Category: Tips & Info

Tips & Info Category

GoDaddy Hacked, Millions of Sites Down

GoDaddy.com, the largest domain name registrar on the Web, has been taken offline, and a self-proclaimed member of the Anonymous hacktivism collective is taking responsibility.

The administrators of GoDaddy confirmed on Monday that they were suffering from technical issues, which the website TechCrunch reports to be impacting a multitude of websites and their affiliated email accounts that are hosted through the service. Although the company has not discussed the specifics yet, a self-described member of Anonymous says that he or she is responsible, a claim that has not been verified yet.

On Twitter, user @AnonymousOwn3r writes, “the attack is not coming from Anonymous coletive [sic] , the attack it’s coming only from me” and that the the action is being carried out “to test how the cyber security is safe and for more reasons that i can not talk now.”

GoDaddy has tweeted, “We’re aware of the trouble people are having with our site. We’re working on it.”

On Friday, it was reported that the White House is preparing to roll out an cyber security Executive Order that will serve as a surrogate until Congress can come to agreement on a bipartisan legislation to protect America’s computer infrastructure.

Earlier this year, GoDaddy announced that they would be supporting the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, a controversial legislation that if approved would have greatly changed the US government’s ability to monitor the Internet. The company eventually reversed their stance, but not before a massive protest resulted in many of their clients switching to other domain registrars. The boycott reportedly ended with thousands of GoDaddy’s millions of customers, including Wikipedia, cancelling their accounts.

Founded in 1997, Arizona-based GoDaddy.com is used by millions of customers worldwide, including a large number of small businesses. At 4 p.m. EST, GoDaddy tweeted, “Update: Still working on it, but we’re making progress. Some service has already been restored. Stick with us.”

Other social media accounts affiliated with Anonymous have not confirmed the validity of the alleged culprit’s claim and have largely distanced themselves from the hack. GoDaddy’s 24-hour tech support telephone line has also been inaccessible during the duration of the outage.

Which Cell Phone is Right for You?

There are so many choices these days when it comes to choosing a new cellphone or smartphone. Believe it or not there are now utilities out there that can help you make an educated decision based on your answers to a handful of questions. WWW.TopTenREVIEWS.com has a great Mobile Phone Configuration that can guide you in the direction to your perfect phone match. Click Here to be directed to their site to try out this very helpful utility.

Microsoft Launches Windows 8 Today

Microsoft kicks off Windows 8, on sale today

Microsoft hopes it can capture the imaginations of tech consumers again, as Apple has.

That was the subtext Thursday for a splashy launch of Microsoft’s Windows 8, the new operating system upgrade on sale today.

“What you’ve seen and heard should leave no doubt that Microsoft’s Windows 8 shatters perceptions of what a PC truly is,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “We’ve re imagined Windows and kicked off a new era for Microsoft and our customers.”

For the first time, the new Windows has a touch-screen interface, with movable tiles, instead of the traditional “Start Menu” and screen. For older computers that upgrade, the touch-screen will not be accessible, but the tiles can be accessed by mouse or touch-pad.

Microsoft says that 1 billion people use its Windows operating system, with 670 million on Microsoft’s Windows 7, which was introduced in 2009.

At Thursday’s launch party, PC partners — including Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba, Dell and Hewlett-Packard — showed off new computers sporting Microsoft’s Windows 8. Many of the laptops have splashy new designs with removable screens that morph into portable tablets.

Microsoft’s new operating system works on tablets and traditional PCs and laptops. Despite twin versions, Windows 8 and Windows RT, Microsoft is taking a notably different course than Apple by providing the same look and feel to both types of devices.

Apple still markets separate operating systems for Macintosh computers (OS X Mountain Lion) and for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch (iOS 6), even though some features are common to both operating systems.

“I think they did a really good job of reintroducing themselves to the consumer today, Microsoft, not just Windows,” says Michael Gartenberg, analyst for technology research firm Gartner.

He says part of Microsoft’s challenge is to explain to consumers why the radically different approach is better.

“Consumers have shown a willingness to learn. They learned how to use mice and keyboards. They learned how to use touch and pinch-to-zoom. They can learn how to do this, too,” he says.

Microsoft’s unified approach to the operating system is based on its belief that touch-screens will soon dominate PCs, says Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research.

“Rather than come to market with another tablet operating system — seeing how (Google’s) Android has struggled in that space — they (Microsoft) decided to leverage the high shipping volumes of PCs every year in order to build developer support for a tablet operating system,” he says.

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What is new and improved with 802.11ac?

Takeaway: IEEE 802.11ac is the next generation wireless networking protocol as the successor of IEEE 802.11n.

What is 802.11?

IEEE 802.11 is a group of physical layer standards that provide the foundation for wireless networks.

802.11 Timeline:

1997: 802.11 – 1 or 2 Mbps in 2.4 GHz spectrum (Legacy)
1999: 802.11a – 54 Mbps in 5 GHz spectrum
1999: 802.11b – 11 Mbps in 2.4 GHz spectrum
2003: 802.11g – 54 Mbps in 2.4 GHz spectrum
2009: 802.11n – 600 Mbps in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz spectrum

802.11n vs. 802.11ac

802.11ac offers the freedom of a wireless network combined with the capabilities of Gigabit Ethernet. In a 5.0 GHz spectrum, 802.11ac will provide up to 500Mbps (single) or 1000 Mbps (multi). Final ratification for 802.11ac expected in December 2013.

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Set Up Microsoft Exchange E-Mail on iPhone

Set Up Microsoft Exchange E-Mail on an Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch

You can set up Exchange e-mail on an Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. When you set up an Exchange account on your device, you’ll be able to access and synchronize your e-mail, calendar, and contacts. If you have a different device, or if you want to connect using POP or IMAP.

How do I set up Microsoft Exchange e-mail on an Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch?

Tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account.
Tap Microsoft Exchange.
You don’t need to enter anything in the Domain box. Enter the information requested in the Email,Username, and Password boxes. You need to enter your full e-mail address in the Email and Usernameboxes (for example, tony@contoso.com).
Tap Next on the upper-right corner of the screen. Your iPhone will try to find the settings it needs to set up your account. Go to step 7 if your iPhone finds your settings.
If your iPhone can’t find your settings, you’ll need to manually look up your Exchange ActiveSync server name. For instructions for how to determine your Exchange ActiveSync server name, see the Finding My Server Name section below.
In the Server box, enter your server name, and then tap Next.

Choose the type of information you want to synchronize between your account and your device, and then touch Save. By default, Mail, Contacts, and Calendar information are synchronized.

Caution:
If you’re prompted to create a passcode, tap Continue and enter a numeric passcode. If you don’t set up a passcode, you can’t view your e-mail account on your iPhone. You can set up a passcode later in iPhone Settings.

Finding My Server Name

If your email program isn’t able to automatically find your Exchange ActiveSync server name, you may need to look it up.

Sign in to your e-mail account using Outlook Web App. For help signing in, see How to Sign In to Outlook Web App.
If you’re connecting to an Exchange mailbox, your Exchange ActiveSync server name is contained in the address bar in your browser when you are signed in to Outlook Web App, but without the leadinghttps:// and without the trailing /owa. For example, if the address you use to access Outlook Web App is https://mail.contoso.com/owa, your Exchange ActiveSync server name is mail.contoso.com.
If you’re unable to connect to your mailbox using the information earlier in this section, you can try using the server name value that you can view in Outlook Web App options. Do the following:
1. In Outlook Web App, click Options > See All Options > Account > My Account > Settings for POP, IMAP, and SMTP access.
  
  Note:
  
  Although you’re not setting up a POP3 account, you will use this value to determine your Exchange ActiveSync server name.
2. Under POP setting, view the value for Server name.
3. Try setting up your email using the server name listed on your options page. For example if the value for Server name under POP setting is mail.contoso.com, try using mail.contoso.com as your Exchange server name.

Note:
Although you’re not setting up a POP3 account, you will use this value to determine your Exchange ActiveSync server name.

What else do I need to know?

If you’re prompted to create a passcode and don’t create one, you won’t be able to send and receive e-mail.

Ten Top Microsoft Office Tips

The ten most popular Microsoft Office tips

Takeaway: Susan Harkins lists ten most popular Office tips published in the Windows and Office Blog, and the now inactive Office Blog.

When considering tips to share, think about ease-of-use and efficiency. A few naturally rise to the top as your favorites. For your commemoration, here are 10 of 2012’s most popular posts from both the Office Blog, which was deactivated in mid-2012, and the current Windows and Office Blog. Thank you for reading, and thank you for sharing your thoughts and enhancements with one another throughout the year.

1: A quick Word trick for typing text into a scanned document

The response to this limited technique surprised me. It’s something only a few will use, but if you’re one of those few, it can be a big help! I was pleasantly surprised at the positive response it received and the way readers enhanced the technique.

2: Use Word macros to save your place in a document

These two short macros make quick work of bookmarking work areas in a Word document. When the built-in navigation techniques just don’t get the job done for you, consider these macros or one of the alternative methods that readers shared.

3: A quick and dirty way to compare columns of Excel data

This quick Go To comparison solution is great for a one-time task. Comparing Excel data is a common task, and I receive frequent questions for solutions. This solution is a great one to add to your bag of tricks.

4: Demystify Excel’s PivotTable feature with this simple method

Sometimes a great tip doesn’t offer a specific solution, but rather guides you to using a feature more efficiently and effectively. Users tend to ignore Excel’s pivot table feature because they don’t really understand it – hence this blog post offers some quick insight into how to use this feature without mind-bending tricks.

5: Create a dynamic Excel chart and make your own dashboard

This blog post is one of my favorites. I enjoyed sharing the technique, but more than that, I loved the way the readers jumped in to help one another with a step I accidentally omitted in the instructions. TechRepublic readers rock!

6: A quick Excel keyboard trick for selecting large ranges

This technique uses Go To ([F5]) in an unusual way – to anchor two cells, creating a range. The ensuing conversation shared a number of great selection tips!

7: Three tips for rounding Excel time values

Using the right function can help you round up your rounding woes. Excel offers three rounding functions and knowing them all will round out your skills nicely. (Okay, I promise to stop that.)

8: Three things you must do when you inherit an Excel workbook

I review a lot of workbooks, so this blog was one of my favorites to write. In my experience, performing these three quick tasks when inheriting a workbook can speed up your troubleshooting time. Fortunately, it sparked some insightful conversation into what others do.

9: Launch Word with the most recently used document

Reader response sometimes surprises me, as it did for this easy technique. I hadn’t expected so many great alternatives from the readers.

10: Run a list of rolling credits at the end of your PowerPoint presentation

I’m glad a PowerPoint technique made the top list, but it wasn’t because the readers loved my technique. Mostly, the conversation centered on the typo I missed, and then my lack of proper contrition for said typo. It was fun while it lasted.

Top IT skills wanted for 2012

Takeaway: A new Computerworld survey indicates the nine IT skills that will be in demand in 2012.

Nearly 29 percent of the 353 IT executives who were polled in Computerworld’s annual Forecast survey said they plan to increase IT staffing through next summer. (That’s up from 23% in the 2010 survey and 20% in the 2009 survey.)

Here are the skills that the IT executives say they will be hiring for:

Programming and Application Development–61% plan to hire for this skill in the next 12 months, up from 44% in the 2010 survey. This covers the gamut from website development to upgrading internal systems and meeting the needs of mobile users.
Project Management (but with a twist)– The twist is that they’re not going to just be looking for people who can oversee and monitor projects. They also want people who can identify users’ needs and translate them for the IT staffers-the increasingly popular business analysts.
Help Desk/Technical Support–Mobile operating systems have added a new dimension to help desk and tech support.
Networking–This demand is being fueled partially by virtualization and cloud computing projects. The survey also revealed that execs will be looking for people with VMware and Citrix experience.
Business Intelligence–Computerworld interprets this uptick to a focus shift in many companies, from cost savings to investing in technology. That will be nice if it pans out that way.
Data Center–Virtualization and the Cloud could also be behind the increased need for IT professionals with backgrounds in data center operations and systems integration.
Web 2.0–Tech skills centered around social media will be in demand, with .Net, AJAX and PHP as key back-end skills, with HTML, XML, CSS, Flash and Javascript, among others, on the front end.
Security–Although down from 32 percent in the 2010 survey, security stays a top concern of IT executives.
Telecommunications–The survey indicates a demand for people with IP telephony skills, and for those familiar with Cisco IPCC call center systems.

Five Must-Have Apps For Your USB Stick

Takeaway: Don’t get caught out in the field without the tools you need. A USB stick equipped with a few essential apps might just save the day.

Ah, the USB stick — one of the IT admin’s best friends. It travels with you and helps you rescue machines, work magic, and make end users sigh with relief. Some of these USB apps you copy to the hard drive and install; others can be run from the USB stick itself. A few of them are full-blown operating systems that can help you completely recover a corrupted or infected platform.

Whatever the style and purpose, there are plenty of portable apps for the USB stick that can be hard to live without. Here are five tools I deem must-haves.

1: SystemRescueCD

SystemRescueCD is the Linux distribution to have if you’re going to carry one around on a USB stick. With this distribution, you can recover partitions, recover data, image a disk, test a hard disk, edit configuration files, burn a disk, check for rootkits, run an antivirus scan, securely wipe a hard drive, and much more.

2: Portable Firefox

Portable Firefox is there when you need it. Sometimes, a Web browser is a necessity for solving a problem. But when the browser on the desktop won’t run, what do you do? You break out your portable edition of Firefox. This version of Firefox has all the great features you’re used to. In fact, some will be hard-pressed to figure out that Firefox is running from a USB stick.

3: ComboFix

ComboFix makes almost every recovery tool list for me. No admin kit is complete without this powerhouse. It is my go-to tool when I encounter some of the nastier viruses and rootkits. Almost without fail, if an antivirus can’t catch it, ComboFix can. Unlike common antivirus and anti-malware applications, ComboFix will display (upon completion of running) a detailed report of exactly what it took action on. Note: To run ComboFix, you’ll need to copy the .exe over to the computer and install it.

4: FileZilla Portable

FileZilla Portable is the one and only FTP client to carry around with you. Why would you need an FTP client? There will be times when you must load a file from a troubled computer to another machine. The easiest way to do this (when all other methods fail) is by using a portable FTP client. This is especially crucial when the file is too large to fit on a USB drive or if the file must be loaded to a remote machine you do not have physical access to. This application is run directly from the USB drive and isn’t installed on the PC.

5: Explorer++ Portable

Explorer++ Portable is a file manager with all the usual features you’ve grown to expect from a file manager. But why should you carry a file manager with you? Have you ever had to repair a machine where Explorer won’t run? Makes for a major challenge. Having a portable file manager gets around that issue with ease. And why not have a file manager with features like tabs, keyboard shortcuts, a customizable UI, drag-and-drop support, and merging and splitting? In the end, the file manager is one of the most important tools on a PC. Without it, a machine can easily become crippled.

6: PortableApps

You might have noticed some of these apps link directly to the PortableApps site. That is a tool designed to make your life much easier. You can install PortableApps on your USB drive and then have a user-friendly system to add and remove apps to and from that USB drive with ease. I highly recommend this application for any and all IT admins.

Tips for Supporting iOS 7

September 18, 2013 was the official release of iOS 7. Complementary to iOS 7 are several support questions for corporate-owned iOS devices, including Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Corporate Owned Personally Enabled (COPE) devices.

COPE devices are corporately compliant prior to distribution to employees; this allows consistency and higher security for all enterprise devices.

There may be a few problems when upgrading to iOS 7 such as older iPhone/iPad devices may not support iOS 7 and not all features are available on all devices or in all countries.

Here are some tips for supporting iOS 7 in the enterprise.

Implement VPP

Apple now offers a Volume Purchase Program (VPP) for business. VPP can retain volume licenses for Apps and Books. Download Apple’s VPP Guide.

Third-Party iOS Apps

Configuring third-party apps can be completed in iOS 7, Mobile Device Management (MDM) distributes the third-party configuration and the developer needs to enables it.

Test and Troubleshoot

The most important step before deploying in-house developed enterprise app(s) is to test and troubleshoot. Testing and troubleshooting will save time and resources after deployment.

Per App VPN

Per app VPN ensures that only managed app data travels through VPN. iOS 7 apps can automatically be connected to VPN when launched. Also, for security purposes this tool will separate corporate data and personal data.

Category: Tips & Info

GoDaddy Hacked, Millions of Sites Down

Which Cell Phone is Right for You?

Microsoft Launches Windows 8 Today

Microsoft kicks off Windows 8, on sale today

What is new and improved with 802.11ac?

What is 802.11?

802.11n vs. 802.11ac

Set Up Microsoft Exchange E-Mail on iPhone

Set Up Microsoft Exchange E-Mail on an Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch

Ten Top Microsoft Office Tips

The ten most popular Microsoft Office tips

1: A quick Word trick for typing text into a scanned document

2: Use Word macros to save your place in a document

3: A quick and dirty way to compare columns of Excel data

4: Demystify Excel’s PivotTable feature with this simple method

5: Create a dynamic Excel chart and make your own dashboard

6: A quick Excel keyboard trick for selecting large ranges

7: Three tips for rounding Excel time values

8: Three things you must do when you inherit an Excel workbook

9: Launch Word with the most recently used document

10: Run a list of rolling credits at the end of your PowerPoint presentation

Top IT skills wanted for 2012

Nearly 29 percent of the 353 IT executives who were polled in Computerworld’s annual Forecast survey said they plan to increase IT staffing through next summer. (That’s up from 23% in the 2010 survey and 20% in the 2009 survey.)

Five Must-Have Apps For Your USB Stick

1: SystemRescueCD

2: Portable Firefox

3: ComboFix

4: FileZilla Portable

5: Explorer++ Portable

6: PortableApps

Tips for Supporting iOS 7

Implement VPP

Third-Party iOS Apps

Test and Troubleshoot

Per App VPN

Techies News Categories

Techies News Search

Category: Tips & Info

Microsoft kicks off Windows 8, on sale today

What is 802.11?

802.11n vs. 802.11ac

Set Up Microsoft Exchange E-Mail on an Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch

The ten most popular Microsoft Office tips

1: A quick Word trick for typing text into a scanned document

2: Use Word macros to save your place in a document

3: A quick and dirty way to compare columns of Excel data

4: Demystify Excel’s PivotTable feature with this simple method

5: Create a dynamic Excel chart and make your own dashboard

6: A quick Excel keyboard trick for selecting large ranges

7: Three tips for rounding Excel time values

8: Three things you must do when you inherit an Excel workbook

9: Launch Word with the most recently used document

10: Run a list of rolling credits at the end of your PowerPoint presentation

Nearly 29 percent of the 353 IT executives who were polled in Computerworld’s annual Forecast survey said they plan to increase IT staffing through next summer. (That’s up from 23% in the 2010 survey and 20% in the 2009 survey.)

1: SystemRescueCD

2: Portable Firefox

3: ComboFix

4: FileZilla Portable

5: Explorer++ Portable

6: PortableApps

Implement VPP

Third-Party iOS Apps

Test and Troubleshoot

Per App VPN

Virtual Dedicated Server Can Replace On-Premise Hardware

Techies News Categories

Techies News Search