Fw: WARNING - BIG VIRUS IS COMING

Hi,

I regularly receive emails from clients letting me know the next big virus is coming. Sadly, in almost if not all cases, the clients have been tricked.

This is what is known as a hoax virus.

It is simply an email that has been designed to trick people to warn others. As a result lots of people pass on the hoax to others creating a great deal of concern for their friends.

If you receive a virus warning then don't send it on to others unless you know there is a real virus. In the last three years I have received dozens of such warnings and every one has been a hoax.

Often these messages claim to have been checked and well known names are mentioned. It is these very same names that you can use to help you check the virus is a hoax.

For example in the message I received today was the statement:

"This is the worst virus announced by CNN."

If this were true then if I visit the CNN site then there is no doubt it would be a major news item. A check of the CNN site shows no mention of any such virus.

Next we see that Microsoft is mentioned.

"It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. "

A quick visit to the Microsoft site and again no mention of a virus. Not a mention of the virus there either.

As you can see a quick check of the sites being mentioned pretty much tells us it is a hoax.

You may also wish to check the major newspaper sites. Unless the newspaper itself is tricked, if the virus threat is real, it will soon appear in the media.

I would also suggest asking your source. If they have not checked or personally know about the virus from their contact (not via email), it is a good chance they have too been tricked.

The good thing about a virus hoax is it has usually been around for a while. If you take the main words from the email and search using Google, you will often find the hoax has been reported. But you really need to take care here. Only check the sites which you know are well known sites such as the anti-virus companies. Going to a site which is not known could in fact be a trick to infect your computer. I have seen this happen on a Windows XP SP1 computer.

In this case I decided to search for the phrase "opens A POSTCARD IMAGE" including the quotes using Google. This returned an entry from hoax-slayer which confirms it is a hoax. But since I don't know if hoax-slayer itself is a friendly site or not, I would not suggest this site to others. Yes it is best not to trust sites when it comes to viruses.

It should also be kept in mind that in general Google is not a good place to search for up-to-date information. Google can take weeks to index a site and I have seen a new virus come out on the weekend from Asia and infect Australian computers on Monday morning.

If clients contact me and this will happen in the case of a real infection, if I see the infection hit more than one client then there is a real issue and I will post about the issue as quickly as possible. This blog may be your best source of information in the case of a real outbreak.

In my case I don't see these unwanted emails as I use a product I wrote called OzEfilter. OzEfilter lets me view a list emails from people I don't know, safely at the mail server. I then delete the emails before they reach my computer. In fact I've deleted over 57,000 such emails. I've not had one virus infected email reach my computer in nearly three years.

One thing I do find is when people send these hoax emails on they can feel pretty silly. No one likes to think they have been tricked. It can be quite embarrassing to go back to everyone and let them know you were tricked.

So please check your facts and your source first before helping a virus hoax achieve its goal. Your friends will appreciate the extra effort you take.

Happy hoax slaying - Kelvin Eldridge

VPS work-in-progress on JustLocal.

Hi,

I would like to let everyone know that JustLocal is evolving and that's a good thing.

JustLocal is a participant in Virtual Profit Sharing. Currently if a Virtual Profit Sharing member refers a business to JustLocal, the business has to manually enter the member's code in order for the member to share in the profit.

I am currently upgrading the system so the VPS member's code is automatically transferred to the order form. This will take some time and I appreciate your patience.

If you find anything unusual that you feel we may not have meant to do (we often do unusual things) then please feel free to let us know. Your feedback and assistance is appreciate.

Thanks in advance - Kelvin

Jewellery Expo at Watsonia Neighbourhood House on the 26th of July 2008.

The Watsonia Neighbourhood house sent us the following event information for the upcoming jewellery expo.


Welcome to the Wonderful World of Jewellery at Watsonia Neighbourhood House, 47 Lambourne Road, Watsonia.

Meet members of the Monday Night Jewellery Class. See their creative designs. All items will be for sale. Orders taken.

Saturday 26th July 2008, 10.30am to 3.00pm. Enquiries 9434 6717

You can find information about the Watsonia Neighbourhood House by clicking on the image at the bottom of the JustLocal postcode page 3087.

Spellcheck bug in Firefox 3.0

A user of the Australian English dictionary files contacted me to let me know the words "Colorful" and "aluminum" were not picked up correctly by the spelling checker. This was quite strange since the words are not in the dictionary.

On further investigation of Firefox 3.0, I found if you open Firefox 3.0 and then paste "Colorful aluminum" into a form, these words will not be correctly identified as being wrong.

To get around this glitch turn Check Spelling off and then on again using the context menu. Once the spellcheck is working, the spellcheck continues to work.

There is no need to report this as a problem to me (the creator and maintainer of the Australian English dictionary files) as the problem is not in the dictionary, but is with Firefox 3.0. Please report the problem to the Firefox project.

Thank you Andrew for bringing this to my attention.

Happy spellchecking - Kelvin Eldridge

Interest charged even though you pay off your credit card in full by the due date?

Are you being charged interest on your credit card even though you pay it off in full and by the due date?

I recently received a question from a person because even though they paid of their credit card off each month in full and by the due date, they were still being charged interest. Whilst outside the scope of what I do I decided to investigate since I have also fallen for this credit card trap so I thought I would share my experience with others.

There are a few gotchas with credit cards.

1. If you miss paying off a credit card by the due date then you get charged interest on the next statement and it applies to all purchases made since the start of the statement period.

Miss paying off your credit card in full also affects how you are charged interest on your purchases from that point on.

2. If you don't pay off your credit card in full then every purchase from then on incurs interest at the going rate. There is no interest free period on purchases when you owe money on your credit card.

The trap however is if you pay the full amount due stated on the statement, you are not paying off the full amount since some interest has already been incurred between the statement date and when you pay. You always receive the statement a few days after it is printed.

In order to stop being charged interest you need to have your credit card owing you money at the next statement end date.

One way to do this is to keep the card owing you money for the entire following month. If you don't want to pay interest in your purchases during the month this is the way to go.

Another way is just before the statement end date check the balance of the credit card and pay off the credit card plus a bit more so that at the next statement the credit card owes you money. You may end up paying some interest on purchases using this approach.

Another way is to use another credit card until the credit card is paid in full and no interest has been charged. This may take two statement cycles.

If all you ever do once you miss paying off your credit card in full is to pay the amount due, you will continue to pay interest on your credit card.

I hope this experience helps others to tame their credit card. - Kelvin Eldridge

NOTE: This information should not be considered as financial advice. It is for general information only.

Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007

Recently, Nigel, who is one of the Australian English dictionary file users, let me know that Microsoft support sent him to the JustLocal site to solve his Outlook Express problem. His spellchecking in Outlook Express was not working since installing Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007.

What I found really interesting which I wasn't aware of, is the student edition of Microsoft office, previously the Teacher and Student edition in 2003, was now replaced by the Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 edition.

This means many more people can afford to run Microsoft Office on their home computers. Retirees like Nigel are one group who benefit and I suspect there are many more.

With the ability to load the software onto three computers, it should cover the needs of most families, including grandpa or grandma's computer.

We've added a copy of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 to The Great Give-Away so there is a copy up for grabs. If you can't wait and want to take advantage of Microsoft's $40 petrol voucher offer, you can buy now and if you win the free copy, we give you the option of getting a second copy, or a refund of the purchase price plus delivery.

Thanks Nigel for you feedback - Kelvin

Firefox 3 Australian English dictionary files now available.

Firefox 3 is just around the corner.

I have now updated the files to work with Firefox 3 and also made some minor changes as requested by a number of users.

You can find the Australian English spellcheck files on most JustLocal (www.JustLocal.com.au) pages at the bottom of the page by clicking on the following graphic.



You can also go straight the dictionary page at www.dictionary.JustLocal.com.au.

As the creator and the maintainer of these files for the last five years I would like to thank you for your ongoing support. Without your support producing these files would not be viable.

Happy spellchecking - Kelvin.

New free prizes added to The Great Give-Away.

The Great Give-Away is proving to be very popular with both the businesses giving away prizes and the people winning them.

More exciting new prizes have just been added so grab that mouse and get clicking. Visit http://www.justlocal.com.au/ and click on The Great Give-Away.

You could be the next winner in The Great Give-Away.

GPAC: A Tribute To The Hollywood Musicals.

B.E.A.T. (Bayside Entertainment and Theatre) presents "A Tribute to the Hollywood Musicals", a revue devised and directed by Ron & Maureen Sudden, at the Blakiston Theatre, G.P.A.C. from June 26th to June 28th 2008.

This variety show has a cast of 30 singers and dancers, a 4 piece orchestra, and a troupe of young dancers.

The show pays tribute to 30 of the most loved musical films from the 1930's through to 2002, with songs from the likes of "Singing in the Rain", "Easter Parade", "Guys and Dolls", "Fiddler on the Roof", "My Fair Lady", "Paint Your Wagon", "Annie Get Your Gun" and many more, performed by a very talented and enthusiastic cast. A show not to be missed.

For more details check out http://www.GeelongBEAT.com/.

Podium Power - The 7 Secrets of Successful Presentations

Does the idea of standing up in front of a group of people make your hands sweat and your knees go weak?

On Tuesday the 6th of May 2008 Deanna Roberts will be holding the "Podium Power - The 7 Secrets of Successful Presentations" seminar in Melbourne.

The group is size is limited to ensure everyone comes away with a new set of skills.

The price is unbelievable making this a great opportunity.

You can find out more information by visiting Deanna Roberts site via the JustLocal 3000 post code page or go direct to the event page on Deanna's site.

For anyone who dreads the idea of giving a presentation this event is a must.

You’re invited

Following his successful journey from truckie to Poet David J Delaney or Dave as he is better known has released his second book ‘Rhymes of Times’.

A stunning collection of poems inspired by one ‘blokes’ life experience both growing up and working in the country that he loves.

Featuring poems such as ‘Rainforest dreaming’ recited at this year’s Australia day celebrations and the award winning ‘Drought’ this collection transports the reader to fondly remembered places and times of the past.

To thank the people of Cairns for their continued support Dave is launching his second book in the city that he loves. - By Paul Oliveri.

Launch date: Saturday 29 March, 2008
Time: From 2pm onwards.
Venue: Sapphire Tapas bar, Lake St. Cairns.

After the launch you will be able to read a sample of poems from David's new book and order his book from his page on http://www.DavidJDelaney.com.

Keep on truck'en - Kelvin

Free T18 laptops from Ericsson. Yeah right!!!!

I just received an email letting me know about a great offer from Ericsson, where you can get a free T18 or R320 laptop.

Too good to be true. We believe so.

A search of the Internet shows this to be a hoax. In effect a virus hoax which gets unsuspecting people to forward on the email.

If you have been tricked, have a good laugh. You aren't alone.

However if you have told others, you really should let them know as soon as possible that it is a hoax.

At JustLocal we have some unbelievable offers. Free laptops. Even we can't match that one.

Have a great day - Kelvin

The Great Give-Away begins..........

Win prizes for FREE.

At JustLocal we are always creating innovative ways to promote our JustLocal friends.

This time some people will think we have gone totally mad. We are giving away prizes just for the asking. Maybe we have gone mad.

But it doesn't matter because we expect quite a lot of people will be over joyed winners of prizes offered in The Great Give-Away.

Check out The Great Give-Away. (www.JustLocal.com.au/the-great-give-away/)

Select one or more prizes and if lady luck is on your side, the prize (or prizes) could be yours.

Good luck - Kelvin

JustLocal friends - February 2008 special offers.

Special offers from JustLocal friends for February 2008.

The thought occurred to us to enable JustLocal friends to promote their February specials using the JustLocal News blog. We have no idea how many offers there will be, but hey, we are always into trying out new approaches.

Enjoy - Kelvin

Aussie slang dictionary, bonzer idea.

G’day,

I started this blog entry on a Wordpress blog I no longer use, and have decided to transfer it here, as with enough interest, I am still happy to bring out add-on dictionaries containing our colourful slang.

Some users of our Australian English dictionary files have asked for more Aussie slang to be included.

To get the ball rolling I will build a secondary dictionary for OpenOffice.org which will contain Aussie slang. Further dictionaries for other applications will be built based on user demand.

Submit your favourite words

Add a comment to this blog with the words you would like to see included.

Guidelines

• Check the spelling of the word where possible. Slang dictionaries are available in book stores.
• Using Google, select Pages From Australia and check for common usage.
• If someone else submits a word you do not agree with then dispute the word (but be nice about it).

When a sufficient number of suggestions have been received I will consolidate the suggestions for people to comment on and then include in the next version of the dictionary.

The Australian English slang dictionary will be available from the JustLocal site www.JustLocal.com.au. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on FREE Australian English spell check dictionary files.

Thanks - Kelvin Eldridge

PS. The comments from the original blog entry have been added by myself. Thank you to those adding their comments.

PPS. (Update: January 2009) The words from this post have now been reviewed and included in Word Check. Word Check uses the dictionary which will become version 4 of Kelvin's Australian English spellcheck dictionary.

Setting Internet Explorer 7 to default searches to pages from Australia.

Can anyone see what is different with my version of Internet Explorer 7?

Yes, that's right, the search area shows the word Australia.

As a result of starting the Default to Australia campaign a number of people have shown interest, however not everyone wants to set Google as their home page, which is understandable.

Internet Explorer 7 now provides the search area at the top right and it is very easy to set this to Google, with pages from Australia as the default.

The following is how to do it.

I will assume you are looking at this page using Internet Explorer. If you aren't then open the page using Internet Explorer 7. If you have Internet Explorer 6 I suggest upgrading. There are some nice features in Internet Explorer 7. (If you are using a different browser this technique does not apply, but you can use other techniques for your browser.)

Copy the following line by highlighting it using your mouse and then press Control+C.

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=TEST&meta=cr%3DcountryAU

Select the drop down arrow next to the magnifying glass next to the search area at the top right of Internet Explorer 7.
Select Find More Providers.
In the Create Your Own at the right in step 3 paste the above text which was copied.
In step 4 type in the word Australia.
Click Install.

With the Add Search Provider dialogue which pops up do the following.

Tick "Make this my default service provider".
Click Add Provider

That's it. You now have Google with pages from Australia set up as your default.

Now go forth and search. I think you will find being presented with a shorter more relevant list of results a great time saver.

Enjoy - Kelvin

PS. This solution is one of over 1,700 time saving solutions available in the MyAnswers knowledge base.

JustLocal newsletter.

I noticed a number of people searching for the JustLocal newsletter so I thought I should explain what I do with the newsletter.

The last edition of the JustLocal newsletter was released on the 24th of Janary 2008. A link is no longer made public. The link to the newsletter is provided in an email sent to everyone on the JustLocal mailing list. The following is an extract of the recent email we sent to everyone.

In this edition of JustLocal News we join in the Australian Day celebrations with a great range of Australian treasures.

• The Australia Day Treasure Hunt where everyone wins treasure valued at over $300 and can win booty from a treasure chest containing over $12,000 worth prizes. Long John Silver would be envious of this treasure chest.
• We share more books from treasured Australian authors.
• We give you a tip on how to find Australian treasures more easily using Google.
• We introduce to the newsletter, news on the Australian dictionary work for our treasured language.

I decided on this approach rather than sending all the information in the email. This keeps the email very short and those who are interested can check out the newsletter when they have time.

The JustLocal newsletter contains invaluable information including articles, special offers, tips, and the current username/password to access the file section for the Australian dictionary files I produce and make available for FREE.

If you don't want to miss out on the JustLocal newsletter, you can join the mailing list. The best way is to contact us via the contact page or send an email. But please put a good subject in the subject line if you send an email such as "NEWSLETTER: I would like to receive the JustLocal newsletter". We receive hundreds of spam emails a day and it is easy to miss a valid email even though we have tools to ensure missing an email is minimised. If you don't receive an email with a link to the latest newsletter within 48 hours, you should try again.

Have a great day - Kelvin

Default to Australia campaign

Hi Everyone,

Perhaps the Australia Day weekend has gotten to me, but in my latest newsletter (only available to those on the JustLocal mailing list) has a tip which I thought was worth sharing with all Australians.

Perhaps we should even start a campaign. The "Default to Australia Campaign".

The following is a copy of the article.

A tip to find Australian treasure on Google

Have you searched Google to find you get thousands, if not millions of results returned.

I've often wondered about the value of selecting pages from Australia when using Google. Working on the JustLocal book project has made me realise just how valuable that option is.

However since I have to click one more time, I tend not to do it.

Do you feel the same way?

Here is a technique that will help.

Go to www.google.com.au
Select pages from Australia
Click Google Search

Yes it may sound weird to search on nothing, but notice what you now have in the address area. This is the web address for Google with pages from Australia selected for you.

Bookmark this page, or set it up as your default page. Now when you go to that page, pages from Australia will be selected for you.

Now this may seem like all you have done is save yourself one click. But in fact you have done much more. You have now biased your search results so searching for businesses from Australia is much easier. Who knows. If we all did this I wonder how much it might boost the Australian economy.

I think this is a technique to treasure. Do it now. Don't want until later, or you may not get around to doing it.

Now this is a fantastic time saver. Instead of getting millions of entries you will often get thousands and sometimes hundreds of entries. From what I read, it appears even Google feels people are often more interested in search results from their own region.

Using this approach if you search for nearly any of the authors on the JustLocal book page by name, they will be first, or on the first page of results.

If you really can't be bothered, and we do tend to be a bit lay back in Australia, then here is the link for you.

http://www.google.com.au/webhp?hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&cr=countryAU

How do we know this small change will make a difference?

Based on results from the JustLocal logs, if we all made this small change to search in Australia first, 2 to 3 times more people would end up finding Australian sites without the clutter of sites from all over the world.

So who's with me.

Shall we join together and help build a stronger Australian economy.

I hope you have enjoyed this article as much as I have writing it. And yes my default will be pages from Australia from now on.

Enjoy - Kelvin

Which Google are you using?

As an Australian using Google I've often noticed a few quirky things with Google.

The results change depending on how I access Google. Weird I know, but it really does happen.

It is almost like as an Australian I can use Google to look out from Australia, or I can use Google as though I am looking in from somewhere else in the world.

The real trick is to notice when you are using Google Australia, and for want of a better description, Google not Australia.

The difference is if you are using Google Australia at the top of each page you can select "pages From Australia". If you are using Google not Australia, then "pages From Australia" does not appear.

Does it really matter. Perhaps not, but since you get different results, it may be important depending on what you are trying to achieve.

If for example you are in Australia and want to market your product to the rest of the world, then knowing what they see when searching Google, may be pretty important to you.

If you are in Australia and want to limit your selection to pages from Australia, then not having that option means you can't use that feature.

So how can you access Google Australia and Google not Australia if you are in Australia.

If you want to go to Google Australia and you are in Australia, you can type in the address www.google.com or www.google.com.au and you will go to Google Australia in both cases. In fact, you will notice if you type www.google.com you will see the address change to www.google.com.au automatically.

How then do you access Google not Australia?

Often if you use the toolbars in your browser you will find they don't use Google Australia.

The trick is to find the browser that has not been fully set up for Australian conditions by the developers.

In this case let's use Firefox 2.0.0.11. (This doesn't work in Internet Explorer 7.)

If you type in "hp recyled toner cartridges" into the Google search field at the right of the address area you will see the Google page has the option "pages from Australia". Thus this uses Google Australia.

One of our JustLocal pages which is www.justlocal.com.au/nationaltoner/index.php is third in the list of results.

Now type "hp recycled toner cartridges in the address area and press enter.

This time we see no "pages from Australia" so we are using Google not Australia.

Our JustLocal page now appears on the second page of results as the eleventh result.

Not a really big difference, but still there is a difference.

Let's take a more striking difference.

David Delaney is an author on the JustLocal book page www.book.JustLocal.com.au. David's page promoting his book of poems is www.justlocal.com.au/clients/book/david-delaney/. I'm not writer, but I find his work very moving.

Now if you search using the Google's search field at the right (using Google Australia) there is David Delaney's book page on JustLocal in seventh position on the first page of results.

Now if you search using the address area (using Google not Australia) you won't find David on the first or even the second page. He appears on the fourth page in position 32.

Appearing on page 1 or 4 of Google results may affect sales via the Internet, or perhaps reduce your visibility internationally.

Now do I know where Google not Australia is actually getting the results from.

To be honest, I'm not really sure.

But I did manage to test the cached version of www.google.com and obtained the same results. So there is a good chance it is www.google.com. (Actually this is good trick to know. Search for google and then click on the cache link and do the search from there.)

There is a bit of humour in all of this.

Many people including myself proudly say their site is number one in the world.

This now begs the question with Google, from where in the world?

Enjoy - Kelvin

TIP: Another browser which makes this situation very easy to see is Opera. If you use the built in search engine it appears to use Google not Australia. Changing Opera to use Google Australia as the default is very easy.

FREE ADVERTISING

Imagine getting free advertising!

Well, that is exactly what will happen when you donate new items to OnlineBidz so that they can auction the items and give the proceeds to charity and NFPs.

Not only is your donated item tax deductible, but your company details will be promoted in the description of the article as the business making the donation, your business will also be advertised in the Online Bidz monthly newsletter and on the Online Bidz website.

What a fantastic opportunity for all! Contact chris@onlinebidz.com.au or call Chris on 0412 745 003. Check out the Online Bidz site via the JustLocal page http://www.justlocal.com.au/.

Regards

Kelvin.