Skip navigation 
Previous Page
16
SERVICES AND ELECTRIC IRELAND
August/September 2012 www.esb.ie/em
BSC Recognition Award for Tony Cummins
ESBStore.ie product review
Motor Monkey Review
by Ann Marie Ennis
THIS HANDY mini-charger does exactly what it says on the box and more!
It charges in style without draining your car battery or assaulting the eye, as it’s super cute and it can be connected to a PC or laptop. However, this product can be set aside from the rest for more than its smart but dinky miniaturised appearance.
The Motor Monkey was extremely easy to use, despite me being too impatient to read the instructions (no boyfriends necessary for set up!). It’s great in the car when you’ve run out of charge as you can plug it into the cigarette lighter. It even turned off when my phone and I-Pod were charged, which is super handy and saves helping in averting a potential fire. This genius little device even managed to fit my mom’s Motorola phone.
I can honestly say that the only fault I found was with the packaging, which took me longer to open than it took to set the charger up…go figure! The price of this handy little device is in fitting with its name, the cost is just a ‘mini’ €25.99.
So overall I am the happy new owner of a Motor Monkey. Hands off…. It’s mine!
Connected World: Safe Social Networking
Are you revealing more online than you should?
What is Social Networking?
People use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to keep in touch with friends and family, make new friends or business contacts, or share opinions. These sites allow you to share personal information, opinions and videos or photos. It is important to remember, however, that any information you post on a site could be public and may be seen by lots of people.
How to stay safe on Social Networking sites?
Most sites allow you to control how public or private your information is – these controls are usually called privacy settings. While some sites set privacy settings automatically at their most private level, on others all your information could be available to anyone unless you change the privacy setting. If you don’t understand what a particular privacy setting means in practice, don’t post any information until you have found out.
Here are a few things you should consider before posting information or images on social networking sites:
• Find out how the privacy settings offered can limit access to your personal information. Adjust your privacy settings so that information about your family and children is shared only with those you know well.
• Don’t include too much personal information that could make you vulnerable to identity fraud. Identity fraud occurs to an individual when a person’s personal information is used by someone else without their knowledge to obtain credit, goods or other services fraudulently. Be wary of publishing any identifying information about yourself. In particular things like: phone numbers, pictures of your home, workplace or school, your address, birthday or full name.
• Think carefully before posting information – would you want your employer or potential employer to see those compromising pictures?
• Review your information regularly – what may have seemed like a good idea at the time may not seem such a good idea some months or years later.
• Get peoples’ consent before you upload their pictures or personal information.
• When creating your account on a social networking site try and use a strong passphrase instead of a password for logging in. A passphrase is similar to a password in usage, but is generally longer for added security. For example a passphrase of “myfavouritemonthisjuly” is much more secure than a “complex” password like “July2o!2”. Also passphrases are generally easier to remember.
• Never use the same usernames or passphrases/passwords on multiple social networking sites or online email accounts as this just makes it easier for a malicious hacker to gain access to all your online accounts in one go.
• Keep your system updated. Ensure that any computer you use to connect to a social networking site has proper security measures in place, including anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and a firewall. Make sure you keep them up-to-date. Keep your operating system updated and patched. Set the configuration to “auto update” so patches can be applied automatically without intervention.
If you would like more information or have any questions regarding safe computing both at home and work you can contact IT Security at ext 26699. Also visit http://www.internetsafety.ie which has lots of useful information. You can read the recently published “ESB Group Policy on Staff Engagement with Social Media” at: http://esbnet/publish/ppp/policies/information_systems/GP-SM01-ESB_Group_Policy_on_Staff_Engagement_with_Social_Media.pdf
Translink goes green with £1.78 million energy contract
TRANSLINK RECENTLY signed a £1.78 million contract with energy supplier Electric Ireland that will mean the public transport provider continues to purchase all of its metered electricity from 100% renewable sources.
Under the 12-month deal, Translink, which was recently ranked as the highest scoring organisation in Northern Ireland for carbon reduction, will continue to achieve its significant energy sustainability objectives.
Speaking about the new energy contract, Translink Energy Engineer Philip Reid said, “Translink is not only committed to getting more passengers to travel by bus and train as a sustainable travel option but also to reducing our own carbon footprint and operating efficiently. This new contract marks another significant step forward in our environmental strategy, and demonstrates our commitment to building a cleaner and more sustainable environment for everyone.”
Electric Ireland Online Store
FOR THE MONTH of June, selections of products from the Online Store were on display throughout the country in ESB locations as part of Electric Ireland Sustainability Roadshow. The store is one part of Energy Services and it was a great opportunity for us to showcase all we have to offer regarding energy efficiency; including Home Services, who offer a large range of installation services, boiler maintenance, attic insulation, external and internal wall insulation, to name but a few.
There was much interest in the products from the store that we featured in the Roadshow. The Airless Automatic De-Aerator for Radiators prompted a lot of enquires as air locks are a problem that everyone has experienced at some time. The de-aerator valve will automatically and continuously vent modern radiators (1/2” air vent). This means you’ll never have to manually vent or bleed a radiator again, thereby ensuring increased heating system efficiency. These are available as a two-pack or five-pack.
Devotec Bluetooth Stereo Speaker also received a lot of interest and not just because of the volume at which it was being played at!! This is a high quality portable speaker system that plays music via Bluetooth and can be charged by the sun or by plugging it into an AC mains socket. Ideal for travel, this solar powered speaker is light and portable while still being able to produce a deep clear sound. With integrated Bluetooth, it can be connected wirelessly to most of the latest phones, including iPhone. The Solar Sound 2 speaker has an integrated solar panel for charging in sunny areas, ideal for festivals or camping and a 3.5mm connector for use with music sources that do not have Bluetooth.
And as Festival time is upon us again with Electric Picnic just around the corner, it is time to think about how you are going to charge your mobile devices outdoors. Well we have the answer in one of our popular products - the Power-traveller Powermonkey – eXplorer Solar Charger for Mobile Phones and iPods. The Powermonkey-eXplorer is a mobile solar powered battery charger. It is made up of two parts – a battery pack called the ‘Powermonkey’ and a solar panel called the ‘solarmonkey. Whether in the back seat of a car, on a bedroom window, in a campsite at festivals or on holidays this handy device can recharge mobile phones and other digital devices on the go/without mains. The ‘Powermonkey’ battery pack can also be charged directly by plugging it into the AC mains socket.
So check out our large range of energy efficient products by logging on to www.electricirelandstore.ie and look out for upcoming special offers.
