September iiNews
editor's note
It’s become somewhat of a weekly ritual – firing up Apple’s iTunes Movie Trailers page and clicking through the ‘just added’ features. I’m liking the look of the new Woody Harrelson flick (survivor zombie genres are right up my alley) or the new documentary about NBA superstar LeBron James.
Moving on from what’s showing soon at the box office, you’ll find we’ve taken a shine to films and videos for this edition. We talk through the growing sea video files and formats you’ll find online with Geek Speak, warm up for the introduction of more shorts coming to Freezone next month, and wind up with some cherry-picked sites for film buffs.
In other news, we’ve received some exciting news this month - iiNet had been named overall winner in the Best Internet Service Provider category of The 2009 WebAwards. We’re puffing our chests with pride on this one, it’s nice to know our website’s competed with over 2,000 entries from 45 countries and come out a winner.
A quick one for your to-do list this month (if you haven’t already) - think about signing the GetUp! online petition against internet censorship. With the government’s decision on internet filtering just weeks away, now’s a good time to make sure your opinion counts - Save The Net.
Glad to have you on board for another edition – let’s get stuck in!
Swee Au-Yong
iiNews Editor
iiNet news
Freezone - new look, new add-ons
If you're a frequent Freezone visitor, you'll already have noticed - we've re-skinned the Freezone! On top of the fresh paintwork and rewiring, you'll find clever navigation to help you get around, plus a new search box feature.
All your favourite content is still available but stay tuned, we've got more content and feature adds in the works.
Take a look at what's new and what we have in store:
Over the Fence
From October, we'll be welcoming a handpicked selection of comic shorts from the Over the Fence Short Film Festivals into the Freezone. In its twelfth year, Over the Fence promises to bring some of the cheekiest short films from around the globe to Australian audiences.
If you're in WA, join in on the festival fun by heading to one of the simultaneous screenings scattered around the state (happening October 2 - 4). Find out more about screenings by visiting Over the Fence or jump down to Competitions for your chance to score a VIP double pass to Opening Night.
WASO
New to The Arts channel this month, is Mahler's First - an awe-inspiring concerto featuring Principal Conductor Paul Daniel, streamed to your speakers thanks to the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.
USEnet Newsgroups
From 30 September, we'll be removing USEnet Newsgroups (an online discussion system) from the Freezone, meaning content from here will no longer be unmetered. If you're a regular user, USEnet will continue to run as a text-only service provided by Giganews, making many more newsgroups available. You'll need to reset your news clients to sync messages and newsgroups, plus keep an eye on the meter.
We hope you like your new Freezone. Learn more about what the Freezone's all about or if you'd like to share some feedback about the new setup, send us a quick email through freezoneinfo@staff.iinet.net.au.
Have you met BoB™ yet?
You may have seen him on the telly, on bus shelters and even in some of the online games you've been playing. For those of you who don't know who we're talking about, meet BoB™.
BoB™ is the latest innovation to come from our iiLabs, and he's here to make your life easier. The clever brainchild from iiNet and Belkin provides all your home communication needs (phone and internet) in one neat and sexy black box.
On top of bringing best in class wireless to your home, BoB™ promises to be super easy - in a plug and play kind of way. He comes with a whole bag of cool features, like USB ports to charge your mp3 player, multiple handsets and cheap calls when coupled with a Naked DSL plan. So go on, discover more about BoB™.
Like the look of our friend BoB™? Jump down to Competitions for your chance to have him in your home.
business news
Business Broadband plan quotas - bigger and beefier!
If you haven't noticed already, we've beefed up monthly download quotas for most of our Business Broadband plans. Business customers will be pleased to hear that these upgrades come at no extra cost, plus you won't need to lift any fingers - we've done all the legwork.
If you're on one of our business plans eligible for the quota boost, you'll already have received an email with all the details. If you're not signed up, want to see how quotas have changed, or look into bundling with one of our business phone plans, take a look at our new business solutions page.
Smarter Business Solutions page
Shopping around for the right products to suit your company's communications needs can be tricky business. To help make the experience easier and more intuitive, we've recently rolled out a new and improved Business Solutions portal.
Whether you're a sole trader looking for a jumpstart, a medium sized business looking for cost control options, or an enterprise looking for priority support; our Business Solutions portal can help you shortlist the best products for your operation.
While you're checking out the portal, you'll also find a new business plan advisor. If you're thinking of signing up or upgrading to a business broadband or Naked DSL product, our plan advisor will help you find a good fit.
support & services
Geek Speak
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 publishes a Geek Speak topic to give you a hand. This month, let's take a look at video files.
mpg, avi, mov. What's with all the different video files?
When it comes to video files found online, there's a whole sea of types and formats available. To the inexperienced, it's easy to get lost in a digital alphabet soup of MPGs, MOVs, MP4s, AVIs, MKVs, WMVs, 3GPs and FLVs.
In reality, things aren't so mind-boggling. Video files are actually media containers. They're self-contained tubs that can hold several types of data, like audio and video. Since they first appeared on the scene in the early '90s, these containers have become more advanced, with formats like MKV able to mimic their DVD cousins (featuring selectable audio streams, sub titles, menus, chapters and more).
Let's kick things off alphabetically and take a look at some of the more common formats around.
AVI or Audio Video Interleave was introduced in 1992 by Microsoft. An industry pioneer back in the day, AVIs were one of the first to allow synchronized playback of audio and video. You'll find AVIs are still widely used and popular as a video download format.
FLV files are usually small, compact and used for embedded videos over the internet. Chances are, if you're watching streaming video on the web (like YouTube), you're watching a FLV. FLVs are viewed using the widely available Adobe Flash Player. The plug-in player is a cinch to install into your web browser, which probably explains why FLVs are growing in the popularity stakes.
MKV files are the new kids on the block. Also called Matroska (much like the Russian matryoshka or babushka dolls), MKVs are commonly used to store HD video files.
MOV files were developed by the folks from Apple during the '90s. Originally designed to run in Apple's QuickTime environment, MOVs can play on most platforms and are popular for streaming.
MPG files are another early '90s heavyweight. MPGs usually used for creating downloadable movies, rather than more compressed vids for streaming.
MP4 or MPEG-4 files are usually tiny in size and great for attaching to an email or loading to portable media players. If you have an iPod or use iTunes, you'll probably have noticed that your videos are saved as MP4 files.
WMV stands for Windows Media Video. Developed by Microsoft, WMVs are another popular compressed video file format. Only caveat here is that these files prefer a Windows computer to run on.
3GP file extensions are another relative newie. 3GPs were originally designed as a format to transfer multimedia files between 3G phones and the web. If you've ever snapped a quick video from your mobile phone and sent it online, it's likely that it's converted into a 3GP.
Each file type brings its own strengths and limitations to the table, but at the end of the day they're all just containers. Most computers today come loaded with media players which can handle most of these formats for you. If not, you can always try installing VideoLAN's VLC Media Player - it's the player of choice for stuff off the net, able to play almost any video!
That's if for another installment of Geek Speak. If you have any feedback or would like to suggest a new topic just email us at geekspeak@iinet.net.au.
competitions
Cast your vote & win - 2009 PC Authority Best Tech Awards
The polling booths are now open! Let Australia know what's got your tech vote, by taking part in PC Authority's Best Tech Awards. To thank you for your efforts, PC Authority's rustled up a hefty $15,000 prize pool - there's shiny notebooks, Tom Toms, digital cameras, hard drives and more.
If you'd like in on this action, get ready to click and fill out the PC Authority Best Tech survey. Don't forget to vote for iiNet in the Broadband ISP section! With your help, we'll walk away with the Best ISP title. Polls close Wednesday 28 October 2009.
Win a BoB™ & take him home
We're giving one lucky iiNews reader a chance to take BoB™ home. To be in the running to win one BoB™ unit with attached handset (valued at $369.00), simply tell us in 25 words or less how BoB™ will make life easier for you.
Email competitions with your entry and include 'September BoB Competition' in the subject line. Don't forget, we'll need to know your username, full name and address too. Entries close 5pm (WST) Friday 9 October, 2009.
Sip & surf from Starbucks to win!
Good news bean lovers! You could win a Starbucks Card worth $125 the next time you connect to a Starbucks Wi-Fi hotspot - that's enough beans to purchase a Tall Latte a day, for a month!
To enter, simply duck into one of over 20 Starbucks stores on the east coast and login to a Starbucks Wi-Fi hotspot during October. You'll need your iiNet username and password to log on - easy. If you're a first timer, learn more on how to connect to a WiFi hotspot
Don't forget, as an iiNet customer, you also get 100Mb of bonus data to use each month in a Starbucks WiFi hotspot. All the more reason to Google with your next Grande.
Score Over the Fence opening night passes Thanks to our partnership with Over the Fence, we're giving away 5 VIP double passes to attend the festival's Perth Opening Night on Friday 2 October, at Cinema Paradiso.
If you're in town and keen catch some shorts, email competitions with 'Over the Fence Competition' in the subject line. Let us know your username, full name, contact number, along with the answer to this question: The Over the Fence Short Film Festival will be held over which dates in 2009? by 3pm (WST) Thursday 1 October, 2009.
The In Sound From Way Out - Music giveaway
We've rounded up a mixed bag of tunes this month! Thanks to our musical friends from The In Sound From Way Out we're giving away 10 CD prize packs featuring Alice in Chains, Jamie T and French DJ David Guetta.
To put yourself in the running to score one of these packs, email competitions with 'September The In Sound Competition' in the subject line. Don't forget to include your username, full name and address, with the answer to this question: What does AVI stand for? Entries need to make it in before by 5pm (WST) Friday 9 October, 2009.
Alice In Chains
Black Gives Way To Blue
We've waited more than a decade for this studio release from these grandfathers of grunge. Vocalist William DuVall replaces the late Layne Staley on the new album which combines hard rock and acoustic tracks. The fact that Elton John was willing to collaborate on the opener speaks volumes about the legendary status of Alice. Have a taste of their album sampler.
David Guetta
One Love
This Frenchman began his career at age 17, playing hip-hop and house venues. More recently he's been producing for the Black Eyed Peas. One Love is Guetta's fourth studio album and has been on the receiving end of some pretty cheery reviews. Rolling Stone hailed his title track One Love as "one of the best DJ-Produced songs of the century."
Jamie T
Kings & Queens
At just 23 years of age, Jamie Treays is what you might call a high achiever. He beat Jarvis Cocker and Thom Yorke to take out Best Solo Artist at the 2007 Shockwave NME Awards in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize the same year. We've had to wait almost two and a half years for Kings & Queens, so find out what the fuss is all about.
games reviews
Thanks to our friends from Games Warehouse we've first-person shooter'd our way through Halo 3: ODST. If fighting and exploring your way through war ravaged lands sounds like your cup of tea, read on for our review.
As usual, we've got another $100 Games Warehouse voucher to giveaway. If you fancy winning and spending this voucher, email competitions with 'September Games Warehouse Competition' in the subject line. You'll need to include your username, full name and address, along with the answer to this question: Name one cool feature BoB™ promises to bring into homes? Get your entries in before 5pm (WST) Friday 9 October, 2009.
Gamer's 2 minute review - Halo 3: ODST
Bungie's beautiful beast of a franchise lumbers on, with the impressive release of their 'Halo 3.5', ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper). It's important to note that this is no full-blown game or sequel in its own right, nor is it just a token expansion. What we're looking at here is something of a halfway house, an interim release with plenty of content to tide the fans over, packaged and presented with the sort of polish only Bungie can apply.
Out of the box, ODST gives you a five-hour campaign, online deathmatch access to the greater Halo 3 community and a novel new multiplayer mode called 'Firefight'. The latter is a great new addition to the multiplayer offering, playing out in a similar fashion to Gears of War 2's Horde mode: team up with a couple of your mates online and hold a location against waves of computer-controlled nasties for as long as you can. With shared lives, limited ammo and an increasingly challenging AI onslaught, the end result is intensely good fun. That said, I fully expect to deal with the same awe-inspiring arrogance we've come to know and love of Halo's gameplaying community.
Turning now to the campaign itself, let's take a moment to reflect. Until now, the Halo series has propped you up as a bit of a Bruce Willis - dive in with grenades and guns, beat down anyone still standing. High fives and roll on. In ODST, your rookie protagonist is decidedly more human. While you can still engage in the same style of grenade-infused horseplay, it's ten times more exciting to know that you don't have shields or regenerating health. Substitute Master Chief's man-size one liners with your new hero's terrified breathlessness, and the storyline becomes rewardingly claustrophobic.
The story itself jumps about a bit. As a rookie drop trooper, you've been separated from your squad after a botched orbital drop. Six hours later your man awakens, and what follows is a lonely night-time haul through a hostile and deserted New Mombasa trying to piece together clues as to where the rest of your team ended up. With each clue found, a full side-story mission kicks off detailing a new portion of the past six hours at the hands of each individual squadmate.
Initially, this desolate 'city hub' detective concept felt disorienting and disappointingly action-free... but having played it through again on a higher difficulty setting, the experience is richly rewarding in just trying to stay alive. With that in mind, newcomers should without question play it solo first time around, as the multiplayer aspect completely destroys the vibe of isolation.
ODST has its moments, but the action is a little toned down. The theme here is survival, which pays dividends if you can buy into the concept. Slightly pricy for an expansion, but a good bet if you're pro-Halo. Vote yes.
site scan
Online picks for film buffs with Sandy Lim
It's been a fine year for movies - at least we think so. With the last leg of '09 fast approaching, and more quality viewing about to land, we're celebrating with some cool movie-esque site picks - an info-packed movie magazine, a recommendations engine to suit your taste, and stylish film shorts from SBS.
Movie Fix
Movie Fix is the online magazine for film buffs, featuring news, reviews, interviews, trailers, session times and competitions for sweet movie merch. It's just one (awesome) part of The Fix, Australia's glut of entertainment buzz.
Jinni
Rate your favourite (and not-so-favourite) movies and TV shows, and Jinni will help you find more of the stuff you like. Search for new viewing by plot type, mood, title, people and more - there's even a taste test to help you find your personal blend.
SBS Film Shorts
Funny and heart-warming shorts from four SBS collections - punchy day-to-day glimpses of modern Aboriginal life, an exploration of human closeness online, the quirky things that happen in a rented VW Golf, and beautifully animated tales from around the world. All PG and up.
