Consumer magazine Which? has today published the results of their latest Q1 2015 reader survey of broadband ISP satisfaction, which found that customers of John Lewiss broadband division and Zen Internet were the most satisfied with their service. Meanwhile all of the biggest ISPs could be found languishing at the bottom.

The consumer survey itself was conducted between December 2014 and January 2015 with only 1,757 of the magazines readers, so take the results with a pinch of salt because we dont get to see precisely how much feedback each ISP received. Otherwise respondents were quizzed about various aspects of service, such as speed, support, reliability and value for money etc.

Overall only four ISPs received a satisfaction score of greater than 70%, which saw John Lewis come top (76%) and they were followed by the familiar faces of Zen Internet (75%), Utility Warehouse (73%) and PlusNet (72%). Which? notes that these are all smaller providers and indeed all of the big boys could be found languishing in the lower half of the table, with BT at the lowest (45%).

Its good to see the popular high street brand John Lewis doing well here, especially as theyve only been in the market for 3 years. But its worth noting that John Lewis is supported by PlusNets platform and funnily enough PlusNet are actually owned by BT, although they remain a semi-independent business and clearly have a much better handle on issues of customer support and service than their parent.

As for the big ISPs, its perhaps no surprise to see BT, TalkTalk and EE languishing lower down, although Ofcoms similar surveys of consumer complaints (here) and broadband satisfaction (here) tend to give considerably more praise to Sky Broadband and Virgin Media than the Which? survey does.

Otherwise Which? once again took the opportunity to continue their campaign for a Broadband Speed Guarantee, which seeks to nudge the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) into tightening the rules to ensure that advertised broadband speeds more closely match the real experience of most customers.

Which?s Demands for a Broadband Speed Guarantee

Advertising speed claims, like superfast, to be quantified by providers. Customers to be given written speed estimates at the start of the contract, with an accurate estimate for their individual address. People to be allowed to exit contracts without penalty if they dont get the minimum speed estimated at any point in their contract.

Its perhaps worth pointing out that everybody appears to struggle with the question of defining superfast (here), not just ISPs. Meanwhile pretty much every fixed line ISP will already give subscribers an estimated speed range when they first sign-up (Ofcoms Voluntary Code of Practice on Broadband Speeds), although requiring an accurate estimate isnt really possible with the current infrastructure and other pitfalls.

Internet connectivity performance can fluctuate for all sorts of reasons, such as poor home wiring, local network congestion, traffic management, crosstalk on FTTC lines or slow wifi etc. Many of those issues are beyond the ISPs ability to control and some would be simply impossible to account for in an estimate.

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John Lewis and Zen Internet Come Top for UK ISP Broadband Satisfaction

La Habra, CA (PRWEB) March 16, 2015

Back in 2008, FreedomHouse Church began with seven people on a mission to bring hope and change their world one life at a time with an inspiring Christian message built on principles of excellence, honor and commitment. Six years later, with a dynamic young pastor whose vision was to create a church people want to come to, FreedomHouses congregation has grown to just under 1,000 mostly under 30 years old and reflecting nearly every ethnicity and background. At the center of FreedomHouse's media production toolkit is a new Zen Studio multi-channel interface, from Antelope Audio.

FreedomHouse Church, which recently acquired its own dedicated sanctuary space, has been 'mobile' for six years renting high school auditoriums, movie theaters and commercial buildings each Wednesday and Sunday. The church's production team consists of over 25 volunteers, part of 175 total volunteers who serve throughout its different ministries.

The church's use of technology helps create an atmosphere conducive to worship: "I have always felt that if you want to do something, you should do it well," says Omar Reyna, Music Director, FreedomHouse Church. "This meant being intentional and inventive about when and how we use the technology. Since we acquired it a couple months ago, the Antelope Zen Studio has become an integral component in our pursuit of excellence in many different areas."

One tool and a clear message When Omar Reyna acquired Antelope's Zen Studio to bolster FreedomHouse's media capabilities, he didn't immediately recognize all the potential uses and applications unit would have. Measuring just 16.8" wide x 1.8"high x 5.8" deep, the Zen is the ultimate portable device, enabling Reyna to 'set up and go' with his MacBook Pro.

With 20 analog inputs, 12 microphone preamps, onboard DSP and an onboard monitor controller among many other features, the Zen Studio presents a vast array of features and professional audio quality for just about any sized church. "One of the first things that caught my attention on the Zen Studio was just how many features are packed into this little unit and just how portable it is," he says. "This was a big factor in my purchasing decision."

Turning Inspiration Into Reality On acquiring the Zen Studio, one of the first things Reyna did to begin using it to capture audio for the FreedomHouse Podcast, which has already produced no less than 50 episodes since launching in October of last year. "This is the most simple scenario we use the Zen for and it has proven to be a solid and reliable setup," he explains. "Our podcasts are rated highly among the Christian podcasts on iTunes and have devotional content, as well as sermons and general guest Q&As." In this application, the Zens portability shines, enabling the media team to interview guests in any location, or capture sermons 'on the fly' in the sanctuary using a pair of MXL 990 large condenser microphones plugged into the front of the Zen interface, and Logic X recording software, running on an Apple MacBook Pro.

After he became more acclimated to the quality and feature set of Zen Studio, Reyna began to use it for recordings of FreedomHouse's band, which performs at the church each Sunday. Weve begun to write our own songs, he says. We play very dynamic music that embraces our diverse church culture: from high energy EDM style songs, to epic rock ballads, to old hymnals with a modern sound." So far, Reyna and his band have been pleased with the sound quality: "For everything we've done, the sound quality of the Zen has been fantastic. I would describe the sound as very transparent, and natural. The preamps, by the way, are phenomenal." The church band is recording a new CD with the Zen, and has already completed four songs.

Aside from podcasts and recording, FreedomHouse Church also uses the Zen Studio for playback of tracks during worship services. "After we're done tracking vocal parts and any additional instrumentation in rehearsal, we will use between four and six tracks as part of our stems for our click tracks," says Reyna. "The tracks enhance the overall sonic quality of the music with the playback on the Zen, everything sounds bigger, wider, and the image is very crisp."The church's live performers include a drummer, bass guitarist, two guitarists, acoustic guitar and four vocalists. These are then combined with the backing tracks.

For FreedomHouse Church and Omar Reyna, the Zen Studio has not only brought about a dimension of audio quality, but has also challenged how the production team thinks about creating new content. "Our congregation is growing, and we are not afraid to go out and try new things. The Zen has really motivated us and helped us bring some of these ideas to reality.

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FreedomHouse Church Brings Dynamic, High Quality Programming to Diverse Millennial Congregation with New Antelope ...

PLENTY of us are looking to be more active to help our health but sometimes we don't know the means are right in front of us.

The Get Out Get Active program is all about giving women in Somerset a chance to discover some of the activities on offer in their area.

The program includes free come and try sessions for many of the activities and is a great way to find out what activities you enjoy.

Classes are free and are being offered as women only sessions during March, April and May.

Activities on offer include zumba, boot camp, martial arts, aqua aerobics, yoga, fitness classes and walking groups.

Aqua aerobics will be the first activity running during March at locations throughout the region - on Tuesday, March 24 from 2pm-2.45pm at the Kilcoy Aquatic Centre, on Thursday, March 26 from 6.30pm-7.30pm at the Lowood Swimming Pool, on Saturday, March 28 from 9.30am-10.30am at the Esk Swimming Pool and on Monday, March 30 from 2pm-3pm at the Toogoolawah Swimming Pool.

Somerset Regional Council Mayor Graeme Lehmann said it was a great list of activities.

"I encourage female residents of the region to come and try these free sessions with local businesses," he said

Having received funding from the Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sports and Racing to deliver sessions to women, the council is hoping to improve participate rates of females in sport and recreation.

For more information, phone the council on 5424 4000.

Excerpt from:
Get out and be active in Somerset

'If science is questioning, religion is also equally questioning. That is what Hinduism is'

'In Sanatana Dharma, there is only questioning'

'But today, if you question a religion, you are called communalist'

28-year-old Dusyant Sridhar, an engineer by day and a Upanyasakar by night, speaks to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com.

Photographs: Sriram Selvaraj/Rediff.com

Meet Dusyant Sridhar, 28, a Jekyl and Hyde character. During the day, he is a techie in jeans and T-shirt working for Tata Consultancy Services.

After office hours, he is an Upanyasakar in white veshti and angavastram with a naamam on his forehead, discoursing on ancient scriptures.

There is no conflict in these two roles for him, and he switches from one to another quite effortlessly.

His journey as an Upanyasakar started with a discourse in Tamil on Seetha Kalyanam when he was a young engineering student at BITS, Pilani, in 2004.

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'Hinduism should not lose its USP, and that is tolerance'

"Your mind is software. Program it. Your body is a shell. Change it. Death is a disease. Cure it. Extinction is approaching. Fight it." Transhumans, sometimes called Posthumans, are people who have exceeded the normal mental and physical abilities. The "how" that happened can be anything from magic to science, the only thing that's common among all of them is that they are better than was possible before. A positive portrayal of transhumanism generally places a work on the Enlightenment side of the Romanticism Versus Enlightenment spectrum while a negative portrayal or conspicuous absence of it does the opposite. In fact, most popular media deals with transhumanism and anything relating to it as being 'dehumanizing' or even comparable to Eugenics with little chance for anything different. Thus, it has become a cliche that transhumanists are Sci Fi Nazis or Evilutionary Biologists with a God complex, even though it has an equal potential to be used for good. Generally, anarcho-Cyber Punk writers focus on the evils of Transhumanism. So do religious Moral Guardians, when ironically, many religions espouse a Transhumanist plane of existence free from the sinfulness of flesh. On the other hand, transhumanists and utilitarians themselves focus on the benefits. The main reason why Transhumanism's opponents tend to be very uncomfortable about it, however, is because of the implied radical alteration of what it means to be human. It is therefore assumed by said opponents that, while the idea does have potential for positive outcomes, if there was to be a negative outcome, then it probably would not be reversible. Even though this trope is called Transhuman, it's not actually limited to humans. Other species or entities that are enhanced count as well. The word 'transhuman' is actually found in legitimate scientific and political debates far more often than in fiction, although this has began to change in recent years courtesy of authors such as Charles Stross, Alastair Reynolds and Greg Egan. In spite of this, being transhuman encompasses many of other science fiction staples with their distinct tropes: Artificial Human: A man-made biological/organic human, often with purposefully modified genes. Artificial Limbs: A limited form of enhancement that's specific to the limbs. Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: The mystical or religious variant. Assimilation Plot: Transforming an entire species into a Hive Mind with an unified purpose. Badass Transplant: See Artificial Limbs above. Being Human Sucks/Humans Are Flawed: A major motivation. Beware the Superman: Where transhumanism has an overall negative net effect on the world. Bio-Augmentation: Biological enhancement, as compared to a Cyborg. Brain Uploading: The physical limitations of a body are outright removed. Cloning Blues: Are Clones People? Or just expendable? With LEGO Genetics, they may end up being more than we could ever imagine. Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Artificial limbs and organs make you less "human" in a way that has some sort of measurable or observable consequence. Used as a "balance" for being enhanced, usually seen in Cyberpunk RPGs. Cyborgs: Cybernetic enhancement. This is what most people think of when they think of transhumans. Designer Babies: Making a person better before they're even born. Emergency Transformation: If you become better than you were before. Better. Stronger. Faster. Evilutionary Biologist: A transhumanist who thinks that Utopia Justifies the Means and believes that what they do is the "natural" evolutionary path, rather than some controlled change. Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: Genetics = magic. Humans Are Psychic in the Future: The concept is self-explanatory, if not the science. Magic Enhancement: Magical transhumansim, when applied to people, at least. Nanomachines: One of the most common ways to become Transhuman is through them. Pro-Human Transhuman: Despite no longer being (fully) human, the character still identifies with humanity. Super Breeding Program: Using genetic trait inheritance to create better people. Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: Nearly always have advanced themselves to god-like power instead of starting out like that. Super Human Trafficking: Abuse of transhumans via slavery, organ trafficking, and other means. Super Serum: One of the ways to become one, but be wary of it's Psycho Serum cousin. Super Soldier: This one usually relies on the physical aspect of transhumanism for war. The Singularity: A hypothetical scenario where we become transhumans due to acceleration of progress. Transhuman Aliens: Where what appears to be a species of aliens turns out to actually be transhumans. Transhuman Treachery: For when this makes you go bad. Touched by Vorlons: Aliens or whatnot might be the cause. bermensch: Gratuitous German, meaning "Over-man" or "superman". Transhumans are likely to be transcendent not just on physical, but also on psychological and moral perspectives. Ultimate Life Form: The end-all and be-all of transhumanism (if they were purposely made). Uplifted Animal: A Trans-Animal, basically. We Can Rebuild Him: Forced to be enhanced due to injury, instead of personally seeking it out. Working for a Body Upgrade: Enhanced because they earned it as a job perk. For some of the abilities a Transhuman might have, see Stock Superpowers. See also No Transhumanism Allowed. This may be used as an aspect of a Cyberpunk or Post-Cyberpunk setting.

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'Cause it's gonna be the future soon, I won't always be this way/As the things that make me weak and strange get engineered away...

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Transhuman - TV Tropes

AUSTIN, TEXASYou've seen Her. You've heard about the upcoming Ex Machina movie. Now, meet Martine Rothblatt, a transgender, transhumanist who wants to help you live forever by creating your own personal mind clone. If that sounds like science fiction, it is a fiction the board of her company, United Therapeutics, is sold onlast year she was the highest paid female CEO in the nation, earning $38 million.

Siri is just the beginning, she told the crowd at this year's SXSW conference here in Austin.

"There will be continued advances in software that we see throughout our lives. Eventually, these advances in software will rise to the level of consciousness," Rothblatt said, predicting that at that point, there will be no reason why the human consciousness can't live on indefinitely.

The core idea of transhumanism is that technology will someday free us of our mortal coil. The first step is creating what she calls a mind file. A mind file is a digital record that encapsulates your thoughts, mannerisms, relationships, and morebasically, it's a digital record of your entire self. And if you have a Facebook profile, according to Rothblatt, your mind file is well underway.

"We are living in a world where all of your life is captured," she said. "There is work going on at Amazon, Google, and Apple that is Mindware. It is software designed to process and recreate all of these inputs to create a consciousness."

Once the Mindware has its inputs, it just needs a robot to host it, Rothblatt said. Trust her, she's already done it.

Rothblatt hired a team of roboticists to create a "mind clone" of her wife, Bina Aspen. The mind clone, named Bina48, is a head and torso, albeit one that looks eerily like the real Bina Aspen. Bina48 is remarkably sophisticated for a home-built mind clone: she carries on a conversation, she tweets, and she expresses novel ideas. Rothblatt says soon everyone will be able to have a mind clone like Bina48.

"If I can do this as one person with a robotics team, what happens when we have 100 million makers in the world?" Rothblatt challenged the crowd. "What happens when open-source mindware gets put up on the Web for anyone to download?"

Extending human life isn't just a software problem for Rothblatt; she is also at the forefront of organ transplant technology. One of her current projects involves breeding genetically modified pigs to reduce the rates of organ transplant rejection.

"When we started doing this, the longest a genetically-modified pig organ could survive was two hours, and now we are up to over eight days. It's mind-blowing," she said.

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Tranhumanist CEO Wants to Help You Live Forever