Jehovah's Witness Convention in Melbourne this weekend.

I just read a person was having troubles getting a rental car. The reason. The Jehovah's Witness Convention is being held in Melbourne this weekend. Apparently there's an influx of 70,000 Jehovah's Witnesses which is expected to be good for the local economy to the tune of $50 million.

That's a huge crowd. I hope they enjoy the beautiful weather Melbourne is expected to have this weekend. Couldn't have picked a better weekend.

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

Have you noticed how Apple quietly puts up the prices of their products with each new release?

The Apple iPad Air 2 products were announced last night. Now I've been noticing a pattern with Apple I decided to check with this release.

The pattern

With each release of Apple products I seem to notice that entry level model price increases and the bottom level model is dropped off for a more expensive model. Thus Apple are increasing the price people need to pay to purchase both the new products and their oldest lowest cost model. This doesn't always happen but it seems to happen more often than not.

Let's see what happened with this release.

NOW

New entry models
iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi 16GB - $619
iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular 16GB - $779

Old bottom of the range models now for sale.
iPad Air Wi-Fi 16GB - $499
iPad Air Wi-Fi + Cellular 16GB - $659

WAS

iPad Air Wi-Fi 16GB - $598
iPad Air Wi-Fi + Cellular 16GB - $749

Old bottom of the range models being sold

iPad with Retina display Wi-Fi 16GB - $449

iPad with Retina display Wi-Fi + Cellular 16GB - $598

From the new iPad Air 2 range and the range of the oldest model kept the same pattern has emerged this time as well. That is to buy an new iPad the price has increased and to buy the oldest model in the range the price has also increased. 

Keep in mind we're only talking about price and not functionality. One could easily argue, but yes, people are now getting more for their dollar and that is true. But the old model is older technology (still good technology) and the new model appears to go up in price. The new model doesn't come out at the same price point or a lower price point, but appears to come up each time at a higher price point. To me that's an interesting observation.

Kelvin Eldridge

www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.

Computer repair Doncaster. If your computer giving you grief?

Computer repair Doncaster. If you need your computer repaired then think about using the services of a local person. When you simply grab a business off the internet you don't know where they're located and that means you end up paying for their travelling time. If there's problem and your computer has to be taken away, you then also end up paying for that time as well.

I run Online Connections providing computer services to local residents and businesses. Because I live locally in Templestowe, I don't charge Doncaster residents and businesses a call-out fee, or a minimum charge. You simply pay for the time required and if that is just a few minutes, as happens on many occasions, then that is all you need pay. If there's a problem and I need to take your computer away for repair and later return, there's no charge for the travel time involved. That's the advantage of using a local support person.

Have you ever sat waiting on a support line. I'm fairly sure that many times I can actually take less time to get to your home or business than you wait on the support line. Simply contact me and book a time and I turn up at the agreed time and fix your computer. In the unlikely event I can't fix the computer ,such as when the problem is the less frequent hardware failure and not a software issue, then there will be no charge and a simple thank you for giving my service a go.

So if you're having problems with your computer and are located in Doncaster, call me on 0415 910 703. I look forward to assisting you.

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

QVB High Tea caught my attention as I was performing some basic research for Talking Teas.

QVB High Tea caught my attention. When new customers join JustLocal I like to do some personal research simply out of curiosity. I love learning about the businesses on JustLocal. Whilst it isn't always possible, sometimes that knowledge enables me to connect two businesses together.

Now QVB High Tea is in the Queen Victoria Building Sydney so I'm sure it would be a lovely outing. Being in Melbourne that probably isn't going to help me. So my thought for those in Melbourne, why not host your own High Tea or tea party with the great range of teas from Talking Teas. Have a chat with Allison and perhaps your next party may be a Tea Party.

You can find Talking Teas on the www.JustLocal.com.au/3130 postcode page.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au
Help locals to connect with local businesses.

iPad Air 2/iPad 6 Australian release date 2104.

Quite amazingly last night was the first time I read about Apple's October 16th announcement which is nearly certainly about a new range of Apple iPads.

The usual timetable seems to be announce the product and then about 10 days later, usually the Friday (for iPhones so perhaps also for iPads), Apple makes the devices available in-store to the public. I have a feeling this is to seed the first sales on the Friday to beat up demand and get the weekend sales. Usually on the day of announcement pre-orders can be taken for delivery around the Friday.

Now if you're interested in the announcement and want the latest news as it is happening, the announcement is made at Apple's head office, usually starting around 9:30 am their local time. By 10 am most of the news has hit the online press. Some time after Apple publishes a to link to a recording of the event on their site so you can watch the announcement at your leisure. I actually like to watch the announcement as often there are some titbits which I'm interested in that the general media isn't.

In terms of local time in Melbourne, I believe this would be around 3:30 am on Friday morning. Some people stay up to watch sport. Some people stay up for the latest news. I think I might just be sleeping at that time;-)

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.
Support residents and business in Templestowe and the surrounding area.

The Block 2015 address is 27 Darling Street South Yarra.

A little internet snooping reveals the location of The Block 2015 is 27 Darling Street South Yarra. The property is a block of 12 apartments which will become 5 apartments and a large communal living area.

Reportedly the property was purchased for $5.7 million from Beller Residential. In its renovated state it makes a rental return of $216,516 per annum approximately.

The Google aerial view shows no fences, but the street view shows construction fences have been erected. It is hard to tell when the Google photos were taken.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au
Helping locals to find local businesses.

Camomile tea or chamomile tea. What is the spelling?

Talking Teas is a new business on JustLocal. As part of researching tea related terms I came across something I thought was quite interesting. The spelling camomile tea appears quite often in searches as does chamomile tea. Now the spelling is chamomile but it is one of those tricky words.

If you're interested in tea, not just the spelling, then Talking Teas can be found on the JustLocal postcode page www.JustLocal.com.au/3130. If you love tea then you'll love talking to Allison from Talking Teas.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au
Help you find small businesses in your area.

Bluetooth hands free car kit KT100 Plantronics from Officeworks pleasantly surprises.

OK. I have to admit I love gadgets but I've been burnt a few times with bargains that frankly didn't live up to my expectation. In other words, I'd consider them rubbish. So you'll forgive me when I decided to buy a $49 bluetooth hands free car kit unit from Officeworks and didn't have high hopes. "Can I bring it back if it doesn't work to my expectation" I asked. "Yes, no problem".

But then my first surprise the K100 unit was a Plantronics device and I've had a good run from Plantronics devices. I was immediately happier.

Now I accept this unit clips over the visor and needs to be recharged. My iPhone 4 is currently on a stalk stuck to the front window and sort of works, but I have to lean forward and never knowing if I'm yelling too loudly or not. So having a device on the visor appeals to me and charging whilst a nuisance, is OK for the price.

After charging I paired the device and had it going almost immediately. That was easy enough I thought, but do keep in mind I support computers, so technology isn't a concern for me. But even then I was happy with the simplicity.

Reading the sheet of paper that came with the device I was able to do what I wanted. However what surprised me was the voice calling worked better than I expected and I'd not previously used that feature much on the mobile, but now I'm very happy to.

I decided to have a conversation and transmit the sound through the radio speakers. I didn't buy the unit for that function but thought, hey, it's there, let's see how it goes. At first I was very happy but then during the call the quality deteriorated at times to the point where I was not happy at all. That's OK, back to using the speaker in the unit. It sounds a little tin like at times, but overall it is quite acceptable.

So now I'm a very happy little vegemite as I'm able to make hands free calls and receive the occasional call whilst on the road. I can use voice calling very easily and I no longer have to lean over and shout at the iPhone and struggle to listen to the conversation.

Very happy indeed.

Quite surprisingly the $49 price in Officeworks is actually one of the best I can find. Given that I can go into a store and pick it up, so there's no shipping fee, it's actually the cheapest I can find.

Most reviews I read of the unit did nothing more than look at the container and examine it. To me those reviews are close to useless. I wanted to hear the thoughts of someone who used the device.

If I did have any gripes it would be the FM quality through the car speakers, (which by the way was easy to set up), and perhaps the need to charge, but hey, at the price I'm not going to complain. The only time I was really tricked and didn't know what to do was when I was on one call and a second call was coming through. I hung up on the first and for a moment didn't know how to get the second caller onto the hands free, but quickly found out I could. I don't expect that to be a problem.

One other point, I did try to connect the unit to a low cost Android 2.3 mobile phone and was not able to. The iPhone 4 gave me no problems, so you may need to check to see if the device is compatible with your mobile phone.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.
Happy to answer on my new hands free device.

The Block 2014 winners are Simon and Shannon Voss.

The Block 2014 auction is about to start. As the auctions progress I'll update the information as I did for The Block 2013. The Block winners are TBA.

1. Chris and Jenna Susetio
Reserve: $1,500,000, Bid: $1,810,000, Profit: $310,000 - SOLD

2. Simon and Shannon Voss
Reserve: $1,565,000, Bid: $1,900,000, Profit: $335,000 - SOLD

3. Karstan Smith and Maxine Stokes
Reserve: $1,670,000, Bid: $1,710,000, Profit: $40,000 - SOLD

4. Darren and Deanne Jolly
Reserve: $1,370,000, Bid: $1,380,000, Profit: $10,000 - SOLD

5. Michael and Carlene Duffy

Reserve: $1,380,000, Bid: $1,390,000, Profit: $10,000 - SOLD

* The reserve amount is the adjusted reduced amount.

Until the next season of The Block.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Optus telephone network currently not working.

I had a call from a person in Reservoir with the home telephone not working. I said I'd call Optus on their behalf. Nothing on their website status page. With some wait, there was a general statement to say their telephone network is not working and technicians are working on it.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 415 910 703 for IT support.

Update: This issue started because because the telephone stopped working. The internet was working. The person contacted Optus via online chat who said they'd get back to the person but didn't. Today (Friday two days later) I decided to investigate.

It turn out the telephone cable was not located in the correct socket which was user error. Thus there was no way for the person to know the service was again working. Hard to say if it was just a local issue or the national issue. What was interesting is that calling the number with no telephone plugged in results in the caller being getting what sounds like the telephone is ringing, but since there's no telephone on the other end nothing is ringing. This is an Optus cable based telephone service. I do wonder if his is the same for normal telephone networks. I must check that at some point. The problem is now solved.

Microsoft Office for Mac - the best spelling for Australian users.

Microsoft Office for Mac is a great product. One major problem however is the spellcheck dictionary that Microsoft provides. The dictionary includes thousands of secondary spelling variations which many Australians consider as incorrect. Words such as organize, focussed and even mom.

The dictionary files I provide mark the thousands of secondary spelling variations as incorrect, resulting in more professional documents and little chance of inadvertently using two different spelling variations of the one word, in the one document. Using two spelling variations in the one document is always considered an error and it can easily creep in when you copy of paste text from different sources.

If your written work is important to you, if you want the best possible spelling, get the preferred Australian English spelling files for Microsoft Office for Mac.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Australian-Dictionary.com.au
When spelling matters.

ANZ eDine Discount Vouchers - Alert

I received a couple of messages today which is offering a $250 eDine Discount Voucher for doing a survey. The email starts with:

Dear Customer,

Over the past few weeks we have been quietly improving ANZ online 
to make sure you are getting the best online banking experience possible 
and we chose all ANZ clients to take part in our survey about ANZ 

You should delete these emails. They are a scam.

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

Compare iPhone 6 to iPhone 6 Plus

Now I'm not exactly looking to buy an new iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, but I was curious as to the new bigger iPhone 6 Plus. So at the earliest opportunity I decided to drop into my local Apple store. I'm lucky, there's one close to where I live.

If you're after a comparison based on specs, I'd suggest a visit to the Apple site. But for me it was about touching and feeling the iPhone. How did it feel to me? How did it feel to others?

I stood there checking out the iPhones and something surreal happened. It felt like I was in the cartoon Finding Nemo, where the seagulls were all saying, mine, mine, mine, in an amusing seagull voice. But instead, over all the noise, all I could here was, it's too big, it's too big, it's too big. What the heck I thought. Yes. It's big. That's the point. But it was good to listen and I chatted, and really it is about your needs.

I personally use the internet most of the day for what I do. A bigger screen is ideal for me. OK. Ageing eyes make it appealing as well. That small screen on my old iPhone makes it feel like I'm reading a newspaper through the letterbox. So for me I like the larger size.

The pocket test. No we weren't trying to steal the iPhone. The cable made sure of that. But a couple of us put the iPhone into our pockets and you know what, it wasn't too bad. I wouldn't sit down with it in my pocket, but I don't with my current mobile. The very thin site means the only issue is the width and height. I could live with that.

I shared thoughts with a women next to me. She could see my point of view. She showed me how here small hand could not comfortably hold the iPhone 6 Plus, so for her it made no sense.

Then the movie test. Which movie I thought. I know. The one I wrote to show those interested in JustLocal how to sign up. I was in fits of laughter. I tricked myself. The screen was so good, for me at least, that I kept clicking on my video thinking I was pressing on my actual site. They were so similar it was amazing. Fooling myself like that I found amusing. What was even more amusing is it didn't happen once, but I'd turn around and talk, forget where I was up to and trick myself again. So funny. But to me that showed me just how good the screen was.

Overall the new iPhone 6 Plus is a lovely device and if I had a business need, I'd purchase it. But I don't currently have that need.

If you're thinking about the new iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, once you've read all the reviews, get to an Apple or reseller store and pick the thing up in your mitts. Put it in your pockets. Imagine and test how you'll use it. Life is about experiencing, not just about reading.

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

Centrelink online services login does not work. Services Unavailable message.

I had to check a computer as a person was trying to login the same way as they did previously and it wasn't working. All they would receive is largely a white screen. The title bar stated 'Centrelink - Login Services - Services Unavailable. The message on the page was the following.

Services Unavailable
This service in unavailable at this time. Please try again later.
The Department of Human Services apologises for any inconvenience.

After trying to log on using different computers (Windows and Mac OSX) it was decided the problem was not computer related and a call to the Centrelink online accounts support hotline 132 307 was required. The hotline is available Monday to Friday, 7 am to 10 pm local time.

The call was place. Even though this did work previously for the person, the reason it now didn't work, is Centrelink has increased security. For reasons of security it isn't appropriate to discuss the reason. If this is an issue you're experiencing, you should contact the hotline. Please do not contact myself, the writer of this post. No answer will be forthcoming. It is important the security of other services is maintained.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au
Helping small businesses with their local online presence.

Alert: Your Apple ID has been Disabled for Security Reasons "Too many attempted sign ins"

If you receive one of these it is a fake.

If you check the link without opening you'll see it is an infected WordPress site. You can often check the underlying real link by hovering a mouse over the link and looking at the Status area in Windows or the pop-up on the Mac,.

You should delete these emails. Don't click on the link.

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

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