[CCC News] Assorted News 37 - Still here...

Wed Aug 17 23:25:41 AEST 2011

*In this edition:
**
*A long delay between newsletters! Life has been busy.
*
**Assorted News:
*    Google Plus
     NBN Connections available.
     Mobile phone and Tablet Manufacturer Sue-Fest wars...
     Virus activity drops.

*General Ramblings:
*     Fix It. Fix it with FIRE!
     Why there are no leaves. (Leafs?)

*Popular Internet and Phone Prices.
*Cheap mobile plan for Exetel customers.

*Entertainment:
*    BlueBrRrRrRrd
     Rotary Presentation.
*
*
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*Google Plus! A Facebook alternative.

*I'm not a fan of Facebook. I find it so infuriating getting emails from 
facebook saying "You have notifications pending." They could just as 
easily email me whatever they're trying to tell me, rather than trying 
to get me into their walled garden to see what's going on. So, I was 
naturally quite pleased to see Google introduce a new thing called 
"Google Plus."

Google Plus is sort of like facebook, but has a few features that make 
it somewhat more useful and easy to understand.

/*Circles.

*/On Facebook, most people generally have 'friends.' (There are 
non-obvious ways of grouping them.) However, in real life most of us 
have groups of people we chat with. Friends, Family, Work colleagues, 
confidants, etc; When adding your 'friends' to Google Plus, you're asked 
to put them into groups. What this means is that when you write or share 
something, you can easily choose which groups get to see it.

/*Email Friends.

*/What I personally think is the best feature of Google Plus is that it 
allows you to add friends to your circles who you know will probably 
never bother to sign up for Google Plus, and yet you'd still like to 
keep them up to date. When you post a message to a group that has people 
that are not signed up to Google Plus, it will also email the same 
message to those people - unlike Facebook.

/*Multi-People Video Conferencing.*/

Another great feature is the "Hangout" feature - which allows you to 
have an online video chat with multiple people at once - kinda like 
Skype but without having to install anything. This feature could be very 
handy for businesses and families.

Mind you, I'm not really into social networking as such - perhaps 
because I don't have a gregarious social life! So, I'm not really in a 
position to give a full run-down on it, but if you're curious about it, 
find out more at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiqDr7CFmZQand 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC_M6PzXS9g

.. and if you want an invite, let me know. :)

http://plus.google.com/

*NBN Connections Available.

*People regularly ask me what I think about the NBN. I'm of two minds 
about it. At present, most people in towns can already get what I 
consider 'enough' speed on the Internet - that is, enough to watch 
simple Internet TV services, or 1.5mpbs. Some can get as high as 16mbps. 
However, traditional broadband can only go up to about 6km from a phone 
exchange before dying. In theory NBN connections should not be affected 
by distance, and so should be able to go much faster.

On the positive side, it's a bit like when the original phone system was 
put in. It probably cost a lot of money to do, but has been useful in 
ways that weren't even considered back then. When you still had the 
rotary dial telephone you probably never thought that it would soon be 
able to show you high definition movies on demand! Installing the NBN 
should provide a similar scope for technological improvement. It'd be 
hard to justify it as a short-term project given it largely duplicates 
what we have now with ADSL, but in the medium term the benefits should 
outweigh the costs, assuming it's rolled out efficiently.

On the negative side, when properly provisioned, mobile / wireless 
broadband can provide quite reasonable speeds without the cost of 
digging up the streets. It is probably the more financially viable and 
practical option for rural areas, and wireless technology continues to 
improve speed-wise. Similarly, there are of course people stating that 
they can't get fast enough Internet to run their businesses; but 
generally I disagree. It'd just cost more to get multiple links and 
spread the load. (A decent NextG service can get upload speeds faster 
than ADSL at distances further than ADSL for example, but at potentially 
higher cost.)

The most likely benefit to home users will be movies and TV on demand. 
Not great news for the Pay TV companies mind you!

Anyway, with that said I am pleased to advise that I can provide NBN 
Internet Connections via Exetel at reasonable prices - something I 
didn't think would ever happen. See the prices at 
http://www.exetel.com.au/residential-fibre-pricing-mainland.php

*Mobile Phone and Tablet Sue-Fest wars...

*Last newsletter I mentioned I had purchased a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. 
Last week, Apple decided they were so annoyed by the success of these 
Android tablets that they went to court to get an injunction preventing 
Samsung from selling their latest 10 inch version in Australia, claiming 
it looked too similar to their golden child - the iPad. Then a few days 
later they did the same for the whole of Europe. .. and then a few days 
later again they did the same with Motorola.

In an unexpected twist, Google then purchased Motorola's Mobility division.

The whole drama is largely due to America's relatively out-of-control 
patent system - Google initially wanted to keep out of the wars, but 
being attacked so viciously by Apple presumably gave them no other 
option than to play the same game. (Google owns the Android operating 
system that is used by Motorola, Samsung and many other companies - it 
competes directly against Apple's products with over 500,000 new 
customers per /day/.) It's ironic that Samsung makes many parts for the 
iPad, and Motorola owns many patents pertaining to mobile phone radio 
technologies.

The latest bit of excitement is that it appears the evidence Apple 
provided was rather misleading. Unless it was an old stock photo,they 
appear to have resized a photo of a Galaxy Tablet (which is somewhat 
longer and narrower than the iPad) in order to make it appear to be 
identical. They also brought up a sub-screen with icons rather than the 
default screen to make it look identical to the iPad's antiquated 
appearance. See 
http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/15/apples-evidence-in-european-galaxy-tab-injunction-was-seriously-misleading-as-in-false/ 
for the juicy bits - or Google for more.

These tablets are likely to be the hot Christmas item this year; so the 
race is on! Hopefully the prices come down a bit by then too.

*Virus activity drops...

*Last newsletter I mentioned that there were lots of bugs getting 
around. So far in August I've seen almost no viruses at all. Nice to see 
a bit of peace again! Microsoft has also released a handy 'run from a 
stick' virus scanner that gets rid of some of the hard-to-kill rootkits. 
See http://connect.microsoft.com/systemsweeper

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*Fix it. Fix it with FIRE!

*Either this weekend, or some time soon, I am going to attempt to repair 
a laptop by cooking it.

.. more specifically, by cooking one faulty part to see if I can repair it.

Many newsletters ago I wrote about the nVidia flaw that meant many HP, 
Apple and other laptops met with untimely deaths. I now have a small 
collection of these - some really nice ones; and one still belonging to 
a customer who has given me permission to try out this radical method of 
repair.

Basically, it involves figuring out how long it takes solder to melt on 
a coin using a hot air gun, and then to repeat the process by aiming the 
gun at part of the laptop. Reports are that it works sometimes, and 
other times destroys the machine. See more about it here: 
http://hackaday.com/2011/02/24/heat-gun-gpu-reflow-fixes-laptop/ - 
Hopefully I don't have an "IT Crowd" moment like this: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWUmrqVHdaQ&NR=1

*Why there are no leaves. (Leafs?)*

You might  also recall in a previous newsletter, I was surprised when a 
Hardman Nissan worker said "No Leafs here in 100,000 years" or something 
like that. Recently the Bluebird took me back there due to a new ailment 
- see below - and while chatting I asked what was happening with the 
Nissan Leaf. (An all-electric car with 150km+ range.)  Apparently they 
require three phase power to charge - and as many of you will know; 
getting the power connected to a new property can be hideously expensive 
- and getting three phase power connected is often a similar cost - 
sometimes approaching that of the car itself. Hence, we don't really see 
any in Australia sadly. Technically, the batteries are presumably wired 
in series so the total voltage is over 300 volts, and as a result 240 
volts is not enough to charge them directly. Oh well, I'll just have to 
keep the 'bird alive a little longer then...

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*Popular Internet and Phone Prices.

*Here's a listing of the most likely popular Internet and Mobile plans 
currently known by myself. All figures are approximate, and town 
availability is based on likely service quality as well as availability. 
No guarantee is made to the accuracy of this data, as it is a rough 
guide only.  Install / setup fees may apply. Figures are monthly.

/*ADSL*/

	ADSL1 	ADSL2 	Guyra 	Armidale 	
Exetel 	$34.50/100G 	$39.50/50GB 	Yes 	Yes (Mostly)
	6/12 month contract, no excess fees.
TPG 	
	$30/50GB 	No 	Yes (Mostly)
	18 month contract, no excess fees.

/*Mobile Internet

*/

	Mobile Internet 	Guyra 	Armidale 	
Exetel 	$25/5GB 	Yes 	Not recommended
	12 month contract, Massive excess fees. No warning on usage.
TPG 	$1 + $27.50/GB 	Yes 	Not recommended
	No Contract
Telstra 	$10/1GB 	Yes 	Yes 	No Contract, Massive excess fees. Requires 
existing phone plan. Warning on Usage.

/*Mobile Phone (optional internet.)

*/

	Mobile Phone 	Guyra 	Armidale 	
TPG 	$1 + 10c/min 	Yes 	Yes 	Internet $27.50/GB, No Contract
Telstra 	$50 for 6 hrs 	Yes 	Yes 	Includes 1GB Internet, No Contract, 
Massive excess fees. No warning on usage.
TPG 	$20 for 5 hours 	Yes 	Yes 	Or ratio up to 1.5GB offsetting calls, 
No Contract, Massive excess fees. Warns on usage.

*Cheap mobile plan for Exetel ADSL customers.*

If you're an Exetel ADSL customer (and possibly a wireless customer, not 
confirmed) there are some new mobile phone plans out. In summary, $15 a 
month for approx. 6 hours talk time + 1.5GB internet, $29 for double 
that, or*$39 for 33 HOURS* on the phone plus 5GB. These have to be the 
cheapest plans around. These use the Optus network. Apparently this 
offer only lasts until the end of August - although they did say the 
same thing in July.

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*
BlueBrRrRrRrd*

The poor thing gets a hammering. 400k a week, stop and start driving, 
doors opened ten times a day at least. It's no wonder then that the poor 
26 year old gets a few quirks. Not that it doesn't get pampered with new 
parts - radiator, carbie, brake cylinders, batteries, bearings, plugs, 
leads, distributor etc in the last few years :)

The most exciting recent quirk was the Magic Roundabout trick. One day 
driving in the rain at night, I came up to the roundabout at the top of 
North Hill on the highway - and since I was planning to go straight, I 
didn't bother brakeing much. I was then somewhat surprised half way 
through when the car decided to dart off to the right of its own free 
will! Naturally I steered out of it, thought "WTF" and carried on. (Cars 
don't normally steer harder than you ask - they usually do the 
opposite.) Anyway, it turned out later that the front left wheel was 
apparently capable of turning inwards by about 15-20 degrees of its own 
volition, but in normal driving conditions this wouldn't happen.

This issue I had resolved by Hardman Nissan replacing some part in the 
steering rack - although since then she likes to walk from side to side 
a bit on the gravel so I guess an alignment is in order now.

Of course, not to be outdone it developed another party trick - a 
gutteral rumble in the back of the vehicle at 50kph. Rather annoying 
since almost every town has a 50kph limit! Aah well - took it to Ian 
Inman who replaced three uni joints. The surprising result? No more 
rumble at 50. Damn thing moved up to 90 instead! (and 70 down hills just 
for amusement.) To make it even more amusing, the rumble at 90 is close 
to the resonant frequency of the car and perhaps more surprisingly, the 
resonant frequency of my digestive system! Hardmans replaced a wheel 
bearing in an attempt to fix it, but I think they were fooled by the 
ever-present midget slapping at the axle with a thong sound that lives 
on the left rear wheel. I'm not sure if I'm proud to say the midget 
survived the swap.

It was already booked in with Inman again at this time anyway, so I took 
it back for another go - possibly surprising them by setting up shop in 
their waiting room with my laptop and tablet catching up on some web 
design work. (Previous time I kicked back watching Knight Rider episodes 
on the tablet.) Unfortunately he advised that he couldn't fix it - at 
least not without some expense; and he kindly took me out to show me 
what he believes to be the problem. I must say it's a strange feeling to 
be standing under your own car while the wheels go around above your 
head! It appeared that there was 1 to 2 mm of left-right motion on the 
rear tail shaft (damn thing has two) as it turned - or in other words 
it's no longer balanced.

Now, I'm not sure if I unbalanced it. There was a time about a month ago 
where I was in a hurry to get to a property on dusk, and while entering 
the property I didn't notice one of their home-made speed humps... but I 
think that was after the rumble had begun anyway - so it remains a 
mystery. Suffice to say that for the time being I am living with it and 
considering my options. These include the mythical Hose Clamp trick: 
http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/galaxie-pages/485681-hose-clamp-method-balancing-driveshaft.html 
, trying to find a place that balances them, or finding a second hand 
tail shaft somewhere. Being an '85 model, that might be a challenge. In 
the mean time, I just have to avoid doing 90. 100 is fine - but hills 
get their revenge! The biggest fear is that it could be in the diff. 
Another midget perhaps???

*Rotary Presentation

*I've been asked by Guyra Rotary to do a 20 minute presentation roughly 
along the lines of "Technology and The Future" on Wednesday 31st around 
7pm at the Guyra Bowling club. I plan to cover in brief topics including 
Internet TV (iView), 3D printing and Health, tablets and smartphones 
(hopefully with projector demo), changing face of News, and stuff like 
that. I think visitors are welcome, but not sure as I've never been 
involved in such a meetup before. If you want to know, let me know and 
I'll find out. I'm not affiliated with any charity or religious 
organisations, but do provide discounts to NFPs.

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Well, that's it for another newsletter.Sorry it's a bit late! Lots of 
programming work this last month.

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*Old Editions
*You can find old editions of this newsletter on  the CCC Blog. 
http://auzzie.net/cccblog/

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*
*
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael Kean
*Proprietor, Cool Country Consulting.*
Trading Hours: 10am to 8pm weekdays.
http://coolhelp.com.au/
Tel: 02 6775 0239 Fax: 02 8212 9582 Mob: 0427 644 825
Chat contacts: WLM: michael at auzzie.net Skype: cccons

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