500millionfriends.com

For those interested, the site to promote the new movie about Facebook is www.500millionfriends.com. At the moment this appears to link to the site www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com which is the poster for the movie.

Kelvin Eldridge

Tags: 500 million friends

Luggage Suitcases Scale - Avoid Excess Baggage

Every now and then you see an item you just have to have. For me it was a luggage scale. When I think back about how embarrassing it was in an airport moving luggage from one suitcase to another, to get the weight right, I wish I had a luggage scale then.

The problem when travelling is the luggage gets heavier as you go along. What started as a suitcase meeting the baggage allowance can soon creep up resulting in bags being too heavy, or unpleasant excess baggage charges. Often if two or more people are travelling together, one bag may be over and others may be under. By moving items between suitcases when packing, it is often possible to have suitcases meet luggage restrictions, or avoid excess baggage fees.

How then can you easily determine how much each suitcase weighs?

With a luggage scale of course.

I actually didn't know such a device existed. The luggage scale has a digital display built into a handle which you hold, with a hook attached for lifting the luggage. The luggage scale beeps when it has determined the weight of the luggage. Weighing only 90 grams the luggage scale doesn't add to much weight to your luggage.

On the next trip I'll certainly be taking a luggage scale with me.

One topic that has come up recently is discount airlines may be reducing baggage allowances, which enables them to charge excess baggage to generate additional profit. People often only look at the price of the ticket, so it is easy to miss additional charges such as excess baggage, that might not be excess baggage on another airline. You should check each airline's baggage allowance. I saw one airline with great prices, but when I checked further, once you added up all the additional charges. their prices didn't look so good.

For those interested in a luggage scale it is available for $19.95 plus postage and handling. To me that's an excellent price for an item which will give me peace of mind when I next check in some luggage.

Kelvin Eldridge

Apple iOS 4 release date

The new version of the Apple iOS 4 operating system for the Apple iPhone is just around the corner. It should be here sometime next week.

I'm looking forward to multitasking and their universal inbox. Skype was one app I was looking forward to try but with OS 3 when it isn't running in the foreground, it isn't running and that makes it not as useful. Once iOS 4 introduces multi-tasking and Skype update their software to take advantage of multi-tasking I'm looking forward to testing Skype again.

With the unified inbox feature I'm hoping my two email accounts can be treated as one (and still two as currently) which should mean a little less going up and down through levels in the email application.

Whilst I'm still not sure of the exact release date the new iPhone 4 is being released on June 24 with the new operating system so it is possible it will be released around that time.

For those with the Apple 3G iPhone multi-tasking won't be available but I'm sure the update will bring some exciting new features. If you are interested in the features of iOS 4 visit the update page on the Apple site.

Those with an eagle eye will have noticed the change in the name of the operating system from OS to iOS which I suspect is to align the name of the operating system with the devices it runs on.

All we can do now is wait until sometime next week.

Kelvin Eldridge

Office web apps from Microsoft now live

I’ve been checking my Microsoft Live account to see if the Office web apps are live yet in Australia and to my surprise they’ve now been enabled.

The online Office applications from Microsoft look very good and should be sufficient for many people with fairly basic word processing and spreadsheeting requirements. I’ve found over the years many people often need little more than the basics to do what they need and the Office web apps will do that and more.

The first thing you may wish to do is to set your spellchecker language to Australian English in the Word app.

As I explore Microsoft Office web apps I’ll share information via the JustLocal blog and solutions to problems using MyAnswers.

 

Enjoy,

 

Kelvin Eldridge

 

 

 

SQL Writer - SQLDUMPER library failed initializaton

MyAnswers is a great resource for businesses looking for actual solutions to problems and is offered as part of the JustLocal service.

On the internet there is a lot of good information, but often the good information is difficult to find. Often when I search the internet I find many partial solutions, or solutions that I don't consider is the best way to do something. I find many people trying to provide answers have never experienced the actual problem. Often I've visited multiple sites and followed many threads of conversations only to find no solution provided and many others experiencing the same problem.

With MyAnswers the solutions provided are the solutions which come about by solving the actual problem for a client. The solution is then made available to JustLocal advertisers free of charge as part of the value offered by JustLocal.

MyAnswers solution 2005 documents what I did to stop this message from occurring for a particular user. The solution will be made available in the near future.

Kelvin Eldridge

Remote Desktop

My aim with JustLocal is to help people to purchase products and services locally. Sadly, over the last 10-15 years I don’t recall any local business asking me what I did and thus using my IT services. From those I ask in the local area they’ve had a similar experience.

It never ceases to amaze me how we have created a world where our customers come into our business, buy from us, and then we go and buy from someone else who most likely will never use our business. That by the way isn't how I work. Whenever possible I try to look for ways to purchase products and services from my customers first and then from others.

I know encouraging people and businesses to buy local is a long term goal for me. I believe in it which is why I invest my time an energy. I believe once people start to realise the benefits of supporting each other locally, that will have a huge impact on our day-to-day lives including the cost of travelling to and from work. The government puts so much emphasis on public transport. Buses are the only form of public transport in my area and given buses really aren't that much better in fuel efficiency than small cars, imagine how we could reduce our need for public transport if we did more locally. How huge a saving that could be on the public purse, our taxes, our own wallets and the environment.

Ideally I'd like to have a good group of local clients. However my business like everyone's has developed over time and my IT clients are scattered around Melbourne.

Lately I've been setting up Windows Remote Desktop on my client's machines. It is actually very technical, but once set up it enables me to connect to their network and provide remote support. The added advantage is clients can then connect to their own network from home and do some after hours work if required.

Having local clients is a great way to save fuel, time and thus money. However, technology also provides us with other ways where our physical location is not an issue. With Remote Desktop which I've tested across Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, I can now effectively assist my clients from a location which may be anywhere in the world where I can get internet access.

If Remote Desktop interests you and you'd like to have it set up in your business, please feel free to contact me.

 

Kelvin Eldridge

Tags: remote desktop, desktop remote, remote access, remote connection, windows remote desktop, xp remote desktop, remote desktop server, remote desktop port

 

 

Apple 4 (4G) Review

Everyone looks for different things in a piece of technology. This article includes the Apple 4 iPhone specifications which caught my eye and why. In effect it is a review of the Apple 4 iPhone as it relates to what interests me for myself and my clients.

- Kelvin Eldridge

Adsense - Google reveals how much they share

Recently I found a post where Google openly published how much they share with site owners. As many current and potential JustLocal advertisers may consider adding Google ads to their site, I decided to share this information in MyAnswers solution 2000 which will be available soon.

The two types of advertising Google is sharing information about are Adsense Content and Adsense Search.

This page is an example of Adense Content where Google ads have been added to the page. It is called content because the main purpose of the page is to share content, which in this case is an Electricity Cost Calculator.

This page is an example of Adsense Search. It is called search because it uses Google's custom search facility to provide Australians with a search facility where their searches are limited to pages Google considers to be from the Australian region.

For those interested the percentage share information and link to the original article is available in MyAnswers solution 2000 (for JustLocal advertisers and clients of Online Connections).

Kelvin Eldridge

Tags: adsense, google adsense, adsence, adsense ads, adsense revenue

Tips on duty free (dutyfree)

One of the bonuses when going overseas is the opportunity to purchase duty free. What I've noticed is people still think buying items like cameras and watches offer great savings like they did years ago.

Years ago duty was put into place to protect the local industry (that may still be the case in some areas) but for most of the things I'm interested in, the duty was reduced and I think completely removed. Duty was an additional tax to sales tax. When you bought duty free, not only did you not pay the duty, but you also didn't pay the sales tax.

What changed is we went from a wholesale tax system to GST. In effect tax on products was reduced in many cases and services became taxed.

In the past there may have been significant duty and wholesale tax on products. I recall figures such as 30% wholesale tax applied to some items.

Now however, most of that has changed. For items like cameras and electronic goods, duty free means a saving of GST. GST is one eleventh of the price which is roughly 9%.

The problem is duty free stores typically don't discount, so you pay full price less the GST. If you buy something on sale discounted by 10%, then you are getting a better price than buying duty free.

The other advantage of buying on sale is you get the item and can get used to it before leaving on an overseas holiday.

Items like alcohol and cigarettes, which have very large taxes applied to them, are the real bargains when it comes to duty free. I'm not a smoker, but those who do, really benefit when it comes to the savings on cigarettes. Even better is you can buy a range of duty free items at the airport when you return to Australia. That saves a lot of effort carrying duty free items around when overseas.

For me, gone are the days of going into the city buying duty free before a holiday overseas. I recall purchasing a video recorder and lugging it all around Asia. It makes me laugh to think of how inconvenient and heavy it was and now I could do just as well by buying during one when on special.

For those who love haggling, you'll probably find you can negotiate a discount in many cases which is as good as duty free. I'm not a haggler so that doesn't help me. I'm a catalogue buyer and since many catalogues are now on the internet, I can find my pre-trip specials quite easily from the comfort of home.

Even checking out duty free items is easy because the duty free store at Tullamarine airport is now online. From what I've previously compared, they were the same prices in the city as the airport, at least for the items I was interested in. I'm in Melbourne and that may differ for other locations. In general I've find airport prices much dearer for most things.

The following sites may be of interest to those travelling overseas.

Check this booklet from Customers for your duty free allowance.

www.customs.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/GuideForTravellers.pdf

Check this site for duty free prices at Tullamarine airport

http://www.firstdutyfree.com.au/

I seem to recall a place called Downtown duty free and so I searched for that name on the internet. I checked the telephone number and it is the same as First Tax & Duty Free. It appears they are the same.

Have a great holiday.

Kelvin Eldridge
Tags: duty free, downtown duty free, dutyfree, duty free allowance, duty free stores, duty free online

Word Microsoft Outlook

I recently attended the Microsoft partner session for Office 2010. There is so much happening with Microsoft at the moment across the board, it really feels there isn't one single exciting thing happening, but a range of  things happening that need to be reviewed and considered.

One thing stood out in my mind as I sat and watched demonstrations and that was Office 2010 is a good looking product. Microsoft certainly do make a polished product. In this case however beauty isn't skin deep. There is a lot to this release of Office 2010.

If you asked the question, "is there a single must-buy reason to purchase Office 2010?", the answer is probably not really. Based on my experience with clients, most will simply migrate to Office 2010 as older machines reach end of life and new machines are rolled out. Whilst there isn't a single compelling reason, there are a range of things which I will be considering in the coming weeks.

Perhaps the most exciting update is Office web applications. I for one will be giving them a burl to see if they add value for my business and for my clients. With users getting a massive 25GB of online storage, I'm interested in the opportunities that presents.

I thought I'd share a couple of things that stood out for me in the presentations.

1. I really did think, WOW, Microsoft really do make good looking software.
2. The range of Office 2010 editions has been reduced which to me is a good thing.
3. It was said something like 98% of new machines will come with Office installed and all you need to do is buy the appropriate product key card to unlock the applications you need.
4. The idea of upgrades is now gone which will be disconcerting for some, but once they realise the full product price is similar to the old upgrade price that means everyone is better off. It really makes sense to get rid of the idea of upgrades. It is a much simpler approach to treat each release of Office as a new product. For me this gets rid of a lot of support issues in handling the upgrade versus full product situation. This should have been done years ago.
5. For my clients I believe for the extra cost of purchasing the edition which contains Microsoft Access, when spread over three years, has been worth the extra money. This has probably changed. The version with Access is typically twice as dear and so it no longer makes as much sense. If people want Access and don't want Publisher, then it makes sense to purchase Access separately.
6. OneNote is now included across all versions of Office. I've never used OneNote, so I intend to try it out and see if it adds value to my experience.
7. One feature that is very impressive is in-place editing of images and videos. Microsoft is helping  the user by making it easier to edit images and videos without exiting out to other software. That was really quite impressive.
8. I think most small/medium businesses will opt for Office Home & Business 2010 and home users will opt for Office Home & Student 2010 (which includes a 3 user licence).
9. Interestingly I'd suggest that all home users try out the free versions of Office web apps that I believe will be available as part of Windows Live. I'll be evaluating the free version to see if it delivers enough for a range of users who don't need as much out of the Office product.
10. For business users the Office web apps offer some interesting options and this is where working in the cloud versus the local computer, will take time to work out the advantages and disadvantages involved.

Overall I find the situation rather interesting. I'm not normally excited with an Office upgrade as it is something we are quite used to. However there is so much to the Office 2010 desktop and web version, it is a bit exciting to start reviewing everything to determine where the new release can add value for my clients.

One thing I did ask was whether or not the ribbon bar could be minimised as I find it takes up so much space. I use a netbook now and to me that extra space is invaluable. With over 60 million netbooks sold it appears to me that Microsoft designers didn't anticipate the smaller netbook screen size. I personally feel the cloud offers one solution for portability, but so do portable form factors such as tablets and smaller devices which the HP Slate might or might not be one in the future. A lot of people will feel more comfortable with their data on a portable device than in the cloud and portable devices have the advanatage of your data always being available. Office could still work well on quite small form factors but the ribbon bar consumes too much screen area. The answer is, no it can't be shrunk or minimised. Ah well, we can't have everything.

As I explore the new world of Office 2010 and Office web apps, I'll be sharing what I find via this blog and MyAnswers.

Enjoy,

Kelvin Eldridge

TAGS: microsoft office 2003 upgrades, office outlook, office xp upgrades, microsoft outlook, microsoft office 2003 upgrade, microsoft update, microsoft powerpoint, ms word, microsoft word 2003 upgrade

Why the NBN concerns me.

For some time I've been watching the developments surrounding the NBN and thinking this doesn't make sense to me. A $43 billion project is a lot for Australian tax payers who have to foot the bill.

I personally don't think the government should make the rules and participate in the game. This leads to the government making the rules in their favour and I don't think that helps anyone in the long run.

Remember the Telstra monopoly. NBN looks like tomorrows monopoly in the making today.

But let's look at some figures that have appeared in the press.

In Tasmania they are rolling out the NBN to 200,000 households and businesses at a cost of $700 million. That's a cost of $3,500 per connection just for the initial infrastructure. That is a cost. It isn't the retail price consumers end up paying. Add wholesale margin, retail margin and GST and you can probably quadruple this figure.

If that's the case the average householder will need to pay back something like $14,000 and that's with 100% take-up. What if only half the population take up and use the NBN. This article indicates an expected take-up could be as low as 30%.

I can't help but wonder if the government's NBN monopoly will cripple innovation. I only hope other options continue to be available, although we do have to keep in mind when those that make the rules also play in the game, they can legislate the outcome.

For example I've noticed when tollways open, surrounding roads are adjusted to force users onto the toll roads. I can only imagine the same occurring with the NBN.

Small players will sell out and big players will have to play the game because you can't beat the umpire.

I'm all for progress. I just don't think replacing one monopoly with another is progress and I think history will be the best judge of that. Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

I do hope this becomes one of the next election issues. I think it is important we have a chance to at least voice our opinions in a way that matters.

- Kelvin Eldridge

Apple iPhone and the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre

Today I decided to do something with the Apple iPhone which I thought would be quite simple. To send a post to my blog with a photo and a link to Google maps showing where the photo was taken.

Easy you would have thought.

The Apple iPhone can produce the photo and the link, but then things started to fall apart.

First I really didn't want the entire photo. I wanted to resize the photo and crop the photo. These are not features found on the iPhone. With a bit of searching and testing I found a couple of apps to do what I wanted which were free. I hesitate to buy apps. They don't cost much, but many apps I've tried (mostly free) haven't been that good and I've deleted them. The one I did buy didn't really end up doing what I wanted easily, so doesn't get used.

Google's Blogger requires the photograph to be sent as an attachment, but the Apple iPhone doesn't provide a facility to send an attachment. You can insert an image into an email but not attach it.

The way I created this post was to enter the text for the post including the link and sent this to Blogger.

Yarra Promenade, Southbank VIC 3006, Australia

Then I forwarded the photo to my computer, logged onto Blogger, inserted the photo and did a bit of editing on the post. I saved the post and then checked it. There was a single line which I couldn't remove so I went into edit the HTML view and removed all the code generated by the iPhone.

This is certainly not what I thought would be needed. However whilst this technique doesn't work for blogging, it really is a great feature of the Apple iPhone.

My initial aim really was to create a  link with my current location, take a picture and send the picture and link in an email to family to let them know where we are when on holidays. I also thought this could be a good technique for children to let parents know where they are when they want to get a lift. The location is often enough but getting a picture of something obvious in the area could really help sometimes.

I've written up the technique as the MyAnswers solution 1998 (How to send a photo and a link to your current location using the Apple iPhone.) I'm sure others will find handy ways to use this technique.

Regards,

Kelvin Eldridge

Alert: Wind “power” is a fraud - Citizens Electoral Council of Australia

I received a couple of emails sent to two different email addresses with the subject Wind “power” is a fraud from the Citizens Electoral Council of Australia.

I decided to check these out in case they contained malware.

On opening the emails I remembered I'd seen this type of email some time ago. I previously rang the organisation and if I recall correctly they used a third party mailing list.

If this is a political party then based on my understanding of the anti-spam Act they aren't in breach. However I do wonder if the third party mailing list organisation is in breach. I haven't provided my email details and suspect the email addresses may have been harvested in some way.

My advice to the organisation was that whilst they may not be in breach of the anti-spam act, sending unsolicited emails is generally not welcome. I asked them to remove my details from their mailing list and will do so again. I suggested to the organistion that they should put the effort into building their own opt-in email list. They should have sufficient members and contacts of members to start building a good list and it can grow from there. Using purchased mailing lists simply damages their credibility. I certainly now don't consider these emails to have any credibility at all.

Personally I don't think it was right for the government to exclude themselves and charities from the anti-spam legislation. We should have one set of rules and the government shouldn't be making rules simply to favour themselves.

I would suggest unsubscribing and then deleting these emails.

- Kelvin Eldridge

Apple iPhone Safari geolocation (GPS)

Apple iPhone Safari geolocation isn't very good

- Kelvin Eldridge

Apple 4G iPhone about to be released.

If you're thinking about an iPhone, now is a good time to put off a decision until the new model is released.

Earlier this year I saw a number of people buying Apple 3G iPhones on two year contracts. Some of the people I spoke to didn't realise the Apple iPhone 3G wasn't the latest model. It was a special offer and the offer looked good to them. Only later did they find out the 3G iPhone didn't include features such as recording video.

With the Apple 4G iPhone it is likely the 3GS models will be discounted to look attractive. However before buying a 3GS instead of a 4G it is a good idea to compare the features. The mobile phone market moves quickly and the two year contract you sign today is a long time in terms of mobile technology.

Check out which features don't exist on the 3GS compared with the 4G. Some of these features may become more important in the next model. New features on the model after the 4G may even make the 3GS model obsolete.

I feel a number of people will think the Apple 4G iPhone will work on the coming 4G network and end up buying a phone for the 4G network that only works on the 3G network. At this stage since the details aren't available, I don't know if the Apple 4G iPhone will support the 4G network. I don't think it will, but I could be wrong. It is important not to get confused with the iPhone model number of the telecommunications network.

None of us can predict the future of the smartphone market. All we can do is make a good decision for our current needs and our needs over the coming year. I decided to skip the 3G model and go for the 3GS model. Depending on your needs that may be a good decision for the 4G model for some people.

Be careful of the coming specials from the telcos. A good decision is an informed decision.

- Kelvin Eldridge

MyAnswers - Outlook 2007 defaulting to American English

In Outlook 2007 (Windows XP) the spelling defaults to American English (English U.S.). The spelling defaults correctly to Australian English in Microsoft Word.

- Kelvin Eldridge

Apple iPad micro-sim and Telstra browsing packs

When I first read the Apple iPad was going to have a micro-SIM and not the usual SIM card, I thought that was a bit of a nuisance. I can see how it will tend to lock people into certain providers. I just read the following article (Apple betrays loyal customers with iPad's micro-SIM slot) which was written in January and what I’m seeing is the opposite seems to be happening. The main argument in the article is that people will be locked into higher priced plans because of the micro-SIM format.

From what I’m seeing the Telstra iPad pre-paid plans are heavily biased favouring Apple. Currently I occasionally use a $10 pre-paid service from Telstra when I need good coverage and use 3 as the service provider when around the city. 3’s service is often totally inadequate even around the city of Melbourne, but the cost is vastly superior to Telstra’s, so I put up with it. For $10 from Telstra pre-paid, you get a measly 100MB.

I wonder why it is that Telstra can offer Apple iPad users 1GB for $20 and only offer everyone else so much less?

Telstra’s pre-paid plans until recently offered 100MB - $10, 200MB - $29 and I’m not quite sure, but there was one more which I think was 750MB for $59. I just checked the Telstra site and whilst they’ve updated their pre-paid data allowances, they still don’t match the value offered to Apple users.

$5 Browsing Pack 20MB BROWSEPLUS5
$10 Browsing Pack 150MB BROWSEPLUS10
$20 Browsing Pack 300MB BROWSEPLUS20
$39 Browsing Pack 750MB BROWSEPLUS39
$49 Browsing Pack 2GB BROWSEPLUS49
$79 Browsing Pack 4GB BROWSEPLUS79

Apple iPad users get the following choices from Telstra.

$20 - 1GB
$30 - 3GB
$60 - 6GB
$80 - 9GB
$100 - 12GB

I can understand that Telstra wishes to price aggressively to get the new iPad business, but it doesn’t quite seem right that they treat other users differently and charge them so much more. There is one good price point Telstra offers which is the $10 browsing pack for 150MB. This means Telstra users can pay less if they need to use less data. Apart from that, Apple iPad users come out winners across the board.

At least with the release of the Apple iPad Telstra has increased the value offered by their Browsing Packs, but it is still a long way from the value offered to iPad users.

I’ve read you can purchase a converter for a micro-SIM and use it as an ordinary SIM. You can also supposedly physically hack a regular SIM and make a micro-SIM, but I personally don’t think this should be necessary. I believe Telcos should be platform agnostic. It shouldn’t matter if we use an iPad, a netbook, an iPhone, an Andorid, or some other device, what they offer should be the same.

For me Telstra puts me off using their services when they do this. I think Telstra has the best network coverage, but for the time being until they treat customers equally and provide better value, I’ll find ways to use other service providers most of the time and only Telstra in the less frequent situation where better coverage is important.

- Kelvin Eldridge

Tip: If you're interested in buying an iPad duty free, visit the Apple online store. Duty free stores usually charge full price. Duty in this case is just the GST. If you take one eleventh off the price, that will be the duty free price.

Is it legionnaires' disease, legionnaire's disease, or legionnaires disease?

The recent outbreak of legionnaires' disease reminded me of a common problem many people (including myself) tend to have with spelling. Where do we place the apostrophe? If you check the news articles on the recent outbreak in the Doncaster area you'll find all three spelling variations.

As many of you will know, I'm the person who created the Australian English spellcheck dictionary now used in products like OpenOffice.org, Firefox, Thunderbird, Google Chrome, and in fact, I'd say if you are using an open source product with Australian spelling, you're probably using my work.

I found a couple of problems with the open source path for me. The first thing is I was putting in hundreds of hours and whilst the open source projects were happy to come along and use my work, none gave anything back to support me. The second issue is the original word list was based on an open source dictionary and required over 30% of the words to be culled to start with and the rest to be checked using existing spellcheckers. Unfortunately that meant the dictionary would in general only be a subset of the spellcheckers I used to vet the word list, but worse, any errors would not be picked up. It reminded me of the old expression, garbage in, garbage out. It wouldn't matter how much time and effort I put into patching the word list there would still be a significant number of errors in the list that may take years to find.

I felt it was time to build a quality product and the only way to do that was to start from scratch. I estimate by the time I've built the dictionary to the standard I am happy with, I'll have invested close to a thousand hours, possibly more. I don't know about you, but I certainly can't afford to give away a thousand hours of my time. Of course if each user of OpenOffice.org, Firefox, Thunderbird and Google Chrome who use my work contributed just $1, I could have worked on the dictionary full-time, and kept the work open source. I've found most open source users, business users, and projects, don't want to pay anything and don't give anything back to assist the projects they use.

My work is now limited to clients and those who make a contribution. It is those people after all who enable me to support my family. My work is called the Kelvin dictionary and the public face of my work is Word Check.

The question Is it legionnaires' disease, legionnaire's disease or legionnaires disease?, is the type of question I am aim to answer with Word Check. In fact legionairres' disease is one of the terms I'd previously researched and if you enter the three variations, the preferred Australian English spelling will be provided.

The Kelvin dictionary aims to provide the preferred spelling in Australia. The preferred spelling in Australia is legionnaires' disease"

May all your spelling be the preferred Australian English spelling.

- Kelvin Eldridge

NOTES:

The Australian Oxford Dictionary - Second Edition states the spelling as legionnaires' disease.
The Macquarie Concise Dictionary - Third Edition states the spelling as legionnaires' disease with an also spelling of legionaires' disease. (Yes that isn't a typo on my part. That is  in the dictionary.)
The Macquarie Dictionary - Fifth Edition states the spelling as legionnaire's disease with an also spelling of legionnaires' disease.

A check of the various government web sites tends to lean towards the use of legionnaires' disease. At this stage this is the preferred spelling offered by Word Check and Kelvin's dictionary. Kelvin's dictionary aims to make spelling easier by only providing the preferred Australian English spelling as the correct spelling variation.

A check of the overseas based spelling sites generally returns legionnaires' disease as the spelling.

All three spelling variations are commonly found across Australian web sites.

Those using Microsoft Word 2007 will find the grammar checker suggests Legionnaires' disease with capitalisation. Interestingly I see quite a few sites (such as Wikipedia) using the capitalised version. I tend to suggest to people not to rely on Wikipedia as an authoritative resource. My research of words is done against authoritative references. Those using Microsoft Word may tend to change the capitalisation based on Microsoft Word's suggestion. Both the Macquarie and Oxford use the lowercase spelling.

Legionnaires' disease in Doncaster (legionella)

ANYONE who feels ill after visiting Doncaster recently has been urged to contact a doctor after a man died in a legionnaire's disease outbreak.

- Kelvin Eldridge