[John Whitworth]

The Speccie has had a makeover and now I can't download the comps. Is there anyone here who can? Like you, Chris O'Carroll for instance. If you can then tell me how I do it.

[Jayne Osborn]

I could do it, John, except I'm cursing because I've mislaid my Web ID. (If I don't find it in the meantime, I'll have it tomorrow when my Speccie pops through the letterbox.)

Any good?

Jayne

[Chris O'Carroll]

Sorry, John. I'm likewise stymied.

No luck with a web search on the phrase "in competition no 2750 you were invited" nor with a "lucy vickery" search. Do you suppose the magazine has decided to follow the example of the New Statesman by making the competition page inaccessible to non-subscribers?

I have an online NS subscription, which costs considerably less that a print subscription. But subscribing to the Spectator online seems to cost the same as a print sub. There are various app options that I don't quite understand. If I owned a Kindle, I could subscribe for just three quid per month.

Jayne, does the digital portion of your subscription include a feature that allows you to request an email reminder of your ID?

[Roger Slater]

A while back, I bought a couple of issues for my Kindle, but it (contest results) didn't consistently appear in the Kindle edition. If you want to try, though, you don't need a Kindle. You can download a free Kindle reader to your computer, or run a Kindle application on any mobile device (Apple or Android).

[Brian Allgar]

John, how do you usually download them? I know there is a Spectator web page with competition results that go back several years, but rather annoyingly, they skip a week from time to time, and there is nothing posted for this week. Because of the missing weeks, this is clearly not where you get them.

Are you saying that you have an online subscription, but can no longer download the competition from it? Or do you have some other method?

I dunno why I'm asking you these questions, since I wouldn't have a solution to offer anyway. Let's hope that Chris or somebody can pull the rabbit out of the hat, otherwise ... CHRONIC WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS

[Brian Allgar]

Ooops, sorry, I hadn't seen that Jayne and Chris had posted while I was still licking the end of my pencil.

[Jayne Osborn]

I get the actual magazine every week, and have never had a problem downloading the results when John's been away.

I'm really annoyed with myself that I can't find my Web ID. Grrrrr! I'll keep looking.

Jayne

[John Whitworth]

Until the last issue I could download the competition easily. But they have 'improved' the website so that it is in any ways worse. The competition is not available at the moment but, according to them, this is not policy, just cock-up. When they have fiixed it I will be able to download. Whenever that may be. Meanwhile I get a print edition tomorrow and I will at least be able to give the results and the next competition.

They keep saying things about apps. What is an app? No. Don't tell me. I don't have to know, now do I? Perhaps it's ap. A Welsh cognomen?One really does need a servant to do this sort of stuff.

[Martin Parker]

I did manage to find the Deadly Sins Comp. this morning after phoning the Speccie who say they have changed some individuals' passwords. I even managed to find the page for long enough to see that Bill Greenwell and I were there representing the Sphere -- the only ones, I think.
But I find that I am now unable to repeat the trail-blazing and therefore am not able to help with your quest!
Jeez, how I hate technology. Good luck to someone else of you with the geekery!

The new Comp. is to write a new National Anthem for Greece. Sounds a real possibility, but what is the use of our collective genius if the results are to be forever buried in the Speccie's labyrinthine new "system"?

[Brian Allgar]

Originally Posted by John Whitworth

They keep saying things about apps. What is an app? No. Don't tell me. I don't have to know, now do I?

John, an app - yes, I know you don't want to know, but be brave, it'll only take a minute and it won't hurt that much - is a nerd-word short for "application". And in this sense, an application is just a little computer program in some kind of iThingy that does something or other.

What does it do, you ask? Well, depends what it was designed to do, dunnit? For instance, it could tell you what the time is, or the weather, in various parts of the world. It could tell you where your nearest fish-and-chip-shop is. There are thousands of the little buggers that can do almost anything you can think of, although I'm told you'll have to wait for the iPad 4 for one that will bring you your slippers.

If an "app" were a physical object in the real world, we'd probably call it a widget. Or if that term isn't familiar to you, just think of it as a "thingummyjig".

There, now, that wasn't too bad, was it?

N.B. All of the above is based on hearsay, since I don't actually own an iAnything.