Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Monday - 9/26/2011


News From The Computer Guy

Pat's Pointers


We are just rolling right through the month of September and so far the weather has been great. My biggest complaint is that it gets darker earlier and when I'm out doing house calls, it gets hard for me to see the house numbers. If you do have me come out after hours, help me out and turn on the front porch light -- two weeks ago, I think I startled a lady at 8:30pm, I was at the wrong house!

This brings me to my point this week. Maybe people have asked about classes or tutoring. YES! We are going to have some classes in October -- but, we also offer IN-HOME tutoring. Sure, it's one thing if you have a laptop, you can bring it to the shop for a class, but if you have a desktop it is a bit harder. Taking notes really doesn't work, because after you get home, you forget most of what you took the notes on.

We charge $50 for an hour and a half tutoring session. Personally, about an hour and a half is all a person can take listening to me and working on the computer. We have a broad range of topics, all you need to do is give us a call and either Kirt or I will be out to help you and will try our best to help you learn at your pace. This rate is for our normal 45-mile radius around Hampton.

Our in-shop classes will be $10 per class for the night -- we feel that's a fair price and the class will probably go about 2 hrs, since we will have several taking the class.

Have a fantastic week!


Kirt's Korner

I've mentioned this before, but it is always worth mentioning again, since we've had some calls on it this week.

If someone hacks your email -- such as Yahoo or Hotmail and all of your friends are getting some rather "interesting" messages from you, log back into your computer and change the password. In addition to changing the password, think of a new "secret question" as that may have been changed too.

How did this happen???? Maybe you used a public computer and didn't log out properly, but more than likely you clicked on a link and provided your user ID and password in some sort of Phishing scheme.

Some Phishing schemes are meant to look just as authentic as your actual webmail or bank account info, but do not actually represent them. They are spoofing those sites to get your information. Just something to think about this week!

Stop by or call the shop Monday - Friday from 10am - 6pm or Saturday from 10am - 2pm. Our number is 456-1936.


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Monday, September 19, 2011

Monday - 9/19/2011

News From The Computer Guy


Pat's Pointers

We are coasting through another month, farmers are starting to get ready for harvest and fall will be here before we know it.

This has been an interesting week as I traveled to Des Moines this week for the state sponsored Google Seminars that are going to be hosted all over the state. They say that 59% of Iowa businesses are NOT online. This seminar makes it possible for those businesses to get a jump start and learn a few things. It's well worth it when it comes to the area, as it is FREE. These are basic things, for more in depth web creation, contact us at The Computer Guy and we can steer you in the right direction.

Don't forget that this THURSDAY is our FREE App Party at the store. We are partnering with CellTech of Hampton to help you understand Applications for your Iphone or Android. We are going to be "Brand Neutral," so no matter what carrier you are with, stop by. 12:15pm and 6:00pm are the class times and may last about 45 minutes or until all the questions are answered. I bet the guy with the "Bro Stache" will be there!

On September 26th, I'm speaking at The Upper Midwest Social Media Conference to be held in Mason City at the Clarion Inn. Admission is $50 for the day. My topic is "Social Media For Business." I'll cover social media, location based networking, and local searchabilty. Sure, I'll throw in a few jokes, some details and some practical examples. I'll also try to answer as many questions as I can in the 45 - 60 minutes that are slated for me. There will be about 8 speakers for the day, so it will be information packed. Use the coupon code "GROUP" and save $10!

For more info: http://www.uppermidwestSMCon.org

Hope to see you there! Have a fantastic week!


Kirt's Korner

Here's a situation that many parents and public libraries in the area have had us do to prevent either unwanted programs from installing onto their computer, OR they just want to make sure their kids aren't getting into any malware on the home computer.

It's a product called Deep Freeze. What this does is "freezes" an image of the computer on the hard drive, then when the computer is restarted, it goes back to your original configuration. This is handy for libraries, motels, kiosks, or anywhere there is the usage of a public computer. Once you reboot, all changes are erased and you go back to your clean computer.

The program does have a "Thaw Zone" for Windows Updates and other programming changes.

Interested??? Give us a call and we can put your computer in the "Deep Freeze!"

As a reminder, we are open 10 - 6 Monday - Friday and 10-2 on Saturday. You can also just give us a call - 641-456-1936.


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Monday, September 12, 2011

Monday - 9/12/2011

News From The Computer Guy


Pat's Pointers

Well, hopefully everyone made it through the weekend. There certainly were of lot of things going on with the remembrance of the 9/11 attacks, the Iowa/Iowa State game and the big 2 county garage sales.

We've had a busy week as school is in full swing. Here's a reminder. If your college student has computer issues while at school, what do they do? Do they take it to the college IT department, a geek in their dorm or some computer repair company in the community in which they live?

Answer -- Remote support from The Computer Guy. We have packages that will fit most any budget and you know that they will be in good hands. Call the shop to get a quote on an as-needed package from The Computer Guy.

On September 26th, I'm speaking at The Upper Midwest Social Media Conference to be held in Mason City at the Clarion Inn. Admission is $50 for the day. My topic is "Social Media For Business." I'll cover social media, location based networking, and local searchabilty. Sure, I'll throw in a few jokes, some details and some practical examples. I'll also try to answer as many questions as I can in the 45 - 60 minutes that are slated for me. There will be about 8 speakers for the day, so it will be information packed. Use the coupon code "GROUP" and save $10!

For more info: http://www.uppermidwestSMCon.org

Hope to see you there! Have a fantastic week!


Kirt's Korner

We are saying a BIG "Hello" to a lot of new readers this week. Every quarter we go through our in-store customer work orders and pull e-mail addresses and add them to our e-mail listing.

If the weekly newsletter isn't for you, just hit the Un-Subscribe button and you'll be taken off the list, no questions asked.

We will be partnering with Cell Tech of Hampton to bring you TWO App Parties on the 22nd of September. Learn more about your mobile phone. (Droid, Iphone, Blackberry and Windows OS) The classes are at 12:15pm and 6:00pm and will last about 45-60 minutes. We'll have some snacks, a lot of fun and carrier neutral so all phone customers are welcome.

As a reminder, we are open 10 - 6 Monday - Friday and 10-2 on Saturday. You can also just give us a call - 641-456-1936.


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Monday, September 5, 2011

Monday - 9/5/2011

News From The Computer Guy


Pat's Pointers

Happy Labor Day!!

While many of us have the day off, I'd like to thank the folks who are working today. I remember working in radio and it was just normal to go to work on holidays. It's nice to have one of them off once in a while.

We have done some surveying and we will have some results announced in the next couple of weeks, but we are going to be having an "App Party" at our shop on Thursday, September 22nd. CellTech of Hampton and The Computer Guy are teaming up to bring you TWO classes (or parties) about applications for your phones. These will basically focus on Android and I-Phones, but Blackberry and Windows phones will be discussed. It's predicted that after this holiday season, 1 out of every 2 phones will be a "smart" phone. Don't miss out on the FREE classes at The Computer Guy - 12:15pm and 6:00pm on Thursday, September 22nd.

Have a fantastic week!

Kirt's Korner

This past week was very frustrating. Not so much for us at the shop, but for our customers.

Here's what happened. On 2 occasions where we had given advice to people on getting data backups, they chose not to. Naturally, that is their choice. However of the 4 hard drive failures this week, 2 were the people we had advised. One computer was under warranty for another 5 days, so at least their replacement drive was free, but the rest weren't.

With those 4 drive failures, we could salvage data off of only 3 of them. The last drive skipped and stalled and got very hot after some usage. (If you know anything about our data recovery system, we DO put the drives in the freezer and run a USB cable from the freezer to the computer for best results.)

Please, don't be a bad example. We have both on-site and off-site data backup plans. There's one for every budget. One on-line backup solution is from Mozy -- Use the code "SAVEME10" as it is good for 10% off of any subscription until October 1, 2011.

Here's one that we recommend from Mozy!
http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=kcvhmfdab&et=1107425036127&s=1&e=001-1AIjuNWGVU1gZax1S3z4kHbB9Sf6ESZxzjSHPOErb2fvgxPHO4pYD9n5EX7YsemEuCojkZ8upflNYtpFSO_6XRQRtTmSuvZPGJxJbH-qqx_IFrXw4dbN7S3kSqEUGUvaB6DaTOValBsoyV4N5DwLMILTd4mOtwKd2ng82UmXQ0=

Stop by or call the shop Monday - Friday from 10am - 6pm or Saturday from 10am - 2pm. Our number is 641-456-1936.



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