Mailguard, our SPAM and Virus filter system for your SYIX.COM email addresses has been updated a bit the last couple of days, nothing you will be able to see, but the accuracy of the filter has increased quite a bit.
Be sure to check your "spam" and "ham" for accuracy! The more Mailguard knows about your email (what is spam and what is not), the better it is at keeping your mailbox clean. Here is a direct link: http://mail01.syix.com/mail
Cloud? Nah, just Client/Server like the old days...
I have been using Cloud Computing for YEARS. My first computer was a dumb terminal that talked to a mainframe via an acoustic coupler. Without the coupler it was capable of NOTHING useful. So the "cloud" marketing sillyness lately has mostly just made me laugh. My computer needs to have its own data and computing power, not someone else computer elsewhere, just so they can sell my info (looking at you Google) and save me what? Anyway, today I was gratified to see that I am not the only one who thinks "cloud computing" is just silly.
From PC Magazine, this was written by John Dvorak: "I have never been all-in with the cloud. I want my processing power to be local, preferably right in front of me. People were trying to get away from central control for decades when the first personal computers appeared in 1975. These were wimp machines by today's standards and off-board storage was a cassette deck. Now we have incredible processing power and you can get a high-speed 4 Terabyte hard disk for $180 at Costco. Yet people are returning to the big mamma in the sky, accepting a client-server relationship that was a consistent flop decades ago. That is, until the Internet began to dumb down the majority of users. With Linux never catching on and the rise of the cloud-centric operating systems alongside the weak phone/tablet OS taking over, everyone is back where they started: pre-1975. Centralized control wins out. I guess that is what the public wanted all along and the "personal" computer movement was actually a fad. Who knew? "
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More JAVA news, another claimed compromise. If you don't need JAVA please just remove it from your computer, its not safe. At least don't let Internet Explorer use it, turn off browser access to JAVA if you can.
Look in "control panels" and find your uninstall software section, locate JAVA and remove it. If you MUST have it, please be safe, and careful. The last compromise allowed random people to install software on your computer, without your knowledge.
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As this winter progresses, I wanted to remind you of a few weather related things to watch out for. Our best advice from a computer view is when thunder and lightning hit, unplug electronics, but failing that, if the power does flicker on and off, unplug them and let the reset properly after things are back to normal!
And modem/routers really really hate power spikes, they tend to just shut off, so keep that in mind if things gets silly on your internet connection later. Unplug the devices, count to 10 slowly, and plug them back in, it will probably be fine.
WOOT! We have a new look to our SyixMAIL. It's the same program but MUCH more intuitive and pleasing to the eye. Please call if you have any questions but it should be pretty much be self explanatory.
Note: Some older computers have issues, you can select the "classic" theme in the setting screens and make it look the old way
Windows 8
In as short a sentence as possible. Just say NO.
To expand a bit, be sure that any computer you buy has Windows 7, or can be "downgraded" to Win7. Do yourself a great big favor and just DON'T buy it as an upgrade. Don't. Really really don't.
I installed Win8 on a new computer today, the "Pro" version, with all the features available and enabled. It is ugly, hard to use, makes NO sense at all, and generally annoys me. Internet Explorer 10 (comes installed that way) just feels weird.
Its an operating system designed for Tablets or Smartphones. Not computers, no matter how many ways Microsoft trys to spin it. On a tablet, it might be fine, or a smartphone, it might be okay. On a desktop or laptop PC, just NO.
If you don't believe me, come into the support office, ask Bill or Andre to look at the Win8 computer. See what YOU think, see if you don't agree with me completely.
Dave


