Team Jessie – Vince topped the public vote, Jessie saved Becky. Toni and Cassius eliminated

Team Danny – Bo topped the public vote, Danny saved Max. Aleks and David eliminated

Team Will: Jaz topped the public vote, Will saved Tyler, Joelle and Frances eliminated

Team Tom: Ruth topped the public vote, Tom saved Leanne, Adam and Matt & Sueleen eliminated

So here, a full 9 hours before the BBC can be arsed to show them are the results:

Team Danny – Hannah and Max bottom two, Hannah eliminated

Team Jessie – Ruth Ann and Toni bottom two, Ruth Ann eliminated

Please direct any complaints over me spoiling the result to the BBC as it’s their fault for making the results not live

Tapatalk works by installing a plugin into most popular forum software such as vbulletin or phpbb. And once installed tapatalk then start spamming anyone who dares visit the forum using a mobile browser instead of their app with an annoying pop up inviting said user to go and buy the tapatalk app whether they want to buy it or not.

Now I’m not against tapatalk as a whole. I’m sure it is a great way to view forums for those who choose to use it. But no website should add a function that then impairs the user experience of those who choose not to use that function and a ruddy big advertising pop up certainly impairs the user experience.

So I am calling on tapatalk to either

1. Remove the pop up completely or
2. Implement a global opt out so if you cancel the pop up on one forum you will no longer get it on any forum

If like me you are fed up of these pop ups then why not let tapatalk know how fed up you are. Take a screenshot whenever you get a pop up (on iOS press the home and lock keys simultaneously, on android methods vary) and use twitter to send it to @tapatalk along with the hashtag #StopTapatalkSpam and maybe if they get spammed a few times with their own pop up they may take notice and do something about it

So here are the rare stickers

Brown – iPod Docking Station – Old Kent Road (50,000 Rare Stickers)

Light Blue – £250 Gift Voucher – Euston Road (300 Rare Stickers)

Purple – Samsung Galaxy Y Pro – Northumberland Avenue (500 Rare Stickers)

Orange – HD Camcorder – Marlborough Street (500 Rare Stickers)

Red – Weekend Break – Strand (700 Rare Stickers)

Yellow – iPad – Coventry Street (550 Rare Stickers)

Green – Mini Cooper – Bond Street (8 Rare Stickers)

Dark Blue – £50k – Mayfair (8 Rare Stickers)

Stations – PS3 – Liverpool St Station (450 Rare Stickers)

Now at present these are currently listed as being the same stickers as last year until I can confirm either way if there has been any variation in the stickers (there hasn’t the last two years though because, as an employee confirmed to us last year, some idiots tried to use previous non rare stickers to claim when McDonalds did vary the stickers so they decided to stick with the same ones to help save these idiots from themselves)

Based on the comments I’ve received the last two years the following serves as an FAQ

Q. I have park lane. Who has mayfair and wants to split the prize with me?

A. You have park lane, I have park lane. EVERYBODY has park lane. There are millions of park lane stickers all of which are worth less than 1p. There are 8 mayfair stickers which are worth the value of the jackpot prize minus less than 1p

Q. I have mayfair, bond street or one of the other valuable rare stickers?

A. Bully for you! Why aren’t you busy enjoying your prize rather than posting on here

Q. I have a winning sticker, how do I claim?

A. Actually feel free to post this question as I will try and help you as long as you don’t seem as stupid as some of the people who normally comment on this post however I should add that this site is in no way linked to McDonalds or the competition and merely serves as a guide (and a bid to increase my ad revenue). Your first port of contact in the event of any claim should be McDonalds themselves or their website. Winning stickers should have some instructions on how to claim and will direct you to either the store, McDonalds’ website or a phone number

Q. How many rare stickers are in circulation?

A. There are 53,016 in total rare collect to win sitckers which cover all the prize tiers. Number of stickers on each tier is listed above and ranges from a very unlikely 8 to a still fairly unlikely 50,000

Q. I need some of the non rare stickers, where can I get them?

A. If you visit any of the McDonalds in Preston and are lucky enough to sit next to me, chances are I will have already given you any common stickers that I already have. You lucky lucky thing

Q. Why do you have fewer rare stickers listed than there are prizes for that tier?

A. Some tiers have instant win stickers which instantly win the prize for that tier without needing to collect the property set. I have listed the number of collect to win stickers there are in circulation for each tier

Q. Which iPad do I win if I collect the yellow property set or obtain an instant win sticker?

A. It is a 16GB Wifi iPad 2. Which seems incredibly stingy given it is the lowest model possible and a new iPad has been released though perhaps McDonalds obtained the prizes for this tier before the new iPad was released

Q. I live in the Preston area and am looking for some inexpensive portrait photography

A. Well it just so happens that I’m a student photographer who also offers professional photography services for a much lower price than a professional photographer. Why not check out Dave Thorp Photography (END SHAMELESS PLUG)

More questions may be added if I get any particularly daft comments this year (which lets face it, I will)

Normally I totally disapprove of the steal option in this show and shows that have used the same endgame format in the past such as Goldenballs. Certainly in Goldenballs the steal ball was not provided for the benefit of the contestants but as a cost saving exercise in order to save the production company having to pay out money. The bank job works slightly differently as if contestants both choose to steal the money is shared by the contestants who didn’t make the final. The fact still remains that if you start messing about with the steal option, one if not both of you will be leaving with nothing.

There was a rather unique situation that arose in one episode of Goldenballs where there was someone who was well off already and a student playing for a comparatively low jackpot and the well off person used the talking time they have before making their decision to beg the student to steal the money from them which they did. It was the only time a steal/split ending was a happy ending for the show.

As soon as the prize fund was announced as being just the money the contestants brought through in the last round, which was a nice round £100k (which was just 21.4% of the series 1 jackpot) I said to my other half that if I were Scott and had already won close to £200k and I was playing for just an extra £50k on top of that I would tell the contestant who as yet hadn’t won anything to steal from me. My conversation before the decision making would have been along these lines

“Look, I’ve already won close to £200k, you’ve not won anything yet. I’m picking the split option. If you want to split that’s fine. But if you want to take the whole £100k that’s fine too as an extra £50k would probably mean more to you than it does to me”

Which I suspect is one reason (along with the fact I am far too old and ugly) why I’d never be selected as a contestant for this show as it wouldn’t make for as exciting TV if the whole excitement of the split/steal ending is reduced to “do what you want it really doesn’t matter”. Although due to the loss of the live feed right at the end so we didn’t see many reactions to the outcome, the excitement of the moment was lost to all anyway, with the possible exception of Mr Bannatyne!

Dear Sir/Madam,

I write with regards the above referenced mobile number and the saga I have had to endure in upgrading my sim only one plan sim to the recently announced iPhone 4S.

Having switched to you from O2 in July this year to benefit from your all you can eat data I was excited when the new iPhone 4S was announced and you announced you would be stocking it and taking pre orders. Whilst I was considering both you and O2 with a slight bias to you given I won a free iPad off you earlier this year, the fact that O2 wanted me to queue up in the cold and rain for my phone made my decision between yourselves and O2 quite easy however after all the problems I have experienced I am beginning to wonder if I made the right decision.

On 07/10/11 you opened pre orders and I telephoned to place my order for a 32GB White iPhone 4S on your £40 a month one plan. Having got through to upgrades to place my order at approx 12:30 I am advised that their systems hadn’t updated for the iPhone 4S but I would be called back before 14:00 to place my order. At 14:05 with no callback having appeared and being aware of how in demand this phone would be I called back and my order was taken with a promised delivery date of 14/10/11 which is launch day. At 15:22 I received the callback I was promised before 14:00 and advised that I had called back and placed an order.

On 10/10/11 I receive an SMS survey which I filled out mentioning I never received a callback at the time I was promised.

On 13/10/11 a number of people expressed concerns on your twitter feeds about the status of their pre orders. I therefore enquired as to the status of my order and was told that all phone orders were fine, I would get a SMS message that evening letting me know it had been dispatched and a further SMS on delivery day informing me the approximate time I would receive my order. At 18:01 I receive a phone call which claimed to be in response to the survey I have filled out. During this phone call the person I spoke to stated she would have to credit check me again. Having already undergone a credit check the previous week alarm bells started ringing and I terminated the call but sent a tweet to your twitter feed who had sadly closed for the night. I received no SMS message advising me of dispatch of the order and send further tweets clarifying my concerns and advising I’d received no dispatch or delivery SMS

Today, the day my order was supposed to be delivered, I awoke from a very disturbed nights sleep due the anxiety which I suffer from starting to kick in and found no SMS advising me when my phone would be coming. Shortly after my tweets were picked up and a callback arranged. During this callback it is confirmed that the first time I ordered, I was credit checked for an iPhone 4 and not a 4S. Why this should make any difference and prevent the sending of my order is beyond me as end of day I was credit checked for a pay monthly contract. A further credit check is carried out and it is now arranged that my phone will be delivered on Monday. Having already let me down once, I am reluctant to get my hopes up again only for them to be dashed again but I am assured by your support twitter that my order will be dispatched this time.

Needless to say I am not happy that you failed to get the phone to me on launch day and despite an issue with my order, I receive no contact from you with the exception of a phone call from a foreign lady who initially wanted to discuss a survey but moved on to wanting to credit check me which would ring alarm bells for anyone from a cold call as it could well have been “someone called George calling from my bank”. I am also not happy that I have been subjected to two credit checks for the phone when I should have only had one and the presence of additional credit searches in a short period of time can have an adverse affect on my credit rating.

I hope you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me with regards the issues I have raised and give me some reason to remain with 3 as any good graces granted by my free iPad are long gone following this experience. I must also insist under section 10 of the data protection act that any data you are processing with the credit reference agencies with regards the incorrect search carried out on 07/10/11 is removed for the credit reference agencies and all records of the search eliminated on the grounds that processing of it is unwarranted and is causing me damage. Failure to comply with this section 10 notice will result in a complaint being filed with the information commissioner. I trust this will not be necessary.

I look forward to hearing from you and hope that I am not forced to consider cancelling my upgrade and returning to O2 and that our relationship can continue without any further issues.

Kind Regards

Me

Sent from my iPad

Not happy to say the least!

On Friday 7th October every major network announced their pricing for the iPhone 4S and opened up pre ordering for new and existing customers to order the phone for either store pickup or delivery on launch day. Every network except O2 that is. Not only were they last to announce pricing but they have also made it only available to existing customers (which in itself isn’t a bad thing) but they are also treating those existing customers like second class citizens by making them queue up in the cold and rain at stupid O’Clock to be able to guarantee getting the handset on launch day and even then it isn’t guaranteed when every single other UK network will happily post one out to you. O2′s twitter feed have been bombarded with complaints about this with their response basically being that doing it this way ensure the maximum number of people can get it on launch day which frankly is complete and utter bollocks!

We then move on to the fast track upgrade issue. Over the course of this weekend a number of O2 customers who have obtained quotes to upgrade early have suddenly found themselves no longer eligible to upgrade. After doing some digging it seems that these customers are no longer eligible due to a change in the terms of upgrading early now requiring customers to be on a £40 or higher tariff. This is another example of O2 altering terms and conditions to suit themselves on a whim such as when they removed unlimited data from tariffs and tried to retroactively alter the terms of existing customers to prevent them from changing tariff. It’s also an example of O2′s short sightedness as to who counts as a high spender as my monthly spend with them is over £40 but is spread over 4 accounts.

Thankfully this is one O2 customer who won’t be queuing in the rain for my iPhone 4S. Three have already confirmed my pre-order with them will be arriving on Friday on launch day. As for O2, despite having bought every iPhone from them since iPhone 3G, they will not be getting a sale from me for 4S. Plus over the course of the next 8 months I’ll be terminating all but one of my accounts with them. Which is a pity as if they hadn’t started to lose their way over the last year or so they would still have many happy customers and not the horde of customers ready to jump ship they currently have.

Camera goes absolutely crazy on shots of Evan – 1 finger each time the camera moves (I accept no responsibility if you run out of alcohol in the first two minutes of the show…. which you will)

The bad music (you know the one, the one that goes der der der der der der der) plays during a pitch – 1 finger

Pitch involves any form of costume – 1 finger

Pitch involves someone singing – 1 finger

Close up shot of piles of money on a table – 1 finger

Pitcher stutters or otherwise displays nerves or becomes flustered at any point during the pitch or questioning – 1 finger

Pitcher has sold their home, re mortgaged, given up work or otherwise placed their entire future security at risk to pursue their idea – 1 finger

Pitcher has sold their home, re mortgaged, given up work or otherwise placed their entire future security at risk to pursue their absolutely ridiculous idea and is sent packing by the dragons – 1 finger

A dragon offers to buy someones product – 1 finger

Peter Jones says “hi I’m Peter” despite the fact that if people didn’t know who he was they wouldn’t be on the show – 1 finger

Theo refers to Mrs P or his kids inheritance – 1 finger

Shot of Duncan looking miserable or bored – 1 finger

Shot of any dragon looking confused or puzzled – 1 finger

Deborah says she likes something – 1 finger

Duncan is the first dragon out – 1 finger

Peter is the last dragon out – 1 finger

Two or more of the dragons combine to make an offer – 1 finger

Two or more of the dragons get into an argument over a pitchers figures – 1 finger

Two or more of the dragons get into an argument over a pitchers figures neither of whom are Duncan – 2 fingers

Hilary says “hello I’m Hilary” – 2 fingers

Bad music plays in a pitch even though nothing bad has happened – 2 fingers

An invention fails to work – 2 fingers

Theo breaks an invention – 2 fingers

Duncan gets out of his chair to try out an invention – 2 fingers

Two or more rival dragons or groups of dragons make an offer – 2 fingers

An inventor gets their figures wrong – 2 fingers

An inventor is forced to call their business partner/friend/mum from downstairs to save them – 2 fingers

A pitcher rejects all offers on the table – 2 fingers

Any dragon makes an offer for more than double the equity originally offered – 2 fingers

Any dragon undercuts another dragon – 2 fingers

Duncan throws his toys out of his pram demonstrating less maturity than most preschoolers – 2 Fingers

A previously rejected inventor turns up with a new invention which is also rejected – 2 fingers

A previously rejected inventor turns up with a new invention and walks out with an investment – 3 fingers

Hilary says “hello I’m Hilary” and the pitcher looks as though they don’t have a clue who she is – 3 Fingers

Duncan makes an offer – 3 fingers

Duncan says “I cannae see this making me any money, I’m OOOOOOt” word for word – 3 fingers

All 5 dragons make an offer (in teams or solo) – 4 fingers

Hilary says “Ee By Gum” – 4 fingers

Any dragon makes an offer involving giving up half of the business and/or the blood of the pitchers firstborn child – 4 fingers

James Caan, Doug Richard, Richard Farleigh, Rachel Elnaugh or Simon Woodroffe make an offer – down any remaining drinks and stop watching repeats on Dave

A pitcher leaves with the exact amount of money they asked for giving up the exact amount of equity they originally wanted to – down any drinks you can lay your eyes on

A dragon is talking to a boy called Merlin and sounds like John Hurt – You are watching Merlin, sober up quick whilst gazing adoringly at Morgana

One of the dragons actually breathes fire – drink some coffee and sober up quick

Enjoy and remember please drink responsibly