While we will be live in the new space tomorrow, our grand opening will not be for another week or two. There is still a lot of work to get done, and we are all tired and sore but man is it worth it!

The unit is still under the manufacturer warranty, but Asus is a stickler about keeping paperwork like purchase receipts. I own a computer repair company and we usually archive these invoices for customers, but I bought this one on my own and I am terrible with paperwork. I search for about 30 minutes for my purchase receipt before I gave up and took matters into my own hands.

Problem Description:

There are several reports on the web about these technological marvels just up and quitting. They are amazing when the work but it is beyond frustrating when they just quit for no reason. When mine quit I assumed my battery had died, so I grabbed grabbed my AC adapter and hooked it up. Nothing.

Pressing the power button got no response at all. To add insult to injury, after about five minutes the light on the AC adapter indicated the unit had a fully charged battery.

Pressing and holding the power button did nothing. This unit does not have a manual "pin prick" button to reset the system.

Elsewhere online the problem could be you get a power light and the Asus unit will not boot. Same problem solved here.

Problem Solution:

Online there is a lot of worry and gnashing of teeth over fears that opening your Asus UX31 will void your warranty. While it is true if you go stabbing around with a screwdriver and destroy the thing your warranty will be void. Also keep in mind if you elect to utilize your warranty and you have the proper paperwork you will probably be without your laptop for anywhere between a week and a month.

Instead you need to grab a small TORX screwdriver set. Asus didn't use regular phillips head screws in the base of the unit, so a special screwdriver is needed. Don't try to make the wrong tool for the job work. You can buy a set of TORX bits and a screwdriver on Amazon for about $10. Get the right tools for the job.

STEP 1: Remove the screws from the base of your Ultrabook. This is pretty straight forward stuff, and if I would have been thinking I would have snapped pictures while I had mine apart. Don't worry though, you are just a few screws and a plug away from victory.

There are 10 TORX screws holding the back plate on the Ultrabook. All of them are the same size except two. The two screws in the center of the unit near the screen hinge are longer. Make sure these two screws get in the correct holes on reassembly. The rest are interchangeable. Remove the back plate to expose the soft underbelly of your rebellious Ultrabook.

STEP 2: Unplug the batter from the main board. You will see a large black mass secured by three screws. This is your Ultrabook's battery. No need to unscrew it form the unit. Leave it as it is and focus instead on disconnecting it from the main board.

Toward the upper left corner of the battery you will notice a small row of multicolored wires that terminate in a black plastic block on the bottom left corner of the main board. You need to disconnect this form the main board CAREFULLY!

Asus was kind enough to place a black plastic loop around the wires (not the harness). From looking it appears you could just pull the loop and get the plug out. DON'T DO IT. The loop is there for assembly easy - not disassembly. If you pull the loop you could tear the wires from the harness, rendering your battery useless.

Instead, use a very small screwdriver to pop each edge of the the black hard plastic harness upward. The plug lifts straight up. No twisting, no flipping. It comes straight up. It will resist. Mine took minor upward pressure on a jewelers screwdriver at each corner to GENTLY pop it up and free from the main board.

STEP 3: Plug in your AC Adapter. Once you have the battery unplugged, you have effectively removed all power from the unit (a power cycle procedure in normal circumstances).

Plug in your AC Adapter, open the unit and attempt to turn it on. It should power up! If it does not, this article will not solve your issue because it lies either in the AC adapter, a broken DC jack, or the unit's main board its self.

Once you have verified the unit is passing its POST test and you get video on the screen, unplug it.

STEP 4: Reassemble the Unit. Follow the previous steps in reverse. Plug in the battery again (a straight downward pressure). Replace the back plate and the screws using your TORX screwdriver. REMEMBER!! There are two longer screws. These go near the hinge in the center two holes. The rest of the screws are interchangeable.

Now hook up the AC adapter again and confirm the unit works properly.

STEP 5: Update the BIOS. This happened because something ASUS made isn't working right. When that happens and it is discovered after the fact, manufacturers issue software updates to correct the problem called BIOS updates. My UX31A unit had 4 BIOS revisions newer than the original BIOS installed on it.

Visit support.asus.com and check for a newer BIOS than the one you are running. I am not going to explain this part because it is tricky and you can brick your unit. Bricking an Ultrabook that won't boot is one thing, but now that your does, I don't want to be responsible for bricking it ;-)

Asus provides BIOS update instructions on the website if you are so inclined.

Leave a comment below with questions or to let me know if this worked for your unit like it did for mine!

This is the third attempt in a decade to get this bill on to the floor of the legislature, and like the two before it this one is fatally flawed. Below is a transcript of the testimony I will be submitting tomorrow at the Legislature. If you would like to register your opposition to this bill you can do so by emailing a note to the Natural Resources Committee at bkoehlmoos@leg.ne.gov. You can read LB 454 here.

A Russian hacker using an online handle that roughly translates to "Thief-in-Law" intends to steal a whole lot more than the silverware your Aunt Betty tried to steal after dinner last Christmas.

New Private Malware Testing

This hacker has developed his own malware and has successfully conducted several "trial-runs" infecting more than 500 computers with minimal effort. The latest trial concluded at the end of November 2012.

Thief-in-Law publicly claims that he is in Russia, that no one in the US can touch him and that he is going to steal millions of dollars from US banks sometime between now and the spring.

Banks have been alerted by Anti-Virus giant McAfee has issues warnings to banks and provided new signature files that they claim can detect the viruses malware.

Confusion About Attack Target

While McAfee is providing definitions to protect banks, Thief-in-Law is infecting individual peoples computers with malware.

My best educated guess is that the Russian hacker is infecting individual machines looking for online banking passwords. His software reportedly can even answer your challenge question if it knows the answer. To get that information he needs access to your personal computer.

With that information the hacker may be planning on using a list of established account numbers with verified balances. With this list he knows who to target when (or if) he successfully breeches bank security.

What you Can Do to Protect Yourself

There are some specific steps you can take to protect yourself, your computer, and your bank account from this attack.

1. Update your Antivirus - If you are not running Norton 360, I strongly recommend you obtain a copy as soon as possible.
2. Download all Required and Recommended Windows Updates - Many people allow Windows to install automatic updates, but they never click on Start and then All Programs and select Windows Update to see the recommended updates. Some of these are just as important and they should be installed.
3. Install Secure Updater from www.secureupdater.com - Secure Updater is free for the first 14 days. That gets you through the Holiday season with one less thing to worry about. This program updates all of the third party applications on your computer that cyber criminals exploit to gain access to your data.
4. Change your online banking password and challenge question - Of course it is recommended you do this often, but if you haven't rotated your online banking passwords, challenge questions, and challenge images, this is a great reason to do so.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/financial-services-information-sharing-and-analysi/

Smart businesses will get as lean as they can before this period of uncertainty becomes a period of certainty and it is too late to adapt quickly. One of the things you can cut in 2013 that will save you a bundle of money is your old, outdated Yellow Pages advertising.

Where is Your Phone Book?

Ask yourself a question... Where is your most recent phone book? Do you have it? Do you use it for anything other than a booster seat at Thanksgiving dinner?

If you do have a recent phone book, when is the last time you genuinely used it to find anything important?

The truth is that the Internet is so widely available on such a wide assortment of devices it is actually faster to Google your local Pizza Hut on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop than it is to locate the phone book and look them up.

Like the buggy whip, the typewriter, the floppy disk and the Polaroid camera, the Yellow Pages was huge in its time, but is now nothing more than a novelty that collects dust somewhere or ends up in a landfill.

As fewer and fewer people with disposable income use the phone book, its benefit to your organization decreases dramatically - more than likely past the point where it makes fiscal sense to pay to play.

What Does Disposable Income Have to Do With Yellow Pages Advertising?

Demographics and disposable income are the two most important statistics in Yellow Page advertising.

Lets start with demographics. Who is using the yellow pages and who prefers the web? According to the Local Search Association, a yellow pages trade organization, 56% to 68% of those surveyed indicated they had used either the print yellow pages OR the internet yellow pages (like how they lumped the two together?)

A second statistic that might be more useful from the same survey indicated that 70% to 84% of those age 54 or younger use the search engines FIRST. They may end up on a yellow pages website eventually, but they start their search with Google and not yellow pages.com more than 75% of the time.

The only demographic who used the search engines less were those ages 55+. Usage of search engines drops to an average of about 42% while the use of the printed book or direct links to the yellow page website held steady. Assuming that these customers were adverse to using the search engines, it is safe to assume if you are looking to reach customers aged 55+ who do not have a relationship with an existing top-of-mind vendor you might get some traction with the printed yellow pages in your area, depending on industry.

With that said, that doesn't mean that the yellow pages is a lock for reaching those 55 and older (who coincidentally are responsible for 55% of all package purchases and have 75% of the nation's wealth (source).

Consider these facts about these cash-rich 55+ customers:

89% of those 65 or older have a personal email account (so they do use technology)
1/3 of all web users are over 50
36% have a smartphone and half of those use it to check email once a day
The Internet is the most important source of info for those 55+ before making a durable goods purchase
The top four online websites for people over 60 are Google, Facebook, Yahoo and YouTube
72% of those 55+ shop online

By themselves these numbers indicate that retiring Baby Boomers are using technology to get information and that necessarily means they are using the printed yellow pages less and less.

The most shocking fact that should have yellow page sales reps quaking in their boots is the rate of Internet adoption by boomers. Consider the fact that from 2004 to 2009 the number of 65+ internet users increased 55%. The web is only going to get more popular and that necessarily means the printed yellow pages will become less and less popular.

A Case Study in Failure

In 2011 Schrock Innovations Computer Company took out a yellow pages advertisement in the Dex phone book in Omaha, NE. The advertising bill came in at $1,600 per month.

We asked for a metered phone number so we could track the results of our ad through Telemetrics.

At the end of the year our final Telemetrics report indicated that we had received 24 phone calls for the entire year. Assuming that the same person did not call twice, that breaks down to a cost of $800 PER LEAD!!

Those were not confirmed customers - those were just leads. For all I know they could have been wrong-number hang-ups.

You ad could be performing just as bad as our ad did, but how would you ever know? Without a metered number you simply can't track yellow pages leads.

Business owners who can't track results desperately want to believe that $1,600 a month was not wasted. There must have been SOME results that helped our company, right?

The answer is probably not. We would have probably gotten more use out of our $19,200 if we stacked $20 bills in our bathroom and used them for toilet paper. Sad but true. Don't make the same mistake I did.

How to Replace Yellow Pages Results

Although Schrock's experience would indicate the yellow pages are a bad bet, there are areas where the yellow pages are more effective than in others.

If a business pulls out of the yellow pages and does not do something else to replace the lost leads that business may be more profitable, but revenues will go down. Revenue is cash flow and in a tough economic year falling cash-flow can be a problem.

The answer is to shift your marketing dollars away from yellow pages and then refocus a much smaller spend to get better results using the new medium that everyone is rapidly adopting. Go where the eyes are - go online.

Don't get me wrong, Google AdWords is expensive and doesn't really work for every industry. That's why we recommend avoiding any ad or placement buying scheme that guarantees your ad will be seen. First of all, it is just as expensive as the print yellow pages if you add up the overall costs of maintaining the ad. Secondly, why pay for something that you can get for free?

By using basic, white-hat SEO (search engine optimization) techniques, most businesses can easily dominate LOCAL searches for their products or services. There are tons of articles online about how to get your web pages to rank, so I won't rehash that here. The important thing to remember is that is you have good content, a winning sales model that has a compelling hook and upsale opportunities you can't go wrong.

Save your money and ditch the Yellow Pages. Trust me, I am glad I did. Monthly budget for two phone books back in our bank account = $33,600 annually.