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Editorial

From personal experience... A word of warning to eBay users. Caveat Emptor 'let the buyer beware' is an important statement you must keep in mind when trading on eBay as a buyer and to some extent as a seller, especially when transactions are high-priced. If you see something on eBay at a price that seems too good to be true then there is a very high probability that it is. There is BIG BUSINESS in FRAUD on eBay and you can suffer serious loss.

The most you will ever receive from eBay in the case of a large transaction going wrong is approx. $350.00. So, when buying a high-priced item on eBay ask yourself if you can afford to loose all but $350.00. You could report FRAUD to the police, but unfortunately the police are way behind in this type of internet technology (FRAUD) and really don't know what to do and are of no help at all.

My experience involved the purchase of a $1,500.00 new computer on eBay. This was a Pentium 4, 3.6Gig, 2Gig Ram 200Meg HD Desktop computer. Yes, too good to be true! The money was paid but no computer ever arrived. eBay were of no assistance at all and the Police did not seem to be interested either, they just did not know what to do. I estimated that this seller had committed approx. $ 40,000 in FRAUD on eBay by selling non existent computers.

I spent one week solid in investigation, tracking down this seller and working with others FRAUDED by the same seller. At the end of the week I had gained access to several of this sellers addresses, phone numbers and bank account numbers and kept passing this information on to the police (who still did not know what to do). This seller knew how close I was to revealing him and decided the only way to get rid of me was to actually deliver the computer I purchased (via URGENT delivery).

Unfortunately the others were outside of NSW and have not had the same successful result. I advised the police who quickly closed the 'Event' and never carried out any investigation at all, and I think glad to see the end of me.

Don't let this experience of mine stop you from using eBay, it is not stopping me, just be very very careful. You must verify the seller's contact information, if you can't then don't proceed with the transaction and report them to eBay. Remember, you have no protection other that you own common sense (something I was lacking at the time).

For high-price items, it is a good idea to pay using an escrow service like www.escrowaustralia.com.au

Bruce Beresford, Manager & Editor

In this Issue:

• Featured Site
• Virus Watch
• Google Earth Flies Free
• ACA to prosecute alleged spammer
• Broadband approaches 2m
• Tech Tips - 50 Indispensable Microsoft Word tips
• Quotes of the day

Featured Site  

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Bed & Views Kiama - For bookings and enquiries contact Rüdigex and Sabine Dux 69 Riversdale Road KIAMA NSW 2533 phone/Fax (02) 4232 3662.

Virus Watch  

Latest Threats - from Symantec

19-07-05 W32.Mytob.IC@mm

19-07-05 Trojan.Exlife

Google Earth Flies Free  

Want to know more about a specific location? Dive right in -- Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.

• Fly from space to your neighborhood. Type in an address and zoom right in.
• Search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions.
• Tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings.
• Save and share your searches and favorites. Even add your own annotations.

Google has released its long-anticipated geographic search tool, a new application that combines local search with satellite images and maps from around the globe.

Google Earth is a standalone application that's essentially an enhanced and upgraded version of its Keyhole 3D satellite imagery product. As Google has done with several of its past acquisitions, the company has also made the application free to all users, dropping its annual subscription fee for the basic version.

Google Earth is designed to make it easy to "fly" to aerial views of many locations on the planet. Currently, the application has detailed imagery for the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K. and 38 major cities in other countries, as well as medium to high resolution terrain imagery for the entire world.

The application is a "console" with controls allowing you to manipulate 3D satellite imagery of the Earth in a viewer directly above the controls. When you first start the application, your view is of the entire globe. You can either use the controls or Google Earth's search functions to zoom in on a specific location.

Google Earth has three primary search features: Fly To, Local Search and Directions, each accessed by buttons at the top-left of the application.

The Fly To feature accepts an address, place name, cross street or simple Latitude/Longitude coordinates and zooms you quickly in to the specified location, typically stopping at an altitude of about 3,000 feet above ground. From this point, use the controls to zoom, tilt, pan or rotate the view.

Minimum configuration:

• Operating system: Windows 2000, Windows XP
• CPU speed: Intel® Pentium® PIII 500 MHz
• System memory (RAM): 128MB
• 200MB hard-disk space
• 3D graphics card: 3D-capable video card with 16MB VRAM
• 1024x768, 32-bit true color screen
• Network speed: 128 kbps ("Broadband/Cable Internet")

Recommended configuration:

• Operating system: Windows XP
• CPU speed: Intel® Pentium® P4 2.4GHz+ or AMD 2400xp+
• System memory (RAM): 512MB
• 2GB hard-disk space
• 3D graphics card: 3D-capable video card with 32MB VRAM or greater
• 1280x1024, 32-bit true color screen
• Network speed: 128 kbps ("Broadband/Cable Internet")

This is a 'must have', learn more and visit Google Earth or go straight to their download page...

ACA to prosecute alleged spammer  

One of Australia's most notorious Internet marketeers will face the federal court on allegations he sent millions of unsolicited bulk e-mail.

The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) alleges Wayne Mansfield and his company, Clarity 1, sent at least 56 million commercial e-mails in the 12 months after the Spam Act was enacted in April 2004.

Most of these were unsolicited spam, claims the ACA.

The regulator also claims the Perth-based company "harvested" e-mail addresses for spamming purposes, and used a network of servers around the world to send the e-mails.

The ACA has appealed for an interim injunction against Clarity 1 before the court hearing in Perth on July 20. ZD Net Australia >>> more

Broadband approaches 2m  

AUSTRALIAN broadband adoption is rapidly closing on two million subscribers, with take-up more than doubling during in the year to March, the competition watchdog has announced.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reported that there were 1,839,700 broadband connections in use across Australia by the end of the first quarter of the 2005 calendar year.

"This represents an increase of over 1 million customers, or 122 per cent, over the preceding 12 month period," ACCC commissioner Ed Willett said.

The ACCC said that ADSL service continued dominate broadband service growth, accounting for nearly a quarter a million new broadband services during the March quarter.

Access to Telstra's copper network remained the single largest issue affecting competition in the broadband market, the ACCC said. AustralianIT >>> more

50 Indispensable Microsoft Word tips  

The editors at TechRepublic have put together a collection of their favorite time savers for using Word 97, 2000, 2002 (Office XP), and 2003.

Even the most experienced users will benefit from this list which contains tips on recording Word macros, selecting noncontiguous text, using AutoCorrect to expand text, creating styles, creating document shortcuts, and much more. Click here to access the pdf...

Quotes of the Day  

I have a rock garden. Last week three of them died. Richard Diran

To err is human; to forgive, infrequent. Franklin P. Adams (1881 - 1960)

The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a damn fool of himself. John Ciardi (1916 - 1986)

The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work. Richard Bach

Brought to you by The Quotations Page

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