Daily Archives: Tuesday, December 18, 2012

  • Recommended browser plug-in: TinEye

    Steve WoodsOpen Source, Tech

    Have you ever come across an image online and wonder if you’ve ever seen it before?

    TinEye reverse image search engine logoIf so, the browser plug-in I’m recommending today is for you: the TinEye reverse image search plug-in, which is available for the Firefox, Chrome/Chromium, Safari, Opera & Internet Explorer web browsers. The links in the previous sentence will take you through to the relevant download page for your browser(s) of choice.

    TinEye is a reverse image search engine. It finds out where an image came from, how it is being used, if modified versions of the image exist or if there is a higher resolution version.

    If you’re a photographer or a photo blogger, this plug-in can be invaluable for finding out if your work is being used without your permission, particularly as some media organisations seem to regard any image posted online as fair game and thus free of both copyright and royalties.

  • Bristol bus petition

    Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

    Upon moving to Bristol from Wolverhampton many decades ago, the most striking immediate difference I can recall was that Bristol’s bus fares were double those of Wolverhampton and the service provided by the Bristol Omnibus Company was far more unreliable than that of the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE).

    Much has changed since those days: the Bristol Omnibus Company is now part of FirstGroup, whilst the WMPTE has been rebranded as Centro.

    What hasn’t changed over the decades is the exorbitant level of bus fares charged in Bristol and the unreliability of the bus service.

    image of a WorstBus vehicle
    Worst Bus: eye-watering fares, unreliable service.

    A Bristolian called Daniel Farr has now decided to challenge the high price and unreliable service provided by First Bus in Bristol by setting up a petition on the government’s e-petition site.

    The wording of the petition, with which I couldn’t disagree at all, reads as follows:

    The prices of First groups [sic] bus tickets in Bristol and the quality of their service do not match up. Their fares are the most expensive outside of London, but yet their buses are unreliable and often late. Local government does nothing to improve the service or lower the prices so we call on the government to force First to reduce their charges.

    Sign the petition.

    Finally, frustrated bus users in the city have also set up their own website – http://www.bristolbususers.co.uk/ – to campaign for better and cheaper bus services in the Bristol area.