CST News

What a busy month it has been with the XP runout. We have had our best sales month ever I suspect and presume it will last a while yet as more people realise the issue with XP. I owe a big thanks to the staff here with the extra work that has been generated, coupled with my absences now and then teaching. It has certainly been a steep learning curve for Jackie – hopefully she has enjoyed it and is keen to stay on in what is sometimes a madhouse!

A big thanks also to our customers. It has been great to catch up with lots of you again and great to sell you sometimes third and fourth computers. We really appreciate your business.

Sue continues to be busy as well. Many will have noticed the rebranding of Kip McGrath to In2Learning. Sue still offers the same great product with the same great tutors but hopefully the change will allow us greater flexibility and more control over our business.

Sue is at present going through the same process with our Kip McGrath in Dunedin – more work! In addition Sue attended the Women’s Expo for two days in Dunedin a weekend or so back.

My teaching stint at Telford is almost over for this semester. I have enjoyed being in the classroom again – it is a bit like riding a bike – you never forget how. As well, Telford is a really good place to work with a nice atmosphere and good staff. I have been asked to teach some of the computing in the remainder of this semester, then a unit next semester – maybe a sucker for punishment.

Easter and Anzac Day are not too far away. Hopefully it will be a good opportunity to recharge the batteries and have a bit of time out for us.

 

Windows Lifecycles

We still have people going crook at us about the XP demise. I have tried to make a few points to help people get their heads around the issue. They are worth mentioning again:

Microsoft have made no secret of this for many years – it is part of a publicised and planned lifecycle.

Windows XP has been around more than 12 years – an age in computer time. So much has changed in this game in 12 years!

Stopping support does not mean the program dies – simply that it will not be updated from now on. We are still going to run a laptop with XP for some time yet. We have an expensive hire scanner which will not run on a newer version of Windows so will just keep this old laptop to run the scanner. It will NOT go on the internet.

For those for whom the change is a big financial hurdle, see us as we can offer finance to make the upgrade easier.

For Your Information:

Windows Vista ends support April 2017

Windows 7 ends support January 2020

Windows 8 ends support January 2023

 

Pavement Chalk Art

This guy’s work is amazing and I like crocodiles too!!

 

Do I Need Antivirus Software?

So often we see computers come into the workshop and people have no antivirus software. They have often been told by the local “community expert” that they do not need this today. The article here is well worth a read – it is written in layman’s language and as such is easy to understand.

 

Male vs Female At the Cash Machine

This was sent to me by a female! Thank you Joyce.

A new sign in the bank reads:

‘Please note that this Bank is installing new Drive-through cash machines enabling customers to withdraw cash without leaving their vehicles.

Customers using this new facility are
requested to use the procedures outlined below when accessing their accounts.

After months of careful research, MALE & FEMALE Procedures have been developed Please follow the appropriate steps for your gender.’

MALE PROCEDURE: 

1.. Drive up to the cash machine.

2. LOWER your car window.

3. Insert card into machine and enter PIN.

4. Enter amount of cash required and withdraw.

5. Retrieve card, cash and receipt.

6. Raise window.

7. Drive off.

FEMALE PROCEDURE: 

1. Drive up to cash machine.

2. Reverse and back up the required amount to align car window with the machine.

3. Put hand brake on, put the window down.

4. Find handbag, remove all contents on to passenger seat to locate card.

5. Tell person on mobile phone you will call them back and hang up.

6. Attempt to insert card into machine.

7. Open car door to allow easier access to machine due to its excessive distance from the car.

8. Insert card.

9. Re-insert card the right way.

10. Dig through handbag to find diary with your PIN written on the inside back page.

11. Enter PIN .

12. Press cancel and re-enter correct PIN.

13. Enter amount of cash required.

14. Check makeup in rear view mirror.

15. Retrieve cash and receipt.

16. Empty handbag again to locate purse and place cash inside.

17. Write debit amount in cheque book and place receipt in back of it.

18. Re-check makeup.

19. Drive forward 2 feet.

20. Reverse back to cash machine.

21. Retrieve card.

22. Re-empty hand bag, locate card holder, and place card into the slot provided!

23. Give dirty look to irate male driver waiting behind you.

24. Restart stalled engine and pull off.

25. Redial person on mobile phone.

26. Drive for 2 to 3 miles.

27. Release Hand Brake.

 

A Couple of Time-saving Tech Tips from HP

Dropdown quick finder
We’re all familiar with the frustration that goes hand-in-hand when filling out forms on the internet and facing a lengthy dropdown menu. For example: searching for the name of your city or country among hundreds of possible options.

But did you know that there is a shortcut? Instead of scrolling down manually, simply type in the first few letters of your desired selection while in the dropdown menu and you’ll automatically scroll to that alphabetic section.

This tip works in nearly every dropdown function and across applications. For example, when you’re looking for a font in Microsoft Word, just start typing the name of the font and you’ll be taken straight to it.

 

Zoom Zoom

Spending hours on end in front of your computer is never good for your eyes. And it’s even worse if you have to constantly strain because the font on your favourite websites is too small.

If you want to zoom in using your mouse, hold in the “Ctrl” key and roll the wheel on your mouse forward. To zoom out, roll it back.

 

Some People

I could not resist this for publication. I am not a big fan of tattoos anyway but this is beyond it!!! Does the owner not realise how bad it looks?

 

Insurance Claims

A number of people bring in damaged computers looking for insurance claims –commonly new screens in laptops and electrical damage caused by lightning strikes. If this affects you and you want to use CST to repair the item, you are entitled to tell the insurance company that CST is your usual supplier or repairer and you want to continue using us. We have heard of cases being sent away for repair when they could easily be done by us.

 

Where Do Astronauts Hang Out

 

Thought For The Day:

Never chase love, affection or attention. If it isn’t given freely by another person, it isn’t worth having.

 

New Product

A new product from Brother has just appeared in my email. This home and hobby cutting machine will appeal to those who are into things like quilting and applique.

These machines will scan virtually anything – a hand made drawing, a magazine clipping, a photo or whatever. You can then use this image to create a cut design. There is one machine for cutting paper and another if you want to cut material.

See the brother site here for full details.

The paper version retails for $599.95 inc GST and the fabric version for $699.95 inc GST. In addition, there are a great lot of accessories available. If anyone is interested in find out more, please give us a call. However this does look a fun piece of technology which will appeal to those of our customers who are clever and crafty.