OK, Here Is How I Buy Concert Tickets (Ticketek)

I have received more email about this than I did about the most recent iPhone launch. The below is what ‘I do’, its not a blue print on how to hack a system or run a ticket buying ‘Robot’ – those things are clearly illegal (and are against buying terms & conditions!). 

There are two parts to the purchase. The waiting room and the ticket selection/purchase. But they are separate parts of the system. They need to be separate because the waiting room has the potential to slow or flood the selection/purchase area if they are made the same. 

The Ticketek waiting room, like all online waiting rooms, need to id a ‘user’ vs a robot. If they allow robots in then they stop real fans/customers vs people buying to onsell. 

They do this via a number of ways, but the IP address of the user is the main way in which they do it. 

Yes, they require each buyer to be logged in to the ticketek account, but they ALLOW multiple devices logging in at once during the waiting room process.

So, what you need to do is maximise your connections via different ip addresses. If you are trying at work, with 1000 people all connecting through the same ip address = BAD IDEA. 

If you can connect from a phone via cellular, a pc connected on home nbn and another phone also connected on cellular, that is now 3x IP addresses and you have tripled your opportunity of getting through the waiting room que. 

I used this formula for TS to create 18 different opportunities to get through the waiting room and was able to buy the tickets in the day and in the area of the stadium I wanted. It was still a nightmare and took hours. To be clear – I didn’t use a robot – if you do Ts & Cs say they can cancel your tickets. But I did have friends and family connecting their devices at their home, multiple devices connecting on cellular and I even had staff working at home during the TS ticket selling event. All logged in and sitting in the waiting room – all on a Skype live chat to alert the others if/when they got through the que. 

For other ticket selling events I used the same system but dialled back the number of devices connecting, to just devices I had on hand. I used about 5 for Cold Play and others. The result was I was through the waiting room almost instantly for each. 

Also, you need to disconnect all the other devices from the waiting room as soon as one gets through. This ensures the purchase window does not let in another device to the purchase section while the first device is buying tickets in this section already. This can confuse the system and kick you of the purchase section and you need to go back to the waiting room all over again.

Use this system and see if it works for you. We won’t have another selling event like Taylor Swift for a while, so you might not need it, and also with this process making the rounds Ticketek might work to close it off as an option, but good luck with it and I hope it helps you get the tickets you want. 

Guests and Topics on the Show

NBNco joined us to discuss how they are with NBN resellers to offer faster speeds for selected speed tiers. Sadly its not coming until late this year, but here are the details announced this week. Here is the announcement   Australians feel the need, the need for speed: nbn reveals plan to turbo-charge high-speed tiers  NBN Co today launched a proposal to provide five times faster download speeds on its popular nbn Home Fast product, which would see wholesale download speeds accelerate from 100/20 Mbps to 500/50 Mbps1 at no extra wholesale cost to retailers.NBN Co is proposing to provide the accelerated speeds to customers connected to the nbn® network via Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) technologies. The company is also proposing to triple the wholesale download speed of its nbn Home Superfast product from 250/25 Mbps to 750/50 Mbps1 and increase the wholesale speeds of its highest residential speed tier, nbn Home Ultrafast, from 500-1000/50 Mbps to 750-1000/50-100 Mbps1, also at no extra wholesale cost to retailers. The accelerated speeds would be made available to customers who are already using one of the three highest-speed products, and to those who upgrade to one of those three higher speed tiers in the future. The proposed acceleration of the speed tiers is in response to the step-change in technology adoption and usage in Australia and globally. The move leverages the growing capabilities of fibre connectivity. The new turbo-charged speed tiers would be available across the company’s HFC and FTTP networks with customers in eligible Fibre to the Node (FTTN) and Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) locations that will be able to access the proposed speed tiers by upgrading to FTTP. As part of the proposal, NBN Co has indicated that it intends to relax the threshold2 for customers in premises served by FTTC to be eligible to upgrade to a full fibre (FTTP) connection by ordering an nbn Home Fast 100/20 Mbps product. Customers can check if their home or business is served by HFC or FTTP, or eligible to upgrade to FTTP and access faster speeds at nbn.com.au/fibreupgrade.The company is seeing strong demand for full fibre upgrades and higher speed tiers with approximately 7,000 homes and businesses per week, on average, upgrading to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP).  So if you are on 100/20 NBN you will be able to upgrade to 500/50 at no cost. If you are 1000/50 (like me!!!) you can upgrade to 1000/100.  If you are on 50/20 you are not part of the announcement? Why? Because NBN want you to move up a speed tier to a faster service. There has been plenty of comments on the email about the announcement, but there is a lot to happene before the end of the year and these speeds being offered to customers.   Epson Turns 40 In Australia  The Global President of Epson visited Australia this week and we included some exerts of our round table discussion in the program. We did receive a number of inquiries about printer product suggestions off the back of our guest joining us, here are some options (from Epson) –  Around $150 (Inkjet multi function)  Click Here – Around $250 (Ecotank printer only) Click Here – Around $500 Ecotank – all in one) Click Here

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Life and Technology – Saturday March 9 2024

Attacking Us By Attacking Business  They are called ‘Supply Chain’ attacks and involve hackers targeting small businesses that have connections to larger, more lucrative targets. These smaller businesses often have weaker cybersecurity defenses, making them easier prey.  We have seen that hackers exploit vulnerabilities in these businesses’ systems to gain access to the networks and data of larger organizations they are linked to. Once inside, attackers can move laterally to breach the main target’s systems, leading to significant data theft, financial losses, and damage to reputation.  Damage to reputation was one area we discussed later in our East Coast show today. Following a caller who told us he now sees about 50% of his dispatched emails never arrive at their destination, because his domain name has been flagged as ‘compromised’. This listener told me off air that business has been harder since the breach. We are going to assist where we can, with the support of our sponsor ‘Harvey Norman Technology For Business’.  Make sure your small business is protected from any of these attacks.   CLAIM YOUR FREE CYBERSECURITY ASSESSMENT HERE.

Guests and Topics on the Show

Supply chain attacks involve hackers targeting small businesses that have connections to larger, more lucrative targets. These smaller businesses often have weaker cybersecurity defenses, making them easier prey.  Rutland Smith  Proprietor from Harvey Norman Technology for Business shared how these hackers are able to prey on small business for such supply chain attacks.   Harvey Norman is giving away FREE Cybersecurity Assessment, claim it here.  Photo credit: https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/supply-chain-attack  Apple has canceled its plans to produce an electric vehicle. The decision reportedly came after years of development challenges and internal strife within the project team. The project, internally known as “Titan,” faced hurdles such as leadership changes, disagreements over the vehicle’s direction, and difficulties in securing key partnerships.  Mike Boyd, our in-house ‘Apple Guy’ came down to the show to talk more about this and some updates re Vision Pro.  Mike mentioned that although he has a home full of Apple technology, he never saw himself driving an Apple car in the future. Mike talked about the complexity and challenges of making an electric vehicle and how this was likely a big part of the reason that Apple binned the project.

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Life and Technology – Saturday March 2 2024

ASUS Zenbook Duo UX8406 2024 – Am I seeing double? (computer review)  I mentioned during the radio show today that innovation continues in the design of Laptops and Notebook PCs. The ASUS Zenbook Duo UX8406 2024 is a good example. Its a 14” vertically stacked dual-screen OLED laptop with an Intel Ultra 9 Evo processor. As ASUS likes to say, “Let’s Duo it”. But there is some cool features in the design of this model that I think are worth a look. Also, it may be something out of your budget now, but all good things in Technology flow down the pricing scale over time.   First Impression – Seeing double – Exceed  From the outside, it looks like the rest of the Zenbook models with the signature line patterns across the lid. But open it up, and it shows an excellent piece of industrial design. It has everything from the identical bright and colourful vertically stacked Lumia OLED touch panels to the integrated kickstand, excellent magnetic keyboard and protective cover.You open it up and determine how you want to use it today. Clamshell landscape mode with magnetic keyboard covering the lower screen (the keyboard uses POGO pins and BT – clever).Dual screen landscape (with/out keyboard or use the on-screen touch and keyboard) using the integrated kickstand.Dual Screen portrait 40-70° viewing angle – ditto.Flat screen – The 180° hinge expands the visual workspace to a massive 19.8”.There is also an MPP 2.0 (Microsoft Pen Protocol) stylus with a magnetic Snap-on. Use the case/cover for a 12° angle.  Read the entire review here.

Guests and Topics on the Show

The Zenbook Duo is a cutting-edge laptop that redefines multitasking and creativity. Featuring a revolutionary secondary OLED touchscreen display, it offers unparalleled productivity and immersive experiences. With its sleek design and powerful performance, the ZenBook Duo sets a new standard for portable computing. We invited Bradley Howe Head of Consumer, ASUS ANZ who talked about this amazing laptop.   Read our in-depth review of the Zenbook Duo here.   Australia is Getting Savvy With Satellite Design and Development  This week I attended an event with Space Machines, satellite company that is partnering with other Australian tech companies like Advanced Navigation (who I also spoke to at the event).  Space Machines Company celebrates the launch of Optimus, their first orbital service vehicle (OSV), aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Optimus, the largest single satellite produced in Australia, weighs 270 kg and measures 1.5 m by 1.5 m by 1 m, with a customer payload capacity of up to 500 kilograms. Space Machines Founder Rajat Kulshrestha describes Optimus as a “space taxi” and “roadside assistance” in orbit, providing ferrying and on-demand services like repairing, refuelling, and upgrading space infrastructure.  Boreas X90: a revolutionary navigation system for Optimus is developed by Advanced Navigation, it combines resilience and precision in a compact design. With rigorous testing, it emerged as a space-grade marvel, featuring digital fiber-optic gyroscope (DFOG) technology for unparalleled accuracy. We invited Rajat Kulshrestha on the show to talk about this innovation.   Roadside Assistance In Space: The Launch Of Optimus And Boreas X90

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Life and Technology – Saturday February 24 2024