Alpha Technical Solutions

In the early days of WiFi there were a great many open (unencrypted and unprotected) WiFi points. There was some geek kudos to finding and using these. These days open WiFi spots are getting fewer and rarer as most router manufacturers implement out of the box security and more and more companies make sure that their wireless networks are protected. However it is still possible to find a open WiFi.

My suggestion to you is to be very careful when doing so. Open WiFi and free Internet access is nice and tempting but can be quite dangerous. I’ve found a short news video that briefly explains the dangers. Take two minutes to watch it and consider the dangers next time you are tempted to grab some WiFi.

Its a commonly held view that everything you need to know is somewhere on the Internet. This is a good thing. The problem is that the Internet is a very big place.  This means that to find what you want any given time may be difficult. The best way to solve this problem is develop a strategy for dealing with search engines. Search engines such as Google are more powerful than most people realise. However like all powerful tools getting the most from them may not be obvious. The best way to maximise your chance of finding what you want is to create a strategy – a set of things that you do when approaching the problem of searching for something that tends to work for you. I say tends to work for you as we all types of web searches that reflect our personal and professional lives. That means that some techniques will be more useful to you than others.

To develop your personal strategy you need to try different ways of running a search, and remember the techniques that work. Over a not very long time at all you will have build a repertoire of useful methods that will cut down the time you spend looking for things.

At this point you may well be saying “what techniques!”

Fair point so in order to get you started here are my 7 favourite tips for searching the web.

1) It does not matter if you use capital letters or not. London is the same as london.

2) Keep searches simple. Use as few words as possible this usually yields the most results.

3) Try to use the most obvious words first then add additional words to the search in order to home in on your search. For example if you are looking for a holiday in Cornwall you might try the following

1. a. Search using ‘Cornwall’
2. b. Then try ‘Cornwall Holiday’
3. c. Then try the type of holiday ‘Cornwall Holiday Hotels’

4) If you know the name of what you are looking for then use the name. Names help search Engines home in what you are looking for. In the Cornwall Holiday example try ‘Cornwall Holiday Newquay’ to find holidays in Newquay.

5) If you looking for something to do with a technical item. For example – parts for a Washing Machine. Mobile Phone, Computer etc then use the model name, model number or part number if you can find it.

6) DO NOT common words such as ‘and’, ‘it’ ‘where’ ‘how’ etc. These will slow down the search and are unlikely to improve the result.

7) Numbers generally do not work well in a Search. There are two exceptions to this rule

1. a. If the number is part of a name then the number will help
2. b. Adding a ‘+’ sign in front of the number will generally help improve the search.

Within Microsoft Word it is possible to set a series descriptive properties. Using Word 2007 these can be access from the prepare option of the Office button on the top left of a Word Window.

The standard document properties are:

Author, Title, Subject, Keywords, Category, Status, and Comments

However if you take a look at the advanced properties then you will find a large number of additional options are available for you.

So what can you use document properties for?

The properties are information about the document. For example the comments field can be used in a review process to make notes about possible changes. Fields like keywords, subject and category can be used for making search and indexing more effective. You might wonder how this is going to help you. Well Windows Explorer can display document properties for you. In Windows Explorer select the details view  and right click on the column headings. You will see a short list of common properties and there is a ‘more option ‘ from which any property can be selected. You can now customise your view of the documents to contain properties like status, subject, and category. These can all be put into order. Suddenly your documents can be cross-referenced in a manner that means something to you.

Document properties lets you improve your knowledge of a document inside and outside of Word and this can make your life much easier.

It also works for any MS Office application, and most other files too.

Image by Allen Garvin via Flickr

From time to time everyone needs a bit of fun so lets take a look at a game that has been a hit on the Internet. It is Plants Vs Zombies. A simple puzzle game that is dangerously addictive and extremely playable. It is currently available for Windows, Mac, iPhone or can be directly played off the Internet. The full game is only available on a computer or iphone but the Internet version really lets you know what the game is all about (we like try before you buy).

If you’d like defend yourself from zombies with plants take a look at Plants Vs Zombies

Just so that you are aware – the Internet version is free but limited, and there is a fee to download the full game.

We’re currently in the middle of a redesign of the Alpha Technical Solutions website, the purpose of which is to improve our web sites ability to work for you. The redesign when finished will make the information you need easier to read and easier to find. We’re also adding new services as well.

We apologise for any inconvenience you may suffer during this period.

You may well ask why we did not just roll out a brand new web site? That is our normal practice and also what we advise our clients. Normally when we work on a new site or an update we roll the site out complete. This is conventional wisdom. It is safe, secure and reliable. However when you take your eyes off the Internet and look at what happens when a business refurbishes its premises you so often see that improvement being performed in public view. So I got to thinking what happens when you apply that to the Internet and defy its conventional wisdom. What happens when you allow people to see change in operation?

You see Alpha Technical Solutions is a business based very much on openness and clarity, so thinking in this way comes very naturally to us.

So the idea came to run the update in the open. Its an experiment. To find out what happens. Its our job to do this s. To ensure that the advice we give is of the highest quality possible and based on learning, experience, and wisdom. We don’t like to just copy the thoughts of others, we try and find things out for ourselves.

So far the redesign is going well and we hope you like it.

People new to Windows and other Microsoft products very often don’t realise just how customisable they are. We’d like to address that by introducing to our top tips not just good IT procedures and scam news but actual useful customisations that you can perform on Windows, Office or any other product we think you might be interested in.

To start with we’ve got a great tip on the creation of shutdown shortcuts in Windows 7. Although Windows 7 has a brief shutdown procedure, accessing features like restart, lock workstation, hibernate and sleep can be difficult for some people. This is particularly true for the elderly or disabled. Making shortcut to do this in a place that is most convenient for the person in question can really help with this most basic of tasks.

If you are interested in learning how to do this click here and you will be taken to an excellent article in TechRepublic that goes through the procedure step by step with some very clear illustrations.

Image by stevecadman via Flickr

Libraries are a new feature in Windows 7 that allow you to group folders from more than 1 location under 1 heading. Here’s the official description from Microsoft:

where you go to manage your documents, music, pictures, and other files. You can browse your files the same way you would in a folder, or you can view your files arranged by properties like date, type, and author.

It may not sound all that sexy and interesting at all. Except that you can customise the properties and which folders go into a library. Now you can collate files by purpose, project, or your own personal needs. You can also cross reference files. All achieved by not moving any files or making copies of any files. Instantly this decreases the chances of a file going out of date whilst also making it easier for you to find based on the use you are going to make of it.

If you are the kind of person who needs to organise lots of files, then should take a look at libraries, it will make your life much easier.

For the nitty-gritty on getting into and managing libraries there is a good blow by blow account by lifehacker listed below.

Over the last few weeks much has been said regarding the safety of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Web Browser, things got so heated that the governments of France and Germany recommended that you no longer use Internet Explorer and Microsoft itself rushed out a unscheduled security patch to help alleviate the situation. This has led to a lot of recommendations regarding browser security, and this can be boiled down in the simplest and most general terms to do not use Internet Explorer 6, and remember that Internet Explorer 8 is the better option.

Many people say do not use Internet Explorer.

You could do that. In fact I personally favour the Firefox and Chrome Browsers.

However if you stop using Internet Explorer you may actually not be stopping using Internet Explorer. Allow me to explain.

Microsoft uses Internet Explorer throughout Windows and the Office range of products. For example you will find that Outlook uses Internet Explorer to display emails. This means that if you display an email that contains a payload (such as some malware or a link to a web site containing malware) then you will be as exposed to the same risk as someone using Internet Explorer. A lot of people use the preview pane in Outlook to quickly look at whichever item of email you are pointing at. That is very convenient. It is however very easy to look at an email that you should not, and that can cause you big problems. So what to do about it?

My tip here is a very simple one. Turn off the preview pane and look at the senders name on every email you open and check the subject line on every email you open. You should then only open emails that look like things you should be opening. If the email is not opened, the security flaws in Internet Explorer cannot be accessed and you are in a safer position.

So turn off the preview pane, and think about what which emails you are opening. You will be safer.

This week we’re launching a customer referral scheme. Our plan is simple to offer a 5% discount that lasts for 1 year to you if you refer a new customer to us.

You can find full details of the scheme if you click here.

You might wonder why we’re adding this scheme? Well we like to work closely with our clients, we have a lot of loyal clients, and we have received a good amount of word of mouth advertising from our clients. It struck us that we should offer something back to customers who do us the honour of recommending us. Out of this thought was born this new referral scheme. It transforms traditional word of mouth advertising into a way of receiving a tangible long term discount.

Something that at what we hope is the tail end of a recession will deliver something useful to our customers.

I’m taking a bit of inspiration here from last weeks security alert.

Let’s recap on the nature on this scam.

• Someone from claiming to be from Microsoft calls you

• They claim there is a security issue with your computer

• They talk you through “fixing the computer”, though actually they are invalidating security and exposing you to a web site full of hungry malware.

• They take your credit card number and money vanishes from your account.

This is classic approach that preys entirely on the victims ignorance and fear.

It opens up the question how do you gain the savvy to avoid being a victim to this kind of attack.

The answer is a fairly simple – you do it keeping a clear and thoughtful head applying these rules

• Any unexpected telephone call that makes you feel fear or concern has a good chance of being some one trying to manipulate you. Put down the phone and try to verify their claims. Do not blindly believe them.

• No large computer corporation ever calls customers to fix problems ad-hoc. It doesn’t happen as there are better solutions to the problem for them. Again put down the phone this is not real.

• A company you know calls you and asks for access to your computer. Possibly real but unless they can prove who they are put the phone down.

Scams are all about convincing you to do something. Remember this – a computer criminal attacks computers. A good computer criminal goes after people. Psychology is a powerful weapon and it is horribly easy to get you to do something that is not in your best interest. After all why hack a computer if you can get someone else to do all the work for you?