“Tons of buildings” in this small rural settlement south of Hamilton have been targeted by thieves in the past three weeks. Read...

Tuatapere`s picturesque domain is transformed into a sensory celebration of rural life during the annual Waiau A&P Show. Read...

The digger arm for construction, horticultural and tree work will be put to the test at the country`s largest rural field days. Read...

MPs take the first step in making it easier to open bars in rural communities to revive socialising. Read...

Scammers might be criminal scum, but you can’t deny that they’re always trying to innovate. With automation and generative text now much easier, we seem to be experiencing a new flood of phishing attempts. The latest one is particularly effective for car owners: fake parking tickets. BleepingComputer reports a new wave of text message scams hitting numbers associated with area codes in US cities from coast to coast. These alerts claim to be from municipal authorities warning about unpaid parking tickets. “This is a final reminder from City of [your closest big city] regarding the unpaid parking invoice,” says the phony message. “A $35 daily overdue fee will be charged if payment is not made today.” A link to a fake website instructing you to input your personal info follows. You probably understand on an intellectual level that fakes like this are common. But please don’t discount the danger here, as it’s an effective attack on multiple levels. A text like this sent to 100,000 numbers in an urban area code will absolutely hit tons of people who own a car and are constantly concerned with parking tickets, even if they’re careful to avoid them. An alarming message from authority, complete with a threat of daily compounding fines, is enough to get plenty of people to immediately click out of concern… without the due suspicion that texts from an unknown number should inspire. A similar tactic targets drivers who are often on toll roads — again, very likely if you drive in any big US city. A Macworld editor recently got the following message, and I’ve seen similar ones sent to my number, even though it’s from a relatively rural Texas area code. Note the random email address and URL showing an obvious phishing attempt. Foundry Phone carriers and companies like Google and Apple are doing their best to protect user. (An iMessage feature disables the automatic hyperlinks in text messages for senders who aren’t on your Contacts list.) But again, scammers use volume and automation to reach as many people as possible, some of whom will be less tech-savvy or simply not on their guard. I’ve accidentally clicked on one of those “your package is held up” messages, all because I’m expecting a package about half the time. Unfortunately, dealing with phishing and other scams requires constant vigilance in the modern age. And however hard digital gatekeepers try to keep them out, scammers will try even harder to get around those methods. Sadly, they’ll often succeed. Read...

King Country woodchopper Jack Jordan achieved the sport`s first ever three-peat at last year`s Timbersports World Trophy in Italy. Read...

TV antennas are having something of a renaissance in the U.S. Buoyed by the ever-increasing costs of cable and streaming subscriptions, and additional channels enabled by the advent of digital TV, roughly one in five U.S. homes now rely on an antenna for their television. Beyond the cost of the antenna, all the channels are free, and you might even get a better picture than through a pay TV service. When it comes to choosing an antenna, the selection is almost as wide as the programming you can receive, but if you do a little homework, you should be able to buy with confidence and ensure a good picture. We’ll walk through the steps required to figure out what kind of antenna you need and what you might receive, then you can use PCWorld’s buyer’s guide to help narrow down your choices when you’re ready to shop. The first step is figuring out what TV programming is available where your live. What can I tune in with a TV antenna? The quantity and selection of TV channels depends on where you live. In general, the closer you are to a large metro area, where the broadcasters’ towers are generally located, the more channels will be broadcast. In rural areas, the opposite is typically the case. If you live near the Canadian or Mexican borders, you might be able to receive additional channels from those countries. Most parts of the U.S. have access to the four major commercial networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) and a local PBS station. Many of these stations broadcast additional digital networks dedicated to a particular theme, such as children’s shows on PBS Kids and classic TV on MeTV, Cozi, and Antenna TV. If you find yourself limited to an indoor antenna, you’d be best served by one that includes a signal amplifier. These draw electrical power from a USB adapter or an open USB port on your TV.Winegard To figure out what’s available, we recommend navigating to Rabbit Ears. This website models TV reception based on the location of the antenna and TV transmitter data from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The Signal Search Map page is where you need to be. Enter your address (street, city, and state) When the map updates to show your house, click “Move pushpin to center of Map View” in the panel below the map Set the approximate height your antenna is above ground level Click “Go” The site will display its best prediction of the TV channels available in your location, along with an estimate of the strength of their signal levels (higher numbers are better). Take a look at the channels and networks and figure out what you want to receive; make a note of the predicted signal level. Use the website RabbitEars to discover the TV broadcast tower locations in the vicinity of your home address. The signal strength it reports will help you determine whether an indoor antenna will be strong enough to pull in the channels you want to see, or if you’ll need to buy an attic or roof-mount model.Michael Brown/Foundry As a rule of thumb, an indoor antenna will be sufficient for channels with a good signal level, an attic or outdoor antenna will likely be required for stations marked fair, and a larger outdoor antenna with an amplifier will be required for those marked poor. Stations marked as bad will likely be difficult to receive without extreme measures. Finally, take a look at the direction of the transmitters from your location. If they are all in roughly the same direction, a single antenna should be fine. If they are wide apart, an antenna on a rotator—a motor that can turn the mast the antenna is mounted to to change the antenna’s orientation—might be required, especially if the signals strengths are poor. Choose an antenna Now you’re armed with everything you need to make an informed decision. PCWorld’s antenna picks are divided into several categories, from cheap indoor antennas to substantial roof-mounted ones. In general, an outdoor antenna will always deliver the best performance, no matter the signal level. They’ll provide much more reliable reception than indoor antennas, which are always a compromise. If an indoor antenna will fit your needs, this transpartent Ultra-Vizion model virtually disappears when attached to a window.Martyn Williams/Foundry That said, not everyone can install an outdoor antenna, so we have several indoor antennas, from basic, thin antennas that can be put in a window so better amplified antennas that should provide a step up in reception. A further level up are smaller outdoor antennas, many of which can easily be installed on the side of a house, on a balcony, or inside an attic space. Many of these are also amplified. Finally, we have tested a number of roof-mounted antennas that are the gold standard in TV reception. A roof-mounted antenna will provide the most reliable reception and should pull in the greatest number of channels. If you are planning to install one yourself, please use safety precautions when on a roof and ensure the system meets local building code requirements, especially for grounding. Warning! Don’t believe the claims If you browse online shopping sites or look at the advertising for antennas, you’ll see lots of dubious claims. The first rule is to ignore anything about antenna range claims. Reception depends on a multitude of factors, including the transmitter frequency and power, the location of the transmitter, the immediate environment around your house, and more. There is simply no way an antenna can guarantee its claimed number of miles. Use the method outlined above, that takes all these factors into account. Don’t fall for the specious claims some TV antenna manufacturers make for their products. It’s highly unlikely that any indoor antenna will be capable of pulling in signals from a broadcast tower 130 miles away. Nor will one be capable of streaming ESPN.Jared Newman / Foundry The second thing to remember is that there’s no such thing as an HD, 4K, or NextGen TV antenna. An antenna simply receives signals and isn’t dependent on the format being broadcast, so ignore those claims as well. PCWorld’s antenna reviews are conducted under real-world conditions with the same equipment and at the same location, so we can give an honest and measured comparison of every antenna we test. Attention renters, HOA residents, and apartment dwellers If you rent a house or apartment or live under the terms of an HOA (Homeowners Association), don’t let anyone tell you you cannot install a TV antenna. In the U.S. federal law gives you the right to do so under the FCC’s “OTARD” regulations. In short, you have the right to install a TV antenna for reception of local broadcast signals in an area you rent or have exclusive access to. If you’re facing resistance, read the FCC page, linked above, and quote the OTARD rule. Connecting the antenna to your TV A length of coaxial cable cut and ready for a connector to be attached. Martyn Williams/Foundry Most indoor antennas come with a small cord attached that can be connected directly to a TV or amplifier, if one is supplied; other antennas might come with a cable or require you to supply your own. TV antenna cable is called coaxial cable, or coax for short. It has a center wire that carries the signal, a plastic insulator, an outer braid that shields the center cable from interference, and an outer sheath protects the cable from the elements. The standard for TV antennas is called RG-6. It’s important to use a good quality coax because cables result in signal loss. You can minimize this by using a good cable and keeping the length as short as possible. If you need to run a very long cable, consider an amplifier, ideally at the antenna end of the connection. And that’s how to choose a TV antenna That should be everything you need to choose and install a TV antenna. TV reception is mostly a science but can be a little bit of an art; so, if you don’t get satisfactory reception, go over the steps again. Try moving the location of the antenna to see if that improves picture quality. If you get a lot of interference, consider adding an amplifier. Most of all, don’t give up! A good antenna will provide thousands of hours of free entertainment for many years, so invest a bit of time and money into getting it right. Still unsure which one to buy? Check out PCWorld’s most highly recommended TV antennas. Read...

Sheree Kilpatrick falsely claimed back nearly $10,000 and still has no remorse for the offending that left staff and students emotionally wrecked. Read...

The Hui investigates a police raid on a rural Maori community which traumatised dozens of innocent people including children. Read...

Hauora Hokianga said donors - both local and from afar - had been very generous. Read...