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FROM SCOTT'S DESK
 

Well, we made it through 2009 and somewhere in the mix, January has disappeared as well. Hopefully everyone is still sticking to their new years resolutions!

Our resolution here at TimbukTech is to make customer service & satisfaction our number one goal. We have started sending surveys to each of our customers. Please take a minute to fill it out and let us know how we are doing!

We ended our "No Virus Tuesdays" promotion on January 1. During its 3 1/2 month run, we cleaned over 87,000 computer infections. Congratulations once again to all of the winners!

Thank you for choosing TimbukTech.

scott

Scott Brown
President/Network Engineer
TimbukTech Inc

 
In This Edition

From Scott's Desk -
New Years Resolutions

Vision Center Going Paperless! -
Throwing out the paper & welcoming in technology

Entry to Cloud Computing-

How new internet based technologies can benefit you

Is Your Computer Being Held Hostage?-
New types of computer attacks and prevention tips

 
Microsoft Tips & Tricks
Locate an address with contact maps

Microsoft Office Outlook can do more than just store your contact information. Outlook Contacts has a map feature that can help locate a contact's address for you.

If you have entered a complete address for a person or business in your contact list, it takes only a few clicks to bring up a map for that location. And if you want written directions, that is only another click away.

View a map
for an address in Contacts:
  
In an open Contact, in the Addresses section, click the arrow, and then click the type of address that you want to find on a map — Business, Home, or Other.

Tip The Addresses section is in the lower-left portion of the contact form (contact form: A view of an individual contact that contains all the information stored in the contact.). The arrow is next to a button that displays one of the address types.

On the Contact tab, in the Communicate group, click Map.

Along with viewing a map that shows the location of the contact's address, you have the options to zoom in or out, print the map, and get written directions.

 

 

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IT_Service_Saver
  - Imagine the comfort you will have knowing that your network and data is being monitored and protected 24/7

- Imagine not having to pay for full time computer support with an internal IT specialist

- Imagine moving to the top of the service request list when you have computers problems and you need assistance RIGHT NOW!

Call or email Matt Roe for more details about our IT Service Saver program and keep your business running more efficiently and reliably than ever!

 

VISION CENTER GOING PAPERLESS W/ TIMBUKTECH
 

Dr. Eric Botts moved to Macomb 17 years ago when then Walmart Vision Center opened. He has grown to employ 8 assistants and 2 doctors. Over the years, Eric has seen the advantages of using technology in his business and how it can improve the overall reliability and efficiency of the practice.

"We provide the most thorough eye care utilizing the latest technology" said Botts of his business. "We use TimbukTech because they deliver the service that they promise. If a question arises, they are prompt with a response to solve any problem!"

Dr Botts recently decided to move his medical records and billing systems to "the cloud". With this solution, his files will be saved on a remote server where they can be easily indexed and retrieved and reduce any chances of files getting "lost or misplaced". This will also allow them to get rid of numerous filing cabinets full of patient charts as well as provide more security over the data and will provide backups in case of fire or disaster. "We are now using electronic medical records which make our office more efficient and significantly decreases our use of paper products." commented Dr. Botts on the project.

At TimbukTech, we have installed high speed scanners to allow Dr Botts' assistants to quickly scan in all of the existing paper records. TimbukTech also installed network computing stations so everybody is able to access the records without having to purchase actual workstations for each desk. “They were able save me money by reducing the amount of hardware needed. TimbukTech has made the process of adding new technology effortless. They explained to me what I needed to do the job best and then completed the project on schedule."
For more information about Dr. Botts and the Walmart Vision Center, contact them at (309) 836-3373 or stop by their location on 1730 East Jackson Street in Macomb.

 
ENTRY TO CLOUD COMPUTING
 

What in the world is cloud computing? Cloud Computing is a term for fixed-fee hosted products and services. With the technological advances we have today, hosted services have increased in popularity and are financially economical for businesses.

Email Hosting
This service offers premium email accounts at a cost rather than the free advertising supported email such as Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL etc. With hosted email, your business can create custom email accounts for each user as well as use your own domain name!

For example instead of using JSmith@yahoo.com or gmail.com you get to use JSmith@(yourcompanyname).com

Security is increased also by spam filtering, to custom platforms and policies.

Hosted email is much more customizable and most email hosting companies will also provide web hosting.

Web Hosting
A company who offers web hosting will allow a person or company to publish and share documents, videos, and audio files via the World Wide Web. In order to host a website one needs a company who can hold their website on a server capable of handling the traffic and upload speeds.

Remote Backup
Traditionally backups are created on tapes or an external hard drive. Tapes tend to be inconsistent and external hard drives generally use free non error checking software which can leave you with corrupt files. With cloud based backups, the provider is responsible for verifying the integrity of the data backed up. Remote backups are completely customizable, secure, and can be set to run on any day, time, or frequency. Some big advantages to remote backups are that they are completely automated and stored off-site. You no longer have to remember to try to swap out that daily backup tape! Many providers offer image backups, so you can slap in a new drive, workstation, or server and the image can be pushed back out and be fully operational. No more major down time!

Due to their ability to minimize and control your IT costs through managed services, hosted services are here to stay. By allowing someone else to remotely monitor and maintain your infrastructure and business applications, productivity rises allowing you to focus on your operations, growth, and business goals.

If your interested in learning more about cloud services and/or managed services call or email Matt Roe with TimbukTech at 309-647-7269.

 
IS YOUR COMPUTER BEING HELD HOSTAGE?
 

New cyber attackers are quickly finding new ways to steal consumers money. Using new types of attacks, dubbed "Rogueware" and "Ransomware", criminals are tricking end users into believing their computers are infected with viruses and demand a fee to "clean" it. In some severe cases, cyber criminals are even going as far as locking out all files on a user’s computer until this fee is paid. Last month the FBI issued a warning regarding these attacks stating criminals tricked users into handing over $150 million from these scams in 2009 alone.rogueware

Here at TimbukTech, we are seeing that the "Rogueware" variety is the most common. In these attacks, the user sees lots of popups with the name "Personal AntiVirus 2010", "PAV", or "Total Security". The messages pops up and say "Microsoft recommends you turn this feature on" or "Google recommends you install this" and then before you know it, a new message pops up saying your computer is infected with 900 viruses. They then demand money to rid your computer of these “viruses”. When these infections started about 2 years ago, they were much more subtle and were just a little annoyance but now have evolved to locking out the user’s desktop so they are unable to run other applications.

nsmithThe second type of new attacks are much more malicious. These "Ransomware" attacks will actually encrypt the user’s entire hard drive so none of the users files are accessible until a $89 ransom is paid. This new program is most commonly calling itself "Data Doctor 2010". Luckily, we have not seen this type of attack yet, but know that it is only a matter of time.

PREVENTION – Know your AntiVirus

• Verify your antivirus subscription is active and up-to-date.
• Run scans weekly.

New attacks will present themselves as an antivirus with a popup from a website. To the average user, these messages will look like fully functional software and show Windows-like screens for firewall settings, file scanning, and every other tab you would expect from standard antivirus products. When the message pops up, read the name of the antivirus! If you have Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition installed on your computer then you can immediately ignore any virus warning from anything that does not say Symantec AntiVirus! Always click the red X in the top right hand corner of the window. DO NOT CLICK THE OK/Cancel BUTTONS. Both of the buttons are actually a trick to allow the infection in.

If you believe that you have been infection, contact your computer repair provider immediate to prevent sending your personal data to these attackers or even sending the infection to friends or family.

SOURCE: MSNBC.COM

 
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