The iPhone and iPad feature that every parent should know about

If you’re a parent of young children, chances are you’ve used your iPhone or iPad to babysit your kids more than once. 

But did you know each iPhone and iPad has a feature that allows you to hand the device to your child, and prevent them from leaving the app it is currently running?

You can even set a time limit on it, so the device will stop operating after however long you decide. 

It’s a brilliant feature for parents wanting to make sure little Johny doesn’t delete your emails while being entertained for 10 minutes while you’re at the doctors. Or if you have youtube addict kids like me, you can set the device to only allow, say, 30 minutes before shutting down. Enough to watch an episode of The Diamond Minecart, not enough to make them forget to go and bounce the basketball at some point. 

But the feature is also super useful for teachers who perhaps want their students to access a certain app during a test or exam, but not have access to, say, Google. 

Even stores and businesses who use iPads as displays or tools will find this feature handy, as it stops customers or staff from being able to access other apps.

It’s called GUIDED ACCESS

Follow our step by step instructions below. It’s pretty much the same for iPad and iPhone, and iPod touch for that matter. 

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Setting Up

1. Open the Settings app. 

2. Select General

3. Select Accessibility

4. Select Guided Access

5. Turn on Guided Access

It’s not essential to enter a passcode at this point. You will be prompted later. 

6. Select Time Limits

7. Time limit settings pertain to what happens when the time has expired in Guided Access. For example, later when you activate it, you can set the device to only function for 10 minutes, or however long you chose.

If you want a ring tone to sound at the end of the time, select Sound.

If you just want the device to speak at the end of the time, turn on Speak.

I’m turning on Speak.

Now your device is set up and Guided Access is ready to use whenever you want. Here's how to operate Guided Access once it's set up. 

8. Open the app you want your child to access. We’re going to use YouTube as an example right now. 

9. Triple click the home button. 

That means press it 3 times quickly. 

10. Select Options in the bottom left

11. Choose your settings

Sleep Wake Button - This operates the button that turns the device on or off. Do you want them to be able to do this? 

Volume Buttons - You can make it so they can’t turn the volume up at all if you need silence… and so they can’t turn it down either. Or allow them to have control over the volume. 

Motion - Turn this off if you don’t want them to be able to rotate the screen. Handy for little kids who may inadvertantly rotate the screen on their iPads. 

Keyboards - Turn this off to disable the ability to enter information via the keyboard

Touch - You may want to turn this off if you’re just giving the iPad to the child to watch a video, but don’t want them to be able to accidentally close it or skip around. If this is off touching the screen will do nothing. 

Time Limit - Turn this on and select how long you want Guided access to operate for. It can be as low as 1 minute, and as high as 23 hours and 59 minutes. If you leave this off, guided access will remain in operation until you deactivate it. 

12. Once you’ve chosen the settings you want, select Done.

13. Now draw on the screen with your finger around any area of the screen you do NOT want them to be able to operate. For example, there may be a menu within the app you don’t want them to be able to touch, but you’re happy for them to touch everywhere else on the screen. 

If you just draw a rough circle or square, your device will correct the outline and straighten it up a bit. You can then drag it to make it larger or move it as needed. 

If you’re fine with them touching all of the screen, you can skip this step.

14. Now you’re ready to go. Select Start or Resume.

15. Enter a passcode. Then re enter the passcode

16. Guided access started. Hand the device over, and rest assured that your precious emails won’t be deleted.

17. If the home button is pressed while in Guided Access mode, a warning appears at the top of the screen. 

Note: You can end Guided Access at any time by triple clicking the home button then entering the passcode. If the wrong passcode is entered, the user will be unable to try again for a short time. 

18. When time gets low, a warning appears. 

19. Once time is up the Time Expired screen appears and the device will no longer operate

20. You'll need to triple click the home button

21. Enter the passcode to end Guided Access mode

22. Now select End. 

23. Your phone is back to normal.

So if you've ever asked, 
"How can I set a timer on my iPhone or iPad?" or 
"How can I stop my kid from leaving the app they're in?" or 
"How do I lock the app on my iPhone or iPad?" or 
"How can I stop my kid from deleting things on my iPhone or iPad?" 
then Guided Access is the feature you need to know about.

Check this updated NBN map to see if your home can now get fast internet

Thanks to Nick Van Namen from Node1 for the heads up on the fact that the NBN map has just been updated. 

Many homes in Mahomets Flats and Mount Tarcoola can now order NBN Fibre connections.

Mr Van Namen also says the rollout map shows that they have commenced building for fibre in Sunset Beach, Waggrakine, Moresby and Drummond Cove. 

Click here to visit the map.

Node1 have been wonderful supporters of Everything Geraldton, and we can vouch for their service as we use them ourselves. If you have any questions regarding the NBN give them a call on 9964 5464.

Regarding the Safety and Risk of Genetically Modified crops

“Labeling the GMO approach “scientific” betrays a very poor—indeed warped—understanding of probabilistic payoffs and risk management. A lack of observations of explicit harm does not show absence of hidden risks.”

— The Precautionary Principle (with Application to the Genetic Modification of Organisms)

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GM crops have been grown in WA for several years. Proponents for the use of GM crops will tell you they're safe, but there is a loud and growing voice against the use of the crops claiming the safety of the environment and humans is far from assured. 

A paper recently published by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a high profile commentator on risk, and other high profile co-authors, argues that the issue regarding GM crops calls for a thorough understanding of the risk of ruin, and the Precautionary Principle.

The co-authors include a number of well-known researchers such as Raphael Douady at the Institute of Mathematics and Theoretical Physics in Paris and Yaneer Bar-Yam at the New England Complex Systems Institute in Cambridge.  

The paper shows why GM crops need to be approached using the Precautionary Principle. 

Here's a quote from one of the paper's authors Nassim Nicolas Taleb,: "GMOs have a peculiar illustrative role because they multiply, have systemic not just idiosyncratic risks, and opacity about the interactions is compounded under the curse of dimensionality."

The argument regarding the use of GM's is not regarding what we know, but what we don't know, and what the potential for harm is. 

The paper is called "The Precautionary Principle (with Application to the Genetic Modification of Organisms)."

From the first paragraph:

"The precautionary principle (PP) states that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing severe harm to the public domain (affecting general health or the environment globally), the action should not be taken in the absence of scientific near-certainty about its safety. Under these conditions, the burden of proof about absence of harm falls on those proposing an action, not those opposing it. PP is intended to deal with uncertainty and risk in cases where the absence of evidence and the incompleteness of scientific knowledge carries profound implications and in the presence of risks of "black swans", unforeseen and unforeseeable events of extreme consequence."

PP is a widely understood approach for those familiar with risk analysis. Your insurance company probably has that special "no floods" cover because they know that if there's a widespread flood, they go bankrupt if everyone is covered. They understand they cannot afford the risk of ruin. 

But politicians don't necessarily understand PP, and how it compares to regular risk management. This is the reason for the paper. 

Essentially, the paper argues that the burden of proof regarding the safety of GMOs falls on the proponents to demonstrate their safety, not others to demonstrate their danger; and also that the potential side effects of GMO's is systemic rather than localised, meaning we really can't predict the possible harm GM crops could cause. 

While the paper is very heavy on mathematics, it's well worth a read whatever side of the GM debate you find yourself on. Click here to read. 

Risk of ruin

Those who are pro GM often accuse those who oppose it as being against progress. They say, rightly, that everything involves some degree of risk, and while GM involves a level of risk, the reward is greater than the potential risk. 

That logic seems fine at first. 

There's a risk in driving to the shops. You might die in a car accident. But that's a small possibility, and you will have food if you go. So it's worth the risk. 

But GMO's fall under a special type of risk; that is the risk of RUIN. 

Society can recover from a car accident. Your death will not stop our society from functioning. By definition, society cannot recover from ruin. 

Why do GMO's pose the risk of ruin?

There's several points argued in the paper that demonstrate why GMOs should be treated under the PP as they pose the risk of ruin. Here's one:

"Ecologically, in addition to intentional cultivation, GMOs have the propensity to spread uncontrollably, and thus their risks cannot be localized. The cross-breeding of wild-type plants with genetically modified ones prevents their disentangling, leading to irreversible system-wide effects with unknown downsides. The ecological implications of releasing modified organisms into the wild are not tested empirically before release."

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Aren't GMO's natural?

"One argument in favor of GMOs is that they are no more "unnatural" than the selective farming our ancestors have been doing for generations. In fact, the ideas developed in this paper show that this is not the case. Selective breeding over human history is a process in which change still happens in a bottom-up way, and can be expected to result in a thin-tailed distribution. If there is a mistake, some harmful variation, it will not spread throughout the whole system but end up dying out due to local experience over time. Human experience over generations has chosen the biological organisms that are relatively safe for consumption. There are many that are not, including parts of and varieties of the crops we do cultivate [12]. Introducing rapid changes in organisms is inconsistent with this process. There is a limited rate at which variations can be introduced and selection will be effective [13]. There is no comparison between tinkering with the selective breeding of genetic components of organisms that have previously undergone extensive histories of selection and the top-down engineering of taking a gene from a fish and putting it into a tomato. Saying that such a product is natural misses the process of natural selection by which things become “natural." While there are claims that all organisms include transgenic materials, those genetic transfers that are currently present were subject to selection over long times and survived. The success rate is tiny. Unlike GMOs, in nature there is no immediate replication of mutated organisms to become a large fraction of the organisms of a species. Indeed, any one genetic variation is unlikely to become part of the long term genetic pool of the population. Instead, just like any other genetic variation or mutation, transgenic transfers are subject to competition and selection over many generations before becoming a significant part of the population. A new genetic transfer engineered today is not the same as one that has survived this process of selection."

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So the argument for why we should hold off on using GM crops is not so much to do with proof of danger as it is largely to do with the fact that we cannot know all the risks involved at this point in time, and rolling the dice with our entire ecosystem is downright foolish. 

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Nearly every Android phone can be hacked with a single text message

In case you hadn't heard yet, the Internet exploded yesterday with the news of a bug (more of a security vulnerability) called Stagefright that affects about 90% of Android devices. It's actually existed for about 5 years, and gives attackers a simple way to access everything on your device using MMS (picture messages).  

For those of you who are REALLY not tech savvy and don't actually know if you have an Android phone... If your phone has a touch screen and doesn't have an Apple logo on the back, it's probably an Android.  

Fortune has a good Q and A article on the whole debacle. Click here to check it out. 

Long story short-  

It's extremely serious. Google (who makes Android) have already patched it... But the way Android works is it's up to the handset manufacturers and telcos to get updates to you (for example Samsung or Telstra). Good luck waiting for Telstra. 

So what to do until an update is released?  

Click here to visit Twillio and read their instructions for protecting your device.   

What to do if you own an iPhone? 

If you own an Apple iPhone this bug doesn't affect you, so you can act smug around anyone with an Android device and make them hate you. 

Goodbye paper bills - access your rates electronically

You can say goodbye to paper bills because City of Greater Geraldton rate payers can now manage their rates with the click of a button!

The City will be introducing BPAY View so you can receive your rates electronically.

With ease of access, helping the environment, convenience and reminders, the benefits of BPAY View speak for themselves.

BPAY View will allow you to receive, view, store and pay your rates notices online through the safe and secure system of your online banking provider.

City Mayor, Ian Carpenter, said the City had been focusing on using online technology to ensure the utmost ease for City residents.

“The introduction of BPAY View is just one of the elements that we have introduced to enhance accessibility when it comes to City services,” he said.

“It is also one of the proactive strategies being implemented by the City to improve efficiency and cut our operational costs.

“Earlier in the year we saw the introduction of the new City website which has introduced many user-friendly features making it more convenient for the community.

“The City is doing its best to be at the forefront of up-to-date online technologies to help ensure the best experience for our customers,” he added.

Once live, it will only take three simple steps to get started with BPAY View.

1. Log into your online banking account
2. Look for the BPAY View or View bills section
3. Register your bill by entering the BPAY biller code and your reference number.

For further enquiries about how you can view your rates electronically, please contact City of Greater Geraldton on 9956 6600.

Wajarri Dictionary app available for iPhone and Android

A new app has been developed by the Geraldton based Bundiyarra Corp. called the Wajarri Dictionary, and it's now available to download for iOS and Android. 

I had a play with the app, and it's simple to use and easy to navigate. It works on both iPad and iPhone, and worked fine on the Android phones we tested it on. 

You can search English words and see what they translate into, or if you've heard the Wajarri word and want to know what it means in English, you can do that too. 

It's not a comprehensive "learn how to speak Wajarri" resource. Instead, it serves more as an archive of individual words and phrases. In the form of a smartphone app, it is easily accessible to many people whose only computer is their phone. 

It's a free download, and definitely worth checking out. A big thanks to everyone who put so much effort into the project. Protecting this part of our culture and heritage is invaluable. 

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From the iTunes App Description

The Wajarri Dictionary app has been developed by the Bundiyarra – Irra Wangga Language Centre (part of the Bundiyarra Aboriginal Community Aboriginal Corporation) which is based in Geraldton, Western Australia. The Wajarri language featured in this app was traditionally spoken in the Murchison region of the state, and is now spoken throughout the wider Midwest and with Wajarri people all over the country and planet.

The app features almost 2,000 Wajarri words, taken from the printed Wajarri Dictionary, launched in 2012. Each word has an English translation, as well a detailed description, including cultural and natural information (where available). Audio recordings with syllable breakdown to assist with pronunciation accompany all entries.

Users can add entries to ‘Favourites’ to assist with language learning and to enable easy access to commonly used words.

The information section of the app features information on Wajarri language, a usage guide, pictures of beautiful Wajarri country and a dedication to the many speakers who gave their language and made projects like this possible.

Australians get mobile

Mobile phones and mobile internet devices are an increasingly important feature of Australia’s communications landscape. But to what extent have they become substitutes for fixed-line telephone and internet?

The latest researchacma snapshot investigates the increasing number of consumers who no longer rely on fixed communications, instead using mobile devices for voice, messaging and internet access.

Key findings from Australians get mobile—using mobile devices for voice, messaging and internet access show that at December 2014:

•  12 per cent of adult Australians were exclusively mobile—without a fixed-line telephone or fixed internet connection at home, and using mobile devices for voice, messaging and internet access. This grew from 10 per cent at December 2013.
• 29 per cent of adult Australians were mobile-only phone users—with a mobile phone but no fixed-line telephone at home. This grew from 13 per cent at December 2010.
• 21 per cent of adult Australians were mobile-only internet users—relying on a mobile device (mobile phone, tablet or mobile broadband connection) to access the internet. This grew from 19 per cent at December 2013.

researchacma alerts present the latest media and communications figures, trends and analysis from the ACMA research team delivered straight to your inbox.

Australian Federal Police data may have been stolen in Pacnet security breach

Telstra has just announced that a company they recently acquired, Pacnet, recently suffered a major security breach. 

Telstra says it was not informed of the breach until after the acquisition had been finalised. 

Josh Taylor reporting for ZDNet:

The Australian Federal Police is a customer of Pacnet, and Telstra could not rule out that AFP information may have been accessed in the breach.

Click here to read full story. 

Thank you for allowing me to watch the ANZAC service

I'd like to thank the City of Greater Geraldton and the Geraldton RSL for allowing my family and I to participate in the Geraldton ANZAC service via live stream.  

Unfortuanely we were unable to be in town on the day, but we were able to tune in live using the iPad to the live stream of the 11am service.  

Thanks also to Node 1 for making it happen at short notice, from what I understand.  

I posted the videos on Everything Geraldton so our audience was a aware of the streams as well, and had positive feedback. One person in the UK mentioned they were able to watch grandchildren March despite being so far away. 

The videos of the services are available after the fact too. I've embedded them below.  

Australians embrace a digital life

Nearly all adult Australians now go online, and we’re getting digital in a range of ways—from social and work interactions to business transactions and shopping, according to new ACMA research.

Australians’ digital lives, the first of two complementary reports in the ACMA Communications report 2013–14 series, takes a look at how we’re engaging with digital technologies and our changing communications practices.

Young and old are both on board

Younger people (those aged 18–44) are the most active digital citizens, with 100 per cent of this age group going online in the six months to May 2014. But older Aussies (those aged 65 and over) aren’t too far behind, with 68 per cent also going online during this period. They’re also increasingly using mobile phones to access the internet (up seven percentage points).

This older age group is also using the internet to stay in touch, with 74 per cent of this group who use communications apps preferring Skype to either make phone or video calls, or send messages. 

More ways to go online

The majority of online Australians (68 per cent) are now using three or more devices to access the internet, and almost a quarter (23 per cent) use five or more. To manage these multiple devices, there is a trend towards more complex home networks connected to the internet by fixed-line and Wi-Fi.

Digital workers

Our strong digital engagement is also influencing the way we work, with digital communications making it easier for people to work in multiple locations. Almost half (49 per cent) of employed Australians are ‘digital workers’—meaning they use the internet to work away from the office outside of standard hours or they are teleworkers who work away from the office for a part or full day.

Of digital workers, 48 per cent have a formal agreement in place. This equates to nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of those who are employed.

Offline Australians

While the internet is now a part of most Australians’ daily lives, there’s still an estimated 1.1 million of us who have never accessed the internet (at June 2014).

However, this figure has nearly halved in four years—down from two million adult Australians at June 2010. Age and income are the main factors associated with being offline—70 per cent are people aged 65 and over, and 83 per cent earn an annual income of less than $30,000.

A video summarising the research

Is there life out there? The biggest eyes on the sky will see

Are we alone in space? How were black holes formed? What is dark energy?

The quest to find the answers to dark energy. Credit: SKA Organisation/Swinburne Astronomy Productions

One of the biggest and most complex scientific experiments ever dreamed up - comparable in scale to the Large Hadron Collider - aims to find the answers to these and many more of the most challenging questions facing scientists. And it’s already underway in the desert 800 kilometres north of Perth in Western Australia.

While its acronym, SKA, may sound cool, it’s a little less catchy when spelt out  - Square Kilometre Array. Nevertheless, in scientific terms it will be as cool as it gets when it is completed. This radio telescope, made up of thousands of antennas in a collecting area of one square kilometre, is designed to capture images of deep space never seen before.

The telescope will be the world’s largest and most powerful, with its myriad of antennas - linked by high bandwidth optical fibre - capable of imaging objects in space … all the way back to the Big Bang. It will be 50 times as sensitive and 10,000 times faster than anything that exists at the moment.  

In terms of educating us about space, dark energy, black holes, and extra-terrestrial life, there has never been anything like it. The project, conceived in the 1990s and due for completion in 2023, has three precursor telescopes - two in Western Australia and one in South Africa. The two in WA - called the Murchison Widefield Array - have been operational for two years. The SKA will be about 100 times bigger than the MWA and will be built on the same site in the WA desert. To do their job they need phenomenal computer power and very fast connections. That’s because radio waves produce digital data that have to be converted by computer into images. And for that, the MWA has a special relationship with the National Broadband Network.

“The NBN plays a central role in what we do,” says Professor Steven Tingay, director of the MWA. Not only is our service over the NBN critical to carry the raw material that, after analysis, will take our knowledge of the universe to the next level, but it is also is at the forefront of the next big challenge for big businesses - crunching big data.

In two years the MWA project has produced a colossal four petabytes of data - that’s one million gigabytes or the equivalent of over 5,700 hours of full HD video, and 50 scientific papers. 

“It’s a massive amount of data and we need to get that out of the middle of the desert to somewhere where we can process it in a timely fashion,” says Professor Tingay.

With at least 11 countries behind the project - Australia, New Zealand, Britain, China, South Africa, Sweden, Italy, Canada, India, Germany, and The Netherlands - there’s a great deal of data to share and analyse on the way to SKA’s target completion date.

The CSIRO has built a dedicated fibre optic line to deliver data at a blistering speed from Murchison to Geraldton, some 300 kilometres to the south. But NBN Co took over from there, laying more than 400 kilometres of fibre optics to deliver the mass of data to the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre in Perth.

“Without the NBN we would not get our data out,” says Professor Tingay.

The antennae and “tiles” that make up the MWA are scattered over 1.5 kilometres under clear desert skies, peering into deep space and “seeing”, for the first time, astonishing events.

“The MWA is leading the way. It’s early days but we are fully operational and we’re starting to see things we’ve never seen before,” says Professor Tingay.

“We’ve seen galaxies in the process of being born; we’ve seen galaxies in the process of dying, so we are seeing the full life cycle of galaxies for the first time.”

The MWA telescopes are also able to probe in great detail the immediate environment of Earth.  Its radio signals produce huge amounts of data which is then converted by computer to images. At the moment physics doesn’t have an understanding of what makes up 95 percent of the universe, says Professor Tingay. But SKA will aim to solve, among other things, the mysteries of dark energy and “the cradle of life”, including whether there’s extra-terrestrial intelligence out there. So, even though it’s early days in this multi-billion-dollar global quest to crack some of the toughest nuts in science, does he think we will be able to answer the question of whether we are alone in the universe?

“Life can exist anywhere energy can be transferred,” he says. “There are billions upon billions of stars, and billions and billions of galaxies. It would be ridiculous to think we are the only self-replicating conscious life force.

“I suspect that life is probably pretty common in the universe.”

ASKAP dishes (background right) will be located in Western Australia. The mid frequency aperture array stations (bottom left), SKA-mid dishes and precursor MeerKAT dishes (background left) will be located in South Africa, with some remote stations in other African partner countries. Credit: SKA Organisation

Did you know?

• SKA central computer will have the processing power of 100 million PCs
• It’s so sensitive it can detect airport radar on planets tens of light years away
• Data collected in a day would take nearly 2 million years to play back on an iPod
• SKA dishes will produce 10 times the world’s internet traffic
• SKA uses enough optical fibre to wrap twice around the Earth
• SKA radio telescope will be 10,000 times faster than any existing radio telescopes  
• It will be 50 times as sensitive as the best existing radio telescopes
• It “sees” through gas, dust and clouds
• It will ‘see’ back to the Big Bang
• It can see thousands of galaxies in one image

Source: SKA

New device for hearing impaired Geraldton residents outperforms normal hearing levels

Technology addresses one of the biggest complaints of hearing impaired 

Geraldton hearing impaired residents can now benefit from a breakthrough new technology launched by Siemens which can not only improve their hearing, but understand speech in some situations better than people with normal hearing.

More than 1 in 6 Australians, including 50 percent of over 60’s1 suffer from hearing loss. With the nation’s population ageing, the ratio of Australians with hearing loss is set to grow significantly in the coming years.

Trying to hear in noisy situations is one of the biggest complaints2 of people with hearing difficulty. binax technology addresses this by helping wearers to follow conversations more easily in environments such as bars, restaurants, cars, meetings and in windy areas.

The technology has been tested in two clinical studies which measured participants’ hearing abilities in a loud simulated cocktail party environment.

At two independent research sites, sentence recognition in surrounding background noise was significantly superior for individuals with mild-to-moderate hearing loss, when aided with binax, compared to individuals with normal hearing. In the real world, speech understanding in noisy situations (with binax) is estimated to outperform normal hearing by approximately 25%*.

binax uses unique “binaural” technology to mimic the way two ears work together to isolate noises.

With two hearing instruments fitted, the device can automatically pinpoint the direction of speech in relation to the user, enhancing loudness and clarity to deliver true “High Definition Sound Resolution”.

Users can gain further control over their hearing by utilising a phone app to alter the direction of the device’s internal microphones, adjust volume and reduce specific noises.

Siemens Hearing Instruments Head of Audiology Peter McKinnon said binax represented a major technological milestone for the company.

“One hundred years after Siemens began production of its first hearing instrument, we are proud to have introduced a product which has the sophistication to function like a human ear and differentiate between speech and other types of sound.

“Many people with hearing loss can feel uncomfortable and anxious in social settings as they struggle to understand conversations taking place around them. In some instances they may choose to avoid events and miss out on important moments with their friends and family. 

“Siemens’ binax devices have been developed to make life easier in these situations by greatly improving the clarity and volume of conversations for the listener,” he said.

The technology is available in Siemens Pure and Carat hearing devices. Each of these products are receiver-in-canal solutions, with virtually invisible housing that sits behind the ear. 

When used in conjunction with the Siemens easyTek unit, users can stream telephone calls along with television, stereo and iPod audio sources straight into their hearing device.

Mr McKinnon said the products provided the ideal blend of size, functionality and convenience.

“Siemens has worked hard to be able to offer binax technology in a range of small, discreet units which are almost undetectable on the wearer.

Siemens is currently offering a free trial of the product, so people can experience the benefits first hand. Those interested in trialling a binaxdevice can call 1300 787 797 for a referral to their nearest hearing clinic. They will then be able to visit a clinic for a free hearing screen and acquire the product for an obligation free period.

Netflix has arrived - What the hell is Netflix?

I don't think I've hardly watched regular free to air television at all in the last 3 years. I'm 33 and I don't know anyone my age or younger that primarily watches TV the old fashion way by flicking channels. Even my 4 and 7 year old kids barely turn on ABC4Kids any more, and instead prefer Youtube, TV shows and Movies streamed off iTunes and the odd DVD. 

It was back around 2008 or 2009 I used to watch a bit of ABC, then I discovered iView, ABC's on demand service, and that was the end of turning on the TV and just watching what was on. I also bought an Apple TV a few years back, and now even getting off the couch to put in a disc feels akin to starting a car with a crank handle. 

So now my TV viewing habits are basically made up of

• The NBA app on my Apple TV or iPhone or iPad for my sport consumption. 
• Youtube for a lot of great random stuff you can't find anywhere else. 
• A bit of ABC iView for things like QI and Fallon. 
• Purchasing or renting whatever movies or TV shows I'm interested in from iTunes. 

Note: I don't torrent anything and firmly believe in paying artists for what they do. 

I first heard about Netflix a few years back, and gave it a try but I had to use a VPN to stream anything. It was a PITA and I gave up after a couple of months, deciding to bide my time until it finally came to Australia. 

Today it has launched and I've signed up straight away, ready to binge watch season 3 of House of Cards and maybe season 2 of Orange in the New Black. 

So what is Netflix?

Netflix is a streaming subscription video service. That means you pay a monthly fee and get to choose from their catalogue of Movies and TV shows to watch when you want. Usually entire season of shows are available so it's great for those of us who like to binge watch things. 

How much does it cost?

In Australia there are three different options. $8.99 will get you on your way with the basic plan. $11.99 will avail you of the content in HD, and two devices can stream content at the same time. Premium costs $14.99 a month, and up to 4 devices can stream at once. You also get access to Ultra HD (4K) content, if it is available. (You probably don't have a UHD TV.)

How does it work?

You need an internet connection to access the content. It doesn't come over the air like regular TV. While the amount you can stream from Netflix is unlimited, you'll want a healthy amount of data from your internet provider. 

You watch the content from either a web browser on your computer or laptop, or you can download the Netflix app for your smart Television, phone or tablet. 

You don't have to commit to a long term contract like traditional pay tv services either. 

Seems pretty cheap, how do they make any money?

Netflix pay content distributors or owners to have their shows and movies on Netflix, but the shows they have on offer come and go. So it's not a library of all movies and all tv shows from all time at your fingertips.

And not all of it is A grade stuff. There's some new stuff, some old stuff, and some really old stuff. There's plenty of family and kid's content. And Netflix has even made a couple of original shows that are just brilliant, and you'll need netflix to watch them in the future; House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. 

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Other streaming services are also on offer in Australia, and the question of value really will be in whether the quality of the service stands up. If content doesn't get to your device in a reasonable quality and without heaps of buffering, it will be too frustrating for many people to put up with. 

So far with a pretty crappy NON NBN connection the service seems fine, with about 2 minutes of testing. I'll reserve my verdict on whether it's worth the money once my one month free trial is up. 

But for the cost of two coffees a month, I think I'll be getting my monies worth. 

The Apple Watch - and some other new surprises from Apple

Ever since Apple announced last year they were working on a watch, the tech world has been collectively scratching its head wondering if there was actually a need or use for such a device. 

The commentary has been similar to that which preceded the iPhone and iPad releases... namely: Do we need or want this?; Will it be too expensive?;  What can it do that my existing devices can't?

At the original announcement Apple had told the world that the Watch would start at $349 US. But speculation as to what the ceiling would be for the most expensive version ranged from crack smoking analysts at Citigroup guessing $950 (how does one get a job as an analyst anyway?) to followers of Apple and expensive watch aficionados suggesting $10,000 to $20,000 for the 18-Carat gold version. 

Finally last night, Watch was unveiled and everyone's questions were answered. 

In brief, here's a rundown (in Australian dollars.)

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There's 3 versions. 

Watch Sport 
Watch
Watch Edition

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They all come in two sizes, a 38mm and a 42mm. 

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Watch Sport 38mm: $499 

Watch Sport 42mm: $579

Click here for more info.

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Watch 38mm: ranges from $799 to $1549 depending on the band chosen

Watch 42mm: ranges from $879 to $1629 depending on the band chosen

Click here for more info. 

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Watch Edition starts at $14,000 and goes up to $24,000

It's available in 18-Carat Rose Gold and Yellow Gold, with several models and bands to choose from. It will only be available in limited numbers and in select retailers. 

Click here for more info. 

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Ok, so why on earth would I need one?

You don't.

Just like you don't really need that iPhone or iPad or any other luxury or technology item you own. But sometimes these items make life a little easier or nicer, and we happily part with some of our disposable income for these things. 

And jewellery has never served much of a functional purpose, but gold watches, rings and other ornaments have been a massive industry long before Steve Jobs ever walked the planet. A large number of Watch sales will be form rather than function. Apple knows this, and they're not pretending to simply be building a functional wrist computer. They want it to be a personal expression of your style, which is why so many models and price points are on offer. 

But if you do choose to get one and use it, here's some of the things it purports to do:

• Customisable watch displays
• Easy messaging to other Watch owners (you can send vibrations, doodles and even your heart beat) 
• Lot's of fitness features (easy to track how much movement you've been doing)
• Notifications on your wrist 
• Make and receive phone calls and texts on your wrist
• Use Siri
• Check your calendar

Third party developers have the ability to write apps for the Watch, so there'll be a plethora of apps you can install on your iPhone and use with the Watch. 

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Still skeptical...

I'm not personally advocating anyone purchase or use an Watch yet. I haven't worn one. I can imagine it being a very useful journalism tool, and a useful way for Everything Geraldton users to receive notifications without having to unlock their phone, I am reserving judgement until I have played with one for a decent length of time. 

Every other smart watch that has entered the market has had overall negative reviews, and left people disillusioned with the concept of a wrist computer. 

But so did smartphones before 2007. And so did tablets before 2010. The iPhone and iPad changed what people realised those devices could be. Maybe they'll do it again. Maybe it will be a flop. 

I was extremely skeptical about the benefits of a smartphone strapped to my wrist until I read this earlier in the week from TechCrunch (link):

People that have worn the Watch say that they take their phones out of their pockets far, far less than they used to. A simple tap to reply or glance on the wrist or dictation is a massively different interaction model than pulling out an iPhone, unlocking it and being pulled into its merciless vortex of attention suck.

One user told me that they nearly “stopped” using their phone during the day; they used to have it out and now they don’t, period. That’s insane when you think about how much the blue glow of smartphone screens has dominated our social interactions over the past decade.

I need to keep an eye on my emails and messages. If an Apple Watch means I don't have to pull out my phone, unlock it and get pulled into the "merciless vortex of attention suck" then I'll gladly hand over my cash. Maybe not 24 grand though. 

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When can I get one?

Australia is among the first group of countries the device will be available in. You'll be able to pre-order on April 10, and they'll start shipping on April 24 2015. 

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So what else did Apple announce?

Given how big the watch announcement was for the company, it didn't seem appropriate to announce any other major products. 

But two things were announced, and while they will be drowned out by the Watch news, they will be very important to the future of Apple. 

One was called ResearchKit. It's a collection of apps that allow you to submit data to help with medical research and also for your personal doctors to track your health or progress. And it's also a framework that allows other developers in the medical space to create apps that collect important data for medical research. 

Apple never sees your data, and you decide what you will send. The big break through is that you have your phone with you all the time; so more data, and more accurate data, can be collected by more people to help researchers better understand health outcomes. 

You can try some of the apps out today:

https://t.co/O6u9CoFIeB

https://t.co/8wfFxEjjTK

https://t.co/y8Qg3NpbSa

https://t.co/OtrnzE7EDA

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The other product Apple announced was a new MacBook. 

If you thought the current MacBook Airs were thin, have a look at this thing.

It's thinner than even the class leading 11" MacBook Air before, has no fan, features only 1 port, a USB-C, and has 9 hours of use battery life along with brilliant "Green" credentials. It comes with the much desired retina screen (basically means very high resolution.)

It starts at $1299, weighs less than a kilo, and if you're in the market for a new high end notebook, it looks like it's going to be the new benchmark.

(oh, and it comes in three colours including Gold.)

We haven't got an availability date yet. 

Click here for more info.

Major Telstra outages around town

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If your phone and internet has died recently, you're not alone. Several Everything Geraldton readers have reached out to us saying they have been without phone and internet since at least Friday. 

We asked the community on Facebook if they were without Telstra services. Click here to read the many responses. 

Retailers from Northgate shopping centre say they were without phone and EFTPOS on Saturday, frustrating many shoppers. 

Some residents have said they were informed by Telstra the issues would be fixed by the 13th of this month. 

We have reached out to Telstra for comment and will update this if they respond. 

Update:  

Telstra Area General Manager Tony Carmichael responded:

The damage to the main cable was caused by a third party and repairs were in progress when the severe storms struck on March 1.  

Telstra landline and ADSL services in and around Geraldton were affected when the damaged cables that were being repaired were impacted by water damage caused by flooding.

We have technicians on-site repairing the cables and services are being restored gradually. Of the 1122 services impacted, many are already back online and we are doing everything we can to restore the remaining services as quickly as possible.

We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience during this period.

MINECRAFT: Don’t panic, it’s not a cult

Children rely on their parents for all the important lessons they need to learn like not to put things up your nose, and how Mum always looks fantastic. These days though, there are some things you don't remember teaching them, or can't help with when the need arises. The chances are fairly high that your offspring will come to you saying “the wither spawn shrine doesn’t work like Stampy’s did, and now a zombie villager won’t get out of my library!” At this point you have few options: use epic powers of distraction while you secretly google the sentence, after all, Mum and Dad do know everything. Alternatively, send your child to their room for maybe possibly swearing at you and spend the rest of the day checking “Mojang” on any cult listing. 

How exactly did Minecraft (MC) take over? Suddenly every PC, tablet and console in your house is held ransom to this crappy looking game, and you don’t remember having anything at all to do with it. Everywhere you look there is merchandise, you’ve been convinced to pay for at least one copy, and it’s like everyone under 5 feet tall is speaking a different language. You are not alone, even as an avid gamer myself I barely had a head start when mine came to me asking to go on YouTube and needing a headset all of a sudden.

Children are adaptive to an almost scary point: they will learn and progress with any titbit of information on this game without you ever needing to step in until a credit card is required, of course. What I hear most from parents are similar queries, and with pretty simple answers. You don’t need to start monitoring every minute they play, and I’m almost completely sure it’s not an elaborate mind control scheme. But with online activity being so easy to access and quick to get out of hand, you should be aware of a few key points. Hopefully, it will also stop your kids rolling their eyes about your noob status too.

Basics

While MC is younger than most of our kids worshiping it, there are more than 40 million players worldwide, on most consoles, PC and Mac, and of course phones and tablets galore.  Markus Persson, the creator, had very few definite aims besides making a functional sandbox world with literal infinite space and possibilities; No one could have foreseen the global takeover it would bring. At less than $30 for the full game, it sits at roughly 30% of the price of most console releases. So it's good value, but it's pixelated blocks, there is no proper story, and almost everything you do appears monotonous and pointless, right?

Still don’t see why your kids ignore the cinematic $100 games for the bland blocks and elevator music? Neither did I until I looked at it a different way. Minecraft is the digital LEGO of our childhood: a deceivingly simple block system with such clever engineering and design that the user is effectively given the keys to an infinite kingdom. With LEGO, it was the creativity that made it fun, with MC it’s just a larger and more public scale, with every player finding their niche.

Getting Started

Minecraft is available for under $30 on PC and Mac either from minecraft.net, which uses a quick form and payment details, or using a pre-bought code card from a few retailers. The only difference is one requires your credit details online; the other is a gift card equivalent. Consoles are covered too with PS3 and 4, Vita, Xbox360 and Xbox One copies available as downloads or physical copies at any game shop. This part is important: if your kids are telling you that it’s also on the WiiU and 3DS, that’s just a rumour. MC is not on any Nintendo console, and for the moment I haven't heard that is changing.

Alright, so you have the game, and now there is talk of modes, skins, mods, mobs, realms and servers: don’t panic! If they are playing offline then it’s easy to get going, you’ll be prompted to name your world in MC’s menu and you’ll need to decide the ‘Mode’. Survival mode can appear daunting but provides a challenge and some initial goals to keep things interesting. You spawn in a random point on a randomly generated world with nothing but a map. As its name suggests, you need to survive, and that means waste no time. Using your assumed titanium cubes at the end of your arms, make light work of any tree unfortunate enough to be near you. Through combining materials (crafting) and using your environment (mining) you should have a suitable shelter by nightfall, which is the only way to survive.

After the first cuboid moon rises and sets again, you get a pretty clear idea of some of the nasties, or ‘mobs’ that come roaming at night. Day by day, the player makes improvements and progresses to defend better and arm themselves. Battles and random encounters are what make MC the most fun for some players, but for many others, especially kids, Creative seems to be the favoured mode. While intensity (frequency of 'mobs') is a variable you can easily control, some players are just on Minecraft to see what they can do. The answer is just about everything; certain blocks react with eternal fire or the equivalent of electricity or work as physics-based switches. I’ve seen my sister’s world where they have a working KFC or my son’s world with giant replicas of Batman and the Joker in battle. There is even a player who is filming his attempt at walking his way across the entire world: at the rate of progress so far his YouTube series has roughly 120 plus years left in it.

Playing Online

The scary thing about being online is the utter unknown of every person, the questionability of every snippet of information and the safety of each realm your kids might join. Being the internet little is foolproof and %100 child-safe, but there are always things you can do as a parent to ensure you’re taking the correct measures required. If they are logged in to PSN or Xbox GOLD, they’ll require a monthly subscription, this again can be online or in gift card form. Once online friends can invite them to worlds they are already playing in, or they can start new worlds together. If you are at all worried but don’t want them to miss online play, then the safest outlet is having them create a world and add friends you know. Throw in a headset for full communication, and you’ll be surprised by what some teamwork, or healthy competition can produce.

What’s the Catch?

PC and Mac online experiences are different. There are servers and realms teeming with players of all ages and agendas, from builders of OCD proportions to epic recreations suited to hundreds of players. If you allow your kids to join any server or realm, it’s the digital equivalent of saying “Here is a room full of strangers, I’m sure they’re all lovely!” This is not fear mongering, just simple observation of generalized online play.  Granted for older children it may not be a problem, but I have a nine year old: I want to get a full police check and then meet the parents of everyone he may be playing online with.

For younger children, the safest bet online seems to be either creating or joining a known realm. To create and own a realm costs $13 a month and offers the same infinite reality of regular Minecraft, but with the added benefit of only approved players being able to enter. The owner has veto on the guest list so only those you know or approve of can join, or be booted.  Realms are entirely online and don't require any local wiring, messing around or additional setup, just ongoing subscription. Skins, mods, and updates are easily available on PC and Mac, but realms don’t support mods; this means it will be the original game without all the downloadable extras.  Mods are not necessary, whatever your kids say, just fun. They are like sports options on a new Commodore; they mostly affect the aesthetics without any real benefits.

It’s a cheap game; so where are the hidden costs, you might ask. Realms of course cost on a monthly basis, and online subscription on both Xbox and Sony has a cost too (these are all cheaper if you buy six or twelve months packages, by the way). Like anything that gains momentum though, there are additional purchases made available over time. The most common here being ‘skins’ that are not nearly as macabre as they sound. At roughly $1.99 in price, I don’t see the point of these, but can’t see the harm either. With everything from random animal outfits to Dr. Who characters, there is at least one set every kid is after. Once downloaded, these change the physical appearance of their character with the bonus of school bragging rights. These are found in the MC main menu and require an online connection to pay and download, after that they are yours to keep.

The term 'mods’ is thrown around constantly for Minecraft and simply refers to in-game modifications. These are not available in the console versions and should be treated with a certain amount of caution when installing them on your PC or Mac. No, the entire internet isn’t out to get you, but just keep in mind that these are usually made by modders and are not official game additions. Most are not very family friendly and if possible, avoid them entirely.

I Think I Got It, But Just In Case, Tell Me The Whole Thing Again, I Wasn't Listening

If you or your kids are already versed in the above then bravo, you’re doing better than most. The next MC fandom step is YouTube, and there is no shortage of videos for all your MC needs. Navigating YouTube is fine until suggested videos pop up and before you know it your son has accidently started a ‘related’ clip where Peach and Daisy should be ashamed of themselves. It’s safest to stick to a Chanel; belong to individuals who produce videos based on their viewers. Some family friendly ones are Stampy(longhorn or longnose,) who is a god amongst kids and farts rainbows, but don’t go back to his earlier, less PG catalogue. The other one with tutorials, as well as entertaining play-throughs, is Paulosaurus Jr, he is %100 safe and actually not a bad teacher. I trawled through another 30 plus channels, but every time the mix of videos pushed it out of what I’d be happy to let my son browse, so these two are my pick. A full guide is also handy over at minecraft.wikia.com if there is anything else you’re not sure about still.

Next time you tell your kids to get off MC and do something else, don’t be too concerned if they spend the time reading Minecraft books. Or playing with the toys, the dress ups or the paper craft. If they want to get so involved in a game that encourages creativity and lateral thinking, then I say we should stand back and be grateful it’s not Grand Theft Auto. There are companies that use MC as a fun way to teach skills from spatial awareness to detailed coding lessons, and communities that come together to build scale replicas with incredible accuracy and vision. So many kids have this in common, especially here in Geraldton, and I fail to see how that could be negative. The worst that could happen is your kids suddenly have an urge to dig up your backyard, so keep your pickaxes well hidden.

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Editor's note:

In survival mode there is a (kind of) hidden mission to the game which involves travelling to another dimension called "The End" and slaying a dragon. 

Youtube has a new kid friendly app that only delivers safe content for little ones. Click here to download it for iPhone and iPad. Click here for Android.  

Click here to visit the Minecraft wiki to learn more about any specific element in Minecraft. 

The below video is great for beginners wanting to know what on earth Minecraft is. 

Everything Geraldton iPhone app update available with bug fixes

An update for the Everything Geraldton iPhone app is now available in the App Store.    

Click here to get the update on your iPhone: http://evth.in/GeraldtoniPhoneApp

The update addresses some bugs that prevented the app opening for some users, and certain menu options from crashing the app.  

Sheep's head causes power failures

Info from Western Power

WESTER POWER RESPONSE:

Attributed to Western Power’s Regional North Manager Adrian Stewart:

“Western Power crews covered a vast area north of Geraldton yesterday to find and repair faults on the network that affected approximately 2,000 customers in the Shires of Northampton and Chapman Valley, and the City of Greater Geraldton. 

“When we experience periods of increased fire danger, as we have in the Greater Geraldton area in recent days, our crews need to visually inspect powerlines to locate and repair faults before power can be safely restored.

“Our inspection efforts yesterday included patrolling the network on the ground and from a helicopter. 

“After an exhaustive search the crew located what appeared to be a sheep’s head on power pole equipment. It is suspected that the remains may have been dropped by an eagle.

“Many customers were without power for up to 15 hours before electricity supplies were safely restored last night.

“We know it is frustrating to lose power and we apologise to our customers for the inconvenience and thank them for their patience, but it is essential our crews do everything necessary to ensure power is restored safely.

“We encourage everyone that if you see a fallen powerline or potential network hazard to make the safe call to Western Power’s 24/7 emergency line on 13 13 51.”

Towns affected 13 January 2015 (yesterday):
Mullewa, Tenindewa, Pindar, Wongoondy Moonyoonooka, Durawah, West Casuarinas, Bringo , Devils Creek, Ambania, Eradu South , Nunierra, Kojarena, Tardun, North Eradu, East Chapman, Wicherina Northern Gullym, Northampton , Horrocks, Binnu, Gregory, Nabawa, Nanson, Alma, Sandy Gully, Ogilvie Ajana, East Bowes, South Yuna, Naraling, East Yuna, Nolba , Yuna.

Mullewa today
“Western Power crews were called out to locate and repair a fault that affected approximately 770 customers in Mullewa.
“30 customers have been reconnected at 2pm today, and crews are working as safely and quickly as possible to restore the remaining 740 customers in the Mullewa area this afternoon.

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Thank you to Barry Anderson for the information. 

Alert: Fake emails reporting ISIS attacks in Sydney

Malware alert: Fake emails reporting ISIS attacks in Sydney

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has received numerous reports since Sunday about fake emails from news.com.au with the subject line ‘ISIS attacks in
Sydney?’ These emails encourage people to open a ‘Word’ or ’.rar’ file attachment by claiming the document includes details of Sydney locations that ISIS plans to attack.

These emails are FAKE and contain a malicious attachment that if opened, or clicked on, may download and install malware onto your computer.

If you receive an email from news.com.au with the same or similar title, it should be DELETED IMMEDIATELY. Do not click on any attachment in the email.

Only 30 sleeps to go-wireless mic users get ready!

As the festive season draws near, New Year’s (and the critical date of 1 January 2015) shortly follows. As a consequence, the Australian Communications and Media Authority is strongly urging all clubs, schools, businesses, places of worship and other community organisations, if they use wireless microphones, to check their devices to see if they can continue to use them after New Year.

Changes to regulations mean wireless mics that currently use radio waves in the 694-820 megahertz (MHz) range will no longer be able to be operated from 1 January 2015.

From 1 January the 694-820 MHz range will be used to deliver advanced 4G mobile broadband services and wireless mics users need to be ready. Wireless mics that currently use radio waves in the 694-820 MHz range must be retuned (if retuning is possible) or upgraded to allow operation in a different band (if the device cannot be returned). 

This infographic is a quick guide on whether you need to retune your gear or upgrade it. Popular television presenter, Shelley Craft, is also helping the ACMA get the message out in the community with this video.

‘Since 2012, the ACMA has been raising awareness of the change among a wide range of community and business groups, but as we count down through December time is running out to make the transition,’ said ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman.

‘Our fact sheets and online resources, such as a frequency finder for your area, have been popular as they help groups understand how they can prepare for the change,’ he added.

The main ranges that can be used for wireless mics after 1 January 2015 are 520-694 MHz and 1790-1800 MHz. As 520-694 MHz is shared with television broadcasting, people purchasing wireless mics should either talk with their supplier or use the frequency finder to make sure they choose the most suitable frequency range for the area where they plan to operate.

The ACMA expects compliance will be largely self-managing as any remaining wireless microphones will stop working as the rollout of new 4G services increases. There might be delays in some areas or frequency bands before services begin, but wireless mic users should not assume that just because a wireless microphone system keeps working after 1 January it won’t need to be changed.

While in most cases wireless microphone are likely to stop working before causing interference, if interference is detected from a wireless microphone, the ACMA will take action in accordance with its graduated approach to compliance. This will usually mean an education awareness approach in the first instance, for example, advising the user they must not cause interference to radiocommunications services and must retune to another channel or cease using the device.

For all you need to know about wireless microphones, head to www.wirelessmicrophones.gov.au.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Emma Rossi, Media Manager, (02) 9334 7719 and 0434 652 063 or media@acma.gov.au.