• Introduction
• From the Managing Director
• News
• Adam in the Spotlight
• Christmas opening hours
• Adam Internet Customer Service Centre is moving
• Government plans ISP level content filter - Adam Internet position clarified
• Special Offers
• Stuff Santa's sack, give Tim Adam's Wines this Christmas
• Events
• Ride Like Crazy in Tour Down Under
• Feature
• BodyTalk Health with Phil Sheldon
• Entertainment
• Hot Tips
• Weblinks
• Did You Know

Welcome to the November / December edition of Newsbytes, the bi-monthly Adam Internet newsletter.

It has been an eventful year for Adam Internet and what better way to finish up than with a recap on all the great things we’ve achieved with your support?

In 2008 we saw the launch of many valuable new products, such as AdamTalk, our Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service, in good company with NakedDSL and our ‘au naturale’ advertising star, Chris, who got liberated in support. Recently, we also launched Adam Rewards, a rewards program that gives customers the ability to earn dollar credit towards their Internet account by referring their friends and family to our service – some customers have already earned free Internet for an entire year! This was on top of slashing customer set-up costs, reducing the price of many plans while upgrading the Adam Internet Newsgroups to 10GB for all customers.

Over the year Adam Internet has thrown its support behind many charitable events with a major focus on raising funds for Variety – the Children’s Charity.

For the second year, the business entered Car Adam and our Adam’s Family crew in the South Australian Variety Bash, raising funds for Variety - The Children's Charity benefiting children in need. Adam Internet smashed its 2007 fundraising by an amazing $39,000 to raise just over $141,000. Along the way, we hosted a number of exciting events, including a special screening of The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as well as co-hosted a sexy cocktail party for the Sex and the City movie with the crew of Car Bali. Plus, our Adams Family Gala Fundraiser was very successful, helping to contribute to our huge fundraising total for Variety.

Besides our involvement with Variety, Adam Internet ran in the Sunday Mail City-Bay Fun Run in September and took part in the CMV Novita Convoy for Kids, winning the James Kemp Childrens' Choice Award for its double decker Convoy bus.

Adam Internet was also proud to be the recipient of many awards during the year. Adam Internet won the "second generation business" title in this year's South Australian Family Business of the Year Awards, a proud moment for me, as Managing Director, and recognising the achievements of founder, Chairman Greg Hicks. Additionally, Adam Internet was named as one of the South Australia’s Top 25 Fast Movers in business and was also named as part of the Top 100 South Australian businesses.

For the first time, Adam Internet was involved in The Adam Internet Technology Show at the Royal Adelaide Showgrounds, staged alongside the Building and Home Improvement Show. The Technology Show proved a huge success, with thousands attending to sample the latest in new technologies for their home and office.

And of course, what would the year be without the popular Adam Internet footy tipping competition? Attracting more punters this year than ever before, Adam Internet was proud to announce the  winner, "Big Red", who took home a massive $3000 cash prize for his efforts.

And finally to cap off the year, our Customer Service staff are excited to be moving to an all new Customer Service Centre on Level 2, 117 King William Street - only five floors down from our current location - ready to begin 2009 with our trademark high-quality customer service and enthusiasm.

This year has been a busy but successful year and we'd like to thank all of our customers for your contributions and support in 2008.

Thank you for such a wonderful year and we look forward to an eventful, and fruitful, 2009.

If you’d like to revisit on the year that was, you can review all previous editions of Adam Internet's bi-monthly newsletter Newsbytes at the Newsbytes Archive, accessible on our website.

Best regards,

Scott Hicks
Managing Director

Please don't forget, if there's anything you would like to see in Newsbytes, either as a feature or as a regular column, please email us at newsbytes@adam.com.au.

Mr. Windy comes to town

Does technology always help you?

Adam Internet on radio

Adam Internet Managing Director, Scott Hicks, appears regularly as a guest on Phil Sheldon's Weekly Show on 5AA 1395AM. On his latest appearance on 28 July, Scott discussed recent technology trends including the arrival of TiVo and the new Blackberry phone in Australia, in addition to the Government's proposed Internet Service Provider level content filtering.

The show is available for download via [this link] (right-click and select "Save As..." to save a copy to your PC) and you can subscribe to the Phil Sheldon podcast through www.philsheldon.com.au .

Please note the changes during the Christmas holiday period to Adam Internet’s opening hours.

The Business Solutions sales team will be unavailable from 5.30pm Wednesday 24 December and will resume regular business hours as of 9.00am Monday 5 January.

The Business Solutions support team will, however, continue working regular business hours throughout the Christmas holiday period.

The Customer Service Centre will maintain regular business hours through the Christmas holiday period.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!

Our Customer Service Desk may be relocating to a new and improved office, however, we're not moving far!

As of Monday 15 December, our Customer Service Desk, will be located at Level 2 / 117 King William Street, Adelaide, only five floors down from the previous location on Level 7.

We're all very excited and we think you'll be pleased with the new surroundings. See you all on Level 2!

Recently, the Federal Government’s Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, put forward a proposal for an Australia-wide "clean-feed" Internet filter to be maintained at the Internet Service Provider level. The ISP-level content filter would make any web pages containing illegal or general content deemed "harmful and inappropriate" for children inaccessible from all home, school and public computer terminals.

The finer details of the Government's plan are yet to be released, but home users are capable of "opting out" of the clean-feed filter, which would place them on a different filter banning "illegal" material. Concerns have been raised as to who decides what is deemed harmful and inappropriate for children, what age children is the clean-feed aimed at, how easy is it to remove sites from the blacklist that are mistakenly banned and who decides what material is restricted on both the clean-feed and “opt-out” list?

In addition, during trials, the clean-feed has already been proven to dramatically slow Internet speeds. It has also been suggested the "clean-feed" may lead to an infringement of freedom of speech should public discussion be censored by the Government in any way.

Protecting children from inappropriate or illegal content online must be monitored by the user. There are many solutions that can be employed at the user-level to censor and restrict access to Internet content at home, including a wide range of software packages available from stores that are specifically targeted at child-protection.

Adam Internet complies with the Australian Communications and Media Authority requests to remove access to certain sites and forums containing illegal material. However, as an Internet Service Provider, we are in the business of supplying Internet, not governing it's use. Therefore, monitoring children's use of any media, including television, film, games, music and literary materials is a responsibility of parents and caregivers.

For more information regarding the "clean-feed" please visit www.nocleanfeed.com and Electronic Frontiers Australia (www.efa.org.au).

Adam Internet Managing Director, Scott Hicks, also discusses this topic extensively on Phil Sheldon's latest podcast available for download via [this link] (right-click and select "Save As..." to save a copy to your PC).

From the people who kickstarted Adam Internet's fundraising for the 2008 SA Variety Bash - Tim Adam's Wines are again offering an exclusive deal for Newsbytes wine lovers, just in time for the Christmas holiday season.

For every dozen Tim Adams Premium Clare Valley wines sold at the special discounted price, $20 will be donated to Car Adam in support of Variety - The Children’s Charity.

To take advantage of this special offer, simply fill in the order forms and the wine will be delivered hassle free to your door.

This year's delectable selection includes 2008 Chardonnay Brut, 2007 Riesling, 2008 Chardonnay, 2005 Cabernet and NV Rose from the Clare Valley together with a 2005 Shiraz from the Southern Flinders Ranges.

Visit https://members.adam.com.au/timadams/ to place an order today.

Recently, South Australia Police (SAPOL) STAR Group member, Mick "Crazy" Koerner (pictured right) was diagnosed with inoperable brain tumour. In support of Crazy and his family, his workmates have organised Ride Like Crazy -- a charity ride to raise funds for the Mick Koerner Foundation, and to increase awareness about cancer.

Ride Like Crazy will depart the Sturt Oval, Unley at 7am, Thursday 22 January 2009, coinciding with Stage 3 of the Tour Down Under, and will follow the same 136km Tour Down Under route from Unley to Victor Harbour.

More than 500 riders are set to take part in the Ride Like Crazy event, which will be started by the South Australian Commissioner of Police.

If you would like to make a donation to the Mick Koerner Foundation, contact organiser David Scutchings at david.scutchings@police.sa.gov.au or alternatively you can donate directly by transferring funds to the following bank account:

Account name: Mick Koerner Foundation
Bank: Police Credit Union
BSB: 805005
Account number: 5213316

Please send an email to David Scutchings post-donation for a tax invoice.

The website www.ridelikecrazy.com will go live in the coming weeks with more information about the event. Please keep it bookmarked and check back regularly if you're interested in lending support to the Mick Koerner Foundation.

Depression and the Moody Blues

The first thing that we have to get straight when we talk about depression is that feeling a bit off, or feeling down at times is normal. Remember that we all get the blues from time to time, but when you get so depressed that life itself seems a struggle, you need help. Depression is primarily biochemical and not psychological.  A chemical imbalance is also now thought of as being one of the causes of severe depression.

Having that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, nausea when you first awake, not even feeling like getting out of bed, tiredness and a feeling of hopelessness, all of these emotions and sensations add up to depression. It can strike us at any time, day or night. But certain times of the year seem to bring on certain forms of depression. Christmas, Easter, birthdays and anniversaries, tend to be the most common, particularly if we have lost a loved one. The festive season has its own particular problems, it seems for some, when all around are yo-ho-hoing; many are left with a feeling of emptiness and despair, loneliness and the memory of happier times. So if you know someone that is going to be alone this Christmas, a friend, neighbour or even a relative, make sure you give them a call.

Moving further from that we have severe depression and manic depression, both of these conditions cannot be ignored. The brain, often in these cases, has an imbalance of chemicals/hormones, which transports the sufferer from feeling a little down to living in a black pit of despair with very little light on the horizon. Many sufferers are subjected for most of their lives to a life of darkness and despair, a world where the sun rarely shines and the birds don’t ever sing. Where feeling good to be alive turns to wishing you were dead.

The good news is that science is getting closer to understanding the subtle balance of chemicals that the brain needs. Medication in the form of anti-depressants can be a lifesaver for many. However, complementary medicine now has a great deal to offer. Herbs such as Chamomile, Valerian, St John’s Wort and Omega-3 fatty acids have all been shown to be beneficial. But remember; never self-diagnose - always consult a health care professional.

Physical exercise is shown to improve your mood by increasing substances such as dopamine (neurotransmitter) and endorphins (relieve pain & create sense well being). It is also great for those anxious feelings we all have from time to time.

Also, eating a good diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, limit meat consumption, and drink lots of pure fresh water helps keep in good spirits.

©  Phil Sheldon MSc

www.optimalessentials.com
www.philsheldon.com.au

ANYONE with personal problems can call Lifeline on 131 114.

All views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, Adam Internet.

Setting default programs

Getting frustrated when the "wrong" program opens up files over the program you prefer? Maybe Windows Media Player opens when you open a music file when you'd rather iTunes. Here are some tips for choosing your own default programs.

Windows XP and Vista

In the Explorer menu, right-click the file you want to change the default program for then highlight the "Open with" option and select "Choose program..." from the menu. Next, select the program you would prefer to open this file with and check the box that says "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file". If the program you would prefer is not available from the list, you may select one manually using the "Browse" button on the right.

Default programs can also be set in bulk. Simply click the "Start Menu", then select "Default Programs" and "Set program access and defaults" and then choose custom options from the list.

Click the image to the right for pictorial reference.

For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307859

Mac OSX

Right-click on the file you would like to change the default program for and select "Open with" then select "Other program". From the next menu, locate and highlight the preferred program and check the box that says "Make this the default program". Select "Open".

Click the image to the right for pictorial reference.

Linux Ubuntu

Right-click on the file you would like to change the default program for and select "Open with Other Application". From the following menu, locate and select the preferred program and then select "Open".

Click the image to the right for pictorial reference.

Feel like catching some waves? -- http://www.swellnet.com.au/ -- Swellnet provides Australian users with the ability to check what the surf is like at a variety of popular surf locations via live webcam. Before picking up that board, log in and check whether the trip will be worth it first.

300 eco questions answered -- http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026821.300-dumb-ecoquestions-you-were-afraid-to-ask.html?full=true -- A comprehensive list with more than 300 questions regarding the environment and green living answered. From the most effective way to reduce personal petrol consumption to whether you should turn on or off your lights when you leave the room and, more importantly, why.

The latest Internet trend is... -- www.twitter.com – Let the world know what you're doing in 140 characters or less. Often described as mini-blogging, Twitter is like a public forum, sharing opinions and information in short bursts and with the option to develop a strong network of friends and contacts. If you've been following News.com.au and the recent Mumbai attacks, you may have already heard mention that Twitter is quickly becoming a useful tool for citizen journalists, too.

Don't let this happen to you -- http://www.toiletmap.gov.au/ -- The National Public Toilet Map, the Australian Government's registry of public toilets and caravan dump points, featuring the location of public toilets Australia-wide. Site includes a trip planner and links to downloadable content for some mobile phones and navigation devices. You'll never be caught out again! "Are we there yet?" Yes kids, we are!

A brief tutorial in Google Maps

We've previously mentioned the launch of Google Maps - Street View in the Weblinks section of the July / August edition of Newsbytes, but considering how useful this tool is, we've decided to take a look at the Google Maps (www.maps.google.com.au) service in a little more depth for those not yet familiar with it.

Google Maps provides users with a map of Earth including all city streets, much like a virtual road map; this includes a detailed map of the terrain topography as well as an option to view the world via satellite photographs. In addition, the maps incorporate a wide range of more detailed information including the location of various businesses and places of interest such as parks as well as a neat function called Street View, which we'll explain at length later in this brief tutorial. Begin by opening a new window in your web browser and directing it to www.maps.google.com.au, the home page for Google Maps.

Using the Search Bar effectively

One of the most useful functions of Google Maps is the ability to search for a specific street address using the search bar at the top left of the page. Simply type the address you would like to display into the search bar and press the ‘Search’ button and the location will be displayed below on the map. When typing addresses, you should try to incorporate as much information as possible and in the following order; street number, street, suburb or city, state, country, postcode.

Let's use the Adam Internet building as an example. To display the office location on the map we would type in the following and then click search:

117 King William Street, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 5000

We're now presented with a map that displays the location of the Adam Internet building, stationed on the corner of King William Street and Waymouth Street, opposite the glassy Advertiser building. If we would like to see where the Adam Internet building is in relation to the rest of Adelaide, we can use the zoom in and out function on the left hand side. Click and drag the slider in and out to adjust the focus (using the scroll wheel on a mouse has the same effect).

Try typing in your own address to try for yourself.

Locating businesses and points of interest

What if you're looking for the location of a specific business but don't know the street address? Simple! Type in the name of the business into the search bar and click the search button. Let's try typing “Adam Internet” into the search bar.

Google Maps is now displaying the same location as before but this time it is also displaying additional information, including the location of our front desk on Level 7 (soon to be Level 2), 117 King William Street, Adelaide, SA 5000 along with our telephone number (08) 8423 4000 and additional information, including user reviews. These reviews may be particularly useful when looking for accommodation or restaurants.

Google Maps can also be used to find points of interest, such as parks or zoos. Why not try searching for "museum" to find a good place to visit over the Christmas holiday break? After you've typed ‘museum’ and hit search, you'll notice a variety of tear-drop icons now displayed on the map. These correspond to the information located on the left-hand side of the screen. Let’s have a closer look at the ‘South Australian Museum’ by clicking on its name or tear-drop indicator. This will centre the screen on this location and provide additional options via a pop-up menu.

If you need directions to the South Australian Museum, you can select "Get directions" from the pop-up menu and received detailed instructions on how best to travel from a destination of your choice. There is also an option for travelling on foot, which will warn you of any areas you should be wary of walking through. Be warned, Google will suggest you kayak across large bodies of water at times.

Use Street View to navigate from the concrete

Another handy feature of Google Maps is "Street View", which provides a near 360-degree photographic view of any location from the road.

Give it a try by inputting your own home street address into the Search bar. (We'll continue to use the Adam Internet building address as an example, however.) Now that Google Maps has located your house, click on the image just above the words "Street View". You should now see the road your house is on from street level.

You may click and drag on the image to change your view of the street. When you see the arrows appear on the page, you can click them to move up and down the street, turn corners and explore your neighbourhood. Can you find your house?

Real Estate agents enjoy using the many features of Google Maps, especially Street View, to scope possible investment areas without needing to drive all the way to the location. However, it's just as fun to take a virtual tour of Sydney, or Melbourne, or New York City or even Tokyo without leaving the house.

To quickly navigate around the area while remaining in Street View, place the cursor over the little yellow figure in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen on the mini-map, then click it, drag it and drop it to any other location. You'll instantly be transported to the new location in Street View mode.

Likewise, when you're in the regular map mode, you can drag and drop the little figure onto any part of the map for instant Street View mode. It is also possible to change the view of the map from a standard road map to satellite photograph to a view of the terrain formation by clicking the tabs on the top right-hand side of the map which say ‘Map’, ‘Satellite’ and ‘Terrain’.

A few suggestions

Google Maps is an excellent tool for getting directions to an address quickly, locating a local business or recreation facility, planning an itinerary for vacations, looking at areas you plan to move to or buy in and more. In fact, some recent products such as the Apple iPhone incorporate a GPS application that will display your current location on Google Maps.

Google have thoughtfully provided a list of "10 Street view tips for everyday use"

For more information on using Google Maps and Street view visit http://maps.google.com.au/support/bin/topic.py?topic=1465.

We hope you enjoyed this tutorial.