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<font color="#000000"><font face="Arial"><b>In this edition:</b><br>
<br>
This edition comes to you from Black Mountain.<br>
<br>
<b>Latest News:</b><br>
<br>
Where's My Bill?<br>
Customer Pricing and Satisfaction Survey!<br>
<br>
<br>
<b>Other Stuff:</b><br>
<br>
Chromecast vs Apple TV<br>
I'm Ba-aack...<br>
Jason Mills<br>
Wireless NBN a mixed bag.<br>
<br>
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<b>Where's My Bill?</b><br>
<br>
As some of you have probably noticed, very few invoices have
been sent out since May. The reason? I've made too much money!
Well, not really, but my turnover is too high.<br>
<br>
Several years ago I deregistered from GST because it made jobs
for home customers a little cheaper and it meant I didn't have
to do all that pesky GST paperwork. The rule was that if your
turnover is less than $75,000 per year, you didn't need to be
registered for GST. <br>
<br>
This has become problematic because it has meant I have had to
watch how much I 'proxy spend' for customers - and recently some
customers have asked me to make large purchases of computer gear
on their behalf and then invoice them - something I make very
little money on but which of course counts against turnover and
also prevents them claiming GST.<br>
<br>
When I was doing some financial forecasting just before nicking
off to Ireland again, my accounting system said "hey Mate,
you've nearly hit the $75K limit!" (Well it didn't literally say
that, my accounting system isn't programmed to speak although
that could be fun!) Since this legally requires me to
re-register for GST, I've temorarily stopped sending accounts
and am living on savings until I can get that taken care of.
Otherwise I would have to re-issue a bunch of invoices!<br>
<br>
<b>Customer Pricing and Satisfaction Survey!</b><br>
<br>
Re-Registering for GST means I will lose 10% of my income to the
ATO, so I guess it is time to consider increasing my rates a
bit. I will still retain the low income and pensioner ~30%
discount on labour costs, although at particularly busy times
these customers may be delayed by full paying customers.<br>
<br>
To have you say on what you think the pricing should be, and
also to provide optional feedback on what you find good and bad
about my services to you, <a
href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LQ25YPC">feel free to
fill out this seven question anonymous survey</a> - should
take about 3 - 5 minutes. (Limit 100 customer responses.)<br>
<br>
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<b>ChromeCast vs Apple TV</b><br>
<br>
What are they? They are little things you can plug into your
flat screen TV that turn them into "Smart" TVs<br>
<br>
How much are they? $49 all up or the Chromecast; or $89 (plus an
HDMI cable) for the Apple TV.<br>
<br>
How are they the same? Both let you watch movies and listen to
music that you have on your computer, or that you find on the
Internet.<br>
<br>
How are they different? The Chromecast is controlled entirely
from your mobile phone or computer. The Apple TV is controlled
either by your computer or the included remote control.<br>
<br>
The Chromecast is entirely dependent on phones or a computer to
tell it what to show you on your TV. The Apple TV can work
independently for streaming YouTube, etc.<br>
<br>
Which should you buy? Up to you :) If you are predominantly an
Android and Windows family, the Chromecast is great. If you're
more into iTunes and Apple stuff, the Apple TV is great too.<br>
<br>
Do they need broadband to work? No. You just need a WiFi
network, or Ethernet is OK for the Apple TV.<br>
<br>
Can they play pirated movies from hard drives? In most cases,
yes; via a computer or phone / tablet. The Apple TV requires you
to tell iTunes about the movies first. There are apps for
Windows, Android phones and tablets that will let you stream
most files from them to your TV too.<br>
<br>
Are there other alternatives? Yes - almost all modern laptops
can plug straight into your TV and your TV becomes a big laptop
screen. These devices just add convenience.<br>
<br>
One final point - the Chromecast is not much bigger than a
memory stick, and in many cases can be powered by your TV so you
might not need an extra power point.<br>
<br>
<b>I'm Baa-aaack :)</b><br>
<br>
Yes, I'm back from my trip to Ireland - and yes, Caroline
returned with me again :) Our migration process still has up to
four months to run, and the peculiarities of the process require
her to be out of the country when a decision is made; so our
exact future is still up in the air. She also can only stay for
three months at a time on the current visa, so that adds to the
excitement. She is not allowed to work yet either - good news
for my belly as I'm being well fed; not so good news for the
Guyra and Black Mountain roadhouses that were feeding me
beforehand! Fingers crossed that we have a convincing enough
case when they get around to looking at all our masses of
paperwork and evidence!<br>
<br>
<b>Jason Mills.</b><br>
<br>
A few of you made use of Jason Mills' services while I was away
last. It is a relief to know he's handy if I am unable to work
for any reason - that's always been a point of stress in my job.
He still plans to stay on in the area doing IT work, so if you
can't catch me or I've ticked you off somehow (!) you can try
him on 0408690435. He's only part time due to his other
commitments.<br>
<br>
<b>Wireless NBN a Mixed Bag.</b><br>
<br>
The Wireless NBN in Guyra is up and running, and I have about 6
customers signed up to it so far. The results are mostly good -
the connections are fairly stable, certainly moreso than their
Optus Wireless connections. The only issues I'm having so far
are intermittent periods of disconnection on one service despite
full signal strength, and speeds well below those advertised in
all cases. (12Mbps services rarely exceed 4Mbps, 25Mbps services
rarely exceed 10Mbps.) It's still well worth the money; but
isn't quite living up to the promise.<br>
<br>
<i>Well, that's it for another newsletter. Wishing you all a
pleasant winter!<br>
<br>
Cheers, Mike.<br>
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<font color="#000000" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><b>Old
Editions<br>
</b>You can find old editions of this newsletter on the CCC Blog.
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href="http://coolhelp.com.au/blog/">http://coolhelp.com.au/blog/</a><br>
<br>
You can also subscribe or unsubscribe at <a
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<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>
Skype: cccons</font><br>
<br>
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