admin – Windham / NH

Coffee and the Web Cam…

October 9, 2019October 9, 2019
by admin

In 1991, students at Cambridge University of England were sick and tired of getting up for a cup of coffee only to discover that
the pot was empty…the solution? They set up a webcam that was hooked up to every desktop computer in the office. It would monitor
the coffee pot by taking a picture every second (an early instance of 1 “frame per second,” or “fps”).

It ironically predated the web, and was hooked up through cables.

1991 the first web cam!

Tech History

Who the heck is Nicolas Tesla

October 9, 2019October 9, 2019
by admin

While it’s hard to actually pinpoint who invented the internet, we do know that scientists across the
world were researching and studying it over one hundred years ago. Since electricity had been discovered,
great thinkers like Nikola Tesla, Paul Otlet, and Vannevar Bush were able to deduce that we could harness
the power of electrons to communicate with others wirelessly. Sadly, they lacked the technology to achieve
the feat themselves, but it was their theorizing that lead to today’s technology. That’s right: You can
thank Tesla, the world’s most notorious inventor, for the ability to watch cute puppies howling at fire engines.

Speaking of the history’s most notorious inventor, in 1926, Tesla is quoted giving a detailed prediction of
what the smartphone has become to us today: “We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly,
irrespective of distance. Not only this, but … we shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we
were face to face … the instruments through which we shall be able to do this will be amazingly simple
compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket.”

Too bad Tesla couldn’t use this knowledge to, well, invent the smartphone!

Security

Two Factor Authentication (hope you have a smart phone)

October 4, 2019October 4, 2019
by admin

Get used to it, more and more secure sites are recommending this to help insure the security of their business files, AND customer information.

Amazon? what is taking you so long.

Security

Passwords

October 4, 2019
by admin

i*ght6 – is a pretty impressive password – Good Luck Remembering it in 5 minutes. And a well informed, computer literate 9th grader could crack it in about 60 minutes.

(Seriously if you think 9th graders are the ones we should be concerned about, read this Article https://www.csoonline.com/article/3177438/10-types-of-hackers-and-how-theyll-harm-you.html

BusinessCustomer101 – this is another impressive password…and I bet you will remember it tomorrow. Why is it better then the first one? It is longer and will take that nasty hacker years to break..so they won’t!

Some of you might appreciate this but I wonder if its for the right reasons, the trend emerging from Security Experts Best Practices indicates that asking users to change their passwords periodically might not be a good idea….MUNIS users know what I am talking about.

Computer Use Tips

When in doubt, don’t

October 4, 2019
by admin

If an end user is staring at a PC with an issue, and they have the slightest bit of doubt about taking an action – they shouldn’t take that action. Although not common, taking the wrong action could have catastrophic consequences. Rather than create additional problems, users should always call IT when they don’t know what to do. By default, they may not know this.

Save us both a lot of trouble, please call this office if you need help.

Computer Use Tips

No one should play Whack a Mole in their…

October 4, 2019
by admin

…

Here’s the thing, we all get frustrated. Some times there’s an issue we just can’t fix. When that happens, it’s easy to get a head of steam and take it out on the keyboard (or the desk even). Don’t. Next thing you know, you’re spending your budget replacing keyboards, mice…or worse. If you get into one of these situations, step away from the computer and give yourself a moment to calm down. Go back to the job when you can look at it without blood surging through the veins in your eyes.

Computer Use Tips

Close Current Program

October 4, 2019
by admin

Close the current program Typing Alt + F4 will close the program that is running. This is useful as it saves you time mousing over the “X” and clicking. People will often use this as a joke, telling you to press Alt + F4 to fix a problem. Don’t fall for it unless you want to close what you are doing.

Computer Use Tips

Can’t see it? Working with Display in Meeting Room?

October 4, 2019October 4, 2019
by admin

BEFORE the meeting starts try this

Press Windows Key (between Ctrl and Alt) and then press the “+” key on your numeric keypad.

Go back with “-”

oh, and take a look around on your screen there might now be a Magnifying Glass hanging out….

Cool right?

Computer Use Tips

Bring a Web Page Back

October 4, 2019October 4, 2019
by admin

Accidentally closed a tab? Simply press Ctrl + Shift + T to reopen the most recently closed tab and get back to what you were doing.