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Sprechen Sie Spam?

Darby — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 12:37:00 GMT

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We've all gotten the typical spam emails with the pleadings to help out the poor displaced king who will in turn grace you with millions of dollars, the free offers for iPads, computers, automobiles, miracle weight loss offers, libido enhancers, phishing emails from non-existent financial institutions or imposters of real banks prodding you to enter all your personal data in order to avoid having your accounts frozen.

Here's one we hadn't seen before, but the tactic has been around for a long time. We received an email in German. The attachment is what looks to be an ordinary Adobe Reader PDF document, but, since none of us at Mobile PC Solutions have entered any sweepstakes, German or otherwise, we were suspicious.

Gosh, this guy's a doctor so this must be important!

Dr. Alfredo De La Paz? Really? These guys could have at least chosen a more German-sounding name.

We used Google Translator to see the body of the email in English.

Google Translate can roughly convert one language to another. It does it's best.

Wow! We've won something!

We're pretty sure that these guys don't have any better grip on Deutsch than they do on English.

While we had a little fun using the Google language translator, we didn't open the attachment.

Trojan viruses are distributed in these fake PDFs and if opened, will automatically install a virus worm, a rootkit, and lots of ugly software that will render your computer useless, or will greatly compromise the security. If you receive suspicious emails, don't open them. Mark them as junk and move on. Even if it comes from someone important, like a doctor!

If you've already been infected, please contact Mobile PC Solutions for help.

Windows Media Video

Darby — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 18:21:00 GMT

Created using Windows Live Movie Maker - Converted for Flash.
See the Full Video.

Having trouble viewing the video? Contact Mobile PC Solutions for help.

Understanding Files and Folders

Darby — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:29:00 GMT

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Windows 7

Computer hard drives hold an enormous amount of data or information. It is very important that all of the data is well organized. That way it is easy for the computer to find what it is looking for. Knowing how a computer's organization system works will help you to find what you are looking for. Computers use files and folders to organize data. • Files
A file is an item that contains information—for example, text or images or music. When opened, a file can look very much like a text document or a picture that you might find on someone's desk or in a filing cabinet. On your computer, files are represented with icons; this makes it easy to recognize a type of file by looking at its icon.

• Folders

A folder is a container you can use to store files in. If you had thousands of paper files on your desk, it would be nearly impossible to find any particular file when you needed it. That's why people often store paper files in folders inside a filing cabinet. On your computer, folders work the same way. Folders can also store other folders. A folder within a folder is usually called a subfolder. You can create any number of subfolders, and each can hold any number of files and additional subfolders.

• Libraries

To better understand the concept of Libraries in Windows 7, we need to look back to the time before Windows 7. Earlier version of Windows like Windows Vista and XP, included sets of special folders for storing user’s content such as “My Documents” and “My Pictures.” Many users, me included, store their files, music, and pictures all over the PC in various folders which often sends the user on a small quest to try to find their content.
In Windows 7, users will go to Libraries in order to manage their documents, music, pictures, and other files. In many ways, a Library is similar to a folder. When users open a Library, they can see one or more files or folders. However, unlike a folder, a Library can display files that are stored in several folders at the same time. This is a subtle, but important, difference. Libraries don't actually store items. The libraries feature in Windows 7 provides a central place to manage files that are located in multiple locations throughout your computer. Libraries promote a user’s data and let the file system fade into the background.
Windows 7 allows users to define which folders to include in the Documents Library. This is true for any Library. Therefore, we can say that Libraries are user-defined collections of content. By including folders in Libraries, the user is telling Windows where his important data is located. The system will index folders, to enable fast searching and stacking based on file properties.
The Windows 7 default Libraries setting has one main Library called “Libraries” that contains four predefined default Libraries: Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos. Users can save and copy files directly to a library, even if we said that libraries are not file system folders, since every library has a default save location to send these files to.

• Using Libraries to Access Your Files and Folders

When it comes to getting organized, you don't need to start from scratch. You can use libraries, a feature new to this version of Windows, to access your files and folders, and arrange them in different ways. Here's a list of the four default libraries and what they're typically used for:

• Documents library. Use this library to organize and arrange word-processing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and other text-related files.
By default, files that you move, copy, or save to the Documents library are stored in the My Documents folder.
• Pictures library. Use this library to organize and arrange your digital pictures, whether you get them from your camera, scanner, or in e mail from other people.
By default, files that you move, copy, or save to the Pictures library are stored in the My Pictures folder.
• Music library. Use this library to organize and arrange your digital music, such as songs that you rip from an audio CD or that you download from the Internet.
By default, files that you move, copy, or save to the Music library are stored in the My Music folder.
• Videos library. Use this library to organize and arrange your videos, such as clips from your digital camera or camcorder, or video files that you download from the Internet.
By default, files that you move, copy, or save to the Videos library are stored in the My Videos folder.
To open the Documents, Pictures, or Music libraries, click the Start button , and then click Documents, Pictures, or Music.

• Be a Responsible Computer User

Understanding the relationship between files and folders, and how they are addressed and located within your computer system is a very important part of using a computer. Beginners should make it a priority to learn about this early in their computer education. Never delete, move or rename a file unless you are absolutely sure of what you are doing! A computer relies on many files to keep itself running correctly, so changing or deleting those files can cause major computer malfunctions! The safest way to learn about using files and folders is to ask for help in setting up your own personal folder, then creating new folders and files within it. When in doubt, contact Mobile PC Solutions for assistance.

Making a movie with Windows Live Movie Maker

Darby — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:23:00 GMT

If you have pictures or a video you'd like to share with your friends and family, Windows Live Movie Maker is an easy way to
create a video that you can post on YouTube, email, or even make a DVD to play on your TV. To get started, open Windows Live Movie Maker from your start menu. For individual help with this project, please contact us at mobilepcsolutions.com.

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What Is A Blog?

Darby — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 11:25:00 GMT

Many of our clients grapple with terms that didn't exist twenty years ago. One question in particular that we've been asked a lot is 'What Is A Blog?'

While 'Dog Years' are measured as 7 dog years to 1 human year, technology can be measured similarly. Given the current pace due to fierce competition by the Silicon Valley companies, education trends, and our ability and desire to quickly build a better product, 'Tech Years' would probably equate to something like 10 years to every human year. Along with these leaps in scientific know-how come new words and phrases.

The term 'Blog' is short for 'Web Log'. It sounds like a word that took hold because people just plain talk too fast, but it actually stems from a hyphenated form of the phrase referenced in an online article back in the late 1990s.

Most blogs are opinion-based, although the growing trend is to use blogs as advertizing or marketing tools. Some blogs can be extremely informative. Some can be tremendously offensive. Bloggers have been praised, ridiculed and even sued because of the content of their blog posts. There are political blogs, blogs about the environment, food, sports, kids, marriage, divorce, and pretty much every other subject matter you could imagine. Google any topic ('Google' is another new technology term that has become a mainstream verb), and you will most likely find a blog related to your search.

Popular forums for short blogs include Facebook and Twitter, although these sites are considered social networking tools rather than blogs in the strictest sense of the term.

So who can post a blog? Well, anyone can as long as they have established a place on the web to do so. Some blogs allow for comments from the readers. If blogging about a controversial subject, these comments and follow up can become quite heated. There is a Bloggers Code of Conduct that should be adhered to when posting a blog. The general rule of thumb is to not write anything in a blog that you wouldn't say to someone's face. That just seems courteous and proper common sense, but a surprising number of blogs have resulted in sometimes frightening outcomes. Bloggers have been fired, threatened, stalked, sued and attacked for the content or context of their blogs.

For more information about blogging or other confusing techno-terms, check back here occasionally where we will try to inform without getting too technical, or contact us for help.

Welcome

Darby — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 04:24:01 GMT

Welcome to our blog. We hope to post answers to common questions we hear from many of our clients in a non-technical, easy to understand format. Please check back soon for new entries.