Two additional bulk billing doctors added.

I've now added two more bulk billing doctors to the Bulk Billing Doctors Melbourne site. The doctors/practices were passed on and confirmed through a contact.

When using the Bulk Billing Doctors Melbourne site keep in mind there are two pages. The main page of the site is suitable for desktop users, and the mobile site, which can be used by mobile users, but is also very handy for desktop users. The mobile site shows the distance to the nearest doctors or practices.

The maps to help find local bulk billing doctors in Melbourne are at https://www.mapz.com.au/bulkbillingdoctorsmelbourne/.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au
Making it easier to find local.

TPG mobile dropouts have increased since TPG moved from Optus to Vodafone.

A few of times I've been talking to a person and my mobile has gone silent. No warning. Nothing. The call has just dropped out. The first time I noticed this was a TPG (Vodafone) to TPG (Optus) call.

More recently I was talking to another person and at the 15 minute point the mobile dropped out. Then after another 15 minutes the call dropped out again. The log on the mobile confirmed the call had dropped out twice after 15 minutes. This was a TPG (Vodafone) to Telstra call. For the call to drop out at 15 minutes and not some random interval makes it feel like it is possibly an action on the part of TPG, the service provider.

Perhaps just a coincidence, but I heard two people who's call had just dropped out discussing the issue. Whilst these people had experienced calls dropping out, there was usually some breaking up in the signal first, however in this case the call just went silent.

There is certainly something strange happening with the TPG service at the moment. I don't think it is  just the change to Vodafone as TPG's carrier, since not all the calls used the Vodafone service. At this point all I can share is the number of dropouts occurring (where the call simply cuts out) with the TPG service, appears to have significantly increased since the announcement of the move from Optus to Vodafone as the carrier. Certainly something to watch.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.
Servicing Doncaster, Eltham, Templestowe and the surrounding area.

Bulk billing doctors Melbourne now added to the Mapz site.

One of the advantages of being a developer, is when I find things that interest me I can often write some code and produce a site. The ideas come to me as a result of products or services I find handy. I then create a web app for example that helps me and by making it available on the internet, hopefully others find it useful as well. The most recent idea is for bulk billing doctors in Melbourne.

I recently dropped into the local doctors and noticed their consultation fee had increased to $75. Isn't it amazing how different the standard fee is now from the Medicare rebate? The doctors are OK, but often there's times when a lower cost option is just as good. One example is when people simply need a medical certificate for work. Sometimes getting a second opinion comes in handy. That's when knowing where the closest bulk billing doctor can come in handy.

Doing a search for bulk billing doctors on the internet will provide many doctors and practices, but the problem is they often don't bulk bill everyone. I also saw the situation of a local practice that started up a few years ago and bulk billed, but then switched to only bulk billing certain clients. That practice is still listed as a bulk billing practice on the internet. There's bulk billing practices who bulk bill everyone. That's their business model. Knowing where they are can often come in handy.

I decided I'd put together the bulk billing doctors/practices that I come across and using the Mapz site/approach. That is I create maps showing where the bulk billing doctors/practices can be found and the mobile map shows the nearest five doctors/practices.

Unfortunately at this time I only know one practice that bulk bills everyone and so the maps will only have one entry. As I find other doctors/practices I also add them to the map. If anyone knows of such a doctor/practice please feel free to let me know.

The site is https://www.mapz.com.au/bulkbillingdoctorsmelbourne/. You can also find a link to the site on the Mapz site at www.Mapz.com.au.

Kelvin Eldridge

www.JustLocal.com.au

Help people to find local businesses.

Microsoft Access 2016 runtime security notice "A potential security concern has been identified".

Installing the new version of the Microsoft Access 2016 runtime on a new Windows 10 64 bit computer up popped the familiar potential security concern message. I'm not quite sure why Microsoft hasn't provided an option to enable users to add the location in the runtime, but until they do, this means having to manually make the required changes..

I've now updated my notes (www.OnlineConnections.com.au/myanswers) where I share the information with clients. The solution is MyAnswers 2504.

The aim of this post is to enable clients to know the solution is now available if required. Usually I apply the fix for clients, but for those clients who wish to fix the issue themselves, I'm happy to provide the solution.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.
Servicing the Doncaster, Templestowe, Eltham area.

TPG 321 voicemail no longer works since moving to Vodafone network.

TPG are currently moving mobile customers to the Vodafone network from the Optus network. This is one of those times when whilst I'd prefer to stick with TPG and the Optus network, there really is no choice if you wish to stick with TPG. The Optus plan in time will be phased out. Time to go with the flow.

Nothing major appears to have happened since transferring to Vodafone, but it is course early days. I still have a 3G handset so I'm not able to test to see if the 4G network is better.

The first minor issue is I started receiving notifications for roughly a week the new SIM had been sent. Nothing arrived. Then I received a new set of notifications the SIM was being sent. This time the SIM did arrive after about a week. The important communication to note was not to activate the new service until the SIM card arrived.

The SIM card arrived on the Thursday which I then activated. Activation wasn't to occur until the Saturday and I was advised in the communication to keep using the old SIM card. Mid Saturday afternoon the old service stopped working. I was prepared as I was carrying around the new SIM card. For around an hour I had a feeling the service wasn't stable, but then things settled down.

One thing that didn't occur to me for a few days, was voicemail had also changed. That makes sense. Voicemail is now on Vodafone and not Optus. However this was never really flagged as something to keep in mind. The first I noticed was when I went to check voicemail by dialling 321 and it didn't work. That's strange I thought. Ah. Voicemail needs to be set up again including the announcement. Any old voicemails that I may have kept would be gone. I didn't know what number to call to get voicemails.

A quick check of the TPG site and I found the new number for accessing voicemail is 121. When first used you need to set up the voicemail.

What I have noticed is I no longer receive messages letting me know I've received voicemail. I thought that was handy on the old service and with the new service it may be easier to miss that someone has left a voicemail. On the other hand, the voicemail icon at the bottom of the iPhone screen now indicates there's voicemail. That icon didn't previously do anything. Whilst it does means I have to go into the telephone app, at least there's a way to see if there's voicemail.

As I said, this isn't a really big deal. It would have been nice to be given a heads up on the voicemail change and the new number to access voicemail, but some things often slip through the cracks with such a large migration.

Hopefully others who are being migrated from Optus to Vodafone by TPG who find this post may find this information useful.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.

When visiting shopping centres this article is a reminder that you're being tracked.

Our local Westfield Shopping Centre in Doncaster has free W-Fi and ticketless parking. Both technologies provide a lot of data to companies which can be analysed to find ways to increase your spending.

The following article provides some hints as to why shopping centres (and other areas) are increasing the amount of tracking.

http://www.theage.com.au/it-pro/business-it/is-it-really-free-wifi-20151129-glb4p9.html

Batistich was candid about the company's reasons for the rollout.

"We did it, to be blunt, because we wanted a location analytics platform. We wanted to understand what people did in our malls so we could start to acquire a profile so we could send them content that's relevant based on their previous physical behaviour," he said.

Interestingly the article states using Wi-Fi Westfield could generate more than 470 interactions for a single shopper, whatever that may mean.

One question that does come to mind for me is, are they linking your registration to your Wi-Fi?

If this type of tracking concerns you, keep in mind you can park outside the shopping centre, and whilst in the shopping centres, turn off your Wi-Fi. I'd also suggest turning off Bluetooth as that can also be tracked, but so far there's no indication that I've read, that Bluetooth is being tracked. It's seems to be much easier to track Wi-Fi.

For some, possibly most people, tracking won't be an issue. As long people know and can make informed decisions that's really all that matters.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.
Servicing Doncaster, Templestowe, Eltham and the surrounding area.