However, the methods that they have used to advise their customers about this is very seriously flawed. Let’s start by looking at the email that they issued …

Telstra Letter to Clients

There are a couple of things notable about this letter – note the two sections, in blue, that are underlined. These are links that are embedded within the email. Note that one of them says that it will take you to the “Email Bill Registration Page”, while the second one says that it’ll take you to where you can log in to your account.

What the hell?

Anyone who knows anything about internet security, safe web surfing, and not being hacked, knows only too well that you shouldn’t click on links like this. It’s stupid. Bloody well stupid!

Banks warn you never do anything like this: Never, ever, click on any link that promises to take you to any sort of login page, because, quite frankly, you really don’t know exactly where that page might be taking you too.

And if it’s taking you to a “phishing” page, where somebody wants your credit card or banking details, then you’ll end up in serious danger.

But please, don’t just believe me: I took an opportunity to speak with Lloyd Borrett, from AVG Internet Security. He’s an expert in these matters, and in the interview, he gives some very sound reasons why Telstra, in sending out these emails, are implementing some very bad ideas.

Lloyd Borrett, AVG – Clicking On Embedded Links In Emails

So, the advice is to ignore Telstra’s emails. Telstra’s methods are very seriously flawed, and a very bad idea. Contact them, and tell them just how bad an idea it is for them to be sending you these emails that look like they’re trying to scam you.

Instead, whenever you get an embedded link like these, close your browser (for safety’s sake), and then open a new browser session, and go to the site byt entering in the URL in the browser’s address bar. This should be the way that you always go to important sites like these, by the way, because then you will know that you’re not going to be going to some sort of scam site.

At the beginning of the week we asked Telstra why they are implementing such a poor practice, but they were unable to give us a response.

We spoke this week with Lloyd Borrett about how all the lowlifes seep through the internet at this time of year and try to grab your attention.

And your credit card and bank account details.

If you’re not vigilant, it can be all too easy for them. Here’s what Lloyd had to say.

Lloyd Borrett from AVG discusses the email scams that come up at tax time. Beware

Plug and Play

These cars look, to all intents and purposes, just like your normal four-door, wheel-at-each-corner hatchbacks. I was surprised at the spaciousness of the interior: I’m nearly six feet tall, and, with the front seats moved forward, there was more than ample space for my legs in the back seats. Plenty of headroom too.

And being a hatchback, there was also lots of storage behind the rear seat, accessible both from within the cabin, as well as from outside; the hatch cover lifted high for easy access.

Google's Justin with the MiEV

Being an electric vehicle, it’s quiet. Very quiet. Turning the ignition on caused a couple of electronic beeps, and a low hum from the A/C, but that was it.

Driving around, we went on a loop from Pyrmont, through Sydney’s morning traffic across the top of Darling Harbour, down Sussex St and then back across Stonehenge returning to the Sydney Googleplex. We were sitting in the back, talking, conducting the interview, with virtually no background noise whatsoever. When noise did intrude upon the conversation, it was from outside, from other vehicles. This car makes a great mobile office environment.

Which is a part of what Google do with their cars: these are used as their floating fleet vehicles, available to Sydney staff for use when they need to travel around town, to meet with clients and such, instead of having to pay for taxis.

But their use goes well beyond a replacement for taxis: staff at Google are encouraged to employ a green attitude, and they’re trying to get a zero green footprint in terms of their staff’s daily commute to and from work. They’ve implemented an internal tracking system, whereby staff can register how and when they, for instance, get to and from work. They calculate green credits for everyone’s journeys, and one weekly there’s an auction amongst the staff, with the prize being the use of one of these cars for the weekend.

Google's MiEV Electric Car

I think that’s beyond cool: it’s a progressive attitude that encourages staff to be environmentally conscious.

But let’s get back to the cars, for a moment. Many people think that electric vehicles emit no emissions; they would be wrong. While it’s true that electric vehicles emit no tailpipe emissions, it’s not accurate to say that they’re emissions free. The emissions are merely shifted to another location.

In Sydney’s case, that might be to the coal fired power stations in NSW’s Lake Macquarie region. That’s where electricity is produced, and it’s consumed by these cars, for which Google have installed a couple of dedicated charging stations in the basement car park of their Sydney offices.

The MiEV's Fuel Inlet.

The power input for the cars draws upon a 30 amp power supply, and is located in the normal spot you’d expect to put in the nozzle from a fuel pump. Hook the cable up to the charging point, plug the other end of the cable into the car, and away it goes.

Starting the charging process

Starting the charging process

With a full charge (maybe three to to four hours from flat), the cars have a range of around 160 Km. Performance felt very good, but that’s also the nature of electric vehicles, which develop maximum torque at zero revs.

These are not cars for your weekend away though. Rather, my impression is that these would make a great city car, where distances are relatively short: commuter trips to and from work, shopping trips, taking the kidlets to and from their weekend footy games; that sort of thing is exactly where I could see this sort of car shining.

And the interior space, coupled with its diminutive external size, makes it ideal for these sorts of trips.

Listen to the interview/drive …

Part 1

Part2

But could something similar happen to you? Do you run a small business or home office? If so, how do you ensure the security of your data?

And even if you don’t, what about your important personal documents? Your receipts for your tax? Your important family photos and the like? How are they stored. and what would happen of your computer was stolen or lost?

I recently had a chat with Simon Howe from Acronis, who are data recovery experts. Don’t just listen to me, hear what the experts have to say about this important aspect of our digital lives.

This interview was originally broadcast on the Gadget Grill on Sunday, October 31, 2010.

As well as simplifying the user workflow, and especially for those who are new to the workflow requirements that digital image processing imposes upon us, improved Mac compatibility was also announced with this new product range.

I recently was able to catch p with Michael Stoddart from Adobe, and we had a brief chat about some of the features of these renewed product offerings from Adobe.

You can hear the podcast of my interview with Michael here.

This was originally broadcast on the Gadget grill on Sunday, October 17, 2010.