A gang infecting blogs with malware is estimated to have infected a million PCs over the last eight months.
That number is not surprising and just goes to show how bad the security issues are on Windows systems.
I can't emphasise how important it is to run computers in Limited User mode.
Or get a Mac.
Friday, August 31, 2007
The heartbreak of lost data
Megan Bowen's story of losing her family photos and videos to a housebreaker is a reminder of how data is far more valuable than hardware and why you need to guard the backups.
The sad thing for the Bowen family is they had burned CDs with the photos, but these were in a laptop case that was stolen as well.
It's important to do backups because theft is the only way you can lose data; your hard drive might fail, you may accidentally delete it or a fire might destroy your computer.
Fires, theft and floods often also destroy backups. That's why we recommend keeping a copy off site. Ideally we'd recommend having at least two backups and rotating them so one is by the computer and another is somewhere else.
Backup software's always a major issue. For home and small business users, we recommend using the Microsoft Synctoy. For larger businesses there's all manner of software that can be used.
Regardless of what you use, we'd recommend checking the backup on a regular basis to make sure everything is being backed up. One of the most stressful and heartbreaking parts of working as a computer tech is when you find a backup has failed.
The sad thing for the Bowen family is they had burned CDs with the photos, but these were in a laptop case that was stolen as well.
It's important to do backups because theft is the only way you can lose data; your hard drive might fail, you may accidentally delete it or a fire might destroy your computer.
Fires, theft and floods often also destroy backups. That's why we recommend keeping a copy off site. Ideally we'd recommend having at least two backups and rotating them so one is by the computer and another is somewhere else.
Backup software's always a major issue. For home and small business users, we recommend using the Microsoft Synctoy. For larger businesses there's all manner of software that can be used.
Regardless of what you use, we'd recommend checking the backup on a regular basis to make sure everything is being backed up. One of the most stressful and heartbreaking parts of working as a computer tech is when you find a backup has failed.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
The Monster.com mess
As we enter National Identity Fraud Awareness Week, the story of Monster.com's security breach just seems to get worse.
What amazes me is just how little coverage this is getting in the media. This story is huge with not only millions of accounts at risk, but the company seems to have no idea of how many accounts have been compromised.
Even more disturbing is how this scam works, it relies on infected machines running software that logs onto to Monster's database, looks up candidate details and sends the results to spammers and phishers who then use the addresses to spread more spam and malware.
What really concerns me is that I've received a few of these type of emails purporting to be from Seek and MyCareer. I'm wondering if the same scam is at work on these sites as well.
What amazes me is just how little coverage this is getting in the media. This story is huge with not only millions of accounts at risk, but the company seems to have no idea of how many accounts have been compromised.
Even more disturbing is how this scam works, it relies on infected machines running software that logs onto to Monster's database, looks up candidate details and sends the results to spammers and phishers who then use the addresses to spread more spam and malware.
What really concerns me is that I've received a few of these type of emails purporting to be from Seek and MyCareer. I'm wondering if the same scam is at work on these sites as well.
Dodgy cheques and laser printers
On the techno-fraud front, the Consumerist has an article on the surge in fake bank cheques due to high quality laser printers.
Given fake cheques are a favourite trick of Ebay and 419 fraudsters, it's really important not to trust cheques unless they have come from someone you know.
It also pays to be very cautious of foreign cheques. It can take quite a while for a cheque drawn on a foreign bank to be cleared. If you've sent goods or given money to people based on one of these cheques you might be in for a nasty surprise a month or two down the track.
Personally, I'd be very reluctant to accept any cheque drawn on an institution I've never heard of. If I did, I'd be making doubly sure it had cleared before acting on it.
Given fake cheques are a favourite trick of Ebay and 419 fraudsters, it's really important not to trust cheques unless they have come from someone you know.
It also pays to be very cautious of foreign cheques. It can take quite a while for a cheque drawn on a foreign bank to be cleared. If you've sent goods or given money to people based on one of these cheques you might be in for a nasty surprise a month or two down the track.
Personally, I'd be very reluctant to accept any cheque drawn on an institution I've never heard of. If I did, I'd be making doubly sure it had cleared before acting on it.
Vista Service Pack 1 Beta
The announcement the first Vista Service Pack is about be released in beta is welcome news.
Experienced Microsoft customers know that waiting for the first service pack is a really good idea with a new MS operating system so the release of SP1 will spark the so far lacklustre sales of Vista.
What should be emphasised is that non-techy users shouldn't go within miles of a beta release. The computer industry is unique in this practice of releasing products that might not work so the general population can test.
It's akin to the motor industry giving away a new model car for testing, figuring that they'll save on the cost of crash test dummies.
Would you accept a free car on the basis that the brakes might fail, the airbags might kill the passengers and the whole thing might randomly burst into flames? Well that's what a beta release is.
To be fair to Microsoft they aren't making this available through mass market channels, it will only be available through the MS Developers Network and Technet.
We should also point out that at least MS beta test their major releases rather than using paying customers as crash test dummies which I'm convinced certain anti-virus companies do.
It's good MS are working on the Vista service pack, now we have to ask is where is the XP service pack three? The thing is two years overdue and it's becoming an embarrassment.
Experienced Microsoft customers know that waiting for the first service pack is a really good idea with a new MS operating system so the release of SP1 will spark the so far lacklustre sales of Vista.
What should be emphasised is that non-techy users shouldn't go within miles of a beta release. The computer industry is unique in this practice of releasing products that might not work so the general population can test.
It's akin to the motor industry giving away a new model car for testing, figuring that they'll save on the cost of crash test dummies.
Would you accept a free car on the basis that the brakes might fail, the airbags might kill the passengers and the whole thing might randomly burst into flames? Well that's what a beta release is.
To be fair to Microsoft they aren't making this available through mass market channels, it will only be available through the MS Developers Network and Technet.
We should also point out that at least MS beta test their major releases rather than using paying customers as crash test dummies which I'm convinced certain anti-virus companies do.
It's good MS are working on the Vista service pack, now we have to ask is where is the XP service pack three? The thing is two years overdue and it's becoming an embarrassment.
Appreciating your tech
One of the more saddening parts of being a computer tech is how little your skills are really appreciated.
A good example was yesterday, the first job had been locked out of her computer. The fix for this is usually quite easy and it only took twenty minutes to reset the admin password. When that was fixed she asked to setup a new profile which took another half hour.
So the total time was an hour. Her response?
I didn't expect it to be that expensive?
I mean, FFS! Thanks lady for the appreciation.
In the afternoon I did another job, this was for a client I hadn't seen for years. It took me ninety minutes to fix the spyware infection that had crippled her wireless connection.
Her thanks?
I hope I don't have to see again.
Gee lady, thanks.
One of my staff told me yesterday about the client who thought the three hour job he did on Monday should have been simple to fix in half an hour. It reminds me of the Dilbert principle that anything you don't understand must be simple to do.
On a related topic referring to yesterday's rant about Symantec I was delighted to note the first client's computer was almost new and the Norton, which was supplied with the computer, was defective.
Just to prove it's not just Norton, the afternoon job had a fully subscribed and up to date McAfee Internet security suite which had let a number of spyware packages on and allowed them to damage the TCP/IP stack.
Dealing with ungrateful customers and incompetent software vendors is why it makes this industry such a challenge.
If you really want to cultivate a good relationship with a computer tech, don't whine about the bill, time or insult them if they've done a good job.
A good example was yesterday, the first job had been locked out of her computer. The fix for this is usually quite easy and it only took twenty minutes to reset the admin password. When that was fixed she asked to setup a new profile which took another half hour.
So the total time was an hour. Her response?
I didn't expect it to be that expensive?
I mean, FFS! Thanks lady for the appreciation.
In the afternoon I did another job, this was for a client I hadn't seen for years. It took me ninety minutes to fix the spyware infection that had crippled her wireless connection.
Her thanks?
I hope I don't have to see again.
Gee lady, thanks.
One of my staff told me yesterday about the client who thought the three hour job he did on Monday should have been simple to fix in half an hour. It reminds me of the Dilbert principle that anything you don't understand must be simple to do.
On a related topic referring to yesterday's rant about Symantec I was delighted to note the first client's computer was almost new and the Norton, which was supplied with the computer, was defective.
Just to prove it's not just Norton, the afternoon job had a fully subscribed and up to date McAfee Internet security suite which had let a number of spyware packages on and allowed them to damage the TCP/IP stack.
Dealing with ungrateful customers and incompetent software vendors is why it makes this industry such a challenge.
If you really want to cultivate a good relationship with a computer tech, don't whine about the bill, time or insult them if they've done a good job.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Symantec whinges
I had to laugh out loud when reading Symantec's whinge about Microsoft's anti-competitive practices.
This is an outfit that's made a lot of money from Microsoft's inability to grasp the basics of computer security.
The fact is OneCare has lousy record as a security product so if Symantec's products were any good, OneCare wouldn't be a threat.
However Symantec has dropped the ball even more than Microsoft; their anti-virus software completely missed the spyware epidemic and their packages have become the industry byword for system clogging bloatware.
Instead of whining, these people should be looking at getting out well written, effective software that delivers what it promises. I suspect that's a challenge too far for them.
This is an outfit that's made a lot of money from Microsoft's inability to grasp the basics of computer security.
The fact is OneCare has lousy record as a security product so if Symantec's products were any good, OneCare wouldn't be a threat.
However Symantec has dropped the ball even more than Microsoft; their anti-virus software completely missed the spyware epidemic and their packages have become the industry byword for system clogging bloatware.
Instead of whining, these people should be looking at getting out well written, effective software that delivers what it promises. I suspect that's a challenge too far for them.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Acer and Gateway
Acer's proposed takeover of Gateway It's a good move by Acer.
Like Dell, Gateway lost the plot sometime around the year 2000 when the PC industry was hit by the post Y2K downturn. Dell went on a downmarket splurge while Gateway tried to get into fields it didn't understand such as retail stores.
One of the ways Gateway saved itself was by retreating from foreign markets and concentrating on their home US market.
In this light it will be interesting to see how Acer deals with the Gateway and e-machine brands outside the US. The reports indicate Acer have made the purchase to increase US market share. So perhaps we won't see the Gateway brand reappearing soon.
Like Dell, Gateway lost the plot sometime around the year 2000 when the PC industry was hit by the post Y2K downturn. Dell went on a downmarket splurge while Gateway tried to get into fields it didn't understand such as retail stores.
One of the ways Gateway saved itself was by retreating from foreign markets and concentrating on their home US market.
In this light it will be interesting to see how Acer deals with the Gateway and e-machine brands outside the US. The reports indicate Acer have made the purchase to increase US market share. So perhaps we won't see the Gateway brand reappearing soon.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Windows SteadyState
One of my colleagues has bought the new Windows SteadyState to my attention.
Oh boy! This looks like fun. Why do I get a bad feeling when an IT vendor boasts "set and forget".
It appears the bulk of SteadyState is just a nice interface to Window's Group Policy functions. That's good to simplify it, but group policies are a powerful tool that can leave systems in a quivering heap.
I'll be looking forward to having a look at this over the next week.
Oh boy! This looks like fun. Why do I get a bad feeling when an IT vendor boasts "set and forget".
It appears the bulk of SteadyState is just a nice interface to Window's Group Policy functions. That's good to simplify it, but group policies are a powerful tool that can leave systems in a quivering heap.
I'll be looking forward to having a look at this over the next week.
The Federal government web filter
The Federal government was always on a hiding to nothing with their free web filtering software. Some kid was going to crack it in ten minutes flat and indeed they did.
Any technology measure can be circumvented and web filtering is no different so it's no surprise a computer savvy kid cracked it. It's just disappointing these programs don't make it harder for the smart kids.
The difficulty with web filtering is that it's an incomplete answer. While it might protect kids from the odd rude word or dirty picture, it does nothing to protect them from online predators, bullying or other inappropriate behaviour.
No web filter is a substitute for proper supervision. I've said before that most important thing is to keep an eye on what the kids are doing. The first step is to get the computers out of the bedrooms.
I'm trialling these products over the next few days as we're discussing them on this week's Nightlife spot. I'll be posting some of my observations and findings here.
Any technology measure can be circumvented and web filtering is no different so it's no surprise a computer savvy kid cracked it. It's just disappointing these programs don't make it harder for the smart kids.
The difficulty with web filtering is that it's an incomplete answer. While it might protect kids from the odd rude word or dirty picture, it does nothing to protect them from online predators, bullying or other inappropriate behaviour.
No web filter is a substitute for proper supervision. I've said before that most important thing is to keep an eye on what the kids are doing. The first step is to get the computers out of the bedrooms.
I'm trialling these products over the next few days as we're discussing them on this week's Nightlife spot. I'll be posting some of my observations and findings here.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Struggling with home networks
"Troubled times for home networks" declares the BBC. A little over the top perhaps, but there is an element of truth.
Networks are complex, it's the nature of the beast. As the article says,
The problem, he said, was the sheer complexity of getting all those different devices to work together and swap data via a home network.
The only devices I've seen that work as advertised are the Airport Express devices when streaming music. Even there they have the same problems with SSIDs and WPA that everything else hits.
Where the BBC article hits rocky waters though is in falling for the LAN over powerlines hype. Quite frankly, they are problematic and don't work properly. Trying to your network over your powerlines is an exercise in frustration.
The article also falls for some Wireless LAN hype quoting Selina Lo, chief executive of Ruckus Wireless, as saying "wide usage would not have come about without it being straightforward to use."
Well yeah, except it isn't. In 50% of home and offices it simply doesn't bloody work properly due to all manner of factors.
What worries me even more is Selina's, and many other computer users, idea that WLANs should be ubiquitous and just work when you turn your computer on. This is a security nightmare.
The lesson for users is to be careful of the hype. When you buy stuff like wireless networking or network over powerline equipment, make sure the retailer has a satisfaction guaranteed refund policy.
Networks are complex, it's the nature of the beast. As the article says,
The problem, he said, was the sheer complexity of getting all those different devices to work together and swap data via a home network.
The only devices I've seen that work as advertised are the Airport Express devices when streaming music. Even there they have the same problems with SSIDs and WPA that everything else hits.
Where the BBC article hits rocky waters though is in falling for the LAN over powerlines hype. Quite frankly, they are problematic and don't work properly. Trying to your network over your powerlines is an exercise in frustration.
The article also falls for some Wireless LAN hype quoting Selina Lo, chief executive of Ruckus Wireless, as saying "wide usage would not have come about without it being straightforward to use."
Well yeah, except it isn't. In 50% of home and offices it simply doesn't bloody work properly due to all manner of factors.
What worries me even more is Selina's, and many other computer users, idea that WLANs should be ubiquitous and just work when you turn your computer on. This is a security nightmare.
The lesson for users is to be careful of the hype. When you buy stuff like wireless networking or network over powerline equipment, make sure the retailer has a satisfaction guaranteed refund policy.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Broadband Australia 2007
I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Broadband Australia conference and managed to get to the first morning session. It proved to be an interesting window on where broadband is in Australia at present.
The list of speakers featured the big players in the field, specifically Telstra, Optus and the government. Senator Coonan, the minister for telecommunications, kicked off with the keynote.
Helen Coonan
I quite like the minister, but this wasn't one of her strong performances. Rather than giving us a run down of the government's broadband policies and how broadband can help the country, she spent her time scoring points off the Labor opposition.
The only good thing about her speech was the repeating of the words "strength" and "experience" give a fairly good idea of what the Federal government's re-election slogan will be.
Phil Burgess
Phil can always be counted on for an entertaining talk. Apparently he didn't know people lived in Iceland until he went looking for a country as disadvantaged as Australia in rolling out a new network.
Phil made some very good points; the fact is 1Gb to the home and office is not the future, it's now, his teleconferencing software requires a 40Mb/s link on it's own.
One had to laugh out loud at his point about 256kbit connections not being considered broadband. This is quite true, but Phil still markets them as such and with a crappy 200Mb monthly data limit to boot.
Most of Phil's presentation was focussed on kicking the ACCC and their pricing policies. An interesting accusation he made was that the access price for ULL has just been pulled from the UK OFCOM with no allowance for Australian differences.
A good performance by Phil, but he was preaching to an audience of sceptics. Particularly enjoyable were his anecdote of visiting Birdsville and their struggles with phone and Internet access.
Warren Hardy
I haven't heard Warren speak before and he gave a credible corporate speech on Optus' broadband position. He wasn't as lively as Phil Burgess and this may not be a bad thing.
He rebutted a number of points Phil made about the OPEL network. There's no doubt this proposal and the government funding for it has struck a nerve with Telstra and Optus can't help but rub it in.
I've been scathing of Optus' performance in this market and nothing Warren said changed my mind, but he at least raised a laugh by pointing out to Phil Burgess that he could get broadband in Birdsville from the Optus satellite.
David Kennedy
It was good to hear from someone prepared to admit to have been involved in setting up the mess we currently find ourselves in. David put his hand up as being a ministerial advisor at the time of the 1997 reforms to the telco industry.
His historical perspective was that a few core countries dominate new technologies such as the UK with railways, the UK and Germany with steel production. In his view, Australia will not be one of those core countries in the Internet revolution. I'd have to agree.
Panel Discussion
The panel topic was Broadband in Australia; what do we want? How do we get it? The three panelist were Derek Francis from UBS, John Stanton from People Telecom and Anne Hurley from the Communications Alliance.
Anne Hurley: I feel sorry industry lobbyists, they often have to juggle different competing interests of their members and the lowest common denominator often turns out to be bland. The problem for the Communications Alliance is the industry is dominated by Telstra with Optus paddling in it's wake and the rest making up numbers. Anne tried hard, but really couldn't add much.
John Stanton: It was good to get a reseller's view. But the main topic of the morning was infrastructure so John's experience is somewhat limited. We did get a view of some of the economics of the industry and a glimpse of how vulnerable service providers are when the market is dominated by two or three large players.
Derek Francis: Derek was by far the most interesting panel member. He came to the debate with the position that we should let the market rip. The simple application of "comparative parity rules" to stop incumbents from protecting their own operations.
The problem is this has been tried and doesn't work; Telstra will be able to confound any such rules with transfer pricing and other tactics.
I also found Derek's claim that the OPEL consortium should be paying $300 per line to use the existing copper network as being misleading. This is the replacement cost of the copper lines and no way represents the current value.
While I'm sure a lot of the merchant bankers and hedge funds would love "open slather" as it would generate lots of fee income through a bigger Telstra, I'm certain it's not in the nation's best interest to deregulate when the market is dominated by one player.
My observations
From the first day, I'd have to say the case for splitting Telstra into at least wholesale and retail companies is compelling. Do this and most arguments about regulation and market dominance disappear.
One of the most disappointing aspects of the morning was the nit picking and point scoring, whether it's the minister scoring points off Labor, Telstra scoring points off the ACCC or Optus scoring points off Telstra.
It's clear the industry is bogged down in distrust between almost all the players. In this light, it's not surprising we're in the breakdown lane of the Information Superhighway.
An interesting morning, but I can't help but think we need some leadership in this field.
The list of speakers featured the big players in the field, specifically Telstra, Optus and the government. Senator Coonan, the minister for telecommunications, kicked off with the keynote.
Helen Coonan
I quite like the minister, but this wasn't one of her strong performances. Rather than giving us a run down of the government's broadband policies and how broadband can help the country, she spent her time scoring points off the Labor opposition.
The only good thing about her speech was the repeating of the words "strength" and "experience" give a fairly good idea of what the Federal government's re-election slogan will be.
Phil Burgess
Phil can always be counted on for an entertaining talk. Apparently he didn't know people lived in Iceland until he went looking for a country as disadvantaged as Australia in rolling out a new network.
Phil made some very good points; the fact is 1Gb to the home and office is not the future, it's now, his teleconferencing software requires a 40Mb/s link on it's own.
One had to laugh out loud at his point about 256kbit connections not being considered broadband. This is quite true, but Phil still markets them as such and with a crappy 200Mb monthly data limit to boot.
Most of Phil's presentation was focussed on kicking the ACCC and their pricing policies. An interesting accusation he made was that the access price for ULL has just been pulled from the UK OFCOM with no allowance for Australian differences.
A good performance by Phil, but he was preaching to an audience of sceptics. Particularly enjoyable were his anecdote of visiting Birdsville and their struggles with phone and Internet access.
Warren Hardy
I haven't heard Warren speak before and he gave a credible corporate speech on Optus' broadband position. He wasn't as lively as Phil Burgess and this may not be a bad thing.
He rebutted a number of points Phil made about the OPEL network. There's no doubt this proposal and the government funding for it has struck a nerve with Telstra and Optus can't help but rub it in.
I've been scathing of Optus' performance in this market and nothing Warren said changed my mind, but he at least raised a laugh by pointing out to Phil Burgess that he could get broadband in Birdsville from the Optus satellite.
David Kennedy
It was good to hear from someone prepared to admit to have been involved in setting up the mess we currently find ourselves in. David put his hand up as being a ministerial advisor at the time of the 1997 reforms to the telco industry.
His historical perspective was that a few core countries dominate new technologies such as the UK with railways, the UK and Germany with steel production. In his view, Australia will not be one of those core countries in the Internet revolution. I'd have to agree.
Panel Discussion
The panel topic was Broadband in Australia; what do we want? How do we get it? The three panelist were Derek Francis from UBS, John Stanton from People Telecom and Anne Hurley from the Communications Alliance.
Anne Hurley: I feel sorry industry lobbyists, they often have to juggle different competing interests of their members and the lowest common denominator often turns out to be bland. The problem for the Communications Alliance is the industry is dominated by Telstra with Optus paddling in it's wake and the rest making up numbers. Anne tried hard, but really couldn't add much.
John Stanton: It was good to get a reseller's view. But the main topic of the morning was infrastructure so John's experience is somewhat limited. We did get a view of some of the economics of the industry and a glimpse of how vulnerable service providers are when the market is dominated by two or three large players.
Derek Francis: Derek was by far the most interesting panel member. He came to the debate with the position that we should let the market rip. The simple application of "comparative parity rules" to stop incumbents from protecting their own operations.
The problem is this has been tried and doesn't work; Telstra will be able to confound any such rules with transfer pricing and other tactics.
I also found Derek's claim that the OPEL consortium should be paying $300 per line to use the existing copper network as being misleading. This is the replacement cost of the copper lines and no way represents the current value.
While I'm sure a lot of the merchant bankers and hedge funds would love "open slather" as it would generate lots of fee income through a bigger Telstra, I'm certain it's not in the nation's best interest to deregulate when the market is dominated by one player.
My observations
From the first day, I'd have to say the case for splitting Telstra into at least wholesale and retail companies is compelling. Do this and most arguments about regulation and market dominance disappear.
One of the most disappointing aspects of the morning was the nit picking and point scoring, whether it's the minister scoring points off Labor, Telstra scoring points off the ACCC or Optus scoring points off Telstra.
It's clear the industry is bogged down in distrust between almost all the players. In this light, it's not surprising we're in the breakdown lane of the Information Superhighway.
An interesting morning, but I can't help but think we need some leadership in this field.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Skype is run on Windows servers?
Edit: It appears from the comment I read the article incorrectly, it was the Windows clients rebooting that caused the outage.
I have to admit I have to find that a bit baffling as what is so different with this Windows Update, rebooting's pretty well par for the course and not every Windows machine in the world rebooted at once.
Anyway, there's still lessons to be learned from what happened to Skype.
According to the Skype official blog, the two day outage last week was due to an automatic restart after a Windows Update.
Who'd have thought something like Skype has hosted on servers running Windows?
The lesson here is not to set Windows to reboot automatically after receiving a Windows update.
In fact, no server should automatically install update patches. If the computer is running important functions, each patch should be checked to make sure it won't affect those functions and a "backout" procedure should be enacted so the patches can be undone if they mess the computer up.
All businesses should learn from what happened to Skype.
I have to admit I have to find that a bit baffling as what is so different with this Windows Update, rebooting's pretty well par for the course and not every Windows machine in the world rebooted at once.
Anyway, there's still lessons to be learned from what happened to Skype.
According to the Skype official blog, the two day outage last week was due to an automatic restart after a Windows Update.
Who'd have thought something like Skype has hosted on servers running Windows?
The lesson here is not to set Windows to reboot automatically after receiving a Windows update.
In fact, no server should automatically install update patches. If the computer is running important functions, each patch should be checked to make sure it won't affect those functions and a "backout" procedure should be enacted so the patches can be undone if they mess the computer up.
All businesses should learn from what happened to Skype.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Fixing Firefox problems with Firetune
While I'm a fan of Firefox I've found the habit of Firefox 2.0 to lock up on certain websites a minor nuisance which requires restarting Firefox to fix.
I've been experimenting with FireTune and so far it's worked well. Over the next few days we'll see.
According to the professional cranks at Cranky Geeks, it's due to the way Firefox assumes you are using an old computer on a slow connection and one of Fire Tune's fixes is to change those settings.
I'm not so sure, in my case it seems to coincide with flash heavy websites so I'm suspicious it isn't a Flash or scripting issue.
Anyway, we'll see in the next few days, but the results have been good so far, I've added it to our IT Queries website.
I've been experimenting with FireTune and so far it's worked well. Over the next few days we'll see.
According to the professional cranks at Cranky Geeks, it's due to the way Firefox assumes you are using an old computer on a slow connection and one of Fire Tune's fixes is to change those settings.
I'm not so sure, in my case it seems to coincide with flash heavy websites so I'm suspicious it isn't a Flash or scripting issue.
Anyway, we'll see in the next few days, but the results have been good so far, I've added it to our IT Queries website.
Sensis sell Invizage
I said a few months back that Sensis would be looking to sell Invizage so the news they have sold it isn't a surprise.
The big surprise is the buyer. Peter Kazacos sold KAZ to Telstra, which was another failed attempt by Telstra to get into services. Now he buys a services business back from a Telstra subsidiary.
I'm sure Peter will do well with Invizage; he has experience with and understands IT service businesses. The problem for Telstra, Sensis and manner of Telcos, computer companies, software vendors and other businesses is they see the revenue but don't understand the work involved.
The interesting thing I've noticed over the three years Sensis have owned Invizage is how the domestic support arm shrivelled away.
Home IT support is a much different creature to business support and it obviously didn't fit the Sensis business model. One of the benefits Peter Kazacos will get from Sensis is he won't be paying for the domestic support operation that Invizage bought.
I can't help but suspect that Peter Kazacos' experience with Telstra is not unlike Kerry Packer's with Alan Bond.
I'm glad I no longer hold shares in Telstra.
The big surprise is the buyer. Peter Kazacos sold KAZ to Telstra, which was another failed attempt by Telstra to get into services. Now he buys a services business back from a Telstra subsidiary.
I'm sure Peter will do well with Invizage; he has experience with and understands IT service businesses. The problem for Telstra, Sensis and manner of Telcos, computer companies, software vendors and other businesses is they see the revenue but don't understand the work involved.
The interesting thing I've noticed over the three years Sensis have owned Invizage is how the domestic support arm shrivelled away.
Home IT support is a much different creature to business support and it obviously didn't fit the Sensis business model. One of the benefits Peter Kazacos will get from Sensis is he won't be paying for the domestic support operation that Invizage bought.
I can't help but suspect that Peter Kazacos' experience with Telstra is not unlike Kerry Packer's with Alan Bond.
I'm glad I no longer hold shares in Telstra.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
The number one warning sign
If you are worried someone close to you has a computer or Internet problem, the number one indicator is them spending too long on the machine.
In a previous post, I mentioned in my experience it's mainly older people that get in trouble. This is bourne out in a recent Wall Street Journal story about Ric Hoogestraat, his wife Sue and his Second Life wife, Tenaj Jackalope, or Janet Spielman.
The sad thing's Ric is a comparative success in Second Life and he actually has people "working" for him.
You wonder how much good Ric could do or money he could make if he'd spend that long on real life pursuits.
In the meantime, his new marriage (the real one) goes down the drain............
In a previous post, I mentioned in my experience it's mainly older people that get in trouble. This is bourne out in a recent Wall Street Journal story about Ric Hoogestraat, his wife Sue and his Second Life wife, Tenaj Jackalope, or Janet Spielman.
The sad thing's Ric is a comparative success in Second Life and he actually has people "working" for him.
You wonder how much good Ric could do or money he could make if he'd spend that long on real life pursuits.
In the meantime, his new marriage (the real one) goes down the drain............
Friday, August 17, 2007
The final goodbye to Yellow Pages
I was wakened out of my massive head cold recovery by a call from our Sensis rep. Despite what she said previously, she did call back to try and get me to see the light of renewing our Yellow Pages advert.
In our conversation, she mentioned another Sensis product, Clickmanager. A look at their website indicates this is part of their Bidsmart program.
It seems to me Sensis are playing catch up in this market, like their search engine they are behind Google on this product.
This wouldn't be so much a problem if Sensis were leveraging these products using their existing sales channels, but once again they have a separate set of salespeople to deal with them.
If they had an online console system they'd be able to offer these services directly. I'm also amazed the sales lady didn't mention these earlier.
The sad thing for Sensis is they have a massive range of products, many of which are attractive to small business. They seem to go out of their way to make it difficult for small businesses to learn about them, let alone buy them.
You can't help but think that unless Sensis can snap out of this mentality, then it's doomed to a slow decline as Internet searches improve and the paper directories decline.
I've said previously that Telstra need to sell Sensis. The more I look at it, the more I think this is the only way for Sensis to survive in the long run.
In our conversation, she mentioned another Sensis product, Clickmanager. A look at their website indicates this is part of their Bidsmart program.
It seems to me Sensis are playing catch up in this market, like their search engine they are behind Google on this product.
This wouldn't be so much a problem if Sensis were leveraging these products using their existing sales channels, but once again they have a separate set of salespeople to deal with them.
If they had an online console system they'd be able to offer these services directly. I'm also amazed the sales lady didn't mention these earlier.
The sad thing for Sensis is they have a massive range of products, many of which are attractive to small business. They seem to go out of their way to make it difficult for small businesses to learn about them, let alone buy them.
You can't help but think that unless Sensis can snap out of this mentality, then it's doomed to a slow decline as Internet searches improve and the paper directories decline.
I've said previously that Telstra need to sell Sensis. The more I look at it, the more I think this is the only way for Sensis to survive in the long run.
Monday, August 13, 2007
More battery recalls
It seems the Sony battery debacle is not over. Toshiba have announced another recall. While the initial announcement appears to apply to the US only, it seems unlikely it won't be extended internationally. This follows a number of previous recalls.
I've taken to making sure things like laptops, mobile phones and power tools are left recharging while unattended and definitely making sure they are unplugged overnight.
Given it's only a tiny proportion of batteries with these problems, we shouldn't over-react. But reducing the risk of trouble is a good idea.
I've taken to making sure things like laptops, mobile phones and power tools are left recharging while unattended and definitely making sure they are unplugged overnight.
Given it's only a tiny proportion of batteries with these problems, we shouldn't over-react. But reducing the risk of trouble is a good idea.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Trouble on the net
We tend to focus on kids getting in trouble on the Internet, but in my experience it's adults that get in the most trouble.
The frightening story of Desmond Gregor's African adventure is an extreme example of the story.
Over the years, I've seen a lot of relationships fail because someone has got themselves involved in something over the net. It's varied from financial scams, through online dating and Internet porn.
One of the saddest was a friend of mine who was surfing a notorious website that features bad taste pictures like autopsy and crime scene photos. One of the photo names suggested a kiddie porn site.
My mate's partner saw this in the browser history and assumed he'd been looking at kiddie porn. The ensuing row finished their relationship.
The Internet's a big scary place. It pays to be careful regardless of how old or street wise you think you are.
The frightening story of Desmond Gregor's African adventure is an extreme example of the story.
Over the years, I've seen a lot of relationships fail because someone has got themselves involved in something over the net. It's varied from financial scams, through online dating and Internet porn.
One of the saddest was a friend of mine who was surfing a notorious website that features bad taste pictures like autopsy and crime scene photos. One of the photo names suggested a kiddie porn site.
My mate's partner saw this in the browser history and assumed he'd been looking at kiddie porn. The ensuing row finished their relationship.
The Internet's a big scary place. It pays to be careful regardless of how old or street wise you think you are.
Trusted friends
A sad fact of life in the IT industry is that it's largely every man for himself. You get little help from other techs and it's difficult to establish networks to help spread the load.
I used to try to establish these relationships but went nowhere with them. The saddest one was someone I worked with prior to setting up my own business.
Mark saw how well I was doing and set up a competing business. I was happy as I figured the market was more than big enough for both of us and having a trusted colleague meant we could help each other out with things like holidays, busy periods and difficult jobs.
I kept my side of the bargain, over the next five years or so I directed tens of thousands of dollars worth of work to Mark. I didn't get one referral back. To add insult, he'd go on holidays and leave a message saying "sorry I'm on holidays, I'll call you when I get back."
I asked him about this and pointed out it was costing him customers. At least if I looked after his customers while he was away, he'd keep his customers. By not doing this he was probably losing two or three customers for every week he was away.
The final straw was when I found Mark stealing customers from me. I couldn't get to one very good customer and referred them to Mark who then gave them a spiel on why I was no good. I later found he'd done this to a few people.
So much for thanks. I haven't spoken to the guy since.
Funnily enough, I was called out by one of these clients this week. Mark had gone on holidays and left him in the lurch so he called me. I guess what comes around goes around.
The point of this post is to illustrate the risks of a sole trader going on holiday in a service business like computer support. You need a friend you can trust to take the load while you are away. Without it, you lose customers as well as money.
The real moral though is every sole trader needs colleagues they can trust. Sadly the IT industry doesn't lend itself to building these networks.
I used to try to establish these relationships but went nowhere with them. The saddest one was someone I worked with prior to setting up my own business.
Mark saw how well I was doing and set up a competing business. I was happy as I figured the market was more than big enough for both of us and having a trusted colleague meant we could help each other out with things like holidays, busy periods and difficult jobs.
I kept my side of the bargain, over the next five years or so I directed tens of thousands of dollars worth of work to Mark. I didn't get one referral back. To add insult, he'd go on holidays and leave a message saying "sorry I'm on holidays, I'll call you when I get back."
I asked him about this and pointed out it was costing him customers. At least if I looked after his customers while he was away, he'd keep his customers. By not doing this he was probably losing two or three customers for every week he was away.
The final straw was when I found Mark stealing customers from me. I couldn't get to one very good customer and referred them to Mark who then gave them a spiel on why I was no good. I later found he'd done this to a few people.
So much for thanks. I haven't spoken to the guy since.
Funnily enough, I was called out by one of these clients this week. Mark had gone on holidays and left him in the lurch so he called me. I guess what comes around goes around.
The point of this post is to illustrate the risks of a sole trader going on holiday in a service business like computer support. You need a friend you can trust to take the load while you are away. Without it, you lose customers as well as money.
The real moral though is every sole trader needs colleagues they can trust. Sadly the IT industry doesn't lend itself to building these networks.
Net Alert website down
Is it just me, or is taking the entire Netalert site the day the Prime Minister announces an almost new protecting families online initiative just plain silly?Does this mean web predators are going to go on holiday until the site is back up?
The site should have been ready before the announcement of a new web filtering system. Unless of course the policy was thought up in the last day or two.
Say it ain't so, Joe.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Old rope for new policy
The Federal government's on again, off again experiment with web filtering has come back on again with the Prime Minister announcing the Federal government will provide web filtering software for families.
We should remember this scheme was announced over a year ago. Six months ago I asked the department what was happening with the scheme and didn't hear back.
One aspect of all of this is a lot of people don't seem to understand what filtering will do, a good example is from the AustralianIT story.
Jeremy Horn, 37, a web-developer from Pagewood, was among them. He welcomed the Prime Minister's Netalert strategy, saying internet safety was an issue for his 12-year-old son. "I want to know that he is safe online -- there are so many games sites he plays at the moment and a lot of them have chatrooms."
Unfortunately for Jeremy, it's unlikely any web filtering software is going to do much for chatrooms. Sadly I'm not surprised a web developer doesn't understand this.
The big flaws I see with both political party's schemes is they are obsessed with the web; much of the really damaging stuff on the net is happening in chatrooms and other forums. The other problem is the resources required to police the web are huge.
Both parties rely on the Office of Film and Literature Classification to review and ban inappropriate websites. This is a huge undertaking and will require a massive increase in resources. Even with that, they will have to move very quickly to block the bad stuff.
There's also the problem of what exactly is inappropriate. The Federal government already has form in abusing copyright law to take down embarrassing websites. It wouldn't surprise me to find all manner of sites banned for spurious reasons.
One of the disappointing things with all these policies is they miss the point of a lot of the problems. Sure, there are a lot of offensive websites that really aren't suitable for kids. But the real problems are much deeper.
The online predators are using legitimate web sites and other tools to stalk their victims. Blocking websites won't stop them.
But we shouldn't lose sight that online predators are a tiny group. The vast majority of cybercrime is online fraud, phishing, spyware and trojan distribution.
These aspects need to be adressed as well. Just blocking smutty websites does not make the Internet safer for anyone.
We should remember this scheme was announced over a year ago. Six months ago I asked the department what was happening with the scheme and didn't hear back.
One aspect of all of this is a lot of people don't seem to understand what filtering will do, a good example is from the AustralianIT story.
Jeremy Horn, 37, a web-developer from Pagewood, was among them. He welcomed the Prime Minister's Netalert strategy, saying internet safety was an issue for his 12-year-old son. "I want to know that he is safe online -- there are so many games sites he plays at the moment and a lot of them have chatrooms."
Unfortunately for Jeremy, it's unlikely any web filtering software is going to do much for chatrooms. Sadly I'm not surprised a web developer doesn't understand this.
The big flaws I see with both political party's schemes is they are obsessed with the web; much of the really damaging stuff on the net is happening in chatrooms and other forums. The other problem is the resources required to police the web are huge.
Both parties rely on the Office of Film and Literature Classification to review and ban inappropriate websites. This is a huge undertaking and will require a massive increase in resources. Even with that, they will have to move very quickly to block the bad stuff.
There's also the problem of what exactly is inappropriate. The Federal government already has form in abusing copyright law to take down embarrassing websites. It wouldn't surprise me to find all manner of sites banned for spurious reasons.
One of the disappointing things with all these policies is they miss the point of a lot of the problems. Sure, there are a lot of offensive websites that really aren't suitable for kids. But the real problems are much deeper.
The online predators are using legitimate web sites and other tools to stalk their victims. Blocking websites won't stop them.
But we shouldn't lose sight that online predators are a tiny group. The vast majority of cybercrime is online fraud, phishing, spyware and trojan distribution.
These aspects need to be adressed as well. Just blocking smutty websites does not make the Internet safer for anyone.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Unreasonable terms
I've been following the story of Angus and Robertson's new supplier terms with interest after a client mentioned it to me a week or so ago. The terms are quite remarkable and it's not surprising to see the backlash against A&R.
The best response has been the reply written by Michael Rakusin, director of Sydney's Tower Books, sadly the only copy I've read is behind the Crikey subscriber wall so the link doesn't give the full detail.
The gem from Michael's letter is this line,
it would seem to me paramount to stop blaming suppliers for your misfortunes, trying ever harder to squeeze them to death, and actually focus on your core incompetencies in order to redress them.
Michael also makes the excellent point that trying to adopt department store and supermarket tactics to publishers might be a mistake for a bookseller given variety stores have a range of products while book stores only have one.
Personally I ceased to be amazed a long time ago at the sort of nonsense big business tries on, either as a customer or supplier. What I do find amazing is the 5% DAILY interest payment for late remittances. I hope that's not compounding as the Annual Percentage Rate maxed out my calculator.
What makes this letter priceless is the arrogance in it, particularly the closing line,
"If you would like to discuss this with me in more detail, I am delighted to confirm an appointment with you at .........for ten minutes at my office....."
Unbelievable.
The best response has been the reply written by Michael Rakusin, director of Sydney's Tower Books, sadly the only copy I've read is behind the Crikey subscriber wall so the link doesn't give the full detail.
The gem from Michael's letter is this line,
it would seem to me paramount to stop blaming suppliers for your misfortunes, trying ever harder to squeeze them to death, and actually focus on your core incompetencies in order to redress them.
Michael also makes the excellent point that trying to adopt department store and supermarket tactics to publishers might be a mistake for a bookseller given variety stores have a range of products while book stores only have one.
Personally I ceased to be amazed a long time ago at the sort of nonsense big business tries on, either as a customer or supplier. What I do find amazing is the 5% DAILY interest payment for late remittances. I hope that's not compounding as the Annual Percentage Rate maxed out my calculator.
What makes this letter priceless is the arrogance in it, particularly the closing line,
"If you would like to discuss this with me in more detail, I am delighted to confirm an appointment with you at .........for ten minutes at my office....."
Unbelievable.
Microsoft overtaking Apache web server
Netcraft are claiming Microsoft's Internet Information Server might overtake the dominant Apache web server software early next year.
I'm wondering if those numbers are boosted by all the Windows Small Business Server installations that have IIS enabled but aren't really used. These would still appear in the statistics, but visiting them would only get the default page up.
I don't Apache's going to be knocked off any time soon.
I'm wondering if those numbers are boosted by all the Windows Small Business Server installations that have IIS enabled but aren't really used. These would still appear in the statistics, but visiting them would only get the default page up.
I don't Apache's going to be knocked off any time soon.
Paul Kelly gets a sex change.
Strange times on the The Australian website last night. Paul Kelly seemed to have had a sex change.
Far from being a staid, serious middle aged fellow it turns out he's a regular chick who loves licking the tops of ice cream containers.
They say never judge a book by it's cover.
IceTV wins court case
IceTV, the Australian PVR guide company, has won the legal case bought against it by Channel Nine.
This is great news for Australian consumers and TV viewers.
I have to admit I was less than optimistic about IceTV's chances. In the past, Australian courts have tended to side with the incumbents in cases like this. The DtMS versus Telstra case where Telstra won their copyright claim on phone directories is the best example.
One thing to temper the good news is how accurate IceTV can be. Given the problems we find with Australian TV schedules, it's possible that an online schedule isn't much use anyway.
This is great news for Australian consumers and TV viewers.
I have to admit I was less than optimistic about IceTV's chances. In the past, Australian courts have tended to side with the incumbents in cases like this. The DtMS versus Telstra case where Telstra won their copyright claim on phone directories is the best example.
One thing to temper the good news is how accurate IceTV can be. Given the problems we find with Australian TV schedules, it's possible that an online schedule isn't much use anyway.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Chucking out customers
Steve, the boss at Eastwood Hi-Fi, makes a good point about turning away potentially troublesome customers in his August 6 post. I reckon it's good practice.
One of the joys of running a tech business is that many customers have either unrealistic expectations of the products or they have unrealistic beliefs in their abilities to use it.
The result for the tech (or the tech's boss) is many hours of stress and unchargable time and eventually returned products or disputed bills.
So when you sense a customer might be trouble, it's best to politely refer the customer elsewhere.
In a similar topic, Valerie Khoo in the Sydney Morning Herald's Enterprise blog asks "is the customer always right?"
The answer is an emphatic "NO!" Often customers have some very strange ideas that they are unwilling to ditch regardless of what advice you give them.
Once again, it's best to pass their custom on elsewhere.
I've been doing this a lot recently. I'm sick of spyware and I'm tired of computer setups with all manner of strangely setup applications.
I don't know if it's because I'm old and jaded or I've just become picky or because I'm just not hungry enough for the work, but I find I'm reluctant to do jobs that might have the slightest complication down the track.
I'd suggest any business owner really should have a line in the sand they draw with customers. While a disappointed customer might tell five or ten people about their experience, a bad customer might distract you from twenty good customers.
One of the joys of running a tech business is that many customers have either unrealistic expectations of the products or they have unrealistic beliefs in their abilities to use it.
The result for the tech (or the tech's boss) is many hours of stress and unchargable time and eventually returned products or disputed bills.
So when you sense a customer might be trouble, it's best to politely refer the customer elsewhere.
In a similar topic, Valerie Khoo in the Sydney Morning Herald's Enterprise blog asks "is the customer always right?"
The answer is an emphatic "NO!" Often customers have some very strange ideas that they are unwilling to ditch regardless of what advice you give them.
Once again, it's best to pass their custom on elsewhere.
I've been doing this a lot recently. I'm sick of spyware and I'm tired of computer setups with all manner of strangely setup applications.
I don't know if it's because I'm old and jaded or I've just become picky or because I'm just not hungry enough for the work, but I find I'm reluctant to do jobs that might have the slightest complication down the track.
I'd suggest any business owner really should have a line in the sand they draw with customers. While a disappointed customer might tell five or ten people about their experience, a bad customer might distract you from twenty good customers.
Monday, August 06, 2007
More finger pointing at nVidia
It seems a lot of people agree with Ed Bott's observation about nVidia graphics cards and Windows Vista. Another blogger, Ryan Wagner, notes that most of his Vista problems have been on problems with nVidia graphics.
NVidia have really spoiled their own nest with this. It's very difficult for any tech to recommend their products after this mess.
Another interesting observation on Ryan's site is how he's found Vista's slow file transfer speed improved with the latest patch from Microsoft.
We suggested a few fixes at ITQueries and this is a welcome patch. But I'm still not convinced that doubling the speed is acceptable. It is still way too slow.
NVidia have really spoiled their own nest with this. It's very difficult for any tech to recommend their products after this mess.
Another interesting observation on Ryan's site is how he's found Vista's slow file transfer speed improved with the latest patch from Microsoft.
We suggested a few fixes at ITQueries and this is a welcome patch. But I'm still not convinced that doubling the speed is acceptable. It is still way too slow.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Automated password hijacking
Brian Krebs' Security Watch blog describes a hacking tool for stealing user's passwords from webmail sites.
This again shows the risks of connecting to the net through unsecured or public wireless networks which I mentioned a few weeks back.
If you regularly use other people's networks, particularly wireless networks, you need to use secure socket layer protocols. That means using webmail sites that start with https and email servers that support SSL.
Brian's article notes that gmail has a secure version simply by typing https:// before the address rather than just using www.
I tried this with my Internet providers, Pacific Internet and Bigpond, and found they support these protocols on their logins.
Interestingly, Bigpond's webmail reverts to standard http:// once you've logged in. I'm not sure this is a good thing and that's going to need a little more research.
I'm going to get into the habit of using https for all my webmail accounts. Naturally, you should always make sure financial websites always use https before you logon.
Stealing passwords is a big and lucrative business for the bad guys. Using secure websites reduces your chances of being a victim.
This again shows the risks of connecting to the net through unsecured or public wireless networks which I mentioned a few weeks back.
If you regularly use other people's networks, particularly wireless networks, you need to use secure socket layer protocols. That means using webmail sites that start with https and email servers that support SSL.
Brian's article notes that gmail has a secure version simply by typing https:// before the address rather than just using www.
I tried this with my Internet providers, Pacific Internet and Bigpond, and found they support these protocols on their logins.
Interestingly, Bigpond's webmail reverts to standard http:// once you've logged in. I'm not sure this is a good thing and that's going to need a little more research.
I'm going to get into the habit of using https for all my webmail accounts. Naturally, you should always make sure financial websites always use https before you logon.
Stealing passwords is a big and lucrative business for the bad guys. Using secure websites reduces your chances of being a victim.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Printer cartridges
The news that the Cartridge World founders have sold 90% of their business for $60 million is great good news story for for an Australian IT company.
I have to admit I'm surprised at how well Cartridge World has done. I've always found customers to be sceptical of refilled and generic cartridges. However, given Cartridge World specialise in this field, it gives them a expertise advantage over the big chain stores, Australia Post and newsagents.
Mark Fletcher at the Australian Newsagents Blog mentioned yesterday how he's reducing shelf space for generic cartridges. I guess this shows how different markets buy through different channels. While someone who buys from the local newsagent wants the name brand, there is a big enough market to sustain a specialty refilling business.
Byran Stokes and Paul Wheeler deserve a real pat on the back for how well they've built this business. But I imagine a thirty million dollar payday will suit each of them just fine.
I have to admit I'm surprised at how well Cartridge World has done. I've always found customers to be sceptical of refilled and generic cartridges. However, given Cartridge World specialise in this field, it gives them a expertise advantage over the big chain stores, Australia Post and newsagents.
Mark Fletcher at the Australian Newsagents Blog mentioned yesterday how he's reducing shelf space for generic cartridges. I guess this shows how different markets buy through different channels. While someone who buys from the local newsagent wants the name brand, there is a big enough market to sustain a specialty refilling business.
Byran Stokes and Paul Wheeler deserve a real pat on the back for how well they've built this business. But I imagine a thirty million dollar payday will suit each of them just fine.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Bye bye Yellow!
After 12 years, I'm kissing goodbye to our Yellow Pages ad. For a service business a Yellow Pages ad is usually a good investment but I've decided to save 15k by skipping it this year. There's a number of reasons for this;
Lousy Service
A couple of days ago, our rep left a message "your deadline is approaching. Call me back because I'm too busy and won't get time to call you before the books close."
Great service I have to say, but given the way Sensis operate I can barely blame the poor girl.
I subscribe to the Sensis job alerts as I'm always hoping to find a corporate gig suited for a forty something nervous wreck who's been broken by customers.
I've noticed Sensis are constantly advertising for reps. It's not surprising they have to keep advertising given the job pays 58k if you make your targets. That is not good money for a barrel load of stress and a lot of hard work.
But that's a problem for the reps and their bosses. None of that would really matter if I were getting a good return. Sadly, the inquiries we get through the YP these days generally doesn't attract the right customers.
Customer types
In our line of work, the Yellow Pages attracts too many tyre kickers and too many panic merchants.
The panic merchants ignore strange noises and error messages until their computer blows up.
This usually happens at 3am the night before their tax return and their daughter's PHD thesis is due.
This of course wouldn't be so bad if the buggers wanted to pay for emergency service at 3am. But they'll either hang up when you tell them the price or never pay the bill.
Tyre kicking types might not ring at 3am, but they are a bigger waste of time.
A favourite trick of these folk is to make a booking then continue ringing around until they find someone cheaper. They then cancel your booking, often five minutes before the tech arrives.
Category Bloat
I've mentioned previously the Yellow Pages has too many categories. When you have to decide between seven different categories it becomes a gamble. Unless of course you want to spend 100k+ putting for a small ad in all seven.
Of course for some businesses, this is not a problem. Particularly if Sensis give you your ads for free.
The Yellow Pages is our competitor
Why give money to your competitor? Sensis bought their own IT support business, Invizage, a few years back.
Like The Trading Post it's gone nowhere since. But it still rankles me they decided to compete in my field. Even more so when their reps try to steal my customers during their advertising sales pitch.
I also bet Invizage get their quarter page display ads in twenty different categories for a good deal less than the millions of dollars it would cost me.
Price
The price is also a sticking point. It seems to jump every year and has always been my biggest single marketing cost. Although I don't begrudge that if it generates enough leads.
Clunky systems
For a company that claims to be at the forefront of Internet search and online services, their systems are a quaint throw back to the 1950s.
When you call them, you can't do anything until a rep spends some time with you. It seems their idea of selling is to make your head spin with different options.
The problem is small business owners simply don't have the time for this. If they made online ordering available. It would improve their service out of sight, be a cheaper channel and small business owners would jump at it.
They'd probably sell more too. I know plenty of business owners who would go mad optioning up their ads. They certainly do it when they order online with Dell.
Not only would they have lower costs, they'd have a higher sell through rate. They could also use their online service to push extras like Sensis Search and Invizage.
If they had a concept of service, they'd sell more, spend less and probably have fewer double handling and communication stuff ups.
I've always loved their idea of service. Visit their update your listing page. Not only do you have to call them, but the free and paid listing service hours and number are identical.
Good product differentiation there. I'm sure it's never occurred to their senior managers to give paying customers better support than the freebie customers.
It's a shame Yellow Pages can't do with a forty something victim of the IT wars. They might learn something.
But in the meantime, they'll have to do without my modest 15k for this year's ad.
Lousy Service
A couple of days ago, our rep left a message "your deadline is approaching. Call me back because I'm too busy and won't get time to call you before the books close."
Great service I have to say, but given the way Sensis operate I can barely blame the poor girl.
I subscribe to the Sensis job alerts as I'm always hoping to find a corporate gig suited for a forty something nervous wreck who's been broken by customers.
I've noticed Sensis are constantly advertising for reps. It's not surprising they have to keep advertising given the job pays 58k if you make your targets. That is not good money for a barrel load of stress and a lot of hard work.
But that's a problem for the reps and their bosses. None of that would really matter if I were getting a good return. Sadly, the inquiries we get through the YP these days generally doesn't attract the right customers.
Customer types
In our line of work, the Yellow Pages attracts too many tyre kickers and too many panic merchants.
The panic merchants ignore strange noises and error messages until their computer blows up.
This usually happens at 3am the night before their tax return and their daughter's PHD thesis is due.
This of course wouldn't be so bad if the buggers wanted to pay for emergency service at 3am. But they'll either hang up when you tell them the price or never pay the bill.
Tyre kicking types might not ring at 3am, but they are a bigger waste of time.
A favourite trick of these folk is to make a booking then continue ringing around until they find someone cheaper. They then cancel your booking, often five minutes before the tech arrives.
Category Bloat
I've mentioned previously the Yellow Pages has too many categories. When you have to decide between seven different categories it becomes a gamble. Unless of course you want to spend 100k+ putting for a small ad in all seven.
Of course for some businesses, this is not a problem. Particularly if Sensis give you your ads for free.
The Yellow Pages is our competitor
Why give money to your competitor? Sensis bought their own IT support business, Invizage, a few years back.
Like The Trading Post it's gone nowhere since. But it still rankles me they decided to compete in my field. Even more so when their reps try to steal my customers during their advertising sales pitch.
I also bet Invizage get their quarter page display ads in twenty different categories for a good deal less than the millions of dollars it would cost me.
Price
The price is also a sticking point. It seems to jump every year and has always been my biggest single marketing cost. Although I don't begrudge that if it generates enough leads.
Clunky systems
For a company that claims to be at the forefront of Internet search and online services, their systems are a quaint throw back to the 1950s.
When you call them, you can't do anything until a rep spends some time with you. It seems their idea of selling is to make your head spin with different options.
The problem is small business owners simply don't have the time for this. If they made online ordering available. It would improve their service out of sight, be a cheaper channel and small business owners would jump at it.
They'd probably sell more too. I know plenty of business owners who would go mad optioning up their ads. They certainly do it when they order online with Dell.
Not only would they have lower costs, they'd have a higher sell through rate. They could also use their online service to push extras like Sensis Search and Invizage.
If they had a concept of service, they'd sell more, spend less and probably have fewer double handling and communication stuff ups.
I've always loved their idea of service. Visit their update your listing page. Not only do you have to call them, but the free and paid listing service hours and number are identical.
Good product differentiation there. I'm sure it's never occurred to their senior managers to give paying customers better support than the freebie customers.
It's a shame Yellow Pages can't do with a forty something victim of the IT wars. They might learn something.
But in the meantime, they'll have to do without my modest 15k for this year's ad.
The most influential tech products of the last 25 years
IT Industry association CompTIA celebrated it's 25th anniversary with a survey of the ten most influential IT products of the last 25 years.
I'm wondering who voted for this. The list is bizarre.
My suspicion is whoever they asked confused popularity with influence. That can only explain Internet Explorer being more influential than Netscape Navigator.
Similarly voting Blackberry over Palm (or the Psion or Newton) and voting MS Word over WordPerfect seems odd to me.
The most bizarre thing about the list is they overlooked Microsoft Windows.
One of the things that always worries me about these surveys is we see the press release but we don't see the survey itself, particularly how it was done and who was asked. I'd love to see the raw data for this one.
I'm not sure CompTIA's done itself a favour with this. It's going to antagonise more people in the industry. I guess it will draw attention to them and maybe that's a good thing.
I'm wondering who voted for this. The list is bizarre.
My suspicion is whoever they asked confused popularity with influence. That can only explain Internet Explorer being more influential than Netscape Navigator.
Similarly voting Blackberry over Palm (or the Psion or Newton) and voting MS Word over WordPerfect seems odd to me.
The most bizarre thing about the list is they overlooked Microsoft Windows.
One of the things that always worries me about these surveys is we see the press release but we don't see the survey itself, particularly how it was done and who was asked. I'd love to see the raw data for this one.
I'm not sure CompTIA's done itself a favour with this. It's going to antagonise more people in the industry. I guess it will draw attention to them and maybe that's a good thing.
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