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We've been busy lately--meeting with companies that can help you with your computer networking, telephony, Internet service, backups and disaster recovery.

Here's the plan--we will be setting up a page for each of these approved services for this site. You can read about them, see their logo, decide if it might be a fit for your situation and let us know via the form on that page of our site. We will then put you directly in touch with that person/company so you can learn more and place your order when ready.

As we flesh out this site with many IT service companies, let us know if there is a particular area you would like us to cover. We want this site to be a great resource for you whenever you need IT service.

We've been busy lately--meeting with companies that can help you with your computer networking, telephony, Internet service, backups and disaster recovery.

Here's the plan--we will be setting up a page for each of these approved services for this site. You can read about them, see their logo, decide if it might be a fit for your situation and let us know via the form on that page of our site. We will then put you directly in touch with that person/company so you can learn more and place your order when ready.

As we flesh out this site with many IT service companies, let us know if there is a particular area you would like us to cover. We want this site to be a great resource for you whenever you need IT service.

This recent article is provided by MX Logic.

Consumer Reports study publishes severity of these scams

Computer viruses, phishing scams and spyware have cost the US economy $8.5 billion over the past two years, according to a new report.

Published by Consumer Reports, the study showed that more than 500,000 computers have had to be replaced during the past six months because they are infected with various forms of malware.

However, the group indicated that there are signs that antivirus protection and web filters are combating threats more effectively.

Research showed that people currently have a one in six chance of becoming a victim of identity theft and fraud, down from one in four in 2007.

Despite this, it reiterated the threat that phishing scams pose.

"Phishing still thrives. It's easy for criminals to download sophisticated and cheap phishing kits that feature authentic-looking corporate logos and other tools," the report explained.

Download the MX Logic August Threat Forecast now. It's in .pdf format--you can open it with Adobe Reader--download Adobe Reader now.

Usually, I'm a Mac person--I have a Macbook that goes with me almost everywhere (it's pretty much my mobile office). My desk is topped with my 20" iMac--very useful as I work in half a dozen programs throughout the day.

The other day, though, something unusual happened--I made coffee at the office (that's not terribly unusual, but it doesn't happen every day)--the real shock came when I was working with my styrofoam cup of coffee sitting on my desk.  Doing my normal work, moving my arms, typing on my computer keyboard--you know, all the usual stuff--when with one sudden movement of my arm, somehow bumped the styrofoam coffee cup (probably wouldn't have happened this way with a proper mug), knocked it over--coffee on the desk, coffee on the floor, coffee all over my keyboard!! 

OK--so work came to a hault for a little bit--run to the bathroom for paper towels, run back to the office to clean up coffee, repeat.  So finally, the coffee is cleaned up--I've shaken the keyboard over and over in an attempt to release all the coffee stuck in it--finally just had to set it aside and let it dry.  After it dried awhile (during an interview), I thought I'd give it a try--eager to get back to work as usual.  Plugged it in, started working, type, type, type--oh, that key doesn't work very well, this key works!, oh, no here's another one that doesn't work--quickly figured out that this was a losing battle.

Time to press the easy button, right?  I went to Staples in downtown Greenville.  Started looking through all the keyboard choices--just wanted something basic--there's quite a range available.  Talked to a sales person--which keyboard will work with a Mac? Hmmm.  Oh, look at that--there's a Microsoft keyboard that will work with a Mac.  It's basic, the keys are nice and quiet (Patrick will like that, my other keyboard was so noisy--clatter, clatter, clatter!).  Not too expensive, either.  Bought it!

Back at the office with my new keyboard, opening the bright red box--hmmm, USB, plug it in, directions say I should install CD first (how am I going to do that? Can't control the computer to install a CD until I have a working keyboard. Oh, well--let's try plug-n-play.)  Starts working as soon as it's plugged in--beautiful.  Worked with it some, inserted the CD, installed the stuff, it wants to restart my computer (Who has the time?  So I work for now and restart later.) .  Some of the keys seem to work differently than what I'm used to--not sure at this point how I'm going to take to this keyboard change.  Fast forward to after restarting the computer--look at that!  All the keys work just like they're supposed to now--must have been something good on that disc!  Been enjoying a nice, quiet keyboard that works great ever since.  You didn't say you wanted one, did you?  Oh, well, just in case, here's a link to where you can get your own:

Microsoft Digital Media Keyboard

Looking for a simple online backup solution? You might want to try out Jungle Disk. Once you've purchased it, you can set it up on all of your computers. 

Configure the "bucket" for your computer, set up a backup schedule and let it work for you when you're already online.  Tell it which folders you want to backup--typically, these would be folders that have the most information that changes regularly and would cost you dearly if you lost it.

We've been using Jungle Disk Plus for a little while now on our computers, and it seems to be working quite nicely.  My laptop is scheduled to backup certain folders every 15 minutes to make sure I have a current copy of important work. 

Keep an eye out -- we are thinking about providing Jungle Disk services right here on SpinningSilkIT.com -- I'll keep you posted!

It's been said that one really does not get "backup religion" until you have a system completely crash and you lose everything.  Wouldn't it be better to backup regularly now instead of having to go through that?  Patrick is the backup guy around here and he makes sure we have our data backed up so if something wears out, we have an extra copy of the data we need which minimizes any resulting downtime. 

There are a few different ways to go about backing up your computer:

1. External hard drive
2. Online backup service
3. Combination of above

If you go to your local computer/electronics store (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.) , you can find many, many different external hard drives.  If you decide to go this route to backup your data, be sure to choose a hard drive with enough space to hold 2-3x more than your computer can hold.  Over time, you will want to be able to archive data on your external drive, but you will still need to use part of that drive to backup your day-to-day changes. 

Once you have an external hard drive, you will need some good backup software.  There are plenty of options available for this purpose - check to see if you have something already on your computer.  Backup software needs to provide a way for you to schedule your backups (so you don't have to remember to back it up every night manually), do backups of the whole drive to start, choose to backup just a particular folder and be able choose to backup only the changed files for the day.  These are some things to think about / questions to ask when you start looking for good backup software.

Another route to check into are the online backup services.  We are currently researching options in this arena.  So far, we have checked out Amazon's S3 service.  It's ok  - I need to play with it more before I give a final opinion on it.  The things to look for in an online backup service are security, ease-of-use and backup scheduling capability.  Let me add that backups are not just important for businesses - they are also very important for individuals, especially if you keep financial data on your computer (think Quicken, Microsft Money, etc.). 

What do you use for backing up your data?  Leave a comment and let us know.  Do you have a specific backup question? Tell us in a comment and we'll answer it as quickly as we can. 

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One question we hear rather often is "How do I set up my e-mail?"  Setting up your e-mail is not hard, but there are a few key pieces of information that you must have in order to set up your e-mail.

The key pieces of information are: 

1. Username
2. Password
3. Incoming server - type and address
4. Outgoing server - SMTP

When you have your own domain name and it is being hosted somewhere (hopefully over at Spinning Silk Multimedia), your e-mail address will be in the format of username@yourdomainname.com. So your first key piece of information is right in your e-mail address -  your username.  Your password is the next piece - whoever set up your e-mail address on the server will have this information.  Your incoming server will often be yourdomainname.com .  The incoming server type is usually POP3. Sometimes, e-mail servers are set up in the format of mail.yourdomainname.com . To be sure how your e-mail server has been set up, contact your e-mail server administrator.  Your outgoing server will usually be yourdomainname.com or smtp.yourdomainname.com or something similar.  Again, contact your e-mail server adminstrator.

OK, now that we've established the necessary information and how to find it, let's look at your e-mail program.  Your computer most likely came pre-installed with some sort of e-mail program.

Here are some possibilities:

1. Windows Mail
2. Microsoft Outlook
3. Microsoft Outlook Express
4. Apple Mail
5. Thunderbird

Whatever program you have, find the area where you can edit or add e-mail accounts. Some are located at Tools > Accounts or under Preferences.  Click the button that says Add or Edit or Change, etc.  You will be presented with a form to fill out with your username, password, incoming server and outgoing server.  Fill these out, do not check the extra security checkboxes (unless your Internet Service Provider requires it).  Sometimes, you get everything filled out, but it doesn't work.  In this case, try entering your entire e-mail address in the Username field, instead of just your username.

I hope this article has been helpful and will be posting more along this line - maybe with some screenshots from the various e-mail programs. If you have a question or comment, please click on the comment link and share it with us.  Thanks!

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