Phishing Season

Where I live, fishing season has already begun. I have not had a chance to get out there yet, but I hope to soon.

There is another type of "Phishing" going on in the Internet which is not good at all. Phishing tries to get you to give things like your login user name and your password so that they can be used later by someone else.

Here is usually how it works. An E-mail arrives and it asks you to verify your user name and password; for your bank as an example. They tell you service will be shut down until you do this. When you click on the "Blue hyperlink" in the E-mail, you arrive at what looks like your bank site. It is a fake site. You give your info by inserting it into a login box.

They then have the ability to access your site because you just gave them your user name and password.

Places like you Bank and such will never ask you to verify your user name and password this way. So watch out. It is a scam.

Laptop battery use and moving that laptop

To get the best use out of your laptop battery, you need to run it down every now and then. If you only plug in your laptop to a power supply every time, you are not helping your battery. You may actually be causing its failure down the road. So to get the best use of your laptop, run it on battery power to drain the battery.

Another thing, about moving your laptop computer when it is running..."Don't do it." If you have to move your laptop, shut it down; then move it. Moving your laptop while on can damage the hard drive.

Cooling Tray For Laptop

If you have a laptop computer, you need a cooling tray to help keep it running cooler and extend the life of your laptop computer. Heat is a laptop's enemy.

A laptop has a small area to provide cooling for internal electrical components. Overheating can occur easily especially if you block the air intake port.

A cooling tray lifts the laptop up and the fans in the cooling tray push air through the laptop providing extra cooling.

A cooling tray also will angle the laptop for ease of typing.

They are not a lot of money and over time, can extend the life of your original investment.

Computer Training Focus

2008 plans to be a great year. Despite some parts of the economy, you can still have a great year. Opportunity can always be found especially when you have your head up and you are looking for it.

This year the focus of this blog will change to computer training. I am going to start adding computer tips when I can to help you increase your basic computer skills and hopefully help your business at the same time.

Training Tip:



There is a key on your keyboard called the Windows key. You will recognize it because it has a Windows flag printed on it and it is located usually to the left of the space bar. You may also find it on the right side also.



By pressing the Windows key once, the Start menu will apear. This gives you quick access to the Start Menu functions. You can use your mouse from here or use the up and down to select what you want.



If you hold the Windows key down and tap the "E" key, the Windows Explorer will open. The Windows Explorer is also know as My Documents (XP) or Documents (Vista), My Computer and such. This is a handy shortcut for accessing files, folders and such.

Getting Ready For 2008

2008 looks like a great year with lots of opportunity. As I look back at 2007, I feel great about all the people I have helped gain new computer skills. I hope and trust that their future will be brighter because of these new skills.

I was just talking to a woman that I am training and I asked her how she felt about the skills she was learning. She said that she really felt better because she could keep up with her daughter and all the new technology that she was beginning to encounter. She no longer fears the computer and she sees it as something that she can master and use easier. It is hard to imagine that when I met her, she did not think she would be able to learn the computer.

When I hear feedback like this one, it really makes me feel like I am mattering in this world. It would be nice to leave this world better than when I came into it.

I hope your year will be a great one. Let this year be the year that you master the computer.

Top 10 New Businesses to Watch Out For

I was just notified recently that Alpha Computer Training and Consulting made the list of the Top 10 up and coming new businesses to watch out for. I was nominated by my local Chamber of Commerce. This truly is a great honour.

The Nova Scotia Business Journal will publish the article in January. Readership is about 143000. My business is about to get maximum exposure. Now it is time to prepare for growth. This means upgrading my website further and working harder to get Kenley Mailman trained in more areas.

Businesses go long periods of time and work extremely hard to achieve success, and yet many do not get this recognition. I am thankful for this honour, but I remain humble to the fact that there are many great businesses out there that are doing a great job in their community also.

Would it not be an awesome goal to be noted as one of the top 10 businesses in Canada to watch out for next year? Best wishes to all for their future success in this New Year. Have a great Holiday season.

Stress and Business

One of the things that can really cause you stress in your small business is a disorganized office. You will waste more time looking for things which will eat away at your available time.

One of the things that causes disorganization is lack of storage space. Do you have a place to put that document? The answer to this problem could be as simple as going out and buying a storage container for those scattered documents.

Work away at getting more organized and this will help remove some of the stress caused from disorganization. This is not time wasted. By organizing your office, you will gain time. Time will help you get done more throughout the day.