#LeapIntoIT Kindle Fire Giveaway
It’s that time again! Time for us to have some fun, and help one of our Upstate, SC friends get something cool to play with.
We’ve given away stuff before, like Trend Micro anti-virus, a wireless IP security camera, a Cisco Flip Mino HD video camera, Microsoft Office 2010, and even a Microsoft X-BOX 360, but this is likely the most exciting thing yet, or at least the 2nd most exciting!
We decided that since it is a Leap Year, we will help one person leap into the tablet computer revolution by giving them one of the hottest little tablets out… The Amazon Kindle Fire! It is far more than just an eBook Reader, it’s a smokin’ hot tablet too! So hot, it’s on FIRE! =)
Let’s call it the “Leap Into IT” giveaway! #LeapIntoIT
Who is eligible?
Anyone who can walk into the Homeland Secure IT office at 104 Mauldin Rd, STE E in Greenville, SC to retrieve the tablet in person. We will NOT SHIP IT. Also, you must not be prohibited by law from participating in any giveaway, and all that legal mumbo-jumbo. Let’s put an age restriction on it too. You must not be older than, no wait, you must be at least 18 to participate.
Employees of Homeland Secure IT cannot play this silly game because they would never get any work done.
Past winners of Homeland Secure IT giveaways ARE eligible (Andrea, James, Hal, etc)
How do you get involved in this?
There is NO purchase necessary, but there are some things that you will want to do…
- Pass through our initiation process – This is where you tattoo your forehead with the Homeland Secure IT logo. Okay, this is optional.
- Sign up to this blog by hitting the SUBSCRIBE BUTTON over in the right-hand column. You can receive the daily blog posts in email first thing in the morning this way. And you can opt out later (after the contest is over) when you get tired of my yammering…
- Sign up for our SUPER LOW traffic mailing lists HERE … We rarely send anything out, so you won’t be too annoyed. You can unsubscribe from either or both at anytime, AFTER the contest end date.
- Go to our home page at www.HomelandSecureIT.com and hit the Google +1 button & Facebook “like” while you are there.
- Go to our Google business places page and leave a review and rating (hopefully a good one)
- Go to Merchant Circle and leave a review/rating
- Go to Yelp and leave a review/rating
- Go to Yahoo! and leave a review/rating
- LIKE us on facebook HERE … Follow us on Twitter HERE …
Here is a list of ways to connect:
http://www.homelandsecureit.com/connect.html
If you connect in a different manner and you feel it is important, email me, or tag me in a post so I can see what you have done and count that as well!
In review, it is up to you to determine how much, or how little you wish to get involved. The more ways you connect, the more chances to get this darn Kindle Fire!
How is the selection made?
Good question! We lay out a grid, with your each name written in it in the parking lot, and we then shoot a gerbil straight into the air, and in whatever grid the gerbil falls into, that’s our winner.
Okay, (maybe) it isn’t like that at all. No, in fact it is not.
On February 29th, 2012, I’ll take every name/email address from our mailing lists, all the names of those who have reviewed us on Yelp, Google Places, Yahoo! & Merchant Circle, all the mentions on Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, all the Likes and Follows on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, all the Google Plus +1s, and dump them into a spread sheet. Next I go to www.Random.Org and put the number of lines in my spreadsheet as the max number and generate a random number.
Whoever matches that number in the spreadsheet is contacted.
If they are out of the area and cannot get it in person, another number will be selected and the process repeated until we have a winner!
So, with that said… Let’s do this! Leap Into IT!!!!
If you are needing Microsoft products for your school in the Greenville / Upstate SC area, Homeland Secure IT may be able to save you money…
We are able to offer academic priced software through Microsoft Academic FPP, Open Agreement and School Subscription. The discounts can be substantial when compared to retail pricing!
To find out if your organization is qualified, or for Microsoft sales & support, please contact us at info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864.990.4748×201.
Cisco announced an update to their IOS operating system that was scheduled for March 23rd, unfortunately, due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Cisco has stated that we will all have to wait until the next scheduled disclosure destined to take place in September.
Cisco revealed over 10 vulnerabilities since the last update back in September of 2010 that were to be addressed.
You can find the statement direct from Cisco here: Cisco Security Advisories and Notices
If your Cisco security appliances and firewalls are not up to date, you may find yourself vulnerable to various exploits. Homeland Secure IT can help if your business is in Greenville or the Upstate of SC. Please call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com for further information. We are a Cisco Small Business Partner.
When you buy a new computer, what do you do with the old one? Donate it to charity? Give it to a friend? Leave it with the computer vendor who sold you the new computer? Sell it on Craigslist?
The real question here is, what happens to the data on the hard drive in your old system? Do you take the drive out and dispose of it? Do you format it and reinstall the operating system? Do you physically destroy the drive? Do you possibly use a “Secure Wipe” on the drive?
Did you know many people don’t give it a second thought? They hand their system over, with their data intact! Expecting the person on the other end to do the right thing.
I was recently talking with my good friend Brent over at Shred Disk and a group of other Greenville business owners about this topic, and we decided it would be interesting to find out for ourselves what becomes of data in old systems, consider it a science experiment if you will.
Brent went to an Upstate computer dealer and asked to purchase the smallest drive that they had. He was given a “repurposed” hard drive at a reasonable cost. An older Seagate 40gb IDE drive, which he dropped by the Homeland Secure IT office for us to examine.
We took the drive and connected it to our system, found it had been formatted, or possibly “wiped” and then set out to see if we could recover anything. Here’s a video of what we found:
As you can see, even I was surprised at the results!
The bottom line here is… PROTECT YOURSELF from this! A format is not the answer, a “secure wipe”, may NOT be as secure as you think.
The ONLY 100% reliable way to protect your data is the destroy the hard drive. Shred Disk is a company that can assist you with that! Whether you have one or one thousand hard drives, they can come to you, remove the drives and shred the drive into tiny pieces and provide you with a certificate of destruction that will free you from liability! Shred Disk even has a ship it in program that I hear is about to start, where you can pay online, an envelope will be sent to you and you can send the drive the drive to Shred Disk, they will document the opening of that envelope on video along with the shredding of the unit. You can even opt to have the crushed remains sent back to you with a certificate of destruction.
You may think you can destroy a drive by yourself, using a hammer or even a shotgun, however, we advise against these alternatives due to the potential for shrapnel. Use a professional. Contact Shred Disk Onsite Hard Drive Shredding. They also shred other media too, such as tapes and entire electronic devices!
All hard computer hard drives left at Homeland Secure IT will be eventually DESTROYED by Shred Disk, so if you upgrade a computer through us, your drive and your data will NEVER leave our doors. We do *not* sell used hard drives for any purpose.
XPerience Greenville Fun
Xperience Greenville as reviewed by Pamela Hoyt
After a very full day at TEDx Greenville, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with Xperience Greenville that followed. TED x proved to be an incredibly fast paced adventure that far outweighed my expectations. TED meaning Technology, Entertainment, and Design was certainly carried through in Xperience Greenville as well. The “X”perience was originally drafted to be an after party of the second annual TEDx of Greenville which showcases the innovative talent of our Upstate.
I enjoyed the fact that Xperience GVL encompassed a family friendly atmosphere. I noticed most of the participants that were present at TEDx returned with their families in tow. It’s difficult to be away from family all day and into the evening as well, so I considered this a great addition. Fortunately, our children were able to meet us downtown which allowed us additional time to unwind and grab dinner with some friends that also attended TEDx and chat about our days’ events which started at 7:30am!
Aaron Von Frank, Susan Sebotnik, and other key planners did such a fantastic job of making Xperience a fun, inviting, relaxed atmosphere for people of all ages. John certainly enjoyed the adult beverages that were tucked away in the Wyche Pavilion but the tables were not front and center for everyone to stumble over which was nice. The music was fun and lively with a great goove… okay I was even dancing but please don’t ask LeeAnn Carter to see the video because our kids were a bit embarrassed by their “MOM!” What a great night to Celebrate: TEDx, the anniversary of Google on Main, and the fantastic weather that was provided for us to enjoy. Xperience certainly showcased exciting Technology, was wildly Entertaining, and involved creative Design from the best that Greenville has to offer and to that I say, “THANK YOU!”
Please watch John’s little video compilation filmed on his Flip and enjoy a few moments of Xperience Greenville… we certainly did =)
Homeland Secure IT Alert
Homeland Secure IT Alert for Thursday, February 23, 2011
Microsoft has released Security Advisory 967940, titled “Update for Windows Autorun”, and it covers an issue that has long plagued Microsoft Windows Operating Systems. When you insert a USB flash drive, or USB hard drive, Windows has attempted to treat them like CD/DVD material and perform an autorun on it. While most IT professionals and tech savvy individuals have disabled that feature, and anti-virus developers such as Trend Micro have provided an option to disable that function, as gaping hole has been there for everyone else.
How has it affected people? Many ways, from a person inserting their USB flash drive from home into a business computer and the autorun functionality automatically installing the malware that was on the home system directly onto a network computer, creating a huge network security issue, down to malicious people dropping a flash drive containing malicious software on it in the parking lot of a large company they wanted access to. This resulted in workers at said company picking up the flash drive and inserting it into a computer on the corporate network in an attempt to see what was on it or find the owner to return it, and unknowingly permit software that would allow remote access to the network.
So, finally, after years of this, Microsoft has addressed it!
Microsoft has also published MS10-077, a revision to a bulletin posted in 2010 for a change to the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 update package. And MS10-070, which is yet another revision to .NET Framework 4.0. These are labeled “Critical” and “Important”, respectively.
Keep your systems up to date, and be sure you have current anti-virus… We recommend and sell Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security and Titanium. In Greenville / Upstate, SC please call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com for more information…
Homeland Secure IT Alert
So it’s your wife’s birthday… What in the world do you get the woman who apparently has everything? I mean seriously, she does. She’s got great kids, a super-duper husband, outstanding wardrobe, jewelry, etc…
Hard to top all that, but I think I may have done it! I got her a Big Jon Evans!!!!! (@BigJonEvans on Twitter)
Okay, I didn’t purchase him, I rented him, for the day.
Jon Evans has an uber cool way of making your name known the world over, and that is through his http://www.4head4rent.com/ website which allows you to rent his forehead. He will then wear your logo around, do a live video stream with you and post a video online. Some of you may remember that I used him for Homeland Secure IT a while back.
Today, Jon Evans is known as “McAbee’s Custom Carpets”, so keep your eyes open, he’s kinda hard to miss! McAbee’s Custom Carpets is my wife’s family business, run by her and her two sisters. They have been around for years and can help you in and around the Greenville area with all your rug and carpet floor covering needs! www.McAbeesCarpet.com for more info on that.
Happy birthday to my sweet wifey, Pamela!
Homeland Secure IT Alert
Homeland Secure IT Alert for Thursday, February 17, 2011
I’m posting this verbatim from the WatchGuard security blog…
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Yesterday, a gray hat going by the alias Cupidon-3005 posted details about a zero day Windows SMB vulnerability that could potentially allow attackers to gain control of fully patched Windows Server 2003 and XP computers. Microsoft is currently investigating this surprise release, but hasn’t had time to post an early Security Advisory about the issue yet, let alone deliver a patch.
Specifically, the vulnerability involves a buffer overflow flaw within the SMB component’s mrxsmb.sys file. By sending a specially crafted browser election request packet containing an overly long server name, an attacker could exploit this flaw to either crash your computer, or execute code on it, potentially gaining complete control of your PC.
Since Microsoft just learned of this flaw on the 15th, they haven’t had time to release a patch yet. However, your WatchGuard firewall can help. By default, our appliances block SMB and broadcast traffic (the exploit leverages broadcast requests), which prevents Internet-based attackers from leveraging this flaw against you (assuming you haven’t opened SMB ports, which you should never do). That said, worms quite regularly rely on SMB vulnerabilities to help them automatically spread within networks, once they infect the first victim. So in general, I consider SMB vulnerabilities high risk. I’ll continue to monitor Microsoft’s investigation into this flaw, and will post updates when they release any workaround or patch. – Corey Nachreiner, CISSP
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Homeland Secure IT is a Greenville / Upstate SC reseller and partner with WatchGuard – If you would like more information about their security appliances, please call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
Homeland Secure IT Alert
Posted today on InfoWorld is an interesting article about two competitors to Microsoft Office. (See “Open office dilemma: OpenOffice.org vs. LibreOffice“)
While you have probably heard of OpenOffice.org, or the previous incarnation of it (StarOffice), a new alternative open source office suite is called LibraOffice, and it is being brought to you by the developers OpenOffice.org. Confused? Well, it’s that same old story… People work for a big company (Oracle) and this big company starts doing something they don’t dig, so they jump ship and start their own project. Tah-Dah! LibreOffice is born.
Are either OpenOffice or LibreOffice good candidates to eliminate your dependency on Microsoft Office?
In a nutshell, if your company requires absolute compatibility with all Microsoft Office documents, and you require a standardized interface that new people can come to your business use without any type of learning curve, then you already know what I am going to say. Stick with Microsoft Office!
If you run a small operation, or even a home office, then maybe one of these two offerings can work for you. They do offer the important features of Microsoft Office, such as word processing and spreadsheets, there are versions available for your Microsoft Windows systems, Apple Mac OSX, Linux, etc. And the price is outstanding… Maybe if they don’t offer EVERY feature you need, then you could make the sacrifice.
InfoWorld’s article compares the two offerings and may give you some insight to help you determine if either of them are right for you. Of course, you can always download them both and try them for yourself if you have time to do that.
Should your Greenville / Upstate, SC business require Microsoft Office, we can help you with that! We can sell a single license or hundreds! Call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
Kablooieeee
A common question that computer sales, repair, service and support people hear is, “How long will this computer last me?”
The most common answer is, “It depends…”
Just what does it depend on? The quality of the product is of the highest importance, but even a very reliable device can have a shortened life if not maintained properly and it is very dependent upon the environment it is subjected to.
For instance, a typical business desktop workstation could have a lifespan of 3-5 years in a “typical” office environment. But take the temperature of the room it is in up a few degrees, or expose that same computer to dirt in the air, which coats internal parts and affects how well heat is dispersed and you could have a machine that lives half as long. Power issues are another killer of desktop computers. Failure to use a surge suppressor or UPS could allow harmful voltage spikes and sags to damage components.
This is exactly why you hear “It depends” so frequently. No two locations are the same, and even offices in the same building are different.
Let’s look at what MTBF means exactly. MTBF is the common abbreviation for “Mean Time Between Failures” and is indicative of how reliable a product is. The higher the MTBF, the more reliable the device is.
MTBF is measured in hours, such as the hard drive from a two year old Apple Mac Book that is on my desk… Its MTBF is rated at 300,000 hours, which should be, what? 34 years? WOW! That’s amazing! In reality that MTBF is a theoretical number, meaning that if all goes well, the drive should live a long happy life. Well all did not go well, the drive is dead in a tiny fraction of the MTBF.
One thing to keep in mind is that business class computers almost always contain components which have a higher MTBF than their consumer counterparts. Business class computers also have 3 year warranties available, and sometimes longer, because the manufacturer understands that they used the best parts that were available for the money. Give a business class computer consideration if you are looking to replace an important workstation or notebook in the future.
One thing I can say is, regardless, be sure to backup your systems! Use either a physical backup like a USB drive, flash drive, or even better, something like our Servosity Online Backup Solution (free trial!) to protect your data. Going by MTBF is like saying that you will live 78 years because everyone in your family did. Don’t count on it.
So how long will that computer last you? It depends….
If you need assistance in selecting a new computer or repair of an existing one for your Greenville or Upstate business, please call upon us as we offer a wide selection of Seneca Data / Nexlink, HP, Dell, Toshiba, Samsung, Acer, Lenova and more! 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
