Alert: Internet Domain Registration Corporation - Important - Domain Expiration

When I see new or unusual scams I let people know. Those of us with domains have all received those urgent domain renewals that try to trick us into paying more to renew a domain. They are official sounding and they do trick some people.

This one is new. In this case it is very similar to the above scam but with a significant difference. The renewal price for me is $3. If people have dozens of domains paying just $3 could be tempting and get past their defences.

The email tries to scan people. Words like final notice. Failure to pay by the due date may result in cancellation of your domain.

If should be noted in this case the domain does not expire for a number of months.

Treat every offer for domain renewal as a scam. If you're wondering if your domain is up for renewal, log onto your domain company's site and check the renewal date.

Never simply pay an invoice your receive without checking. We all get fake invoices for domains and they are a scam.

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

Westpac - For security your card ending in xxxx has been temporarily blocked.

I received an SMS at 10:42 pm last night from Westpac. The first thought was, is this a scam? Here's the SMS so that others know what to expect.

For security your card ending xxxx has been temporarily blocked. Please contact Westpac using the number on the back of your card to confirm recent activity.

Scammers will produce very similar looking messages. Notice that important direction to you. Contact Westpac using the number on the back of your card.

Scammers may get your number, but they need to get you to go somewhere they have control. There's no link in the legitimate SMS message. There's no number to call. You have that information on your card.

I called Westpac. Took a bit of time as I had to call multiple times. Selected the wrong options. Was this a new or existing fraud attempt. Well they know about it, so must be existing. Nope. That department's only open during the day. Got there in the end. Yep. Two online gambling and two online shopping fraudulent purchases in China. Nope wasn't me. OK. Your card has now been cancelled and we'll send you new cards. Worked out something that worked for both of us.

All good. These things happen. Now I do wonder how those people got the card details? Forever a mystery no doubt.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 if you're in the Doncaster/Eltham region and need IT help.

Update: 30 October 2014 - The saga continues.

OK. Sent the signed declaration. The first number provided by Westpac didn't work so tried the second number which did work. Even decided to sit there watching the fax to ensure it transferred successfully. At last all done.

Not so fast. Today I received a letter in the mail saying they'd not received my response. Ah. Didn't notice the cut-off date of the 11th. OK. That's my fault for not meeting their timeline.

They did send a reminder which I actioned I thought as soon as I received it. I find often letters from banks can take a number of days to arrive. I've seen lots of people complaining in banks about the short period they've had to pay their credit card and from my observation those complaints are warranted. But hey, I'll accept it's now up to me to follow up. And yes it's 4:45 pm and they close at 4:30 pm, unless of course you're overseas when it's 24 hours. Until tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what they've done with the fax I sent. This really is quite silly. They know it is fraud. They have the information. They've processed transactions which didn't have the appropriate information, and if it did, there's a real concern as to how that information has been obtained. There's no way I can protect myself from this occurring again because banks won't tell you how something happened.

Until tomorrow.

McDonald's Monopoly rare pieces 2014 - Australia

THE ACCEPTANCE OF NEW PIECES IS NOW CLOSED

THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED CAN VIEW THE LIST USING THE PASSWORD PROVIDED WHEN PIECES WERE ENTERED - THANK YOU

McDonald's Monopoly starts again on Wednesday September 10th. In previous years I've published the rare pieces for Australians. Do keep in mind McDonald's monopoly is also played overseas.

NOTE: This information is only for the Australian competition.

Make a note or print off this list of rare pieces. These are the pieces that will be hard to get and earn you one of the prizes for collecting a complete set. Everyone can generally collect all the other pieces relatively easy so these the the important pieces to keep an eye out for.

The following are the rare pieces.

Stay tuned. I'll add the details as they become available.

OK. This isn't as easy as last year. Last year you could determine the rare pieces from the terms and conditions. Not a problem.

If you let me know the pieces you have using the following form we'll quickly be able to determine the hard to get pieces.  Consider this a way where we help each other to quickly work out the important pieces.

www.justlocal.com.au/clients/monopolypieces/

Super important tip: This year I've decided to only display the results to those chipping in, so please record the password as you contribute.

Thank you in advance for entering your pieces.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au
Helping people in your area find your local business.

PS. PLEASE HELP BY LETTING OTHERS KNOW
If you'd like to know the rare pieces sooner please share a link using social media. The more people who contribute the faster I'll be able to work out the rare pieces so everyone will know.

PPS. A BIG THANK YOU.
As a result of your input the rare pieces are most likely known. The railroads aren't conclusive, but based on numbers so far. I'm fairly confident with the suggestion.

Apple iPhone 6 release date Australia and when the iPhone 6 will possibly be available in-store.

Apple is reportedly having a major event on Tuesday the 9th of September 2014 to announce the release of the iPhone 6. We may be able to predict when the iPhone 6 is available in-store for purchase based on previous releases of Apple iPhones.

The general pattern has been for the announcement to be on a Wednesday. Pre-orders are then announced and people can start ordering online. On the 10th day from this day (including the day), the iPhone has been made available in-store at Apple stores. Normally this has been on a Friday.

Based on this we can expect the iPhone 6 should be available in-store on the 18th or 19th of September. Whilst I have no real inside knowledge, I often wonder if the Friday has been chosen, as by making the first phones available on a Friday, those who receive it will be showing off their new phone creating demand in those people around them. The weekend is the time when more people have time available to go shopping. If nothing else Apple in the past have been great marketers.

If I was to pick one day I'd punt on Friday the 19th of September as the day people will be lined up to get the first iPhone 6 mobile phones in Australia.

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

Google's search results now appear to know your location.

Today I did a search and the result was either creepy or convenient, depending on your point of view. Someone asked for a theme for a florist site and I thought a quick way to find an acceptable theme may be to search for the term florist and check a few sites. The result was totally unexpected.

Here are the first three organic search results when I searched for the term 'florist'. That is results that aren't paid advertising.

WOW I thought. I'm sitting in an apartment taking a bit of me time in Port Douglas. Yes the IP address I'm connecting with is for the apartment and IP addresses are often associated with a location if the IP address doesn't tend to change. I've never seen this before with Google where the organic search results are specific to my current location. That's a huge change for Google.

The change however isn't for everything you search for. If I search for 'fish and chip shop' the search result isn't related to my location. If I type in 'accommodation' I get the usual online directories and services appearing first. For 'computer support' I get some local results. For 'motor mechanic' I get local results.

Google appears to have made some decisions on what people are searching for based on their current location. I should say this isn't consistent across devices. It can be harder for Google to determine the location of a mobile device. If I use my iPhone which is connected via 3G the results are not localised. Actually they are for Melbourne so Google may think the IP address my mobile phone service provider is using is based in Melbourne.

My desire was to share this information with JustLocal users so they know of a change which may affect them. If you're a business wanting to promote yourself locally, Google may give you some advantage, but it may be a good idea to make sure your key SEO assets include the local area so Google knows you're local. Google is also not consistent. What you see when searching can significantly differ from someone else in another area. For testing it may be necessary to get someone local to assist if you're not in the area of interest.

Creepy or convenient? I'll leave that up to you to decide.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Metric BMI Calculator suitable for use in Australia.

The metric BMI calculator I created enables me to enter measurements using metric units of measure, which is the system used in Australia. It always puzzles me when so many people mention Calories and yet the unit of measure we use in Australia is kilojoules. When I dieted I measured everything in kilojoules and I'm sure there are many others who would like to as well.

For those dieting I decided to add the Calorie values for the convenience of those people who still use Calories, but for those wishing to use metric, the BMI calculator will do what you need.

I've also produce a range of calculators so you can better understand the relationship between the use of energy and exercise. There's also a calculator you can use on your mobile device which will enable you to record your intake for the day. You can easily access these from my JustLocal site (www.JustLocal.com.au) and also my Weight Loss Maths site (www.WeightLossMaths.com.au) I hope others find these

Kelvin Eldridge
www.WeightLossMaths.com.au

Marriage celebrant Melbourne - Ceremonies by Cherie.

Marriage celebrant Melbourne - If you're look for a marriage celebrant in Melbourne, or in fact someone who can cover Victoria, I met up with Cherie from Ceremonies by Cherie today. Cherie is a lovely and well spoken person and someone I'd be happy to consider to provide a ceremony to celebrate part of my life.

You can now find Ceremonies By Cherie on the JustLocal postcode www.JustLocal.com.au/3156. Welcome to JustLocal Cherie and all the best for your business.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au 

BMI Calculator Australia - one of my first online web app calculators.

The BMI Calculator Australia was one of the earlier calculators I created as a web app. I then went on to create a number of other calculators for those wishing to lose weight. I decided to put a site together to share the information I determined called www.WeightLossMaths.com.au.

I believe that once you understand the maths behind weight loss and get your head into the right space, you can achieve your goals. All the calculators are provided free of charge. I hope others find the calculators useful. Please feel free to link to and share the calculators with others if you find them useful.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Thank you Rowville Community Kitchen for sharing your experience with JustLocal on your blog.

I'd like to thank Christine Smith of Rowville Community Kitchen for the post on her blog sharing how JustLocal has helped her business.

http://rowvillecommunitykitchen.com.au/2014/08/09/httpwww-justlocal-com-au/

Where possible JustLocal assists businesses with their presence on the internet. In this case with bumped Rowville Community Kitchen from the second page to the first page search results in Google for the keyword phrase "community kitchen".

Glad to be able to assist a business that helps so many and thank you for the mention.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Dictionary Australian - The preferred Australian English spelling for Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer and Mac OSX.

Dictionary Australian - Yes I cringe to write those two words in that order, but we are in a world where people search Google and since people search for Dictionary Australian, I decided to write this post for those interested in the Australian spelling of words.

If spelling matters to you, then you're welcome to review my site www.Australian-Dictionary.com.au. Few people realise there are thousands of words and issues with most spellcheckers. I'd been using Microsoft Word since the software was a text version, which was around 20 years, and I had no clue of the deficiencies that still exist to this day.

Errors, omissions and secondary spelling variations all reducing the standard of your written material and you're most likely not even aware. So far I've identified over 2,400 issues which are corrected by the dictionary files I produce.

If spelling matters as much to you as it does to me, then your welcome to check out my work.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Australian-Dictionary.com.au

GV Hotel Shepparton - Free 3 hour media workshop with Linda Reed Enever and AMD Training solutions

A great opportunity for business owners in Shepparton and the surrounding area, to participate in a free 3 hour media workshop with Linda Reed-Enever to be held at the GV Hotel in Shepparton on Thursday the 4th of September from 1:30 - 4:30 pm.

For further information contact Adele Dyson at AMD Training Solutions.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Alert: Don't join the CNET service and receive newsletters from them as they don't honour unsubscribe requests.

A few years ago I wrote a comment on the CNET site. Years later and without notice CNET decided to start sending newsletters.  I've unsubscribed a number of times but the newsletters keep coming. I've even written to CNET and received no response.

It is best not to get onto services like CNET when their systems don't let you unsubscribe.

Be careful when subscribing to sites requesting your email address. Some are annoying like CNET, but others I've heard from have experience unwanted spam which have meant they've had to change their email address.

In this case I'll end up discarding the unwanted emails at the mail server. An action that shouldn't be required but that's all part of being part of an internet connected community.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Small Business Victoria festival 2014 program

The Small Business Victoria festival for 2014 runs from the 1st of August to the 31st of August. If you're interested in the Small Business Victoria festival program for the events, the following is a link for the version you can download.

TIP: If you right click on the link you can usually select an option to save the PDF document to your computer.

Download Festival Program (PDF 7293.15 KB)

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Rowville Community Kitchen is a hidden gem your can find in Scoresby.

Isn't it interesting how you meet people in life. A complete stranger posts a request for help in a Facebook group and I offer my services. One thing leads to another and now I regularly hold business lunches enabling small business owners to get together at Rowville Community Kitchen.

I really didn't know what to expect at a community kitchen. What I saw was indeed unexpected. Christine Smith and her fellow chef use food as a vehicle to train and assist people. To me this was a person and group I wanted to help.

Much to my surprise I was able to sponsor a table for a two course lunch and coffee for roughly the same cost as paying for a breakfast at a networking meeting. That meant instead of just paying for myself I was able to shout a table for eight and enable seven others to connect. There was no expectation of anything happening from people connecting and if something happened from the connection that would be a bonus. At a minimum a group of like-minded people had the opportunity to get together, have a chat and simply enjoy themselves.

Thank you to Christine Smith and her team for providing the opportunity. Without Rowville Community Kitchen I wouldn't be able to bring a group of people together in such a way.

If you'd like to organise a business table on a Thursday at Rowville Community Kitchen contact Christine Smith. You can find details at www.rowvillecommunitykitchen.com.au.

Rowville Community Kitchen is located in Scoresby. My next business lunch is on the 24th of July.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Freeview guide not working when viewed from a computer.

Yesterday during the day, channel 9 and associated channels didn't appear in the online Freeview TV guide. This wasn't obvious until later. Last night channel 9, Gem and Go, were absent from the TV guide. This was quite unusual.

Today the Freeview online guide is showing no channels at all.

I've found often with technology, if something happens over the weekend, the situation doesn't get fixed as you think it should. I suspect this is because there's only a skeleton crew available to handle problems.

If you need a TV guide the guide in the TV appears to be working. In addition you may wish to try another site such as https://au.tv.yahoo.com/tv-guide/.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Google's Search Magic Revealed - spam

I've received quite a few emails to different email accounts with the subject "Google's Search Magic Revealed".

I've not seen that particularly spamming message and thought it was a change from the regular SEO marketing spam I receive.

Checking the IP address the email was received from, indicates the email used Google's servers which I felt was strange. You would think Google would be one of the most advanced companies in detecting and stopping spam.

If you receive emails from people you don't know it is best to delete them.

If you want to have your business seen think about using JustLocal. JustLocal doesn't use any of the undesirable marketing tactics to promote businesses.

Kelvin Eldridge
JustLocal (An Online Connections service.)
www.JustLocal.com.au

Frankston accountant - Perhaps have you thought about a bookkeeper?

If you run business in or around the Frankston area and are thinking about using the services of an accountant to assist with your record keeping, then perhaps consider a bookkeeper.

J Hesketh Bookkeeping Services is conveniently located close to Frankston in Langwarrin and provides a range of bookkeeping services. You can find J Hesketh Bookkeeping Services on the Langwarrin postcode page of JustLocal (www.JustLocal.com.au/3910).

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Australian Dictionary - The preferred Australian English spelling for Microsoft Office on Windows and Mac OSX.

Australian Dictionary - The preferred Australian English spelling is available for Microsoft Office on Windows and Mac OSX.

Isn't the Australian Dictionary provided with Microsoft Office good enough?

The answer is for many people it isn't. The standard dictionary includes many secondary spelling variations which are often considered incorrect in Australia. For example, the word summarize with the 'ize' spelling is included as well as the preferred spelling summarise.

Why does it matter?

Because there are two spelling variations for a word it is possible to include both spelling variations in a single document. This for example can happen easily when copying and pasting text from multiple sources. Many people, including those in tertiary education, believe the secondary spelling variations with 'ize' are spelt using American English. Of course this isn't right, but since they don't know better, students get their work marked as incorrect. The same is true for many people in business and if you're applying for a job, or writing a report, your choice of a spelling variation could make a considerable difference.

There are also dozens of errors the preferred Australian English spelling files for Microsoft Office fix.

So if you'd prefer to produce consistent documents using the preferred Australian English spelling, get a copy of the files today. Visit www.Australian-Dictionary.com.au.

Kelvin Eldridge
Creator of the preferred Australian English spelling files for MS Office.
www.Australian-Dictionary.com.au

Copywriter Melbourne - Claire Halliday's Copy Queens provides great copywriting services.

I'd like to welcome Copy Queens to JustLocal. You can find Copy Queens on the www.JustLocal.com.au/3189 postcode page, or go direct to Copy Queens site at www.copyqueens.com.au.


Copy Queens delivers affordable, effective copy that hits its mark - converting your browsers into buyers for solid return-on-investment. If you're looking for a copywriter, contact Copy Queens.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au/3189

Search Australia is now the default search for JustLocal.

The design of JustLocal is such that a general search facility is not required. However, people like to search and I wanted something people could use that would make it easier to for people to find Australian businesses.

The previous search facility was very similar to Search Australia, but Search Australia now uses the code which is used for a range of search services, so will continue being developed.

People should keep in mind that with Search Australia only sites using .au domains return results. Some Australian companies decide to use domains which end in .com and that is their choice. That choice however does make it harder for Australians to determine if a site is Australian or an overseas site. You can always use Google, Bing or Yahoo to perform a broader search by first entering the letter g, b, or y before the search phrase. Further details are provided in the Help page.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au