t need water refills can make water out of the air. I guess that’s what happens when you’re not much of a science and technology person. Questions have been raised, what if one farts? What if the air around it is smelly? Blah…blah…blah

What they fail to realize that this recycled water is the purest form of water because the water refills they get in normal dispensers are usually treated and not all that fresh. The water maker just recycles natural air into natural water and filters and purifies it using elements similar to those found in the soil which help purifying water. 

I’ve been drinking from the Water Maker and I tell you - the water is really FRESH. 
It’s a great gadget that’s going to change a lot of things.
It’s going to help utilize our natural resources in way that the earth won’t loose out. 
Imagine this machine being purchased for places where water is scarce. As long as there is AIR, it has what it needs to make water!

Isn’t that Awesome?

I’ll recommend the water maker anytime, any day, anywhere. That’s some real good earth friendly tech you could use!

Much Ado About Mac

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Monday, August 11, 2008

Hmm...

Apple has always been known for coming up with outstanding technololgical razzmatazz. They've got products that look like the technology for the future. Maybe they'll end up being the numero uno, who knows.

I like the looks, designs and all that sleek feel they got but I got beef for a number of  things about them...

The Mac Desktop Computer : Beautiful, stylish graphic interfaces and rich color display -stuff that has made many graphic artists fall in love with this computer. But in my brief relationship with a Mac Desktop I've come to find issues:

1. The system is heavy! Yet when you look at it, you're decieved to feel it's light.
2. When you tap the volume key on the keyboard, the sound effects sounds like an old woman's fart progressing to a louder crescendo.
3. The CD drive seems to always have a lifespan that's limited than expected.
4. It's too selective when it comes to detecting external hardware plugged to it.
5. The sound it makes at startup aint musical at all. Not ear-friendly.  
6. The Mac feels good to use but I don't think its user friendly.

As for the Mac Laptop, its just a smaller version of the big wahala. Portable beauty with equal wahala and same mannerisms.

The iPhone is the sensation and rave of the moment but unfortunately, a lot of ladies are gonna beef this phone because according what I read about it, it works with finger sentivity. So if you're wearing fashionably adorned nails, you aint gonna be able to tap that screen like you want to. Makes it look like a phone meant for men only!

Eermm...but on the real sha, if you dash me any Mac product I go collect!