Our new web site is LIVE! Please visit and let us know what you think. If you like it, please share this link.

www.nygeekgirls.com

Service notification is a new service we’ll be offering soon. Sign up and we’ll contact you every few months to check your anti-virus status, back-ups and system performance.

Usually we can check these items remotely, making this service very economical. In the long run we believe it will save our clients money because they will avoid such costs as virus clean-up, data recovery and lost productivity.

Please let us know what you think.

Here’s an interesting article on how some third-party screensavers can infect your Mac. Free isn’t always free.

http://m.zdnet.com/blog/security/malware-watch-free-mac-os-x-screensavers-bundled-with-spyware/6560?tag=leftCol;post-533

Battery University.com is a great primer on batteries. Several customers have recently ask me about how to maintain long battery life. Some of the advice they’ve repeated to me has seemed unlikely, if not downright bizarre. Here is a reliable source.

Do and don’t battery table.

Most modern laptop batteries are Lithium-Ion. While I am linking to the page with the battery maintenance chart, all the pages on this site have invaluable info.

HP has recently expanded its battery replacement program for defective batteries. If you own an HP laptop, please visit this link to see if your model is on the list. You can also call HP at 888-202-4320.

HP Notebook PC Battery Pack Replacement Program.

I am a bargain hunter. I’m one of those people who brags about how cheaply I got something on sale, whether it’s a sweater or a piece of computer hardware. I inherited this from my mother, who will not purchase an item unless the store is practically paying her to buy it.

Once in a while, though, I’ll splurge on a little luxury, something I really believe will improve the quality of my life, or simply remove or diminish an everyday annoyance.

A little over a year ago I treated myself to a pricey wireless keyboard/trackpad from Adesso. Of course I shopped around, but it still set me back about a hundred bucks. This is not what I do.

We watch movies on a laptop connected to a big monitor. The wireless keyboard/trackpad lets me control the laptop while comfortably sitting on the other side of the room on the couch. Since we love to watch movies, it was worth every penny for such a reliable and trouble-free device.

But a couple of months ago my quality of life took a hit when the battery compartment cover disappeared. Probably one of the cats stole it. Anyway, I contacted Adesso to ask about purchasing another cover. Not only did they send me another cover quickly, but they didn’t charge a penny, not even for shipping. Considering that the warranty was expired and this was an obvious example of user error I was pleasantly surprised.  Addesso products cost a premium, but the quality and customer service were totally worth it to me. Why can’t more companies behave this way? Or do we really prefer to  get the cheapest price on everything even if it means we get treated like crap down the line?

As per new FTC rules, please  note I did not receive any compensation from Adesso for writing this post. I do not benefit in any way from any purchases anyone may make of Adesso products. In fact, I’m not even sure I’m spelling the companies name right.

YouTube – Medieval helpdesk with English subtitles. This is funny.

Dell has recently stopped shipping operating system CDs with many of their consumer-level computers. Dell was the last major PC manufacturer to ship actual CDs (as opposed to a “recovery partition” which is useless if your hard drive crashes). So I was disappointed when I heard the news.

I’m a Dell partner/reseller. This doesn’t affect  most of my clients because I generally sell business class computers. The quality and service are better. If you purchase your Dell through me, I can help you configure the perfect desktop or laptop for you without an hourly consulting charge. But if you buy from Dell directly, do yourself a favor and buy from their small business division.

Expect to hear a lot more from me in the future!

Free web-based email provides such as hotmail and yahoo have a reputation for being over-zealous about blocking email suspected of being spam. If you have a hotmail account this article may help you avoid missing important emails:

How to Make Sure Windows Live Hotmail Doesn’t Ban Important Mail as Junk – About Email.