A Fond Farewell to Geocities

Today, Geocities (the first free web page company) shuts its’ doors for the final time.
It got me thinking… back on 28th November 1996 (yes, 13 years ago when I was 11!) I started using email (Rocketmail by Four11, later to become Yahoo! Mail), and shortly after on 5th November 1997 I made my first website. With a crummy name (“The Place”), and plenty of neon backgrounds and animated GIFs, it sat proudly at http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Glade/7337 (not there anymore I’m afraid) and handed out a cake recipe stolen from some book, and some ramblings about what I’d done that day. Friends’ names were abbreviated to initials, and I went simply as “BB” – parents were too scared of this “internet” thing to let me have my name online!
But hey, memories.
Goodbye Geocities. It was fun.

The Most Pointless Phone Bill in History

At least they’re keeping Royal Mail in business.

The Halifax Reward Account Free Money Trick

Before I start, the following guide assumes a few things – so if any don’t apply to you, sorry, but you’ll have to stop here.

• You are NOT currently a Halifax customer
• You are NOT currently a Bank Of Scotland customer
• On payday, you’ve got at least £1000 available to you (positive balance or overdraft)
• You want to be £180 richer each year

Right, that’s the formalities out of the way. Let’s go.

This all centres around the Halifax’s new current account – the “Reward Account”. (Note: not to be confused with the “Ultimate Reward Account”, which is completely different and useless for this).
The Halifax Reward Account doesn’t pay interest on your money. Instead, it pays you £5 per month “as a thank you”, so long as you pay £1000 into the account in the preceding calendar month.
You’re allowed to have three Reward Accounts.
The key to this is that it doesn’t matter how long that £1000 is there for, or even if you use the bank account at all.
Instead of explain how it works, here’s a step by step guide to what you need to do. Read on, and all will become apparent.

1. Pop into your local Halifax branch, and open a Reward Account (there’s no fees for this).
2. When opening the account, refuse the staff members’ pitch for an “Ultimate Reward Account” – it costs £12.50 per month which is just stupid, and kinda defeats the object.
3. You’ll get all the info (sort code, account number etc) either in branch, or by post in a few days.
4. Once you’ve got the sort code and account number, send a payment of £102 from your usual bank account to your new Halifax one (either in branch, or using your normal bank’s internet or phone banking service).
5. This £102 credit will “activate” your new Halifax account, causing your debit card and PIN to be sent out.
6. Now, go to www.halifax.co.uk and register for their online banking.
7. Log in, and you’ll see a link to open more products. Open two more Reward Accounts. If it asks you why, just say it’s to help you manage your money in seperate pots, or something like that. It’s a lot easier to open the second two online, because computers don’t ask questions, but staff in branches do ;-)
8. Sometimes, both your new accounts will be approved. For some reason, some people only get to open one more account (so two in total). That’s fine, but it means you’ll make £120 a year, instead of £180. Just modify the instructions below accordingly.
9. Wait a few days for the new “Current Accounts” to rename themselves in your online banking as “Reward Accounts”.
10. Transfer £101 (leaving £1) from your first Reward Account to the second one, thus activating it.
11. Transfer £100 (leaving another £1) from your second Reward Account to the third one, activating it too.
12. Make a payment of £99 from the third account, back to your normal bank, using your normal sort code and account number.
13. You now have £1 in account 1, £1 in account 2, and £1 in account 3, and all accounts are now activated. You’ll recieve the cards and PINs for the second and third accounts in the post shortly, not that you need them for anything.
14. Go to your real bank’s online banking service, or call their phone banking service. On payday, make a transfer of £1000 from your real account to your first Halifax one. Assuming you’ve done this within office hours, the money should be in your Halifax account in minutes.
15. Your first Halifax account should have a balance of £1001. Transfer £1000 of that to the second account.
16. Now, transfer that £1000 from the second account to the third one.
17. Now, transfer that £1000 from the third account back to your real bank.
18. You’ve now got three Halifax accounts with £1 in each, and your £1000 is back in your normal bank account, ready for the month ahead.
19. By the 10th of next month, Halifax will put £5 in each of your 3 accounts, because you met the criteria of “funding” them with £1000, which qualified you for the £5 “Reward”.
20. Repeat steps 14-19 every payday, and enjoy your £15!

So go forth, and give yourself your own little bank bail-out!

Free Loaf of White Bread

OK, I’m not normally one to pimp out various companies, but here’s one you can’t say no to.
Go to the Hovis website, and you can print out a coupon for a free (yes, free) loaf of Hovis Soft White bread from your local supermarket – worth £1.24…
Free food – what’s there not to like?
Enjoy!

New Music Wednesday

It’s Wednesday, and that must mean it’s time to fill up my car stereo with some more music. So, if you get in my car this week, here’s what you can expect to be going into your ears…

• The Saturdays – Forever Is Over
• Jordin Sparks – SOS
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll
• La Roux – I’m Not Your Toy
• Sugababes – Get Sexy
• Pixie Lott – Boys And Girls
• Mini Viva – Left My Heart In Tokyo
• Livvi Franc – Now I’m That Bitch
• Esmee Denters – Outta Here
• Hockey – Song Away
• Dolly Rockers – Gold Digger
• Veronicas – 4ever
• Booty Luv – Say It
• Ian Carey Project – Get Shaky
• Deadmau5 – Ghosts n Stuff
• Tinchy Stryder – You’re Not Alone
• Paloma Faith – New York
• Lady Gaga – Paparazzi
• Little Boots – Remedy
• Agnes – Release Me
• MPHO – Box n Locks
• Paramore – Crushcrushcrush
• Pink – Funhouse

Operation Blag Free Stuff Continues

More replies coming in, first from Jack Daniels. I sent this letter:

And got this lot back…

A keyring, leather passport holder, leather card wallet, leather luggage tags, steel turkey baster, and some bottle-shaped icecube bags!
Also got this letter from Durex (I kinda mentioned the upcoming wedding thing a little in my letter)…

along with all this fun stuff:

So the current haul sits at:
£1 McVities coupon, Mitsubishi keyring, Jack Daniels keyring/passport holder/wallet/luggage tag/baster/icecube bags, 2 bottles of Durex lube, 6 condoms, 1 vibrating cock ring, and some massage oil.
Bring on tomorrow’s post!