eric_donovan wrote on Nov 13^th, 2008 at 11:20pm:


Oh, what a wonderful cheap thrill you must have got from writing that superbly smug slap-down.

The picture of the supposed application in action has place names such as Cupertino in it. Yes, some of us are aware of a certain well-known company coming from that area.

In other words, it is not a sample from a working program by the person posting it, or if it is, it certainly has nothing to do with the declared purpose of looking up alternates for UK phone numbers.

And I'm quite aware of ways to reduce data use, thank you. I and others suggested one. You may think WAP prehistoric, but it works.

You've missed the point about image size; over 500k of images were put on a forum thread a fraction of that size, which might be inconsiderate while some people still read it via slower connections. Other image formats use less data; one inefficient choice may indicate an inclination not to optimise other details.  

Perhaps one of the software fiends with rather better developed interpersonal skills might explain a couple of things to us mere mortals.

I assume that the phrase page-scraping refers to downloading a web page, then software parsing through all the code to find the wanted details, the second part a process that the human eye and brain are actually much better adapted to. Intuitively, it seems it must still involve the cost of data of the whole page, unless some intermediate proxy server is used for data compression, so I don't see it having significant advantages over just using a web browser; the user still has to enter a number somewhere ...

On the other hand, if a query can be sent to the database and get only just the data required, much of the work is done on the server feeding the website. But the potential problems include that this could expose it to badly written queries that could introduce bugs and even crash the whole system, taking the website off the air.

So obviously careful vetting of applicants would be essential. What references can we see so far, that would create confidence in the quality of the software, and likelihood to respect licence conditions? A half-plagiarised cut-and paste image of what might be a directory enquiries application for halfway round the world, someone who's been rejected by Apple for failing to support terms and conditions of contracts they have with other parties, a series of veiled threats to connive at nicking the data anyway, either here or from other sources, loads of patronising insults, etc. No wonder DaveM could not keep the word chancer from springing to mind.

jrawle wrote on Nov 14^th, 2008 at 12:03am:


I suppose I was more thinking of the phones that are not setup to use WAP (operator settings are sometimes not installed by default, with PAYG you often have to ask the network to turn it on manually) You've obviously managed to sort it out, but it's enough to make most(?) people just give up. Anyway that would impact all mobile platforms not just WAP so you're right.

I'm not anti WAP - I think it would be a great step forward for this site if they got round to implementing it.

jrawle wrote on Nov 14^th, 2008 at 3:27pm:


I don't think many users would see these as mutually exclusive choices, or necessarily their most likely use

On a lot of recent phones, inserting a different SIM causes settings to be downloaded automatically, though some phones have this deactivated in customised software for the supplying network. And on others, some SIM cards bring up a screen asking if you want settings sent to you.

And the networks are promoting internet access on mobiles more and more, with either free or cheap add-ons.

I was also looking forward someone can develop a app on iphone ,
but actually, it is not necessary to do that, at least not necessary ask for the datebase from the owner of the site.

we can simply visit this site through safari, we save it as our favrioute website, when we find out the alternative number,simply click on the no. , iphone will call the no. that you want to call.

Hi there. Just to say I've nearly finished my iPhone app that uses all the data from the site.

Start the app, key in the number you want (ie, the 0870 number) it brings up an alternative. You tap it and the phone dials it. Simple.

It will be available shortly and will cost 59p.

Cheers,
Chris.