August 2013 - luv-talk

Kogan legal disputes
by Russell Coker 13 Aug '13

13 Aug '13

I just received the below message from Kogan. I don't think I'm at any great risk of losing my phone access. Presumably both Kogan and Aldi hired some good lawyers before starting their mobile offerings and ispONE also hired good lawyers before signing contracts with them. Probably the worst case scenario would be that some greater restrictions are placed on the definition of "unlimited" in terms of phone calls and they reduce the 1G in a day limit. On Tue, 13 Aug 2013, "Kogan Mobile" <koganmobile(a)kogan.com.au> wrote: > Dear , > > Thank you for joining us on the journey to make mobile access in Australia > more affordable. We entered the mobile industry in order to increase > competition and give consumers more choice and better value. Since > starting Kogan Mobile, we are proud to now serve more than 115,000 active > customers. > > We have fought hard for the Australian consumer – there have been endless > negotiations and even the occasional visit to the Supreme Court > [http://www.cnet.com.au/kogan-mobile-claims-win-against-ispone-339344137.h > tm] to protect our customers' interests and ensure that our customers > continue to get the best deals. However, there are forces at play in the > Australian telecommunications market that are beyond our control, very > powerful and impossible to ignore. > > You may be aware that we procure our mobile services for part of the > Telstra 3G Network through Telstra's sole and approved distributor – > ispONE. ispONE is the only company in Australia that wholesales Telstra's > Prepaid 3G Services and is essential to the operation of our and any > business through that network. Telstra's Prepaid 3G Network is not > integrated with any other wholesale platform, other than ispONE's. > > Since day one, Kogan Mobile has complied with all its obligations to its > service providers. We keep our agreements. We have paid every invoice on > time or early. Like our customers, we expect our service providers to > deliver what they have been paid for. > > Kogan Mobile has recently become aware of the following: > > Telstra is in dispute with ispONE, Telstra's sole distributor of prepaid 3G > mobile services and Kogan Mobile's essential supplier Telstra has taken > steps to terminate its contract with ispONE. If Telstra terminates its > contract with ispONE this is very likely to impact Kogan Mobile's own > customers' services (through no fault of Kogan Mobile) ispONE has > commenced proceedings against Telstra in the Federal Court and obtained a > short term injunction to restrain Telstra from terminating its contract > with ispONE The Federal Court ordered Telstra and ispONE to attend > mediation. Although not party to the Federal Court proceedings, Kogan > Mobile is permitted to (and will) attend the mediation > > Kogan Mobile is doing everything it can to protect its customers. > > We are monitoring these developments closely, as they may affect the > continuity of our prepaid mobile services. We will provide a further > update when further information comes to hand. > > You may also wish to contact Telstra directly and ask Telstra what it > intends to do in respect of its wholesale prepaid mobile business and > customers' mobile telephone services if it achieves its goal of > terminating its contractual arrangements with ispONE. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/

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Freudian slip? ...
by Dan062 08 Aug '13

08 Aug '13

I thought that was funny! Scam email received early as is: ** highlight below by me ** ------------------------------------------------- From: support-westpac(a)email.security.90.com.au To: dan062(a)yahoo.com.au Subject: [Bulk] Security Threat Alert Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2013 21:45:00 -0400 (EDT) Westpac Australia You are receiving this e-mail because of our latest update on Thursday, 8 August 2013,. ** Due to our latest fraud attempts **, we updated our security system to a more complex system that will improve security for all Westpac accounts. We are currently performing a full customer database backup, to improve our security measures and reduce the number of inactive accounts. Please follow the link provided in this message and confirm your personal information. Confirm your information now>> Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141 AFS Licence No. 233714. This e-mail was officialy sent by Westpac Private Bank Executive Team, and your reference number is (4452-3901) --

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Curtains came down on Sunday on the 163-year-old telegram service in India
by Petros 05 Aug '13

05 Aug '13

Pure nostalgia: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-07-14/india/40569461_1_tel… "Though started as a Morse code service, the telegram service evolved gradually with the use of computers. At the time of its death, it had become a web based telegraph mailing service (WBTMS) which used emails to instantly convey message to the other end." Regards Peter

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"My first smartphone" questions
by Carl Turney 04 Aug '13

04 Aug '13

Hi All, = = = = = BACKGROUND INFO (Questions in the section below.) Just bought my first smartphone. It's a Samsung Galaxy Y Duos, with Android 2.3.6, a 32GB memcard, and WiFi as its only current connection to the net. (1) Tried to get an app via Google Play / Android Market. But there's a damned "pop over" (?) window that says "Apps - My Apps - Shop - Games - Editors Choice". It covers the entire screen of my phone, and I can't continue with the underlying web page to purchase and install the app. So, I went to Amazon AppStore. Better. I was forced to install AmazonApps before getting any real apps, though. But to install AmazonApps, I'm forced to let it: Have full internet access, read my sensitive log data, manage my account list, modify my SD card's contents, read my phone status, prevent my phone from sleeping, view my network state, and discover any of my known accounts! What the!?!? That's absolutely =INCREDIBLE=. Just so I can buy and install an application from them? There were almost as many security vulnerabilities for the app I just (finally) installed (OsmAnd+). So I agreed to all these vulnerabilities, but ONLY because this phone is only a couple hours out of the box and doesn't have ANY information about me (that I know of). Question below. (2) I've started a few programs (like the FM radio and Music) that don't have an X for shutting down. So, I just hit the Home button. I didn't see them linger on my "desktop", so just assumed they shut down. But, when looking in Settings, Applications, Running Services, they're still running! And there are many =other= running processes that maybe I should shut down, but I don't really know which ones... Software update (two entries, with different icons)? Bluetooth share? OPP ? SNS ? Time ? (Is this the system clock?) Google Services (I don't think I want Network Location and Messaging)? Syncmlds ? Swype ? (Can't shut down. But I don't ever want to swype-type.) = = = = = My questions ... (1) Can I uninstall AmazonApps, after I've installed the OsmAnd+ app, without causing problems for continuing to run Osmand+? (2) Any good source of info on what can be shut down and what should not be shut down? Thanks very much, Carl

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Re: [luv-talk] [MLUG] Ubuntu forums -- hacked....
by Rohan McLeod 03 Aug '13

03 Aug '13

>(Remember, if the kindly gentlemen of the constabulary ask you why you like privacy, > the canonical rejoinder before referring them to your attorney, > is to ask if any of their windows at home have drapes, and why.) Since we live in a time of great controversy regarding the trade-off between privacy and national security; it seems to me the question should be: " Justify to me, precisely why you need to know ' this', in terms of your legislated task ? "; .rather than me needing to justify why I want privacy !. regards Rohan McLeod

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Memory check
by Daniel Jitnah 02 Aug '13

02 Aug '13

Hi all, I have a laptop that is failing to boot - starts boot but then stops.(any boot media: HD, CD or USB, same result) It reports 1007Mb on bios memory check, which seems like a strange number to me??? (it also has 16Mb reserved - so it seems to have lost 1Mb??- it has 1Gb installed) - is this likely a memory stick problem? Cheers Daniel

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Smart phones on wifi and GPS only?
by Tim Hamilton 01 Aug '13

01 Aug '13

> From: Carl Turney <carl(a)boms.com.au> > To: luv-talk(a)lists.luv.asn.au > Cc: > Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 18:05:35 +1000 > Subject: [luv-talk] Smart phones on wifi and GPS only? > Hi All, > > > 1) Could I run it as a GPS to help me navigate on the road, even though it > would not have a SIM card in it? (i.e. Load some detailed Melbourne > roadmap and a GPS application into it at home via the wifi, and then rely > solely on the GPS to help me navigate from spot to spot as I do my > part-time casual driving job.) > > > In regards to this, you might like to check out OsmAND [1], a GPL v3 Android maps/navigation that leverages Open Street Map data. There is both a (feature limited) free version and a fully featured paid version, though I'm not sure what the feature differences are[2]. OsmAND supports downloading of map and voice data so you do not need a 3/4g data connection whilst on the go. Hopefully this will satisfy your requirements of not having a data plan or lots of 3g data. I've used OsmAnd for it's mapping capabilities for quite a while and really like it. I've, not however, really used the navigation function as it has been added relatively recently & I got used to Google Navigate so I can't comment on how good this feature is. Either way, it might be worth considering. [1] http://osmand.net/ [2] http://osmand.net/en/installation-menu.html

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