Free web site software now available with all sites built.

I regularly build single page web sites to provide small businesses with an internet presence. The software I use previously cost around $300 and is now available for free. This means I can now build a single page site for a clients and provide them with a link to download the software I use and they can modify their site as often as they wish.

My approach with clients is to have them provide a brochure or document which they use to promote their business and convert the brochure to an online presence. If they don’t have a brochure I ask that they think about what they’d like to share about their business and to use a product like Microsoft Word to create a brochure which I can convert to a site for them. By doing this a great deal of time and thus money is saved. If a business requires a designer to assist them then I can also provide a contact. Once I have an outline of the page the client would like on the internet I can build the site. As mentioned above the software I use is now free so if the client wishes they can maintain their own page. Making minor changes is very easy. I can also show the client how to upload their page to the internet and how to work in a structured manner to avoid many common issues. The fee for this often between one to one and a half hours.

The second aspect of having a site is the actual presence on the internet. The domain name people will use to find your business on the internet and the hosting of your page and email under your own domain name. The fee for assisting with setting up the domain name and hosting is approximately an hour.

My approach is to provide businesses with assistance. The business is not locked into me in any way. The business has full ownership over the site, domain and hosting. Once the web site is live I am there to support the business should they require assistance.

With the web site development software now available for free this makes it even easier for businesses to put their business on the internet and maintain their own site if they wish to.

If you’d like to have your business on the internet with a single page site and require assistance please don’t hesitate to call or email me. I’m able to assist people no matter where they are located in the world because the internet is accessible from almost anywhere in the world.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 to put your business on the internet.

Alert: Jetstar Check-in Details

Today I received a number of emails with the subject “Jetstar Check-in Details“ and an attachment “Check-in-Details.zip”. The attachment is malware. You should delete these emails.

Users of Jetstar and Qantas (as are many well-known businesses) are common targets with emails containing malware or phishing scams so please take care.

Also this malware is not currently detected by most of the antivirus programs commonly used in Australia including the program you are probably using. New malware is likely designed to get past antivirus programs and is unlikely to be detected for up to 48 hours. The only protection you have is common sense. Don’t open attachments unless you are expecting the attachment from a person you know and don’t click on links in emails. With links open your browser and go to the site.

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

Warning: Windows 8 shutdown blanks screen for a considerable time before turning the computer off.

Over the years I’ve seen quite a few clients damage their computer when they turn off their computer, or think they’ve turned  their computer off. A very common situation is when people shut down their computer at the end of the day and then turn the power off.

The problem with the design of Windows 8 is when you shut down your computer the screen goes black and then it takes up to about 15 seconds for the actual power to turn off. During this time because of the black screen, it is very easy to think the computer is off and thus turn off the power. If you turn off the power whilst the computer is in the process of shutting down there is a possibility of damaging your computer. I haven’t yet seen this happen to a Windows 8 computer, but I have seen it happen to many computers in the past.

A second situation is with a notebook computer. When you shut down the computer and the screen goes black you’ll be tempted to close the lid. If the notebook hasn’t shut down and you think it has, you could then end up having the computer in standby mode. Whilst not a major issue in terms of corruption, it could mean the next time you go to use the computer the battery has no power. I did see one person a few years ago who thought they’d shut down their computer, put it in the case, only to many hours later find it was still on and very overheated.

With Windows 8 it is a good idea to get into the habit of waiting for approximately fifteen to thirty seconds before assuming the computer is off after shutting the computer down. Watch the lights on the computer or listen to the computer as it shuts down. The lights and computer noise are good indicators of whether the computer is still on or not.

Personally I would have preferred if Microsoft left a small amount of activity on the screen to let people know the shutdown was still in progress.

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

Microsoft increases price of Outlook from $189 to $209.

In the past I’ve sometimes recommended to clients to purchase Outlook if they don’t have it installed. At $189 (based on Microsoft’s online price) it was a bit of an ask, but now the price seems to have increased to $209. I’m not sure what Microsoft’s strategy is. They could be increasing the price of packaged software so the price of their subscription software appears to be much better. They may be trying to stop business users from purchasing the home edition of Office and then adding Outlook. They could simply be increasing the price knowing that if you need Outlook then you’ll pay the extra money.

I still use Outlook as my main email client, but the amount of time I use Outlook is growing less by the day. Mobile devices have an adequate email client built in, and I use my mobile devices much more than I use a notebook and I now rarely use an old desktop computer except for testing. How things have changed.

My dependency on Outlook is changing as time goes on. I’ve now set up my email so I can access email equally across my mobile phone, a tablet or the notebook computer. I can access exactly the same emails (including Inbox, Sent items and Deleted items) on  all devices and when travelling, if a mobile device isn’t sufficient I can use web mail (a pretty ordinary open source product called Squirrel mail but it is sufficient).

Companies generally know they can increase their prices and the loss of customers will be less than the revenue increase, that is until people get sick of the price increases and decide it is time to move on. A ten per cent price increase generally means to be worse off a company needs to lose around twenty five per cent of their customers and generally that doesn’t happen. But it can happen if a consumer has choice.

Microsoft needs to be very careful with increasing prices at this time. I’d certainly find it hard now to suggest that people purchase a stand-alone copy of Outlook unless there was a very specific business need.

It has taken me a long time to determine an effective way to set up email across multiple devices where it works on Apple, Android and Microsoft software, but now that I have and I can provide this service to clients, Microsoft’s market domination starts to diminish. Microsoft bought the market early on by undercutting the market on pricing. Now others may end up doing the same to Microsoft. Microsoft can only increase prices for so long before people decide to look around.

Most small businesses with their own site and email services often have the email facilities they need to have their email web based with access via desktop and mobile devices. Set up can be very tricky if you don’t have the knowledge. For me to have the ability to check email across any device without having to resort to using products such as Microsoft Live, Gmail, Yahoo mail or even Hotmail (which is a poor approach for business) means I have control over my email services being in my own business domain and access from any device.

New technology means new opportunities and new ways to do things. If you’re not happy with your software price increase perhaps it is time to consider reviewing some of the software tools you are using. Some will find they are too locked in to change, but others may find lower cost methods to achieve the same or better result.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 of you require computer support.
Servicing Doncaster, Templestowe, Eltham and the surrounding area.

PS. The Microsoft online store lists Outlook for $209. Shop around and you’ll find you can usually do better.

Alert: Qantas Customer Services - The seat requests have been added

Today I received a number of emails with the subject “The seat requests have been added”. These emails include attachment “your booking Qantas.zip” which contains malware. You should delete these emails. Qantas users are a regular target for malware and scammers. Where possible go to the Qantas site and check any information via their site. Do not trust emails which appear to come from Qantas as most are fake.

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

MyAnswers: Toshiba Satellite Pro L750 volume when playing Blu-ray is unacceptably low.

The following MyAnswers solution 2304 is now available:

Toshiba Satellite Pro L750 volume when playing Blu-ray is unacceptably low.

Click here to obtain the solution.

Click here for related solutions.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.MyAnswers.biz
(An Online Connections service.)

Vodafone to end free social networking on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare, YouTube and MySpace for prepaid customers.

It would appear unlimited social networking offered by telcos on quite a few plans is slowly being phased out in Australia. A couple of years ago social networking was made free by many telcos on many plans. We are now seeing this freebie starting to disappear. It will be interesting to see what affect this will have on people once they find they are paying for these free social networking services indirectly.

From 13 February 2013, infinite surfing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare, YouTube and MySpace within Australia won’t be part of any recharge or prepaid Mobile Internet Data Add-on.... Read More

- Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for help with your computer problem.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.