TechLife January 2018

WITH AN ESTIMATED 2.07 billion monthly users — or more than a quarter of the global population — it’s undeniable that Facebook wields a lot of power in today’s world. And the social network can be an incredibly useful tool, offering users a convenient way to see what friends and family are doing while catching up on important news (and not-so-important funny memes). But it’s also easy to spend way too much time on the site on in the mobile app — something that more and more people are speaking out about... even tech moguls who’ve made billions of dollars from the service. In a recent interview with website The Verge (see tinyurl.com/tla72-parkface) tech billionaire Sean Parker, who created Napster and was an early investor in Facebook, railed against the…

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The old online BBQ switcheroo I recently decided to purchase a Weber BBQ. A website appeared in Google with some great offers. Unfortunately, the BBQ never arrived. The old adage of ‘it sounds too good to be true’ was correct. Here’s what I’ve learnt from my experience: Never purchase anything online using a direct bank transfer into the vendor’s account. Write an email with an enquiry and see if you get a response. Is there an address connected to the website? There was in my case but a later search proved it was a fake. If there is a phone number, call them. Again, there wasn’t in my case. See if the company name is actually registered with ASIC. For me, it wasn’t. If in doubt, do a Google search…

THE XBOX ONE X is the powerful premium console Microsoft first promised gamers over a year and a half ago. It’s capable of driving games along at 4K HDR at 60 frames per second — at least on a handful of titles — and, as part of Microsoft’s Xbox family, it doesn’t force you to throw out the games you already own for new ‘enhanced’ editions. In some cases, Xbox One games you might have played a year ago will now look absolutely stunning when fired-up on the One X. Those might be the only Xboxexclusive games you’ll be playing for a while, though, with few big name first-party titles currently on the horizon. Thankfully, all of the major holiday 2017 releases, including Call of Duty: WWII, Assassin’s Ceeed: Origins…

IF YOU’VE BEEN hanging for a hybrid fibre-coaxial NBN upgrade to your internet connection, you’re going to have to wait a while longer — the NBN Co has announced that it’s temporarily putting its HFC rollout on hold while it focuses on improving “end user experience and retailer satisfaction.” According to the NBN Co, the purpose of its “new initiatives” is “aimed at raising the standard of service quality when declaring the hybrid coaxial-fibre as ‘ready to connect’ (RTC)”. The company has also stated that the changes will “also help to further improve the reliability of the network.” Of the one million premises that are classified as RTC for HFC, the 370,000 end users that have already taken the plunge will be first to see the benefits of the new…

STARTING IN 2018, Australians will be able to retain usage data from their electricity, banking and internet providers, giving consumers more power to compare services and save money. Called the Consumer Data Right, Aussies can also authorise government agencies to transfer the data to other third parties. Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation, Angus Taylor, said in a statement, “Government is pursuing the very simple idea that the customer should own their own data. It is a powerful idea and a very important one. Australians have been missing out because it’s too hard to switch to something better. You may be able to access your recent banking transactions, or compare this quarter’s energy bill to the last, but it sure isn’t quick or easy to work out if you…