CST News

A big month here! The office boy turned 60 during the month and his wife set up an amazing weekend where all the kids and grandchildren turned up – Dunedin and Christchurch – and we spent much too much time talking and eating. Sue even arranged a piper to turn up and play Highland Cathedral – google it and play it if you have not heard it – a really stirring piece of music which tugged the Scottish ancestry heartstrings. It is times like this that make us realise how important family is. A huge thanks to Sue and the family for a great weekend.

A significant number of our customers have phoned saying their copy of Microsoft Office Starter Edition has stopped working. We have tracked this back to a Microsoft update downloaded on or about the middle of last week. Dave has been in touch with Microsoft and they are aware of the problem. It IS caused by a recent update and they are working on a fix. But when it becomes available, who knows?

Options available:

• Download and install a free Office look-alike package at this site.
• Buy a new version of Microsoft Office for $239.00 – we can get this for you.
• We can have a go at fixing it, but there will be a cost and we cannot guarantee a solution. We will spend the time on the phone with Microsoft working on a fix.

 

Help Needed Here at CST

We had a visitor in at work on the night of Sunday 1^st of September. They were seen by several of the neighbours as they left after backing into one of our street signs. The vehicle concerned is a battleship grey people mover. It is obvious that it will have some damage at the rear end as we have lots of samples of paint. If anyone knows the vehicle concerned or has any useful information, I would appreciate any help.

 

For Sale – Computer Desk

770 mm high x 770 mm wide x 500 mm deep with sliding tray for keyboard and mouse. Very tidy condition – $60.00

 

Fake Antivirus Software

Rogue security software, also known as “scareware,” is software that appears to be beneficial from a security perspective but provides limited or no security, generates erroneous or misleading alerts, or attempts to lure users into participating in fraudulent transactions.

How does rogue security software get on my computer?

Rogue security software designers create legitimate looking pop-up windows that advertise security update software. These windows might appear on your screen while you surf the web.

The “updates” or “alerts” in the pop-up windows call for you to take some sort of action, such as clicking to install the software, accept recommended updates, or remove unwanted viruses or spyware. When you click, the rogue security software downloads to your computer.

Rogue security software might also appear in the list of search results when you are searching for trustworthy antispyware software, so it is important to protect your computer.

What does rogue security software do?

Rogue security software might report a virus, even though your computer is actually clean. The software might also fail to report viruses when your computer is infected. Inversely, sometimes, when you download rogue security software, it will install a virus or other malicious software on your computer so that the software has something to detect.

Some rogue security software might also:

• Lure you into a fraudulent transaction (for example, upgrading to a non-existent paid version of a program).
• Use social engineering to steal your personal information.
• Install malware that can go undetected as it steals your data.
• Launch pop-up windows with false or misleading alerts.
• Slow your computer or corrupt files.
• Disable Windows updates or disable updates to legitimate antivirus software.
• Prevent you from visiting antivirus vendor websites.

Rogue security software might also attempt to spoof the Microsoft security update process. Here’s an example of rogue security software that’s disguised as a Microsoft alert but that doesn’t come from Microsoft.

To help protect yourself from rogue security software:

• Install a firewall and keep it turned on.

Use automatic updating to keep your operating system and software up to date.

• Install antivirus and antispyware software and keep it updated.
• Use caution when you click links in email or on social networking websites.
• Use a standard user account instead of an administrator account.
• Familiarize yourself with common phishing scams.

If you think you might have rogue security software on your computer:

Scan your computer. Use your antivirus software

Call us to help.

Check your accounts. If you think you might have entered sensitive information, such as credit card numbers or passwords into a pop-up window or at a rogue security software site, you should monitor your associated accounts. If something unexpected turns up, contact your bank.

 

Apple Problems

We meet a number of customers in the shop who say they are considering a move to Apple computers. There are a few things you should consider as you ponder the move.

We recently heard of an iPad that was sent to Australia for warranty work. Even though the turnaround was remarkably quick, it does seem a long way for warranty service.

Any job involving parts may need to be sent to Christchurch.

Apple computers DO break – the same as all things electronic.

Look at the pic below – this is a group of very capable IT technicians who are discussing Apple upgrade issues on Facebook. Even the experts can have problems with Apples.

Parts can be very expensive.

 

Website Of The Month

I have done this pavement art before but this latest crop – courtesy of facebook – is stunning.

The Human Body

Once again, another relic of my teaching days. For some reason, many of these seem more relevant in the last week or so.

• For about 30 minutes every person on earth was a single cell.
• With 52 of them, feet account for one quarter of your body’s bones
• It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown.
• Every minute, 300 million body cells die.
• When you wake up, you are one centimetre taller than when you went to bed.
• You could remove the stomach, the spleen, one kidney, 80% of the intestine and 75% of the liver and still be able to survive.
• There are approximately 96500 km of blood vessels in the human body
• Human outer skin cells shed and regrow about every 27 days
• The human nose can remember about 50000 different scents
• Your body produces about 300 billion new cells every day.
• The lung surface area is about 60 square metres.
• You are more likely to have a bad dream in a cold room.
• Tongue prints, like thumb prints, are all unique
• Each day, the average person sheds 60 – 100 strands of hair
• The small intestine has an average length of 6.5 metres
• All babies start life with blue eyes.
• Nerve impulses travel to and from the brain as fast as 275 km per hour
• You need to lose about 50% of your hair to begin to even give the appearance of balding.

HP Probook 4540S

Our sales tip for the month this month is the HP Probook. These are genuine commercial grade laptops (a laptop and a notebook are the same thing) made using higher grade components that the usual laptops in the big outlets in town. This is reflected in their warranty – a one year next business day, on-site warranty. The next business day is a bit difficult here in Balclutha, but the on site bit means the technician comes to Balclutha from Dunedin for any warranty repairs.

We keep one of these in stock.

Probook i3                   $1121.25 inc GST

• Intel Core i3-3120M Processor (2.5 GHz)
• 15.6″ Wide screen
• Intel HD 4000 Shared Graphics,
• 4GB RAM,
• 500GB 7200RPM HDD,
• DVDRW Super Multi Double Layer,
• Wireless, Bluetooth 4.0,
• Finger Print Reader,
• Windows 8 Professional licence with Windows 7 Professional 64 Preloaded,
• 1 Year Parts and Labour Onsite

There is also an i5 and an i7 in this range, each with slightly better specs than the predecessor in the range. If you are looking for a good, reliable, hardworking laptop, you will not go past these.

 

Recycling

Useless Piece of Information For The Day: Every second in the USA, 13 inkjet cartridges are thrown out. Multiply this out for a year and then around the world. The number will be quite large!!

Do your bit to save the world and drop your old cartridges off here at CST for recycling. Not only will you feel better but a local organisation will also make some money.

If you have an old piece of IT equipment on the shelf in the garage, bring it in too. We will charge you a little since it does cost us money to recycle old hardware, but you will feel lots better and there will be much less waste buried at Mt Cooee.