Classifieds scammers advertise smartphones & tablets online

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Beware of scam online classifieds ads for smartphones, tablet devices and other small electronic items which are never delivered following payment.
Warning signs

• A smartphone, tablet or other electronic device is advertised on an online classifieds site at a low price, often lower than comparable items advertised on the same website.
• In many cases the scam ad will offer one of the same product free when you purchase a certain number. E.g. Buy three get one free.
• The scammers may claim to be authorised resellers and offer 100% genuine items with genuine factory warranties.
• The scam ads may mislead you to believe that the seller is operating out of Australian capital cities, however they are really based overseas.
• The scammer may not have a website but will ask you to place an order via email. They will use a free email service provider for their email address.
• The scammer will ask you to complete the sale through a wire transfer service and not via credit card.
• Following payment you will not receive the items you have paid for.
• When questioned, the scammer may claim that non-delivery is due to hold ups at Australian customs and may demand further payment before the products will be released. If you pay more you will never receive the items and will lose all money paid.

Protect yourself

• Be cautious if the advertised price of a smartphone or other device looks too good to be true, it may be a scam.
• Beware of offers for free products when you buy a certain number.
• Don’t trust the legitimacy of an ad just because it appears on a reputable online classifieds or auction website—scammers post fake ads on these too.
• Where possible, avoid any arrangement with a stranger that asks for up-front payment via money order, wire transfer or international funds transfer. It is rare to recover money sent this way. Credit card payment may offer a more secure option as banks and financial institutions can sometimes perform a ‘charge back’ if they believe that your credit card was billed fraudulently.
• Do an internet search using the exact wording in the ad, including email addresses and trader names; many well-known scams can be identified this way.
• Before committing to buy a smartphone or electronic device online speak with the manufacturer. Ask for a list of authorised online resellers especially if you require a warranty.

At this rate by 2044 everyone on Earth will use Android

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At last week’s Google Music launch in the US the company disclosed that more than 200 million Android devices to date have been activated, with the current rate of activations sitting on a mind-boggling 550,000 new Android devices switched on every day

Apple has 250 million iOS devices in the world

15-year odyssey sees Mac ride to 5% market share

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As reported this week by AppleInsider, the Mac last quarter achieved a 5.2% share of the overall PC market, surpassing the five per cent barrier for the first time in 15 years.

quarter-on-quarter momentum dramatically outstripping total PC growth

Phone barcode just the ticket

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Physical tickets are not being scrapped but sports fans will now have the option of simply displaying an individual barcode of their smartphone to gain entry.
Sports Minister Phil Reeves said Suncorp Stadium was the first venue in the state to introduce the technology in time for this Saturday’s A-League clash between the Brisbane Roar and the Perth Glory.

“M-Site will allow fans to purchase tickets via their mobile or online and almost instantaneously have a barcode forwarded to their phone which is scanned through at the entry gate

Where multiple tickets are purchased, barcodes can be forwarded onto other recipients’ mobiles for scanning at the turnstiles upon arrival.

Ticketek is expected in the future to roll out similar technology at Skilled Park, Dairy Farmers Stadium and the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

Windows 8 install cut to 11 clicks

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cutting it from 60 screens to as few as 11 clicks.

most annoying feature of previous ones is the non automation of install – you have to bee there to advance the process

installations to be key to Windows 8 uptake, as it is designed to work on all PCs running Windows 7, as well as many running Vista and XP.

The “streamlined setup” kicks off inside the older OS by running the DVD or web download – which will automatically preload the 25-digit product key.

Users upgrading from Vista won’t be able to bring their apps with them, but will be able to keep settings and personal data; those upgrading from XP won’t be able to bring apps or settings.

Microsoft also said it had improved the file transfer system for upgrades to Windows 8. Rather than moving each individual file, it moves entire folders, “drastically reducing the number of file operations required

“This means we can link to the actual data on disk in the transport location without having to physically move the file, which has a significant performance gain,” Microsoft said.

Still rather do a clean install – nothing beats it

Thai floods cause hard disk shortage

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Thailand’s floods will cause a 30 percent drop in hard disk drive shipments in the fourth quarter of 2012, affecting Dell, Apple, Asustek, HP and Lenovo.

Global HDD shipments are expected to fall from 175 million in the third quarter to 125 million units due to the floods. Thailand accounts for about 40 to 50 per cent of all HDD production worldwide.

Seagate Technology’s facility escaped damages but  still expecting shortages in the next quarter because of affected upstream suppliers.

Thailand accounts for about 40 to 50 per cent of all HDD production worldwide.

1000 days left for Windows XP support

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Is this thing ever gunna die

The software giant would stop supplying security patches and hotfixes for all versions of 11-year-old operating system on April 8, 2014, potentially making it vulnerable to issues that may arise after that time.

Telstra plans national cable upgrade

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The upgrade will see homes in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and the Gold Coast receive an upgrade to the DOCSIS 3.0 HFC cable broadband standard, boosting downstream speeds from a peak of 30 Mbps to 100 Mbps.

Chief executive David Thodey let slip to analysts this morning that a national upgrade of the system will likely start in the second week of December

DOCSIS 3.0-enabled cable networks could theoretically achieve speeds of 160 Mbps downstream and 120 Mbps upstream, individual user speeds are currently pegged at 100 Mbps and 2 Mbps respectively in Australia.

As part of the $9 billion agreement between Telstra and NBN Co, the incumbent telco agreed to decommission fixed broadband services over its copper and HFC cable networks in an NBN rollout area once fibre had been rolled out to premises there.

Telstra  also began upgrading 2000 street cabinets nationally this month to expand ADSL2+ capacity in some areas.
The move was widely seen by analysts and observers as Telstra hedging its bets on the NBN deal not coming to fruition or the network being cancelled in event of a coalition win at the next federal election.

“It is clear from this announcement that the industry is starting to factor into their business plans the delays of rolling out the NBN and the distinct likelihood that it will never be completed,” Mr Turnbull said. – The Australian

Google kills off seven more products including Wave

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Wave goodbye
The seven latest products earmarked for the chop are as follows:

• Google Wave – an attempt to combine email and instant messaging for real-time collaboration
• Google Bookmarks List – a service which allowed users to share bookmarks with friends
• Google Friends Connect – allowed webmasters to add social features to their sites by embedding a snippet of code
• Google Gears – much-hyped effort to maintain web browser functionality when working offline
• Google Search Timeline – a graph of historical query results
• Knol – a Wikipedia-style project, which aimed to improve web content
• Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal – a project which aimed to find ways to improve solar power

ASK THE HEAD

Brett from illawarra

Hi Head, I have a 3G wireless connection to the internet.  I have a playstation 3 and want to play it online.  How can I set this up.  Head I think you are the best, and I know by the immense size of your head that you have a lot going on.

Answer:  

FOLLOW UPS AND EMAILS

Jeff from Chuggington

Had a PC die and bought a mac – we suggested dirty power. any way

Glenn, pc is resurrected ok. For some reason when it rebooted the hd was shown as disabled. I fixed a few settings in bios and everything is sweet. I will get a ssd tomorrow and clone off c drive to it.

Cool my main question for the show is can I clone it and put that Windows file on the mac and run my pc there? It’s a 64 bit pro version

What sort of ups do you guys recommend?

images upsonic 001 002

http://www.upsonic.com.au/selecting-a-ups.php

good calulator there to help you determine the power required for the UPS.

Jsut bought mine, power failure and it shuts down machines