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Two additional bulk billing doctors added. 

Bulk billing doctors Melbourne now added to the Mapz site. 
Thursday, December 10, 2015 
Friday, December 04, 2015

TPG 321 voicemail no longer works since moving to Vodafone network. 
Tuesday, December 01, 2015


Batistich was candid about the company's reasons for the rollout.

Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 1:02 pm No comments: 
Sunday, November 29, 2015

Mac OS X birthday notifications appearing by the dozens.

This morning I noticed something strange on my MacBook Air. A birthday notification for one of my contacts for tomorrow. Their birthday isn't tomorrow. Also since I don't store birthday information in my contacts it didn't make sense. I then received another, and then another.

On closer examination I noticed a considerable number of contacts have the birth date 30 November 1999 and I certainly didn't enter this date into the contacts.

What I suspect has happened is I've entered contacts into my iPhone, at one point synchronised the contacts with iCloud and then the contacts have been picked up from iCloud by the MacBook Air. I've not directly entered the contacts. into the MacBook Air. I use other software for recording my contacts, but I do enter contacts into my iPhone.

It looks like instead of Apple not entering values into unpopulated fields, they've made an incorrect decision to populate the date fields with a default value. As you can see from the above record which is for my own business in the contact list. From recollection I would have only included the entry o make the email address easily available. Certainly birthday and anniversary dates do not apply.

To fix the issue the only way I've found so far, is to visit each contact and remove the birthday and anniversary fields.

As a person who has done software development in the past, it always interests me to see these quirks where someone hasn't perhaps thought things through as well as they could have. These entires were entered back on an old iPhone 3GS, so perhaps this issue only affects people who have contacts entered many years ago.

Kelvin Eldridge
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.
Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 3:25 pm No comments: 

Telstra mobile Wi-Fi - Sorry, Pre-Paid activation is currently unavailable

Over the years Telstra activations have often not gone as expected. Sometimes it may have been my fault, sometimes it may have been Telstra's. OK, mostly Telstra but no harm sharing the blame.

Since many people purchase Telstra mobile Wi-Fi devices, I thought I'd share this experience in case it helps others. The device in question was the Telstra Elite Mobile W-Fi. Unpacked, set up, and ready to go, I went to activate. At the end of completing the form and hitting submit, I received the following message. At this point you get that sinking feeling. It's around an hour's drive to the nearest Telstra shop and since it's in the mid evening, the support line was closed. It was Friday and I wanted to use the device over the weekend whilst away. Ah well. These things happen.

Then I thought, there was a question about additional services for the plan. There was only one option and since there were no additional services with the plan, I thought not selecting the option was logical. I decided to redo the activation and the second time selected the option. This time the activation worked. It really didn't make sense to provide a single option, when if required, could have just as easily been set as preselected.

The lesson here is, if the activation doesn't work, then don't hesitate to start the process again.

Servicing Doncaster, Templestowe, Eltham and the surrounding area.
Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 12:24 pm No comments: 

The Block auction results 2015 - South Yarra

For a little fun, the following are The Block auction results for 2015 as the auctions take place. Press Reload on your browser if you're watching this page to get the latest information.

1. Caro and Kingi
Level: 2
Reserve: $1,330,000
Result: $1,735,000
Profit: $405,000

2. Suzi and Vonni
Apartment: 3
Reserve: $1,480,000
Result: $1,829,000
Profit: $349,000

3. Dean and Shay
Level: Penthouse
Reserve: $1,645,000
Result: $2,300,000
Profit: $655,000

4. Whitney and Andrew
Reserve: $1,400,000
Result: $1,790,000
Profit: $390,000

5. Luke and Ebony
Reserve: $1,560,000
Result: $2,200,000
Profit $640,000

The winners of this year's The Block (the Blocktagon) are Dean and Shay.

I hope everyone reading this post has enjoyed watching the auction unfold. It was good to see Luke and Ebony do well. Congratulations to Dean and Shay, the winners and all contestants. Great results all round. 

Free TV online - Keyword added to JustLocal search facility

Some years ago I signed up to Optus cable and found watching free-to-air TV via the cable service worked well. Watching free-to-air TV over a paid service doesn't really make sense, but sometimes having the ability to simply watch free-to-air streamed over the internet does make sense.

At last the ability to watch free-to-air TV over the internet is becoming a reality. Channel 7 has now gone live with three channels. with Channel 9 expected to go live in 2016. Hopefully Channel 10 will follow.

Those using the Search Australia facility available on JustLocal may already know you can access catch-TV using the keywords TV 7, TV 9, TV 10 and SBS TV. As the new live streaming services come online I'll add keywords for those services.

The first is LIVE 7, which provides access to the three channels from Channel 7. That is 7, 7 Two and 7 Mate.

LIVE 9 has been set up to access the new site for channel 9, but this isn't expected to go live until 2016.

Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 11:35 am No comments: 
Wednesday, November 04, 2015

ALDI Medion 4.5" Smartphone P4502 (MD 98942) can't see TP-LINK access point, but can see other access points.

As I was testing the Aldi Medion 4.5" Smartphone P4502, I noticed the smartphone could not see all the available access points. I decided to investigate.

The result of what I found is available in the MyAnswers solution 2501 (www.onlineconnections.com.au/myanswers/). For some people it may be wise to give the Aldi Medion 4.5" Smartphone P4502 a miss as it may be a problem for them.

Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 1:16 am No comments: 

Convert kilojoules to Calories calculator

When dieting we have the strange situation where the energy stated on packets is in kilojoules, but often talk is about Calorie counting. Google when you search often presents calculators, but in this case I find their calculator confusing.

To make it easy for others I wrote a simple calculator which converts from kilojoules to Calories. You can find the calculator at www.convertkilojoulestocalories.com.au.

I hope you find it useful.

Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 11:37 pm No comments: 
Monday, September 21, 2015 
Friday, September 18, 2015

iTunes error message - Unable to connect to iTunes purchases. 
Tuesday, August 18, 2015

The Energy Cost Calculator has now moved back to the JustLocal site.

For a while the Energy Cost Calculator which is a web app I wrote, has lived under its own domain. I've decided to cull domains that aren't paying for themselves and as a result the Energy Cost Calculator now lives on the JustLocal site.

You can find the Energy Cost Calculator at www.JustLocal.com.au/clients/energy-cost/.

The Energy Cost Calculator is a great too to help you save money on electricity. You can enter the wattage of an appliance, the number of hours a day you use the appliance, and using your current electricity supplier's rate, you can determine how much an appliance is costing you. This calculator has helped me reduce my energy usage to around half, which is quite a saving each year.

The second part of the calculator enables you to determine the payback period of replacing an older less energy efficient device with a new more efficient device. It isn't always obvious whether or not you'll save money by simply throwing out an older appliance and replacing it with a new appliance. Remember you have to buy the new appliance and sometimes that will cost much more than the energy used. In those cases it's best to wait until the appliance reaches its end-of-life and then replace it. A good example of how you can save money is an old TV and set-top box I was using. I worked out by buying a new LCD TV the TV would pay for itself over six years. It makes sense to then dispose of the old TV/set-top box and purchase the more efficient, and I have to say better spec'd TV.

An example of when it isn't worthwhile to replace an old appliance with a new one is when it is rarely used. For example we have a couple of lights which are rarely used, and then only for a few minutes at a time. For example in an storage area. The old light doesn't use much energy since it is rarely used. The new low energy light would never pay for itself in that situation.

The Energy Cost Calculator has enabled me to put a cost against each appliance and in doing so has enabled me to be better informed. Being better informed allows me to make better financial decisions with the use and purchase of appliances. I hope others find the calculator as useful as I have.

Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 2:40 pm No comments: 
Friday, July 24, 2015 The emails are certainly scams and you should delete them.


Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 9:55 am No comments: 
Tuesday, July 21, 2015 
Thursday, July 09, 2015

Alasdair Wilkins lost 45 kg in weight by walking. 
Tuesday, July 07, 2015

Alert: Incoming Fax. Incoming Fax Report and Internal Only

The body of the email contains something like the following.
 
Prices can vary quite a lot for a simply petrol siphon. The price at Supercheap Auto was $6.99 
Wednesday, July 01, 2015

Alert: Spam from Gerry Pencer, Priya and

We all receive spam every day.

This one from Gerry Pencer.

Hi onlineconnections.com.au Team,

Hope you are doing well.

From Pencer Priya.


Hope this email finds you well.

I am Priya Ray, SEO-Consultant.

 
Google to reduce the amount of accidental clicks on ads. 
Tuesday, June 30, 2015 

How Melburnians got to work on census day in 2011.

I hope others find the figures as interesting as I do. 
Sunday, June 28, 2015

Qantas Movies discount vouchers 
Saturday, June 27, 2015


Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 10:50 am No comments: 
Friday, June 26, 2015

Alert: Receiving spam about the TrackR and TrackR Bravo device.


Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 12:13 pm 1 comment: 
Thursday, June 25, 2015 


Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 10:33 am No comments: 
Friday, June 19, 2015

PayPal Here reader experience. 
Sunday, June 07, 2015 


Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 5:37 pm No comments: 
Alert: Make sure you set your default photos in Facebook. 
Thursday, June 04, 2015 
Pilates Melbourne test and information site live. 
Monday, June 01, 2015

Get Windows 10 prompt appears in Windows 8.1 
Saturday, May 30, 2015

Good Food and Wine Show offer - $10 off ticket

I received an alert for the Good Food & Wine Show for $10 off a ticket from Westfield Doncaster. I must admit I was really quite lost. My first though where would Westfield Doncaster hold such as show. It took a couple of clicks on links to realise Westfield Doncaster wasn't actually holding a show. Westfield Doncaster were most likely simply involved in some way and making an offer.

For those interested in the Good Food & Wine Show I thought I'd pass on the offer in case it is of interest.


For JustLocal members if you're looking for a quality wine then check out the award winning wines from Wupy do.

Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 8:18 am No comments: 

TPG Home Phone - Calls to the destination you have dialled are currently congested OCA0142

Now we all know that technology breaks down and that also applies to the home phone. Tonight we received a call to our mobile letting us know that our TPG home phone was not working. I decided to call our home phone number and received the following message.

"Calls to the destination you have dialled are currently congested OCA0142"

I keep an old telephone headset so I can remove any other telephone device and simply go back to square one with a simple device, a single handset plugged directly into the line. Picking up the handset and all I received was a set of beeps. The same beeps I'd heard on each of our wireless handsets, so not an equipment problem.

Next I decided to check the internet. Amazingly the internet is still working. The TPG sites lists there's "no issue reported". They certainly have that wrong. It makes me wonder why they bother having a Service Status page if the page never seems to be correct.

Next I decide to call the technical support line. In this case I get a message along the line, "we are currently receiving a larger the expected number of calls..." and then I get hung up on.

Ah well. With all the technology we have at our disposal TPG can still not keep us informed. I accept we'll always have issues with technology and things break down. That's life. However not being able to get through to report a problem are not seeing a problem has been reported on their Service Status page, well...that's just poor service. The real pity is I've found most telcos are the same.

The good thing is we do have back up technology with mobile phones. Always good to have redundancy built into your life so these things are more annoyances rather than major issues.

I suppose I should be thankful. At least I won't get calls tonight from telemarketers;-)


Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 9:10 pm 1 comment: 
Myaa newsletter spam.

I've received a Myaa Newsletter a couple of times now via email. I really don't know why companies spam. I only deal with legitimate companies and to me, any company that spams for business isn't a business I'd deal with. I highly recommend that you delete these emails and contact a local company or ask for a referral. If you're thinking about spamming to get your message across and promote your business, then do think again. It really isn't worth it.

Helping local business

Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 8:10 pm No comments: 

Are you sick of ads slowing down your internet experience?

I was reading an article today and the article mentioned many sites ran very slowly because of the additional sites they need to link to. One site had 45 additional sites that needed to be linked to. In many cases the sites are advertising sites.

It occurred to me that often the advertising sites use Javascript to provide their ads. I have ads on my site and the code uses Javascript. I decided to test my site by turning off Javascript in the browser. The result was the ads didn't display and the page loaded fast.

Perhaps a good way to approach this is to have one browser with Javascript enabled and another browser with Javascript disabled. If when using the browser with Javascript disabled you find something isn't working as desired, then open the other browser for that site.

Happy faster browsing.

Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 2:44 pm No comments: 

iiNet provide small businesses with the ability to provide Wi-Fi internet access at no additional cost.

I saw the following ad and thought it may be of use to some business owners, such as those who may own a cafe or similar business.

I've not checked or used the offer personally, but it does look like iiNet will provide the equipment and installation that will enable a business to provide internet access to their customers. If the cost is around the same as just having their own internet facilities, this may be something worth investigating.


Please check this out thoroughly yourself. I'm simply passing on and advertisement I saw which I felt may interest others. In the past I have used iiNet for one client and they were a good provider. iiNet it appears is being taken over by TPG. I don't find TPG's domestic service to be as good as it could be, but for the price, it's often good enough.

Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 7:38 pm No comments: 
ATO to require UberX drivers to register for and remit GST.

Now I didn't see that one coming. Over time in business we all learn the rules that apply to us but if it isn't in our area, often there's rules we don't even think about. I found the following article particularly interesting because it affects those providing "ride-sourcing" such as UberX drivers.


What is particularly interesting is those providing taxi services need to register for GST and the $75,000 threshold does not apply. If I read the rules correctly, that means "ride-sourcers" will also need to register for an ABN.

From the article "ride-sourcers" have until the 1st of August to register for GST.

This article isn't meant to endorse UberX drivers but simply to raise awareness.

Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 4:41 pm No comments: 
Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Energy usage monitor and other devices available from Aldi on Saturday the 23rd of May 2015.

Some time ago I created the Energy Cost Calculator web app to assist in determining my energy usage and reduce our electricity costs. The result has been significant with an estimated saving of around $700-$900 a year. All that was required was some knowledge and then some changes in our electricity habits.

On Saturday Aldi is selling a few devices I've used to assist in reducing our energy usage. My favourite is the foot switch for $9.99.  The energy usage monitor is very useful in determining how much electricity your devices are using and that knowledge helps you plan and make adjustments. For $14.99 the energy monitor is a worthwhile investment. The four individual remote controlled switches can be purchased for around the same price at Bunnings, but they're also very handy for conveniently turning off appliances when desired.

Energy Cost Calculator
Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 9:44 pm No comments: 
Computer Repair Melbourne site hopefully enables more people to find and use the services of Online Connections.

The Computer Repair Melbourne site has been set up to hopefully enable locals to more easily find Online Connections and use their computer support services. The internet is really quite a hard gig and it takes a lot of time, effort and even money to make sure your business is found on the internet.

The problem with the internet is often you're competing with businesses outside of your area with deeper pockets for advertising and that often means you lose when it comes to locals finding your business.

JustLocal was designed to help local businesses grow by making sure bigger businesses outside an area can simply use large advertising budgets to out compete local businesses. Only businesses in an area can advertise on a postcode page on JustLocal and as you can see with the design, all advertising spaces are the same size. Yes one business can purchase multiple advertising spaces, but even then the number is limited. The JustLocal design makes for a more even and fairer level playing field for local businesses.

The Computer Repair Melbourne site provides another site by which locals can find Online Connections. We wish this weren't needed, but until more businesses use JustLocal to promote their business, the size of advertising budgets will continue to matter.

Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 8:58 pm No comments: 

Telstra significantly drops the price of prepaid mobile broadband data plans now called data passes.

Over the years I've watched Telstra as they've increased the cost of their prepaid mobile broadband data plans. Whilst there are a number of plans, the on I've felt is often the most useful for clients is the plan which provides and allowance of gigabytes which last for a year. That way if the person uses well under one month the data isn't lost.

When I fist purchased the 365 day prepaid data package the first time it was 10GB for $150. If it was purchased with an Apple iPad 2 (yes some time ago) you received 12GB. However let's stick with the 10GB. Telstra then increased the plan to 12GB for $180 and then increased this to 12GB for $200. Things were not looking good.

I was at the Apple store today and the Apple employee said Telstra had changed their plans so they were worth reviewing. I have to admit I'm very pleasantly surprised with the new plans which can be seen at https://www.telstra.com.au/broadband/mobile-broadband/prepaid. The new plans are called prepaid mobile broadband data passes.

Telstra now have an even better offer of $50 for 5GB which lasts for 365 days. That's significantly less than the $150 for 10GB paid years ago. It's also a relatively low entry price. Yes there's a two year plan, but that's $140 and only marginally cheaper per gigabyte. Of course the plan you pick should always be based on your needs. I however don't like to tie up too much money for too long.

I have a number of old Telstra Wi-Fi hotspot devices sitting in drawers so they may end up coming in handy. The cost of a SIM card to get going is just $2.

Overall a very pleasant surprise from Telstra.

Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 8:16 pm No comments: 
Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Alert: Hacked WordPress site - PayPal, Your account has been limited.

I regularly receive phishing emails, as I'm sure most people do. This time however I thought I'd point out that often I find the link in a phishing email has an address to a WordPress site. Now my usual advice of course is you should treat all emails like this as suspicious and not click on a link. Opening your browser and going to the site is much safer. I also regularly recommend that you should simply delete these emails.

However this time I wanted to share something else which is very common. If you check the address I've shown, you'll see it is a WordPress site. I read a while ago there's over 30 million hacked WordPress sites and this is an example of one of those hacked sites and how the scammers are using the site.

Make sure you keep your WordPress site, add-ins and the theme all updated, to reduce the chances of being hacked. Of course there's other ways a site can get hacked but at least you know you've done the best you can. Also make sure you regularly backup your site and test that you can recover using the backup. Many hosting services leave the responsibility of performing backups on the site owner so don't just assumed everything will be right.


Posted by Kelvin Eldridge at 8:12 pm No comments: 
Alert: Can't connect to some websites. Telstra users.

A number of people have reported that they can connect to some websites but not others websites. The feedback is this appears to be a Telstra DNS issue.

One person said Telstra tried to upsell them to the technical support package. Watch out for the upsell.

To see if the problem is a DNS server issue you can set your DNS server to use Google's public DNS service. First make a note of the current settings before applying the Google settings. If that fixes the issue then it is easier to contact Telstra and let them know what the problem is and then have them walk you through the required changes to use their service.

A good way to see that the problem isn't with your computer, is to connect your computer to your mobile phone and use the mobile phone to access the internet. Make sure the mobile phone isn't using your broadband connection via Wi-Fi. So if your mobile phone and your desktop/notebook can access the sites via the mobile, then it's an indication the problem isn't with your computer.

There's a range of reason why a computer may not connect, but where possible I suggest that people try their free support options first. They are after all paying for them through their bill. However if you're not getting satisfaction, more than happy to assist. After all it is how I make a living.

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