Melbourne Central food court focaccia a disappointment

Check out the filling on this toasted focaccia purchased at the Melbourne Central food court yesterday. At nearly $10 you'd expect a little more filling.

Red Energy increased electricity rate used in Energy Cost Calculator.

Each year I update the Energy Cost Calculator with the latest electricity price from Red Energy. I no longer use Red Energy as my supplier because I can get better rates elsewhere, but I keep using Red Energy for the calculator to make it easier for anyone to get an idea of how much an appliance is costing them.

The current rate from Red Energy without discount is now 26.235 cents per kWh.

The subtle increase I find is the cost to service to the property. Electricity companies I suspect know people compare rates for usage of electricity and are possible less likely to compare the cost to service the property. This rate continues to increase possibly faster than the usage rate. If you're shopping around for electricity make sure you consider the service to the property. We are a lower user of electricity and the service to the property makes up around 25% of the cost of electricity for us. We save a consider amount just by finding a supplier with a lower service to property charge even though they don't discount this charge.

Ultimately I suspect the electricity companies could price themselves out of the market by increasing the service to the property faster than the usage rate. Telstra did the same with the cost of the telephone line to the property and now many people no longer have a landline. At $1.10 per day which is $400 a year, over ten years this is $4,000. Fuel cell technology which uses natural gas is currently well above this price, but if there were some future development which would enable fuel cell technology to be put in the home for a capital cost of $4,000 it may be possible for people to use natural gas only to power their home. The higher the electricity companies make the service to the property the greater they risk to their business. Wouldn't it be great to get rid of one of the utility bills.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.EnergyCostCalculator.com.au

Paid online surveys Australia

Those reading this blog will have read I decided to test the online survey sites from the perspective of making income. So far the return has been tiny compared to the time involved so I'm not quite sure whether pain online surveys is little more than slave labour. I've heard of legitimate market research companies that pay up to a hundred dollars for an hour or two of your time, so it is possible to make reasonable money, but whether online surveys simply uses people for little return I haven't quite made up my mind.

What I did find particularly interesting is I signed up using SurveyCompare thinking they were a survey site, where in fact they make their money by signing you up to other survey sites. A couple of the sites SurveyCompare put forward are little more than competition sites and to me making money isn't about entering competitions, but about being paid a reasonable rate for your time. 

I then thought what if I use my Australian Search engine I wrote and search for online surveys (http://www.advancedsearch.com.au/SearchAustralia/search.php?q=online%20surveys) and there I found a good range of online survey sites with Australian domains. I've decided if time permits to test each of those sites to see if perhaps they pay better. If you're interested in the sites make sure you can find their Australian ABN on the site, skip the survey software sites and only consider sites which pay you for your effort in either money or vouchers you can easily use. Only testing will determine if any of the online survey sites pay reasonably for your effort. Keep in mind there are a lot of scammers out there and payment for your opinion is a known scam so tread carefully with sites and make sure you do your research on each site first.

At this stage I have a feeling the online survey companies are taking advantage of the desire for people to make some money, no matter how small, and are thus using the internet to reduce their costs and make a profit. One survey I received was aimed at high paid executives and I really can't see how any business would want to use the online survey companies to get quality research results. No high paid executive would waste their time to be paid under a $1 an hour. Somehow I don't think some of the online survey companies are being open with their clients as to how they're getting their surveys answered. Serious companies wanting quality information I believe will pay a fair and reasonable amount. For example Coles offers shoppers a $5 discount each month simply for providing feedback on their shopping experience. That is a fair and reasonable amount.

If time permits I'll write up the results of my online survey investigation as a MyAnswers  olution and make it available to clients. I'm particularly interested in finding online survey sites that offer a fair and reasonable return, and what would be even better is a regular return.

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Ph: 0415 910 703

Get to Google faster. Update your default search engine. Sure/No thanks

I don't know about you, but those messages from Google every time I visit their site annoy the living daylights out of me. Surely after hitting No thanks dozens of times they'd get the message. Thank goodness I don't have to put up with them as much as my clients, even when my clients have set Google as their home page.

I use Search Australia which is a search engine I created. Search Australia uses Google's services some I'm still getting the results from Google, but the results shown are for sites with Australian domains. I can still search all of Google by putting a 'g' before what I want to search for (or b for Bing and y for Yahoo), but most of the time I search I want Australian sites. I don't want to see sites from overseas companies that have such a strong presence they dwarf the results from Australian sites. If I want to check the road rules I don't want to see the results from UK sites.

Best of all, no nagging from Google. No nagging to make Google my default search engine and no nagging to switch to Chrome. If Google's nagging is annoying you then set Search Australia (www.AdvancedSearch.com.au/SearchAustralia) as your home page. I now also have Search Australia as the default when open a new tab. The less I use the Google home page the happier I am.

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Ph: 0415 910 703

Microsoft Security Essentials installation error. Cannot complete the Security Essentials Installation. Error code:0x80070643.

I recently repaired a client's computer and had to remove AVG because it was causing Windows 7 to hang on start-up. AVG had been installed because too much time had previously been put in trying to get Microsoft Security Essentials installed. At some point when an issue can't be economically resolved in terms of time you have to fall back to an alternate solution. Now that solution which was AVG had become a problem.

Like most people when I'm researching a problem I check the internet and there are a lot of people in the same situation. None of the solutions people were trying worked for me and many did not work for others either. There really wasn't a solution which I could find which worked. I decided to persist as this problem had occurred a number of times across my clients and a solution would allow me to install Microsoft Security Essentials.

It did take some time but I found a solution. I've listed previous solutions and the current solution in MyAnswers solution 2436. This solution is available to clients for a nominal cost and for those who aren't clients, I charge the equivalent of half an hour of time to become a client and have access to my database of solutions. The aim of MyAnswers is to enable me to document solutions and by using those solutions save clients time in the future which reduces the cost to clients. Clients are welcome to request solutions and use a DIY approach to further save costs if they wish. If a solution doesn't work there is no cost to clients and if it does work, the client saves money for a small outlay for each solution they use.

You can find MyAnswers via my site www.OnlineConnections.com.au and also via the convenience link MyAnswers.

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Ph: 0415 910 703

Is SurveyCompare legitimate and can I make reasonable money from doing online surveys.

NEW My report on Online Survey Sites.

Recently I saw advertisements on the internet for SurveyCompare. The impression their advertising gave me was they had clients who wanted to find out people's opinions. I like to test services so I decided to sign up and find out more.

It turns out SurveyCompare isn't what I thought it was. SurveyCompare to me is little more than a business that is promoting other businesses. It is the other businesses that have the clients that would like you to do surveys. Often these other businesses will pay a small fee to a business to promote them and get people to participate. That to me is what SurveyCompare is doing.

You actually don't need to participate through SurveyCompare at all. All you need to do is to know the list of businesses that want the surveys done and sign up direct. In a way this is the value that SurveyCompare is offering, that is to save you time finding the survey sites. SurveyCompare submits your information to the other sites and then you receive links to complete your information for the survey site. In most cases SurveyCompare passes on only a little information and doesn't really save much time compared with signing up direct.

The sites SurveyCompare promotes are:

Toluna
GlobalTestMarket
Valued Opinions
Your Voice
Mint Surveys
RewardsCentral
SurveyVillage
Big GiveAway (this is a competition site and not a survey site)
MySurvey
Hiving
MyOpinions
YourOpinion

As to whether you can make reasonable money I have a feeling I doubt if you could return a good amount for the time involved. I signed up on the 30th of December and after four days am probably lucky to have made about $5 in total across a number of sites. None of this is available often until I make about ten times that amount on a particular site. Completing all the profile question was time consuming and I'd have already put in somewhere between 5-10 hours. Each day I receive a couple of survey invitations where I again ask questions but then find I'm not a suitable candidate. More time with no return.

Whilst I'm not particularly concerned, it should be noted that these sites now have considerable information about me, my interests and my buying habits. I am hoping that information isn't passed on and I start getting direct marketing material. I don't think so because the value the survey companies have is by not providing this information to clients so clients have to use their services as that is how they make money. So far I've not received any additional unexpected marketing.

So to the questions is SurveyCompare legitimate and can I make a reasonable amount of money doing online surveys, the answer is SurveyCompare appears to be legitimate but not what I thought they were. To me SurveyCompare is little more than an affiliate marketing front end. How they can place on their site logos of major companies and the companies don't do anything about it I don't know. I for one wouldn't want companies to use my business logo without direct permission. Perhaps they have received it, but since they don't directly work with the companies I can't see how they could have. You can easily avoid providing your information to SurveyCompare by going direct to the sites for the survey companies and signing up. 

As to making reasonable money, I don't think this is likely. I consider reasonable money to be a third to a half of what you'd receive for employment since you can do surveys in your own time when you'd otherwise be doing nothing and you don't have the overhead cost of going to and from work plus all the associated work costs. Because your costs are negligible you don't have to earn as much to get a reasonable return. However, based on the hours invested so far equating to about $1 an hour or less, I don't consider this to be a good or acceptable return.  I will however continue to test the various survey sites over the next week or two and see if the return improves.

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

UPDATE - 3 January 2013
Received an email from SurveyCompare for Great Australian Voucher. This is little more than an entry to win a gift card but then uses marketing designed as a survey. Don't fall for it. This isn't a real survey for your opinion, just a survey to get leads for businesses. This has nothing to do with making money from doing surveys and is just disguised direct marketing.

UPDATE - 11 May 2017
I've now made available my report on Online Survey sites which I wrote in 2014. You can find it at http://www.justlocal.com.au/clients/onlinesurveyreport/.

UPDATE - 24 January 2019
When doing the surveys I created a calculator that would help me work out if the survey was worth doing or not. The Survey Rewards Calculator allowed me to enter the points or minutes for the survey, the reward and determine the equivalent hourly rate. Who really wants to be working for $1 or $2 an hour. I found the calculator and thought I'd make it available to others. You can find the calculator at www.onlineconnections.com.au/surveys/.

Target T-shirt sheets go 'bally' (pilled) after the first wash.

The T-shirt sheets from Target are appealing to the younger generation. They feel soft and fit snug to the bed. However you probably should skip them. The T-shirt sheets from Target were rough with pilling after the first wash. The sheets after less than six months aren't appealing and will most likely be replaced. 

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Ph: 0415 910 703

99 cent iTunes movie Julie and Julia in Summer Rentals

When there's not much to watch on, TV checking out specials on iTunes can be a cost effective option to driving to a video rental store and the subsequent trip to return the video the next day. Few people add the cost of petrol and wear and tear on the car to the cost of a video rental. We hadn't seen Julie and Julia and thought it might be worth checking out. As it turned out Julie and Julia was a reasonable movie and well worth the 99 cents.

If you're looking for Julie and Julia you can find it in the Summer Rentals section along with some other older movies.

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Ph: 0415 910 703

Herald Sun - You have reached your weekly Guest Access limit of 5 FREE ARTICLES

I find it interesting when news sites put barriers up for readers which try to get people to register their details. The news sites have paid advertising which should be paying for the content and making the site profit. Those who find value in the service will subscribe, but those who have to yet again provide their contact details to be on yet another mailing list, may in fact be put off using the site and that doesn't help advertisers.

It is very easy to search for an article using a search engine, and if the article is news, it will appear across a number of sites. Technically it is also trivial to get around the free article limit and takes no real skill. You can use more than one browser to extend the free number of articles, clear your cache, or operate your browser in private mode to bypass the limit.

Somehow I think the news sites need to become a little more creative in how they obtain new subscribers.  

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Ph: 0415 910 703

Biggest Loser Ararat is the location for Victoria's most obese town.

We're now seeing advertising for the next Biggest Loser project which will focus on the town of Ararat. According to a Herald Sun article I read, 59.2 per cent of the residents are obese. I find this figure to be highly unlikely and more likely the figure relates to people being overweight or obese.

I think it would be interesting if the second most overweight town decided to diet for a period of 12 weeks and then compare the difference in results between the two towns. Sometimes with television shows it is hard to separate what is entertainment and what is useful information.

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Ph: 0415 910 703

The preferred Australian English spelling dictionary now available for Apple's MacBook Air and Mac computers using OS X.

If you're not happy with the spelling suggestions made by Apple's built-in Australian dictionary you're not alone. Most people don't like American spelling suggestions (which are secondary spelling variations in Australia).

Previous dictionary products I've supplied for Mac users have only worked with Microsoft Office products Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but not Outlook. Outlook use Apple's built-in dictionary and not Microsoft's dictionary. Now Outlook users on the Mac can have the preferred Australian spelling.

You can find the preferred Australian English spelling dictionary for Mac OS X at http://www.australian-dictionary.com.au/mac/. 

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.Australian-Dictionary.com.au
Ph: 0415 910 703

Ringwood Shopping Centre (Eastland) Chistmas Shopping Hours 2013

The following are the 2103 Christmas trading hours for Ringwood Shopping Centre (Eastland).

21 Dec Sat - 9 am - 6 pm
22 Dec Sun - 10 am - 6 pm
23 Dec Mon - 9 am - Midnight
24 Dec Tue - 8 am - 5:30 pm
25 Dec Wed - Closed (Christmas Day)
26 Dec Thu - 8 am - 9 pm (Boxing Day)
27 Dec Fri - 9 am - 9 pm
28 Dec Sat - 9 am - 5 pm
29 Dec Sun - 10 am - 5 pm
30 Dec Mon - 9 am - 5:30 pm
31 Dec Tue - 9 am - 5:30 pm
1 Jan Wed - 10 am - 5 pm (New Year's Day)

Happy shopping.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au 

Chadstone Shopping Centre Christmas Trading Hours 2013

The following are the 2103 Christmas trading hours for Chadstone Shopping Centre.

21 Dec Sat - 8 am - Midnight
22 Dec Sun - 8 am - Midnight
23 Dec Mon - 8am - staying open
24 Dec Tue - open from previous day - 6 pm
25 Dec Wed - Closed (Christmas Day)
26 Dec Thu - 7 am - 10 pm
27 Dec Fri - 9 am - 9 pm
28 Dec Sat - 9 am - 6 pm
29 Dec Sun - 10 am - 6 pm
30 Dec Mon - 9 am - 5:30 pm
31 Dec Tue - 9 am - 5:30 pm
1 Jan Wed - 10 am - 6 pm (New Year's Day)

Happy shopping.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Alert: Your iCloud storage is almost full. You are currently using 4.8 GB of 5 GB total storage.

I received an email tonight with the subject 'Your iCloud storage is almost full.'. I couldn't help think, was this a scam email or a legitimate email. I checked all the links in the email, the headers for the email and the IP address from where the email was sent from, which was registered to Apple. So yes, this was a legitimate email.

I was surprised to see I'd used up nearly all my iCloud storage. I actually thought I'd disabled most of the iCloud features but apparently not. Time for me to go in and first delete some unwanted material on my iPhone which has been uploaded to iCloud. Then I'll disable the features I don't want to use with regards to iCloud, so hopefully the problem won't occur again. It turned out I had the iPhone backup set to use iCloud. I deleted the backup and the incomplete backup that had been created in iCloud. I do however use other techniques to backup my devices so it is important to make sure you backup your devices so you can at least recover the data that is important to you. 

This is actually a good marketing strategy for Apple. Those who don't manage their use of iCloud will end up purchasing more storage thinking they need it. When you look at a basic iPhone it has 8 or 16GB or storage. The 5GB will easily be consumed backups and you may not even know it is happening. It also means there's data usage from your internet access plan you've used that may or may not impact the cost of your internet service. Whilst it does take some effort, it is important for you to know what each feature of your device does and how that could affect you.

What also concerns me is this is an automated message in a standard format. Once spammers/scammers see messages like this they'll create fake messages to trick people into taking some action. If you receive any such messages from Apple treat them with suspicion. It only takes a moment to infect your computer or to share your personal or credit card details.

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

Servicing Doncaster, Templestowe and the surrounding areas.

Alert: Woolworths - Bringing Christmas Together! Win 50$

If you receive an email from Woolworths congratulating you and offering you $50 to participate in a survey you should delete the email. It isn't legitimate. The body of the email starts with the following and contains a link which is designed to look like a Woolworths site, but takes you to another unrelated site. 

Congratulations!

You have been selected by Woolworths Online Department to take part in our quick and easy reward survey.
In return we will credit $50 to your account - Just for your time!

I'm always amazed how every day we are approach by scammers on the internet. The flow of scams never seems to abate.

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Call 0415 910 703 if you require computer support.

Servicing Doncaster, Templestowe and the surrounding area.

Alert: iTunes Support - Update your account Apple

If you receive one of these emails you should delete it. It is a malicious email and is not from Apple.

This is a copy of the type of email notification you may receive from Apple. This is how scammers trick people. If you ever receive an email from Apple don't click on a link in the email (unless you have no option) but go to the site by opening your browser and entering the site address.

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Myki weekend cap to increase to $6. Two hour tickets to now be two hours and not rounded to the next hour.

Two changes to the Myki users need to be aware off.

Myki cap will jump from $3.50 to $6,... read more. 

The first is the Myki cap for weekend travel will increase from $3.50 to $6. The second is the two hour ticket will be two hours from the time you touch on and no longer be rounded to the next hour. Both of these benefits have encouraged me to use the public transport system in the past and to travel by public transport on the weekend rather than using the car. At $6 that benefit has now gone and I'm unlikely to use public transport in preference to the car. This is of course revenue raising by the government.

This is an interesting tactic by the government. It is very similar to how businesses operate. If you have a captive market you can increase your prices and people will still use the services. The drop in use is often much less than the increase in profit. Similar to how the government increases the price of cigarettes and whilst some people stop smoking, the revenue increase exceeds the loss by those who stop using the product or service. 

The bottom line is potentially a 71% increase for weekend travel and could require some people to purchase a second two hour trip/all day trip, where previously it would not have been be required. 

As an example a quick return trip from Templestowe to Hawthorn takes about 3 hours on a weekend (40 minutes by car) and could be done using either a two hour trip with the right timing or the $3.50 cap. Whilst this is not time efficient, it can be cost efficient. Now I wouldn't hesitate to simply use the car. A trip for two using public transport on the weekend was OK in terms of cost, even it wasn't particularly convenient or time efficient. Now I'll simply use the car. 

If I seem to recall correctly, when Myki was introduced the $3 all day weekend maximum was a selling point over the Metcard. I can't recall the old prices, but I have a feeling in just a couple of years the Myki benefit for weekend travel has now gone and Metcard may have had cheaper options such as the Sunday Saver.

From the article I was not able to ascertain when these changes will start, but believe these changes will take effect from the 1st of January 2014.

Kelvin Eldridge

Dr Albert Tsai and the Meridian Medical Centre are now live on JustLocal.

I'd like to welcome Dr Albert Tsai to the JustLocal service. You can now find Dr Albert Tsai and the Meridian Medical Centre on the Bentleigh East postcode page (www.JustLocal.com.au/3165) of JustLocal.

For those looking for Dr Albert Tsai, the Meridian Medical Centre has recently moved to 74 Mackie Road in Bentleigh East.

Dr Albert Tsai services include acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, cupping and fertility treatment. For information on services provided by Dr Albert Tsai visit the Meridian Medical Centre website.

Kelvin Eldridge
JustLocal – Helping locals find local businesses.

www.JustLocal.com.au
An Online Connections service.

Alert: New Voicemail Message from Cbus, Bulla Dair Foods and Centro Property Group.

This morning I received three emails (to different email addresses) with the subject 'New Voicemail Message'. The email contains an attachment 'VoiceMail.zip' which contains an executable program.

You should delete these emails as the attachment is malware.

The body of one of the emails started with the following: 'You have been left a 1:09 long message (number 1) in mailbox from "Cbus" 07516326347, on Monday, November 19, 2013 at 07:29:02 AM'. As you can see this email pretends to be a voice mail message from Cbus. The other two emails pretended to be voice mail messages from Bulla Dairy Foods and Centro Property Group. The company and telephone number changed for each email.

I tested the attachment and only Sophos currently identifies the attachment as malware and all the other commonly used antivirus programs are not yet aware of the malware.

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

Be careful with Dell delivery times. This is a good reminder to be mindful that not all deliveries will make it for Christmas.

I assisted a client with an order for a Dell computer on the 22nd of November. The computer was to be delivered within the next 10 days. An email was received on the 26th of November confirming the delivery would be on or before the 2nd of December.

On the 2nd of December at 2:55 pm an SMS was received requesting a response for delivery on either the 10th of December, the 11th of December, or to receive a call. I decided to receive a call to make sure I speak to someone on behalf of the client. To receive an SMS on the expected date of delivery stating a different time is terrible customer service. The client waited around all day for the delivery and Dell sent the message to me and not the client. Dell had recorded my details as a secondary contact.

I find it staggering that well before Christmas Dell can't deliver within the 10 days they advise. That will now make it 18 days until a delivery is expected, and at this point, there is no guarantee the delivery time won't be adjusted again. This isn't a purchase for Christmas, but if it was, there would be a concern regarding delivery.

This is a good reminder as we approach Christmas that a lot of people will be disappointed when they don't receive items they've ordered for Christmas. At this time it is perhaps a good idea to start thinking about buying from bricks and mortar shops rather than online, and make sure they actually have stock on hand. Placing an order in a shop is no more of a guarantee that you'll receive an item as placing an order online. I recall waiting for an order for months from the Myer Store and months from a distributor for an Epson colour laser. If it isn't in stock, in the premises, chances are you may not get the item in time.

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Ph: 0415 910 703