9Now location incorrect for Apple TV as based on IP address from Telstra.

I received a call from a person who was over talking with Telstra. They were based in Brisbane and their Apple TV 9Now app was providing shows from Melbourne instead of Brisbane. They wanted to watch a show on their Apple TV, but couldn't since they could only watch Melbourne shows.

It turns out Telstra had allocated the person's internet service an IP address which appeared to be based in  Melbourne. A check on the internet shows this problem does occur with others. Sometimes a person in Melbourne can appear to be in Brisbane. That most likely means people in other locations experience similar problems.

After considering the options, I thought since they're using an Apple TV, I asked if they also used an Apple Mac computer, which they did.

The solution suggested was to use their Mac to use their browser to go to the 9Now site to watch the show. The Mac should pick up their location correctly and give them the Brisbane shows on 9Now. They could then mirror their Mac on their Apple TV and watch the shows on their larger TV.

This solution solved their problem.

This solution may not always work as it depends on how your browser determines your location. Each browser may use a different approach, or the same approach, to determine your location. I noticed for example on Google Maps in the browser on the Apple MacBook Air, they'd use my mobile phone's location. If we don't know how the location of a device is determined by the software, it really is just a matter of trial and error to see what works.

If you find yourself in this position two other solutions to consider are:

1. Use your mobile phone temporarily as a hot spot and connect the Apple TV to the mobile phone. You'll most likely be seen in the correct location. BEWARE however of data usage. 9Now can use up to 3GB an hour on the fastest streaming high definition. Very easy to go through your mobile data and/or end up with bill shock with high data charges. Use with extreme caution.

2. As a test I decided to see if I could use GPS location faking on an Android mobile phone that was connected to my ADSL service using Wi-Fi (with mobile data turned off). I'm in Melbourne so set the fake location as Brisbane. Went to 9Now using the browser. Clicked on the link "Not in Vic" which rechecks the location and 9Now then saw me in Brisbane. This approach may be useful if you've just missed a show and the show will be on later in another state such as SA or WA. For on demand shows it won't work as yo get prompted to install the 9Now app. The 9Now app doesn't use the faked GPS location so most likely uses the IP address.

Finally, one thing you can try is to turn off your ADSL modem overnight. Some telcos provide dynamic IP addresses and if you turn off you equipment for a suitable amount of time, a new IP address may get allocated. That IP address may then be seen as being allocated to the correct state. For telcos that offer a fixed or static IP address, resetting the modem won't work.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support. 

Error 2293 when sending email from Microsoft Access - Can't sent this email message.

Yesterday I attended a client who uses a system I wrote for them using Microsoft Access. The problem is when they click on a button to create an email (this uses SendObject) nothing happened. My code catches the error but doesn't let the user know what happened. Could have coded that better, but it meant I put together a quite test program so I could see the error message.

A search through the internet for the Error 2293 message gave lots of responses but nothing that could help. Luckily a second computer didn't have the problem so I went to send my test program to the second computer. I right clicked on the file and selected Send To, Mail recipient and was surprised to find this feature also didn't work.

That actually was a good thing as it showed the problem was a system problem and not a Microsoft Access problem. Again a search of the internet revealed many responses but nothing that could help.

I tested an email link in Excel and it worked. So clicking on a link would created an email for me. That meant it had to be something not related to email URL. When I checked the Send To feature that called MAPI. Most likely this was installed using Microsoft Office.

I decided to run a repair for Microsoft Office 2010, the version installed on the computer. Microsoft Access 2016 is installed on the computer but Microsoft Office contains Outlook and this is I suspect what would install MAPI.

It turned out I was right and the repair fixed the problem. The client could now send emails using the buttons in Microsoft Access that used SendObject.

What caused the problem I don't know. It may be possible installing Microsoft Access 2016 after Microsoft Office 2010 caused an issue as the client suggested the email feature hadn't worked for some time and possibly since the change to the full version of Microsoft Access 2016. Previously the computer only had Microsoft Access 2010 runtime installed, but was upgraded as the new computer had Microsoft Office 2016 and Microsoft Access 2016. This may have been the case because once Microsoft Office 2010 was repaired the test program I had written no longer worked and there was a missing DLL.

Problem fixed and client happily using their Microsoft Access system they've now been using for over 20 years that started with Microsoft Access 1.0 and now runs under Microsoft Access 2016.

Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
IT support.

CPA Australia faked email contains malware attachment.

Today I thought I'd remind everyone to never trust attachments even when they may be from businesses or organisations you know. I'm not a member of the CPA, but many people are. The following email arrived today.

Everything in the text of the email is OK. However scanning the attachment showed only 4 out of 59 of the anti-virus scan engines would pick up the attachment contained malware. None of the commonly used in Australia anti-virus programs detected the malware meaning, if most people in Australia opened this attachment it may infect their computer without warning.

Don't be tempted to open attachments even if you know the organisation sending the email. If you wish to check the attachment you can save the attachment to a computer (I'd suggest a secondary computer that can be wiped if necessary). Then type virus into https://www.advancedsearch.com.au/SearchAustralia/ which will take you direct to the site I use to check suspicious emails. Upload and check the file. If one or more of the 59 scanning engines detect malware then the attachment is nearly certainly malicious. It may be worth waiting half a day or so before checking the attachment. That means others may have already uploaded the file and the scanning engines updated with new signatures. After checking the file if it's malicious delete the file immediately after checking and also empty the deleted files. You don't want to inadvertently infect your computer later.

Even if the attachment is reported as clean, there's still a small chance it is malicious. Check with the send to ensure they actually sent you the attachment.

Yes it is a pain to take this level of precaution, but it's more of a pain to get an infected computer repaired. Even more if the computer is on a network and infects other computers as well.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support.

Apple battery replacement iPhone 6 and later, price reduced until December 2018.

Apple has recently come under fire for reducing the performance of certain Apple iPhone models when the battery is ageing. The apparent reason is, as batteries age they can't handle the peak power requirements and if the power requirement was not reduced, it may cause the iPhone to unexpectedly shut down.

This technically really isn't a bad thing, but what hasn't been the best is Apple letting their customers know. Apple is now reacting by bringing out an update early this year which will provide better information on the battery status and also making an offer of reducing the battery upgrade price from $119 to $39 until December 2018. Obviously that's still a poor outcome for those who went and replaced their iPhone thinking their iPhone was now getting too old because it had become slow.

This does however mean there may be quite a few good iPhones sitting in drawers that for a $39 battery upgrade may again become useful devices.

Secondly, this is a great opportunity for anyone with an older iPhone 6 or above, who is finding their battery not lasting as long as it previous did, to get a low cost battery replacement. Keep in mind this offer lasts until December 2018, so you can get as much use out of your current battery and take advantage of the offer later in the year.

Overall the battery offer gives an $80 saving and peace-of-mind the replacement is being performed by Apple.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support

Can send a new text message to a contact but if I reply to their text message I get message can't be sent.

Ever had a problem that baffles you. This one has me baffled. This only happens with one of my contacts.

I can send the person a new text message and it works fine. If the person replies to me, or sends me a new text message and I go to reply to them, the reply fails.

To get around this problem I have to delete all text messages from the person and then I can send them a new message.

It is the weirdest thing I've seen, and so far I've not been able to find a solution to the problem, except my way of working around the problem by deleting text messages from them first.

At this stage the only thing that is strange is the person is using a very old mobile phone. It may be the old mobile phone is somehow issuing a sequence that isn't compatible with my mobile phone.

I thought I'd share this because if others have the same problem, they know if they delete the person's message and send a new text it gets through.

I've not seen this issue with anyone else, just this person.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support.

Update: 19 December 2017
Found there's no need to delete entire text message thread including text message sent to the other person. Only need to delete their text messages received. 

iPhone power cable won't plug in.

Today a person's iPhone power lead wouldn't plug into the iPhone correctly and would simply fall out. Not being able to plug in the power lead meant the iPhone wouldn't charge and was progressively going flat.

When the power cable wouldn't plug I think of two issues. A damaged cable and something blocking the power port on iPhone. The cable was fine but inside the power port was some white fluff or lint. In trying to get the power lead inserted the lint had become quite compacted. The following is a picture of the iPhone with the lint I removed.

Removing the lint was a bit tricky. Being a bit of a "MacGyver" I wondered what I could use to remove the lint. I was adverse to using anything metal. With the iPhone turned off it shouldn't be a problem, but you never know. A toothpick perhaps, but not really great as they can break easily. The item that worked well was a tooth floss stick that looks like the following.

The point on this is quite pointed and reasonably strong. Being very gentle you can slowly lift out any lint or fluff. Make sure you get all the lint/fluff. In this case the person had compacted the fluff quite a lot trying to put in their power lead. The material was compacted so much it looked quite solid. As you can see by the picture above it worked well with the amount of material removed from the iPhone's power socket.

How did the fluff or lint get into the iPhone? Most likely from the person's pocket and this could happen to anyone who carries their iPhone or other mobile in their pocket.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support.

Microsoft Edge mobile browser for Android and iOS.

Last night I read that Microsoft had made their Edge browser available on mobile devices such as Android and iOS. I immediately thought there's two things I'd like from Edge so decided to test to see if Edge could do what I wanted.

1. My choice of Start page.

Having a browser open on the page of your choice can save a lot of time. It brings value because you have a page you want immediately available. In my case I want my search page https://www.advancedsearch.com.au/SearchAustralia/mobile/.

Nope. This feature isn't' available. You end up with a start screen and no ability to set the start-up page. You can work around this by going to the page and then using the Add to Home screen option. Not ideal but gets around the issue.

2. GPS location access without having to have an SSL site.

When you go to a website that uses your GPS location you get asked if you want to give the site access. In their wisdom, browser makers Google Chrome, Apple Safari have decided the site needs to be using SSL as well. This means many sites no longer work, or if you're a developer you need to pay more to host these sites. Often the extra cost isn't worth it for small developers.

Edge however on notebooks and desktops works fine and asks to use your location. Since this can be based on your Wi-Fi access point (your home) it can be pretty specific as to where you're located. Google even has a geolocation API that does the same thing. So forcing sites to use SSL makes no sense.

I was hoping Microsoft had taken the same approach with their mobile browser. Sadly no. Looks like they're using the same restriction that applies to the Chrome browser.

3. Using my own search engine

Now this was good. I was able to set up my search engine as the default search engine. That means you can type a word or phrase into the address area and you search engine will then take over. Since I have keywords for all my major sites, that's a real productivity gain not available with Google Chrome.

Summary

The two things I thought would get me to use the Microsoft Edge mobile browser aren't available. Again Microsoft doesn't seem to guess if their product isn't different from others they're unlikely to beat the incumbent. This is the same fight Lotus and WordPerfect lost. They lost because Microsoft had the operating system. Microsoft this time doesn't have the mobile operating system and in the end they'll lose must as Lotus and WordPerfect did.

Microsoft needs to do what others don't do to win. Google is about ads. An ad blocker is an obvious choice as are the suggestions above.

At this point I don't really see much point in moving to the Microsoft Edge browser on mobiles as there's no significant gain, at least for my needs.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support.