These are all emails we received today from sources we do not know. I use OzEfilter (which I wrote) to check out email at the mail server safely away from our computer that is from people I don't know. I don't read the email but check the subject, who the email is from and in many case the country of origin. This approach keeps malicious emails out of my computer. This time however for the benefit of my clients and readers of this blog I have download the three I received this morning.
Subject: Britney Spears Fails To Appear For Latest Custody Hearing
From: Lilia-aapapuut@ccaurora.edu
Lesson: Don't click on links in emails where you don't know the source and certainly don't download anything.
Certainly a subject with Britney in it is popular with the malware writers. In this case the email contains a link which is to an executable file. For obvious reasons we won't reproduce the link her.
The trick with these types of emails is to hover your mouse over the link. You can then see the web site address that you will be sent to and in this case it is a program which you would have to download.
Subject: Fedex tracking number 4116375689
From: rtivoiviq@boks.com
Lesson: Even if you are dealing with Fedex that email address is not Fedex and don't touch that attachment.
The Fedex email has just started to occur. Our anti-virus software doesn't detect it as a virus. The online file scanner service we use as mentioned in MyAnswers solution 1890 returned the zip file MRDI8761223.zip as clean and the contained file MRDI8761223.exe with no conclusion. Now in this case I would still delete this type of email. It is from someone I don't know. It is a concern that it came back as being determined as clean for one part and nothing for the contained file. That actually lead me to believe the report was the file was clean. Don't take the risk with this type of email.
Subject: Your Online Flight Ticket N 29749
From: qiyhmvlrgaqy@blcc.com
Lesson: Don't get tricked if you are booking a holiday. We see these types of emails most days.
Who couldn't do with a holiday, but watch out, this is a very common ploy to trick you into opening the attachment and running the program. They have said they charged my credit card and none of us like our credit card charged if it wasn't us. Don't be tricked into action. Check the email address it is from. This email is supposedly from Southwest Airlines and that email address doesn't look like Southwest Airlines. Although don't rely on email addresses as they are fake. Some fakes are so good it is hard to tell them from the real emails.
I submitted the attachment to the online file scanner service. The automated system has came back with the response of no conclusion. When this happens I suspect they manually take the files and analyse them. If there are malicious files, I've found it will take a day or two and then they will use this information to update their anti-virus software. As you can see that could be days after the outbreak of a new virus.
What I am letting you know that even if you have anti-virus software, you aren't protected from the new viruses which are released on the Internet every week. Use your ant-virus software, but also use commonsense. You will end up regretting opening that attachment or clicking on the link which came via an email if you let your guard down. But don't just be watchful of emails, I have seen going to web sites in the past infect computers. Do take care.
I hope the above examples receive today help others to avoid being duped by the malware writers. Sadly a badly infected computer is expensive to repair. In many cases it is faster to reload the operating system and since many computers don't come with reinstall disks, this can be a costly and time consuming exercise.
Treat every email from an unknown source with suspicion. A product like OzEfilter helps us enormously. With a bit of care and a healthy degree of paranoia, you can save costly repair bills to your computer.
- Kelvin
Friday, August 22, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Podium Power! The 7 Steps to Successful Presentations
Deanna's next Podium Power! course is scheduled for the 13th of September.
Join the trend and sharpen your presentation skills to the level where you can overcome anxiety and fear, go beyond your normal expectations and become a powerful and outstanding presenter! This introductory workshop will equip you with the tools and skills to add to your existing foundations and allow you to present with flair and finesse. Podium Power! is designed specifically to cater for your needs and wipe out those barriers that have previously prevented you from the being the outstanding presenter you can be. Register now! and bring back the Wow factor!
You can find Deanna on the JustLocal 3000 postcode page.
- Kelvin
Join the trend and sharpen your presentation skills to the level where you can overcome anxiety and fear, go beyond your normal expectations and become a powerful and outstanding presenter! This introductory workshop will equip you with the tools and skills to add to your existing foundations and allow you to present with flair and finesse. Podium Power! is designed specifically to cater for your needs and wipe out those barriers that have previously prevented you from the being the outstanding presenter you can be. Register now! and bring back the Wow factor!
You can find Deanna on the JustLocal 3000 postcode page.
- Kelvin
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Virus alert - Fedex tracking number 2044499162
We noticed a number of emails with "Fedex tracking number" in the subject. This type of email was also noticed by a contact so we felt it appropriate to let others know.
The earlier UPS tracking email was confirmed as a malicious email and as a result of our submission, the virus has now been used to update one of the anti-virus companies software package.
We don't normally receive these emails as our software OzEfilter, enables us to delete these emails at the mail server safely away from our computer. The next email we receive having the subject "Fedex tracking number" we will test and let others know what we find out.
For those interested in OzEfilter, a time limited free version is available.
- Kelvin
The earlier UPS tracking email was confirmed as a malicious email and as a result of our submission, the virus has now been used to update one of the anti-virus companies software package.
We don't normally receive these emails as our software OzEfilter, enables us to delete these emails at the mail server safely away from our computer. The next email we receive having the subject "Fedex tracking number" we will test and let others know what we find out.
For those interested in OzEfilter, a time limited free version is available.
- Kelvin
Monday, August 18, 2008
Virus alert - Emails from UPS in the form Tracking N 4918016181
Hi,
Of late I have noticed quite a number of malicious emails which have a subject such as "Tracking N 4918016181", where the number varies and the email appears to be from UPS (United Parcel Service of America).
Attached is a zip file and inside the zip files is an executable. It is extremely important to treat all emails from others with suspicion if you receive an email which has an attachment and you are not expecting it, even if it is from family, friends and companies you know.
In this case the user's anti-virus software had expired and they had just used the UPS service, so what would normally have been treated with suspicion, was thought to be a valid email response from UPS.
The result was an infected computer. The infection is difficult to fully remove and has damaged the Windows installation. A full reload of the computer will be required.
Make sure you keep you anti-virus software up-to-date and use a product like OzEfilter, which helps to stop malicious emails before they get into your computer. Treat all emails from anyone with suspicion, in particular any email that you are not specifically expecting that contains an attachment. Even if the email is from someone you know, still treat it with suspicion, as they may also have been tricked. In the MyAnswers solution 1890 we provide details of an online scanning service where you can check an attachment to see if it is infected.
Most of all, practise safe computing. In all the years I have rarely seen a virus infection that has not been the result of the users own actions. A healthy degree of suspicion is good when it comes to receiving emails.
- Kelvin
Of late I have noticed quite a number of malicious emails which have a subject such as "Tracking N 4918016181", where the number varies and the email appears to be from UPS (United Parcel Service of America).
Attached is a zip file and inside the zip files is an executable. It is extremely important to treat all emails from others with suspicion if you receive an email which has an attachment and you are not expecting it, even if it is from family, friends and companies you know.
In this case the user's anti-virus software had expired and they had just used the UPS service, so what would normally have been treated with suspicion, was thought to be a valid email response from UPS.
The result was an infected computer. The infection is difficult to fully remove and has damaged the Windows installation. A full reload of the computer will be required.
Make sure you keep you anti-virus software up-to-date and use a product like OzEfilter, which helps to stop malicious emails before they get into your computer. Treat all emails from anyone with suspicion, in particular any email that you are not specifically expecting that contains an attachment. Even if the email is from someone you know, still treat it with suspicion, as they may also have been tricked. In the MyAnswers solution 1890 we provide details of an online scanning service where you can check an attachment to see if it is infected.
Most of all, practise safe computing. In all the years I have rarely seen a virus infection that has not been the result of the users own actions. A healthy degree of suspicion is good when it comes to receiving emails.
- Kelvin
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Virtual Profit Sharing welcomes Rising Star eBooks.
Renée Barber of Rising Star Designs & Communications has launched Rising Star eBooks as a Virtual Profit Sharing opportunity and is promoting the eBooks of the well respected and talented international writer, Jo Parfitt. This is a great opportunity for VPS members and JustLocal readers who wish to pursue their passion.Jo Parfitt has been on the 'expat roller coaster' for 20 years. She has lived and worked in Dubai, Oman, Norway, England and now The Netherlands. Jo writes, speaks and teaches about what she has learnt during her time overseas, maintaining a portable career based on her passion—writing. She is well known internationally for the 25 books she’s written on subjects ranging from cookery to careers and writing and has been published in magazines and newspapers around the world. Jo currently writes columns for The Expat Telegraph, Global Connection and Xpatriate magazine.
The eBooks available from Rising Star eBooks delve deeply into identifying your passion and making a living out of it. What could be better than that?
In Brief:
- A Career In Your Suitcase is a great place to begin if you’re looking for your passion in life and a way to make money by following it. It is a practical guide with plenty of exercises and examples from real life people who are following their dreams.
- Grow Your Own Networks is all about training yourself to embrace the idea of networking which is ‘about building relationships and making friends’. Learn how to put networking to work for you.
- Definite Articles is an eight part writing course which teaches far more than just the mechanics of writing. You will also learn how to find the markets that are out there and how to make the editors say ‘yes’.
- On the pages of Expat Entrepreneur, you’ll learn how to use moving overseas as an opportunity to reinvent and revitalise your career.
- In Expat Writer, 'Book Cook', Jo Parfitt, shares over two decades of hard won experience with you. In this step-by-step recipe book for success, where you'll learn everything about the writing process, self publishing, pitching to publishers and more.
- Find Your Passion gives you 20 tips and 20 tasks to help uncover your unique contribution, the person you were born to be and the things you love to do.
- Kelvin Eldridge
Thursday, August 07, 2008
I received a bunch of flowers and it wasn't Valentine's day.
Hi,I just received a YouTube link from the very lovely Deanna Roberts, a JustLocal friend who can be found on the JustLocal postcode page 3000, where she is known for her presentation courses.
It never ceases to amaze me how we are all talented in many areas and yet most of us know little more about each other than the main talent we are known for. One of Dianna's many talents is photography.
Please enjoy Deanna's video presentation titled Floraworld 1, and enjoy the flowers. It is not often I send them;-)
- Kelvin
Is it OK, ok, Ok or okay?
Some people have asked what do I do when checking words to be included or excluded in the dictionary files I produce.
The following is an example of the work undertaken to check words for inclusion in the Australian English spellcheck dictionaries. Our first point of reference is the authoritative resources of the leading dictionaries used on Australia and then if the results of not conclusive we review usage using the body of documents available to us via the search engines.
In this case the answer is not a clear cut answer.
If we check the Macquarie dictionary we find "okay" is the first listed word and it should also be noted it is referred to as being colloquial. The Macquarie lists "ok" and "OK" as additional variations. The Australian Oxford English dictionary list "OK" and "okay" as an additional variation.
At this stage it does mean we can rule out the mixed case usage of "Ok" and that's a start.
At this point we now check the body of documents available to us via the Internet. This body of documents is not considered authoritative, but can often be used to assist us to confirm which authoritative reference more correctly most probably reflects current usage in Australia. The tool usage is a tool I created for the purpose and called the Kelvinometer. This is a convenient tool which summarises the number of pages from Australia returned by Google Australia and Yahoo Australia which contain the words or phrases.
With words like "ok" we find it is best to ask the Kelvinometer about the word and use it in context. The reason is on almost every dialogue on a computer you will see OK or Cancel. So we don't want to confuse technology usage with regular usage.
In this case we ask the Kelvinometer to return results for "is it ok" and "is it okay".
At this stage we have the result we need for the full version of the Australian English spellcheck dictionaries. That is "ok", "OK" and "okay" are all acceptable entries.
For many people that is all that is required. My aim however is to go one step further. The full version of the Australian English spellcheck dictionaries is known as a descriptive dictionary where it lists the words used in Australia. My aim is to find the predominantly used word and exclude secondary variations to create Australia's only prescriptive spellcheck dictionary. It is generally not considered incorrect to use the main spelling of a word, but many people consider secondary spellings to be incorrect. Thus the Kelvin version of the Australian English spellcheck dictionaries provides the best dictionary for those who wish to be right, most of the time. It also simplifies the language by removing the confusing multiple spellings and leads to more consistent spelling in documents.
The results are four to one in favour of the "ok" or "OK" usage. So now we have "ok" and "OK" as the two variations most used in Australia about 80% or more of the time.
So out of these two variations which is used more often? At this point we don't have a tool to produce an extract of documents from the search results, so we now do a manual sample check on the results returned by the search engines.
A check of the first 200 pages returned by Google gives us the following:
OK - 109
ok - 84
other - 7. This included O.K. and Ok.
Now I will admit that 200 pages may not be a statistically appropriate sample and a statistician could best suggest the required sample size. However based on this information it does confirm the Australian English Oxford dictionary entry which is "OK" as the predominant spelling variation.
The "OK" variation is now the spelling variation which will be included in the Kelvin version of the Australian English spellcheck dictionary.
I hope by working through this example this also helps others in their desire to fine tune their usage of Australian English.
- Kelvin Eldridge
Creator and maintainer of the Australian English spellcheck dictionary files now suspected to be used by over a million Australians. You can find more on the dictionary work at http://www.dictionary.justlocal.com.au/. You can also find links to the dictionary on the http://www.justlocal.com.au/ page.
The following is an example of the work undertaken to check words for inclusion in the Australian English spellcheck dictionaries. Our first point of reference is the authoritative resources of the leading dictionaries used on Australia and then if the results of not conclusive we review usage using the body of documents available to us via the search engines.
In this case the answer is not a clear cut answer.
If we check the Macquarie dictionary we find "okay" is the first listed word and it should also be noted it is referred to as being colloquial. The Macquarie lists "ok" and "OK" as additional variations. The Australian Oxford English dictionary list "OK" and "okay" as an additional variation.
At this stage it does mean we can rule out the mixed case usage of "Ok" and that's a start.
At this point we now check the body of documents available to us via the Internet. This body of documents is not considered authoritative, but can often be used to assist us to confirm which authoritative reference more correctly most probably reflects current usage in Australia. The tool usage is a tool I created for the purpose and called the Kelvinometer. This is a convenient tool which summarises the number of pages from Australia returned by Google Australia and Yahoo Australia which contain the words or phrases.
With words like "ok" we find it is best to ask the Kelvinometer about the word and use it in context. The reason is on almost every dialogue on a computer you will see OK or Cancel. So we don't want to confuse technology usage with regular usage.
In this case we ask the Kelvinometer to return results for "is it ok" and "is it okay".
At this stage we have the result we need for the full version of the Australian English spellcheck dictionaries. That is "ok", "OK" and "okay" are all acceptable entries.
For many people that is all that is required. My aim however is to go one step further. The full version of the Australian English spellcheck dictionaries is known as a descriptive dictionary where it lists the words used in Australia. My aim is to find the predominantly used word and exclude secondary variations to create Australia's only prescriptive spellcheck dictionary. It is generally not considered incorrect to use the main spelling of a word, but many people consider secondary spellings to be incorrect. Thus the Kelvin version of the Australian English spellcheck dictionaries provides the best dictionary for those who wish to be right, most of the time. It also simplifies the language by removing the confusing multiple spellings and leads to more consistent spelling in documents.
The results are four to one in favour of the "ok" or "OK" usage. So now we have "ok" and "OK" as the two variations most used in Australia about 80% or more of the time.
So out of these two variations which is used more often? At this point we don't have a tool to produce an extract of documents from the search results, so we now do a manual sample check on the results returned by the search engines.
A check of the first 200 pages returned by Google gives us the following:
OK - 109
ok - 84
other - 7. This included O.K. and Ok.
Now I will admit that 200 pages may not be a statistically appropriate sample and a statistician could best suggest the required sample size. However based on this information it does confirm the Australian English Oxford dictionary entry which is "OK" as the predominant spelling variation.
The "OK" variation is now the spelling variation which will be included in the Kelvin version of the Australian English spellcheck dictionary.
I hope by working through this example this also helps others in their desire to fine tune their usage of Australian English.
- Kelvin Eldridge
Creator and maintainer of the Australian English spellcheck dictionary files now suspected to be used by over a million Australians. You can find more on the dictionary work at http://www.dictionary.justlocal.com.au/. You can also find links to the dictionary on the http://www.justlocal.com.au/ page.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
If you run a home based business, grab a post office box whilst you can.
They say your home is your biggest asset, but what if you are dealing with big business and live in a run down shack. Until now what our homes looked like really didn't matter in business, because it was hard for others to see our homes. Not any more.
Google maps now makes available the picture of people's homes. You might want to try it. Enter your address into Google maps and see if your house comes up. If it doesn't now, then it probably soon will. (A convenient link to Google maps can be found in the 3106 Local Community Guide.)
Now when you use your home address as your business address, your customers can check out the type of house you live in. That could win you business, but it may also lose you business. Whether your house is a mansion or a rented unit, either way it can impact what others think of you and that could affect your business.
If you have been thinking about getting a post office box, perhaps now is the time to get one before others realise their home is now visible for everyone to see. I can see demand for post office boxes increasing in the near future. I have long believed in keeping our private address separate from our business but even I never anticipated this to be a reason. Now home based business owners need to make a decision as to whether their home really is an asset to their business.
Thanks to the JustLocal friend who gave us the heads up on Google's growing facilities.
I wonder what you think about having a picture of your home available so easily available on the Internet?
- Kelvin
Google maps now makes available the picture of people's homes. You might want to try it. Enter your address into Google maps and see if your house comes up. If it doesn't now, then it probably soon will. (A convenient link to Google maps can be found in the 3106 Local Community Guide.)
Now when you use your home address as your business address, your customers can check out the type of house you live in. That could win you business, but it may also lose you business. Whether your house is a mansion or a rented unit, either way it can impact what others think of you and that could affect your business.
If you have been thinking about getting a post office box, perhaps now is the time to get one before others realise their home is now visible for everyone to see. I can see demand for post office boxes increasing in the near future. I have long believed in keeping our private address separate from our business but even I never anticipated this to be a reason. Now home based business owners need to make a decision as to whether their home really is an asset to their business.
Thanks to the JustLocal friend who gave us the heads up on Google's growing facilities.
I wonder what you think about having a picture of your home available so easily available on the Internet?
- Kelvin
Monday, August 04, 2008
What you can do if you keep getting infected emails from the one computer on the Internet.
Of late I have been receiving the same "You've received A Hallmark E-Card!" from the one computer on the Internet. It is very probable the person with the computer does not know their computer is infected and sending out the emails. So what can you do in this situation.
First you need to make sure the email is coming from the same person. The Hallmark E-Card has been coming to us from multiple computers, but I suspect most people in time realise they have an infection and fix the problem. Some people don't know for some time. This can lead to the ISP stopping their service until the problem is fixed.
How do you know the email is coming from the one computer and not many computers.
In my case I use OzEfilter and often I see the IP address of the computer that sent the email. In this case the IP address was 124.149.195.100.
The first thing to do is to check it is coming from Australia. Australian ISPs I've found are responsive. I use the following tool to find out the country of the IP address.
http://www.justlocal.com.au/clients/ip2country/index.php?address=124.149.195.100
(Just change the address at the end for the IP address sending you emails.)
Now you have checked the IP address is from Australia, you have to find who owns the IP address.
For IP addresses from Australia we can use the site http://www.apnic.net/. If you enter the IP address in the search at the top right of the page, you will get information as to who currently owns the IP address. In this case the IP address is owned by Westnet and so it is one of their clients who has the infected computer.
Since you can't contact the person directly, the only way I know is to log an abuse issue to the ISP who currently owns the IP address. The abuse email address is found in the page on the apnic site. You need to also send the header information from the email so the ISP has sufficient information to take action.
Usually this type of action is not required as most people realise fairly quickly when their computer has an infection. Where you keep getting emails for a number of days then it makes sense to do something as the person is not aware they have an issue.
It should be noted that we are not certain whether the attachment which comes with the email is harmful or not. We have checked the attachment with multiple sources and cannot find it contains malware. It is not detected as malware by our anti-virus software. In any case it is best to be careful and simply delete the email permanently off your computer.
- Kelvin
First you need to make sure the email is coming from the same person. The Hallmark E-Card has been coming to us from multiple computers, but I suspect most people in time realise they have an infection and fix the problem. Some people don't know for some time. This can lead to the ISP stopping their service until the problem is fixed.
How do you know the email is coming from the one computer and not many computers.
In my case I use OzEfilter and often I see the IP address of the computer that sent the email. In this case the IP address was 124.149.195.100.
The first thing to do is to check it is coming from Australia. Australian ISPs I've found are responsive. I use the following tool to find out the country of the IP address.
http://www.justlocal.com.au/clients/ip2country/index.php?address=124.149.195.100
(Just change the address at the end for the IP address sending you emails.)
Now you have checked the IP address is from Australia, you have to find who owns the IP address.
For IP addresses from Australia we can use the site http://www.apnic.net/. If you enter the IP address in the search at the top right of the page, you will get information as to who currently owns the IP address. In this case the IP address is owned by Westnet and so it is one of their clients who has the infected computer.
Since you can't contact the person directly, the only way I know is to log an abuse issue to the ISP who currently owns the IP address. The abuse email address is found in the page on the apnic site. You need to also send the header information from the email so the ISP has sufficient information to take action.
Usually this type of action is not required as most people realise fairly quickly when their computer has an infection. Where you keep getting emails for a number of days then it makes sense to do something as the person is not aware they have an issue.
It should be noted that we are not certain whether the attachment which comes with the email is harmful or not. We have checked the attachment with multiple sources and cannot find it contains malware. It is not detected as malware by our anti-virus software. In any case it is best to be careful and simply delete the email permanently off your computer.
- Kelvin
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Beijing Olympic dates (tags: Olympics 2014 wiki wikipedia 1952 micro ancient)
The Beijing olympics are fast approaching.Are you ready?
The Beijing Olympics opening ceremony starts on August 8 2008 (there is a football match scheduled on the 6th). The closing ceremony is on the 24th of August.
We decided to do a quick check of some of the ways JustLocal friends can help you ready for the next Olympics.
Get your Australian flag. From small flags for those who just want to wave a little, to giant flags where you run around jumping and screaming with excitement. The Hopping Kangaroo has an extensive range of flags for you to choose from. (Visit postcode 3805.) If you are going to China you might want to get some of their neat friendship pins. The pins have both the Australian and Chinese flags. Sure to be a winner at any event.
Have a great voice. Then belt out the national anthem. What, you don't know the words! Grab some bookmarks from the JustLocal book project which has the national anthem on the back and never be lost for words again. And during the quiet times between events, grab an Australian book at the book project (http://www.book.justlocal.com.au/) and never lose your place with the JustLocal book mark.
Don't forget those business cards. The Olympics are a great time to network and you can get some great business cards made up by Rising Star Designs and Communications. If you're organising a corporate function I'm sure Renée can create an invite that will win gold.
Keep your eye on The Great Give-Away as shortly we will be adding a High Definition USB TV adaptor so you can watch the events whilst are working. Never miss a great moment. This is a great little unit. You can replay that magical moment time and time again with the time shifting feature and then catch up by fast forwarding through the advertising. Who said the Olympians have all the fun.
Whether it's food for the masses from Big Brother Pizza, or a relaxing massage from Veunique after watching all that sport, if you need something for the next Olympics, try the JustLocal search. If a JustLocal friend doesn't have it, one of the Google advertisers will.
Wishing all Australian Olympians they achieve beyond their wildest dreams. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.
- Kelvin.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
You've received A Hallmark E-Card!
If you receive an email with the subject "You've received A Hallmark E-Card!", it won't take long to realise you haven't really received a Hallmark E-Card at all, but some undesirable email.
We have received warnings from contacts regarding Hallmark E-Cards so we decided to investigate.
The easy way to identify a legitimate Hallmark E-Card is a card sent from Hallmark will contain the senders name. If there is no name, then it is not a Hallmark E-Card.
For those with OzEfilter you may be able to see the country from where the card was sent. We were surprised to see our test Hallmark E-Cards came from Germany. Of course the advantage with OzEfilter is you can delete the undesirable Hallmark E-Cards and not let the email reach your computer.
May all your greetings be good greetings.
- Kelvin
We have received warnings from contacts regarding Hallmark E-Cards so we decided to investigate.
The easy way to identify a legitimate Hallmark E-Card is a card sent from Hallmark will contain the senders name. If there is no name, then it is not a Hallmark E-Card.
For those with OzEfilter you may be able to see the country from where the card was sent. We were surprised to see our test Hallmark E-Cards came from Germany. Of course the advantage with OzEfilter is you can delete the undesirable Hallmark E-Cards and not let the email reach your computer.
May all your greetings be good greetings.
- Kelvin
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Trial of a JustLocal search engine using Google.
Hi,
A number of people have asked to be able to search JustLocal friends for a product or service using a search engine. Whilst the JustLocal site is designed to encourage people to buy without leaving their area, it is very appreciated JustLocal friends and supporters wish to support each other with their buying power.
I would like to experiment with the Google service and provide a JustLocal search feature. This has been set up to include the site of JustLocal friends.
Please test the following search engine and let me know what you think. For example: does it achieve what you would like? Would you prefer the search engine to have the Google advertising or would prefer to have no Google advertising?
http://www.justlocal.com.au/search.html
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
- Kelvin Eldridge
A number of people have asked to be able to search JustLocal friends for a product or service using a search engine. Whilst the JustLocal site is designed to encourage people to buy without leaving their area, it is very appreciated JustLocal friends and supporters wish to support each other with their buying power.
I would like to experiment with the Google service and provide a JustLocal search feature. This has been set up to include the site of JustLocal friends.
Please test the following search engine and let me know what you think. For example: does it achieve what you would like? Would you prefer the search engine to have the Google advertising or would prefer to have no Google advertising?
http://www.justlocal.com.au/search.html
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
- Kelvin Eldridge
Is it blond or blonde?
This question recently came from an Australian English spellcheck dictionary user and I thought it was very interesting. The question was: is the spelling blond or blonde?
Now I have often wondered about this word as well. According to the Macquarie dictionary and the Australian Oxford English dictionary, both words are valid in Australia and it is interesting how they are used.
The word blonde is used to refer to a light haired women. The word blond is used to refer to a light haired man and also light colour hair. This is a rare instance in Australian English where we have a different word for a male and a female.
The following are a couple of examples of usage.
What is interesting is usage within Australia according to the Kelvinometer. This tool shows the number of pages returned from search engines for pages from Australia, for two words with different spelling, but the same meaning.
Very interesting is there are about six times more pages returned with "blonde", compared with "blond". This is an enormous difference and a quick check of Google pages shows a great number of people using the words incorrectly.
Perhaps the question then is: are people using the word incorrectly, or has our usage in Australia evolved and the word "blonde" is now the preferred usage?
What do you think?
Kelvin Eldridge - Creator and maintainer of the Australian English spellcheck dictionary files now used by over half a million people.
Now I have often wondered about this word as well. According to the Macquarie dictionary and the Australian Oxford English dictionary, both words are valid in Australia and it is interesting how they are used.
The word blonde is used to refer to a light haired women. The word blond is used to refer to a light haired man and also light colour hair. This is a rare instance in Australian English where we have a different word for a male and a female.
The following are a couple of examples of usage.
- That means we have blonde jokes and in my experience, not blond jokes.
- The blonde has blond hair.
- When we talk about blondes having more fun, we probably aren't talking about guys, but I'm sure blonds have more fun too.
What is interesting is usage within Australia according to the Kelvinometer. This tool shows the number of pages returned from search engines for pages from Australia, for two words with different spelling, but the same meaning.
Very interesting is there are about six times more pages returned with "blonde", compared with "blond". This is an enormous difference and a quick check of Google pages shows a great number of people using the words incorrectly.
Perhaps the question then is: are people using the word incorrectly, or has our usage in Australia evolved and the word "blonde" is now the preferred usage?
What do you think?
Kelvin Eldridge - Creator and maintainer of the Australian English spellcheck dictionary files now used by over half a million people.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
This little card could save your life.
"This little card could save your life" is the catchy line for the exciting new product Medi-Card which will be launched shortly.VPS members please feel free to check out Medi-Card. This really is an exciting opportunity as I know the creator of Medi-Card Raymond Read, is putting together a valuable service and a quality product.
Monday, July 14, 2008
How to Survive a Heart Attack When Alone.
I just received an email from a friend about how to survive a heart attack when alone. The subject of the message was "very good advice" and a PowerPoint presentation was attached.
I wondered if there was any truth in the Cough CPR method or was it perhaps another hoax virus. I selected the words which I thought would be a good candidate if this was a virus, and also potentially the source if indeed the information was true. I entered the search "journal of general hospital rochester" as the authority mentioned was General Hospital Rochester.
Sure enough Hoax Slayer came up and this hoax appears to have been circulating since 1999. As I mentioned in an earlier post if you receive an email from your friend that suggests passing it on, then please check your friend is also not simply passing it on without checking. It only takes a few moments to check if you are being tricked by a hoax virus and your friends won't benefit from suspect information.
If you have passed this message on to others please let them know it is a hoax.
Happy hoax slaying. - Kelvin Eldridge
Saturday, July 12, 2008
FREE OzEfilter 1.7 demo version now available.
When OzEfilter 1.6 was about to expire I was amazed that everyone using the program wanted the latest release. One person even said their email experience as they knew it would come to an end without the update. We would also find it very hard to do our work without OzEfilter.
As of right now, OzEfilter has allowed me to delete 58,110 emails before they reached my computer. Whilst I would not stop using anti-virus software, I've not had a single report of a virus infected email reaching my computer since November 2005.
We all know that every anti-virus program can't catch all the viruses and the cost of fixing an infected computer can be expensive, let alone the inconvenience. I've even seen one computer with hundreds of virus infections. The user wondered why it was running so slow.
So more people can enjoy the freedom from unwanted emails and try OzEfilter themselves, we have created a demo version. The demo version is a full version of the current version of OzEfilter and will run until the end of September 2008.
Virtual Profit Sharing members can let their family, friends and contacts know about the free demo version of OzEfilter and when their membership code is passed on, VPS members will receive the very healthy referral reward if their contact later purchases a copy of OzEfilter.
You can find OzEfilter as www.OzEfilter.com.
Enjoy - Kelvin
Friday, July 11, 2008
Microsoft updates causing havoc for users.
Hi,
I tend to come from the old school of computing where a computer was set up and once working, left to work. On a regular basis updates which had been tested, were then applied across all the computers. The approach was very reliable and the computers very stable. It took me a while to warm to the new school of thought of constant updates. Whilst the constant update approach has advantages, it also has disadvantages.
Last night a family member asked for assistance with their computer. After the latest Windows XP update the computer would no longer connect to the network and thus the Internet. The network card had been disabled. Enabling the network card caused the infamous blue screen of death.
The short term solution was to perform a restore using the Windows XP restore facility. That took the computer back before the update and it was working fine. I also advised them to review and simplify the number of products on the computer such as the anti-virus/firewall programs.
In this case the issue turned out to be a conflict with ZoneAlarm. The following is a link which indicates how to fix the problem (issued by ZoneAlarm). Another solution of course is to remove ZoneAlarm and the person had actually disabled ZoneAlarm in a second computer which avoided the problem.
I regularly see updates from Microsoft causing problems and it makes me wonder is this always connected constant updating world we now have, not causing us more problems than it cures.
This type of repair would often be a $100 plus support call out. I suspect quite a bit of money will be spent by people to solve this problem and the sad thing is it shouldn't be necessary.
If your computer after an update suddenly stops working as it should, you may consider the built-in restore feature of Windows XP to be your friend. You can find it under Accessories, System Tools.
The family member has now taken my suggestions and removed unnecessary security products based on a quick review of their set-up and their computer is again working.
Happy computer - Kelvin
I tend to come from the old school of computing where a computer was set up and once working, left to work. On a regular basis updates which had been tested, were then applied across all the computers. The approach was very reliable and the computers very stable. It took me a while to warm to the new school of thought of constant updates. Whilst the constant update approach has advantages, it also has disadvantages.
Last night a family member asked for assistance with their computer. After the latest Windows XP update the computer would no longer connect to the network and thus the Internet. The network card had been disabled. Enabling the network card caused the infamous blue screen of death.
The short term solution was to perform a restore using the Windows XP restore facility. That took the computer back before the update and it was working fine. I also advised them to review and simplify the number of products on the computer such as the anti-virus/firewall programs.
In this case the issue turned out to be a conflict with ZoneAlarm. The following is a link which indicates how to fix the problem (issued by ZoneAlarm). Another solution of course is to remove ZoneAlarm and the person had actually disabled ZoneAlarm in a second computer which avoided the problem.
I regularly see updates from Microsoft causing problems and it makes me wonder is this always connected constant updating world we now have, not causing us more problems than it cures.
This type of repair would often be a $100 plus support call out. I suspect quite a bit of money will be spent by people to solve this problem and the sad thing is it shouldn't be necessary.
If your computer after an update suddenly stops working as it should, you may consider the built-in restore feature of Windows XP to be your friend. You can find it under Accessories, System Tools.
The family member has now taken my suggestions and removed unnecessary security products based on a quick review of their set-up and their computer is again working.
Happy computer - Kelvin
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
How do I spell that word? Ask the Kelvinometer!
Hi,
Somewhere around the mid 1900s the dictionary makers decided to start recording the words we use and stopped being a guide on how to spell. This has always caused me a degree of frustration. In Australia there are thousands of words which have more than one spelling. I personally would like to use the preferred spelling and based on the number of people downloading the Kelvin version of the spellcheck dictionary files, so do many others.
When I started the dictionary work I knew I wanted to create a spellcheck dictionary that offered the preferred spelling to make my life easier. At the time I didn't know what this was called and so I called my dictionary the Kelvin dictionary. I have since learnt what I was creating is called a prescriptive dictionary. (A descriptive dictionary is one which provides the different variations and the meaning.)
The two main dictionaries in Australia (the Macquarie and the Oxford) generally list the preferred spelling (the spelling used by more people) as the first entry and then an also entry for alternate spellings. Sometimes the dictionaries however differ.
That is when I turn to the Internet and the search engines. By searching on the different variations and restricting pages to Australia, often the Internet resolves the issue of which variation is the preferred spelling.
Since I do this quite a bit I decided to write a basic tool for myself where I could enter two words and I obtain the search engine results. I call this tool the Kelvinometer (which is from an in-joke with one of my friends).
For those who are interested I am making my rather raw tool available at the following address.
http://www.onlineconnections.com.au/kelvinometer/
Please enjoy. - Kelvin Eldridge
Somewhere around the mid 1900s the dictionary makers decided to start recording the words we use and stopped being a guide on how to spell. This has always caused me a degree of frustration. In Australia there are thousands of words which have more than one spelling. I personally would like to use the preferred spelling and based on the number of people downloading the Kelvin version of the spellcheck dictionary files, so do many others.
When I started the dictionary work I knew I wanted to create a spellcheck dictionary that offered the preferred spelling to make my life easier. At the time I didn't know what this was called and so I called my dictionary the Kelvin dictionary. I have since learnt what I was creating is called a prescriptive dictionary. (A descriptive dictionary is one which provides the different variations and the meaning.)
The two main dictionaries in Australia (the Macquarie and the Oxford) generally list the preferred spelling (the spelling used by more people) as the first entry and then an also entry for alternate spellings. Sometimes the dictionaries however differ.
That is when I turn to the Internet and the search engines. By searching on the different variations and restricting pages to Australia, often the Internet resolves the issue of which variation is the preferred spelling.
Since I do this quite a bit I decided to write a basic tool for myself where I could enter two words and I obtain the search engine results. I call this tool the Kelvinometer (which is from an in-joke with one of my friends).
For those who are interested I am making my rather raw tool available at the following address.
http://www.onlineconnections.com.au/kelvinometer/
Please enjoy. - Kelvin Eldridge
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Podium Power - The 7 Secrets of Successful Presentations
Podium Power - The 7 Secrets of Successful PresentationsUnlock the Presentation Master Within
Friday 11th July 2008
12 Lucky people will discover the 7 Lost Secrets of Presentations...With my help it will all become easy!
Do you have a great product or service but are not sure how to present it?
Do you want to promote your business confidently and with flair?
Do you want to overcome fear and nerves and create presentations with pizzazz?
It’s easy with Deanna Roberts, a professional speaker and presenter with experience in business, corporate management, the performing arts and mentoring. Deanna’s simple but effective methods, delivered with humour and style, can help you create better presentations and build your business. Designed for small business owners or departmental heads, Deanna’s workshops will make presenting your service or product a pleasure and for you and your audience.Don’t miss out! Develop your podium power!
For more information visit the JustLocal postcode page (http://www.justlocal.com.au/3000/) and click on Deanna.
- Kelvin
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
OzFilter 1.7 now available. Stop spam dead.
The latest edition of OzFilter 1.7 is now available.For those who don't know about OzEfilter, OzEfilter is the result of months of research trying to beat spammers at their own game. During the research we identified spammers change messages frequently, change addresses frequently and the change the servers they send from frequently. Spam filters often treat good emails as spam and for some that can result in lost emails and even worse, lost business. 
The solution to the problem however came as a result of the other group often considered a nuisance, the telemarketers. Caller ID helped to a certain extent but what really helped was being able to set the telephone so calls from friends would ring with one tone and could be answered, and calls from unknown people (nearly always a telemarketer) could be filtered using the answering machine. That enables us to accept good calls, but filter unknown callers. The same design is built into OzEfilter.
OzEfilter is used to monitor your emails at your mail server. As you receive emails from friends you add them to your conditions so emails from friends will be received. You only then need to review the list of emails from people you don't know. If you don't want the email you delete the email at the mail server.
This approach keeps unwanted emails out of your computer. We have not yet found an anti-virus software package that hasn't been beaten, so using anti-virus or anti-spyware software by itself is not enough. Using that approach by itself means it is not a matter of if you will get infected, it is only a matter of when you will get infected. Infections are often costly and inconvenient.
I use OzEfilter and could not live without it. In the last two and half years OzEfilter has deleted over 57,000 unwanted emails at the mail server safely away from my computer.
For more information on OzEfilter 1.7 visit http://www.ozefilter.com/.May all your emails be good emails - Kelvin Eldridge
PS. OzEfilter is now a VPS partner. VPS members can now refer OzEfilter to others and continue to receive a referral reward whilst the person continues to use OzEfilter.
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