We've starting hearing stories from customers who've been duped into Internet contracts by door to door salespeople. The common theme is the salesdroid has made ridiculous and impossible claims about the service.
In some cases the client's been on a much better older plan and has found the new plan doesn't give them the same data limits as the old plan. When they try to go back, they are told "tough luck".
We recommend all consumers avoid signing up to commitments like Internet plans through door to door sales.
I personally did some work for a company that was doing this with mobile phones some years ago. These folk would hire a bunch of backpackers, bus them out to one of Sydney's more remote Western suburbs and unleash them on the locals.
This worked well for the backpackers; they would sign up children, invalids and even the family dog. They would get the commission and by the time the complaints started arriving they would be sitting on a beach in Thailand.
For the company it looked good too at first, they'd get fat cheques from the big telco every couple of weeks. But when the complaints started coming in, they found those cheques stopped arriving. Eventually they went bust.
The biggest loser in that saga was the telco. They had to deal with hundred of complaints, it tarnished their brand name and they lost money when the selling company went broke.
All of this is predictable when you use commission driven subcontractors and don't supervise them closely. I don't understand why big companies do this as it ends up costing them money and damages their brand.
The fact one of Australia's biggest telcos is doing this again just shows these people don't learn.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Monday, November 05, 2007
Morons and shysters: Apple virus hype and tripe
I suppose it was predictable that the revelation of a virus aimed at OSX would start the choruses of that Macs are now as vulnerable to malware as Windows users.
This "security through obsurity" argument is absolute tripe. The simple fact is that if the Mac OS was easy to exploit, it would be. A 1, 2 or 5% share of the computing world is still a lot of computers.
Should you encounter any "security expert" who says something like ""I don't care what operating system I use. The issues are the same but unfortunately people do not agree" tell them to get back to emptying your rubbish bins, because that's all they are qualified to do.
That rant over, there is no doubt a lot of Mac users are cavalier about security. I've come across a number who think they are immune from phishing scams because they use a Mac.
It's clear too that some Mac users will be fooled into being infected. The simple fact though is that the majority of Mac users don't have root access and that one fact makes it difficult for malware to spread.
A Mac virus was inevitable and it is a risk to mac users. But it will not create the problems we've seen with Windows viruses. So let's cut the hype and BS.
This "security through obsurity" argument is absolute tripe. The simple fact is that if the Mac OS was easy to exploit, it would be. A 1, 2 or 5% share of the computing world is still a lot of computers.
Should you encounter any "security expert" who says something like ""I don't care what operating system I use. The issues are the same but unfortunately people do not agree" tell them to get back to emptying your rubbish bins, because that's all they are qualified to do.
That rant over, there is no doubt a lot of Mac users are cavalier about security. I've come across a number who think they are immune from phishing scams because they use a Mac.
It's clear too that some Mac users will be fooled into being infected. The simple fact though is that the majority of Mac users don't have root access and that one fact makes it difficult for malware to spread.
A Mac virus was inevitable and it is a risk to mac users. But it will not create the problems we've seen with Windows viruses. So let's cut the hype and BS.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Making rebates work for you
I last mentioned rebates over a year ago. I notice this week that a lot of advertising for cheap computers, with offers of "cashbacks" for anything up to $250 per computer.
I hate rebate schemes; they stink of excessive red tape and you can't shake the feeling the whole business case for these schemes is that a large proportion of customers will fail to claim their cashback.
For the customer trying to claim the rebate, this involves a lot of filling in forms, attaching the correct paperwork and doing all of this before the the cut off period.
Even if you do all of this, there's a still a risk your form might end up unopened on a rubbish tip anyway.
We recommend you don't base your purchase decisions on cashback and rebate schemes. Treat these as a bonus.
If you do buy something that offers a rebate, by all means go for it. Follow the points below to make sure you'll get your cheque.
I hate rebate schemes; they stink of excessive red tape and you can't shake the feeling the whole business case for these schemes is that a large proportion of customers will fail to claim their cashback.
For the customer trying to claim the rebate, this involves a lot of filling in forms, attaching the correct paperwork and doing all of this before the the cut off period.
Even if you do all of this, there's a still a risk your form might end up unopened on a rubbish tip anyway.
We recommend you don't base your purchase decisions on cashback and rebate schemes. Treat these as a bonus.
If you do buy something that offers a rebate, by all means go for it. Follow the points below to make sure you'll get your cheque.
- Read the instructions and conditions carefully while still in the store. Make sure the shop has given you all the details. Many promotions require the invoice to be machine printed, not handwritten.
- Deal with the rebate immediately. Don't pin the form to your fridge and leave it there. If possible, fill out the form while you are still in the store. Ask the salesperson to make copies of the documents before you agree to buy.
- Confirm the cashback applies to the model you have bought. Often the scheme applies only to certain models.
- Make sure you are eligible for the cashback. There are often rules that exclude businesses or multiple purchases.
- Make sure you follow the conditions exactly. If the form requires you to fill it out in black pen, make sure you do.
- Make sure all your details are correct and all required fields are filled in.
- Attach all the required documents. Send copies unless the conditions state you must send originals.
- Make copies of everything.
- Consider sending by registered mail with delivery confirmation. For a rebate worth $250, the five dollar investment is money well spent.
- If you haven't received your rebate after a reasonable amount of time, call them. Note that these cashback schemes often have processing times of up to 90 days. We think 30 is long enough.
- Do not hesitate to complain to your state department of fair trading or the ACCC if you think your claim is not being properly processed.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Rogue software
Further to my post about Epson software last week, we now found Logitech software is causing many of the problems with the Leopard Mac OS.
Like Epson, Logitech debase good hardware with poorly written, cumbersome and intrusive software. More than a few times I've had to recommend posters give up trying to use an excellent piece of Logitech equipment simply because the software is screwing with their computer.
Hardware manufacturers have to understand that having the best hardware in the world is wasted if you bundle it with substandard software.
Like Epson, Logitech debase good hardware with poorly written, cumbersome and intrusive software. More than a few times I've had to recommend posters give up trying to use an excellent piece of Logitech equipment simply because the software is screwing with their computer.
Hardware manufacturers have to understand that having the best hardware in the world is wasted if you bundle it with substandard software.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Upping the commission
A client of mine asked me about a laptop the other day. I gave them some recommendations on specs and brands, specifically Toshiba, Lenovo and the mid-priced Dells.
Today they visited their local computer superstore. Afterwards they emailed me with the specifications of a Sony Vaio.
Their reason for Sony?
"I am told that the Toshiba one is twice as big and has half the firepower....."
Am I cynical to think Sony has commissions twice as big and twice the incentives?
Today they visited their local computer superstore. Afterwards they emailed me with the specifications of a Sony Vaio.
Their reason for Sony?
"I am told that the Toshiba one is twice as big and has half the firepower....."
Am I cynical to think Sony has commissions twice as big and twice the incentives?
Monday, October 29, 2007
Weekend show and osx
We have the Weekend show summary up on the website. We didn't get to cover safe shopping online, but we did have a chat about Leopard and covered a good range of questions.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Epson printer blues
Mike Arrington at Telecrunch has an entertaining article on how Epson's new website sucks. He sums it up, "The last time I bought one of your printers the software screwed it up so badly I had to reformat the hard drive just to get it to work again. Since then, I’ve stuck with HP’s.
The sad thing is the printers themselves aren't bad units, it's just that you have to install a pile of rubbish on your computer to make the things work.
If Epson were to get back to the basics, then they should ditch the software writers.
Fire the consultants, stop trying to be a conversational marketer and just get back to the basics."
He's quite right, Epson's printer software has been dreadful since the days of Windows 3.1 and it hasn't got better. In fact, they persisted with the horrid Epson Printer Manager well into the Windows 98 days.The sad thing is the printers themselves aren't bad units, it's just that you have to install a pile of rubbish on your computer to make the things work.
If Epson were to get back to the basics, then they should ditch the software writers.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Confusing wirelesses
One of the common questions I get from customers and on the radio shows are from people who are confused about the different types of wireless technologies.
On the last Nightlife spot Tony fell for this and yesterday's Gadget Guy newsletter does as well. It surprises me with Gadget Guy as this stuff is Peter Blasina's bread and butter.
Here's the basic differences;
Wireless Internet is a way of connecting to the Internet by using the mobile phone network or other wire free technologies. All of these have built in security that makes it almost impossible to evesdrop.
Wireless Networks are a way of sharing files, printers and Internet connections in your home or office. These have major problems with security as many systems come without the basic security set up and most people don't understand how to do it.
There's a bit more to it and I'm posting it as our problem of the week on our website tonight.
On the last Nightlife spot Tony fell for this and yesterday's Gadget Guy newsletter does as well. It surprises me with Gadget Guy as this stuff is Peter Blasina's bread and butter.
Here's the basic differences;
Wireless Internet is a way of connecting to the Internet by using the mobile phone network or other wire free technologies. All of these have built in security that makes it almost impossible to evesdrop.
Wireless Networks are a way of sharing files, printers and Internet connections in your home or office. These have major problems with security as many systems come without the basic security set up and most people don't understand how to do it.
There's a bit more to it and I'm posting it as our problem of the week on our website tonight.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
User responsibility
One of the reasons we re-write PCs for Dummies for Australian users is the risk of people trying to get around the standard, US based settings. A story in the SMH tech section has a good example of this.
What does bug me with this story is the underlying assumption is that the software company, Microsoft, the laptop manufacturer, Toshiba, or the retailer, Domayne, were responsible for this.
In this case, it's the user that screwed up. They chose the wrong country settings and were stuck with the wrong keyboard layout. Perhaps they should have thought before setting the country location to UK, Uzbekistan or Uruguay.
I'm often less than sympathetic to MS in this blog, but in this case why shouldn't they charge for their time? This isn't anything to do with them.
That said, it's pretty sad that neither Toshiba nor Domayne could figure out what the problem was. Perhaps their techs need a copy of PCs for Dummies.
What does bug me with this story is the underlying assumption is that the software company, Microsoft, the laptop manufacturer, Toshiba, or the retailer, Domayne, were responsible for this.
In this case, it's the user that screwed up. They chose the wrong country settings and were stuck with the wrong keyboard layout. Perhaps they should have thought before setting the country location to UK, Uzbekistan or Uruguay.
I'm often less than sympathetic to MS in this blog, but in this case why shouldn't they charge for their time? This isn't anything to do with them.
That said, it's pretty sad that neither Toshiba nor Domayne could figure out what the problem was. Perhaps their techs need a copy of PCs for Dummies.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Vista activation debacle
It's always good to see an Aussie website at the top of Techmeme however of the topic of today's Australian Personal Computer article on changing drivers triggering Windows locking him out of his own computer is not something to celebrate.
While James Brennan's story of updating drivers prompting Windows to lock him out of his system is disturbing, the comments are even more worrying.
Readers have stories of changing USB drives, disabling services and using the encryption functions all triggering the Windows activation process.
For a computer tech, this causes serious problems. If the tech does something innocent and sets off this process, it's the tech who is going to be held accountable.
It also boggles my mind how much this costs Microsoft in support calls. On top of the damage to their reputation, the cost of answer the calls and fixing the problems must be horrendous.
The whole idea of Windows activation is flawed. The fact it's been registered once should be enough. If the customer adds external drives, updates software or even swaps out motherboards, it should be of no business to Microsoft.
Part of the problem MS have with Vista is they allowed DRM and anti piracy measures to take too much of a front seat. They need to stop obsessing about their customers being thieves.
Once they focus on what is the core reason why we buy software, then perhaps we'll avoid future debacles like what we see with Windows Vista.
While James Brennan's story of updating drivers prompting Windows to lock him out of his system is disturbing, the comments are even more worrying.
Readers have stories of changing USB drives, disabling services and using the encryption functions all triggering the Windows activation process.
For a computer tech, this causes serious problems. If the tech does something innocent and sets off this process, it's the tech who is going to be held accountable.
It also boggles my mind how much this costs Microsoft in support calls. On top of the damage to their reputation, the cost of answer the calls and fixing the problems must be horrendous.
The whole idea of Windows activation is flawed. The fact it's been registered once should be enough. If the customer adds external drives, updates software or even swaps out motherboards, it should be of no business to Microsoft.
Part of the problem MS have with Vista is they allowed DRM and anti piracy measures to take too much of a front seat. They need to stop obsessing about their customers being thieves.
Once they focus on what is the core reason why we buy software, then perhaps we'll avoid future debacles like what we see with Windows Vista.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Bigpond's lousy value
Choice magazine's Internet satisfaction survey gave a big whack to Australia's Internet industry.
While the headline shows the dissatisfaction with Bigpond, Optus also gets a whack about it's slow and incompetent support which is fair enough as well.
It's interesting how Choice claims cost is the biggest factor. One thing I've criticised Choice for is it's unrealistic conclusions in IT related matters. This is another case in point.
Providers of cheap services have to skimp somewhere to make a buck, customers have to understand that a cheap provider cannot provide services of a premium provider and still stay in business. The writers at Choice don't seem to understand this.
That said, the SMH quote from the Bigpond spokesman is a laugh, "the provider was not trying to compete on price and was offering a premium service."
The joke here is Bigpond doesn't provide a provide a premium service, they charge a premium price for a cheap and somewhat poor service.
My favourite tech editor, David Richards of Smarthouse News provides a few more laughs on this.
David has in the past been a big critic of Choice but in recent times Bigpond has been receiving his ire. So it's quite funny to see David approvingly quoting Choice in a article headlining "Telstra BigPond Sucks And That's Offical."
Yes that is a typo in the headline. It's another reason why I enjoy Smarthouse News editorials so much.
While the headline shows the dissatisfaction with Bigpond, Optus also gets a whack about it's slow and incompetent support which is fair enough as well.
It's interesting how Choice claims cost is the biggest factor. One thing I've criticised Choice for is it's unrealistic conclusions in IT related matters. This is another case in point.
Providers of cheap services have to skimp somewhere to make a buck, customers have to understand that a cheap provider cannot provide services of a premium provider and still stay in business. The writers at Choice don't seem to understand this.
That said, the SMH quote from the Bigpond spokesman is a laugh, "the provider was not trying to compete on price and was offering a premium service."
The joke here is Bigpond doesn't provide a provide a premium service, they charge a premium price for a cheap and somewhat poor service.
My favourite tech editor, David Richards of Smarthouse News provides a few more laughs on this.
David has in the past been a big critic of Choice but in recent times Bigpond has been receiving his ire. So it's quite funny to see David approvingly quoting Choice in a article headlining "Telstra BigPond Sucks And That's Offical."
Yes that is a typo in the headline. It's another reason why I enjoy Smarthouse News editorials so much.
Monday, October 22, 2007
2Clix appoints administrators
Stan Beer at IT Wire reports software company 2Clix, notorious for suing the Whirlpool website, has gone under.
It's sad to hear of any company folding. As a business owner myself I appreciate just how hard it is to keep a business running, particularly in the technology sector.
But you can't help but think the management bought negative karma down upon themselves with their legal stunt. What's worse, Stan Beer or myself probably wouldn't have noticed their problems had they not served writs.
The big problem for 2Clix customers is what happens to their data. Given the application locks the data away, 2Clix users are at the mercy of the administrators and any buyers of the package.
This is another reason why we urge business not to go near software that locks data away. Make sure any system you buy has an open backup utility and has an export to CSV function.
Your data is your businesses' greatest asset. You need to protect it.
It's sad to hear of any company folding. As a business owner myself I appreciate just how hard it is to keep a business running, particularly in the technology sector.
But you can't help but think the management bought negative karma down upon themselves with their legal stunt. What's worse, Stan Beer or myself probably wouldn't have noticed their problems had they not served writs.
The big problem for 2Clix customers is what happens to their data. Given the application locks the data away, 2Clix users are at the mercy of the administrators and any buyers of the package.
This is another reason why we urge business not to go near software that locks data away. Make sure any system you buy has an open backup utility and has an export to CSV function.
Your data is your businesses' greatest asset. You need to protect it.
Commission Junction doesn't want me
Like Darren Rowse at Problogger, I'm finding Google Adsense isn't quite doing the job for the IT Queries website.
The problem is Google does its job too well. The content of the site means the Google Ads are largely for dodgy spyware checkers and registry cleaners.
Funny enough, some of them being ones I rant about on this site.
I want to sign up with commission junction, but they make it impossible as the CAPTCHA is missing from the signup page.
This isn't the first time I've had to struggle with online advertising companies. They seem to go out of their way to make it difficult to create an account.
One would think that these companies, being the engine of Web 2.0 they claim to be, would have their systems right.
Sadly it appears not.
It's a shame really because I'd like to try out Commission Junction as they seem to have some high quality advertisers.
The problem is Google does its job too well. The content of the site means the Google Ads are largely for dodgy spyware checkers and registry cleaners.
Funny enough, some of them being ones I rant about on this site.
I want to sign up with commission junction, but they make it impossible as the CAPTCHA is missing from the signup page.
This isn't the first time I've had to struggle with online advertising companies. They seem to go out of their way to make it difficult to create an account.
One would think that these companies, being the engine of Web 2.0 they claim to be, would have their systems right.
Sadly it appears not.
It's a shame really because I'd like to try out Commission Junction as they seem to have some high quality advertisers.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Playing with my mind
I'm working on the keyboard chapter of the Australian PC for Dummies this morning.
While working on it, I start finding the keyboard doesn't respond to every keystroke which means I'm dropping letters. To say this is really, really frustrating is an understatement.
So I start my keyboard troubleshooting.
1. Do a couple of reboots, same problem
2. Redetect the keyboard. Same problem
3. Change batteries, mutter about cheapo no name batteries. Same Problem.
There must be a hardware problem with the keyboard, which is hardly surprising seeing my track record in smashing the things.
Then I notice my web browser is working fine. So too does Notepad and a new Word document.
In fact everything works but the chapter I'm working on.
So, it's the document. I spend some time messing around and find by turning off and on the track changes, spelling and grammar checkers all comes good.
A lesson there and something for the ITQueries website.
While working on it, I start finding the keyboard doesn't respond to every keystroke which means I'm dropping letters. To say this is really, really frustrating is an understatement.
So I start my keyboard troubleshooting.
1. Do a couple of reboots, same problem
2. Redetect the keyboard. Same problem
3. Change batteries, mutter about cheapo no name batteries. Same Problem.
There must be a hardware problem with the keyboard, which is hardly surprising seeing my track record in smashing the things.
Then I notice my web browser is working fine. So too does Notepad and a new Word document.
In fact everything works but the chapter I'm working on.
So, it's the document. I spend some time messing around and find by turning off and on the track changes, spelling and grammar checkers all comes good.
A lesson there and something for the ITQueries website.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Answering the phone
I'm back on deck after a week away and ploughing through the zillion emails, subscriptions and blog entries that I've missed.
One post that caught my eye was an entry in the Sydney Morning Herald Enterprise Blog about "being too honest in your business", Valerie Khoo encountered an e-commerce site that outright stated they won't answer their phones.
I can understand this. Coming back from holidays I dreaded my message bank. Eight calls had me paralysed for two days.
Those eight calls sitting in my unanswered message queue were more intimidating than several hundred emails.
The worst part is technology brings out the worst in people. A normally calm, patient, rational person often becomes a rampaging, demanding fool when faced with anything related to computers. So I'm firmly on the side of the "Internet Ferals".
I don't think it's going to help their business though, Valerie went elsewhere for her purchase and the comments on her post are less than impressed with the business not having a contact number.
I tend to agree that not having a landline is the kiss of death for an online business. I wouldn't shop at one that didn't and I certainly wouldn't recommend it others.
The lesson for any technology based businesses is that customers, as painful as they can be to deal with, are the reason for the business' existence.
Without 'em, you don't have a business.
Get the phone, hire someone patient with a nice phone manner and get the systems to allow them to find and fix problems.
Or just don't bother going into business.
One post that caught my eye was an entry in the Sydney Morning Herald Enterprise Blog about "being too honest in your business", Valerie Khoo encountered an e-commerce site that outright stated they won't answer their phones.
I can understand this. Coming back from holidays I dreaded my message bank. Eight calls had me paralysed for two days.
Those eight calls sitting in my unanswered message queue were more intimidating than several hundred emails.
The worst part is technology brings out the worst in people. A normally calm, patient, rational person often becomes a rampaging, demanding fool when faced with anything related to computers. So I'm firmly on the side of the "Internet Ferals".
I don't think it's going to help their business though, Valerie went elsewhere for her purchase and the comments on her post are less than impressed with the business not having a contact number.
I tend to agree that not having a landline is the kiss of death for an online business. I wouldn't shop at one that didn't and I certainly wouldn't recommend it others.
The lesson for any technology based businesses is that customers, as painful as they can be to deal with, are the reason for the business' existence.
Without 'em, you don't have a business.
Get the phone, hire someone patient with a nice phone manner and get the systems to allow them to find and fix problems.
Or just don't bother going into business.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Blithering morons
It's 1.24am and I'm driving up the coast with a car full of kids later this morning. So I'm in a particularly cranky mood right now.
That is just the frame of mind to be in when confronted with garbage like this.
In Googling this wonderful product that detects malware on Macs, I stumbled on the Download.com review. This is what the reviewer has to say about Scan and Repair Utilities 2007,
The Description Box tempts you with information about each problem. However, the only information we found listed for every problem was: "This threat is currently being researched for better identification.
You can't repair a single problem. If you want to find out how well this program works in the repair department, you must register. Further, using Live Update crashed the program for our testers."
So what did this guy rate a program that does absolutely nothing?
Three out of five.
Let's get this right, the program does nothing and crashes when you try to update it, yet you still give it a 60% approval rating?
What a blithering moron, I bet he struggles with the concept of phishing.
That is just the frame of mind to be in when confronted with garbage like this.
In Googling this wonderful product that detects malware on Macs, I stumbled on the Download.com review. This is what the reviewer has to say about Scan and Repair Utilities 2007,
The Description Box tempts you with information about each problem. However, the only information we found listed for every problem was: "This threat is currently being researched for better identification.
You can't repair a single problem. If you want to find out how well this program works in the repair department, you must register. Further, using Live Update crashed the program for our testers."
So what did this guy rate a program that does absolutely nothing?
Three out of five.
Let's get this right, the program does nothing and crashes when you try to update it, yet you still give it a 60% approval rating?
What a blithering moron, I bet he struggles with the concept of phishing.
Oh no! My Mac has a Windows Trojan!
In doing some further research on the Skype spam I thought I'd run the online test on my Mac.
Sure enough, it operates exactly the same way in Safari as it does on a Windows Box.
According to this wonderful piece of software, my iMac is infected with the following malware.
Darn it! I knew I should have never put my precious Mac on the network with those horrid, low class Windows boxes. Now it's caught their horrible disease.
The scary thing with this is some people will shell out the 19.95 this rubbish asks for to clean their Macs.
Sure enough, it operates exactly the same way in Safari as it does on a Windows Box.
According to this wonderful piece of software, my iMac is infected with the following malware.
- Backdoor:Win32/NT Root
- Backdoor: Win32/Sivuxa
- Trojan.Caijing
Darn it! I knew I should have never put my precious Mac on the network with those horrid, low class Windows boxes. Now it's caught their horrible disease.
The scary thing with this is some people will shell out the 19.95 this rubbish asks for to clean their Macs.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Skype malware, Onlinealert and ScanAlert
One of my computers has Skype Chat turned on. This afternoon I received a message from Security Center ® (Offline) Skype™ Chat (yes those registration marks are what was there) warning me that WINDOWS REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION.
The warning directs the reader to "download the patch" from a website calling itself Onlinealert.
Normally I'd disregard this but this is my test machine that I know is clean so I thought I'd visit the Onlinealert page.
Sure enough, this site runs a fake scan from an organisation called ScanAlert that gives a bunch of fake malware detections.
I don't know how much ScanAlert charge for their wares, but given the false results I personally wouldn't be trusting them too much to keep my computer hacker safe.
Incidentally, the Onlinealert domain is registered to someone in Moscow calling themselves Sergei Machorin.
I'm sure if Sergei really exists, he'll make a few bucks from people who've been fooled into this little scam.
It will be interesting to see what Skype have to say about this.
The warning directs the reader to "download the patch" from a website calling itself Onlinealert.
Normally I'd disregard this but this is my test machine that I know is clean so I thought I'd visit the Onlinealert page.
Sure enough, this site runs a fake scan from an organisation called ScanAlert that gives a bunch of fake malware detections.
I don't know how much ScanAlert charge for their wares, but given the false results I personally wouldn't be trusting them too much to keep my computer hacker safe.
Incidentally, the Onlinealert domain is registered to someone in Moscow calling themselves Sergei Machorin.
I'm sure if Sergei really exists, he'll make a few bucks from people who've been fooled into this little scam.
It will be interesting to see what Skype have to say about this.
Ten years doing the radio
I was going through my old files today and found the fax that started my ABC Radio spots.
I didn't realise it, but sometime last month I passed the ten years mark of doing the Weekend show.
I feel old.
I didn't realise it, but sometime last month I passed the ten years mark of doing the Weekend show.
I feel old.
The Australian Technology Blog
A new blog is born to join the other seven million created every day.
I've set up the Australian Technology Blog to discuss technology issues and how they affect Australians, both individuals and businesses.
This blog will continue as my outlet for non-technology issues and generally venting my spleen.
I hope you can visit both.
I've set up the Australian Technology Blog to discuss technology issues and how they affect Australians, both individuals and businesses.
This blog will continue as my outlet for non-technology issues and generally venting my spleen.
I hope you can visit both.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)