Alert: Commercial Cleaning Special Offices - cheap247cleaningservices

I recently received a spam email and thought others are probably receiving the same spam email. Today I received another email of the same type.

My approach to spam is anyone who spams in Australia I simply wouldn't deal with. They know they're spamming and it's against the law. Do I really want to deal with law breakers and trust them with my premises? The answer is definitely no. There's plenty of decent businesses out there trying to make a  living legitimately. Why take the risk.

However in this case I'm not even sure it's a spam email as it could be a scam email. The reason is if I hover over the image the domain is shown and it is a French domain. I've not typically seen a scam email come from a French domain before.

Scam or spam doesn't really matter. It is simply best if you delete these emails.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Where is the nearest Hungry Jack's? Where is the closest Hungry Jack's? Have you asked these questions?

A couple of days ago I wrote a post sharing my latest web site/web app designed to answer the question, "Where is the nearest KFC?" Today I want to let readers know I've now created a similar map for Hungry Jack's.

If you've asked yourself the question "where is the nearest Hungry Jack's?" or "where is the closest Hungry Jack's?", then feel free to check out my site www.mapz.com.au/nearesthungryjacks for desktop users and www.mapz.com.au/nearesthungryjacks/mobile for mobile users. The desktop version shows all the locations on a map, whereas the mobile version shows the closest five Hungry Jack's to your current location. The mobile version also works well on the desktop. You can go from one version to another using the link in the menu.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Where is the nearest KFC? Where is the closest KFC? Have you ever asked these questions?

Where is the nearest KFC is a question I've often asked over the years. Unfortunately I've found the sites of the majors lacking and I'm sure they're better now, but rather than be frustrated with a site that doesn't do what I want, since I've got the skills, I'm able to write a site to work the way I want and need.

Once I've written a site for my own needs, I often make the site public so others can benefit from what I've created.

If you've asked yourself the question "where is the nearest KFC?" or "where is the closest KFC?", then feel free to check out my site www.mapz.com.au/nearestkfc for desktop users and www.mapz.com.au/nearestkfc/mobile for mobile users. The desktop version shows all the locations on a map, whereas the mobile version shows the closest five  KFCs to your current location. The mobile version also works well on the desktop. You can go from one version to another using the link in the menu.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Catch Up Coffee reviews

The Catch Up Coffee site was set up from the responses of others when asked what cafes they'd suggest for business catch ups. As I visit cafes if they're not suitable because of things such as too noisy (for business chats), limited parking, etc., then I remove them from the list.

As I visit and retain the cafe in the list, I'll provide a review which may assist others. If not review is available the 'read more' link will take people to this post by default. If you've reached here as a result of clicking on the 'read more' link you'll know at this point there's no additional information.

The Catch Up Coffee site is also being incorporated into my generalised Mapz service and is now located at www.Mapz.com.au/catchupcoffee/.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Fun Date Ideas slideshow

I decided to assist Fun Date Ideas and put together a slideshow to help promote their site. You can find the slideshow video at http://youtu.be/_KTfS1FlH-s.

What I found really cool was I asked for some music to be used for the slideshow and Matt simply whipped up the music and sent it to me. It isn't right that someone has so much talent;-)

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au
Helping small business owners to be found on the internet.

Does it matter where you host your website?

For the past few weeks I've been testing whether or not it matters in which country you host your website. I've been using the site www.MelbourneCoach.business, which is a website I set up, for the purposes of testing Google search results when people search for 'business coach Melbourne'.


I still have some testing to complete but I've published my preliminary findings MyAnswers solution 2487. Solutions are available to clients for a nominal charge. As you can expect a considerable amount of time and some cost goes into the testing, so the nominal charge represent superb value for money.


Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

HomeAway.com.au site a waste of time and should be avoided.

We're trying to book a holiday rental around Torquay. You go to the effort of going through the places and then send a message. The real estate agent in this case doesn't get back to you. When you call them they said they sent an email but we never received it. This time I did make a mistake as I typed .ai instead of .au in the email address, but I tested the email address and it fails, so that can't be the case. There's also a telephone number provided but they didn't call that.

Then when you call them instead they say they'll have to check if the property is available at that time. Isn't that what the availability is all about! Sorry the property is not available at that time.

They then send us a list via email outside of the system. We find one and this time send a request via the HomeAway system. Again no response. Two weeks go by and we call them. No they didn't get the request but we did get the automated confirmation. Sorry you'll have to hold on whilst we go and use another computer for this. We'll contact the owner and see if the property is available. Yes that will be $350 per day, yet the figure provided for those days is $280 on HomAway.com.au

To me this is totally substandard. Makes you want to get on an aeroplane and holiday overseas where you know if you book a flight and accommodation for the days you want, at the price published, that is what you're going to get. I don't know how landlords tolerate this and certainly if they're not keeping their listing up-to-date, then the landlords are just as much at fault.

The other sites listing properties for holiday rentals around Torquay really look like backyard jobs and don't instil confidence.

Times are tough in Australia but really landlords and real estate agents need to lift their game. I've never been so frustrated using an online booking system. Perhaps it is because in the past I've stuck to the main online booking systems. Like it or not the big overseas companies do seem to have their act together.

Come on landlords and real estate agents. Lift your game. If we want to keep business in Australia we all need to do better.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Woolworths Everyday Rewards incentive not worth the electrons used to promote - Ready to start shopping to earn your $0 Cash for Easter Gift Card?

It was once said, "to err is human, but to really foul things up takes a computer".

I received an Everyday Rewards email this morning and couldn't resist a little chuckle. Looks like someone didn't quite get things right and when you have a mailing list as big as Woolworths, a lot of people will know.

Now which is it? Do I have to spend $0 to get $0 reward, or do spend $0 to get $100 gift card?

I'm sure they'll let us all know.

Over the years I've seen a number of big foul ups and I must admit I've shuddered in horror myself thinking did I or didn't I send that email to the public mailing list. Phew. I didn't, but it does make you worry sometimes.

An exceptionally common error is for businesses to share all their customers including everyone's email address in the To or CC field. One distributor sent me their entire client list for a major telco they were distributing for. How many times do your family and friends send emails with everyone's email address listed?

Another quite interesting story was where a cleaner decided to send marketing emails to a large number of real estate agents in Melbourne with all the email addresses listed in the To field. OK. We all make mistakes. However all hell broke loose. A number of real estate agents had malware on their Exchange mail servers which picked up the mail list and then started resending this email about 100 times a hour to everyone on the list. Some of the real estate agents didn't even know their servers were infected until I contacted them. It took some of them and their IT support up to a week to remove the malware from the server. At least the agents learnt about their infected machines, but there were a lot of very unhappy people flooded with emails.

Do make sure you double check that email you're sending out to your contacts. With automation we now tend to send emails to hundreds or thousands of contacts at a time and it isn't one mistake, but a mistake repeated possibly thousands of times.

Besides, I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to spend $0!

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

Our younger generation are charged a small fortune for tertiary courses but don't seem to be advised as to which give better value in terms of earning potential.

When I went to school a few decades ago I seem to remember getting into a veterinarian course was probably one of the more difficult, yet if you look at the return on the investment, it doesn't look quite so good. The government now makes a large amount of money from our younger generation so perhaps it's time they looked at cost versus return and started making better business decisions about the courses they aspire for.

I found this article particularly interesting and so I thought I'd share it with others. If you get a screen overlay where you can't read the article because the site is trying to force you to sign up, simply hit the refresh for your browser.

The information presented is copyright 2013, so it is fairly recent, but of course time does move on so it is useful as a guide only.

http://www.comparecourses.com.au/Guides/Articles/Return-on-investment-for-undergraduate-degrees-in-324.htm

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Can private buses travel in bus lanes?

I was driving along Fitzsimons Lane in Templestowe and was quite surprised to see what looked like a private school bus. The bus had a big ad on the back with Nunawading Christian College and the number place ZWI 028. It was around 4:30 pm and the bus travelled along Fitzsimons Lane, then Williamsons Road, turned left into Reynolds Road and I last saw it going into the United petrol station in Doncaster East next to The Pines shopping centre.

I always felt bus lanes were for public buses, but when I asked another person they said they see the small buses all the time on the Eastern Freeway using the bus lane. Of course there may be different rules for different bus lanes. I do seem to recall the Eastern Freeway has signs which allow certain types of vehicles other than buses, but I've not seen such signs on Fitzsimons Lane and Williamsons Road.

Interestingly when I check the internet and look up information from government sites I couldn't find anything that made it clear. I think it should be easy to check such information but instead I get rather confusing and what to me is ambiguous information. I'm even more confused now with regards to bicycles and whether or not they can use bus lanes.

Such a poorly documented and confusing system we have. No wonder the government is laughing all the way to the bank with the fines they raise.

I do hope these people aren't flaunting the law. Once you get one group of people flaunting the law others tend to copy making the law pointless. Yes they'll get fined every now and then but the damage they do by providing a bad example simply leads others to think it is OK. But of course since I haven't been able to determine whether or not the law being broken, I really still don't know.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

A $6 credit available to watch a movie from Google Play for Chromecast users.

I noticed there was a $6 credit available from Google Play for Chromecast users, which means Google is shouting a movie for a date night. For those with a Chromecast I thought I'd write up the steps. 

Open Chrome and connect to your Chromecast
Go to https://cast.google.com/chromecast/offers/
Tick the ‘I agree..’ box
Click Continue
Click Select Your Device

On the TV screen you’ll see ‘Congrats! You have 4 offers available…'

Click on the ‘Get $6 Google Play Movie rental’ Redeem button
Click Confirm
Enter your postcode and click Continue. (You should read the terms and conditions)

You’ll now see a Congratulations dialogue with the message ‘A$6.00 has been added to your Google Play account. Your new balance is $AX.XX’ where the amount for me was $6.
Click Close

Enjoy.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Computer-Repairs.Melbourne
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

JustLocal USA is now live.

Using the same technology I developed to help smaller Australian businesses, I've now modified my system to create JustLocal USA so I'm able to help our USA based friends.

It is always interesting going back and revisiting your code. In hindsight you see quite a few things that you can improve on. Early on in IT I learnt nothing is perfect and there's always a better way, but at some point you have accept what you've done is good enough. I'm actually quite excited with the new background feature of the USA site and will incorporate some of the changes back into the Australian site.

JustLocal is about us helping each other and I look forward to that ethic being applied in the USA.

Please feel free to visit www.JustLocal.us. If you know of businesses in the USA that could benefit from being on JustLocal, please let them know.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Uber kitten delivery service shows charities' greed is greater than the interests of the community.

I really get disappointed when I see a well known charity such as Lort Smith getting behind a Uber promotion. Whilst the Uber service is legal, many who provide the ride service are breaking the law. But let's turn a blind eye to that to raise some money.

How apt does the expression if you lie down with dogs, you expect to get up with fleas.

For goodness sake Lort Smith Adoption Centre, Animal Welfare League Queensland, Cat Haven and Cat Protection Society. Please look at the bigger picture. You're damaging your brand and good name.

I'm not against Uber, but I am against people breaking the law and many of those providing services via Uber are breaking the law and Uber is the enabler in this case.

There has to be a better way to raise money than this approach.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Herald Sun incorrectly reports road rage incident in Thompsons Road Bulleen as being in Templestowe.

I saw this video and kept thinking I don't recall such a road in Templestowe. Took me a while but this road rage incident occurred in Bulleen near the intersection of Bulleen Road and Thompsons Road.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/road-rage-fight-caught-on-camera-in-templestowe-after-driver-is-cut-off/story-fni0fee2-1227207749051

Interestingly young people are often accused of road rage and yet in this instance it is a older man who is driving a Lexus who got out of the car. I don't believe anyone should EVER exit a car and this should be an offence where the Lexus driver should in my opinion lose their licence. The 4WD should probably be booked for cutting off another car and probably going through a red light. The light changes from amber to red and they made no attempt to stop. But of course they may have been trying to get away from a potential hazard.

Just as interesting is the number of cars that go past in the video changing lanes and not indicating. Really quite crazy driving.

I can see how this situation probably arose but there is no excuse for violence on our roads and I do hope the police take appropriate action. The comments on the post also show how people are disenchanted with the money raising focus of the government by using the police force. That really is not a good outcome for our community.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Alert: OZ LOTTERIES - Need a holiday to the USA email

I received an email with the subject Need a holiday to the USA? and with OZ LOTTERIES at the top.

Since this is a new scam email I thought I'd alert everyone. I don't recall seeing a scam email like this to win a competition. You should delete these emails. I didn't investigate the intent of the email, but needless to say the intent won't be good.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au
Helping local businesses prosper.

How much does your home Wi-Fi router cost in electricity to run?

I think some people will be quite surprised to find out that their Wi-Fi router costs around half the cost of their refrigerator to run. Yes that's right. That small box costs about half the price to run that the huge fridge does, that is storing a couple of hundred dollars of food at any time.

I measured my Wi-Fi router and entered the watts usage value into the Energy Cost Calculator I wrote. My Wi-Fi router uses around 20 watts of power. The cost per year for that little box is around $46. Every two years the box is costing me as much in electricity as it cost for me to buy the box.

Now given I have no need for the Wi-Fi router when I'm asleep, or when I'm out and about, I've decided to add a remote control power switch and turn the Wi-Fi router off whilst it isn't needed. Whilst I expect to save around a third of the electricity cost (basically that's the time whilst I sleep), I actually think the real saving will be probably half or more of the electricity usage cost. The remote control switch I already had, but if I didn't, it would have cost around $12, so the remote control switch would pay for itself in no time.

Do you have appliances that are quietly sipping away and costing you money?

It may be worth doing an energy review of your appliances. All that is required is a low cost power meter (around $25) and then plug your figures into the Energy Cost Calculator at www.EnergyCostCalculator.com.au. With a few small adjustments in your power usage behaviour you'll be surprised at the savings. We're currently using around 4.6 kWh per day which is about 10 kWh below the average for the area. That's nearly a $1,000 tax free we're saving each year. For may people that will be about two weeks of work they need to do each year just for electricity they could easily avoid using if only they took the time to review the appliances they use around the home.

I feel it is better to have the money in your pocket than the electricity company.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.EnergyCostCalcuator.com.au
Knowledge isn't power, it saves your money.