Services Archives - IT Helper (Greymouth) In-Home Computer Repair & Advice

Interested in investing in cryptocurrency?

Posted on October 12, 2019October 5, 2020 by Russell Nimmo

In this post I offer some starting points for West Coasters interested in investing in cryptocurrency.

The easiest way to buy cryptocurrency in New Zealand is via a cryptocurrency retailer. “Easy Crypto” has become my ‘go-to’ place to purchase cryptocurrency. Sign up and get verified at Easy Crypto and you will be able to make purchases and have them transferred to your wallet within minutes. Easy Crypto have a great range of cryptocurrencies available (72 today) and the number is rapidly increasing. Fees seem to be very reasonable, and they also offer the opportunity to sell your cryptocurrency back to them. Sign up at Easy Crypto. Buying Cryptocurrency in NZ

Of course, if you are buying cryptocurrency then you need somewhere to store it safely. The most safe and convenient way that I know of to store your cryptocurrency is through the use of a hardware wallet. The Ledger Nano-X is the most recommended hardware wallet to store your cryptocurrency safely. Only you have access to your keys, and if you lose it, you can still get access to your cryptocurrency via a new Ledger device so long as you have kept your recovery phrase safe. You should only buy your ledger directly from the manufacturers website. Ledger website. Buy Ledger Nano-X in New Zealand

You can store your cryptocurrency on an exchange, but this is not recommended as the exchange has full control of your assets, and exchanges do get hacked from time to time. (Have you heard about New Zealands’ Cryptopia exchange that was hacked a year or so ago and is no longer in business?)

One of the biggest and most reputable exchanges in the world is Binance Exchange. This is the Number 1 cryptocurrency exchange in terms of quality, liquidity, and variety & quality of cryptocurrency offerings, and is the main exchange that I use. Sign up to Binance Exchange here.

If you do invest in cryptocurrency, then you will need to report your trading for taxation purposes. It doesn’t have to be a nightmare. A highly rated solution is Cointracking.info which offers a very comprehensive service. It links directly to your exchange/s to obtain your trading records. It also deals with airdrops etc. If you use the above link you will save 20% on the fee.

Education is vital if you want to succeed in cryptocurrency investing or trading. A few YouTubers I follow are listed below. Perhaps you may find one or two of them helpful to you.

CryptoCrew University Learning Technical Analysis

If you want to trade Cryptocurrency (Rather than just invest and hold) then it is essential that you learn some Technical Analysis if you are to be successful. Do the learning before you trade! I have found Datadash, CryptoCrew University, Crypto Revolution and Crypto Jebb particularly helpful in this area. (As well as doing some reading on it.)

It is easy to lose money through trading, so do improve your chances by learning to undertake low risk, high reward trades!

An essential tool for trading using technical analysis is Trading View. This site offers live trading data for most cryptocurrencies as well as stocks and currencies and can be accessed free of charge in a limited way. You will soon find that a pro account offers significant advantages however. Trading View Website.

I’m no expert on cryptocurrency investing and I’m certainly not an investment adviser but I have learned a thing or two over the past couple of years of trading. (Entering near the height of the last bubble… I started my learning the hard way!) I’m thinking of offering a class or two for people wanting to learn some of the key skills of setting up wallets etc… I don’t want you to fall into some of the traps I fell in to as I was learning myself. If you are interested in attending one of these classes in Greymouth then send me a message and I’ll update you on anything I may put together.

Best wishes

Russell

Back-up options: What price for peace of mind?

Posted on July 28, 2016July 11, 2019 by Russell Nimmo

Greymouth: Answer this question honestly!

[socialpoll id=”2377345″]

Hmm.. How did you fare? Back-up not up to scratch? I’m guessing that most of us are ashamed to admit that we really aren’t prepared for a data disaster.

This week I address some of your options to improve on your existing back-up system. I welcome feedback too on anything I say. You may have some suggestions to make too.

Set and forget! (For full peace of mind)

If you or your business depend on your data, or if you simply cannot afford to lose your files then you must have completely reliable back-up in place. So long as you have a broad-band plan in place, then my current recommendation would be to go with Backblaze Online Back-up. This currently costs US$5.00/month or US$50.00 per year (About NZ$70.00/year) Backblaze can give you complete peace of mind that all of your files are backed-up in the cloud immediately and securely. You can even back-up any attached external drive. (Which in my case holds 3TB of data) These days, we really need to think of on-line back-up as an essential (and now affordable) insurance policy for many of us. Interested in trying it out free? You can sign up for a 15 day free trial here. You can see how it stacks up against other cloud back-up services here.

Local back-up (If you really cannot afford $70/year, or your internet plan has very limited data etc)

Local back-up is a second-best option in my view. The main reason for this, is that we aren’t data specialists and don’t devote ourselves to daily checking that everything is working! It is also true that the disaster that results in us losing the data in the first place may also take the local back-up. (Eg A house fire, flood, or theft) For local back-up I would recommend either using the built-in Windows back-up or even better, a free back-up software AOMEI Backupper. You can visit the AOMEI site and download backup software. (Just remember that this is a secon-best option to online back-up in my view.)

AOMEI Backupper allows you to back-up your whole operating system and data files to a second internal hard disks, external hard disks, solid-state drives (SSD), USB flash drives, Thumb Drives, Network-attached storage (NAS), Hardware RAID, Dynamic Disk and Virtual machine systems, etc. It has an amazing range of back-up options for you to choose from, and can even be used to transfer all of your computer’s contents to a different PC.

Local back-up still has its costs. If you want the back-up to be live, then you will need to have another drive running all the time that your computer is running. That will cost money for the drive, and money for the electricity to keep it running. (You can of course just schedule a weekly back-up if you really can afford to lose up to a week’s worth of files…. but then you have to remember to make sure that it doesn’t get forgotten, or unplugged etc.)

Hybrid Back-up (Local and “Free” on-line)

Until recently, I have adopted this ‘patchy’ approach. I back-up all of my photos to a Flickr Account (I have 18,035 photos stored there today) Flickr is completely free to use, and is a great way to share your photos with your friends, or publicly. (You can even edit your photos there) My music is all backed up to Google Play Music (Free if you have an Android device.)

Now, having gotten all of those files out of the way, you might choose to make a disk image back-up of you computer using AOMEI Backupper (Above). (So you can easily restore your computer if you need to) You document files can be added to this image periodically, or you could elect to store all of your documents in the cloud using the free Google Drive or Microsoft One Drive cloud services.

Whatever you decide to do…..!

Don’t delay! – Do it now, while it is fresh in your mind.. before it is too late!
Stick to a simple system! (If it isn’t simple, it is unlikely to happen.)

I welcome your feedback on this post!

Disclosure Statement: Regarding Backblaze online back-up. I have selected this service because I genuinely think it provides the best value for money of the mainline back-up companies. As a Backblaze affiliate, I stand to profit $5.00 for any reader who follows the link on this page and signs up for a paid account within 30 days. (Assuming that at least 20 readers actually do so!)

IT Helper has begun. (Shhh its a secret!)

Posted on July 23, 2016July 11, 2019 by Russell Nimmo

IT Helper is the new ‘kid’ on the block for friendly, mobile computer servicing in Greymouth. I’m just getting started at present and am in the process of sorting out my equipment and stock and website etc, and am quietly picking up the odd customer here and there through word of mouth. This suits me, as I don’t want to be rushed off my feet before all systems are go!

Through this part-time business, I’m aiming to provide a convenient, friendly, mobile service for Greymouth people who need a bit of a hand with their computer, or perhaps more general IT advice or tuition. Services offered include such things as:

a tune-up for your pc
transferring your software and settings to your new pc or tablet
help with setting up google or microsoft acccounts and apps etc
diagnosing and solving software or hardware problems
basic skills training to help you find your way around your computer, or particular software
advice on computer purhasing decisions etc
even re-tuning your TV receiver for the latest freeview channels etc

It can be hard to decide what to buy these days. A brand new laptop might not be any more powerful than a three year old one etc! I’m happy to assist you with independent advice on a good device to buy, and good software to download or purchase too. Spending a little on some independent advice up-front, might potentially save you a lot of heart-ache, and potentially, a lot of money.

In coming weeks, I’ll be establishing a regular blog post and a subscription e-mail newsletter that will provide regular free and helpful computer and IT tips. (Watch out for a “Newsletter” tab appearing on my website. You will be able to subscribe to it there.)

So… If you have just discovered this post, please don’t rush off and tell all your friends…. or I’ll get busy too quickly! Oh… OK.. You can tell ONE friend if you like!

Russell Nimmo (IT Helper)