I received an email today from a person I hadn’t contacted for quite some time. The email had no subject, a link to a site and her full name was the only content.
I decided to check out what my friend had sent me, but I was suspicious. The link took me to an article on what looked like the CNBC news site. The article was titled “Melbourne Mom woman making Earns $6,795/Month Part-Time”. (Please note that I didn’t use my regular computer. I used another device which I felt was unlikely to get infected should the site be a malware trap waiting for me to access the site.)
Further investigation showed the site was a fake site designed to look like the CNBC new site.
The concern for me is for my friend. Her name is very unusual and for me to receive an email from her, could indicate that one of her email accounts has been hacked and that a scammer has access to her contact list. The last time I saw my friend use this email address was over five years ago. The email address is a yahoo.com.au email address.
This type of attack is very concerning. The attack is very targeted aimed directly at a person’s contact list. We tend to trust communications from our friends, but this is an example of why even emails from friends and family should be treated with suspicion.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Doncaster, Templestowe, Eltham and the surrounding area.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Alert: Melbourne Mom woman making Earns $6,795/Month Part-Time. (Work-at-Home-Digital)
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 7 release date.
The Toolkit to Disable Automatic Delivery of Internet Explorer 10 is used to stop the automatic updating of Internet Explorer by Windows Update. This is important in large organisations where they don't want to risk breaking web applications by installing a more recent browser.
Looking back, Internet Explorer 9 was released on the 14th of March 2011. The blocker toolkit was released on the 10th of February 2011which is roughly a month before.
This may mean that we might expect Internet Explorer 10 sometime in March, but I still hold out hope for an earlier release.
I'm looking forward to the release of Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 7 as it means more people will be able to take advantage of the preferred Australian English spelling I provide, if as expected spellchecking is built in.
I already supply the preferred Australian English spelling to users of IE10 under Windows 8 via the site www.australain-dictionary.com.au.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 if you require help with your computer.
No problem too small.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Microsoft annouces Windows 8 upgrade offer for students from the 21st of February.
I was talking to a student yesterday and let them know the Windows 8 Pro upgrade was coming to an end on the 31st of January.
Whether to upgrade or not is always a difficult question. I estimate that over 100 million computers running Windows XP simply can’t be upgraded effectively turning them into boat anchors come 2014. When you upgrade to a new version of Microsoft’s operating system often something doesn’t work and Windows 8 is no different. As an example my ageing colour laser has no driver for use under Windows 8 (worked fine under Windows 7) and I’ve found other issues. If you need to pay to have your computer upgraded, the time involved will most likely mean it isn’t worth it. Often it will be better to save your money and put the money towards a new computer when you need it.
For students wishing to upgrade their computer to Windows 8 Pro, as long as they could do the upgrade themselves, the upgrade represented good value for money. But I couldn’t help feeling after the Windows 8 Pro upgrade offer finished there may be an educational offer available for students and if that happened, the difference between the Windows 8 Pro upgrade offer and the student edition may not be that significant. Students could then upgrade when they wished to.
Today I read about Microsoft’s Windows 8 Student offer. For those students who wish to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro from Windows XP (SP3), Vista, or Windows 7, Microsoft is releasing a student price on the 21st of February. As an indicative price the price in the States will be $69.99 (which usually doesn’t include tax). The upgrade will be available from the Microsoft Online Store. (You can find a link to the online store on my advertising site www.JustLocal.com.au.)
- Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for help with your computer problem.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.
Alert: St.George Internet Banking - Important alert. Highlights Windows 8 Mail app issue
Today I received a scam email with the subject “St.George Internet Banking”. Often I alert people to these scams, but this time I want to alert people to a shortcoming of the Windows 8 Mail app.
One technique I suggest to people is in an email hover over the link (in Outlook) or press and hold on the link (for the an iPhone) and check the underlying link for the web site you’d go to if you clicked on the link. Outlook displays the link address as a pop up message making it very easy to check. On the iPhone pressing and hold on a link opens another screen where you can see the link address. Browsers will often display the link address in the Status area towards the bottom of the screen.
The problem with the Windows 8 Mail app is you can’t see the underlying link. In an ideal world this would be necessary, but unfortunately it isn’t an ideal world and not being able to see the destination for a link in an email is very dangerous for users.
When using the Windows 8 Mail app take extra care not to clink in links in emails.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Doncaster, Templestowe, Eltham and the surrounding area.
Apple 128GB iPad available starting Tuesday 5th of February.
According to the Apple site, the new iPad 128GB model will be available in black or white from the 5th of February.
The Wi-Fi model will be $869 and the Wi-Fi+Cellular will be $1,009.
Keep in mind the 128GB of memory isn’t fully available to the user.
It is interesting the new iPad model has been announced just days before the Microsoft Surface Pro, which includes 128GB model, is released. Again quite a bit of memory in the Microsoft Surface Pro isn’t available to the user.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Doncaster, Templestowe, Eltham and the surrounding area.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Office 365 Home Premium subsciption released but keep in mind this is for non commercial use.
I have to say the average computer user is very likely to be confused by Microsoft’s licensing. You buy a Windows Surface RT tablet with Office RT installed but it isn’t licensed for business use. My guess is business users probably don’t care and just use it anyway. If you buy an Android or Apple device you don’t have to bother with thinking about whether you can use it for business or not, you can just use it.
Now Microsoft has released their Office 365 Home Premium subscription which is $119 a year and at first glance there is nothing to say it can’t be used for business. The first indication it isn’t for business is when you go to buy and that is when you see the “Non-commercial use” notice. The software is called Office, you can buy it from Office.com, but you can’t use it in your office. How confusing is that for a user!
When reviewing Microsoft Office either the subscription based software or the full packaged software, make sure you review the licence and that you comply with the licence. If you aren’t happy with the licence then you may wish to investigate the options available to you. Keep in mind there are alternatives to Office, there are web based services and you can even purchase just the part of Office you need. It may end up being easier and more cost effective to simply purchase a single copy of Office, but you won’t know unless you review the options.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Doncaster, Templestowe, Eltham and the surrounding area.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Microsoft Office 2013 release date rumoured to be January 29 2013.
According to what I’ve read on the internet, Microsoft Office 2013 will be released for general consumer and businesses on January 29th 2013 in America. Checking the Australian Microsoft Online Store Office 365 is currently marked as out of stock. I suspect this means it is yet to be released in Australia.
When considering Office 365 there are a range of options so it can be confusing. The best approach is to determine what you need and review the options that meet your needs. Microsoft appears to be pushing their subscription model and it does appear to be good value for money, but the only problem is you don’t own a licence and once you stop paying you have to assume you no longer have access to the software. Many of my clients are still using Office 2003 and if you spread the purchase price over nine years, Office 2003 has been very cost effective for them.
The Microsoft Online Store provides a good amount of information on the software options available and is worth reading. Keep in mind the prices in the online store are recommended retail and some retailers may offer discounted software.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Doncaster, Templestowe, Eltham and the surrounding area.
