Sometimes you can find great information to everyday questions in the FAQ section or customer support section of major service providers.
If you’re not a BigPond subscriber, you might not have seen this list of common error messages explained - click on the hyperlink below for a list you’ll want to keep handy the next time something’s not quite working the way it should!
Some common error messaged explained include:
Error 404: Page not found. This is a very common error message – and it simply means that the site or page you’re trying to visit doesn’t exist. This may be because:
• The web address has been typed incorrectly (that may not be your fault).
• The webpage may have moved to a different place on the website.
• The webpage no longer exists. You may be able to get around the error by:
• Checking the web address and entering it again.
• Going to the site’s home page and then navigate from there to the area you want. If you can’t find the home page, try using a search engine like Sensis.com.au to find what you’re looking for.
501 Internal Server Error: The site or page you are trying to visit is currently experiencing problems. Usually, just trying again later will resolve the problem.
For the full list go to:
Common Error Messages Explained
Thanks Dr Marc Dussault's for some more great information.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Protect Yourself From Dangerous Viruses
Several of our clients have found that their computers were infected by a nasty 'antivirus software' virus. Read this article to learn how to spot the virus and for tips on how to prevent infection of your systems!
Based on initial analysis, this virus arrives mainly via spammed email messages that contain a link to bogus offers, and we have also received reports that the said link is circulating in instant messaging applications and private messages in social networking Web sites, too.
Once the said URL link is clicked, the Web threat infection chain begins and ultimately leads to the download of a Trojan. This Trojan is a 'rogue anti-virus' that displays very convincing messages that are meant to scare and confuse the user, ultimately tricking the user into revealing their credit card details. The message is perceived to be from a trusted Microsoft source. The messages come in a wide variety such as the following:
The trojan tells the user that since they are only using the “trial version" the users should get the full version so that they are always supposedly protected. The messages can look like this:
So ultimately if users find any of these or similar messages, they should contact B Technologies straight away as the trojan / virus has to be removed from the computer effectively.
To protect your computer against viruses users should do the following:
• Run effective anti-virus software. Look for anti-virus software from major vendors like McAfee or Symantec.
• Keep your anti-virus software updated. Remember that new viruses come out all the time and anti-virus software can only protect you if the software has been updated to know about the newest threats. You should update your virus definitions at least once per week if not more often.
• Don't open attached files via e-mail. Whatever e-mail program you use, don't open any attached files, even from people you know, unless you were explicitly expecting that particular file. Many viruses try to convince you that a file attachment containing the virus is something you really want to read. Be sceptical and careful!
• Keep your computer up-to-date with the latest patches. New security holes in operating systems are found on a regular basis. Use Windows Update to make sure your computer always has the latest fixes and patches for security holes.
• Use a firewall. Viruses and other threats can come over networks in methods other than e-mail. Many malicious programs 'probe' your computer looking for known security holes or open services. A port scan of your system can take seconds and can find innumerable vulnerabilities. A firewall blocks outsiders from probing or connecting to your computer unless you initiate the connection via a Web browser or other program. ZoneAlarm is a popular free Windows firewall application and may be a good option for many users. If you have a cable modem or DSL connection at home, consider a dedicated hardware firewall/router from manufacturers like Linksys, SMC, or Netgear.
• Never enter your credit card details into any program or website unless you are absolutely sure that it is trustworthy.
This is a topic that we at B Technologies take very seriously, if you have any concerns about the security of your computer or network, contact us so we can ensure your assets are appropriately protected.
Based on initial analysis, this virus arrives mainly via spammed email messages that contain a link to bogus offers, and we have also received reports that the said link is circulating in instant messaging applications and private messages in social networking Web sites, too.
Once the said URL link is clicked, the Web threat infection chain begins and ultimately leads to the download of a Trojan. This Trojan is a 'rogue anti-virus' that displays very convincing messages that are meant to scare and confuse the user, ultimately tricking the user into revealing their credit card details. The message is perceived to be from a trusted Microsoft source. The messages come in a wide variety such as the following:
The trojan tells the user that since they are only using the “trial version" the users should get the full version so that they are always supposedly protected. The messages can look like this:
So ultimately if users find any of these or similar messages, they should contact B Technologies straight away as the trojan / virus has to be removed from the computer effectively.
To protect your computer against viruses users should do the following:
• Run effective anti-virus software. Look for anti-virus software from major vendors like McAfee or Symantec.
• Keep your anti-virus software updated. Remember that new viruses come out all the time and anti-virus software can only protect you if the software has been updated to know about the newest threats. You should update your virus definitions at least once per week if not more often.
• Don't open attached files via e-mail. Whatever e-mail program you use, don't open any attached files, even from people you know, unless you were explicitly expecting that particular file. Many viruses try to convince you that a file attachment containing the virus is something you really want to read. Be sceptical and careful!
• Keep your computer up-to-date with the latest patches. New security holes in operating systems are found on a regular basis. Use Windows Update to make sure your computer always has the latest fixes and patches for security holes.
• Use a firewall. Viruses and other threats can come over networks in methods other than e-mail. Many malicious programs 'probe' your computer looking for known security holes or open services. A port scan of your system can take seconds and can find innumerable vulnerabilities. A firewall blocks outsiders from probing or connecting to your computer unless you initiate the connection via a Web browser or other program. ZoneAlarm is a popular free Windows firewall application and may be a good option for many users. If you have a cable modem or DSL connection at home, consider a dedicated hardware firewall/router from manufacturers like Linksys, SMC, or Netgear.
• Never enter your credit card details into any program or website unless you are absolutely sure that it is trustworthy.
This is a topic that we at B Technologies take very seriously, if you have any concerns about the security of your computer or network, contact us so we can ensure your assets are appropriately protected.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
A recent testimonial we received
We have just received a testimonial from our friends at Excel HP which goes like this:
"We have found B Technologies to be a one-stop shop for all of our IT requirements. As a small business, we do not have the time or money to support in-house services and have decided to outsource.
In doing so, B Technologies were able to configure all of our IT and introduce effective systems. We have found their Team to be extremely helpful and resourceful - particularly when it came to dealing with our Macs.
We have no hesitation in recommending B Technologies to others. "
A big thank you to Trish and the team at Excel HP, and to read some other testimonials from satisfied customers click here
"We have found B Technologies to be a one-stop shop for all of our IT requirements. As a small business, we do not have the time or money to support in-house services and have decided to outsource.
In doing so, B Technologies were able to configure all of our IT and introduce effective systems. We have found their Team to be extremely helpful and resourceful - particularly when it came to dealing with our Macs.
We have no hesitation in recommending B Technologies to others. "
A big thank you to Trish and the team at Excel HP, and to read some other testimonials from satisfied customers click here
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
IT humour
Here are a few examples of genuine help desk calls that are sent around on the Internet.
Customer: Hi, good afternoon, I can't print. Every time I try, it says 'Can't find printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can't find it...
Tech support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am?
Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me at Woolies.
Customer: I can't get on the Internet.
Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password?
Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it.
Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was?
Customer: Five stars (*****)
Tech support: How may I help you?
Customer: I'm writing my first e-mail.
Tech support: OK, and what seems to be the problem?
Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get the circle around it?
A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer.
Tech support: Are you running it under windows?
Customer: "No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine."
AND
A horrendous truck roll-over on F3 today!
Customer: Hi, good afternoon, I can't print. Every time I try, it says 'Can't find printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can't find it...
Tech support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am?
Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me at Woolies.
Customer: I can't get on the Internet.
Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password?
Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it.
Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was?
Customer: Five stars (*****)
Tech support: How may I help you?
Customer: I'm writing my first e-mail.
Tech support: OK, and what seems to be the problem?
Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get the circle around it?
A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer.
Tech support: Are you running it under windows?
Customer: "No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine."
AND
A horrendous truck roll-over on F3 today!
The "WaybackMachine" - archived images of all web pages from 1996 to the present
There is a website that allows you to browse through 85 billion web pages archived from 1996 to a few months ago. That means that you can see what websites looked like historically.
To use the WaybackMachine, type in the web address of a site or page which you want to see, and press enter. Then you can select from the archived dates available to see what the website looked like on those dates.
To use the WaybackMachine, type in the web address of a site or page which you want to see, and press enter. Then you can select from the archived dates available to see what the website looked like on those dates.
Friday, January 23, 2009
How fast does your website load onto a customer's screen?
Would you like to know how fast your website loads onto a customer's computer screen? Your could be losing customers if your site load speed is slow!!!
There is some great advice from here at Blogger.com, who suggest that you use "The StopWatch" program which will measure the time for you.
Simply go to their page and enter the URL to be measured and watch the top of the window that opens.
The StopWatch can only measure websites that can be displayed in a frame. Some websites use javascript to break out of frames. This is not a StopWatch bug.
Information from their own website:
Tip: to reload a page and bypass the cache of your browser:
Internet Explorer: Hold the Control key and click the Refresh button on the toolbar.
Mozilla, Firefox, Netscape Navigator: Hold down the Shift key and click the Reload button on the navigation toolbar.
Safari: Hold down the Shift key and click the Reload toolbar button.
How does it work?
The StopWatch is a small Javascript that runs on your computer (not the Numion server). It measures the time between the moment your browser starts to load the URL and when the browser signals that it has finished ("Done" in the status bar). The measurement therefore includes fetching and interpreting all HTML (including frames), images, and Javascripts. It does not include content that is handled by plugins. If the page is in the cache then the stopwatch will measure the faster loading time (see tip above). The accuracy is the accuracy of the Javascript timer, on most systems 10 milliseconds.
There is some great advice from here at Blogger.com, who suggest that you use "The StopWatch" program which will measure the time for you.
Simply go to their page and enter the URL to be measured and watch the top of the window that opens.
The StopWatch can only measure websites that can be displayed in a frame. Some websites use javascript to break out of frames. This is not a StopWatch bug.
Information from their own website:
Tip: to reload a page and bypass the cache of your browser:
Internet Explorer: Hold the Control key and click the Refresh button on the toolbar.
Mozilla, Firefox, Netscape Navigator: Hold down the Shift key and click the Reload button on the navigation toolbar.
Safari: Hold down the Shift key and click the Reload toolbar button.
How does it work?
The StopWatch is a small Javascript that runs on your computer (not the Numion server). It measures the time between the moment your browser starts to load the URL and when the browser signals that it has finished ("Done" in the status bar). The measurement therefore includes fetching and interpreting all HTML (including frames), images, and Javascripts. It does not include content that is handled by plugins. If the page is in the cache then the stopwatch will measure the faster loading time (see tip above). The accuracy is the accuracy of the Javascript timer, on most systems 10 milliseconds.
Clearing Your Cache and Cookies to Improve PC Security and Performance
Most browsers hold a saved copy of visited webpages. Clearing your browser's cache and/or cookies can resolve a number of problems you may be experiencing while using sites on the web. Problems that can be solved include reduced speed, security issues such as viruses or spyware and other strange behaviour of your computer. Of course it increases your privacy as well, deleting the record of what sites you have visited.
Google provides some simple instructions for clearing your cache and cookies. Remember these are different for each browser type, so to clear your cache and cookies, you can follow the steps below:
For MS Internet Explorer:
Click Tools at the top of your browser window.
Select Internet Options from the menu.
Select the General tab, if it's not already selected.
Locate the Browsing history section and click Delete.
In the Temporary Internet Files section, click Delete files If a pop-up window appears, click Yes.
In the Cookies section, click Delete cookies If a pop-up window appears, click Yes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Mozilla Firefox:
Click Tools at the top of your browser window.
Click Options.
In the Private Data section, click the Settings button.
Ensure that Cache and Cookies are checked.
Click OK.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Safari:
Click Safari in the upper left corner of your display.
Select Reset Safari from the menu.
A pop-up box will appear. Click Reset.
Click Safari again.
Select Empty Cache from the menu.
A pop-up box will appear. Click Empty.
Google provides some simple instructions for clearing your cache and cookies. Remember these are different for each browser type, so to clear your cache and cookies, you can follow the steps below:
For MS Internet Explorer:
Click Tools at the top of your browser window.
Select Internet Options from the menu.
Select the General tab, if it's not already selected.
Locate the Browsing history section and click Delete.
In the Temporary Internet Files section, click Delete files If a pop-up window appears, click Yes.
In the Cookies section, click Delete cookies If a pop-up window appears, click Yes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Mozilla Firefox:
Click Tools at the top of your browser window.
Click Options.
In the Private Data section, click the Settings button.
Ensure that Cache and Cookies are checked.
Click OK.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Safari:
Click Safari in the upper left corner of your display.
Select Reset Safari from the menu.
A pop-up box will appear. Click Reset.
Click Safari again.
Select Empty Cache from the menu.
A pop-up box will appear. Click Empty.
The global number of internet users has surpassed one billion
In a recent Nine MSN story it was reported that the global number of internet users has surpassed one billion with China accounting for the largest population of web surfers.
The actual number of web surfers is probably higher than that these figures were based only on the number of internet users aged 15 and above working from home or work computers and did not take into account traffic from public computers such as internet cafes or access from mobile phones or personal digital assistants.
The Asia-Pacific region accounted for 41 per cent of the one billion global internet users, followed by Europe (28 per cent), North America (18 per cent), Latin America (seven per cent) and the Middle East and Africa (five per cent).
China had the largest population of internet users with nearly 180 million people going online, followed by the US with 163 million, Japan with 60 million, Germany and Britain with nearly 37 million each and France with 34 million.
India was next with 32 million internet users followed by Russia (29 million), Brazil (28 million), South Korea (27 million), Canada (22 million) and Italy (21 million).
Google was the most frequently visited web property in December with 777.9 million unique visitors, followed by Microsoft sites (647.9 million visitors), Yahoo! (562.6 million visitors), AOL (273 million) and Wikimedia (273 million).
Facebook.com had grown by 127 per cent in the past year and welcomed 222 million visitors in December, making it the top social networking site worldwide.
The head of the group responsible for th research stated: "It is a monument to the increasingly unified global community in which we live and reminds us that the world truly is becoming more flat"
The actual number of web surfers is probably higher than that these figures were based only on the number of internet users aged 15 and above working from home or work computers and did not take into account traffic from public computers such as internet cafes or access from mobile phones or personal digital assistants.
The Asia-Pacific region accounted for 41 per cent of the one billion global internet users, followed by Europe (28 per cent), North America (18 per cent), Latin America (seven per cent) and the Middle East and Africa (five per cent).
China had the largest population of internet users with nearly 180 million people going online, followed by the US with 163 million, Japan with 60 million, Germany and Britain with nearly 37 million each and France with 34 million.
India was next with 32 million internet users followed by Russia (29 million), Brazil (28 million), South Korea (27 million), Canada (22 million) and Italy (21 million).
Google was the most frequently visited web property in December with 777.9 million unique visitors, followed by Microsoft sites (647.9 million visitors), Yahoo! (562.6 million visitors), AOL (273 million) and Wikimedia (273 million).
Facebook.com had grown by 127 per cent in the past year and welcomed 222 million visitors in December, making it the top social networking site worldwide.
The head of the group responsible for th research stated: "It is a monument to the increasingly unified global community in which we live and reminds us that the world truly is becoming more flat"
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Convert Images Into Formats You Can View With Ease
Today's post is simple but very useful.
Have you ever struggled with an image file that’s in the wrong format? Maybe you could open it or couldn't view it with the programs you have.
Using this FREE online Image Conversion Utility, it’s no longer a problem! VERY simple to use so I'll let you figure it out for yourself, but as always, if you have any questions feel free to ask.
From the Team at B Technologies
Have you ever struggled with an image file that’s in the wrong format? Maybe you could open it or couldn't view it with the programs you have.
Using this FREE online Image Conversion Utility, it’s no longer a problem! VERY simple to use so I'll let you figure it out for yourself, but as always, if you have any questions feel free to ask.
From the Team at B Technologies
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Read This If You Send YouTube Video Links To Clients
Here is another interesting blog entry from our friend Dr Marc Dussault.
Have you ever worried about sending someone to a YouTube video and wishing you could get them to start viewing it at a pre-set point so they get the message you want them to get right off the bat and not have to ‘wait’ for it?
Well guess what? You can do just that with this little-known YouTube Tip.
You can specify the minutes and seconds of the start time like this:
add #t=3m03s to the end of the URL to start at 3 minutes and 3 seconds into it, so the entire URL will look like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5705zVMSEqEI#t=3m03s
Another example: add #t=5m58s to the end of the video URL to start playback at 5 minutes 58 seconds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5705zVMSEqE#t=5m58s
How simple is that?
People’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter - people will appreciate it if you queue up your YouTube videos for them in advance… Especially if they’ve never seen that before!
If you haven't visited Marc's blog yet, click here to do so.
Have you ever worried about sending someone to a YouTube video and wishing you could get them to start viewing it at a pre-set point so they get the message you want them to get right off the bat and not have to ‘wait’ for it?
Well guess what? You can do just that with this little-known YouTube Tip.
You can specify the minutes and seconds of the start time like this:
add #t=3m03s to the end of the URL to start at 3 minutes and 3 seconds into it, so the entire URL will look like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5705zVMSEqEI#t=3m03s
Another example: add #t=5m58s to the end of the video URL to start playback at 5 minutes 58 seconds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5705zVMSEqE#t=5m58s
How simple is that?
People’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter - people will appreciate it if you queue up your YouTube videos for them in advance… Especially if they’ve never seen that before!
If you haven't visited Marc's blog yet, click here to do so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
