I have been a Mozilla Firefox fan for many years, but during that time I have tried a couple of others, such as Opera and Google Chrome. Previous versions of Chrome just didn’t cut it for me, as it didn’t have the Extensions like Firefox does. I like to use certain Extensions/AddOns to make my Web Browsing experience more enjoyable, but now that Google Chrome has Extensions it’s time to try it one more time.

br/ br/
Installation was nice and easy and my Bookmarks and Site History copied over easily. It was like I hadn’t changed browsers, at all.

To make Chrome similar to how I used Firefox, these are the Extensions I am using :-

• Mouse Gestures – I discovered this when I started using Opera a long time ago, and once you get used to it, you’d wonder what you did without it. It works by holding down the Right Mouse button and drawing a pre-determined line that is assigned to do a task. I have mine set to : Draw an L to close a Tab, Draw a vertical line up to open a new Tab, While sitting over a link Draw a vertical line down to open a link in a new background Tab, and Draw a line left or right to go forwards or backwards in your Tab history.

  The biggest benefit is for a laptop user, I guess, but it’s just awesome to not have to move your mouse pointer to an X at the top of the screen to close etc. when the little fella is at the bottom of the screen. Just hold the right mouse button, draw the Mouse Gesture, done. Extension name : Smooth Gestures

• AdBlock – This wonderful extension keeps those pesky Porno site ads etc. in check, by giving you the option to hide them. Interestingly, but predictably, the Chrome version of this extension doesn’t work too well on the Google owned YouTube, as it hides some of the videos along with the ads. On Firefox, it works perfectly. I used to wonder what people were on about when they discussed YouTube ads, and the reason is because Firefox and AdBlock were doing such a great job of blocking them. I now have AdBlock disabled on Chrome for YouTube and the Ads aren’t overly intrusive. Extension name : AdBlock
• Search Box – One of the things I dearly love about Firefox is the Search Box/Bar that is at the top right of the window. I would have different Search Engines in there, such as Google, eBay, Wikipedia, YouTube and a couple of others. Google Chrome doesn’t come with this as standard, although you can search directly from the main Address Bar. With a very handy Extension called All Search, a magnifying glass icon is added to your toolbar that, when clicked, opens a small window to give you access to the Search Engines that you have chosen. Brilliant! Extension name : All Search
• StumbleUpon – The ultimate in time wasters. Add the Extension, sign up for an account, choose the categories you would like to see web pages about, and Stumble away! Each click of the StumbleUpon button will give you a new random webpage to look at. Check it out at http://www.stumbleupon.com/, and don’t blame me for the time you waste Stumbling! Extension name : StumbleUpon

With these Extensions added, although I am trialling a couple of others to see what they do, I am enjoying my experience with Chrome and have now made it my default browser. Yes, it is that good. Try it and see how you like it. http://www.google.com/chrome

Ultimate Laptop Buying Guide – Reviews by PC Magazine.

I’m a bit behind on my Laptop knowledge and found this article to be very informing.

My usual advice is to ask the person asking what laptop they should buy, “What do you want to do with it?”. If the reply is, Internet, word processing, accounts and basic games, then I’ll tell them to set a budget of AU$1000 and they’ll definitely get the speed and features they want. I don’t game on my PCs generally, and for all of the above my laptop is perfect. My Acer Aspire 5720z laptop cost AU$700.

If people want to play hardcore games I ask them if they really need a laptop, as a desktop will end up being a cheaper, more configurable option as bigger, better games come along. Laptops suitable for gaming are going to generally be over AU$2000, but that’s nothing compared to what a laptop used to cost.

FAIR TRADING ACT 1989 – SECT 52 52 Assertion of right to payment for unsolicited goods or services, or for making entry in directory–TPA s 64.

This is interesting. From the Queensland Consolidated Acts. From the way I read the article, the ‘scammers’ should be up for a maximum penalty of 540 penalty units for demanding payment for services we haven’t requested and threatening us with legal action. I think I read that wrong. I hate lawyer speak.

When I re-read it, it seems the ‘scammers’ are pretty much covered.
(3) The ‘scammers’ feel they have ‘reasonable cause to believe, that the other person has authorised the making of the entry’ so can claim money from us.
(4) However, we don’t have to pay, and if a payment was made we are entitled to get the money back, if authorisation (6) in the form of a signed or authorised document showing the particulars of the solicitation hasn’t been provided.

That’s my take on it, so please correct me if I am wrong, but it doesn’t look like the ‘scammers’ can be slugged with hefty fines like I had hoped.

FAIR TRADING ACT 1989 – SECT 52
52 Assertion of right to payment for unsolicited goods or services, or for making entry in directory–TPA s 64

(1) A person shall not, in trade or commerce, assert a right to payment from another person for unsolicited goods unless the person asserting the right has reasonable cause to believe that there is a right to payment.

Maximum penalty–540 penalty units.

(2) A person shall not, in trade or commerce, assert a right to payment from another person for unsolicited services unless the person asserting the right has reasonable cause to believe that there is a right to payment.

Maximum penalty–540 penalty units.

(3) A person shall not assert a right to payment from another person of a charge for the making in a directory of an entry relating to the other person, or to the profession, business, trade or occupation of the other person, unless the person asserting the right knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, that the other person has authorised the making of the entry.

Maximum penalty–540 penalty units.

(4) A person is not liable to make any payment to another person, and is entitled to recover by action in a court of competent jurisdiction against another person any payment made by the person to the other person, in full or part satisfaction of a charge for the making of an entry in a directory unless the first person has authorised the making of the entry.

(5) For the purposes of this section, a person shall be taken to assert a right to payment from another person for unsolicited goods or unsolicited services, or of a charge for the making of an entry in a directory, if the first person–

(a) makes a demand for the payment or asserts a present or prospective right to the payment; or

(b) threatens to bring any legal proceedings with a view to obtaining the payment; or

(c) places or causes to be placed the name of the other person on a list of defaulters or debtors, or threatens to do so, with a view to obtaining the payment; or

(d) invokes or causes to be invoked any other collection procedure, or threatens to do so, with a view to obtaining the payment; or

(e) sends an invoice or other document stating the amount of the payment or stating the price of the goods or services or the charge for making the entry, unless the document contains a warning statement complying with subsection (5A).

(5A) For subsection (5)(e), a warning statement must–

(a) be printed, at the top of the first page of the document, in upper case and a type not smaller than 18-point; and

(b) state ‘THIS IS A SOLICITATION, NOT AN INVOICE FOR A DEBT INCURRED BY YOU.’

(6) A person shall not be taken for the purposes of this section to have authorised the making of an entry in a directory unless–

(a) a document authorising the making of the entry has been signed by, or with the authority of, the person; and

(b) the document specifies–

(i) the name of the directory; and

(ii) the name and address of the person publishing the directory; and

(iii) particulars of the entry; and

(iv) the amount of the charge for the making of the entry or the basis on which the charge is, or is to be, calculated; and

(c) a copy of the document has been given to the person before the right to payment of a charge for the making of the entry is asserted. (7) For the purposes of this section, an invoice or other document purporting to have been sent by or on behalf of a person shall be taken to have been sent by that person unless the contrary is established.

(8) In a proceeding against a person in respect of a contravention of this section–

(a) in the case of a contravention constituted by asserting a right to payment from another person for unsolicited goods or unsolicited services–the burden lies on the defendant of proving that the defendant had reasonable cause to believe that there was a right to payment; or

(b) in the case of a contravention constituted by asserting a right to payment from another person of a charge for the making of an entry in a directory–the burden lies on the defendant of proving that the defendant knew or had reasonable cause to believe that the other person had authorised the making of the entry.

(9) In this section–

directory includes a journal, magazine, and similar publication, but does not include–

(a) a publication published in good faith as a newspaper at regular intervals; and

(b) a publication published, or to be published, by or under the authority of the Australian and Overseas Telecommunications Corporation.

entry, in a directory, includes an advertisement promoting a business.

making, in relation to an entry in a directory, means including, or arranging for the inclusion of, the entry.

SA businesses losing thousands to fake invoice scams – Archived News.

This article is from the Premier of South Australia’s website from October 2007. 2007 and they still haven’t done anything to stop it!?!

SA businesses losing thousands to fake invoice scams
23/10/2007

Another false billing scam has been doing the rounds in South Australia. Targeting local businesses, the scam artists send invoices for advertising placements in phoney publications, leaving the business community hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.

Since late last year, Consumer Affairs has received reports from businesses in regards to 30 different publications, where it has been alleged they have been the target or victim of ‘false billing’. Investigations have revealed the publications are produced by 25 separate companies and one individual.

The publishers are based in QLD and NSW, however a number of links between some of the publishers have been detected.

Business owners have expressed concern about invoices they have received for advertising space that they never authorised. Minister for Consumer Affairs, Jennifer Rankine, is urging businesses to be wary of advertising in a variety of publications that deal with community issues such as drugs, accident support, volunteering, policing and road safety. The publications are alleged to be distributed nationally.

Minister for Consumer Affairs, Jennifer Rankine, said, Individuals in the business community are a red hot target for these fraudsters and are consistently being harassed, and in some cases threatened, into paying for advertising material they have never actually ordered.

SA businesses have received invoices for advertisements anywhere between $200 and $500. The majority have This is a solicitation not an invoice for a debt incurred by you written on the invoice statement.

Consumer Affairs officers have been compiling dozens of witness statements from many business owners whose organisations feature in the bogus publications, which look surprisingly authentic.

It is disturbing that we are finding many different advertisements for all sorts of businesses on the same pages of the same publication. Consumer Affairs has obtained many copies of the publications that look identical, but contain different advertisements. This makes us very suspicious that these publications are printed specifically for individual businesses in a ploy to encourage payment, Ms Rankine said.

Common identifiers of false billing scams include:

• Selling advertising space for a publication that either does not exist or has limited circulation
• Making false claims that the publication is affiliated with a particular community group or well known organisation
• Invoicing businesses for advertisements that were never authorised
• Contacting businesses to confirm an advertisement has allegedly previously been placed when in fact this never occurred
• Contacting businesses and advising that the publication has been printed and is ready to be sent to them when in fact the business never agreed to place an advertisement in the publication

Three companies (two from QLD and one from NSW) have already been reported for various breaches of the Fair Trading Act, with charges yet to be laid.

Due to this problem extending across the nation, I have written to the Federal Treasurer, forwarding him a list of false ABN’s possibly being used by these suspects.

In the meantime, Ms Rankine is urging businesses to keep meticulous records of any advertising that is authorised. This should help protect any business from unscrupulous operators.

If every business was aware of the scam and refused to pay for unauthorised advertising, in time the scammers would realise the hopelessness of the situation, close their doors and go away.

The message is simple. If you did not authorise the advertisement do not pay the invoice.

If any business suspects they are being targeted by a false billing scam they should contact Consumer Affairs on 8204 9777. For further information about these and other scams visit www.ocba.sa.gov.au.

Password Protection – Work Fails & Job LOLs – Monday Through Friday.

I must admit, I am totally guilty of this one! I’m all for security, but constant changing of passwords is one I pretty much disagree with. Who is it going to keep out, other than the poor bloke who has forgotten his latest password for the four different systems he uses, eg. ME?

If correct procedures are followed, any former employees would have had their user logins disabled at the time of their leaving the company, so that would just leave current employees to worry about. For current users, it would obviously be easier to remember the one (set) of passwords than having to update to a new password whenever the programs feel it is necessary, wouldn’t it?

For myself, I find it difficult to keep track of all of the different passwords for different systems and sites I use, so I inevitably end up recording them on paper somewhere, saving them in the web browser I use (Firefox allows you to password protect your saved passwords which is handy. Just have to remember the password to the password file then. ), and worst of all, on a sticky note stuck to my monitor. *shakes head in shame*

Very much one of those ‘do as I say, and not as I do’ situations.