Marcel Brown

Every year, I watch a predictable pattern. Storms happen, lightning strikes, power goes out. Computers get fried, people suffer costly downtime, people  spend money on repairs or new equipment, and some people even lose data. I warn my clients every spring to make sure their valuable technology is protected. Yet most don’t ever do anything. So every year I can look forward to frantic calls. The sad part is that with just a little investment, most power-related issues could be avoided, saving time and money. Are you going to wait to do something and risk your equipment and data or are you finally going to do something about it this year?

Power protection comes down to three simple things: surge protection, power conditioning, and backup power. You’ve got to stop surges (more accurately called spikes) from damaging your equipment. Just as importantly, you’ve got to feed your technology clean power. And especially critical during storm season is feeding electricity to your devices when the power goes out.

Most people understand surge protection and they buy surge strips for their technology. Unfortunately, most people buy the cheapest thing possible and don’t pay attention to the quality of the surge protection. Also many people don’t surge protect their phone or cable lines coming into the building, which are just as susceptible to spikes as power lines. Either way, surge protection is not enough. You’ve got to provide power conditioning and backup power as well. The good news is that with a relatively simple and inexpensive purchase, you can provide surge protection, power conditioning, and backup power to your valuable technology. Devices commonly called “battery backups” or “uninterruptible power supplies” (UPS) form the core of your power protection strategy. You can purchase battery backups at almost any store that sells technology, even office supply or department stores.

For relatively simple technology setups, one or two units may be all that is needed. But for more complex setups, and to avoid missing any potential sources of surges, I recommend having a technology expert review your situation and ensure that you purchase all the protection you need. Many people forget the fact that their DVRs, alarm systems, and other devices could benefit from a battery backup device.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions related to power protection or other technology topics.

Last month I told you about a Java vulnerability. Now Adobe has released an emergency update to fix flaws that are actively being exploited in their Flash platform. This threat doesn’t appear to be as urgent as the Java problem, but it does appear to be something that you should update to protect yourselves.

For more information on the flaws, you can visit Adobe’s page detailing the security issues. But the simple solution is to make sure Adobe Flash is updated.

The first step is to verify which version of Flash you are running. Go this page, the About Flash Player page, to see the version you are running. If you are on Windows or Mac and you see version 11.5.502.146 or earlier, then you need to proceed to update Flash player. Note that Mac users may see “blocked plug-in” or something similar, as Apple automatically blocked vulnerable versions of Flash over the weekend.

To upgrade Adobe Flash, visit the Adobe Flash Player Download Center. When you have finished updating Flash, make sure to choose the “Allow Adobe to install updates (recommended)” option.

* Note that this problem does not affect iPhone or iPads, as they do not run Flash software. Some older Android-based smartphones did run Flash, so you should check Adobe’s security page to be sure.

I took a trip with my family in November to Chicago. We stayed in the Hyatt in downtown Chicago across the street from what appeared to be a high-rise apartment building. I’ve never seen so many Wi-Fi access points! The good news for the owners is that just a couple of them were unsecured. Are you sure your Wi-Fi network secured?

Oh, and for those people who do the “FBI Surveillance Van” gag – do you really think anyone would be dumb enough to believe that the FBI would announce themselves over a wireless network? And if they were that dumb, would they really be setting up their own wireless network?

It’s all fun and games until you need to pay for a whole new website again and again and again.

I’m sure most of you have seen the movie Groundhog Day. In case you haven’t, Bill Murray’s character relives Groundhog Day over and over again, until he finally “gets it right”. Sure, it’s a funny movie. And it is so popular that the phrase “Groundhog Day” now has come to represent repeating something over and over again. I’ve noticed that many businesses are playing out Groundhog Day with their web sites. I’ll bet the following scenario even sounds familiar to you!

Every few years, a business wants to change the look of their web site or incorporate some new features. So they have their web site redone. From scratch. And they pay for a whole new web site. Again. In a few more years, they have their web site redone. From scratch. And they pay for a whole new web site. Again. In a few more years … you get the idea.

Thankfully, the New World of Technology has brought about an end to this problem. Through the power of new technology, I can build a web site for my clients that ends the Groundhog Day cycle of paying for a new web site every few years. The technology foundation that I build web sites with allows look-and-feel changes to the site with a fairly simple change to what is called the “theme”. Instead of paying for an entirely new web site, my clients only need to pay for a theme change – which can be as inexpensive as a couple of hundred dollars or less!

If you’re ready to end your website Groundhog Day nightmare, contact me today!

No, you don’t need to go all “Office Space” on your fax machine, but do read this article.

By any measure, in the age of Internet and e-mail, faxing technology is quite outdated. From a technical perspective, sending image data over phone lines is almost laughable. However, faxing is so ubiquitous that it seems to just keep hanging around. Unfortunately, for many businesses, fax use can be costly and cumbersome. The cost of a phone line alone can cost a business several hundred dollars a year. The good news is that new technologies allow faxing to join the Internet age and save businesses time and money. I’ve also noticed an interesting phenomenon that is causing many businesses to send and receive many more faxes than they should. Luckily the fix is simple and easy.

What I’ve noticed is that many businesses tend to fax because they believe the other party wants to. Both sides simply assume that each other wants to fax and so they just continue to send each other faxes. It is this “tit for tat” mentality that I believe is perpetuating faxing unnecessarily. If one side would simply ask the other if they would prefer to e-mail documents, more often than not they’ll discover that e-mail is in fact preferred.

I’ve observed that if a business makes a concerted effort to ask each of their common faxing partners to use e-mail, they can significantly reduce the number of faxes sent and received. I’ve seen reductions on the order of 75-90% fewer faxes. If a business can successfully reduce the amount of faxes they send and receive, then they may be able to get rid of their traditional fax machine setup and move to an e-mail faxing service.

E-mail faxing services allow businesses to send and receive faxes through their normal e-mail account, as simply as they send and receive regular attachments, all without the need of a phone line, or maintenance on a cumbersome fax machine. I won’t go into the technical details of how this all works, but suffice to say that these types of services allow for a significant savings on faxing. I have tested a few services and personally settled on a company called SRFax. For light faxing needs, their service starts at $3.00/month. I personally use this level of service, but I have clients that pay $7 or $10 per month for significantly more faxing allowances. If you are a business looking to save money on faxing costs, I highly recommend checking out SRFax.

If you have any questions about faxing in the New World of Technology, please do not hesitate to contact me!

Read below to find out how to update your Java software

Taking highly unusual action, the US Department of Homeland security warned computer users Thursday evening to disable their Java software due to a security exploit discovered last week. When I first heard of this I was skeptical, as this sounded like any number of hoaxes circulating around the Internet. However, upon researching it, I found it was true. The only question was why did the USDHS take this action? Most flaws are theoretical problems or not likely to be exploited widely. Was this flaw actually that serious or were they overreacting?

As far as I can discern, the main reason the USDHS offered this warning was because the vulnerability was already being exploited in the wild. Several popular “exploit toolkits” were already targeting this flaw, making it easy for criminals to deploy malware to attack affected computers. In addition, soon after the exploit was discovered, Apple Inc. chose to remotely disable Java on Macintosh computers through their Mac OS X anti-malware feature. Apple is not a company that is known to overreact to obscure security warnings, so for them to take this action speaks to the severity of the problem.

The good news is that Oracle, the company that develops Java, released an update to fix the flaw over the weekend. I highly recommend that all computer users download and install this update. The simplest way to do this is to visit this web site (http://www.java.com/en/download/testjava.jsp) and follow the prompts given. I will be happy to help any one who is not comfortable with this procedure, so please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

* Note that this problem does not affect iPhones or iPads, as they do not run Java software. Android-based smartphones are also likely unaffected, as there is no standard Java Runtime Environment for Android.

A blogger recently went viral when she posted a list of 18 rules she made her 13 year old boy accept in order for him to have an iPhone. This topic is so popular, many articles have been written about this list and the author and her son have even appeared on TV to talk about it. I’m very curious what parents think about these rules, and the whole topic of children and technology usage. Please post your comments at the end of this article.

As a technology professional and a parent myself of two girls who use various technology devices, I have my own thoughts on these rules, which I share below. I mostly go in order of the rules as posted, but I do group a few of them out of order.

1. It is my phone. I bought it. I pay for it. I am loaning it to you. Aren’t I the greatest?

2. I will always know the password.

6. If it falls into the toilet, smashes on the ground, or vanishes into thin air, you are responsible for the replacement costs or repairs. Mow a lawn, babysit, stash some birthday money. It will happen, you should be prepared.

I think these ideas are excellent. I feel it is important for children to know that if their parents have paid for their devices or are paying the subscription fees, they are essentially borrowing the devices from their parents. If they break them, they will be responsible for the costs. And since the devices belong to the parents, any passwords on the devices are not to be kept secret.

3. If it rings, answer it. It is a phone. Say hello, use your manners. Do not ever ignore a phone call if the screen reads “Mom” or “Dad”. Not ever.

The first few sentences are about manners. This is fine. I’m not sure I’d put these as “rules”, but whatever. However, the sentence about always answering calls from Mom or Dad is a good rule.

4. Hand the phone to one of your parents promptly at 7:30pm every school night & every weekend night at 9:00pm. It will be shut off for the night and turned on again at 7:30am. If you would not make a call to someone’s land line, wherein their parents may answer first, then do not call or text. Listen to those instincts and respect other families like we would like to be respected.

I’m good with the idea of respecting other families’ time. But I don’t think it is necessary to have the kids hand in their phone at a certain time. Just lay down the rule of respect.

5. It does not go to school with you. Have a conversation with the people you text in person. It’s a life skill. *Half days, field trips and after school activities will require special consideration.

This rule I have a big problem with. It’s basically expressing the idea that the phone is a toy and doesn’t belong in school. Or that the phone can only be used for frivolous conversation. First, this is an iPhone, not a 1990′s flip phone. It’s much more than a phone. It’s much more than a toy. If the iPhone and other devices like the iPad don’t belong in a classroom, then nothing does. It’s time for parents to wake up and realize that technology is not just video games and chatting. Young people strongly identify with technology. If parents don’t respect technology, their kids will feel they aren’t being respected.

7. Do not use this technology to lie, fool, or deceive another human being. Do not involve yourself in conversations that are hurtful to others. Be a good friend first or stay the hell out of the crossfire.

8. Do not text, email, or say anything through this device you would not say in person.

9. Do not text, email, or say anything to someone that you would not say out loud with their parents in the room. Censor yourself.

These rules are basic guidelines for communication etiquette. They are smart things to make clear.

10. No porn. Search the web for information you would openly share with me. If you have a question about anything, ask a person – preferably me or your father.

12. Do not send or receive pictures of your private parts or anyone else’s private parts. Don’t laugh. Someday you will be tempted to do this despite your high intelligence. It is risky and could ruin your teenage/college/adult life. It is always a bad idea. Cyberspace is vast and more powerful than you. And it is hard to make anything of this magnitude disappear – including a bad reputation.

These are also smart guidelines. It is a good idea to set expectations from the start.

11. Turn it off, silence it, put it away in public. Especially in a restaurant, at the movies, or while speaking with another human being. You are not a rude person; do not allow the iPhone to change that.

I get the spirit of this rule. Don’t ignore people in front of you. But I think it is a little unrealistic to turn off the phone when in public. What’s the point of having a communication device if you are going to shut it off? I would suggest rephrasing this rule to emphasize more of the etiquette of communication devices in public.

13. Don’t take a zillion pictures and videos. There is no need to document everything. Live your experiences. They will be stored in your memory for eternity.

I’m not sure why we should discourage kids from taking pictures. Again, parents should respect technology or their kids will feel they aren’t being respected. Sure, some people when they get new cameras take a lot of pictures at the expense of “living the moment”. Usually, they’ll get through this phase by themselves. I don’t think it is necessary to squash a child’s creativity by trying to preempt this behavior.

14. Leave your phone home sometimes and feel safe and secure in that decision. It is not alive or an extension of you. Learn to live without it. Be bigger and more powerful than FOMO – fear of missing out.

I’m not so sure about this rule. Again, why have a phone if you are going to leave it at home? This is again just reinforcing the idea that phones are just toys or frivolous things. Kids are going to see right through that and miss the point of the guideline.

15. Download music that is new or classic or different than the millions of your peers that listen to the same exact stuff. Your generation has access to music like never before in history. Take advantage of that gift. Expand your horizons.

16. Play a game with words or puzzles or brain teasers every now and then.

Seriously? Why are these “rules” here? I don’t argue with the sentiment of what is trying to be taught here, but I don’t think these belong in a set of rules for proper phone usage. All these rules do is make kids roll their eyes and make the other rules less effective.

17. Keep your eyes up. See the world happening around you. Stare out a window. Listen to the birds. Take a walk. Talk to a stranger. Wonder without googling.

This is a great rule all the way up until the last sentence. Again, why the need to disrespect the technology? Young people strongly identify with things like Google. Many of them have never known a life without this type of technology. Why say something that insinuates that the technology is somehow bad or is a negative? All this attitude does is make kids think that older people don’t get them and builds up resistance to following rules like this.

18. You will mess up. I will take away your phone. We will sit down and talk about it. We will start over again. You & I, we are always learning. I am on your team. We are in this together.

A nice simple way to end the rules. Again, setting expectations is a great idea. Then when the phone is taken away, it isn’t such a shock and the child can also expect they’ll get it back soon.

Overall, I think that if a parent is going to make rules like this for their children, they should keep things simple and stick to specific rules of conduct and expectations of usage. Don’t have negative assumptions or disparaging comments about technology and the way kids use it. If you want your kids to respect you and your rules about technology usage, you must show them that you respect the technology and the way they use it.

I grew up with technology from a young age myself. However, in the 80′s and early 90′s, there was even much less understanding of technology in society. Because I grew up as a kid interested in technology before it went mainstream, I feel I have a unique perspective on what children today face. I’m happy to share my thoughts with anyone interested, so please don’t hesitate to comment below or contact me directly.