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Welcome to 2025. New year, new me, am I right? Actually, if history serves, I’m probably not right. New Year’s resolutions and new beginnings almost always devolve into “same old story” within months (or sometimes even weeks). I should know: when it comes to New Year’s resolutions and self-improvement, I’m as big a sucker as anyone. When it comes to New Year’s resolutions and self-improvement, I’m as big a sucker as anyone I’m always writing lists, packed full of silly little goals. I’m also a huge spreadsheet fan, adding a menagerie of daily tasks and boxes to tick. “Drink 3 litres of water”, “hit 10,000 steps”, “do some yoga”, “meditate”, that sort of thing. Sometimes it sticks, but usually it falls by the wayside after a month or so. I…
Retirement village residents are often in for a rude shock when it comes time to leave the village. Most have handed over a huge lump to secure a unit, and village operators all have their own rules for how much residents will get back. The amount will likely be reduced by numerous exit costs, which is bad enough. But even worse is that it can take a very long time to get what’s left over. The WA government recently announced it’s moving forward on reforms that would require village operators to return exit entitlements to former residents within 12 months. That this is considered a big improvement shows you how bad the situation had become. Some WA residents had waited for two or three years to receive what they were…
Criminals who infiltrated social media platforms stole $95 million from Australians in 2023, up 249% since 2020. And 76% of those 2023 losses happened because victims clicked on a scam ad on a Meta-owned platform, such as Facebook or Instagram. Things got better in 2024, but are still far from good enough. Between January and September 2024, Australians had reported losses of $35 million from social media scams. A recent announcement raises hopes that scammers will find it harder to target victims, at least when it comes to financial services scams. Meta says it will introduce an advertiser verification system in Australia to take effect this month. Advertisers targeting Australians with financial services offers will have to take several steps to demonstrate that they’re not scammers, including providing their Australian…
A CHOICE investigation in 2022 found that A Bunnings, Kmart and The Good Guys were capturing biometric information on customers through facial recognition technology in stores, largely without customers’ knowledge or consent. Our findings caught the attention of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), which launched an investigation. The Good Guys immediately paused its trial of the technology following our report. Just over a month later, in July 2022, both Bunnings and Kmart announced they would halt their use of facial recognition technology. But the OAIC investigation went forward. In November last year, OAIC announced the results regarding Bunnings, saying the company had breached Australia’s Privacy Act. Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind said the facial recognition cameras that were in use in 63 Bunnings stores in Victoria and New…
FIRST LOOK LOGITECH MX KEYS S COMBO FOR MAC PRICE $399 CONTACT logitech.com/en-au The Logitech MX Keys S Combo for Mac is a wireless keyboard and mouse bundle that can seamlessly switch between a computer, smartphone or tablet and even your TV. How, you might ask? Through the use of simple, effective, shortcut keys. There are three unique keys for jumping between devices on the top right of the keyboard. All you need to do is run the initial Bluetooth pairing process on supported phones, computers or other devices, as you would with a pair of headphones. Then, the keyboard can quickly connect with the press of these buttons. It’s not bound by a single ecosystem or operating system either. You can switch from MacOS to Windows, or iOS to…
In a survey late last year of 959 migrant workers conducted by the Victoria-based Migrant Workers Centre, 62% of respondents reported experiencing at least one form of exploitation. Topping the list was being short-changed on wages or having to work in unsafe conditions. More than three out of 10 reported being injured at work. Much of this happens in food services jobs. Until recently, for a worker to report that they were being compelled to work more hours than allowed would have been an act of self-sabotage. That’s because reporting it means you’re doing it, regardless of the reasons. And overstepping work restrictions would have been a visa violation under Section 235 of the Migration Act, punishable by visa cancellation. In July 2024, the Migration Act was updated through the…
