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How long will your computer last? It’s all about the MTBF! Or is it?

A common question that computer sales, repair, service and support people hear is, “How long will this computer last me?” The most common answer is, “It depends…” Just what does it depend on? The quality of the product is of the highest importance, but even a very reliable device can have a shortened life if not maintained properly and it …

Secure IT Alert: Adobe releases Acrobat, Coldfusion, Reader, Shockwave and Flash updates #security #adobe

Secure IT Alert for Friday, February 11th, 2011 Adobe has beat out Microsoft for the number of vulnerabilities addressed on Patch Tuesday with the unleashing of a plethora of patches for their Acrobat, Reader, Coldfusion, Shockwave Player and Flash Player. Reader’s updates are considered CRITICAL and there 29 holes that are plugged… Shockwave comes in second with 21 CRITICAL vulnerabilities …

Secure IT Alert: Microsoft Unleashes a Slew of Updates for Windows & Windows Server & IIS FTP

Secure IT Alert for Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 The February 2011 Patch Tuesday was not boring…   Updates include something for everyone.  Basically every current Microsoft Windows OS version was addressed. The big one was the IE Update that fixed four code execution holes in the popular web browser. In addition to fixing thumbnail and font vulnerabilities which mainly affect …

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Safe Browsing from Public Wi-Fi Hotspots is possible with a VPN

WSPA’s Amy Wood (@TVAmy) had a great segment on last night (2011-02-07) in which she had Doug Cone (@nullvariable) a local web/graphics “devsigner” discussing the dangers of using public Wi-Fi. You can find that story here. He demonstrated a tool which allows even the most novice of “hackers” to see a list of others who are using any given open …

Business Printer Repair vs. Printer Replacement

It is Monday morning and you went to print your first batch of papers for the week but that didn’t go so well. Paper has been jammed in the printer, or maybe not even picked up out of the paper tray. What to do? Should you either replace that beast or call a printer repair technician? Replacing the printer is …

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Remote Temperature Monitoring for your Server Room or Wiring Closet

We are helping a client move their entire network (servers, computers, switches, firewalls) to a new facility. Unfortunately, the new digs do not allow for an optimum placement of their servers. They are to be relegated to an upstairs location in the building, and an air conditioner system is being installed to provide the cooling required to keep everything from …

Just Who is Promoting Cloud Computing Solutions? Accountants?

With more and more cloud computing / SaaS offerings becoming available to us, just who is promoting them? Hunter Richards, a Market Analyst in the field of accounting has a poll on the SoftwareAdvice.com site asking “Are accountants recommending the cloud yet?” That is a great question, unfortunately there was only a “Yes” or “No” answer. If there had been …

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Google Chrome Browser Continues to Gain Ground in the Browser Wars

Are you still using Internet Explorer? The majority of people are that hit our website and most others that track this information, but, as you can see from the graph on the right, alternative browsers are gaining ground. Microsoft Internet Explorer, like it or not, is the de facto “standard” that web sites and web applications are built to support. …

The End Is Near! All IPv4 Addresses Now Spoken For

We knew the day was coming, and today we learned that it was sooner than later. IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority), the organization that manages IP addresses and domain allocations has assigned two IPv4 address blocks to APNIC (The Asian-Pacific Network Information Centre), which in turn has caused a provision in the IANA rules to go into affect, releasing the …