March iiNews
editor's note
For as long as I can remember, I've been a hoarder. From the "secret" stash of snacks and candy in my top drawer (alright, top two drawers), through to my collection of unworn sneakers and unopened vinyl collectables. Then there's that growing stack of unread books building up on my bedside table and also my collection of pens people keep pinching.
Thankfully, a quick trawl through the World Wide Web reveals that I'm not alone in my hoarding habits. No matter what tickles your fancy, you're sure to find sites and blogs dedicated to just about anything you can imagine - collecting candy wrappers; accumulating sugar packets; and even guides on how to collect shark teeth! The best thing about the internet is that if you can't quite find what you're looking for, there's not much stopping you from setting up your own blog or site to share your obsession.
Moving right along, this month's edition brings email hoarders some happy news. We talk about Toolbox's new facelift, make mobile emailing even more accessible, get loco with LocoTV and take Google's Chrome browser out for a spin. There's the usual bag of reviews and giveaways to go through. While Site Scan goes grass roots, wrapping up with a suite of sites to help you on your next computer and hardware shopping spree.
If you'd like to share any of your thoughts about iiNews - questions and suggestions - send through an email to iinewsfeedback@iinet.net.au.
Enjoy this month's edition and happy hoarding!
Swee Au-Yong
iiNews Editor
iiNet news
Toolbox upgrade - coming soon...
Tailing off from the cosmetic work we performed in December (for our new iiNet website), we'll soon be unveiling a fresh new Toolbox next month.
Apart from the obvious facelift, your online DIY account management tool will also include an improved user interface based on customer feedback and suggestions.
The new Toolbox dashboard will host all your most commonly used features, helping you access the information you need faster. You'll see the introduction of a custom side bar, listing useful account alerts and user information while anti-popup types will be pleased to hear that all pages now open in one single window.
There's not long to go now! See you in the shiny new (and improved) Toolbox in April.
Inbox increase
Great news for iiNet customers who have a tendency to hoard their emails - over the next couple of weeks, we'll be increasing your email storage limit to 1GB.
How big is a gig? It's around 40,000 25KB plain text emails. While you won't have unlimited storage space, that's ten times the current 100MB limit!
The new system will also see an increase in warnings for when you're about to hit your 1 GB quota limit; meaning you can keep a watchful eye on your inbox, in case it starts to get a little chubby.
Get your iiNet email on your mobile phone
You asked, we answered - you now can check your iiNet email on your mobile phone. It works like Webmail, but uses your phone's in-built email software.
Point your web-enabled handset to http://ii.net/m, then click on iiNet email on your phone to access our setup guides.
So far, we've got walkthroughs for the Apple iPhone, Nokia N95 and HTC Windows Mobile - plus basic settings for everyone else.
As always, we're open to feedback. Shoot through questions and suggestions for our mobile website to mobilefeedback@iinet.net.au.
Freezone goes Loco
Loco TV is a Perth based company that films, produces and broadcasts it's own local TV shows. It's TV on your terms, and is our latest addition to the Freezone.
If you're an avid angler there's The Fishing and Boating Channels, The Wrestling Channel is perfect if you like a bit of biff, or you can plan your next WA holiday with the Unwrapped travel series.
A handful of new shows are constantly being added, so check back regularly for fresh episodes of your Loco faves. The best part is, like everything in the Freezone, your quota won't be affected by your viewing!
Please note: for Loco TV content to be counted as quota-free, it must be viewed through the iiNet Freezone.
Chris Bray Finalist for Dream Job
We're excited to announce that one half of iiNet's 1000 Hour Day Expedition team Chris Bray, has been shortlisted for 'The Best Job In The World'.
For the unacquainted, 'Best Job' is a Tourism Queensland promotion that will see one poor soul getting paid to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef.
Over 34,000 applicants from around the world applied for the gig, with only 50 making the short-list cut. You can help Chris get to the interview stage by viewing his profile and slinging him a vote before the 24th of March.
business news
How to take your business online with Adam Bennett
Last month we touched on some of the key benefits of securing a piece of online real estate for your business. This month, we're taking the next step and looking at exactly what you'll need to do to get started.
Register a domain name
A domain name is your unique and exclusive online address. For example, "businessonline.com.au". Even if you don't want a website just yet, it pays to get in early and register your name so that nobody else can take it. If the name you want is already taken, you might need to get creative and think of a good alternative.
You'll also need to choose a preferred domain type. There's a lot of different domain types you can register, like ".com.au", ".net", or even ".co.nz" if the folks in New Zealand are part of your target market.
Design and build your website
Make one yourself or hire a web designer. If funds are tight, you can easily design your own website with programs like SiteBuilder Basic. Programs like SiteBuilder Basic give you a fast, simple method of building your website, without the need for any web development skills.
Host your website
This is where your website and all the files used to create it are housed, served and maintained. You'll find lots of different web hosting setups available, all dependent on budget and individual website needs. Use the free 1GB of webspace on your iiNet account to start hosting your domain right away, or check out our web hosting solutions for more advanced features.
To scratch that itch for more information jump online and sift through our domains and hosting pages. Otherwise, call our Business Team on 13 24 49 - they'll be happy to talk you through all the ins and outs.
support & services
Geek Speak
Don't know your VOIPs from your DSLs? Feel embarrassed at dinner parties when the conversation turns to Fibre To The Node? Like to know what all those techie terms mean? Well look no further...
Geek Speak is here to help turn technical internet jargon into plain and simple English. We understand not everyone is a net nerd, so each month iiNews will publish a Geek Speak topic to give you a hand. For this month, let's take a look at the question - how does a search engine work?
How does a search engine work?
An internet search engine is a website which allows you to search the entire World Wide Web for information relating to keywords that you type in. You can search for many different things on search engines like websites, images and even maps. So how does a search engine choose and return a list of website pages that match your search?
Firstly, search engines are continually searching the World Wide Web with a thing called a web crawler, also known as robots (bots) or spiders. This special program looks around web pages and adds them in to its database, which in turn forms an index. Information on web pages like the title, names of headings and other special areas are stored in the search engine's database for future searches performed by everyday people like you and me.
When you search for something, the search engine checks its database index for web pages which match your query. For example if you type in icecream all web pages relating to icecream on the net will show up in your results. Where they show up in the results is another thing altogether.
Search engines have to choose which web pages to recommend, higher in the list than others, in a list of sometimes millions. Each search engine has an equation they use to determine rank in relation to a specific search using things like relevance, popularity and the history of the web page. These equations constantly change as the internet evolves.
If this has wet your whistle, check out iiHelp for more information on using search engines.
As always, if you have any feedback or would like to suggest a new topic just email us at geekspeak@iinet.net.au.
Google Chrome review with Hugo Jenkins
Spin on ten years from the dotcom boom. The internet is no longer just a space for storing photos of your cat. Modern users want to tag their cat's face in their Flickr galleries, have every cat page sorted by del.icio.us, caption amusing photos to upload to icanhascheezburger, connect and chat with other cat fanciers over Skype, all to post together in a neat package on CatBook (yes, really).
Recognising that users interact more and more with the web these days, Google started with a simple but ambitious design brief for their new web browser project: to revolutionise the way browsers interact with the modern internet. The result is Google Chrome, a new web browser that was quietly released as a beta late last year.
Chrome has a couple of killer features (explained in a helpful comic) that makes you wonder what the developers of other browsers have been doing all these years. Immediately obvious is the lightning fast speed of general browsing and dynamic content-heavy pages like Gmail, MySpace or eBay. Firefox feels a little sluggish by comparison, and using IE7 after some time with Chrome is a truly painful experience.
The second (and slightly less obvious) major new feature is the multi-process nature of the browser itself: each tab is running as a separate instance of the Chrome program. Put simply, if an errant webpage or plug-in crashes your browser, it will only take that one page down, as opposed to pulling the whole browser (or even the operating system) down with it. That's not to say that Chrome crashes often; I've only ever seen the frowning dead browser tab page twice since release, both on sites running plug-ins specifically designed for other browsers.
Moving on, there's an array of fantastic new features waiting for you to discover in Chrome. There's a great (and arguably controversial) "omnibox" which searches Google and any other site you like, and your browsing history, all within a single input; a portal page that opens common site searches and your favourite pages when you open a new tab; active anti-virus and malware detection; "incognito mode" for those surreptitious erm... present purchases; a very functional and minimal interface, and much more.
It's not all roses, of course; Chrome is a relatively young browser and is lacking support for third party add-ons, which are a mainstay of almost every other browser on the web today. As a heavy web user, I miss the useful Firefox add-ons, like Firebug, Cooliris, mouse gestures, and support for middle click scrolling. Google assures us that add-on support is coming which would fix these problems. Windows is the only supported platform at the moment, with OSX and Linux support "coming soon". Another major problem is that many web applications are released with one or two major browsers in mind, for instance the new QuakeLive beta, so they just don't work at all in Chrome (yet).
Despite these flaws, you might have noticed that I am a big Chrome fan. Fast, stable, and easy on the eye - just the way I like it. Just don't expect it to take over the world any time soon.
Further reading and viewing:
- The Story Behind Google Chrome
- The Nifty Google Chrome AdSpot
- 10 Features of Chrome
- A Fresh Take on the Browser
competitions
Music giveaway
Thanks to our friends at www.musichead.com.au, we've got 10 prize packs featuring The Cat Empire, Starsailor and the Confessions of a Shopaholic soundtrack to give away.
The Cat Empire
Live On Earth
If you've ever had the pleasure of seeing The Cat Empire live, you'll understand the excitement over their new album. Live On Earth is a collection of 22 songs performed live at various venues around the world, fusing jazz, ska, funk and rock with latin influences.
Starsailor
All The Plans
Starsailor's fourth album combines heavier tracks with piano rock and gets the thumbs up from industry heavies like Killers frontman Brandon Flowers. On the single 'All The Plans We Made' you'll hear the guitar talents of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood.
Soundtrack
Confessions of a Shopaholic
This ode to maxing out the credit card features a bag of appropriately titled tunes such as 'Blue Jeans', 'Accessory', 'Fashion', 'Big Spender' and 'Shopaholic Suite'. In there too, are a bunch of exclusive tracks including a Pussycat Dolls cover, a new offering from Macy Gray, and a Coldplay-style interpretation of Cyndi Lauper's 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'.
To be in the running for a prize pack, email competitions with 'March Musichead Competition' in the subject line. Don't forget to include your username, full name and address, along with the answer to this question: What is the name of Google's new browser? by 5pm (WST) Friday 20 March, 2009.
games reviews
Our good friends from Games Warehouse have teamed up with us again to bring you our monthly games review and another $100 voucher to splurge on gaming goodness.
To be in the running to win this voucher, email competitions with 'March Games Warehouse Competition' in the subject line. Don't forget to include your username, full name and address, along with the answer to this fill-in-the-blanks question: In the next few weeks, iiNet will be increasing your email storage limit to ____ GB by 5pm (WST) Friday 20 March, 2009.
Gamer's 2-minute review
Console gaming and real-time strategy are strange bedfellows, to my mind thumbsticks and squad command simply do not blend. And yet, there seems to be a growing league of titles trying to do exactly that - what's worse, they're doing it well. Let's be clear though, by 'well' I mean 'console RTS well'. Which is sort of like endorsing midget wrestlers as mainstream exponents of the sport: they do the best they can with what they have, but they're sadly not going to be taken as seriously by the purists. Probably because they have little arms.
So where was I... Halo Wars, for 360? Very much in purgatory, at once great and simple depending on which hat you're wearing. On the one hand, it's a shining example of how RTS can breach the console gap, a polished showing and a capable extension of the Halo universe. On the other, it's notably limited by the lack of a keyboard and mouse, a hurdle I struggle to clear without fretting.
If you're unsure which camp to put your foot in, ask yourself one simple question: have you ever played a PC RTS before? If the answer is yes, you may have some trouble staying perky with Halo Wars. It'd be like putting boxing gloves on a pianist, or switching from Lego to Duplo.
Let's look at the good bits first. Playing through the campaign on behalf of the UNSC, the storyline bumbles along nicely and sets a reasonable excuse for making a game of it all. You're working with a gutsy marine named Sergeant Forge, alongside the traditional fare of Warthogs, Scorpion Tanks, Spartans and a few new surprises. It's a real plus if you're at all a fan of the series, to see everything rendered and animated as it was from a first-person point of view - right down to how the Banshees fly and the Hunters shamble.
As an RTS it's not particularly innovative, but it doesn't do anything badly wrong. It's simplistic but engaging, base development requires a bit of thought and the missions are fairly active (turtling isn't terribly viable when you're limited to four base turrets and a squad cap).
Where it goes a bit brown is squad management. Kudos to Ensemble Studios for doing a great job translating common RTS functions to the 360 controller. Most of what you need is a quick button away - back to base, cross to my units in the field, nice and rapid. What you can't do, sadly, is group and manage mixed squads easily. It's all been dumbed down to selecting by unit type, all on screen or all on map. Which really just encourages tank spam versus any truly tactical fire team deployment.
It's this lack of keyboard/mouse intricacy that condemns the title for me. I frequently found myself wanting to do something straightforward with my army only to have to translate it through a thumbstick and a restrictive UI.
But hey, that's just me. This game still does a good deal right, and I didn't hate coming back to play it further despite the control scheme. If you're considering this as a purchase, just keep in mind the novelty of the concept - seasoned RTS-heads may go wanting.
site scan
Computer parts shopping with Sandy Lim
This month, we feature our favourites for computer parts shopping. These sites have been around for ages and come with an assured measure of street cred, covering your news and reviews, price comparison and real consumer opinions.
Tom's Hardware
Tom's Hardware is every discerning shopper's first stop for objective news and reviews on computer hardware. They're armed with their own test labs and operate independently from hardware manufacturers, meaning unbiased reports on the tech parts you have in mind.
PriceSpy
If you can't be bothered shopping around, get someone else to do it for you. PriceSpy Australia checks on computer hardware prices from online retailers at least once a day, giving you the most convenient and up-to-date list you can get.
Product Review Australia - Computing
Get genuine consumer opinions from fellow hardware users. You can also throw your 2-cents into the mix to help other shoppers make good decisions. The Computing section is just one part of the Product Review Australia website, which is home to over 40,000 user-submitted articles.
