This boy from Strath just made a stranger's day

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A big shout out to a high school boy named TREVOR of Strathalbyn College for helping me get my car out of our garage this morning.

Power was out in Strathalbyn and I didn't know what to do. My husband was already at work and me and my 4-year old daughter were going to school. I saw Trevor on his scooter, going to school and asked him if he had a celphone that I could borrow so that I could ring a taxi (sad to say, I ran out of celphone credit and I couldn't recharge because the internet was not working too).

He said he doesn't have one and asked me what's the problem. I told him about the garage door. And then he told me that the garage door can be opened manually (I never knew that.. sorry people). And then he helped me, and just in time, we arrived at Allendale Primary School.

Today is my daughter's book week parade and because of this kid's help my daughter won a prize, yay!!!

Again, thank you so much TREVOR for the help.

- M.

This suggestion for suspending licences is actually brilliant

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We've published a couple of stories recently on that dangerous intersection at Hosken and NWCH. 

Here's the first. 

And here's a letter from a local Labor politician who says he's been nagging the Liberal National government about this intersection for years.

It's true that accidents could be avoided if people weren't idiots and never pulled out when they couldn't see. 

But we don't live in that reality. We live in a reality where we need roundabouts and traffic lights. 

But one local has a suggestion on creating a new law for removing someone's drivers licence that might make the roads safer:

Ryan Eastough : I use this intersection every day at least 2wice its a shocker , im carefull on both bike and car and havent had an incident but iv seen so many near misses that have really frightened me for those involved , mainly people lacking in driving skills ,but in this day and age we have to protect the stupid as well because " natural selection " is no longer tolerated and licences are hard to take back once given out unless it's drunk driving or hoon laws maybe there should also be an " ur just an unco useless driver , hand ur licence back because ur dangerous clause "

Sounds good to us.

Seeing how there's no transport minister in WA, Mr Blayney can you fix this intersection for us?

Regarding that deadly intersection at Hosken St - Letter to the Editor

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Dear Editor

Hosken Street Intersection

I was most concerned to read of your near miss accident at the intersection of Hosken Street and North West Coastal Highway.

It may come as no surprise that this intersection was listed in the RAC’s Risky Roads Survey, October 2015 Report Card at number two for dangerous intersections in Regional WA.

I have been calling on the Barnett Liberal National Government to address this problem since December 2014 following an approach by residents, extremely worried for their safety and the safety of their children.

I wrote to the then Minister for Transport and have asked many questions in the Parliament since, most recently in June this year.  On each occasion I have been told that plans are either not finalised or are still being considered.

Just how long is the community expected to wait to have this matter resolved? It is not good enough.

I only hope we will see a positive outcome and soon before something very serious happens at this dangerous intersection.

Darren West MLC

MEMBER FOR AGRICULTURAL REGION

 

Link to original article "This Intersection is Deadly"

 

⚠️ URGENT: Explosives stolen in Geraldton overnight

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The Geraldton Police have issued a warning to the community regarding explosives that were stolen last night. 

They posted moments ago on Twitter that the explosives are dangerous, and should not be handled if they are located. 

If you have any information regarding the explosives, please call Geraldton Police urgently on 08 9923 4555. 

A sad day for Geraldton - Senses sign gone as it's too offensive

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Yesterday, Senses Cafe announced their much beloved sign is saying goodbye, as it is considered "offensive". The hashtags in the post tell us how they feel about it. 

Everything Geraldton receives some stupid complaints. Believe me. 

We usually just shake our heads and hit 'archive'.

But I'll never forget the day we received our first complaint about the Senses cafe sign. It was in May of this year, and Senses, as is their custom, had a little joke for people to enjoy while sipping their coffee. It was a joke about how people say they hate Crocs (the sandals), but seeing the company was worth $2billion, some of you "sonsabitches" must be lying. 

I shook my head when I saw the complaint. This is what it read:

"I wanted to have breakfast at Senses this morning but was too taken aback by their kerbside sign displaying profanity! I spoke to the Manager who was patronising and dismissive and told me there was nothing wrong with it and 'each to their own'.
I love a laugh as much as anyone but my kids deserve better than to be over inundated with profanity when the English language is so rich with other more eloquent and expressive options.
I had to make a formal complaint to Centre Management and yet I still doubt it will change anything.
Since when did it become ok to do that? If I went I the shop and said "I would like to order breakfast, b!tches" it wouldn't be acceptable now would it!
Work on your Customer Service Geraldton, it's downright disgraceful"

That's right folks. This person felt the need to go to centre management to complain about a joke about crocs because it had the word "sonsabitches", and then request that EG share the complaint to our tens of thousands of readers. 

I get that you probably don't call your daughter a bitch. 

But fun fact: Lots of millennials call each other "bitch" in much the same way that a 70 year old man would slap his mate on the back and say "how's it goin' you ol' bastard?!" Does he literally mean "how are you, you who are aged and conceived out of wedlock"? No. Is he using the term "bastard" to convey an insult or slur? No. It's the English language. It evolves. Words have multiple meanings in different contexts. 

If you're offended by that, you're the one with the problem, not the 70 year old Vietnam vet talking to his mate. 

I often use my wife as a barometer to see if things are over the line, so I showed her the photo with the Crocs joke. She laughed and nodded muttering "so true, so true". Then I read the complaint to her. She was as shocked as I was that someone was so petty that they felt the need to complain about this joke.

I put off responding to the complainer for a few weeks as I knew if I shared her thoughts she'd probably be crucified by our readers anyway. 

What's so bad about swearing anyway?

A few weeks ago I was walking along with my eight year old, and we overheard someone swearing. My son pointed it out to me, knowing it's not behaviour we normally encourage. 

I sat him down, and bought him a juice. "Ezra, there's something I need to tell you about swearing," I said. 

He looked at me, as though he already knew that swearing was bad, and he didn't need to have it explained further. 

"There's nothing technically wrong with swearing. I've taught you not to say certain words, because there are some people who live among us who are upset when they hear those words. But lots of people aren't offended by those words at all, and they don't have a problem using them. And there's nothing wrong with people who swear. You're not better than them if you don't swear. What's more important than whether you swear or not is what's in your heart, and how you treat people."

I gave him an example. 

"If you said to your little brother, 'Israel, I think you are a horrible person, you are not smart, you're ugly, and I will be happy when you die,' you haven't technically sworn have you?" 

"No," said Ezra. 

"But you were horrible to your brother, and you made him feel really bad about himself, didn't you?"

Ezra nodded. He could see where I was going with it. 

"But if you walked in and said 'Israel you effing legend, that was effing brilliant!' you've just sworn, haven't you?" He nodded, eyes narrowing. "But you've actually been really nice to him!"

He asked a couple of questions, then explained it back to me. He understood.

I don't care if my son "swears" or not to be honest, I care that he's kind to people. I explained a little about our culture, how you still need to watch the words you choose depending on the company you're in, and he seemed to get it. 

And now my eight year old understands the point of not swearing. He hasn't started swearing or anything. But he's not going to grow up with some narrow minded binary idea that specific words are intrinsically bad or good. I'd rather he understood we all have the power to make others feel good or bad with our words. Some words were perhaps originally created to hurt people. But words often get co-opted for a different purpose. And if they're making people happy, who cares?

And that's why I can't understand why someone felt the need to complain about the Senses sign. Clearly, these staff members are going above and beyond the call of duty to make people smile while they sip their lattes. They're putting a little bit of happiness into Geraldton each day through that sign. It's become something people look for. It should probably be heritage listed. That sign added value to the entire Northgate shopping complex. 

For Senses to then be attacked by self righteous zealots who are so insulated from the real world that they lack the common decency just to shrug and keep walking if they don't like the joke, is crazy.

 

I'm sure the person who lodged the complaint with centre management thought that's what Jesus would want them to do.

After complaining about that sign, did they make sure the news agency stopped selling pornography? Then did they make sure centre management stopped Coles from selling the local paper with prostitute ads next to kindergarten enrolment notices? Then did they complain to the fashion stores for all the sexually suggestive posters? Of course not. They knew the most pressing matter they needed to deal with that day was a joke with the word 'bitches' in it.

The problem with this brand of religious zealotry is its inconsistency and hypocrisy. 

If the standard for removing something is "I'm offended", then society will never try anything new.

Life would be boring if we only created art and products that were guaranteed never to offend.

Having grown up in churches I know these "offended" people well. They are professionally offended, all the time. If the pastor hasn't offended them by saying something they disagree with, then they're offended that Janice didn't give them enough eye contact on Sunday. They're offended that the new guy sat in their seat at church. They're offended that kids don't play in the street any more. Then they're offended that there are too many kids in their street playing Pokemon Go.  They're offended that the local coffee shop didn't have their exact same sense of humour. These people usually need to go and get a job, stop being busy bodies, stop getting their thrills off of killing other people's fun, learn how people in the real world actually live, and stop being shocked that some people see the world differently to them. 

If people changed the question they asked themselves from "does that offend me?" to "is that hurting anyone?" maybe we wouldn't be wasting so much time banning signs, debating marriage equality and fighting to remove criminal conviction records for people who were gay in the 70's. 

But to Senses Cafe, for all the wonderful signs over the years, thank you. 

And here's some funny street art we spotted the other day in town. Please don't be offended.

👽 A UFO in Geraldton? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Nadine McKenzie took a photo of her freshly mowed lawn today. 

Then later spotted something weird in the photo. 

"Took this pic in Seacrest today of my handy work with a mower. Then I noticed something to the right in the sky when looking back through them. UFO??? 😱😳😂 
Anyone???"

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Why you should never do "Share to Win" competitions

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Over the last year or so I've noticed a proliferation of "share to win" competitions on Facebook. 

Everything Geraldton has run a number of "like to win" comps in the past, and they're a nice way for our audience to win a prize. 

BUT, it may interest you to know that it's actually against Facebook's terms to make "sharing" or tagging a friend a condition of entry.

Business owners beware: if you post something with "Share this post to win" on your Facebook page, you actually risk Facebook shutting your entire page down. 

Here's the link. (Section E 3)

Why is this a problem?

Apart from the fact that very few people want to be constantly spammed with "share to win" posts in their newsfeed, there's a technical reason why you cannot make sharing to win a condition of entry on a Facebook page:

A page owner has no way of knowing who shared a post, unless the sharer has their privacy settings set to public.

Recently a competition appeared in my Facebook news feed. I clicked and had a look, and the post had over 490 shares. But when I clicked on the "shares" link, I am only shown 83 names. So although 490 people think they've entered a competition, really only 83 people have a chance of winning.

Most Facebook users have their privacy settings set to "friends". So when they share a post from a page, the page administrators cannot see their name. When they click the link to see who shared a post, Facebook only shows them the names of people who shared it publicly. 

When you enter a competition that asks you to "share", the page admin then checks the names of who shared the post, and picks a winner. The problem is, your name probably isn't even on the list, even though you shared it with all your friends. 

Unless you went and deliberately changed your privacy settings to "Public" (which most people do NOT want to do) your name isn't in the draw to win anything, despite you sharing the post. 

If people are following the terms of entry, but they're technically not in the running to win because the business cannot see the names of who shared the post, then not only has that business broken Facebook's terms, but there could be legal or ethical implications. It's like obtaining a raffle ticket but your entry never goes in the barrel, it goes in the bin. 

Running a competition in Western Australia is covered under the GAMING AND WAGERING COMMISSION ACT 1987, Section 104. 

Section 3 states: the permit holder shall ensure that every ticket or chance sold or subscription received is included in the drawing of a standard lottery; ... 

Section 11 states: "Records relating to the lottery shall be maintained for a period of twelve months and shall be made available to an authorised officer of the Gaming and Wagering Commission or a Police Officer upon request."

So not only does anyone who has been told they're in the draw HAVE TO BE ACTUALLY IN THE DRAW, but you have to be able to show the Police that this is the case, for the next 12 months. 

"Share to win" competitions on Facebook conflict with this section of the Act, because the method of entry is not consistently measurable by the business owner. 

But I didn't know!

Neither did we until a few years ago. But once it was explained it made a lot of sense. We still get a lot of businesses asking Everything Geraldton to run Facebook comps with "sharing" as a condition of entry, and while we acknowledge it's tempting because of the amazing reach those posts get, we don't think it's ethical, and it's a clear breach of Facebook's terms.

We will still run "Like to enter" competitions on Facebook, which are quite popular with many of our followers.

What should I do?

If you run a page, our advice is to make sure you never make "sharing" a condition of entry for a competition. "Like to win" is still ok. Or "visit our website and fill in this form", or whatever you can accurately measure. If whoever manages the social media for your business isn't aware of Facebook's terms, and the laws around Trade Promotions in WA, they could be getting your company into hot water. 

If you're just a Facebook user who sees these "share to win" competitions all the time, it's up to you if you want to spam your friends. But you'll need to change your privacy settings to public to even have a chance of winning, which means ANYONE, even people not logged into Facebook, can see your posts. 

But I've seen lots of organisations do this?

So have we. We've seen government agencies do it, large media companies, social media professionals, and lots more.

We haven't named or singled out any company in Geraldton doing this, because it's likely they simply didn't know how Facebook's sharing mechanism worked. Social media is still very new and confusing to a lot of us. 

In addition to the confusion, few of us read the terms and conditions when we sign up for anything, even a Facebook page. 

But we hope that once people understand how sharing and privacy settings work on Facebook, they'll realise "share" is not a suitable way to gather entrants for a competition. "Liking" on Facebook is perfect, though. 

Footnote: It may be argued that by "liking" the post as well, people have entered the competition, even if their "share" isn't visible to the page admin. The two arguments against this logic are that 1. it's still a breach of the ACT, and 2. people who "like and share" from a shared post on their friend's page will have their share appear on the original page's list, but NOT their LIKE. In a nutshell: Many people's names will only appear in the list of those who "shared" the post, not those who "liked" it. 

Footnote: Another new type of competition is the "Post on your page with this hashtag". While the rules around these are also ambiguous, it's worth noting that, again, unless the person posts with their privacy settings set to Public, their post will never be able to be seen by anyone other than their friends, and they won't be in the draw for anything.

 

Text message scam warning

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ANZ are warning customers of a scam text that is doing the rounds. ​

Here's an example of what it looks like. ​

​

There are two main types of scams like this that circulate by text.  

The first tries to get you to submit personal data for nefarious purposes. Be aware of this. 

The second is even more maliscious.  This is where hackers can essentially take over your phone just by you clicking a link. It may not be obvious they have done this at first, but they can essentially control the camera, microphone, and see everything you do without your knowledge. 

If you are running an old version of Android or iOS (iPhone) your phone can sometimes be hacked with a simple text message.  With one particular Android vulnerability, you don't even need to open the message. 

Unfortunatly for most Android users, security updates are few and far between. Unless your carrier issues a security update for your phone (which they rarely do) you're pretty vulnerable all of the time. You can root your device and install the latest version of Android yourself, if you don't mind spending a bit of time mucking around. 

Apple recently found and fixed a security vulnerability in their iPhone, so if you have the latest software then you're ok. 

As a general rule though, don't click on links from unknown sources. And don't forward links you are unsure about.  

And keep your iPhone running the latest version of iOS.  

How can I help the Police?

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 Make it Tougher For Crooks – Geraldton Police Seek Your Help

Geraldton Police are calling for the community to team up with local Police to tackle crime, to make it tougher for crooks.

In what are on their own, simple steps, small actions that the community can take go a long way to prevent crime and assist Police in a variety of ways.

These are some steps that the community can take to stand against crime:

• Timely reporting of suspicious behaviour – Police need to know what you see when you see it

• Get to know your neighbours – More eyes on the street

• Register your Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) with WA Police through your local Police Station

• Even when at home, lock your doors and windows.  NEVER leave keys in locks and consider what a crook may look for when targeting your home, vehicle or business.These may include valuables left in plain sight, a concealed approach (overgrown bushes etc) and limited or no lighting.

Petition created to protest mining at Oakabella

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An online petition at change.org has been set up protesting a proposed quarry at Oakabella, which is between Geraldton and Northampton. 

Tonya Constantine, who set up the petition, stated that:

Oakabella is a part of the Moresby Range and the Local Planning Strategy states "Developments not in keeping with the landscape qualities such as quarries and rural industry should be located outside the Moresby Range if possible"

The quarry proposal is clearly contrary to the Councils (sic) (Shire of Northampton) own Local Planning Strategy.

Quarrying the rock at Oakabella has long been of interest. 108 years ago, the newspaper "The Geraldton Express" ran an article (link) about the Mayor and Town Clerk journeying to Oakabella to find a suitable place to establish a quarry. 

Click here to visit the petition.

7 things you should know if you plan on moving to Geraldton

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So you've decided to move to Geraldton. Great. We're happy to have you. 

Here's a few tips that we hope will help you settle in. 

This block is over 2000m2

700m2 is not a large block

Yeah, we heard in Perth that a large block is 400 m2, that's madness. Anything under 700m2 is tiny. No one blinks at 2000 m2 blocks, which are about half the price of a Perth block. We need somewhere for the shed, the dog, the trampoline, and the veggie patch. So if you notice that all the blocks here are massive, they're actually not. You're just used to living in a cubicle.

Everything is only 8 minutes away

With a few exceptions, you can get anywhere in 8 minutes. That means we all arrive at events within 30 seconds of each other. So if you get somewhere 5 minutes early, don't be surprised if you're the only one there. 

Our tap water tastes like the Dead Sea

Get a reverse osmosis water filter or buy bottled water. Or better still, a rain water tank. But don't drink the tap water. 

No one is impressed with your new whatever

Got a new BMW? Fancy hair cut? Expensive suit? No one cares. Geraldton people are all pretty down to earth. It's hard to tell millionaires and tradies apart tbh. We care more that you're a decent bloke or woman; we don't choose our friends based on their net worth. 

Yeah we already know Gero's a great place to live

It shocks a lot of Perthies when they spend some time here, then realise their perception of Geraldton was completely wrong. You can point it out to us if you really need to. But we already know how great Gero is to call home. That's why we're here!

Yes, the weather really is that much better than Perth

Only 4 hours north of Perth, but the extra few degrees makes a big difference in winter, and summers are definitely a time of consistent beach/pool action. And we're not quite as far north as the insane troppo weather. Take up a water sport and you won't regret it. Preferably one that benefits from windy conditions, like Kite Boarding. 

We have much faster internet than most of Perth

A bunch of scientists convinced a bunch of bureaucrats to spend billions of dollars to build a massive radio telescope array inland from Geraldton (SKA) so we can find aliens. Somehow that translated into much of Geraldton getting fibre to the premises NBN before most of Perth. On top of that we have a local ISP called Node 1 who built their own wireless network that gets NBN-like speeds. We had this even before the NBN rolled out. 

So yeah, Perth may be a bit of a technological backwater. But you can expect to get decent internet speeds throughout most of Geraldton. 

If you need any actual advice on moving to or living in Geraldton, click here to check out our "Im new to Geraldton" section. 

All you need to know about the new iPhone 7

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At 1am WA time Apple presented their new iPhone 7 to a live audience in California, and live streamed around the world. 

With smartphones now being our most used personal computers, the latest offerings from Apple are always watched with interest. 

Around half of the 40,000 weekly visitors to Everything Geraldton use iPhones or iPads to browse our website. 

Here's a rundown on some key features of the new iPhone 7, along with several other announcements Apple made at the event. 

Two models

The 7, and the 7 plus.

The main differences other than size is the plus gets a much better camera. More on that later. 

Apple is also keeping the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus available, along with the iPhone SE. 

Shiny

There's a new colour called Jet Black which is a high gloss black.

The other colours are not high gloss. There's a new mat black, along with Gold, Rose Gold and Silver.

Home button improvements

They've added haptic feedback (they call it "taptic") to the home button. Might be a nice feature, but it's the kind of thing you'd need to try to see if it's useful. 

Water and dust resistant

Based on many people's real world experience, it seems Apple quietly introduced this feature in the previous model (the 6s and 6s plus) without telling anyone, perhaps to test how effective their water proofing will be. But they're putting it on the box this time. So ideally those accidental toilet drops won't cost you a thousand bucks. 

Improved camera

What Apple has achieved with a tiny pocket camera is nothing short of remarkable. 

The smaller phone, the 7, now gets optical image stabilisation. Previously one had to purchase the larger "plus" to get that feature. Some other new features include:

  • f1.8 aperture 
  • 12 MP sensor
  • True Tone flash with 4 LEDs
  • Flicker sensor
  • Image signal processor has twice the throughput of previous versions.
  • Can now edit Live photos
  • Devs can edit Live photos with new API
  • RAW camera API
  • Wide colour capture API 
  • 7MP FaceTime camera (up from 5)

While the above may sound rather technical, suffice to say it's notably better than the 6s, which was class leading. 

The new 7 plus gets all of the above, and something extra. 

It has two cameras. One is a normal wide angle lens. The other is a telephoto lens. This provides a couple of neat features. The first, and most obvious, is you can zoom in more when taking photos. Very handy. 

The other feature is the ability to take photos with something of a bokeh effect in a new mode called "portrait". Bokeh refers to the visual quality of the out of focus area behind a subject. Usually you need a high end camera to do this, but using the two cameras, and some neat software tricks that creates a digital depth map, Apple has achieved this feature on a smartphone. 

An image taken with the iPhone 7 plus, showing the bokeh effect when using "portrait" mode. 

To be clear, Apple executive Phil Schiller explicitly stated you should not throw out your DSLR. But, this camera certainly will be the best camera many people have ever owned. 

The software needed to drive the new feature doesn't appear to be ready yet though. Apple have said it will be released as an update for 7 plus users later in the year. 

Display

The screen is 25% brighter than the last model, and has a wider colour gamut. 

Speakers

 

Last year Apple introduced stereo speakers on its iPad Pro line. And I can tell you it's brilliant. 

Now they've brought stereo speakers to the iPhone. There's a speaker at the bottom, as usual, and one on the top. I doubt it will sound quite as good as the iPad Pro, as there's simply less space to work with in the iPhone. But for all that video watching we now do on our phones, it will be a useful improvement. 

No headphone jack

This fact was either leaked by Apple deliberately a long time ago, or was simply the worst kept secret ever. 

Yes, Apple has removed the headphone jack completely from the iPhone. 

It will ship headphones in the box that use a lightning cable, as well as a free adaptor that allows you to continue to use your existing analogue jack headphones. 

"Lightning" is the name of Apple's proprietary charging and connection port on iPhone and iPad. 

They gave three reasons for their decision to remove the headphone jack, a technology that has been around for over 100 years now.

1. Apple thinks the lightning headphones are a better connector. 
2. They're running out of space inside the phone for other technologies they want to include.
3. Apple's ultimate vision for how audio should work is wireless. 

I've been pondering this change for several months now. I often charge my phone while I have headphones plugged in. 

And I simply hate bluetooth headphones. They're usually too bulky to use lying on a pillow, and the pairing and un-pairing experience is horrible and unreliable. 

Quite simply, unless Apple did something completely new, I was not going to be a happy customer. 

But Apple exceeded my expectations with the new wireless Air Pods. 

The ear piece is the same style as Apple's ear pods, which I find to be the most comfortable of any in ear headphone on the market. And there are no cables. They look like they belong in the sci fi movie "Her". And they don't use the God-awful standard that is bluetooth. 

Apple promises they have a consistent and reliable connection and will only play when you're listening to them as they have sensors that detect when they're in your ear. You can access Siri with a simple double tap, and they detect when you're speaking. 

They seem very simple to connect, and the case they come in is a battery. They'll last 5 hours on a charge, or 24 hours combining the case/battery life. 

Apple-owned headphone company "Beats" is also coming out with a range of headphones that use Apple's proprietary pairing technology. All of a sudden Apple's purchase of Beats a couple of years ago makes a lot of sense. 

Again, Apple failed to have these ready for the iPhone launch. They're promising they'll have them later in the year. 

The AirPods will retail for $229.

Tech specs?

For the most part, tech specs are pretty meaningless. Real world bench testing is a far better way of knowing how fast your phone will actually be to use. Interestingly, the year old iPhone 6s is still faster than anything else on the market (except this new iPhone 7).

Here's some tech specs for those of you who are interested: 

Chip is called A10 fusion chip. 
64bit
4 core
2 cores are high performance
40% faster than 6s
Double the speed of the 6
2 cores are high efficiency cores for longer battery life.
Device switches between cores depending on usage. 

GPU:
6 core
50% faster than last model (A9)
3 x fast than A 8

Battery life

Battery life has improved somewhat from the last model. From the 6s to the 7, you'll expect an extra two hours of life. From the 6s Plus to the 7 plus you can expect an extra 1 hour. 

Storage

The base model phone starts at 32Gb of storage, instead of 16Gb. This will be a godsend for those of you who alway buy the cheapest model. 

Up from there is 128Gb, and 256Gb. 

It's worth noting the Jet Black only comes in 128Gb and 256Gb. 

Pricing (Australian)

7
32Gb = $1079
128Gb = $1229
256Gb = $1379

7 plus
32Gb = $1269
128Gb = $1419
256Gb = $1569

Old models

Apple will keep available the previous models, iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, as well as the smaller iPhone SE, at lower prices.

When can I buy the iPhone 7

Pre orders start at 3:01pm WA time, 9 September 2016. Jump onto Apple.com/au

What else did Apple announce?

New Mario game from Nintendo on iPhone (Great for Mario lovers, not very innovative game play.)

Real Time Collaboration on iWork documents (only 4 years too late)

Pokemon Go coming to Apple Watch (this will be awesome)

Apple Watch Series 2 (very cool, perhaps we'll do another post on this)

Apple Watch Nike Plus (perfect for runners)

 

 

Governor of Western Australia visits Geraldton

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Geraldton was honoured to have Her Excellency the Honourable Kerry Sanderson AC pay a visit this week. 

Following visits to numerous community organisations over the last two days, a civic reception for the Governor was held this evening at the new Multi Purpose Centre on Geraldton's foreshore, which included a traditional dance (see video below), and was attended by many community leaders. 

In a short speech to those in attendance, Her Excellency shared that she had come in a community role, to learn more about what is happening in the region. 

She will be visiting Mullewa and Mt Magnet tomorrow. 

The Governor of Western Australia is the representative of the Queen of Australia, Elizabeth II. 

The Governor performs constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:

  • presiding over the Executive Council;
  • proroguing and dissolving the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council;
  • issuing writs for elections; and
  • appointing Ministers, Judges, Magistrates and Justices of the Peace.

Furthermore, all Bills passed by the Parliament of Western Australia require the Governor's signature before they become Acts and pass into law. (Wikipedia)

Kerry Sanderson succeeded Malcolm McCusker in October 2014.

Are you interested in doing a Bachelor of Environmental Science?

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​GUC explores a Bachelor of Environmental Science with CQUniversity and CRT-BCMI

Are you interested in doing a Bachelor of Environmental Science?

If so, come along to the Course Information Session for Bachelor of Environmental Science 5-6pm Wednesday 7 September, Geraldton Universities Centre, 33 Onslow Street Geraldton

GUC is in discussions with Central Regional TAFE, and its Batavia Coast Maritime Institute, as well as industry and CQUniversity, around introducing this degree to Geraldton from 2017.

The Bachelor of Environmental Science will enable students to develop the knowledge and skills required for employment related to environmental monitoring, management and ecologically sustainable development.

Career Opportunities: Completion of the Bachelor of Environmental Science will prepare students to pursue employment opportunities in roles such as:

* environmental officer

* environmental consultant

* environmental scientist

* vegetation management officer

Employment opportunities exist within public and private sectors, for example; local catchment authorities, regional resource management organisations, State and Federal Government natural resource management departments, environmental consulting firms, local councils and mining companies.

EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST NOW!

Should there be enough local interest students would enrol in the CQUniversity’s Bachelor of Environmental Science as distance students but receive weekly tutorials for theoretical units and undertake 3-4 day intensive courses each semester in practical units that make up the program. Field work is also applicable in some of the intensive practical units.

Students with the Diploma of Conservation and Land Management or Diploma of Environmental Monitoring and Technology would receive 8 units of credit in the program, meaning they could complete their degree after two years of full time study.

Please express your interest to brendanp@guc.edu.au or phone 9920 4404 and check out the link to the course through; www.guc.edu.au/courses/environmental-science/

Image credit: NACC

Geraldton businessman charged with fraud after stealing clients' credit card details

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Police say they have arrested and charged a Geraldton man with multiple counts of fraud. 

The person is a 34 year old Geraldton man. Police say the man is charged with numerous counts of Gains Benefit by Fraud.

Police say he is a local businessman who used client credit card details for his own private use.  

He is due to appear in court later this month. 

A 34 year old Geraldton man has been charged with numerous counts of Gains Benefit by Fraud and is due to appear before the Geraldton Magistrates Court on 8 September 2016.

A person familiar with the matter has spoken with Everything Geraldton regarding the person. They stated that they have had dealings with the accused, and told Everything Geraldton that they had been overcharged by the business in question that the accused is involved with, and was disputing several charges for goods and services that were not supplied.

Arson squad investigating Moresby house fire

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Arson Squad Officers have been called in to investigate a house fire that occurred over the weekend in Moresby, Geraldton. 

At about 7:50am, Sunday 4th September 2016, a structural house fire was reported at a house in Moresby.

The dwelling suffered significant damage as a result.

The matter is currently under investigation by Geraldton Detectives and Arson Squad Officers.

My husband nearly died - Letter to the Editor

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My husband got extremely ill on the morning of 17th of August at 2am. He started vomiting initially, I thought he had gastro so didn't panic. By lunchtime I was concerned as he wasn't improving.

I got a doctor appointment but on the way to Dr at 3.50 he started to go down hill fast, so I changed direction and took him to Geraldton regional. He was rushed into resuscitation unit and RFDS to Perth where he spent 13 days in ICU, and was placed in an induced coma. His kidneys and body were starting to shut down.

A few days later we were advised he had salmonella poisoning. As no other family members were sick we believe he may have eaten some takeaway or fast food on Tuesday 16th August.

The only reason I am writing this post is the Health department in Midwest are not investigating as they believe it was an isolated case.

If you or any family members had similar symptoms I urge you to go to the doctor to be checked out, you may still have salmonella in your system. My husband is still on dialysis and is in hospital in Perth quite ill.

This was not a simple illness for him as he almost died from this. If anyone has this it can remain in their system for a substantial amount of time.

My husband was lucky I changed direction and headed to the hospital otherwise we would not be having a fathers day. Please, I just want others that may have been ill to see their doctor and get tested.


Anon