A Tale of Two Sleepers

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:50:05 +0000

Matthew Nelson was on the maiden voyage of a new coach sleeper service from Glasgow to London - here's what he thought of it:

I'm sure I'm not the only one who harbours romantic notions of sleeper trains and the idea of drifting off to a gentle lullaby of choochoos and humming engines. Think of spending a night on a bus and the mind tends to conjure up far less appealing images. We seem to associate these journeys with cramped seats, aching limbs and the kind of sleeping positions that would make a chiropractor weep. But that could all be about to change.

On Friday's show we are running a story on Scottish coach firm Megabus' new sleeper service between London and Glasgow -a venture that hopes to transfer all of the comforts of the rail carriage onto four wheels. Passengers are each allocated a seat on the bus as well as their own bunk where, alongside their bedding, they will find an overnight pack containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, a bottle of water, an eye mask and a luggage label.

Megabus have often been described as the Easyjet of the road, and it's easy to see why here - with fares ranging between £1 and £40 their overnight service is being sold as an affordable way to travel. Scotrail's Caledonian Sleeper train makes the same run, but to pick up their cheapest fare of £19 you will have to book well in advance. Easyjet also fly the Glasgow to London route and you can grab a ticket with them for as low as £21.99, but anyone choosing to go that way will also have to stump up for an additional rail or bus connection to get into the city centre. There is always the option of driving the distance yourself - but the petrol costs of covering the 400 odd miles will weigh in at around £60 in an average car.

So, with the chance of a £1 fare, the Megabus does seem like the most affordable way to make the journey. But does the old adage "you get what you pay for" ring true here? While covering this story I got the chance to find out for myself when I boarded the Megabus sleeper's maiden voyage from Glasgow to London.

When it pulled into the bus station, the first thing that I noticed about the sleeper bus was its sheer size. The company have converted articulated bendy buses to complete the run so they are, essentially, two standard coaches joined together. And they need all of the space they can get because each of the 24 passengers on-board is allocated both a seat and a bed. After I'd climbed aboard and gotten myself seated on this tarmac megalodon I was struck by just how excited my fellow passengers were to get to bed - they couldn't wait to ditch their seats and get stretched out in the bunks.

And as soon as we hit the motorway that's exactly what most people did. Getting into bed on a bus isn't as easy as it sounds though. Many of my fellow passengers found that, with the narrowness of the gangway and the bus' intermittent jerking from side to side, climbing into a middle or top bunk required the balance and dexterity of an Olympic gymnast.

Sadly, I'm not an Olympic gymnast. And as I was lumbered with a microphone and recording equipment I found it particularly difficult to turn in. It seemed that the only practical solution to the problem was to enter by lunging in headfirst before wriggling forward on my stomach with my legs, an afterthought, dangling out behind me. Once inside I was impressed though - I'm over 6 feet tall and I was still able to stretch out from head to toe. Still, there wasn't an excess of room. Should any passengers have brought a cat on board they definitely wouldn't have had room to swing it in here.

The next day, after pulling into London, we all filed off the bus and, much to the sleeper's credit, the scene didn't resemble a scene from a zombie movie too closely. While most of us admitted that it wasn't the best night of sleep we've ever had, it seemed like everyone did manage to get at least a few hours of slumber in. And, with tickets starting from as low as £1, a little sleep deprivation seems like a small price to pay.

Matthew Nelson is a freelance reporter for You & Yours

Avoiding Pitfalls of In-App Purchases

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:26:06 +0000

Family gaming expert Andy Robertson explains the issues around the new trend in videogames in-app purchases: free games that encourage you to pay as you go.

Many of us have become used to buying things online for our families. Whether this is the weekly shopping, electronics or birthday presents we know what to expect when purchasing from a website.

A newer innovation is purchasing games and software for our handheld games consoles and mobile phones directly on the device -- the iPhone, iPad, Android phones, 3DS or PSP for example. This lets you buy new games via a Wi-Fi Internet connection without even being connected to a computer.

The purchasing process on each device can be quite different. Firstly, whereas on the traditional gaming devices like the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP or 3DS you are asked to enter a password or credit card details for each transaction, on Smartphones a single log-in can be enough to grant multiple purchases within a particular timeframe.

Secondly, Smartphones are leading the way with in-game purchases, the ability to progress in a game by spending real money to buy in-game currency. This is another way to spend money on the device, and there has been a rise of games that are initially free but then encourage you to pay for items during play.

Avoiding multiple password requests in this way enables Smartphones to offer a smoother purchasing experience. On the iPhone and iPad (prior to their March update) for instance once you have entered your password you don't have to do it again for 15 minutes.

This doesn't sound like a problem until you come across free iPhone games like Pet Hotel or Smurf Village. These are free to download and require a password to do so. If you then hand the device to your son or daughter they can make in-game purchases for as much as £69.99, without a need for a password in the first 15 minutes.

These games do state that the game shop uses real money, but of course it is easy to miss this particularly if you are an excited young player. They can also ask you to login before you start playing, but again this opens up the danger of the grace period.

To their credit, Apple has provided an update to the iPhone operating system (the March 4.3 iOS update) that adds an extra password request for in-app purchases (although not for general purchases). This greatly reduces the risk of children generating alarming bills on their parents phone, but it does require that you update your device -- something that users can be dissuaded from doing as it can take in the region of 20 minutes.

In addition to the update, there are also a range of other things you can do to alleviate the problem. Probably the best advice though is to play games with your children rather than let them play on their own. It means they will get more out of the experience, and you'll understand what they are getting so excited about.

Where your children are likely to play these games unsupervised, you can avoid the problem as follows:

Update iPhone/iPad Operating System
To update the operating system on your device:
1. Plug your iPhone/iPad into a PC via the white USB cable.
2. If it doesn't open automatically open your iTunes software.
3. You will be automatically prompted to update your device.
4. Ensure you have transferred any purchases and backed up the device by right clicking it in the Devices list and selecting Backup and Transfer Purchases in turn.
5. With the Device selected in the list click the Update button.
6. Do not disconnect your device until prompted to do so.
Separate iTunes Account for Children
Create a separate account on the device for your children that isn't linked to your credit card:
7. Tap Settings, scroll down and select Store.
8. Tap Sign Out.
9. Tap Create New Account.
10. Follow the on-screen instructions.

If you need credit on this account use an iTunes gift card or setup an iTunes allowance. You can then log into this account before your children use the iPhone:
1. Tap Settings, scroll down and select Store.
2. Tap Sign Out.
3. Tap Sign In and enter the children's iTunes account details.

Disable In-App Purchases For Everyone
Turn off in-app purchases for all users of the iPhone:
1. Tap Settings, then select General.
2. Scroll down and select Restrictions.
3. Tap Enable Restrictions and enter (and confirm) a pass code for the iPhone.
4. Tap the In-App Purchases slider so it switched to Off.
You have now disabled In-app purchases. Reverse this process to enable it should you require it in the future.

Log Out of iTunes After Purchasing
You can avoid the 15 minute password period by logging out of iTunes after making a purchase:
1. Tap Settings, scroll down and select Store.
2. Tap Sign Out.
You will now be prompted to login next time you make a purchase.

Andy Robertson is a Family Gaming expert and presents the Family Gamer TV show.

BBC | Autumn Watch

A Tale of Two Sleepers

Avoiding Pitfalls of In-App Purchases