I have decided to bite the bullet and get rid of the fax line. There was a time when it had a purpose, but now the vast bulk of what I receive via fax is spam, or material that could have just as easily been sent as an email (and that includes the spam). Furthermore, when government departments stop faxing you and move onto email you know it’s time to move on.
So thank you fax line, it’s been nice having you.
30 minutes into Tony Abbott’s address to the SA State Liberal conference and he has done nothing other than complain about the other side… will someone please save the Liberal Party from this man?
This scam has been going around for a while – someone from an alleged PC security company (sometimes even “Telstra” or “Microsoft”) calls up and talks you through getting to your computer’s event log. The event log is a technical record of the things done by your computer and always has a lot of stuff in it, including errors and warnings. That’s perfectly normal. However these scammers create a sense of fear in you by telling you that this is “junk and malicious stuff”, and it is “infesting the hard drive of your computer”.
They will then ask you to navigate to a website called www.ammyy.com where they will then get you to download a program that gives them remote control of your computer. At some point in this exercise they will get hold of your credit card details, at which point you can consider yourself well and truly scammed. In case you ever wanted to hear what typically transpires, have a listen here:
These clowns have called me three times today, and twice I have played along. On the last go, I decided to record the conversation. During this call I clearly got busted… “You know we’re a scam, right?”… great stuff. In case you ever encounter such a phone call, a couple of phone numbers they may call from are 03-90149568 and 03-90149868.
Now, it’s important for me to explain that my PABX only records conversations on demand (if you listen carefully you may hear me keying in the command during the course of the conversation), and that this recording was made and is published pursuant to Part 4, Section 45 of the Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 (QLD), namely the public interest clause. Besides, express permission was given by them during the course of the phone call. Do I have my bases covered?
Australia today set out on a path towards a low-carbon economy, with the government announcing a set of measures intended to force Australian businesses to transition their energy supply to renewable sources. As a consumer of energy, I’m not insulated from the impending energy cost increases. I expect that one way to insulate oneself from these increases would be to make the switch to renewable energy as soon as it becomes affordable enough to do so. Right now, I can transition to 100% wind-power for an additional 5.5c per kWh, which is not unaffordable. My only question is this: the logical paths for pricing of the two available energy sources should be inversely correlated. As conventional electricity pricing increases, market availability of renewable sources should as well, leading to lower prices. Therefore, 5.5c per kWh now should be as expensive (per CPI) as it should ever be. Origin Energy alludes to this in their FAQ on the subject:
Why does GreenPower cost more?
Power from renewable sources is currently more expensive than traditional generation such as coal fired power stations. This is partly because the renewable energy industry is still emerging and does not enjoy the same economies of scale as traditional power and production.
I wonder if this will really be the case… or if it’s just a cynical opportunity to cash in on green guilt?
It’s difficult for a nerd not to get excited at announcements like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCTH7rBoGck
Nokia is losing market share in a big way. Their problem has never been hardware – every Nokia phone I have ever owned has been thoughtfully designed and beautifully made. My most recent decision to turn away from Nokia was based entirely on the fact that Nokias of late have shipped with software that was obsolete 3 years ago. With Windows Phone 7, Nokia re-enters the game. I am desperately excited about this!