[CCC News] Assorted News 60 - End of WIndows 7, and more... :)

[Michael Kean]

In this edition:

*The End of Windows 7... What to do...*
*Pausing Windows 10 Updates...*
*Useful Apps or Android...*
*Boost still the best?*
*WiFi Calling. (Use a mobile without reception.)*
*Facebook Scams - how to protect yourself.*
*Free TV Channels on your Computer / Phone / Smart TV*
*Finding Good Electricity Prices.*
*Radio News...*
*Opinion: World Economy.*

*The Mystery of CCC Pricing.  *
*Caz is OK :)*

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

*The End of Windows 7... What to do...*
Just like XP before it, Microsoft is soon to end support for WIndows 7.
What this means is that they won't be putting out regular updates for your
computer - at least not unless some big bug comes along. This mainly means
it will become unsafe to use Internet Explorer. However, if you're using
Firefox, Chrome, and any free or paid antivirus other than Microsoft
Security Essentials, you'll still be pretty safe for a good while yet; as
those programs update independently of Windows. You're at a slightly higher
risk, but not catastrophic. You don't have to upgrade.

*What if you want Windows 10?*

If you've decided you'd like to move to Windows 10, the good news is it's
still free. All you need to do is go to the Microsoft Website and download
the Media Creation Tool
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/software-download/windows10>. This will
step you through upgrading your computer to Windows 10, without the need to
reinstall your programs and files. Of course, backing up your important
files first is a good idea as there's no guarantee that Microsoft won't
blow them away by mistake.

*What if your computer is really slow?*

In most cases, if your computer is under 12 years old; it's the hard disk
that makes it run slow. I can replace that with an SSD for $35 plus the
cost of the drive - typically these are between $35 and $80
<https://www.mwave.com.au/hdds/solid-state-drives-ssd/kingston?display=list>.
You can expect to see a dramatic speed increase, typically at least a 4x
speed improvement.

---

*Pausing Windows 10 Updates...*

Microsoft's Quality Control has been quite
<https://betanews.com/2019/09/13/windows-10-kb4515384-start-menu-search-problems/>
bad
<https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2019/10/03/microsoft-windows-10-warning-printer-updates-upgrade-windows-10/#e0bb9244353d>
lately
<https://www.techradar.com/au/news/another-microsoft-mess-as-windows-10-november-2019-update-breaks-file-explorer>.
(Mind you Apple has been bad too
<https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/apple-mail-app-catalina-wipes-deletes-email/>.)
Updates have caused various problems for people's computers. Fortunately
there are a number of ways you can control them to some degree - which
gives Microsoft time to fix their stuffups before you get stung.

The easiest way is to tell your computer you're on a "Metered Connection" -
this will stop it downloading most updates without asking permission first.
Unfortunately, the way to do this varies depending on which of the several
versions of WIndows 10 you have, but it's pretty easy to do. This document
<https://www.digitalcitizen.life/what-are-metered-connections-windows-10-how-enable-them-and-why>
covers the most common methods.

---

*Useful Apps for Android...*

If you own an Android phone (Samsung, LG, Nokia, etc) here's a few apps
that you might find useful. (There will be similar apps for iPhone)

*Gravity Screen.*

If you have a phone that is prone to turning on in your pocket and doing
all sorts of weird stuff as a result, this app
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.plexnor.gravityscreenofffree&hl=en_AU>
might be for you. As soon as you tip your phone upside down to put it in
your pocket, it turns off and stays off until you hold it upright again.

*Audio Recorder for Smartwatch*

Probably not something you'd use often. I use it for recording voicemails
left on the station's voicemail and emailing them to presenters at 2ARM.
Your watch becomes a high quality tape recorder. Free from here
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tamalbasak.watchrecorder&hl=en_AU>
.

*Aus Phone Towers*

Curious to know which mobile tower your phone's using? This app
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.com.bitbot.phonetowers&hl=en_AU>
can show you on a map.. Might help you work out where to stand.

*Aus Rain Radar*

This simple app
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.touchyfeely.ausrainradar&hl=en_AU>
will show you where the rain is, and give rudimentary forecasts. Powered by
the BOM.

*Back Button*

Is your Back Button too far away to reach one handed, or on the wrong side
of the phone? This app
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appspot.app58us.backkey&hl=en_AU>
gives you a back button you can stick anywhere on the screen. Can be handy
on the bigger phones. For me, half way down the side on the right works
well.

*Fires Near Me NSW*

This app
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.gov.nsw.rfs.firesnearme.nsw&hl=en_AU>
will show you were the fires are, and you can set a 'watch area' so it'll
notify you if there's a fire nearby.

*Live Traffic NSW*

This one
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.livetrafficnsw&hl=en_AU>
will tell you if roads nearby are closed.

*Fuel Check*

Who's got the cheapest fuel today? This app
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.gov.nsw.onegov.fuelcheckapp&hl=en_AU>
from
the NSW Government will tell you.

*Live Transcribe*

This app
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.audio.hearing.visualization.accessibility.scribe&hl=en_AU>
does a remarkable job of converting words to text in real time. This could
also be useful if you're hard of hearing. Stick it next to the radio for
fun!

*Google Translate*

Similar to Live Transcribe, but Google Translate
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.translate&hl=en_AU>
can convert languages at the same time, and read the results in other
languages.

*Reddit Is Fun*

Reddit is sort of like a cross between Facebook and a news website.
Articles are listed and people can comment on them. Huge time waster, but
can be interesting to get other people's perspectives on articles. Warning
- not suitable for children. Reddit is fun
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andrewshu.android.reddit&hl=en_AU>
is a good mobile app for this site, better than the official app.

*Google News.*

Seems everyone's trying to get into the news game. Google News
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.magazines&hl=en_AU>
is a fairly good app for this - it learns what items you're interested in.
It presents articles from many major newspapers, but loads them using a
special technique so there's no waiting for the pages to load.

---

*Boost still the best?*

Boost used to be a separate company but was purchased by Telstra. As a
result, it has almost exactly the same service as Telstra including VoLTE
and WiFi calling. While they have a large range of plans, the $150 a year
<https://boost.com.au/shop/150-prepaid/> prepaid option includes all your
Australian calls plus 80GB of data. For many people, that's all you need.
(Available for $135 for a short time.)

Aldi Mobile <https://www.aldimobile.com.au/plans/value-packs/> is still a
close second in value, but lacks some features like WiFi calling, and is no
good in rural Queensland. (Check coverage maps.)

*WiFi calling.*

WiFi calling allows you to make and receive phone calls (but currently not
texts unless you're on Optus) without mobile reception. Your home internet
/ WiFi reception is used instead. This used to only be available on
expensive phones, but is now available on some budget phone such as the
good value Samsung A20
<https://www.harveynorman.com.au/samsung-galaxy-a20-32gb-blue.html> (may be
cheaper elsewhere.)

Not all mobile providers support it.

*Facebook Scams - how to protect yourself. *

The most common way for someone to scam you on Facebook is for the to
pretend to be one of your friends and contact you via Messenger. They'll
usually start the conversation with something like "Hello, how are you?" An
easy giveaway that it's fake is that it says "so and so is using Messneger
without Facebook"

The two best ways to protect yourself from this are

1 - Make your friends list visible to friends only
<https://www.techlicious.com/tip/hide-facebook-friends-list/>. That way the
scammers can't see who your friends are, and thus have no need to
impersonate you in order to scam them.

2 - Don't reply to or share those 'too good to be true' messages. (Recent
ones I've seen have been "TVs with damaged boxes to give away" or
"So-and-so didn't collect the car he won after a week of phone calls" etc.)
Replying or sharing these types of messages marks you as an easy target,
and they'll go after your friends.

For any page that is offering something for free or in exchange for
sharing, click on the name of that page and see what other articles they're
posting. Usually, it'll be the only post if it's a scam page. Facebook is
very slow to remove these types of fake post.

The other type of post to watch out for is a click-bait style article with
images of well known TV celebrities shown. The most common recent one has
presenters from channel 10's The Project reported with a heading "The mic
was left on and this went to air..." - again Facebook is very slow to
remove such scam news articles.

---.

*Finding Good Electricity Prices.*

Finding decent electricity prices can be a challenge! There is a
government-run site called Energy Made Easy
<https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/> which seems to be a fair spot to
start. The two things most people need to know are the rate (cents per kWh)
and the daily connection charge. Some companies make it confusing by having
higher rates then applying discounts; so it can take quite a bit of
scribbling to do a real comparison between companies. Also need to watch
that both figures include GST

In my case, it appears I'll be going from $800 to $669 by changing from
Energy Locals to ReAmped. Shameless plug: If you find ReAmped is the best
value for you, use this link
<https://www.reampedenergy.com.au/go/friends/?RAFkazvm8a> to sign up and we
both get $50. Your situation might be different though - in my case I have
off peak hot water, no smart meter and no solar.

---

*Free TV Channels on your Computer / Phone / Smart TV.*

All the TV Channels now have their own catch-up services. They all work on
computers and most phones, but 'smart' TVs are often left out since they
get old very quickly. (Add a ChromeCast
<https://www.binglee.com.au/google-ga00439-chromecast-3rd-generation> to
any TV to fix that.)

They all let you catch up with shows you've missed, and some will have
exclusive internet-only content as well. Here's the list of the free to air
TV sites.


   - ABC iView. <https://iview.abc.net.au/>
   - Plus7 <https://7plus.com.au/>
   - 9Now <https://www.9now.com.au/>
   - 10Play <https://10play.com.au/>
   - SBS On Demand <https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/>


Some require you to sign in before you can use them - mainly for age
verification; although likely they like to track you as well ;-)

To find these apps on your phone, use the Play Store or App Store. Remember
that these use a fair bit of data - can be around a gigabyte an hour.

There are many other services such as Netflix, Stan, Disney+ etc but these
all cost money, and are becoming less diversified.

---

*Radio News:*

I'm still volunteering as a co-manager at 2ARM <http://2arm.net.au>, and am
pleased to have introduced three new presenters, Adam and Sharon Ritchie
from Guyra (Gospel <https://www.facebook.com/Home-Grown-102438464572762/>)
and the mysterious "Herb" from Armidale (Bluegrass
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0SaLKlRNxhXkWnjiz4rS5w>.) I've done a
lot of work to upgrade the studio and automate various aspects of the
station. It's all going pretty well  We're all volunteers, supported mostly
by sponsorship. If you want to plug something, rates start at $50 a month.
If you'd like to have a go at being a presenter, come on down to the
station some time and we'll show you around. Training is free :) And you
know I don't bite <https://www.facebook.com/921lifewithmike/>!

---

*Opinion: World Economy.*

*Last newsletter, a regular reader said he missed all the personal stuff I
used to post. Most of that goes on my personal Facebook page
<https://www.facebook.com/coolhelp> for Friends now. Here's a little :)*

I've taken a mild interest in economic matters although I know little.
Generally, recessions occur roughly every ten years. However, there seem to
be different things going on this time - things such as "Quantitative
Easing" (Printing more money) as a way for banks / governments to get out
of debt, as well as Negative Interest Rates, a contracting employment
scenario, increasing and ageing population, and of course the effects of
climate change.

Quantitative easing can cause inflation, which makes our savings worth
less. Negative Interest Rates can break a number of economic systems, and
can cause people to withdraw money from the bank - hence the upcoming cash
ban? It also causes people to move to the stock market, trying to keep
ahead of CPI. (The CPI, by the way, ignores food and electricity prices so
I consider it a deliberately dishonest figure.)

While I'm hardly in the position to give any financial advice as I have no
training and scarce savings; holding as little debt as possible and
diversifying your savings if you're lucky enough to have some seems to be
the wisest option. I can help with cryptocurrencies even though lately
they've been a dog - I generally understand how they work. Precious metals
may also be worth holding. Index funds and real estate are other popular
options.

I could be completely wrong of course - all might be under control. Perhaps
I'm just enjoying catastrophising. But if you'd like to make up your own
mind, perhaps check out Digital Fiinance Analytics
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKWDscRjYFTD1KHsmow4-bQ>, In The Interest
Of The People <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwmB2wn8Slp3hko2Gpj2iA>, The
Money GPS <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCngq92xrmmsfEgGdfAJ6giQ>, George
Gammon <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpvyOqtEc86X8w8_Se0t4-w>, or for
an extremist, conspiracy theorist view, The Dollar Vigilante
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpf2Lxgf10AjzBT4GIIgDJw>.  Remember,
everyone has an opinion, you need to do your own research.

*The Mystery of CCC Pricing.*

I haven't changed pricing for a long time. Still $70 an hour, $10 callout
to 10km. ($50 for pensioners / low income earners - we're all valuable
people.) Mind you, increasingly some people think I should charge more, and
often people will pay me more than I ask for. This gets added to the
invoice as gift - with thanks, so the invoice balances.

I will admit that those who pay more will tend to get priority help when
I'm busy. My costs are slowly going up.
.
*Caz is OK :)*

Her family is genetically predisposed to aneurysms. We had a scan done, and
her specialist advises there's <1% chance of her suffering from one at this
time. She's not allowed to become an airline pilot though.

---

*CCC Services reminder.*
Current services include Websites and Web Hosting
<https://coolhelp.com.au/web-hosting/>, VHS / VHS-C / Video8 / LP /
Cassette / to Memory Stick <https://coolhelp.com.au/vhs-conversion/>, Offsite
Backups <https://coolhelp.com.au/offsite-backup/>.Phone and Internet Plan
assistance and setup, and more :)

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-- 
*Proprietor, Cool Country Consulting.*
Trading Hours: 10am to 8pm weekdays.
Web: http://coolhelp.com.au/
SMS: 0427 644 825
Messenger: http://m.me/coolcountryconsulting
<http://facebook.com/coolcountryconsulting>
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