<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type"
content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<font face="Arial"><small><big><b>In this edition:<br>
</b><br>
<i>An assortment of news, nothing too serious.</i><br>
<br>
<b>Assorted News:<br>
</b> AlternativeTo - find alternatives for programs you like.<br>
Bundled Crap - it affects us all.</big></small></font><font
face="Arial"><small><big><br>
Time to Get Rid of Java?</big></small></font><br>
<font face="Arial"><small><big> How to recognise a fake virus
warning.<br>
Block Those Ads :)<br>
Tips for buying a new laptop.<br>
New plans again at Exetel.<br>
<br>
<b>General Ramblings:<br>
</b>Bunnings for Lunch?<br>
Why I use the NECU<br>
Three way VoIP calling<br>
Turn your Nokia mobile into a wireless router.<br>
<br>
<b>Entertainment:<br>
</b></big></small></font><font face="Arial"><small><big> Bluebirdy
Blues.<br>
The Skype Wall?<br>
Weekend Woodies.<br>
</big></small></font><font face="Arial"><small><big><br>
<b><br>
</b></big></small></font>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><font face="Arial"><small><big><b><br>
AlternativeTo - Find alternatives to the programs you like.</b><b><br>
<br>
</b>This tip is particularly handy for tinkering types who like to try
out new programs. <br>
<br>
If you've ever gone looking on Google for something like "dvd copier"
or "convert wav to mp3" or some other thing you think must exist, odds
are you'll be given the same answers repeatedly, but the websites that
you go to will instead try to give you everything else that you don't
want including registry cleaners (which are all snake oil by the way)
and driver updaters. In short, it's a complete disaster that Google
seems to have no interest in dealing with.<br>
<br>
Instead, there's a great site called AlternativeTo.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://alternativeto.net/">http://alternativeto.net/</a> <br>
<br>
As an example, if you type in "DVD ripper" (which is any program that
stores a copy of a DVD on your computer) you'll first get a number of
programs that seem to be DVD rippers. Click on one of them and you'll
be given a list in descending order of popularity for all the DVD
ripping programs that are known to exist. <br>
<br>
The trick to this site is knowing that the program you click on then
appears at the top of the list, and you need to read the area in black
to find out all about that program. It doesn't tell you which are free
and which are commercial, but at least it helps keep you clear of the
fake pages that Google gives you which only exist to make money for the
page authors.<br>
<br>
<b>Bundled Crap - it affects us all...<br>
<br>
</b>Many companies that provide free programs on the Internet have a
nasty habit of trying to trick you into installing things you don't
need. The biggest culprit at the moment would have to be Adobe Flash,
with Java a likely second. When installing updates from these
companies, watch carefully so you can untick these unwanted extras.
(Example at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/515/cpsid_51559.html">http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/515/cpsid_51559.html</a> )<br>
<br>
Things that commonly hitch a ride are <br>
OpenOffice, Yahoo Toolbar, Ask.com Toolbar, Google Toolbar, Google
Chrome, McAfee Security Scan, Norton Security Scan.<br>
<br>
If you do accidentally end up with one of these things and you don't
want it, you can remove it from your computer via the Control Panel
section.<br>
<br>
By the way, the reason you should keep Flash and Java up to date is
because the majority of 'viruses' written at the moment use faults
inside these two programs to take over your computer - usually but not
always via poisoned advertisements.<br>
<br>
<b>Time to Get Rid of Java?<br>
<br>
</b>Java appears to be becoming a dying technology. It is now rarely
used. The only programs I regularly see that use Java (not to be
confused with the more popular JavaScript) are Limewire (now defunct),
FrostWire (its open-source freebie equivalent) and the ATO's E-Commerce
site. Oh, and if you use OpenOffice you need to keep it.<br>
<br>
If I read <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.grc.com/sn/sn-271.txt">http://www.grc.com/sn/sn-271.txt</a> correctly, Microsoft has
encountered more than six million computers infected so far this
quarter by virsues that use Java to get into the computer. <br>
<br>
So, if you're not using it, it might be time to get rid of it. It's in
Start --> Control Panel --> Add/ Remove programs or Uninstall a
program. You might have several copies too by the way.<br>
<br>
If you do need it, just make sure you run the updates every time one is
offered.<br>
<br>
If you get rid of it, then find you need it again, most programs that
need it will automatically go and fetch it again.<br>
<br>
<b>How to recognise a fake Virus warning...<br>
<br>
</b>Here is an example of a fake virus warning.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://i.imgur.com/EJaOY.png">http://i.imgur.com/EJaOY.png</a><br>
<br>
What it actually is, is just a picture on a web page, designed to look
like a legitimate warning from Windows.<br>
<br>
If you were to actually click on the "Remove" button, your computer
would then download a 'virus' - or technically a fake antivirus program
which will then incessantly nag you to buy it, and most likely prevent
you from opening any programs on the computer.<br>
<br>
Probably the biggest giveaway to watch out for is that this fake
warning does not bear the name of your antivirus program. If you have
Avast for example, any message warning of a virus would bear the Avast
logo. Similarly, a Microsoft Security Essentials or Norton / Trend
window would bear the name of that program. It's also very unlikely
you'd suddenly get ten different viruses at once :)<br>
<br>
Anyway, how could you avoid getting this type of bogus warning in the
first place.... read on...<br>
<br>
<b>Block Those Ads :)<br>
<br>
</b>When I set up a new computer for a customer, I almost always put
"Mozilla Firefox" on it. Why? Well, because it can be easily customised.<br>
<br>
Once of the customisations available is a feature called "AdBlock
Plus". This blocks almost all advertisements on all webpages.<br>
<br>
As mentioned earlier, many viruses come through malicious
advertisements - either advertisements that take advantage of a fault
in the computer to get in - or play a trick by popping up a fake
'you've got blah blah viruses click here to remove' message.<br>
<br>
By blocking these ads, you also block that risk. (For added security,
you can run FlashBlock as well, or for really high security run
NoScript as well.)<br>
<br>
Of course, by blocking ads you are denying a small amount of money to
the website you visit; so if it's a site you trust you can disable it
for that site. For those of you on expensive Satellite connections, it
saves you a fair bit on downloads too :)<br>
<br>
You can get firefox at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://getfirefox.com/">http://getfirefox.com/</a> and once installed click
Tools - Add-Ons, Get Add-Ons and search for AdBlock Plus. When Firefox
restarts select the English ad blocking list subscription and you're
done. <br>
<br>
<b>Tips for buying a new laptop.<br>
<br>
</b>This is a question I get asked every week. Generally speaking, for
those of you that just do basic accounting work and use the Internet,
there's not much need to buy a particularly expensive laptop. Also, as
far as brands go it's hard to really pick one over the others these
days for reliability.<br>
<br>
My general advice is to duck in to Harvey Norman, RetraVision and Dick
Smith to see what's there. See what appeals to you design-wise. The
general tips are to look for at least dual core processors, or the i3,
i5, i7 range. Hard drive at least 320G and RAM at least 2G. You might
also care about things like whether it has a webcam built in, how heavy
it is and what the battery life is like. Whether or not it includes
Microsoft Office (Word and Excel, etc) might also matter to you.<br>
<br>
One handy resource for comparing multiple laptops at once is
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://apcmag.com/notebookhunter/index.htm">http://apcmag.com/notebookhunter/index.htm</a><br>
<br>
Oh, and if you want an Apple - that's OK too. Provided you don't need
to run any Windows-only programs. (Accounting programs in particular
are a concern here.) It is possible to run Windows on an Apple with
some fiddling. Some printers may not work on Apple computers.<br>
<br>
<b>New Plans again at Exetel.<br>
<br>
</b>Once again, Exetel has played with their plans a bit, so it might
be worth having a look to see what plan you're on now and what you
could be getting for the same price. For example with ADSL, $38 a month
will now get 50GB a month, or $53 will now get you an unlimited
downloads plan - both at 1500kbps, but only if you change from your
existing plan. They also have some new wireless plans at $30 for 3GB or
$45 for 5GB, and a more reasonable $20 per GB over. More details:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.exetel.com.au/a_plan_pricing_new.php">http://www.exetel.com.au/a_plan_pricing_new.php</a> and
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.exetel.com.au/residential-hspa-pricing.php">http://www.exetel.com.au/residential-hspa-pricing.php</a><br>
<br>
Telstra's wireless plans are still fairly good too - see
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://go.bigpond.com/wireless/?ref=Net-Head-Int-Plans-Wireless">http://go.bigpond.com/wireless/?ref=Net-Head-Int-Plans-Wireless</a><br>
<br>
<br>
</big></small></font>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><font face="Arial"><small><big><br>
<b></b><b>Bunnings for Lunch?<br>
<br>
</b>It's funny talking to customers about the recent appearance of
Bunnings in town. Some love it, some hate it. Some never leave Guyra :)<br>
<br>
In my opinion, it's just more competition; so it doesn't really worry
me. They have some stuff I can't get elsewhere.<br>
<br>
When lunch time comes around, I'm usually to be found grabbing a quick
pie at the North Hill bakery or the Guyra bakery. However, thereafter
it's usually time to, ahem, spring a leak somewhere. Guyra is well
catered for in terms of toilets for travellers; but Armidale is far
less so. As a result, depending on the day I sometimes sacrifice a
little on the pie quality for the convenience of a generic
plastic-wrapped reheated Bunnings pie followed by a Bunnings Dunny.
(The public ones that is, not the ones that are waiting for a new home.)<br>
<br>
I guess this is one of the reasons Maccas does so well - people know
they're going to be able to eat and leak. Bakeries rarely do. I don't
mind the occasional Maccas meal, but since the food there is so cheap,
I worry about what conditions the donor animals lived in before
becoming my Quarter Pounder - that information is not printed on the
placements. Admittedly, a Bunnings Pie might also have come from a
battery cow so perhaps that's a slight double-standard on my part...<br>
<br>
<b>Why I use the NECU?<br>
<br>
</b>.. or whatever they're called these days.<br>
<br>
There were two things that first made me change to them years ago. Bank
fees, and opening hours. I get very frustrated when I go to any
retailer and they're 'closed for lunch.' Surely lunch time is often the
only time people have free to go to these places in the first place?<br>
<br>
However more recently I was saved by another default feature of their
accounts. <br>
<br>
With traditional banks, each account is a distinct entity, and if it
gets overdrawn you generally get whacked some nasty fees. However, with
the NECU you have one master account and many sub-accounts. If you
overdraw the master, it can automatically raid the sub-accounts.<br>
<br>
Earlier this week I was slack and didn't check the balance at the end
of the month in the master account. Sure enough, Exetel's direct debits
hit it and it goes overdrawn. About 10 transactions automatically came
out of the tax reserve sub-account rather than whacking me for big
'failed transaction' fees. I don't know for sure, but that probably
saved me about $300 or more had I been with a different bank.<br>
<br>
I suspect this feature might be optional at banks as well, but haven't
looked. I should give the CBA credit for supplying me with a Merchant
Facility many years ago that I still use today, and the NAB for the
first home loan before it moved over to the CBA.<br>
<br>
<b>Three Way VoIP calling.<br>
<br>
</b>For those of you using Exetel VoIP still, just thought I'd let you
know that it's possible to make three way calls with this service if
your modem supports it. (All Billions / Open Networks ones do I
believe.) In my case this is handy if needing to speak to Telstra and
an account holder simultaneously.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://auzzie.net/cccblog//index.php?title=how_to_make_conference_calls_on_open_824&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1">http://auzzie.net/cccblog//index.php?title=how_to_make_conference_calls_on_open_824&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1</a>
has more details.<br>
<br>
These calls are at the usual VoIP rate, so for 20 cents you can talk to
two people in Australia for as long as you like.<br>
<br>
<b>Turn your Nokia Mobile into a Wireless Router.<br>
<br>
</b>If you have a reasonably capable Nokia mobile - for example the E51
or something more recent that has WiFi built in, there's a free program
you can load onto it that will turn it into a wireless router. (Note,
some modern fancy phones like the iPhone, some Android phones, etc,
also have this capability built in.)<br>
<br>
What does that mean?<br>
<br>
It means you can stick your phone somewhere that it gets reception,
press a couple of buttons, and then get online within about 20 metres
of it using your Laptop. No wires needed.<br>
<br>
This could be really handy in the following situations:<br>
<br>
1 - You're on Satellite, and it's a cloudy day. Your Internet won't
connect. Your phone only works in the window, and you need to send some
emails. <br>
<br>
2 - You're in the car and want to look up something on the 'net.<br>
<br>
3 - You're on wireless broadband at the edge of reception and it's
having a bad day. Your phone gets reception in the window or in the car.<br>
<br>
4 - You're somewhere that has no internet at all, but your phone works.<br>
<br>
(Note: Mobile phones generally have stronger antennas built in than
those inside USB sticks.)<br>
<br>
You might even already have some free downloads on your plan and not
know it. To check, press the "Telstra" or "My Place" button on your
phone, go to "My Account" and "Data Usage" to see how many MB you have.<br>
<br>
A big warning however - these plans still have super-high excess usage
fees on them, so you need to be careful not to go over the limit. They
will SMS you when you get close however so it's not extremely
dangerous. <br>
<br>
The pricing for doing this (if it's not included on your plan) is at
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile/browsing_packs.html">http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile/browsing_packs.html</a> <br>
<br>
One good bit of news is that there is no contract on doing this, so you
can arrange for a browsing pack before going away and cancel it when
you get back, etc.<br>
<br>
For the Nokias, the free /program is at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://joiku.com/">http://joiku.com/</a> - or you can
install it on your phone directly by going to <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.joikuspot.com/light">www.joikuspot.com/light</a>
with your mobile's web browser. (You can buy a fancy version as well,
but in rural areas it's probably not necessary.<br>
</big></small></font><font face="Arial"><small><big><br>
</big></small></font>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><font face="Arial"><small><big><br>
<b>Bluebirdy Blues?</b><br>
<br>
Modern cars use computers to control the motor. Mine doesn't. Instead
it uses a funny arrangement of levers, sprays, wires, pumps and holes
to get the juice in it to make it go. A couple of weeks ago it decided
that it would try to save fuel by stalling whenever I stopped. A Guyra
mechanic had a look for me but sadly only made it worse so sometimes it
would die, and other times without warning it'd try to take off again.
Predictable I can handle, unpredictable not so much :)<br>
<br>
Anyway, so it went to an Armidale mechanic who tamed it again somewhat
- not quite perfect but better than it was before it went to the Guyra
mechanic. <br>
<br>
Modern Mechanics are not the same as old ones. Modern mechanics have
the luxury of computers that tell them why the car won't go :) It's
getting harder to find mechanics who fully understand the older style -
particularly when it comes to the 'fancy' ones like this; so I've had
to teach myself just what all the bits are for on the ol' bugger. One
handy resource has been
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.tpub.com/content/armyordnance/Od16207/index.htm">http://www.tpub.com/content/armyordnance/Od16207/index.htm</a> which
explains what most of the weird add-on bits are.<br>
<br>
Of course, some of you wonder why I persist with an older vehicle? The
main reason is because it sat in a shed for 8 years, and had a new
motor not long before that; so in my mind at least it should still have
some useful life in it. (Unfortunately rubber ages irrespective of use,
which is bad news for vacuum-driven thinggies.)<br>
<br>
Of course, rego's nearly due now, and it failed a safety check because
of a small transmission leak, and amusingly also because the drivers
side door hinges are worn out. (I guess my sticker "pull door towards
you to open" stuck above the handle as a courtesy to the mechanic might
have given that away.) I have ordered new hinges for it (since there
are none left in Guyra / Armidale wreckers) and am getting the very
last original door hinge to come off the production line. A new TVV is
on its way too so I can get the scavenger tank working again.<br>
<br>
Anyway, so I'm back on the road again - hopefully for another year. If
you know anyone who specialises in dual-throat carbies with Hot Idle
Compensators, EGR, Positive Crank Case Ventilation, Fast Idle cams,
dual ignitions and a BCDD, let me know :) <br>
<br>
<b>The Skype Wall?<br>
<br>
</b>Here's an idea that would have been Sci-Fi years ago. It would now
be possible to set up a projector (or big TV) and a webcam in two
premises and have a skype video conference open between them. Imagine
for example that you and your family had to be split up for a few
months. You could pick a wall in each house and use it to link to a
wall in the other. You could meet up at brekkie time for example, or
just glance over in the afternoon for a chat. In these days of
relatively cheap unlimited Internet plans it is a possibility :)<br>
<br>
<b></b></big></small></font><font face="Arial"><b>Weekend Woodies!<br>
<br>
</b>The Weekend Woodies is not yet available as a traditional PodCast,
but you can listen to the last week's episode at
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.abc.net.au/sydney/programs/702_weekends/">http://www.abc.net.au/sydney/programs/702_weekends/</a> - if you don't know
what it is, it's a comedy radio show for DIY renovators who call in
with assorted questions.<br>
<br>
--<br>
<br>
Well that's it for another newsletter :) Thanks for reading :)<br>
Cheers, Mike.<br>
</font><br>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><font face="Arial"><small><big><br>
</big></small></font><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><b>Old
Editions<br>
</b>You can find old editions of this newsletter on the CCC Blog. <a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://auzzie.net/cccblog/">http://auzzie.net/cccblog/</a><br>
<br>
You can also subscribe or unsubscribe at
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://auzzie.net/mailman/listinfo/ccc-news_auzzie.net">http://auzzie.net/mailman/listinfo/ccc-news_auzzie.net</a></font><br>
<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><b><br>
</b></font>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><br>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Cool Country Consulting & Auzzie Internet<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.auzzie.net/ccc">http://www.auzzie.net/ccc</a><br>
MSN: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:michael@auzzie.net">michael@auzzie.net</a><br>
Tel: 02 6775 0239<br>
Fax: 02 8212 9582<br>
Mob: 0427 644 825<br>
Skype: cccons<br>
Yahoo: lispbourke<br>
</div>
</body>
</html>