CST News
As I write this at the end of the first week in September, I keep saying to myself how poor the weather has been. I cannot remember having cold feet like I have had recently since I stopped smoking. We must feel sorry for the farmers amongst us with cows and calves and very little grass growth for the cows. Not what they need.
Sue and I had a weekend in Christchurch recently – weather no better there! But good to get up and catch up with family. Our eldest daughter was in a theatre performance which was a lot of laughs and the youngest and her husband have just bought their first home. It is always nice to see these milestones with the kids.
However we are still waiting for a good weather forecast to try and get away for a weekend in Te Anau. Seems so long since we have been there to just chill out and do some walking and enjoying the scenery.
Jon is settling in well as manager in Dunedin. He has added a whole new dimension to the business there and we are all enjoying working with him – even if he is difficult to keep up with sometimes!
Windows 10 Upgrades
We have had a few more customers contact us with questions and problems about Windows 10 upgrades recently. A number have had glitches – rather than problems. Most of the issues have been to do with peripheral stuff such as older printers which will not work with Windows 10 or older software with the same problem.
An interesting article has just popped into my mail concerning Windows 10 upgrades for business. This reinforces the idea that businesses must be careful with the upgrade. Do not necessarily follow the advice of the youngest staff member – he is probably a self-professed “expert” who knows little about your system.
I have no intention of upgrading here at CST until at least January when our classroom is quiet and we have allowed time for lots of others to try the upgrade first. We have until the end of July to claim the free upgrades so there is no hurry. There might also be something in the old saying “ If it is not broke, don’t fix it”.
But in the interim, have a read of this article for some simply presented thoughts which seem to make a lot of sense to me.
Air Traffic Control
While taxiing at London’s Gatwick Airport, the crew of a US Air flight departing for Fort Lauderdale made a wrong turn and came nose to nose with a United 727. An irate female ground controller lashed out at the US Air crew screaming “US Air 7221, where the hell are you going? I told you to turn right onto Charlie taxiway. You turned right onto Delta! Stop right there. I know it’s difficult for you to tell the difference between C and D, but get it right!”
Continuing her rage to the embarrassed crew, she was now shouting hysterically “God! Now you’ve screwed everything up! It’ll take forever to sort this out! You stay right there and don’t move till I tell you to! You can expect progressive taxi instructions in about half an hour and I want you to go exactly where I tell you, when I tell you and how I tell you. You got that US Air 2771?”
“Yes ma’am” the humbled crew responded.
Naturally the ground communications frequency fell terribly silent aftyer the verbal bashing of US Air 2771. Nobody wanted to chance engaging the irate ground controller in her current state of mind. Tension in every cockpit around Gatwick was definitely running high.
Just then an unknown pilot broke the silence and keyed his microphone asking “ Wasn’t I married to you once?”
Tower: “Eastern 702, cleared for take-off, contact Departure on frequency 124.7”
Eastern 702: “Tower, Eastern 702 switching to Departure. By the way, after we lifted off we saw some kind of dead animal on the far end of the runway”
Tower: “Continental 635, cleared for take-off behind Eastern 702, contact Departure on frequency 124.7. Did you copy that report from Eastern 702?”
BR Continental 635: “Continental 635, cleared for take-off, roger: and yes, we copied Eastern … we have already notified our caterers”
Second Hand Laptops
Just have a couple more second hand laptops in which may interest people.
Option 1: HP EliteBook 8530P $545.00
• Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
• 3 GB RAM
• 160 GB hard drive
• DVDRW
• Webcam
• Wireless
• 15.4” screen
• New battery
• 3 month warranty
• Windows 7 Pro (eligible for free upgrade to Win 10)
We can upgrade this to a 120GB SSD for $50.00 if required. See us to find what an SSD is and what advantage it gives.
Option 2: HP EliteBook 8440P $595.00
• Intel Core i5 processor
• 4 GB RAM
• 250 GB hard drive
• DVDRW
• Webcam
• Wireless
• 14.1” screen
• 3 month warranty
• Bag
• Windows 7 Pro (eligible for free upgrade to Win 10)
Thirty Amazing Pictures
Thank goodness for Facebook and all the trivia it throws up. Look at these pictures.
Not Sure Whether It’s True
This belongs in the not sure whether it is true or not file.
Another Scam Warning
It seems as though every newsletter has a scam warning. Whether it be “Microsoft” calling to fix your supposedly sick computer or some other lowlife set to separate you and your money. The scam below is just a variant on one which has been around for a while but has resurfaced in Australia recently in a new guise. If it is in Australia now, it will be in little old Godzone soon.
Once again, like all good scams, it is so plausible as to be real. The moral of the story is not to be too trusting these days – treat everything with a degree of suspicion or scepticism.
I don’t know about you, but I would most likely have fallen for this one… The latest scam uses a trusted brand to gain your confidence, then steals all your data and blackmails you to unlock it.
A Channel 7 report, which you can watch below, explains how victims receive an email from what looks like Australia Post, telling them they have a parcel that needs delivering. A red button in the email invites you to “click here” to track the parcel’s delivery.
The virus then infects your computer, steals all your files – including photos, software, emails, documents and everything else.
The scammers then demand you pay them in money of “bitcoin” to unlock your files so you can use them again.
As the report says, victims have paid up to $600 but not necessarily got their data back.
The frightening thing is this could happen to anyone – it doesn’t matter if your computer is old or new, fast or slow.
In fact, the faster your computer, the faster the scammers get your information.
If you do fall prey to the scam, however, technicians advise that you should immediately cut off power to your computer to interrupt the download of the virus and the theft of your files.
To do this, hold down the on/off button on your laptop, or pull the power plug out of your desktop.
Email Etiquette Tips
I am a “secretary” for a couple of local people who do not own their own computers. On occasions I write emails for them. Sometimes I think a bit about how they express their thoughts in an email and how it is different to me. Then this article arrived in my email and seemed to sum up lots of things we take for granted.
An Extra Item This Month
An extra item in the newsletter this month from Joshua. It relates to the article above on the Aussie Post scam and is really timely.
