Hilltops IT Support Team's diary
Everything outside of the standard Support Desk activity this last couple of weeks has been website, website, website. Working with the website designer to find suitable images, the development team to get the website user-friendly, the consultancy team to get suitable copy which communicates all the services we can provide as effectively as possible and taking SEO (search engine optimisation) into account.
The new Hilltops IT website is here now - the development team are just uploading it now! :-) Clearly we're very happy with the results and (from a support point of view) we think it comprehensively communicates the types and ways we can assist clients - support contracts, online support, online training, etc.
Now for some tips from what we've learnt in the last couple of weeks...
Tips for developing a website
For any budding website developers out there or for anyone considering revisiting their website, the following links might be useful. They are two articles which have recently been posted on the Smashing Magazine website:
- Web Application Interface Techniques - http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/12/10-useful-web-application-interface-techniques/
- Techniques for Good Interface Design in Web Applications - http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/19/12-useful-techniques-for-good-user-interface-design-in-web-applications/
They are a good summary of what needs to be considered and also ways of achieving the successful development of a good modern website
Tip for avoiding unsolicited (spam) email and viruses
We also had this tip come through on email. Unfortunately we can't credit the originator as his email address had been stripped from the original message. Read on and you'll find out why!
This excellent message ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send e-mails. Read the text below...then print it out for future use.
Do you really know how to forward e-mails? 50% of us do; 50% do NOT. Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail?Do you hate it?
Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses & names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every e-mail address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five pence for each hit.
That's right, all of that inconvenience over a couple of pence!How do you stop it? Well, there are two easy steps:
1) When you forward e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message. That's right, DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. You MUST click the "Forward" button first, and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message.If you don't click on "Forward" first, you won't be able to edit the message at all.
2) Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: columns for adding e-mail addresses. Always use the BCC: (blind carbon copy) column for listing the e-mail addresses. This is the way that people you send to only see their own e-mail address. If you don't see your BCC: option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, it's that easy. When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say "Undisclosed Recipients" in the "TO:" field of the people who receive it.
So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses! Finally, here's an idea! Let's send this to everyone we know. (But strip my address off first). This is something that SHOULD be forwarded.
Tip on protecting your email address book
This tip came from the same person, so again unfortunately we can't credit the originator. But if you happen to be reading this - THANKS!
I learned a computer trick today that's really ingenious in its simplicity. As you may know, when or if a worm virus gets into your computer it heads straight for your email address book, and sends itself to everyone in there, thus infecting all your friends and associates.This trick won't keep the virus from getting into your computer, but it will stop it from using your address book to spread further, and it will alert you to the fact that the worm has gotten into your system.
Here's what you do:
First, open your address book and click on 'new contact,' just as you would do if you were adding a new friend to your list of email addresses In the window where you would type your friend's first name, type in ' A'.
For the screen name or email address, type 'AAAAAAA@AAA.AAA'
Now, here's what you've done and why it works: The 'name 'A' will be placed at the top of your address book as entry #1.
This will be where the worm will start in an effort to send itself to all your friends. When it tries to send itself to AAAAAAA@AAA.AAA, it will be undeliverable because of the fake email address you entered. If the first attempt fails (which it will because of the fake address), the worm goes no further and your friends will not be infected.
Here's the second great advantage of this method: If an email cannot be delivered, you will be notified of this in your In Box almost immediately. Hence, if you ever get an email telling you that an email addressed to AAAAAAA@AAA.AAA could not be delivered, you know right away that you have the worm virus in your system. You can then take steps to get rid of it!
Pretty good? If everybody you know does this then you need not ever worry about opening mail from friends.
Tip for installing Microsoft Updates
The updates have been around for a little while now, but this week Microsoft pushed out the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Service Pack 3 releases out through Microsoft Windows Automatic Updates. Particularly the .net update is quite large, so if you are managing a large network of users, why not download the updates manually to a server and then run the executable from there. This will save all users having to download the update, saving them time and avoid creating unnecessary network traffic.
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
Brief Description: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 is a full cumulative update that contains many new features building incrementally upon .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, and includes cumulative servicing updates to the .NET Framework 2.0 and .NET Framework 3.0 subcomponents.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AB99342F-5D1A-413D-8319-81DA479AB0D7&displaylang=en
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Service Pack 3
Brief Description: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is a free, easy-to-use, lightweight version of SQL Server 2005. It is fast and easy to learn, allowing you to quickly develop and deploy dynamic data-driven applications.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=3181842A-4090-4431-ACDD-9A1C832E65A6&displaylang=en
For further information on our software support services, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us on +44(0) 844 357 7360 or +44(0) 1782 564252 or email support@hilltopsit.co.uk
We look forward to hearing from you!
