Life & Technology – 2GB 12th April 2025

Smarter Home Protection with Arlo Secure Plans We get asked about spending money on home security plan to go with your security cameras. We are asking different camera companies about the benefits of subscribing to their paid plans. First up is Arlo who have a detailed subscription offering. 

Arlo Technologies, a leading smart home security brand, believes investing in a seamless and reliable security plan means greater control, superior protection and peace of mind that comes with intelligent, more responsive protection. Keeping your home safe has never been easier. But are you getting the most out of your cameras? Arlo Secure Plans unlock powerful features for better alerts, advanced AI detection, and more custom control. How do I know which plan is right for me? Your ideal plan depends on what you need. The Basic Plan is perfect for essential security. It includes 30-day video history and smart activity zones. Watch, save, and share your videos. You can also choose which areas trigger alerts. This plan suits those who want to review footage and customise motion alerts. For real-time security, upgrade to the Arlo Secure Plus Plan. It gives you access to smarter alerts powered by AI and tools to act fast when it counts. 

READ MORE. 
Guests and Topics on the Show
Big Pond Email Phishing Scam  

Scammers got smarter—and unfortunately, so did their tricks. This week, we looked into a Telstra email scam that left one customer locked out of her account, frustrated, and battling for nearly six hours over the phone and in-store trying to regain control. Matt McBurney joined us to discuss the issue being affected by customers of BigPond Email. The phishing emails had continued slipping past Telstra’s spam filters, but the real damage came after the scammers took control. They set up auto-forwarding rules, created new email accounts, and even generated app-specific passwords—allowing them to stay inside the victim’s inbox even after the main password was changed. 

We spoke with Matthew McBurney from Clicks Online, who helped the victim through the ordeal. He broke down how the scam worked, why Telstra’s current security responses weren’t enough, and shared the step-by-step process needed to kick scammers out of your inbox for good. Here is the outline from Matt on what to do to close the access AND stop the issue from causing problems to you –  As we have spoken about in the past the scammer, once they have control of the account, set up a new email address with an online service, Outlook or Gmail, and set up automatic forwarding from the Telstra webmail interface. They then stay logged into the webmail interface so if the account holder deletes the auto forwarder they can put it back in place. Telstra, once their system has noticed the log in from a strange location, will lock the account and tell the customer they need to change their password to get access to the account again. This does not however take away the auto forwarder. What the scammers are now doing, to ensure they don’t lose access to the account when the password is changed, is to create App Specific passwords for the account, multiple passwords so they can use the account over multiple systems.As you know that means, even with the password changed, and the forwarding deleted the scammer stills has access to the victims email account. What to do once you have fallen for the scam. Change your Telstra Password.Either by Calling 132200 and speak to Tech supportorGo to email.telstra.com and choose the option of Recover account after you put your email address in. You will be sent either a text message with a link to press on and more questions to answer, or an email to a second email address, also with a link to click on and more questions to answer Once the password has been changed you need to go into the Telstra Webmail at email.telstra.com You then need to click on the 9 squares in the top left corner of the window and go to Mail. When you scroll down you will see Auto Forward, delete any email address listed in there.You then need to once again click on the 9 squares in the top left corner and go to accountIn the password section you need to go to Manage App Specific Passwords and delete all listed passwords. Once you have done those tasks you will then need to go into the email program you use on your computer, phone and tablet and put the new password in you created so they will work for both sending and receiving emails.If you want to check to see if they are working, send yourself an email. You should be also able to reply to the email.

 Visit Matt’s Facebook Page here

Espresso Display – Pro 15 If you’ve ever wished your laptop had just a bit more screen space—without the bulk of a second monitor—this one’s for you. We caught up with Will Scuderi, Co-founder and CEO of espresso Displays, to talk about their latest innovation: the espresso 15 Pro. It’s a stunning, ultra-portable touchscreen display designed to give creatives, remote workers, and on-the-go professionals more freedom, flexibility, and functionality—wherever they work. With a sleek design, vivid 4K visuals, and compatibility across Macs, PCs, and even smartphones, the espresso 15 Pro might just change the way you think about portable productivity. Espresso has sent us one of these 15 Pro displays and we will review asap and publish on CyberShack.com like other reviews of Espresso Display products. I will say this about buying hardware in general, if you buy cheap, from a brand that does not provide support to other customers, its likely they will NOT provide support to you should your cheap piece of hardware have an issue. I say this as a collection point for many, many complaints about hardware makers, especially cheap ones. So if you are wanting a portable monitor, don’t buy a cheap one from a brand that does not support other customers.  The Espresso Pro 15 goes on sale at the end of next week, from Espresso Displays website 

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Life & Technology – 2GB 8th February 2025

Rooftop Solar Part 3 – working as it should

Rooftop Solar Part 3 is the third in a four-part series that explains the issues of installing solar panels and, optionally, a battery and what we consider best practices.You should read these first to get the backstory. Rooftop Solar Part 1 – where do I begin? examines my decision to go solar and what I found in dealing with the better-known solar installer brands. Rooftop Solar Part 2 – All you need to know before you start looks at some of the shonky tricks to get you to order a system—whether it suits you or not. We looked at the incidence and tricks of upselling as not one of our readers paid the ‘super low advertised price’.  
READ MORE..  
Guests and Topics on the Show
This week we spoke with Dean Williams, Partner Specialist Systems Engineer at Norton, about the alarming rise in love scams. He explained how scammers manipulate emotions to steal money and shared practical steps to stay protected.  During the call Dean discussed their FREE app ‘Norton Genie’ that will assist in helping you tell if something is a SCAM OR NOT. Dean mentioned they make it free so they can feed their database with lots of current scams so it can help you more.  

More details from the report –  Australians looking for love online invest an average 8 (7.93) hours of effort a week and scammers are exploiting this, resulting in financial impacts. The 2025 Norton Cyber Safety Insights Report – Online Dating reveals among current dating app users who have been targeted by a scam (44%) common types of dating scams for those who admit to falling for a scam 43%) include:Romance scams – 47% Catfishing – 29% a Fake Dating site – 26%  Visa or immigration scams – 25% Sugar Daddy/Sugar Baby scam – 19%  The findings are part of the 2025 Norton Cyber Safety Insights Report – Online Dating, exploring Australians’ dating apps approach and the associated risks. 

We also caught up with Nathan Rigger, Head of Product & Services – Mobile at Samsung Australia, to discuss the Samsung S25. He broke down what’s new, and why you should consider this as your next device. 

The Samsung Galaxy S25-series represents its best ‘glass slab’ offerings in 2025. Australia gets the S25 Ultra (SM-S938), S25+ (SM-S936) and S25 (SM-S931).

This year, they all use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, a slightly overclocked version of the standard SD8 Elite (4.47 vs 4.32Ghz). Samsung says that’s not the only change under the hood. READ MORE..

And you can pre-order it from Harvey Norman and take advantage of a lot of the bonuses that come with pre-ordering. 

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Life & Technology – 2GB 20th July 2024

LG TVs and Soundbar Reviews 

Looking for a new TV? We’ve done an in-depth review of two of LG’s newest OLEDs and a soundbar.  The LG C4 evo OLED is a mid-range OLED TV that provides the true OLED experience at a more affordable price. It is superb in every respect. When we say mid-range, the LG C4 evo OLED (α9 AI Processor) is a step up from the B4 OLED (α8 AI Processor, which is pretty good) and not much of a step down from the G4 evo OLED (α11 AI Processor). The B4 costs about $1000 less (review to come). The G4 costs about $1000 more, is brighter, uses a unique MLA screen coating for superior reflection handling, has a 5-year panel (parts only) warranty, and has a 4.2 sound system (2.2). We will review that separately. Why is evo OLED so good? 

The LG G4 evo OLED takes OLED TV to a new high with fantastic brightness, true natural OLED colours and inky blacks – it is simply the best OLED experience you can aspire to. The most significant upgrade in the 2024 G4 compared to the 2023 G3 is the A11 processor versus the A9 Gen 6. According to LG, this powerhouse delivers a 400% AI performance boost, a 170% graphics performance improvement, and a 130% general processing improvement. These enhancements allow the TV to handle process real-time images (up to 144 frames per second) with unprecedented speed and accuracy. 
Our verdict is crystal clear 
The LG S95TR 9.1.5 is one of the very few true Dolby Atmos soundbars using discrete three-way wireless rear speakers instead of vastly inferior virtual psychoacoustic faux Dolby Atmos. It is, frankly, outstanding. At $1699 (often seen as low as $1250) and less when purchased as a bundle with an LG TV, the LG S95TR 9.1.5 Dolby Atmos soundbar offers exceptional value for money. This is the soundbar that every fan of Dolby Vision/Atmos or DTS:X content should consider. Its excellent 2.0 to 7.1 free-to-air TV or digital streaming sound upscale enhances your viewing experience. How CyberShack judges a soundbar?  
Guests and Topics on the Show
Samsung continues to push the boundaries of smartphone innovation with the release of the Galaxy Z Flip6 and Galaxy Z Fold6. These latest models combine cutting-edge technology with sleek design, offering users a versatile and immersive mobile experience. This week we invited Nathan Rigger, Head of Product & Services – Mobile
Samsung Australia to talk about these two brand new phones.  Both models are equipped with the latest Snapdragon processors, 5G connectivity, and long-lasting batteries, ensuring top-notch performance and connectivity. With the Galaxy Z Flip6 and Galaxy Z Fold6, Samsung sets a new standard for foldable smartphones, combining innovation, functionality, and style.
Pre-order the new Galaxy Z Flip6 or Fold6 to get a Bonus* 1 year of Samsung Care+.
Buddy Telco is a new low-cost off-shoot brand from Aussie Broadband aimed at the value self-service market.

The question to ask is whether the Qantas/Jetstar move was a success. You bet it was, and so will this. 

First, Aussie Broadband was the germ of an idea in 2003 by two hard-working Aussie blokes, Phillip Britt and John Reisinger, in regional Victoria. They saw how frustrated people were with the major internet providers. We won’t go into details, but they merged Wideband Networks and Westvic Broadband to focus on Victorian regional areas, South Australia and Northern Territory. We invited Jonathan Prosser, Chief Strategy Officer from Aussie Broadband to talk about this new brand.  

Here are some more thoughts on Buddy Telco
 
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