<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;
charset=ISO-8859-1">
</head>
<body text="#006600" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<font face="Arial" color="#000000"><small><big><b>In this edition:<br>
</b><b><br>
</b>This edition comes to you from Black Mountain.<br>
</big></small></font><font face="Arial" color="#000000"><small><big><br>
<b>Latest News:<br>
Val's Memorial PowerPoint.<br>
What's Mike Doing?<br>
More Cheap Phone options.<br>
The Amazing Buy Swap Sell Facebook Page.<br>
Geocaching - An Excuse To Go Exploring :)<br>
Bitcoin Rollercoaster.<br>
</b><b> <br>
</b></big></small></font>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><br>
<b><font color="#000000"><font face="Arial">Val's Memorial PowerPoint.<br>
<br>
</font></font></b><font color="#000000"><font face="Arial">If
you'd like to see Val's 5 Minute Memorial PowerPoint
Presentation, you can get it here.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://web.auzzie.net/files/Remembering%20Val%20v3.zip">http://web.auzzie.net/files/Remembering%20Val%20v3.zip</a> If anyone
wants a copy of the video of the service, her garden, artwork
and life photos and videos, let me know. <br>
<br>
</font></font>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><font color="#000000"><font face="Arial"><br>
<b>What's Mike Doing?<br>
<br>
</b>I'm slowly getting through all the stuff that happens after
your partner passes away. Once this is all finalised, I'll write
another newsletter detailing a few tips on how to survive an event
like this.<br>
<br>
I'm still going through the rebuilding process. Soon I will do a
bit of traveling. Not much work happening yet as I need to get
my home, office and myself back in order first. Feel free to ask
anyway.<br>
<br>
</font></font>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><font color="#000000"><font face="Arial"><br>
<b>More Cheap Phone Options.</b><br>
<br>
How does $45 a month for a landline + unlimited calls mobile +
5GB of Internet sound? <br>
<br>
I haven't yet been able to personally try some of these
services, but they're out there. Here's the details.<br>
<br>
<i><b>1 - Turn your Landline into a Cordless Landline for $10 a
month wi</b></i><i><b>th a Dead Bird.</b></i><br>
<br>
See <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://connectto.dodo.com/BuddyBox2/">https://connectto.dodo.com/BuddyBox2/</a><br>
<br>
Most people don't like to get rid of their landline because
their friends all know their number. Now you can keep that
number and do away with the Telstra landline completely -
provided you can get Optus reception somewhere in your house.
You still use your existing landline phones.<br>
<br>
Note that I'm not necessarily recommending you make calls on
this service. Use it to receive, but use the unlimited mobile
mentioned next to make calls and for Internet access.<br>
<br>
Note: This won't work when the power's off, but you probably
still have a mobile phone. If you're of poor health you might
prefer the security of keeping the landline instead for around
$26 a month minimum - it might make 000 calls finding you
slightly faster but I don't know for sure.<br>
<br>
<i><b>2 - Grab an Unlimited Calls mobile</b></i>.<br>
<br>
If you're paying more than $35-$45 a month on your phone bills -
landline & mobile combined - but don't make overseas calls,
then you're paying too much. You can instead grab an Aldi
Unlimited service <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.aldimobile.com.au/plans">https://www.aldimobile.com.au/plans</a> or a Boost
Unlimited service <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.boost.com.au/frontend/rates.aspx">http://www.boost.com.au/frontend/rates.aspx</a><br>
<br>
Both use the Telstra mobile network, although Boost is a little
faster with a little more coverage, but with less data. <br>
<br>
Both are prepaid services, so there's no risk of overspend, and
no contract.<br>
<br>
Last newsletter I mentioned Kogan. There have been too many
conditions added since their plan was released, making it
unsuitable for use as an Internet service. (They added a limit
of 400MB a day for two days or you get the boot. Unconscionable.)<br>
<br>
<i><b>3 - Internet through the mobile phone.<br>
<br>
</b></i>Most modern mobile phones will share their internet
connection wirelessly to multiple computers. Since the above
plans include a fair bit of data, you can use this on your
computer or tablet. You probably have no need to pay for ADSL or
a Wireless Stick unless you need more than 5GB a month. And as a
bonus, there's no risk of excess fees.<i><b><br>
<br>
</b></i><i><b>Summary:<br>
<br>
</b></i>So, if you think you can get used to making all your
calls through a mobile phone - even one of those basic ones with
the big buttons - you can probably save a significant sum of
money.<br>
<br>
I'm not fully up on NBN plans yet, that'll be next newsletter.<br>
<br>
</font></font>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><font color="#000000"><font face="Arial"><br>
<b>The Amazing Buy Swap Sell Facebook Page.<br>
<br>
</b>You've all heard of Ebay. Most of you have heard of Gumtree.
I suspect most of you have not heard of "Armidale Buy, Swap,
Sell." (I hadn't, but then I've been living in my own world for
a while now. Thanks Campbell Wolfenden for the tip.)<br>
<br>
I'm not a great fan of Facebook as you probably know, but was
amazed at how many people are in this group, and how much stuff
is being bought and sold on an hourly basis there. (Cars, Ducks,
Couches, Fridges, Clothing, Lamps, BBQs, Baby Stuff, Phones,
Speakers, Goats...)<br>
<br>
If you're not on Facebook, it's worth it just to access this
site. <br>
<br>
At present, there are 6,800 members. Not bad for a small town
the size of Armidale!<br>
<br>
There are a number of simple rules to use the site, and it is
loosely moderated. <br>
<br>
I think part of the success of this site comes down to being
able to see who the buyers and sellers are care of their
Facebook profiles. It's not open to the general public so you
mostly won't get the scams that Gumtree and Paypal attract, but
you might still get time wasters.<br>
<br>
I think the address for the page is at </font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Arial"><a
href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/buyswapsell/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/buyswapsell/</a>
but I'm not a Facebook expert so I could be wrong. Use the
search function if this address is wrong.<br>
<br>
I believe some other towns, including Guyra, have them as well.<br>
<br>
It's free to use :)<br>
<br>
If you're worried about Facebook being able to track you, you
might be able to avoid this somewhat by using Facebook in a
different browser to your normal browser. (Common choices are
Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, and Internet Explorer)<br>
<br>
</font></font>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><font color="#000000"><font face="Arial"><br>
</font></font><font face="Arial" color="#000000"><small><big><b>Geocaching
- An Excuse To Go Exploring :)<br>
<br>
</b>Do you have a smartphone, tablet or GPS? Do you like to go
walking? Do you like Hide & Seek? You might enjoy
Geocaching.<br>
<br>
Geocaching is where somebody places an item, usually in an
unusual or hidden location, and records the GPS coordinates of
where that item is so others can go find it.<br>
<br>
I was surprised to find that there are several in the Armidale
town area. There's one at Dumaresq Dam too which is a great
one to get started with. (Try not to step on the resident Red
Bellied Black Snakes - they're usually harmless according to
Wikipedia, but you never know.) Another is at Thunderbolt's
Cave. I hope to place one at Malpas Dam soon, <i>still </i>waiting
for permission from Armidale Council.<br>
<br>
You'd need to register a <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.geocaching.com/">https://www.geocaching.com/</a> (or there
are probably other sites that do it too.)<br>
<br>
If you're on Android, search for c:geo in the Play Store.
iPhone, perhaps Looking 4 Cache will suit. (I don't have an
i-device so don't know for sure, but I know a website where
they are always for sale...)<br>
<br>
In practise, your phone will tell you what's nearby, how many
km and in what direction. You can either use the compass mode
or the map mode. Part of the challenge is that your phone can
generally only take you accurately within 10 metres of the
cache, so there's still some searching to be done. Many caches
have 'hints' to help you find them.<br>
<br>
Many caches have a logbook so you can write in them, and the
website also has a logbook so you can see who else has found
the cache, write your own story, share photos, etc.<br>
<br>
<b>Bitcoin Rollercoaster.<br>
<br>
</b>A couple of years ago I mentioned Bitcoin in a newsletter
- an online cryptocurrency. At that time, one Bitcoin was
worth about $1. A few days ago it peaked at $250 before
dropping back to $95 at present. Some early adopters did very
well. The sudden rise was largely attributed to the dramas in
Cyprus as people may have been looking for a 'safe haven' for
their money. There was also some coverage in the mainstream
media, and it was added as a currency on
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/MTGOXUSD">http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/MTGOXUSD</a><br>
<br>
There are many theories as to why it fell again so fast. An
over-reliance on the most popular exchange, MtGox, which
suffered from DDOS and overwhelming demand has probably
dropped the price again. It's also such a small market
relative to traditional currencies that it's probably quite
easy for people to game the system.<br>
<br>
More info at <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://bitcoin.org/en/how-it-works">http://bitcoin.org/en/how-it-works</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/">http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1663664&p=70">http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1663664&p=70</a><br>
<br>
If you're an economist, you might find Bitcoin fascinating
since it is a forced deflationary currency whereas we are all
used to inflationary currencies.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</big></small></font>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><br>
<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" color="#000000"><b>Old
Editions<br>
</b>You <strike>can</strike> used to be able to find old editions
of this newsletter on the CCC Blog. <a moz-do-not-send="true"
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
moz-do-not-send="true" 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><font
color="#000000"><br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" color="#000000"><b><br>
</b></font>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><font color="#000000"><br>
Michael Kean<br>
<b>Proprietor, Cool Country Consulting.</b><br>
Trading Hours: 10am to 8pm weekdays.<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://coolhelp.com.au/">http://coolhelp.com.au/</a><br>
Tel: 02 6775 0239 Mob: 0427 644 825<br>
Chat contacts: WLM: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:michael@auzzie.net">michael@auzzie.net</a> Skype:
cccons</font><br>
<br>
</body>
</html>