November iiNews
editor's note
I've always reserved a very special place in my heart for Peter Pan. Let's be honest, who wouldn't want to learn to fly and run away to Never Land?
This month, we're saying a cheery hello to Freezone Kids, our own online playground especially for young ones. For the young at heart, we've added a whole barrage of new Freezone content. There's something to please everyone - games, music, movies, entertainment.
In other news, we welcomed hundreds of iiNet customers and locals to our annual Open Day in mid November. We'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended one of our sessions - it was a pleasure to have you stop by for a visit.
For everyone who wrote in and couldn't make it for the day, we'll be making seminar and presentation materials available online shortly. Keep a sharp eye on our Open Day page in the coming weeks; otherwise, you can expect us to make more noise when things are up and running.
Moving right along, the official iiNet & AFACT hearings have finally wrapped up. It's back to our respective corners for now. If you haven't kept up, read through our case updates or media release archive.
Go ahead - get stuck in! There's lots to get through.
Swee Au-Yong
iiNews Editor
iinewsfeedback@iinet.net.au
iiNet news
Freezone Kids launched - entertainment for little people
Good news for little ones! We've just launched Freezone Kids - a safe online content platform, packed full of entertainment just for juniors.
Together with Roadshow Films, we'll be giving customers access to loads of children's programs previously limited to TV or DVD. By visiting Freezone Kids, tots and tykes can channel flick through shows like The DoodleBops and LazyTown via Gekko TV (for kids aged 2-6); Cyberchase, 6teen and Stickin' Around via iiguana (for 6 - 12 year olds); and a massive selection of video clips via UGoGo (for kids under 6).
The best part? Our one-stop-shop for children's entertainment isn't only safe but comes completely unmetered and at no additional cost for iiNet customers - meaning little tackers can enjoy Freezone Kids, without making a dent to monthly iiNet download quotas.
Tune into Freezone Kids or learn more about Freezone.
TiVo® enters unmetered Freezone
More good news on the Freezone front! At the start of November, we welcomed TiVo® and on-demand entertainment service CASPA™ into the Freezone.
CASPA™ On-Demand is a world of broadband entertainment available through TiVo that includes new release movies, hit TV shows for the whole family as well as music videos and concerts. As an iiNet customer, you get to enjoy all CASPA™ On-Demand downloads - all unmetered and quota-free. Read the full story.
With an average film being 1.7GB in size, the addition of CASPA™ On-Demand movies, TV and music means you'll save even more. You'll be able to spend less time worrying about monthly download quotas and more time enjoying some of the best broadcast and broadband entertainment. Time to TiVo®!
New Look 3FL & Playr in Freezone
On December 5th, the 3FL Gaming Network will be turning nine! In preparation for this special day, we've recently re-skinned the 3FL site (available through Freezone gaming), with a slick new look and a fresh round of upgrades.
Serious gamers will also notice we've made functional upgrades across the site, improving areas like the forums and Server Spy. We've also plugged in sweet gamer TV, thanks to Playr, to bring you previews, reviews and video gaming features.
Head to 3FL to catch the latest episodes of Playr or find them archived in our Freezone Playr page.
Rhapsody in Blue with WASO - live streaming into the Freezone
Congratulations Russell Miller (Woodvale, WA) and Michelle Dean (Medina WA)! You've each scored a double VIP pass to catch some sweet Rhapsody in Blue symphony with WASO.
For everyone who wrote in last month for our WASO comp, there's no need to feel left out. While you won't be walking the red carpet, you'll get to skip the queues, enjoying the performance from the comfort of your home.
Note it down on your calendar, we'll be streaming Rhapsody in Blue's performance live on Saturday 5 December (from 7:30pm WST) through our iiNet Freezone.
iiNet Photo Centre - 30% off selected Christmas gifts
If you're looking to make a head start on Christmas shopping, head into our iiNet Photo Centre for some warm and fuzzy gift ideas. Thanks to our partnership with Snapfish, you'll be able to take advantage of a 30% discount off selected iiNet Photo Centre goodies.
Once you're registered, sorting out your personalised gift is a cinch. Simply make your pick from the goodies on offer - choose from photo notebooks, mugs, desk calendars, beer steins, aprons and playing cards. Next, upload your photo, get creative with any optional tweaks and you're away!
To make sure your photo gift arrives in time for the festive season, you'll need to place your order before 15 December, 2009. Don't forget, you'll need to also enter the following code iiNETXMAS9 at the checkout to make the most of of our 30% discount.
*Offer ends on 24 December 2009. Discount code cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion, but can be used multiple times. Offer is valid in Australia only. Post and packing or handling fee applies.
support & services
iiNet support hours over Christmas, Boxing Day & New Years
With the silly season just around the corner, we thought we'd make some advanced noise about opening hours for customer support.
We'll be closing Contact Centres on Christmas Day this year and operating on reduced hours throughout the holiday period (see below for full dates and times).
- Thursday, December 24th - Midnight - 9pm (WST)
- Friday, December 25th - CLOSED
- Saturday, December 26th - 8am to 6pm (WST)
- Sunday, December 27th - 8am to 6pm (WST)
- Monday, December 28th - 24/7 support resumes from 1am (WST)
- Tuesday, December 29th - 24/7 support
- Wednesday, December 30th - 24/7 support
- Thursday, December 31st - support closes at 9pm (WST)
- Friday, January 1st - 8am to 6pm (WST)
- Saturday, January 2nd - 8am to 6pm (WST)
- Sunday, January 3rd - 8am to 6pm (WST)
- Monday, January 4th - 24/7 support resumes from 1am (WST)
While we know you're used to support around the clock, we hope you'll understand that our iiNet staff love Christmas and the holidays as much as you.
From what we've seen from the past, the festive period is generally pretty quiet. If you do run into any rough patches with your internet service, you can try accessing our mobile-friendly support at http://iinet.mobi using your web-enabled smart phone. Thanks to iiNet.mobi you'll have access to our iiHelp knowledgebase and a comprehensive set of tools in Toolbox for some basic DIY fixers.
Geek Speak - Peak vs. off-peak
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, we cast some extra light on peak and off-peak times.
Rush hour. It's slow. It's frustrating. The world seems to grind to a halt, because too many people are trying to do the same thing at the same time.
Peak and off-peak periods for your internet connection can be likened to traffic congestion on the roads. Generally, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) introduce peak and off-peak times to their plans to encourage users to download large files during times of the day when their networks aren't as busy.
When is peak?
Peak periods usually come into play during times of the day when more people are online. For example, iiNet peak times set in from 12pm - 2am each day (your local time). It's usually smart to do your general web browsing during peak times, saving large file downloads for the later hours when the tubes aren't so congested.
When is off-peak?
Off-peak periods usually kick in when there's less demand on the network. These hours are usually at night, when most users (bar night owls) are fast asleep. For most iiNet customers on current plans, off-peak time is from 2am to 12 noon (your local time).
To schedule downloads in the wee hours, you can try using a download manager. Download managers are programs designed to help download (and sometimes upload) files from the internet. You can use these programs to help schedule in late night downloads (or downloads at any time really).
How do I know what download allowance I have?
No matter which iiNet plan you're on, you can view your quota online at any time within the toolbox volume usage tool. This tool lets you to see how much your monthly quota is along with your usage patterns to help you budget your quota allocation. Learn more about volume usage.
How do I manage my quota?
You can make the most of your monthly download allowance (and avoid being shaped) by making sure you're on the right plan to suit your usage habits. Try heading to the Freezone, make sure to use your off-peak quota, keep tabs on your volume usage and a close eye on your monthly quota reset date. Read more on how to manage your quota.
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.
Internet Safety 101
There's a lot of Hollywood drama about the 'dark side' of the net. But we all know the Internet isn't that scary a place. Online risks, like all risks, can easily be avoided with a little common sense - the same common sense that applies in all aspects of our lives.
With the launch of Freezone Kids this month, we thought we'd point you over to one of our discoveryzone articles about safety on the net.
Work your way through Internet Safety 101to pick up some tips and techniques for keeping yourself aware and out of trouble.
competitions
Sip & surf from Starbucks winner
Congratulations Michael Tarulli from Box Hill, Victoria. Michael was one of hundreds who entered our Sip & Surf competition and won by connecting to a Starbucks Wi-Fi hotspot during October. We hope you like your $125 Starbucks Card Michael! Enjoy all the caffeine-loaded goodness it's set to bring.
games reviews
Thanks to our friends from Games Warehouse we've embarked on another epic quest, crushing tyranny, thanks to Assassin's Creed 2.
3FL Games Review - Assassin's Creed 2, xbox 360
Let me spare you the pastry crust and get right to the custard - Assassin's Creed 2 has arrived, and hooley-freaking-dooley does it stand proud and make up for the scattered shortcomings of the previous instalment. On its own, it's still a richly rewarding, substantial adventure and a legitimate contender for one of the year's top games.
If you're at all a fan of the series you'll know what to expect, so let's put a big tick in the box marked 'don't muck with the stuff that worked'. As with the original, there's going to be a lot of climbing, leaping and stealth, as well as a stupid amount of over-the-top combat. The core mechanics of the game haven't changed a great deal, and this is a good thing. Where the sequel really fills the gap however, is through the depth of story and the lure of side quests.
To bring newcomers up to speed, the story driving the Assassin's Creed series is that of Desmond, a present-day bartender abducted by a mysterious corporation and made to relive the memories of his ancestors through a machine known as the Animus. By using the Animus, Desmond re-plays his 'genetic memories' of history as the powerful assassin Altair (Assassin's Creed 1) and the resourceful Ezio Auditore da Firenze (Assassin's Creed 2). Without giving too much of the plot away, the Animus allows for great scope of adventure, fast-forwarding to key action spots in history and putting you in the boots of the hero to attempt the memory until you 'win', locking it away as fact.
With 15th Century Italy as the setting and some intricate 3D city environments to run free in, the central mechanic of 'free-running' (jumping, running and scaling any and all obstacles) fast becomes a skill to master. You'll need to make a lot of clever entrances and swift exits to your overall sequence of assassination missions - and if you're one for a touch of vertigo, some of the viewpoint scaling objectives will surely make your legs wobble. On top of this, the combat options have broadened since the original, so if your getaway fails and you're surrounded... things get fun in an entirely different and violent way.
Aside from the main storyline, with its occasionally unforgiving pace and twists (and a head-breakingly superb ending), the greatest redeeming feature of AC2 is what it offers to completionists. You could drive straight through the game and get a good dose of entertainment, clocked in at about 15 hours... but it's well worth chasing the optional side objectives, the hidden codexes, the tactical puzzles of the assassin's tombs and the tinfoil hat conspiracy theories revealed by the hard-to-reach glyph clues. There are many, many things to do other than push the plot forward, and for the most part they're rewarding for the time spent seeking them out.
If you enjoyed Assassin's Creed but hit the bland plateau partway through, you're not alone. AC2 knows where it went wrong the first time around and really tidied up the shop, keeping things interesting on the gameplay, story and adventure fronts simultaneously. Grab this, play it, high fives.
site scan
For the kids with Sandy Lim
This month, to celebrate the new Freezone Kids, we've gathered the cream of the online crop for your internet-ready offspring. It's all about fun and learning from late-preschool to primary school, with a kid-safe search engine, free family activities, an online activity book and a rapid research guide.
Ask Kids
http://www.askkids.com
Get them started at Ask Kids - a search engine that cuts out bad words and adult content; making it safe for children to explore. Featured are searches for kids' movies, games and popular topics for school projects. Don't miss the cool drawing canvas on the front page!
Nick Jr
http://www.nickjr.com
Find games, crafty ideas, fun recipes and printable colouring & activity sheets, featuring cool artwork from your child's favourite Nick Jr shows - Dora the Explorer, Blue's Clues, Ni Hao, Kai-lan and more, all free to download.
UpToTen
http://www.uptoten.com
UpToTen is a giant online activity book for preschoolers, with games that help develop mental skill with pictures, words and music. Paid subscription is also available, giving your kids direct penpal access to the site's mascot characters, plus even safer full screen, ad-free surfing.
TIME for Kids Homework Helper
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/hh/rr
TIME magazine's Homework Helper is an extensive directory of links - great for researching classroom topics. Being an American site, there's a good serve of US spelling and history, but each link is recommended by kids, for kids. There's even a writing section, teaching some sharp homework skills.
