Category: Radio shows

ABC Nightlife December 2012

Paul joins Rod Quinn on ABC Radio Nightlife across Australia to discuss the tech issues of the day.

Paul Wallbank joins Rod Quinn to discuss how technology affects your business and life. For December 2012 we’ll be looking at business security, Windows 8 and the saga of Apple Maps.

If you missed the program, you can listen to the recording through the ABC website.

Answers to listeners’ questions and links to some of the programs we discussed, including removing Norton Anti-Virus and getting your Windows start button back, are on a later blog post.

Some of the topics we discussed included these below.

We’d love to hear your views so join the conversation with your on-air questions, ideas or comments; phone in on the night on 1300 800 222 within Australia or +61 2 8333 1000 from outside Australia.

Tune in on your local ABC radio station or listen online at www.abc.net.au/nightlife.

You can SMS Nightlife’s talkback on 19922702, or through twitter to @paulwallbank using the #abcnightlife hashtag or visit the Nightlife Facebook page.

702 ABC Mornings – Hacking 102

This month’s 702 Sydney tech spot looks at how security is evolving

A number of callers asked about protecting their Facebook pages and information from hackers and spammers. Details are on the Netsmarts webpage

On 702 Sydney Mornings with Linda Mottram, we’re revisiting security and how it affects businesses and consumers after some stories of serious security breaches in everything from shops to pacemakers.

We’re looking at some pretty important issues, including how four million hotel locks are open to hackers and thieves.

Even more scary is the risk that pacemakers can be hacked. This story is a cautionary tale on good intentions being bought undone by bad security practices.

For businesses, the risk of having customers’ credit card details hacked is a serious issue. Two years ago the US fast food chain Subway had a major breach when criminals managed to break into franchisees’ Point Of Sales systems.

Recently the Australian Federal Police broke up a similar crime gang operating out of Romania.

A misconception about computer security is that all hackers are evil. The reality is most aren’t and a good example of this is Random Hacks of Kindness where geeks get together to find ways of using tech to improve society. We’ll look at last weekend’s Melbourne event.

Join us on 702 Sydney from shortly after 9.30am. We’d like to hear your views, comments or questions so call in on 1300 222 702 or SMS on 0467 922 702 or tweet with @702Sydney in the message.

Listener’s questions – ABC Nightlife computers

As a follow up to last night’s ABC Nightlife computers here are some of the promised answers to listener’s questions

As a follow up to last night’s ABC Nightlife computer spot where we looked at who owns our online data, there were a few questions which we’d get back to listeners on.

The entire show can be listened to online through the ABC Nightlife with Tony Delroy website and includes some of the issues we’d get back to listeners on, but first an apology.

Bruce Willis never sued Apple

One of the callers Mark mentioned the story of Bruce Willis suing Apple over ownership of iTunes tracks.

It turns out this never happened as Charles Arthur of the Guardian explains.

While Charles can be a cranky bugger, he’s right in this case that the media didn’t a very poor job in regurgitating an untrue story without ever checking its veracity. Luckily it’s not one that I cited in the program.

Protecting your Twitter Account

One of the topics we discussed was the threat of accounts being hijacked and Twitter is one service that is constantly being compromised because of poor policies. An important part of protecting a Twitter account from being taken over is to make sure an extra level of authentication is used by clicking the “Password Reset” option in the Twitter Account settings.

Recording online

Des asked about recording his own message for an audio Christmas card to his friends and relatives.

On Windows computers, Sound Recorder is the long standing built-in app while on the Mac, Garage Band is the built in application.

There is a free third party application available for both PCs and Macs called Audacity which also allows you to record and edit on your system.

US customer service

One interesting thing about the conversation was how many callers criticised the “US mentality” of providing lousy service. This probably isn’t true as most American businesses provide some of the best customer service in the world.

The lousy service from online companies is more a function of the computer engineering and venture capital background of the entrepreneurs setting up cloud computing and social media services, while the majority of these companies are from the US it wouldn’t be fair to brand this as being an American cultural issue.

Our next Nightlife spot is on December 13 at 10pm and we’ll be looking at Windows 8 and what type of computers should people be considering. Hope you can join us.

ABC Nightlife computers – who owns your data?

For November’s ABC Nighlife we look at how digital rights management can affect you.

Paul Wallbank joins Tony Delroy to discuss how technology affects your business and life. For the November segment we look at the perils of digital rights management.

If you missed the spot, the podcast is available from the ABC Nightlife website and the answers to listeners’ questions is available in the following post.

We all value our collections of CDs, books and photos, but what happens when we completely lose the digital equivalents? Tonight on the Nightlife we look at who really owns e-books and computer programs.

Last month a story appeared on the Internet where Linn, a Norwegian lady, lost her entire collection of eBooks from her Kindle reader when Amazon decided she had breached their conditions.

  • What happened to Linn and her ebook collection?
  • How did Amazon respond when she complained?
  • So who actually owns those ebooks?
  • Is this shutting down of accounts common?
  • At their big event a few weeks back Apple focused their iPads and iBooks on education, could this happen to schools?
  • It’s not just ebooks though, can this happen with other online services?
  • Is this a problem with cloud computing services?
  • What about the data you’ve saved, do you lose that if the account is shut down?
  • What about businesses and all the work they go to build a Facebook or Pinterest following, are those online friends the business’ property?

We’d love to hear your views so join the conversation with your on-air questions, ideas or comments; phone in on the night on 1300 800 222 within Australia or +61 2 8333 1000 from outside Australia.

Tune in on your local ABC radio station or listen online at www.abc.net.au/nightlife.

You can SMS Nightlife’s talkback on 19922702, or through twitter to @paulwallbank using the #abcnightlife hashtag or visit the Nightlife Facebook page.

ABC Nightlife: Apps down the farm

For the October ABC Nightlife spot we’ll be looking at how the agriculture sector is using smartphone and tablet computer apps

If you missed this program where we covered a wide range of subjects, you can listen to the ABC Nightlife podcast of the show.

Paul Wallbank joins Tony Delroy to discuss how technology affects your business and life.

This week we’re talking about how the agricultural industry are using smartphone apps and the web. A list of apps for farmers is available from the NSW Department of Primary Industry website.

We’ll also be looking at how machines are talking – in agriculture, the next generation of farm equipment will be sending data straight to the farmers’ tablet or laptop computer using the technologies we’re seeing in jet engines and other high tech equipment.

Connecting everything does come with risks. A US report found that networked medical equipment is rife with malware and the Defense Signals Directorate points out that out-of-date computer systems are one of the main causes of data breaches.

One of the things driving the apps world is cloud computing and Google have given a rare glimpse into the data centres that run their services.

Social media is one of the things that are driving cloud computing, but there’s traps for businesses in posting information about customers and staff. We’ll be looking at those as well.

We’d love to hear your views and comments so join the conversation with your on-air questions, ideas or comments; phone in on the night on 1300 800 222 within Australia or +61 2 8333 1000 from outside Australia.

Tune in on your local ABC radio station or listen online at www.abc.net.au/nightlife.

You can SMS Nightlife’s talkback on 19922702, or through twitter to @paulwallbank using the #abcnightlife hashtag or visit the Nightlife Facebook page.

Redefining the social business

Salesforce.com announce a range of new products at Dreamforce 2012

Over the last two years Salesforce.com have been one of the more aggressive buyers of cloud computing and social media startups with acquistions of companies like Rypple, Desk.com, Buddy Media and Radian6.

Today, ahead of the company’s annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, Salesforce.com announced a revamped product range that brings together the social media and big data tools from these acquisitions along with some in house innovations.

Salesforce expect nearly a hundred million enterprise tablet computer users and smartphones by 2016, so like all web based services, they have to make their platform available as an app. Salesforce’s new Touch iOS App allows users to use Salesforce.com as an app on the iPhone.

Despite Mark Zuckerburg’s disavowal of HTML5 last week, Salesforce remains committed to the standard despite developing an app for the iPhone.

“Initially we’re rolling out Touch in a way we’ve made sure works the way people want it to work on an iPad,” Peter Coffee, Vice President of Platform Research at Salesforce.com, says.

“We are reiterating our commitment to HTML 5 as a device and platform neutral cluster of standards.

“As HTML5 begins to clearly coalesce we’re making a major commitment to that and we’re going to lead the way while the opposition is still trying to work on one browser.”

Salesforce continues their focus on social media with their Chatter service becoming a key part of their Force.com cloud applications platform. Chatter itself is being extended with a new feature to enable companies to create their own branded communities.

That social integration continues as the company rolls out Social Key, an application which, as Andy MacMillan, senior vice president and general manager of Data.com says “will empower companies to derive value from social data for the first time.”

If Social Key does achieve a real measure of value from retweets and Facebook posts it may well mean many social media experts will have to return to multi-level marketing or real estate sales. This in itself is not a bad thing.

The new Salescloud platform uses Chatter to build business intelligence on customers, bringing data across a business to help sales teams target their efforts more effectively.

While sales is by definition the focus of Salesforce they are also launching a similar Chatter service for support teams. This compliments the acquisition of Assist.ly at the beginning of the year.

Marketing too is being targeted by Salesforce with the launch of Marketing Cloud that combines the Buddy Media Facebook marketing service and the Radian6 social media monitoring platform.

While already the leader in business cloud applications, Salesforce are making a strong bid to dominate the sector in a way that Microsoft did in the desktop computer industry twenty years ago.

Browsing through the 400 partner stands at the Dreamforce Expo shows Cloudforce  are building a deep ecosystem around their products that will make it hard for competitors to break into the space.

Whether Salesforce achieve this dominance remains to be seen, but they are certainly giving a new set of tools for businesses to understand their customers.

Pricing and Availability
Salesforce Touch is generally available today on iOS devices, and included in all Salesforce editions.

Sales Cloud Partner Communities is currently scheduled to be available in limited pilot in Fall 2012.

Sales Cloud Partner Communities is currently scheduled to be generally available the second half of 2013.

Data.com Social Key is currently scheduled to be generally available the second half of 2013.

Pricing of Sales Cloud Partner Communities and Data.com Social Key will be announced at general availability.

ABC Weekend Computers – should you buy an iPhone 5?

On ABC Sydney this weekend we look at whether the new iPhone is for you.

With the usual hooplah, Apple announced their new iPhone last week. Should consumers drop their existing phones and buy the new iPhone?

On ABC 702 Sydney Weekend computers this Sunday, September 16 from 10.15am Paul Wallbank and Simon Marnie will be looking at the choices in the smartphone market.

Some of the topics we’ll discuss include;

We love to hear from listeners so feel free call in with your questions or comments on 1300 222 702 or text on 19922702.

If you’re on Twitter you can tweet 702 Sydney on @702sydney and Paul at @paulwallbank.

Should you not be in the Sydney area, you can stream the broadcast through the 702 Sydney website and call in anyway. Everyone’s views are welcome.

Nightlife Computers: Sockpuppets, trolls and fakes

Can you trust what is written on Facebook or online review sites and what are the responsibilities for business on social media sites?

Paul Wallbank joined Tony Delroy for the 6 September 2012 ABC Nightlife technology spot to discuss sock puppets, what they mean on review sites and what this means for businesses using social media as a marketing tool.

If you missed the program, you can listen to the podcast from the Tony Delroy’s Nightlife page.

This week’s sock puppet scandal puts the light on authors’ book reviews on sites like Amazon while other review services like TripAdvisor, Yelp and Urbanspoon continue to struggle with figuring out which reviews are real.

Businesses also have to worry about what people are posting in light of the recent Advertising Standards and ACCC rulings making businesses more accountable with what’s posted on Facebook.

Some of the questions we’ll look at include;

Join us from 10pm, Australian Eastern Time on Thursday September 5 on your local ABC radio station or listen online through their streaming service at www.abc.net.au/nightlife.

We’d love to hear your views so join the conversation with your on-air questions, ideas or comments; phone in on the night on 1300 800 222 within Australia or +61 2 8333 1000 from outside Australia.

You can SMS Nightlife’s talkback on 19922702, or through twitter to @paulwallbank using the #abcnightlife hashtag or visit the Nightlife Facebook page.

ABC Nightlife Computers: The state of tech

July’s ABC Nightlife tech looks at viruses, online frauds, security and social media

Join Paul and Tony Delroy to look at some of the trends and events that are affecting how you use phones, computers and internet in your home or business.

A lot’s happened in the tech world over the last few weeks – Facebook has gone from the web’s golden business to being shunned, new tablet computers have been launched and we’ve had a virus threaten to knock people off the Internet.

If you missed the show, you can listen to it online through the Nightlife website. Some of the topics we looked at included;

  • So what was the DNS Changer Trojan? Did the FBI really take over a criminal computer network?
  • Could a virus really damage computers and bring the Internet to a halt?
  • Is it true the US, Israel and North Korea are using viruses to attack other countries’ computers?
  • Should we worry about viruses on smartphones and tablet computers?
  • What about virus hoaxes? There’s a good one going around about Facebook at the moment?
  • Both Microsoft and Google have launched new tablet computers, will they knock off the iPad?
  • Microsoft’s tablet is going to run the new Windows 8 operating system, how does that look?
  • Facebook seems to have gone from hero to zero since they launched on the stock market. What happened?
  • There’s been some pretty serious Facebook privacy changes recently, what should people watch out for?
  • Microsoft have had some big security updates this week, what are they.

For the Microsoft updates we mentioned, the major security updates can be downloaded from the Windows Update page or the Automatic Updates in Windows Vista and 7.

Windows 7 and Vista users should also disable the desktop widget feature, Microsoft have two fix it tools available for download and users should run both.

Listeners questions included the following problems;

Alternatives to Outlook Express

George was looking at upgrading to a new version of Windows that doesn’t have Outlook Express included but still wants a computer based email client rather than trusting a cloud service.

Some of the alternatives include;

Antivirus programs

Margaret asked about antivirus options for Macs, there’s a couple of free antivirus programs designed for the Apple Mac

For Windows users, the easiest free anti-virus to use is Microsoft Security Essentials.

Microsoft Silverlight on Android

Accessing Microsoft Silverlight based services like NineMSN on Google Android devices can be a problem as Jason found.

Unfortunately at this stage there’s no clear solution for playing Silverlight sites on Android devices as Moonlight, the open source Silverlight player has been abandoned.

Next Nightlife spot

Our next Nightlife tech spot will be on August 6 and we’ll decide the topics closer to the dates. Watch the website for details over the next few weeks.

Dealing with the DNS Changer Trojan

On Monday computers infected with the DNS Changer Trojan will stop surfing the net. Make sure you aren’t infected.

On Monday, thousands of computers around the world will be cut off the web as the servers behind the DNS Changer Trojan Horse are shut down.

The DNS Changer did exactly what the name says – it changed a computer’s Domain Name Service (DNS) settings so that all web traffic went through servers belonging to the virus writers.

Eventually the writers were caught and the computers were seized, in order to avoid disruption the servers were left running but they will be shut down on Monday.

On Monday, those computers still infected won’t be able to surf the net until the problem is fixed.

How Do I Know I’m infected?

As part of the Shutdown, the DNS Changer working group was set up. On their site they have a  detection tool website that will tell you if your computer is infected.

How can I fix the problem?

The easiest fix is with the Microsoft Malware Scanner which will check your computer for the DNS Changer virus along with other malware. If the scanner detects a problem it will remove the virus. IT Queries also have instructions on Removing A Trojan.

To prevent further infections, it’s necessary to install an up to date anti virus. A good free one is the Microsoft Security essentials tool.

The DNS Changer Trojan was very effective malware and it illustrates why computer users need to be careful of where they go on the mean streets of the Internet.

702 Sydney Mornings Technology

On this show we look at how to avoid malware and protecting your digital legacy

On 702Sydney Mornings this month with Linda Mottram, we’re looking at the continued story of the Flame and Stuxnet worms along with some trickery from the North Koreans who tried to shut down South Korea’s Incheon International Airport with a computer virus.

To help you avoid being infected there’s a detailed description on the Netsmarts website on setting up your computer to avoid being infected.

We’re also looking at protecting your digital legacy in an era when social media services like LinkedIn and Facebook can keep your memory alive long after your passing.

Join us on 702 Sydney from shortly after 9.30am. We’ll probably take some calls on 1300 222 702 and we’d like to hear your views, comments or questions.

ABC Weekend computers: Vibrating tattoos and implantable computers

Some interesting patents indicate where computers are going next.

On ABC 702 Sydney Weekend computers this Sunday, May 19 from 10.15am Paul Wallbank and Angela Catterns will be looking at wearable tech.

Nokia recently filed a patent for vibrating cloth patches or tattoos that will be able to communicate with your phone. Every time you receive a text message, your tramp stamp will wobble.

The idea of vibrating tattoos is pretty simple compared to some of the advances we’re seeing in nanotechnology and miniaturising computers.

We’re already used to the “bionic ears” such as those made by Cochlear and scientists are now developing computers that can be implanted in patients’ eyes to monitor conditions like glaucoma.

Listeners questions

As usual we had a range of listeners calling in about computer issues. Here’s some of those we said we’d get back to;

Safari tool bars

Margaret called about websites being listed across the top of her Safari browser.

To get rid of these, click View in Safari and then take the tick off Hide Bookmarks Bar.

As a later caller suggested, it’s worthwhile making sure websites aren’t starting with the browser, you can fix that in Safari by clicking Safari, Preferences, General and making sure a new window  is selected for what to do when the browser is opened.

More Safari Blues

Jarrod also reported problems with Safari, being unable to open pages from his telco. This is probably due to Javascript being disabled.

To fix this, in the Safari preferences we describe above, click on security and tick the box saying enable javascript.

Anti virus programs

We always have a caller asking about antivirus, Steve asked about antivirus on Windows Vista.

For most windows users, the free Microsoft Security Essentials is probably the best, and simplest, solution.

We love to hear from listeners about how tech is changing their lives so feel free call in with your questions or comments on 1300 222 702 or text on 19922702.

If you’re on Twitter you can tweet 702 Sydney on @702sydney and Paul at @paulwallbank.

Should you not be in the Sydney area, you can stream the broadcast through the 702 Sydney website and call in anyway.