Daily Watch Dog

Recycling

2009-04-13T12:58:00.003-04:00

It's that time of year, Spring Cleaning. This is a great time of year to clean out the old electronics in your house and your office. I am often asked "What should I do with these old computers?" Over the years I have discovered that around this time of year, many communities offer special events to bring in old computers and electronic equipment for recycling. Usually these events are near the

What do I do with this thing at the end of the day

2009-03-12T23:04:00.002-04:00

The question comes up every so often about what users should do with their desktops at the end of the day. Do we shut down or logoff? Can we still logon remotely? Well the answer is here. First of all, leaving your computer logged on overnight is the worst choice you can make. It is a security risk leaving your computer open to anyone to use when you are not around. Secondly, over time leaving

Outlook 2007 Hotfix

2009-03-06T16:52:00.001-05:00

Recently Microsoft released a hotfix for Outlo0k 2007. The updates improve performance, reduce errors, and improve calendar synching. I installed the hotfix earlier this week and it has made a huge improvement in the usability of Outlook 2007. A few of the highlights include:General Responsiveness Startup improvementsShutdown improvementsCalendar improvementsFewer data file checks We've

PC buying

2009-03-05T12:49:00.002-05:00

There are a lot of great deals to be had if you are interested in buying new computers. Dealers and big box retailers are doing anything they can to make a sale, but as these prices fall it is buyer beware. Manufacturers may be dropping price, but they may also be dropping quality as well. One dealer I spoke to said many of these special deal pc's may not even last a year. The idea is when the

Finally a president that get's technology.

2009-01-31T14:04:00.002-05:00

Obama has finally hooked me. Not because of his political party, his background, his policies, or anything that draws many people to support a particular political figure. He has hooked me because he gets technology and how to use it. He carries a Blackberry to stay in touch with his family and close advisors. He has a linked in page (I certainly would like to be

Phone Issue in our office this morning

2009-01-30T10:05:00.000-05:00

It appears there are issues with our phone provider this morning in the office. As of this now, no one can call in or out. Please use the helpdesk@dogtailsolutions.com email to reach us. If you can’t email, and get a fast busy when you call, you can try my cell phone at 703-346-4041. We expect the problem to be resolved shortly, but do not have an exact time frame from the phone company.

Inauguration speech

2009-01-20T13:40:00.000-05:00

For those who could not get a stream of the inauguration speech, here is a link to the content of the address. http://tinyurl.com/a559gb By the way, I got this from a Twitter feed. More info on Twitter to come.

The inauguration impact on your office internet

2009-01-20T11:07:00.001-05:00

As we all prepare for this historical event, it is important to remember the impact this can have on your office. Employees who watch live streams of the inauguration by video or radio will cause a significant hit to your internet bandwidth. So if the internet and email communication in your office comes to a screeching halt, start with MBWA (Management By Walking Around). If folks are

New Malware disguised as Barack Obama website

2009-01-19T16:09:00.000-05:00

Panda Labs is reporting a new malware botnet disguised as Barack Obama’s website. Knowing many of our client’s are politically involved, this could be one that catches you if you are not looking. Definitely watch out for any email’s or link’s related to Obama.

How to use RSS feeds to subscribe to a blog in Outlook

2009-01-17T08:37:00.002-05:00

One of my goals for 2009 is to increase and improve communication with our clients and prospective clients. Blogs are a great way to get information out to a large audience quickly. We can let existing clients know about new issues, patch updates, security warnings, etc.. It also let’s prospective clients get some insight into the type of company they will be dealing with. Since a blog is

POP3 Web mail issues

2009-01-15T11:21:00.000-05:00

Although we have no official response that the issue is closed, it appears the OWN web mail servers are back online. We are now able to access web mail accounts. Please be aware that until we have an official closure, there may continue to be intermittent issues. For additional details, go to http://www.ownwebnow.com/noc/

New ways to get infected by malware

2009-01-07T17:00:00.001-05:00

Malware infections continue to be some of the most frequent requests for support over the past few months, and they are becoming more destructive. In the past, we found most issues to be in the annoying variety, generating extra popups and slowing down a users system. Now we see more destructive infections that cause users to lose connectivity, refuse Antivirus updates, and make a system

Microsoft Emergency Patch for Internet Explorer

2008-12-18T16:51:00.001-05:00

Microsoft has released a patch for Internet Explorer outside of the monthly patch cycle. This patch is listed as critical and may help to protect you from some of the recent virus outbreaks users are catching from visiting infected web sites. This patch is important enough that Microsoft has taken the time to reach out to all of its partners to alert them and encourage us to get this patch

Holiday Hours

2008-12-12T14:52:00.001-05:00

All of us at Dogtail Solutions hope you are enjoying the holiday season. I speak with many of you everyday. I understand how hectic things are and the constant need to not only do more, but to do more with less. It is more important than ever to take time to spend with your family and friends this holiday season. We hope you are able to do just that.Here is an update of our office closings

Antivirus in sheep's clothing

2008-12-12T14:40:00.001-05:00

Things had been pretty quiet for us on the virus front for the past year. Sure there was the occasional machine bogged down with garbage, but it was usually because someone did not keep their virus definitions updated, or worse, let their subscription expire. Recently we have seen a rise in a new attack from a virus called XP Antispyware 2009. It starts with the user getting random popups that

Critical Adobe Reader Security Patch

2008-11-07T13:59:00.001-05:00

A critical patch update has come to our attention for users of Adobe Reader. A security vulnerability has been identified in Adobe Reader 8. Follow the link to the Adobe site and upgrade to Adobe 9 or apply a patch update to your Adobe Reader as soon as possible. http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb08-19.html

Sprint and Cogent in Network Disagreement

2008-11-03T07:38:00.001-05:00

It appears Sprint and Cogent are in a contract disagreement resulting in Sprint dropping terminating network traffic to Cogent over the weekend. Although Sprint has reconnected to the Cogent networks as of this morning, a suit has been filed for breach of contract by Sprint in Fairfax County Court. What this means to you is if Sprint is your internet carrier, they may be dropping traffic to

Outlook Tips

2008-10-13T12:22:00.001-04:00

Outlook is the one application that we all depend on. For email, calendar and more. There is always something more we can learn. I just came across these tips from PC Mag and some of them are very helpful. Click Here to check it out.

ZDNET Reports Business week Website Hacked

2008-09-15T11:37:00.001-04:00

It has been reported that the business week website has been hacked and may reroute browsers to 3rd party malware sites. If you frequent the businessweek.com website, be aware of possible issues this week, before you click on any links. Here is a link to additional information: http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1902

Do you know a guy?

2008-09-13T05:49:00.001-04:00

As business owners, we understand the importance of a good network. We must be constantly vigilant for new opportunities to grow our business. Whether we are in the office, at the ball game, at the school picnic, or on the golf course, we need to keep our ears opened. We also know that business relationships are developed over time. Business deals are finalized only after we have developed a

Coming Soon

2008-09-06T14:55:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned in our recent newsletter, we are very excited about the new hosting services we can now deliver to our clients. Our goal is to be your single phone call for all your IT needs. These new services are another step to meet that goal. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to expand our mail server offerings. Through our partnership with Own Web Now, we will be able to offer expanded

Who is Running Your Business?

2008-08-18T07:16:00.001-04:00

As a small business owner, I find it is a constant battle between am I running my business, or is my business running me? Unfortunately it seems often times it is the latter. As the owner, it is your vision, your passion, and your dedication that your customers see. That passion is what your customers buy. It is nearly impossible to get that same commitment to translate to the rest of your

Webex Manager Security Threat

2008-08-12T08:49:00.001-04:00

The US Computer Emergency Readiness Team has issued an alert related to the Webex Meeting Manager. A security vulnerability has been discovered in the Active X Control that can allow a remote user to execute code remotely US-CERT. Webex has addressed the issue with the latest version of their Meeting Manager. Users are encouraged to update their software before attending their next online

New Tools to Manage your Inbox

2008-08-10T11:35:00.002-04:00

Email has become the most crucial tool in the business world, regardless of your size. We all have huge mail folders we try to manage. Everyone has a different approach for organizing and managing email. Some create folders by client or subject. Some create rules to automatically move messages to the right folder. Personally I prefer a flat approach. I just keep it all in my inbox and use

CNN malware alert

2008-08-06T22:57:00.001-04:00

It seems there is a new malware attack. Emails are posing as CNN story links are in fact malware. The idea is to trick you into clicking on a fake news item then prompt you to download a fake flash player. If you get an email from CNN Daily Top 10, delete it immediately. More Info