We published our first newsletter! Here’s the content in blog form:
In an effort to add value to our comprehensive list of services, we are rolling out our first newsletter. Our hope is that it will educate, entertain and familiarize you with our team. There is much to keep up with in the field of technology and our team will do its best to keep you informed of industry trends (see Kerry’s article) and the gadgets they love. We hope to make complicated tech topics more accessible and understandable. Feel free to let us know if there is a topic you would like us to cover. Through the various articles, you will get to know us individually so you can place a face and name with those you have entrusted with your technology support. Our team is made up of members who have a passion for people and technology enabling them to be excellent translators of tech talk to real life applications. Lastly, we want this newsletter to be fun and entertaining. Based on my own experience with the team, I don’t think this will be a problem.
Thank you for choosing Anchor Point! – Paul McLean
The Effects/Symptoms of Malware:
Our own Justin Nigro offers up important tips about recognizing and avoiding Malware. Easily the biggest pain of the last 5 years. The Malware, not Justin. He’s nice.
If your computer suffers from these symptoms, you are probably infected:
- Pop-Up Ads: while surfing the internet, you receive an unusual amount of pop-up ads. You receive pop-up ads at sites that usually do not have them (i.e. Google). You experience pop-up ads when the browser is closed.
- Browser Hijack: your home page changes without your knowledge or consent. URLs (Internet addresses) typed into the browser take you to unwanted websites. Unfound websites bring you to a suspicious looking search engine.
- Unknown icons appear in the system tray (the area at the bottom of the screen that includes the clock).
- Slow Running Machine: Even though no applications are running, the system is unusually slow. Normal applications have a hard time starting and running. The boot process seems to take forever.
- Strange happenings: The screen image does unusual things, like turning upside-down or reversing.
- The physical aspects of the computer are affected: CD drawers open by themselves, drives run continuously; the computer will shut itself off.
LOOK OUT! 5 Do’s and Don’ts!
- Never open an email attachment if you don’t know what it is. Even if you know the person who sent the email, beware of attachments. Many computers with infections will send out email to everyone on their address book without the owner ever being aware.
- If you get pop-ups when opening a web page, don’t click inside the pop-up to close it. Always click the red “x” in the upper right corner. The “cancel” or “close” button in the pop-up might have unintended effects.
- “Your computer is infected!” Stumble across an infected web page or e-mail, and you may suddenly see a pop-up warning that your computer has been “infected” with one or more viruses, spyware, etc. You are offered to “click here” to download software that will solve the problem. If you do, it is most likely that you will cause your computer to become infected! You already have anti-virus software installed. Instead, call us to check on the status of your computer’s security. If you are afraid you are infected, notify us as soon as you have any doubts so that we can nip the problem in the bud.
- Avoid free downloads unless you are absolutely sure you can trust the source. Often these freebies are packaged with a good deal of adware and other pieces of malware. Nothing in life is free!
- Consider alternate web browsers to Internet Explorer. Firefox and Google Chrome are solid options.
SOFTWARE
Justin’s Picks
Windows Apps
1. Ninite.com – Automatic Installer
2. DropBox - Free Online Storage
3. CCleaner - System cleaning software
4. Fences - Desktop Icon Organization
5. Evernote - A cloud based note syncing application
Mac Apps
1. Perian - MultiCodec Player add-on for Quicktime
2. Adium - Multi-Client Chat Software
3. VirtualBox 3.2 – Free virtualization software
4. iPhone Explorer – Use your iPhone as a disk drive for transporting data
5. Evernote - A cloud based note syncing application
5 TECHS FOR BUSINESS TO WATCH IN 2011
Newest team member, Kerry DeVilbiss, has some helpful info for the New Year. Welcome aboard, Kerry!
“The Cloud” – Google Apps, Office Web Apps, Salesforce.com
You’ve probably heard the term bandied about in marketing literature or commercials… What is “the cloud,” anyway? It’s not dust and suspended ice particles – For many businesses, the cloud means software as a service, accessible from anywhere with an internet connection and a device. Popular offerings like Google Apps, Salesforce.com, and the new-to-the-cloud Microsoft Office Web Apps offer businesses a ubiquitous software platform for some fundamental business and IT operations.
Touchscreen Tablets – iPad, RIM Playbook, Galaxy Tab
There’s no question the iPad is a hit, and seeing surprisingly rapid adoption in the enterprise. Not to be left in the dust, other mobile electronics manufacturers like RIM, Samsung, and HTC have arrived to the party with a multitude of tablet-esque offerings. Lightweight, easy to travel with, no longer in need of a stylus, and increasingly capable, many techies are traveling with these in place of a laptop. Not to mention the effects these tablets are having on the shakeup rolling through the newspaper, magazine, and print industries.
Mobile Operating Systems – iOS, Windows Phone 7, Android, ChromeOS
This new wave of mobile computers requires software, whether it’s a tablet, a smartphone, or an iPod, and the way we use this software defines the platform. Apple’s iOS (which runs on iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch) and Google’s Android (on Motorola, Samsung, and other devices) are the major players at the moment, with Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 on the way and RIM’s Blackberry working to catch up with the industry it started. Also on the horizon is Google’s ChromeOS, a lightweight web-based operating system that conjures visions of the Sun Microsystems mantra “The network is the computer.”
Look for manufacturers to continue building out the enterprise features of their software as businesses clamor for interoperability and accessibility to critical business data from anywhere.
Increasingly Advanced Telephony – Google Voice, Skype, Ringio, Asterisk.
Unified messaging, VOIP, and other digital telephony solutions have been lurking about for some time now. The convergence of all your messaging and communications is on the way; voicemails in the inbox aren’t anything new, but services like Google Voice allows you to have a single phone number that ring all your phones simultaneously. Voice messages are transcribed and can be emailed, texted, or sent via carrier pigeon to your next destination. (But the pigeons cost extra.)
Videoconferencing – FaceTime, Skype, et al.
Many businesses know the value of videoconferencing – it allows for all-important face-to-face communication without necessitating expensive travel. Dedicated videoconferencing hardware can be pricey, and the large “pipes” required to move that network traffic also come at a high cost (especially in the era of HD video.) Consumer technologies like the very popular Skype, and Apple’s new FaceTime, are making video communications increasingly accessible, affordable, and practical, and the work that’s happening in the consumer space will help drive down costs and increase quality of service in the same families of business products. Whether or not you want your business partners and employees to see you in your pajamas is another matter entirely.
