A new way to learn??

Confucious is credited with the saying: "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." Because this makes so much sense, it's also the philosophy that we follow during our training courses.

Each delegate has a laptop to work from with an instructor that not only knows the software package being trained, but also uses it on a very regular basis in "real life". Examples are worked through together ensuring that not only does the delegate understand the mechanics of a technique, they also understand how & when to use it.

Contrast this with the new style of "hands off" seminars where delegates sit & watch someone work through the software & then go away & work through the examples afterwards on their own... and I wonder how many will??

So, if you'd like some traditional training (i.e. where you actually learn how to use the software), then talk to us.

We could show you, but we'd prefer to help you understand

Is this a Scam I wonder???

Just a caution to everyone...

received an email from "The Facebook Team [service@facebook.com]" addressed to me by name...

"Hey colin , Because of the measures taken to provide safety to our clients, your password has been changed.You can find your new password in attached document. Thanks,The Facebook Team"

There's also a ZIP file attached...

interestingly, if I log off & log back on my "old" password still works.

Which makes me wonder whether it's a scam?

I'm not going to be opening the Zip file...

Hello,

I've just received this email 3 times in a short while:

Good evening
Dear Credit Card Holder:

The last transaction report on your credit card shows a number of transactions that have questionable background. That gives us reasons to believe that your credit card details have been stolen, and your card has been abused for making unauthorized payments.

Enclosed is the listing of transactions made with your credit card between 13.06.2009 and 15.06.2009. Please look through the enclosed document carefully and pay special attention to the last three of the listed transactions – they are the ones that we suspect to be fraudulent.

Please find time to review the enclosed account statement and confirm the transactions you have authorized in person. This would help us both to have this issue resolved as quickly as possible.

The Word-formatted copy of your transaction list:

scananida.com.pl/report_8977.exe

(I've removed the http:// from the front of the link to avoid anyone clicking on it in error)

There are a couple of obvious clues...

1. The Salutation: "Dear Credit Card Holder" - any real credit card company would address the email directly to me
2. The link to a word document is has an .EXE file extension - always a good sign!
3. I received 3 copies of the same email, two from one person & one from another!
   

So, if you receive such an email, do what I did & delete them! Don't be tempted (even a little bit!) to click the link

Is this a scam???

To be honest, I'll answer my own question... I don't know, but I've taken sensible precautions not to get caught...

Just received a phone call from 0800 030 4909 to my Mobile phone aledgedly from HSBC bank (with whom, I do have an account). He then said that he needed to confirm who I was to protect my confidentiality & security, so then read out teh first part of my post code & asked me to complete second part.

I told him that I appreciated him wanting to maintain my security & so I would support that by not providing my information!

He then said that he could provide a number for me to call back on or send info in teh post, so I said post would be fine...

If it arrives, then maybe it was genuine... if not, well, perhaps I've saved some money!!

In which case, I'm glad that I shared this!!

10 Golden Rules for Using Public WiFi safely

I've just been made aware of these top tips from ITWales.com (via the Tameside Business Family News)...

Access to the Internet via public "hotspots" is growing and will continue to grow as more and more hotspots are made available. We have McDonalds offering free Internet access and even Boris Johnson proposing that London becomes a WiFi city, with free WiFi, following the likes of Norwich!

This free bandwidth does come with an element of risk. Once you are associated to an access point, you are on the same network as others connected to the same access point, in the same way as plugging into the same network segment. A simple network discovery will show who else is connected....and from there an unscrupulous user could try and access your machine. This may not be deliberate - a Trojan may automatically be scanning in the background for, and trying to infect other machines. In addition to the possibility of direct attack, your data is probably going to be "clear text" - not encrypted.

So what are issues we face when using public ‘hotspots’?
1. Clear text data - by its very nature a hotspot will not have any encryption or security on it. It is there to enable as many people as possible to connect, as easily as possible. To offer a pre-shared security key is impractical, and the more people have a key, the less valuable a key is. What does this mean? Well if you are sending email, someone on that network will be able to see, and read that data. It is a bit like handing a postcard over a post office counter. Everyone in the post office can read it. So you really would not write anything confidential on it. To say "Hi, having a wonderful time, wish you were here" is not exactly top secret. You may not want to put all your credit card information on it!

2. Most web traffic is, by its very nature clear text. Most web sites will switch to secure, encrypted HTTPS traffic when doing commercial transactions. Web mail is normally in the clear...How can you tell if you have changed? Look for the little padlock in your browser!

3. If you are using business email, we strongly recommend using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) between you and the business mail server. This should be provided by the business. This normally is a security overlay on your traffic. This will encrypt data and ensure no eaves droppers read it.

4. Your PC needs to have a personal firewall installed, and switched on. A basic firewall is provided within Windows now. Use it! This stops unauthorised access on to the PC.

5. Many businesses will add an additional personal firewall. The clever ones will actually change the policy based upon your location, which will control the flow of data in and out of your PC in accordance with your policy.

6. Ensure your anti-virus software is installed, up-to-date and working! This will defend against known virus or Trojan attacks.

7. Turn off ad-hoc networking - WiFi has two methods of working - ad hoc and infrastructure. Infrastructure is when your PC connects to an Access Point, and then on to a wired network. Ad-hoc is when two PC’s communicate to each other directly without an Access Point. You really should ensure no one can network directly, unless there is a specific reason!

8. Shoulder surfing. Always be aware who is watching you. Don’t sit with your back to a crowd or window inviting unwanted snoopers to see you type your password or read your documents.

9. Think about the length of time you are connected. As a precaution, prepare messages off line and only connect to send and receive. This will reduce the window of opportunity for someone to capture your data.

10. Lastly, when accessing a hot spot be aware of hot spot high jacking. This is when a fake access point is used to fool you into connecting to it. It will record all traffic from your system. This type of attack is mainly used in internet cafes since access is open. Always try and make sure you connect to genuine access points.

They were originally written by David Hobson, Managing Director of Global Secure Systems (GSS) but make so much sense that I've added them here. For more information on security and WiFi visit www.gss.co.uk

IT Tip #6 - Back to Word

With this entry, I've decided to return to my first subject and concentrate on Word.

• Use Your Keyboard to Quickly Change the Case of Text
• Select the text you want to change and press SHIFT+F3.
• Each time you press the F3 key, the text case switches between Title Case, UPPERCASE, and lowercase

Save All Your Word Documents at Once

• Hold down SHIFT and click the File menu. When you hold down SHIFT, two new options appear on the File menu: Close All and Save All.
• To save all your open documents at once, click Save All. Or, to close all your open documents, click Close All; Word will prompt you to save your changes before closing any documents.
  

Speed Up Your Typing with AutoCorrect
If you find yourself typing long words again and again, you should consider setting up typing shortcuts, so you only need to type in part of the word and Word fills in the rest. For example, if I need to type Universal Solutions 4 Business Limited, I just type US4B; then I press the SPACEBAR, Word automatically spells out all the words.

To set up this shortcut:

• On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect. Select the Replace text as you type check box.
• In the Replace box, type an abbreviation you will remember—for example, US4B.
• In the With box, type the complete spelling of the word—for example, Universal Solutions 4 Business Limited
• Click Add.
• Repeat steps 2 and 3 to add additional terms, then click OK.
• You can also use this tip to quickly type people's names, technical terms—anything you want. And once you add a term to your AutoCorrect list, it also works in Excel, PowerPoint and (if you use Word as your default e-mail editor) Outlook.
  

Increase or Decrease Line Spacing in Word
To quickly change the line spacing of a paragraph in Microsoft Word:

• Select the text you want to change, then (using the numbers along the top of the alphabetical part of the keyboard):
• To set line spacing to single-space lines, press CTRL+1.
• To set line spacing to double-space lines, press CTRL+2.
• To set line spacing to 1.5-line spacing, press CTRL+5.
  

Insert Current Date and Time in Word
You can insert the current date or time in a Word document using keyboard shortcuts. Here's how:

• Position the cursor where you want to insert the date or time.
• Do one of the following:

1. To insert the date, press ALT+SHIFT+D.
2. To insert the time, press ALT+SHIFT+T.
   

Automate Repetitive Typing Tasks—Use AutoText
To create an AutoText entry for later use:

• Select the text (or graphic) you want to store as an AutoText entry. (To store paragraph formatting with the entry, include the paragraph mark in the selection.)
• On the Insert menu, point to AutoText, and then click AutoText. You will see your selected text in the Enter AutoText entries here box.
• Make sure your entry contains at least four characters. Then click Add.
• Word stores the AutoText entry for later use.

To insert an AutoText entry:

• In your document, type the first few characters of the AutoText entry.
• When Word suggests the complete AutoText entry, press ENTER or F3 to accept the entry. (To reject the entry, keep typing.)
  

Add Fake Text to a Word Document
Here's a handy function you can use whenever you need to fill a page with fake text—for example, to demonstrate a feature in Word or to work with page layout and design.

• In a Word document, type =rand(4,5) and then press ENTER.
• The numbers in parentheses correspond to the number of paragraphs (4) and the number of sentences per paragraph (5). You can change the numbers in parentheses to put more or less text on the page. Or if you want one long paragraph, just place one number in the parentheses, which will designate the number of sentences that should appear in the paragraph
  

IT Tip #5 - Viruses

I thought that a reminder of the prevention issues centred on viruses would be useful...

Obviously, to be fully protected, you need to have an up to date Anti Virus product installed. Don't wait until you're infected - that's too little too late. Anti Virus products are not expensive; the result of being infected can be! Think of Anti-Virus Software as cheap insurance! In fact, there are plenty of free versions, so there's no excuse!

Virus Detection and Prevention Tips

• Do not open any files attached to an email from an unknown, suspicious or untrustworthy source.
• Do not open any files attached to an email unless you know what it is, even if it appears to come from a dear friend or someone you know. Some viruses can replicate themselves and spread through email. Better be safe than sorry and confirm that they really sent it.
• Do not open any files attached to an email if the subject line is questionable or unexpected. If the need to do so is there always save the file to your hard drive before doing so.
• Delete chain emails and junk email. Do not forward or reply to any to them. These types of email are considered spam, which is unsolicited, intrusive mail that clogs up the network.
• Do not download any files from strangers.
• Exercise caution when downloading files from the Internet. Ensure that the source is a legitimate and reputable one. Verify that an anti-virus program checks the files on the download site. If you're uncertain, don't download the file at all or download the file to a floppy and test it with your own anti-virus software.
• Update your anti-virus software regularly. Over 500 viruses are discovered each month, so you'll want to be protected. These updates should be at the least the products virus signature files. You may also need to update the product's scanning engine as well.
• Back up your files on a regular basis. If a virus destroys your files, at least you can replace them with your back-up copy. You should store your backup copy in a separate location from your work files, one that is preferably not on your computer.
• When in doubt, always err on the side of caution and do not open, download, or execute any files or email attachments. Not executing is the more important of these caveats. Check with your product vendors for updates, which include those for your operating system web browser, and email.
• If you are not sure about a potential virus related situation, there are many sites that offer updates on the latest threats. A couple of these are…

1. McAfee:http://www.mcafee.com/us/threat_center/default.asp
2. Norton: http://www.symantec.com/security_response/index.jsp

• What can be as important is to not react to some of the virus hoaxes that regularly appear in inboxes around the world. So, if you receive an email claiming that there's a really horrible virus around & no one can stop it & McAfee & Norton have said that it's the worst ever & other predictions of gloom, then take a deep breath, hold off the sending to all of your friends & check out the following, first...

1. http://antivirus.about.com/od/emailhoaxes/l/blenhoax.htm
2. http://pcworld.about.com/magazine/2009p061id102498.htm