It’s everyone’s favorite application. Since its introduction, it has revolutionized the way we communicate, both personally and professionally. 

It has had a major impact on how companies market themselves, communicate with vendors, and send out press releases, rally employees and alert clients to their latest and greatest promotion.

The ease, low-cost and speed of e-mail in marketing are the biggest reason why our inboxes are overflowing with spam. 

In response to the ubiquitous outcry, “I hate spam,” governments have crafted new regulations surrounding the use of e-mail; and if you are one of the millions of companies using it for marketing, then it’s important that you familiarize yourself with these laws, but the danger doesn’t stop there. 

Even if you don’t get caught by the feds for violating the rules of e-mail usage, you can still end up blacklisted with the major ISPs such as Yahoo!, AOL, and MSN. 

Once you get blacklisted, you are considered guilty until proven innocent, and ALL the e-mail you send won’t go through, even to people who want to receive it – a consequence that could end up hurting your business more than a fine. 

First and foremost, make sure you are only sending e-mail campaigns to people who have solicited (requested) to be on your distribution list.

This is called “opting-in” or subscribing, and e-mails sent to this folks are considered “solicited e-mail.”

You are perfectly within your rights to send them messages; but if you got their e-mail address by any other means and they did NOT specifially request to be on your list, that’s considered “unsolicited e-mail” or spam.

Sending promotional e-mails to people who have not requested it is not only illegal, but annoying..so don’t do it!

Next, make sure you provide directions on how a person can remove themselves from your distribution list in EVERY e-mail.

The best place to put this information is at the very bottom of your message. You should also include your full company name and contact information at the bottom so no one can blame you for cloaking your identity –another legal “no-no” of e-mail marketing.

Finally, when sending an e-mail, we recommend using a service such as iContact. Check it out at http://www.icontact.com/?cobrand=310189

These web based applications will help you manage your e-mail distribution list with automatic opt-out and opt-in tools and will keep your e-mail server off ISPs blacklist. 

Naturally, you want to make sure the information you are sending is interesting and relevant. 

No one wants more junk fi lling up their inbox so the better you are at marketing, the better your results will be.

E-mail is not a magic marketing bullet that will solve your marketing problems, but used correctly, it can certainly help you reach more customers and build stronger relationships with the people you already do business with.

“This computer is driving me crazy!” Have you ever shouted at your computer because it froze up, crashed, and caused you to lose work? Have you ever whacked it with your hand, kicked it, or smashed the keyboard out of frustration?

If so, you’re not alone. Problems with a computer, cell phone or other gadget can be so frustrating that it has been called “computer rage” by some psychologists, and it’s on the rise. 

According to a recent poll, three quarters of computer users have admitted to shouting, swearing, or committing acts of violence towards their computer (we think the number is much higher). 

While some simply curse the darn thing, others have admitted to hitting it throwing it across the room. 

One computer user was quoted saying, “You feel so helpless. All you can do is sit there and watch the stupid thing freeze up and there’s nothing you can do about it. Errors may only cause a few minutes delay, but it feels like a lifetime when you

need to get things done.”

Deadlines are missed, work is lost, customers angered - all because of computer trouble. 

And the vast majority claim that problems like this happen on a consistent basis. 

Technical problems are only the start of most peoples’ anxiety. Many report that they are further angered by the time and process it takes to get the problem fixed, and some employees claim computer problems are their number one source of at-work anxiety and stress.

IT related problems further compound employee dissatisfaction since it often forces them to work late or take work home. If you are an employer, take note:

Your unstable computer network could be elevating your employees’ anxiety and job dissatisfaction levels, not to mention interfering with their productivity. 

Thanks to our Super Value System Checkup, we have helped dozens of clients end “computer rage” at their company and with their home computers. 

Our comprehensive, 27 point problem prevention tune-up lets our technicians dive deep into your system and check for hidden problems, viruses, spyware and system-slowing hardware problems.

This isn’t just a simple look at your system! We use special software tools and our own, proprietary methods to check things other computer companies just don’t know how to check!

You’ll get a written report detailing what we found, and our professional recommendations for any updates you need to bring your system back up to speed. 

Sign Up Today And Get Priority Access and Pricing

Since it’s Valentine’s Day, we want to “show you the love” by offering you this Super Value System Checkup for only $69.

We’ll get your system running so nicely, you’re guaranteed to fall back in love with your computer again. Plus, we’ll give you priority scheduling in our shop - no point in making you wait to feel the love!

If you have a business with 5 or more computers, we’ve got an even more LOVEly offer for you! We’ll send our Microsoft Certifi ed technician to your office, saving you the hassle of bringing your computers to our shop. 

We’ll do the same 27 point problem prevention tuneup, and check your network for trouble at the same time.

You’ll need to hurry, though - this offer is only valid during the months of February and March, and limited to the first 25 people who call.

To Find Out More call 734-457-5000 Or, Visit Us Online: www.LoveYourComputerAgain.com

As you can imagine, we see a lot of computer and network issues. Sometimes, they’re pretty diffi cult to diagnose and repair, but in some cases, a simple fi x is all you need. Here are some tips you can refer to the next time your computer goes a little crazy, and some advice to keep you out of trouble.

Nine times out of ten, rebooting your computer and connected equipment will solve the problem you’re having.

Do a full restart, which means go to your Start menu, shut down the computer, and power down your peripherals and computer. Then, restart it fresh.

A good computer consultant can tell if you’ve been bad or good on your computer, and usually pretty quickly. Tell us what you really did right before the computer crashed – this will save time and aggravation.Your consultant will fi gure it out eventually – why not make the repair quicker?

Downloading free music, movies and games from the Internet can open holes in the security system of your computer, making it easy for other people to access your files. Be safe… Only use legitimate sites like iTunes and Netflix for your downloads.

 

We walk a fine line in recommending passwords. If they’re really easy to remember, that means they’re also really easy to guess. If we make the password very hard to guess, it’s also going to be very hard to remember.

Here’s a suggestion: Create a “main” password which you then modify for each site you use. A good main password would consist of numbers and letters (but not your birth date!).

Try using your first dog’s name combined with the address of the first house you lived in, and then add to the password for each site.

For example, buffy1944 could be a good base password. Then, you’d add AMZ at the end for your login to Amazon.com – buffy1944AMZ.

Hackers don’t care that you’re too busy to renew your antivirus and anti-spyware software – in fact, they hope you don’t! Set your software to update at least once a day and run a full system scan at least once a week.

If you don’t have an urgent need to check your online banking or private e-mail at the coffee house, don’t do it. While you’re on a public network, even if it is encrypted, a nearby hacker can capture your passwords and other personal information and use it to steal your identity.

Ctrl Z is the magic undo combo. It simply undoes your last action, say, the paragraph you accidentally erased (it works in other applications, too).

Programs vary in the number of times you can undo something, but some will let you Ctrl Z all the way back to the beginning. (And, yes, there is a redo command, just hit Ctrl Y.)

Ctrl B, Ctrl I, or Ctrl U apply bold, italics, or underline to highlighted text, respectively.

Ctrl P prints whatever is in an active window.

Ctrl Backspace erases an entire word at a time, instead of a letter. 

Ctrl up or down arrows let you scroll an entire paragraph at a time, instead of one line, and Ctrl Shift up or down arrow will select an entire paragraph. 

Ctrl Enter inserts a page break in Word.

Alt Ctrl C inserts the copyright symbol (Alt Ctrl R inserts the registered trademark symbol, and Alt Ctrl T makes the trademark symbol).

In Outlook, you can jump to the section you want: Ctrl 1 switches to the Mail window, Ctrl 2 switches to the Calender, Ctrl 3 to Contacts, Ctrl 4 to Tasks, and Ctrl 5 to Notes.

Ctrl Shift M starts a new message in Outlook. (Use Ctrl Shift C for a new contact.)

In Outlook e-mail, hit Ctrl N to compose a new message, Ctrl R to reply to a message. 

In Microsoft Excel, you can select the entire column by  pressing CTRL SPACEBAR, and select the entire row with SHIFT SPACEBAR.

Internet predators have become a fi xture of sorts on many  social media sites which necessitates the need for users to exercise caution. 

Since the advent of the Internet “instances” of cyber crime  have evolved into regular and expected occurrences.

Now the growing popularity of social network sites has cyber criminals taking direct aim at them with their Internet scams.

What is it that makes the social networks such an attractive target for this type criminal behavior?

Here are 3 very “inviting” reasons: 

Social network sites are meant for just what they imply and that is to socialize.

This type of atmosphere is casual and relaxed therefore people for the most part are NOT expecting devious behavior.

It is just this type atmosphere that cyber criminals depend upon and thrive in. Their ability to manipulate others is based upon a “blind” trust or having others believe in their own sense of security.

Most social media sites by and large are set up to be easy to use and navigate. This allows even the less than ‘tech savvy’ to become involved, but they also bring along their own naive nature relative to Internet security issues.

This makes them even easier prey since they are unaware of or unfamiliar with many Internet scams.

This ease of use on the other hand has also made it just as convenient for the “sinister online element” to gain access to their unsuspecting prey.

There are no security systems to work around or advanced coding to decipher therefore the “door” is wide open for the criminal element to gain easy access.

As we all know crime always seems to gravitate towards the largest population bases offline and this remains true online as well. The very popularity of social media sites has put them in the “cross hairs” of the devious minded predators that lurk on the Internet.

Safety in numbers is NOT something innocent site members can count on when interacting within online social communities.

Internet predators have settled in quite comfortably on many social media sites to the point that they have almost become accepted “fixtures” to users.

For the 3 reasons we have spoken of above cyber criminals are attracted to many of the online communities.

The structure of these sites offers the perfect opportunity for the criminal element to successfully implement their Internet scams. 

For the users they must simply be aware that cyber crime does exist and will continue to do so calling for the need to exercise caution when socializing online.

Nope — some of them are plundering your personal information and beaming it to potential bad guys. (Do hackers ever sleep?)

Two researchers revealed that they’d researched one seemingly benign wallpaper app and found that it was sending phone numbers and subscriber information (like names and addresses) to a remote computer.

The app in question came from Jackey Wallpaper, and it was uploaded to the Android Market, where users can download it and use it to decorate their phones that run the Google Android operating system.

It includes branded wallpapers from My Little Pony to Star Wars.

Essentially, these apps collect your phone number, subscriber identification, and even your voicemail phone number as long as they are programmed automatically into your phone. It sends the data to a website, www.imnet.us. That site is evidently owned by someone in Shenzhen, China. The app has been downloaded anywhere from 1.1 million to 4.6 million times.

“Apps that seem good, but are really stealing your personal information are a big risk at a time when mobile apps are  exploding on smart phones,” said John Hering, chief executive, and Kevin MaHaffey, chief technology offi cer at Lookout, in their talk at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. “Even good apps can be modifi ed to turn bad after a lot of people download it.”