September iiNews

letter from the editor

Welcome to the September edition of iiNews.

This month I'm feeling a little refreshed after taking a week's break for a long overdue holiday. While I was away I set my sights on achieving the seemingly impossible: to learn how to relax.

As part of my 7 day self help program in the art of relaxing I took with me only the bare essentials: a pile of books and a few shreds of clothing (enough to get a tan, but still slip slop slap). The ipod stayed behind this time.

Over the course of 7 days I came as close to achieving relaxation as is possible for me I think, a feat mostly achieved with the help of my stash of dog-eared books I bought home with me.

So, in this year's longest introduction, that is why this month's iiNews theme is "books online". Despite the digital age, books are always going to play a part in our lives. Rather than steer people away from digging their brains in a novel, the rise and rise of the Internet has bought a new focus on books, both in how we read them and how we find the next one. We'll take a closer look at this in the books online section.

Also this month we check in with novelist and ex-iiNet staffer Martin Livings, get the lowdown on a new email scam, take a look at the new movie An Inconvenient Truth , launch the 2006 iiNews Reader Survey and much much more.

Hope you enjoy.

Mark Welker
iiNews Editor

 

general news

tell us what you think and win!
Are you happy with iiNews? Are you eager for more information about technology trends, online entertainment or the inner workings of iiNet? Whatever your poison, we'd like to know.

The 2006 iiNews Survey will help us to build a better iiNews - delivering more of the content you want in a format that works for everyone. All it takes is a few short minutes and any information you provide will not be shared with any third parties.

As a show of thanks, we'll give away 3 $60 Bunnings Warehouse gift vouchers to three lucky survey participants. All you have to do to be in the running is complete the survey before October 10, 2006 and make sure to include your name and email address. Winners will be drawn at random and prizes sent via mail.

So whether you're at work, taking time out at home, or waiting to re-spawn, we'd love you take a moment to tell us what you think.

Visit the survey form here or by clicking the button above.

support & services

customer service update
iiNet has for a long time provided all its Customer Service representatives the option to obtain a Certificate III in Customer Contact at no cost. The Certificate builds the essential service and support skills that contribute to the high standards expected within our world class contact centres. However, up until just recently we had to give out bulky, paper based materials to employees that inevitably either got lost or stolen (you wouldn't believe the black market value for hot Customer Contact study manuals).

On Friday, August 11, we had the launch of our new online assessment systems to replace the wasteful paper process. We are the first organisation in Western Australia to offer the Certificate III Customer Contact qualification in a completely online environment.

iiNet have been working closely with West Coast TAFE to be able to customize the online systems for iiNet's technology savvy employees. The online program provides learning in a multiple-choice, activity-based format with plenty of fun drag-and-drop options.

As well as being available between work calls, the program can also be assessed during rostered study time, alleviating the need for training rooms and additional supervising staff - meaning more people to man the support centre.

The training team and iiNet as a whole are very excited as this is just one more step to moving all of our learning materials online.

become part of the iiNet team!
iiNet is looking for skilled staff to fill a variety of roles across our Contact Centre, Technical and Corporate teams. Applicants need to possess the right combination of skills, work ethic and good attitude to work with iiNet.

At iiNet you will be rewarded with:

• a competitive salary
• great benefits
• training
• a fantastic working environment

Check out https://toolbox.iinet.net.au/cgi-bin/jobs.cgi for our most up-to-date vacancies. If you're interested, send a current copy of your CV addressing the relevant criteria without delay to recruit@team.iinet.net.au

tech tip - phone cords: is there a limit?
If you've ever noticed problems connecting or in staying connected to your broadband service, there's a few common problems that you can quickly and easily check.

Firstly, check your phone cable length - this is the phone cable that runs from the back of your ADSL modem or router and connects to a phone socket in the wall. Generally speaking, the longer your phone cable, the more trouble you may have with your ADSL connection.

If your computer is a long way from a phone socket, consider purchasing a longer network or Ethernet cable (the one that runs from your ADSL modem/router to your computer) or installing a phone point in the room where your computer resides so that your modem/router is as close to the phone socket as possible. You could also go for a wireless modem/router.

You'll find that you're actually better off keeping the phone cable as short as possible and running a long network cable. A network cable can be up to 100 metres long without affecting your connection at all.

Double adaptors can also cause problems with an ADSL connection - it is better to have the ADSL phone cable plugged directly into your wall socket without any double adaptors in the way, as they can cause interference. This of course does not include your ADSL filter.

If you're having problems with your connection, one of the first questions our support team will ask you is about the length of your phone cable and whether you have adaptors. Try checking these out first thing if you're having issues staying connected.

virus alert

top 5 viruses reported to sophos in august

1. W32/Netsky-P
2. W32/Mytob-AS
3. W32/Bagle-Zip
4. W32/Nyxem-D
5. W32/Netsky-D

List provided by Sophos. Remember, all iiNet plans come with industry leading Sophos Brightmail email anti-virus and anti-spam protection that is automatically kept up-to-date with the latest virus threats. However, to fully protect your system, we recommended that you use our email anti-virus in conjunction with a personal anti-virus product such as those listed on this page.

news.com.au hoax email alert
Sophos global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers have warned of a scam circulating in Australia which uses an unique twist on conventional phishing email warnings. Instead of talking you into going online to a bogus website to change your banking credentials like the one iiNews bought up a few months ago , the email strongly urges exactly the opposite.

" Dear Australian Bank Clients. You must NOT Update or Confirm Your Account information, " it warns.

Instead, the email claims to be from News Limited and shouts out the unlikely story that "this week all AUSTRALIAN BANKS WILL BE CLOSED." Clicking on the link and visiting the bogus news website infects internet users with a phishing Trojan horse designed to steal login details from customers of the Commonwealth Bank and e-gold.

If you get this email we strongly advise you to delete it immeadiately. For more information visit the Sophos Secutiry News site.

ii people

staff profile

Name: Kelvin Indrawan
Title: Associate Programmer
Favourite Game: Planescape Torment, Winning Eleven series

How long have you been with iiNet?
About one and a half years.

What does your current role involve?
I am part of the Customer Service tools team. As the name suggests, we develop internal tools for staff members. I'm currently responsible for maintaining and improving our Human Resources tools and Problem Tracking System (PTS). These systems may be invisible to the customers, but they actually end up helping them indirectly.

Can you explain the purpose of the PTS system?
PTS is basically what our customer support contact centre uses for managing reported customer contacts. It makes it simple to retrieve information such as all the products a customer currently has, their invoice status, the last successful Internet connection they had, and many other things. Additionally, PTS is also used for keeping track of the status of a customer's ADSL application (the process where we arrange for your broadband and phone product to be connected).

How does it help customers?
Combined with the recently deployed Virtual Contact Centre project, PTS speeds up the handling of a customer's issue by quickly extracting relevant information from a customer's file when they call or email. Each call to the contact centre is kept on record and can be used for furture reference in resolving issues. This is important to customers as the time spent waiting in the support queue is reduced significantly. Basically, more improvements made on PTS means better customer service.

What are you most looking forward to at iiNet?
It has been absolutely great to be a part of iiNet as we always seem to be one of the first in Australia to embrace new technology. VOIP, IPTV and Video On Demand were the things I was looking forward to the most when I joined iiNet. Looks like there are only two more to go here...

customer of the month

This month's customer is a little bit different. To fit in with our "books online" theme, I came across an ex-iiNet staff member and customer Martin Livings, who since leaving to go overseas has been carving a name for himself in London as a budding novelist.

Working at iiNet from 1996 to 2001, Martin became known as Mister Modem, for his encyclopedic knowledge of dialup modem strings. What he was less well known at that stage was his writing, with a steady stream of short story publications to his name.

"Some of my favourite stories were written while I was at iiNet," Martin said, "including a science fiction story that was nominated for both the Aurealis and Ditmar awards."

Martin's first book, the horror novel Carnies, was released at the start of June by Lothian Books Australia. Carnies is set in a fictional south-west Australian town, where a century-old carnival has an inhuman secret. When two brothers visit the town to investigate, that secret is threatened, and the revelation may cost them their lives...and possibly even more.

Martin was in the process of writing Carnies at home while working at iiNet; "The book took over fifteen years to write, from initial idea to final draft, though most of that was just me procrastinating about actually starting it," he laughs. "The next should be a little quicker!"

He's currently working on a new novel, a science fiction thriller set in London, which incorporates many of his experiences from working in IT. "There's definitely a bit of Mister Modem in this new book," he explains. "Even though I'm supposed to be taking a break from IT this year, it's just creeping back into the work. There's no escape!"

Carnies is available at bookstores now, and also online. The official website is at http://carnies.martinlivings.com

Interested in being our next customer of the month? Send your details to iinewsfeedback@iinet.net.au.

books online

I think the great thing about books is that they appeal to pretty much everyone. Now with the help of that thing call "the Internet" they come in more forms than ever before...

Audible
www.audible.com
It's a completely different experience listening to a book, particularly when the voice your hearing is actually the author - like you're listening to the mind that produced the novel. With the outstanding popularity of ipods these days, jacking in and doing some audio reading (or studying!) on the way to work is so easy and a welcome break from the drone of the bus engine. You can order audiobooks direct from Audible or through the itunes music store.

Online Bookstores
www.amazon.com , www.dymocks.com.au , www.collinsbooks.com.au , www.fishpond.com.au
I thought I'd include a few different sites here so you can pick for yourselves. Amazon pretty much has everything, and international shipping can be a lot quicker than you think. But for an Australian connection, check out the other three.

Next Favorite
www.nextfavorite.com
NextFavorite is an online community for music, movie and book recommendations. Become a member and your ratings determine your likes and dislikes, matches you to similar customers and predicts the next book, movie or CD that you should buy. This should finally put to rest that "choose a book by its cover" curse that I rely on so much.

Good Book Guide
www.thegoodbookguide.com
If Next Favourite doesn't ring your bell, the Good Book Guide should certainly point you in the right direction. Book reviews are few and far between these days, so finding a site that collects together a network of completely independent book reviewers is a welcome surprise.

First Tuesday Book Club
www.abc.net.au/tv/firsttuesday
I haven't checked this program out yet, so don't quote me on it. But I like the idea that you can actually participate with a TV book club. As the show only airs once a month, it gives you enough time to read the books outlined on the website before the next show. A clever way of promoting people to read and watch TV at the same time perhaps...

Zoetrope Studios
www.zoetrope.com
Founded and funded by the famous filmmaking Coppola family (Francis Coppola made The Godfather series and Apocalypse Now), Zoetrope is an online studio tailor made for all the would-be writers out there. The online forums are setup so you can submit short and long works of fiction and the number you submit is controlled by the number of other works you read and comment on. It's a brilliant system and an essential online community for writers.

Google Books
books.google.com
In their quest to catalogue the entire world, Google has taken the next step by bumping up their book search function to include downloadable copyright-free ebooks which you can print out at your leisure. It's not too extensive yet (I couldn't find War of the Worlds anywhere) and there are alternative sites like Project Gutenberg that have been around much longer. But it has amazing potential.

Want to comment about anything in this month's edition? You can do so via iinewsfeedback@iinet.net.au

feedback from last issue
"Hi there. I am currently an IINet user and in the August newsletter it mentions VOD and IPTV...When where and how much are my questions...Is there going to be a trial? Can I participate in the trial? I have all the equipment ready to go now."
- Jason NSW

At this stage Jason we have no confirmed date or price. Perhaps it seemed a little bit mean of me to include that article last month, but it was more to get everyone across the technology - so that when it arrives, nobody is in the dark. As soon as we know anything more, you'll hear about it for sure.

"Hi. Your reviewer for "Thank you for Smoking" completely missed the point. The movie isn't about selling the anti-smoking message; it's very clear theme is about personal responsibility and freedom of choice. Smoking is just the particular example used to illustrate this quite serious theme that is so relevant to our lives and freedom."
- Mary QLD

Ouch! Mary you're probably right on this one. My defence is that I simply got distracted by the strength of the subject matter - which often veils a film's true underlying theme.

competitions

boytown tickets giveaway !
From the makers of Crackerjack comes the new Australian comedy BoyTown. Once the greatest boy band of the eighties, BoyTown members Benny G (Glen Robbins) Tommy Boy (Mick Molloy), Bobby Mac, Carl and Corey decide to leave their humdrum lives for one last crack at the big time. BoyTown returns to the stage with slightly older fans and slightly larger pants to complete some unfinished business.

But as their fame bubbles to the surface so do all the personal issues that have been safely buried away for the past twenty years...

To celebrate the release of BoyTown on October 19, iiNews has 50 double passes to the film to give away, thanks to Roadshow Films.

To be in the running for this prize, please email competitions with "BoyTown Competition" in the subject line, and provide your username, full name, and address by 5pm WST, October 1, 2006, along with the answer to this question: What is the name of the system iiNet uses to keep track of customer issues? ( hint: you'll find the answer in the staff profile section)

Winners with the correct answer will be drawn at random and prizes sent by mail.

yellow dog giveaway!
From the hauntingly absent plains of Mongolia comes the timeless tale of Nansal, the oldest daughter of a Mongolian nomad family, who finds a small dog one day while out in the fields. When she brings him home, her father is afraid that he could bring bad luck and demands that she immediately get rid of him. Despite her father's orders, she keeps the puppy in secret...

The Cave of the Yellow Dog (TCYD) is the new movie from the Academy Award nominated director of The Weeping Camel. The film brings a new perspective to the story of the bond formed between man and dog. Shot entirely on location in outer-Mongolia, TCYD gives a fascinating insight into the beliefs and practices of a relatively forgotten nomadic culture.

To celebrate the release of the film on October 5, Hopscotch Films have kindly passed on to us 35 double passes to see the film.

To be in the running for this prize, please email competitions with "Yellow Dog Competition" in the subject line, and provide your username, full name, and address by 5pm WST, October 1, 2006, along with the answer to this question: Which Certificate III is now offered online to all iiNet Customer Service Representatives? ( hint: you'll find the answer in the support and services section)

Winners with the correct answer will be drawn at random and prizes sent by mail.

last month's media player winners!
Last month we asked customers to send in a picture of their home theatre cord tangles for a chance to win one of 2 shiny D-Link DSM-320 media players worth $450.

Well, while it was tough choosing the winners (there is a serious public need for dusters), it eventually came down to needy entries from Thomas Marley from VIC (first pic below on the left) and Scott McNabb also from VIC (middle pic). Congratulations, we'll contact you soon with delivery details.

You can view the winning tangles below, and we'd like to make an honourable mention to Finnegan Spencer from NSW (pictured right) who went to a lot of effort to at least look like a tangle. Thanks everyone for entering, we had a blast checking out your livingrooms.

ii games

2 minute review - Dark Star One (PC)
With Rachel Ladwig

This month we'd like to inroduce our new part time reviewer Rachel Ladwig. Rachel will be helping out with the games reviews from here on (esp while Niaal updates his rig). Rachel would like to thank her boyfriend Justin for taking the side-gunner seat for this review.

There is something about space that has always captured my imagination. I'm old enough to remember playing space sim classics Elite and X-wing in the early days, then later on Privateer and more recently Freelancer . Darkstar One is another in a long line of open ended space simulators where trade, travel and more importantly dog fighting in space takes centre stage.

Darkstar One is the story of Kayron Jarvis, who's father was a brilliant pilot and scientist. In typical B grade movie style, he has died under suspicious circumstances and you are tasked with finding out what happened to your father and (of course) eventually avenge his death. To aid you in this gallant quest, your father left you the Darkstar One - an incredible ship that can morph and evolve by absorbing artifacts found around the universe.

You can't start anywhere in Darkstar One without first experiencing the beautiful graphics. Flight sequences are absolutely incredible; so long as you have the system to support turning everything up full. Asteroid fields look lovely, ships exploding look lovely, planets look lovely, absolutely everything in space looks fantastic - particularly when in the process of rapid combustion. Unfortunately, the space station graphics are not so lovely and feature heavy amounts of repetition. Luckily space stations are only small breathing points between dog fights.

The controls make blowing stuff up even easier and the keyboard layout is logical and a sinch to remember - a real boon for any space sim. The voice acting however, is appalling. It's easy to tell that the game has been translated from another language, the voice actors used would not get jobs in C grade movies.

The trading system is not particularly involving either - it's simply buying goods from one station at one price and trading them elsewhere to collect the premium - especially when you compare it to other space simulation games that involve trading ( Privateer comes to mind). Of course, the most enjoyable way of making money (credits) in the game is to blow up space pirates - and there's plenty of them to keep your skyrocket fattened up.

Fortunately, this is one of those genres where excellent graphics actually make up for other slightly shallower sections of the game. The dog fights are intense and easy to control, and the awesome explosions leave a satisfying after-taste once the appetitie for blood is gone. However, if you're after in-depth character building, trading or a story that cuts deep to your heart - then perhaps look elsewhere.

Not one for the trading moguls or plotsters, but more than enough action to keep you keep you strapped in for a long time.

Buy Dark Star One today for $59.95

iiNews games kindly provided by

ii flicks

movie review - An Inconvenient Truth - Rated PG

I'll preface this review by saying that I won't be using this space to debate the scientific basis for global warming, that's for each person to decide. I'll be looking at An Inconvenient Truth in terms of it's effectiveness as a documentary film.

Part time US politician, full time environmentalist, Al Gore, says that he has spent his whole life studying the phenomena of global warming. He says that time and time again, through his exposure to big business and big environments alike, he's hit what he calls An Inconvenient Truth : that is, the truth that humankind's current idea of progress is taking the "renewable" out of the world's most important renewable natural resource - the earth.

In An Inconvenient Truth , Gore presents (and I really mean presents) scientific findings to support the notion that global warming is very real and very current, with predictions that unless we change the way we operate, we're in for a world of trouble within 50 years. Don't go into An Inconvenient Truth thinking that you're about to be entertained, this is not so much a documentary as it is a fascinating and often shocking presentation of the effects of global warming.

You are literally watching a filmed presentation that Gore has performed over 1000 times to schools, universities, community groups and businesses all around the world. To this end, the film is more concerned with raising awareness, though luckily Gore is charismatic enough to keep things well above the level of a school or university lecture (I was never good at staying awake during those).

The threat of global warming is presented using startling scientific evidence with the biggest graphs ever seen in a cinema and a range of real world examples. Whether you choose to believe what you see or not, An Inconvenient Truth is an experience that stays with you for days after you leave the cinema, providing you with a number of solid incentives to re-examine the way you live your life. Global warming, Gore says, is a global issue that has been created by over 6 billion individuals - the only way to address it is to rectify our own individual habits.

In between the presentation we get snapshots of Gore himself and how he came to feel so strongly about the issue. These sequences, although sometimes touching (his family ran a tobacco farm and consequently his sister died of lung cancer from smoking), feature a little too much Gore for my liking. Sure it's interesting to see how such a political figure comes to care so much about such an unpopular issue (unpopular with US big business especially). But Gore himself is just not that interesting. Sure he is likeable and a great speaker, but to me he still comes across as a distanced politician - no number of warm and fuzzy family sequences convinced me of otherwise

Those who already dislike Gore because of political beliefs will automatically switch off during these sequences and possibly switch off to the whole film - which I think is a real shame. If global warming is a "global" issue then let us hear from some of those directly affected - like the people of Tuvalu who are now knee deep in water due to rising sea levels, or the African aid workers who deal day to day with the affects of the continent's main sources of water drying up.

Gore has earned much praise for this film - and so he should, it's a bold thing to fund a film half the world won't see and half again will try to discredit. Every layer of praise has its corresponding helping of criticism - but this is perhaps the greatest achievement of the film. To attract such seething criticism for a cause that essentially says "hey why don't we look at the way we live and re-think our effect on the environment", means that as a topical documentary film, something is working.

Though the presentation style may feel unfamiliar to some popcorn munching cinema goers, An Inconvenient Truth is (so far) the defining movie experience of 2006, due to its impact and relevance to all of us.

Hits you like a fuel efficient freight train. Unmissable.