[CCC News] Assorted News 55: Power prices, Ad Blocking, Crypto Trading, Steem.

[Michael Kean]

In this edition:

*Power Prices*
*Ad Blocking on Android and Computer**
*
*Getting Started with Cryptocurrency Trading.*
* - Steem, the facebook alternative that pays you to post.*
*Vodafone 4G Mobile Broadband usable.*
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*Power Prices.*
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Power prices have generally gone up.

There is a government-run site you can use to check some of the best 
offers. It's at https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/

When using my last bill as an example, it listed Mojo Power, Simply 
Energy and Energy Locals as some of the best options.

One problem is that this site doesn't know all the discounts that are 
available - for example Simply Energy has an 8% NRMA member discount option.

My recent experience with these three companies:

Simply Energy, every bill had problems from day one, but they were good 
at accepting corrections. They might have improved since I left.

Mojo Power: Sounded good on paper, promising 'wholesale rates' plus a 
monthly fee. However, their 'wholesale rates' turned out to be only 
slightly less than the non-discounted retail rates with the other 
providers. (27.9c/kwh vs 28.3c/kwh). Bills are estimated monthly.

Energy Locals: Too soon to tell. Waiting for first meter reading.

"The Project" on channel 10 also has a site 
https://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/the-project/sick-of-getting-screwed 
which lists some alternatives.

Whatever you opt for, avoid getting tied in to a contract.

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*Ad Blocking on Android and Computer**
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Ads while looking at websites can be quite annoying. Ads on Android 
mobiles can be incredibly annoying as they make pages jump around and 
load slowly. They can also appear in games, etc and trick you into 
thinking there's a problem with your phone.

*/Block ads on the computer./*
*/
/*
The easiest way to block ads is to use Chrome or Firefox, and add the 
"uBlock Origin" extension. This will add a small icon top right which is 
a red shield with a number on it.

Occasionally the ad blocker will stop pages from loading properly - 
click the red shield icon followed by the 'power' button to disable it 
for that page. You can also do this for any page you want to allow to 
display ads; as this is often how pages make money. Rogue ads however 
are a significant source of malware, so it's generally better to block them.

For Google Chrome - Click Here. 
<https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm?hl=en>
For Mozilla Firefox - Click Here. 
<https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/>

*/Block ads on an Android Phone. (Samsung, HTC, Sony, etc...)/*
*/
/*
There are a few options to block ads on Android, including free ones. 
The fastest one is AdAway <https://adaway.org/> - which is free, but it 
requires you to have Root access. If you don't know what root access is, 
you probably don't have it, and on most phones it's hard or impossible 
to get.

The best alternative I know is AdGuard 
<https://adguard.com/en/adguard-android/overview.html>. It's not free, 
costing $12 for a year or $36 for lifetime; but you can try for 14 days 
free. (Actually, I think you can use it for free if you only want to 
block ads in webpages, whereas the paid version blocks all ads.)

Naturally, Google isn't fond of it, so you have to 'side-load' it rather 
than using Google Play Store to get it. They talk you through that.

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*Getting Started with Cryptocurrency Trading.*
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This last few weeks I've had three separate customers ask me for help 
buying cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, etc. I've 
been playing with them since 2011 so have a fair understanding of how 
they work, how trading and investing works, etc.

Without getting technical, it's a bit like the stock market; but you 
don't need to know much to have a play with it. You just buy the ones 
you like, and sell them if you don't want them any more. I guess it's 
kinda like a cross between gambling and investing. You can also use them 
as actual currency with a limited but growing number of retailers - they 
are a universal currency after all; but it's early days yet.

Most cryptocurrencies are just like cash in that you can send them to 
someone else. Imagine sending someone a $5 note in the mail. You don't 
have it any more. The other person does. The serial number on the note 
is unique and can't be forged. There was no bank involved, but you did 
pay a small amount of 'postage' or freight. There's also no way for you 
to get it back once you've sent it.

Most of them have special features that make them unique.

OK a bit more technical now.

Bitcoin, the most well known cryptocurrency has in the last week it has 
jumped from $4,000 each to $5,200 each, up from $700 a year ago. (See 
charts here 
<http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=XBT&to=AUD&view=1W>.) Note that 
you can buy and own fractions of a bitcoin.

Of course, there's no guarantee it'll keep going up; and since 1st 
August there is a new version (a 'fork') called Bitcoin Cash which is 
technically superior to the current Bitcoin, but significantly less well 
known. It might end up taking Bitcoin's place if Bitcoin becomes 
crippled by the current version's seven transaction per second 
limitation and other issues; so there might be some real volatility soon.

Bitcoin tends to get a bad reputation in the media because it's 
irreversible. That's why the scammers like to use it for their ransom 
payments - but cash is the same; and can be used for good or for bad.

Then there's other popular ones such as Ethereum which ties in a thing 
called "smart contracts", Zcash (which can make the amount sent 
invisible to observers), Dash, Monero, Neo, Steem, etc. All with their 
unique pros and cons, and just like the stock market they have a unique 
identifier such as ETH, ZEC, MON, STM.

*Steem*, by the way is a Facebook Alternative that pays you if you write 
something that other people find interesting, I've had a go, but I'm not 
interesting enough! (I made about $30 from a few hours of creating 
content.) You can take a look at it by clicking here 
<https://steemit.com/hot>. If you're a writer / blogger, or have a 
special interest there's no harm in having a play. The only thing to 
beware of is that you generally can't delete what you post there, since 
it's stored forever in a blockchain. Also available on Android as an app 
called eSteem 
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netsolutions.esteem&hl=en>.

One way to get started playing with cryptocurrencies is via the 
Australian exchange called CoinSpot <https://www.coinspot.com.au/>. You 
can join for free, and will immediately have a wallet for many popular 
cryptos. However, if you want to use real (fiat) money to buy them, 
you'll need to go through the amusing process of getting verified by 
them. This is because of Australia's anti money laundering laws, etc.

One caveat with Coinspot is they use a thing called Poli Payments 
<https://polipayments.com/> - a program created by Australia Post many 
years ago to enable instant transactions from Banks to Suppliers. To use 
it you need to log in to their site with your Internet Banking number 
and password. Naturally that sounds bad - normally you should never do 
that, right?  The only reason they do this is to that they can create 
the transaction on your behalf and thus credit you the money immediately 
rather than the usual 1-3 day wait. Since it could be a security risk; 
you might want to use a different bank to your primary one.

A couple of workarounds if that sounds too onerous: Use CoinJar 
<https://www.coinjar.com.au/>instead to buy Bitcoin, then convert it to 
another currency at Coinspot. Or get in contact with me directly and pay 
me to buy it on your behalf and send it to you, for a small charge.

A few quick tips.

1 - Never leave large amounts on an exchange - they can get hacked. Use 
a wallet app on your phone or PC to store low to moderate amounts. I 
recommend "Coinomi 
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.coinomi.wallet&hl=en>" 
for Android as a good option. You will probably be given a twelve word 
password which allows you to retrieve your wallet at any time even if 
the phone breaks etc.

2 - Never buy more than you can afford to lose. This market is 
incredibly volatile, and while it seems likely that cryptocurrencies are 
here to stay, they can be quite prone to manipulation, political 
infighting between developers, software issues and hacking. My personal 
approach has been to put spare change from my wallet into it. I've had 
to draw down on it a few times though so I'm not rich ;-)

3 - General investment rules probably apply such as 'it's better to 
diversify than to pick just one', 'have a strategy to take part of your 
profits during ascents if you're a long term investor', 'don't borrow 
money to invest', etc.

4 - I don't fully know the tax implications. I suspect you're meant to 
declare profits from investment in cryptocurrency as 'other income' but 
I'm not 100% sure as the laws have been changing. The ATO appears to 
class it as a form of bartering. 
<https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Gen/Tax-treatment-of-crypto-currencies-in-Australia---specifically-bitcoin/>

If you'd like a one on one lesson, I can offer these for $35 for 30 
minutes plus travel. Note that I am definitely not an expert on these, 
and as far as I know there's no law that I have to have a certification 
as I'm not a financial planner.

Kids with expensive gaming computers may be able to 'mine' some 
cryptocurrencies using the program NiceHash 
<https://miner.nicehash.com/>. It is barely profitable though 
considering power prices; but can be a fun learning exercise. I have six 
old computers (without screens) on a remote power switch that I use to 
heat the lounge instead of running a heater, at a 30% net saving 
compared to running a heater alone. Click here 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHRVFmaJDV8>to see the what a massive 
mining operation looks like - I don't necessarily recommend this company 
though as I don't know enough about them.

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*Vodafone 4G Mobile Broadband usable.**
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Just a quick note that the Vodafone 4G service appears to be relatively 
usable in Guyra and Armidale town areas. A SIM only option currently 
exists with $25 for 10GB of mobile broadband and 180 days expiry. This 
is useful in 3G and 4G / LTE iPads and Tablets for example.

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Well, that's it for another newsletter! All is well in CCC land at this 
time, work is plentiful. A reminder that it's better to email or SMS me 
rather than call me as I can easily track these from my phone and 
smartwatch. Voice messages are checked during quiet times only.

If you want to unsubscribe click here 
<http://auzzie.net/mailman/listinfo/ccc-news_auzzie.net>.

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