Author Archives: Steve Morley

A normal Manchester guy with interests in Strongman, Fitness and Geekery.

Yes, Prime Minister

Banksy Missing Slave

Banksy Missing Slave

I was watching “Yes, Prime Minister” on TV, the conversation went something like “We raised the age of education so children could learn more to prepare them for life.”. The other guy said “No, Prime Minister we raised the age of education so we could get the teenagers off the job market to lower the rates of unemployment”. 

I read a story about increasing the school age to 18, and / or the school hours to 5pm to 5:30pm and various other ideas, it kind of made me think. It sure does sound like a hell of a way to reduce youth employment, and force more parents into working and dramatically drop unemployment rates. A by product would possibly increase spending as more people would need more things, parents would have more money, god that’s really vague. 

School kids will need more uniforms and books, Workers more food, clothing, Rush Hour will become rush hours since there wouldn’t be a staggering of School Run and End of Day workers, so more fuel and more car repairs and maintenance. So nice little boost in the economy. 

There are many stories about this from the USA, where longer school hours and indeed lots of after school clubs and classes seems to be working very well. This page Time to Learn makes a compelling argument, and makes me think it could well be the way forward. 

On a serious note, the Americans Glee Club, Electronics Club, Mathletes, Football Clubs and various other after school (and during school hours) clubs do seem like a damn good idea. The summer, christmas and end of year parties and stuff seem solid as do year books. Maybe if schools were extended some of these ideas could be transposed over here. The sorority house idea failed shockingly but maybe the best bits could work.

With all the Brexit stuff and UK based xenophobia, this article (openly admits) xenophobia and DAMNED!!!  Kinda funny tho, go on and check it out about the UK’s Failed Sorority. On a side not the TV Show Greek made the yankee greek system look amazing . 

Change Is In The Air for Learner Drivers

L Plate

L Plate

I posted a while ago about the practical driving test getting an update the first major update to the practical test in 20 years. It were thought these changes would be here by now, but the official date is scheduled for 4th December 2017. I still maintain some of these changes are pointless, adding a “manoeuvre into a parking bay” is crazy, they already have the “Bay Park Manoeuvre”, is it that much harder to drive in forward ?

The Sat Nav update is good, many people spend far too long looking at the Sat Nav, this may teach people (myself included) to use it effectively within a routine. You have time to check your interior mirrors, right mirror, speedo, left mirror and look a head while driving safely, adding another glance at the Sat Nav in your routine shouldn’t be too hard.

Just to emphasis it, I was at the side of a police car and the driver were rolling down a hill with traffic and didn’t look up once. He was busy looking at the Sat Nav or police computer or radio, if highly trained drivers can be distracted, this can only be a good thing.

Motorway Update

Motorway Speed Light Lines

Motorway Speed Light Lines

I was kind of hoping by the time the rules came to fruition that the motorway lessons would be mandatory. On another forum, someone said “They may not be ready to drive on the motorway.”, I commented “They shouldn’t be allowed to pass their test then.”, and I was banned from the forum. Surely this day and age motorway lessons are essential, the whole game of driving changes when your at speed. 

I would like some training attached to first driving offences for new drivers, rather than losing your license you should be given more training. I know you get 1 shot at this per 3 years as a regular driver, I think a second one should be offered if a different minor offence within the first 2 years. 

Independent Driving Increase

The independent driving driving section has been increased. Its not clear if the Sat Nav element is due to be included here. Independent driving currently consists of you following road signs. The Examiner will say follow road signs to X place, now follow to Y place, and so on. 10 minutes can vanish in no time at all if you hit traffic. 

It would make sense to include the Sat Nav section here, I always thought it would be good to include a map reading section, but this is less and less important now. Its also been said that it 1 in 5 won’t be asked to do the Sat Nav driving, so for those the 20 minute independent drive will feel like a life time. 

Its also been clarified that if you make a mistake, it won’t matter as long as you don’t commit a fault. 

Show Me, Tell Me Changes

This update maybe good at well. Currently they ask you a few questions before you start driving. Tell Me, where they ask you how you would do something. In my case it was, Tell me how you would check the break is working, I think. Due to the weather being pants, I was asked to show them how I would use the screen washer and wipers. Self preservation played its hand there I think. 

Now they will ask you the Show Me question while you are mobile, so it would be “Show me how you use the demister” or “Show me how you put the hazard lights on”. This maybe good, the number of times when I first passed that I would be looking for a control and take my eyes of the road and end up drifting. Hopefully having to learn this during lessons will teach you to drift less. Now I can do it mostly without drifting and I’m getting better, so practice while learning would be good. 

Edit: Mickey Stafford posted a comment with a link for the Official Show Me Tell Me Questions, 

Manoeuvres Updated

I don’t really agree with this update, but reverse around a corner is no longer done, neither is 3-point-turn or turn-in-the-road as they call it now.  Instead they are going to ask you to do one of 3 new manoeuvres. 

  • Parallel Park.
  • Park in a Bay. Either drive in and out of a space. Either reverse in, Forward out, or Forward in, Reverse Out. 
  • Pull up on the right side of the road, reverse 2 car lengths backwards, then rejoin traffic. 

I can see the last item causing major issues both for the learner and for the other vehicles. 

Sat Nav image by Pixabay, Motorway image by Tookapic.

Buying Drop Lists

Previously, I talked about Zone File Access, DAC Connections, then started a Quadrology of Articles; Part 1: What You Need To Build A Drop List, Part 2: Building A Drop List, Part 3: Maintaining A Drop List and Part 4: Accessing Drop Lists. 

Now I am going to cover the easiest, cheapest and least painful (on the pocket) method of obtaining drop lists.  I’m not going to discus if the lists are cherry picked or filtered or anything else, since its futile. All I’m going to say is, depending on how the list were built covers how complete it is, which accounts for missing names. I’ll cover how older lists were made briefly later on. 

Generally beyond a week will cost anywhere from £10-50 per month depending on the metrics (data points provided) and how far into the future the lists go. £10-15 per month will get 7-30 days, £15-25 will get you 30-60 days, £40+ per month will get you 60+ days. I’m not aware of anyone who is offering unrestricted access to complete zone files, most people who have this have built their own.

I am aware of 1 or 2 people who offer a PRSS style look up, where you give them a keyword and they return X many records which match. Prices are usually £2-3 per query, using my guide you could build your own system even without Dac Access. 

Free Drop Lists

Domain Lore Droplist

Domain Lore Droplist

This is by far the easiest option, but also the most limiting option. It really depends what you require from the drop lists.

The main limitation with free drop lists is the date range, I believe the longest publicly accessible range is 10 days, but I haven’t seen it with my own eyes. Most I have seen are 7 days, some are 7  Days + Today. Domain Lore and Caught are the first 2 in this group which comes to mind.

Domain Lore use the old PRSS Generated Zone file from 2006-ish, which were around 2 million names out of a current 11 million. The upside is, it contains the early names which are arguably the better names. It’s also shorter at around 700 per day.

It doesn’t include .UK at all, extremely limited .org.uk and .me.uk, the former will become more critical as we draw closer to 2019.  Domain Lore includes some metrics, and has some sort functions. 

Caught, I’m not sure where their data comes from, but likely built up over the years. Again I’ll cover the method I suspect here in the building part later on. Neither of the above have paid options or offer a complete drop lists at last I checked.

Domain View Quick Drops

Domain View Quick Drops

DomainView, which currently uses the Nominet zone file, and previously used the .com zonefile and word lists. They offer pretty complete metrics. Rob the developer is always open to suggestions for new metrics to add. They even go as far as showing you what has been booked with their public catching service within the scope of your membership. 

They offer 2 days (Today/Tomorrow) of drop lists, but no metrics at all for free. The lists are often in excess of 4000-5000 names, and include .uk, co.uk, org.uk, me.uk and net.uk, I haven’t noticed any plc/ltd/sch.uk domains. The list is updated with hourly sweeps to remove dropped domains so it shortens through the day. More than 2 days are available for a price, but thats the next section.

ExpiredDomains.net offers some basic metrics and but its limited. 

Paid Drop Lists

There are various paid services, the main 2 I’m aware of DomainView and Dropped.UK, I’m sure there are more than that, but that’s all I’m aware of. There were a few others such as DCE but they closed down.

Domain View Subs

Domain View Subs

DomainView (60 days, Zonefiles, Parking, Backorder Credits, Upto £15) offers a variety of subscription options beyond the 2 free days. These are 7, 14, 30 and 60 days ranging from £5-15 which include various other things. These extras include zonefile downloads (not .uk), backorder credits, parking system access and more.

The Current Metrics are… 

Main Domain Back Ordered, .UK BackOrdered, Domain Name, Length of Doamin, Register Year, Domain Keywords, Google Searches, Google Cost Per Click (CPC), Alexa Links, Alexa Rank, Google Page Rank, Registered in Other Extensions, Taken in .com, Taken in .net, Taken in .org, Taken in .us, Taken in .info, Taken in .biz, Taken in .mobi, Taken in .xxx, Majestic Backlinks, Majestic Referring Domains, Majestic .EDU Backlinks, Majestic Referring EDU Domains, Majestic .GOV Backlinks, Majestic GOV Referers, Majestic Trust Flow, Majestic Citation Flow, Moz Domain Authority, Moz Page Authority, Moz Backlinks, Moz Rank, Times in Archive.org, First Archive.org Date, IPS Tag, Scheduled Drop Date.

Some of the more interesting features is, they show you what domains have been booked by their backorder system and you can also catch under multiple names. 

Dropped.uk Paid Droplist

Dropped.uk Paid Droplist

Dropped (61 Days, Backorder Credits, upto £20), I’m not 100% sure what metrics Dropped.UK offer, beyond a few basics. They are a more expensive option than domain view.

I should really use the free trial to see what metrics they offer just for the sake of this post but really they should show what you get rather than harvesting contact data.

Dropped do have a few nice catches to their tag, but it seems they book certain names for themselves, which I’m not keen on. They are not the only catching company which does this, and this isn’t really within the remit of this article. 

I’m sure there are other droplist services but I think I have covered the main free lists and paid lists, and some good options there. 

If you know of any others do use the comments and I’ll update this post, same for any corrections or new information. 

Body Power 2017 – STICKY POST

I have only missed one body power show since it started, I haven’t always managed the full weekend but this year I have cleared my schedule, turned work down left right and centre, I will attend the ball. I mean expo, I meant expo, honestly. 

You can see previous entries on Body Power 2016, and Nocco at Body Power, and Mark Felix at Body Power, the list of stars in attendance is awe-inspiring. 

Continue reading →

Blind Spot with Weird Road Markings

I wasn’t sure if I should continue with the driving posts, since now I’ve passed I’m not a student now. I am however still learning and figure my insights and hard earnt lessons may help some other people. I’m not an expert so my interpretations may not be 100% accurate, so do take them as intended, as my insight. 

When I find something worth blogging on, I’ll post a little. On this occasion, my mother has mentioned this a few times but its not easy to picture it, or get what she meant. Since I passed my test, I drop her off for her dog walk at a trail near here. 

Blind Corner Road Markings

Blind Corner Road Markings

The above junction is a doozy, you must follow the RED arrows around the junction. Once you can see the line of sight in BLUE, thata where you stop, to make the turn. Its almost like a loose hairpin or half u-turn around. From the road while driving its hard to work out, you don’t have much time. 

If you come across this, you know the drill now. Drive to Arrow 3, STOP, look down the blue line of sight, then turn right, and follow it around. Nice and easy when you know, and will keep you massively safer once such bends. 

Krispy Kreme Worst Loyalty Program Ever

Krispy Kreme Offices

Krispy Kreme Offices

I have helped to set up 2 loyalty programs, and worked with a bunch of companies which run such programs. I have also worked on many affiliate programs which work along similar lines for their affiliates. I always advise that companies be generous with their loyalty programs, use them to in still good will. I learned this lesson from Sainsburys, which use their Nectar Points system for compensation, for reward and loyalty and use it very effectively.

With Sainsburys, If you make a complaint via Twitter, Email or Phone they almost instantly refund the equivalent points and apologise, so they buy your loyalty as you will want to spend your points and save more points, so you’re likely to continue as a customer.

Krispy Kreme Local

I recently had cause to order a wheelbarrow full of doughnuts, personally I’m a Sainsburys doughnut fan but they generally don’t last long even if picked up fresh, by late the following day they are already heading to stale.

I passed the Krispy Kreme store and heard about them recently being used for weddings and leaving parties etc, so I called in the store and the young woman who worked there were very helpful. She explained they were hand-made in a factory each day not in that particular store (didn’t know that), that they generally last 3 days before starting to turn but some people say they get 5 days. She explained the online ordering process, and about which flavours were most popular (Nutella)… long story short she answered all my questions and I were sold and decided I’d shell out the £1 per doughnut vs 6-10 doughnuts for a quid elsewhere.

Loyalty Program

I discovered that Krispy Kreme operate a Loyalty Program and app called “Friends of Krispy Kreme” aka FOKK, which tells you about each flavour, about the special edition doughnuts, and lets you register your purchases. It also has a dozen “Friends of Krispy Kreme Rewards” or FOKKR, some of the more interesting ones are below, but there are more.

  1. Free Glazed Doughnut upon Joining.
  2. 3rd Visit within a month = Free Doughnut or Hot Drink.
  3. Every 6 Dozen Doughnuts bought, you get 1 Dozen Glazed Free.
  4. Free Collectible Mug on 9th Visit.

Since I had been in the store a week before, and were decided I signed up for FOKKR / Online Purchases and I ordered 4 x Dozen Doughnuts (48 in all) using Click and Collect as I were advised it were the best way to ensure I got the doughnuts I wanted on the day I wanted them as they often sell out for the day.

I thought awesome well on my way to a free dozen doughnuts and a free collectible mug.

Worst Loyalty Scheme EVER

I emailed and tweeted Krispy Kreme asking how I register my online purchase for my Loyalty Rewards and I were told “Sorry this isn’t available, its only for in-store purchases”. This is bizarre, an App which is an online service, isn’t available for online purchases ?

Surely they need to go back to using a paper card and a stamp, if its only for in-store use.

So a company established in 1937, nearly 80 yrs ago with over 1,000 locations across 30 countries with a turn over of a HALF A BILLION DOLLARS, can’t even connect their app to their website, 2 things which in a modern online business world should be absolute basics.

The Small Print

I guess it could be a new app; I don’t know, but in this instance you would expect them to have the facility to manually add your rewards to your account. I went through the app and found a link to Terms and Conditions and hidden in there is a line which says

“The Friends of Krispy Kreme Reward (FOKKR’s) program is open to customers across Krispy Kreme UK retail stores and our sales partners.”

I guess it does imply that only retail purchases count, but the same “small print” also refers to “Reward Card” as a physical card and doesn’t explicitly refer to the app. It even tells you directly above, if you lose your card email them, so certainly not about the App. The T&C have been recycled and not “Search and Replaced” very well at all. I’d say it were reasonable to assume the print were out of date or didn’t apply to the app.

Even as a good will gesture since no where online, in-store or even in the app did it tell me online purchases wouldn’t count. Instead I’m told, sorry we can’t do that.

If ever you needed a lesson on NOT to run a loyalty program, or how to lose a customer, this right here is it it.

Just as a side note I could have gone to Greggs, Sainsburys, Tesco or even a local bakery, and for what it cost me I could have gotten 250+ doughnuts from the main supermarkets (and collected Loyalty Points), 180+ mixed doughnuts (topped, creams, jams, custards, nutella, peanutbutter, glazed, anything I wanted) from my local baker. Instead I got 48 from Krispy Kreme and shown the worst Loyalty Program ever.

How To Do It Properly

I have worked with many companies with Loyalty Programs, I’ve helped 2 start up a program, helped with who knows how many affiliate programs. I have always told clients be GENEROUS with your loyalty programs, put extra points on there, use it for compensation and rewards, add good will into it. While you maybe giving away pennies on the pound, people will be invested in to the program, and keep them coming back to build on it. That’s why its called Loyalty Program.

I were already planning to pick up a dozen doughnuts for one my clients who always brings cupcakes, I were then thinking 1 more order and I get a free dozen. That would be 4 purchases off me, a new customer. I’d then be thinking I’m half way to a free mug, so there you go I would be already invested by this point and I’m more likely to complete the remaining 5 purchases.

Now, I won’t buy there on principle, back to Sainsburys doughnuts for me. 

Krispy Kreme Customer Desk by Jrayalme.

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