CCS Leeds Ltd provides leased lines, ethernet first mile (EFM),hosting services, VoIP telephone lines, technical support and a wide range of other services. We are also human beings and this blog is a regular account of who we are and the kind of thing we deal with on a daily basis.......
Showing posts with label Random thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Random thoughts. Show all posts
About 18 months ago we were contacted by a TV production company called Left Bank Pictures. They were moving into a temporary location in Leeds and setting up a production office for series 2 of DCI Banks. As such they required some internet and telephones, but only on a temporary basis as the shoot was to last for only 3 months. Most other suppliers they had spoken to were only offering a solution on a minimum 12 months contract term.
However, we were able to provide them with what they wanted, which was an ideal solution and saved them a lot of money.
Just recently they started work on series 3 of DCI Banks and as such, contacted us to request that we reactivate their services. We were more than happy to do this and in less than an hour they were all up and running again with 10 telephones and everyone connected to the internet.
Because everything went so well and without fuss, Left Bank have been kind enough to recommend us to two other production companies who have a similar (if not the same) requirements as Left Bank, and we are now supplying them too.
So we're now supplying internet connections and VoIP telephony to the production teams of 3 new television series, all of which will air in 2014. You might even spot a certain employee from CCS Leeds on the shows if you look closely enough, as he's appearing as an extra.....
SPAM email can be extremely annoying, and whilst there are many pieces of software which will catch it before it reaches your inbox, the odd one still gets through. Whilst some of it can be fairly harmless, there are many examples of when a SPAM email can contain a virus, malicious software or a security risk. Here are some examples of what to look out for and AVOID;
Account updates - These are clever scams which have links directing you to a website which mimics a genuine organizations site. The emails suggest that you need to follow the link in order to ‘update’ your account details. Once there you are asked to login with your username and password, and often you are also asked for your bank details.
Requests for your password – Often, spammers put very little effort into their emails and simple make a copy of a company logo, embed it into their email template and then blatantly ask you for your password. These usually come from companies claiming to be your bank, building society or Credit Card Company.
Too good to be true – How would you like a new iPad mini for only £10, or perhaps a trip to Disney World for only £50 per person? It sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? Well that’s because it is.
Cries for help – This is another common scam which takes advantage of people’s good nature. The con artists pretend to be someone vulnerable, often a young girl who is supposed to be trapped abroad because she doesn’t have enough money for the air fair home. Be very wary.
Congratulations – You’ve won – The only way you can win a competition is if you enter it in the first place. The golden rule here is that if you didn’t, then you’ve not won anything and it’s a good bet that they are trying to trick you into something that will win themselves a prize – i.e. your hard earned cash.
Attachments – If you get a message with an attachment, and the message simply tells you to open the attachment as the rest of the message is contained within, and you do this then you’re a silly-billy. It will almost certainly be a virus or malicious software.
‘Help me’ messages - These often come from family, or people on your contact list, usually asking you for money because they are stranded. While you may have relatives traveling, it's a good idea to reach out to them using other means of communication when you get an email like this. Be wary, especially if they don't want to give a phone number or exact location.
Bad English – Sadly, many of these types of scams come from abroad, and as such you can tell that they are not legitimate by the bad choice of words and grammar being used.
There are ways to automatically avoid receiving SPAM email in the first place, by using an anti-SPAM filter. There are many to choose from and we can provide a great level of protection from as little as 30 pence per email address per month.
To find out more, please visit our website at this link. We hope to hear from you soon.
Believe it or not, e-mail has been around a lot longer than you may think. Early incarnations such as morse code is said to date back to the mid 1800's, with the more traditional form of email appearing in the early 1970's.
As such, email has become an important too for communications and has in turn, made the world a much smaller place.
These days it is a very simple process to set up a free personal email account, without having to register and pay for your own domain name. Here, we have compiled a list of the top 5 email services, which are all popular and widely used my many;
This service provides an email address account with almost unlimited storage, and is accessible from any web browser with a rich and helpful interface, or using other standards such as POP, Exchange ActiveSync via standard email programs or mobile phone applications.
iCoud is another free web based 'cloud' solution which is simple, elegant and integrates with other Apple hardware device, synchronising not only email, but contacts, notes, reminders and iWork documents.
You do need to register with an Apple ID prior to logging into the iCloud service though, and it does not POP access, although it can work with IMAP quite happily.
AIM Mail is AOL's free web-based email service, and has unlimited online storage, some excellent spam protection and a rich, easy to use web front end.
Unfortunately, it lacks a bit in productivity (no labels, smart folders and message threading), but makes up for some of that with very functional POP and IMAP access and there are of course plenty of mobile smart phone applications.
Zoho is a clean, fast web based email service with powerful features. It is designed for a more corporate environment but is still free for up to 3 users accounts, with 5GB storage and smart phone integration.
You can even use your own domain name rather than username@zoho.com, assuming that you already own one.
SPAM filtering, Virus protection, integration with real time chat, cross platform / hardware compatibility, Gmail really has it all and is one of the most reliable free email solutions out there. Google have clearly given a lot of love to this product and it shows. How can something so good and easy to use, also be free?
On 31st July 1987, Microsoft made the brave and
somewhat unusual decision to buy the software rights for a program called
PowerPoint, a software application which had been in development since as early
as 1984.
PowerPoint was originally intended for Apple Computer’s new
Macintosh hardware and indeed, Apple contributed financially to the products
initial development. However, Microsoft got wind of this exciting new software
and proceeded to negotiate for the rights to it. After lengthy discussions and
a number of rejected bids, a deal was finally struck for £14m.
Once the rights had been acquired, it took a further 3 years
before the Windows operating system was good enough, or capable of actually
running the software, but in 1990, Microsoft launched Windows 3.0. and
PowerPoint was one of the key applications which demonstrated the capabilities
and thus was used as a selling point for Windows 3.0.
By 1993, Microsoft bundled PowerPoint in with Word and Excel
to form the Microsoft ‘Office’ bundle, an attractively priced trio of common
applications.
To this day, PowerPoint is one of the most popular software
applications and is installed on an estimated one billion computers worldwide.
Microsoft are offering Window's users the opportunity
to download a pre-release version of their new Windows 8 operating
system.
This new version of Windows is said to be the
most revolutionary since Microsoft released Windows 95, some 17 years ago (is
it really that long?), and they are keen to encourage people to buy into the
new operating system.
This trial version is officially called the ‘Release
Preview’ and can be downloaded from this link. As expected there are 64 and 32
bit versions as well as the option to download an ISO version to write to
either a DVD or USB stick.
However, Microsoft are keen to stress that this
is not the finished version and that there are some bugs which have yet to be
ironed out. Users downloading the trial should make sure that they do not use
it as their primary operating system and should always backup all of their
important data before performing the upgrade to the Release Preview.
Microsoft goes on to say “Windows 8 Release
Preview is stable and has been thoroughly tested, but it's not the finished
product. Your PC could crash and you could lose important files. You should
back up your data and you shouldn't test Windows 8 Release Preview on your
primary home or business PC."
Users should also be aware that this trial
version will expire before the finished version is made publically available so
the only way to continue using the operating system is to purchase it. That
said, no prices or an official release date have been announced as yet.
Here is a video which shows you what to expect from Windows 8
Along with Facebook's re-design and the introduction of the much-maligned timeline, comes new privacy settings (often overlooked by users) that can protect information you'd rather keep private, and prevent third parties from accessing your information.
Very few people actually explore this area and opt to just use Facebook’s default privacy setting. However, if you want to get into the tool box to ensure your information is safe and secure on Facebook here is CCS Leeds’ top ten tips on managing you Facebook profile.
1. Editing Your Privacy Settings
There are two ways to get to your privacy settings. In the upper right-hand corner of your Facebook page there’s the Settings drop-down menu that allows you to edit your Account Settings, Privacy Settings and Application Settings.
How you set your Privacy Settings depends largely on what information you want to display. For instance, if you’re using Facebook as a means of showing off to potential employers or clients you may not wish to show information that you would not like you family to see.
For most people though, Facebook is a means of either meeting people or getting your name out to as many people as possible. Decide which one you are.
2. What’s Not Private
It’s important to understand what information Facebook considers public. They say: "Certain categories of information such as your name, profile photo and pages you are a fan of, gender, geographic region, and networks you belong to are considered publicly available to everyone, including Facebook-enhanced applications, and therefore do not have privacy settings."
3. Your Profile Information
To protect your Profile Information, select Privacy Settings from the Settings drop-down menu on your homepage and then click to the Profile Information section.
Your choices for privacy settings are: Everyone (literally everyone, including Google and other search engines), Friends and Networks, Friends of Friends, Only Friends and Customize. The Customize option allows you to include or exclude particular networks, or people - useful if you’re in a situation where you share Facebook with co-workers or family.
4. Your Contact Information
The Contact Information section gives you the option to limit who can contact you outside of Facebook, via email, phone or post. Depending on your needs, select whether you want to share with everyone or just friends.
5. Who Can See You?
The Settings tab includes all your basic information and you can control who sees your name on a Facebook search by clicking on Name, where you can decide to enter an alternate name, show only part of your name, or display your name in your profile and search results. If you don’t want your name shown, uncheck the box.
6. Your Email and Linked Accounts
Which email you use is another option on this page, depending on your privacy needs, it might be best to use an email you don’t mind sharing with the world to, or one that you want everyone to have. You may also sync your Facebook account with your other accounts in the Linked Accounts section here.
7. Your Wall
Allowing friends to post to your Wall is another personal choice, easily made by checking or unchecking the indicated box.
8. Hiding Your Friends
There’s an option to hide your friends so they won’t appear on your profile regardless of whether people are viewing it while logged into Facebook or logged out.
To hide your friends, click on the pencil icon in the top right corner of the Friends box on your profile, uncheck the 'Show my friends on my profile' box to prevent your list from appearing on your profile.
9. Blocking People From Your Profile
From the Settings drop-down menu and click on Block List. Note, though, that while friendships/relationships on Facebook will be removed when you block someone, they may still use some apps that you do and so you may still have some communication with them that way.
10. Your Apps Privacy
Editing the privacy settings of the apps on your Facebook profile is another way to protect your privacy, given that most apps access the information on your profile as a condition of use. Select Application Settings from the Settings dropdown menu or go to the Applications and Websites section of Privacy Settings in the same dropdown menu to edit these settings. The page prompts you to edit your privacy settings after reading.
The main point is you have to dig deep into the Facebook website to access your privacy settings and edit them - but it’s well worth it.
If in doubt go to the Facebook/Privacy/Help page or check out this useful video.
The internet has come on leaps and bounds in the past few
years and as such, more and more people are using it as a way to run their daily
lives. Social networking is now a prominent way of communication with friends,
colleagues and family whilst online shopping in now more popular than ever
along with banking and other such services.
The average person may have around 30 user accounts set up
on various websites and each of these accounts would require a username and
password. Additionally more and more people are working from home or accessing
their email and corporate data whilst on the move on devices such as smart
phones and tablets. Therefore it is more important than ever to employ a strict
and robust password policy, wherever possible as the internet becomes ever more
popular, so does the threat of cybercrime.
Here are some tips for improving your password policies;
Don't use the same password for every account
Whilst it would be impossible to have a different password
for every online account, and remember all of them, it is also important to
note that if you do use only one and then someone gets hold of it, they would
have access to everything you do online, be it banking, social network sites or
email. There are systems out there which help manage passwords such as LastPass,
an online password manager which encrypts all your passwords for you, so all
you have to remember is your LastPass account password.
Change your password regulary
For the same reasons as above, it is also important to
change your password on a regular basis. Most corporate IT networks enforce
password changes on average about every 90 days or so. This can be done using
server group policies however domestic users would need to rely on either their
own memory or set themselves reminders.
Don't use standard letters
A common mistake when setting a password is choosing
something and then making it all lower case letters of the alphabet. It is
important to make the password as random and complex as possible. Therefore
using a mixture of capital letters, lower case letters, numbers and special
characters is always advisable. A good tip is to use a word, but then
substitute some of the letters for numbers which look like letters. A number ‘1’
for example could be used for the letter ‘L’ or ‘I’. The number ‘4’ could also
be used in place of the letter ‘A’, and so on.
Use a line from a song
Many people prefer to use short, memorable passwords with a mixture
of capital letters, numbers and characters that don’t take long to enter, whereas
some prefer longer passwords which are often simpler to type. One school of
thought is that a really good password would be to take an entire line from a
song and then just make one of the letters into a number, usually the last or
first, thus making it easy to enter and quite memorable. Here is an example
taken from The Beatles classic ‘Hey Jude’ - 5oletitoutandletitinheyjudebegin –
You will see that the first character is a ‘5’ instead of an ‘S’ and, that the
rest of the password is simply the rest of the line from the song. These type
of passwords are very hard to hack.
Don't use the obvious
A common mistake many people make is using things like their
pets name, date of birth, children’s names, house address etc. as their
password. Having a password like this should be avoided at all costs, as should
standard words from the English dictionary.
In summary, we would advise that everyone has a good think
about what the implications would be if a criminal got hold of your passwords.
In some cases it may not be that serious, but in others it could be
devastating.
If you found this article useful then please feel free to
share it with others, or if you have any password tips yourself, then why not
let us know and we will include them in a follow up article.
I remember a time years ago when my dad arrived home one night with our very first video recorder. As a 7 year old it must have been one of the single most exciting things to happen in our house in my life. We could actually record programs and films, from the TV, and we could watch them later, and as many times as we liked. We could rent films from the local video library and the player itself even had a remote control (which was on the end of a long wire which had to be plugged in to work). It was thrilling at the time as suddenly we weren’t restricted to watching what was in the TV or Radio times, a whole new world of entertainment had now opened up to us.
In our house, video really did kill the radio star.
Fast forward a few years and along came the DVD player. At first this was a very expensive device but the improvement in quality over VHS was tremendous. You could even hack most devices so that they would play foreign DVD’s which again, opened up even more content and availability. The advent of CD and DVD burners some years later also meant that video files kept on a computer hard drive could be burnt onto a blank disk and then played on the DVD player itself. The advent of faster internet connections brought the ability to actually download movies which again, could be burnt onto disk in a number of supported DVD formats, such as VCD, SVCD or full DVD copies. Some DVD players could even play raw video footage without the need to convert then which was often a laborious and time consuming affair.
Now, one of the greatest and possibly the worst leaps forward in home entertainment (certainly in my opinion anyway) was the ability to stream films and music from a hard drive or computer, to a television set using a hardware media streamer. What this means is that a person can convert all of their DVD disks, store them on a hard drive and then access them over the home computer network.
Good you may think. Lots of space to be saved and no misplacing disks or getting them mixed up any more…. Well indeed, there is that. But, this creates a new problem by making the whole process far too easy. What I mean is that with Video cassettes and DVD’s, you had to physically pick what you wanted to watch, take it out of the box, put it in the player, sit down and then enjoy the film. But now, everything is available as part on an on screen menu system and there is often far too much choice.
There have been many occasions where I have spent ½ hour flicking through all the many choices of what to watch only to press play and then 15 minutes into the film decide that no, I’m not really in the mood for this particular thing after all and then promptly spend another ½ flicking through the rest of my choices. Before you know it another evening has passed by. Whereas, if it had been a DVD, then it would have stayed on, and I would have watched the film to its conclusion, especially if I had rented it from a local store.
We now have online streaming services such as Netflix, the Apple Store and Love Film. All of these services are fantastic as they offer so much choice from their cloud based libraries but the same problem exists. Is there too much choice? Well, it seems that the answer is probably a resounding ‘yes’ and things are only going to continue in this manner. I can see a time when all homes will have television connected to the internet and therefore the cloud. Physical copies of films and music albums will no longer exist and I think it will happen a lot sooner than we think.
How do we cope with all of this additional choice? We change, just as we always do.
