5 simple steps to boost your digital hygiene in 2017
January is a good time to stop making excuses and get your digital life in order. Here are five inexpensive, money-saving, aggravation-reducing ways to maintain tech, and protect yourself and the environment in the New Year.
I'm not big on New Year's resolutions. Let's face it, no one keeps them.
Instead of resolutions, here are five simple ways to help you save money, avoid digital disasters, and get your personal technology into top-flight condition. None of the tips are complicated, and I've used them all during the past few years so I know they work.
Audit digital subscriptions
These days, many digital services have auto-renew subscriptions. It's wise to regularly check your credit card statements to see what you're billed for. You may find a charge for a streaming-video service, magazine or newspaper you forgot about but still pay for. You don't have to get all compulsive about it, but you might even put reminders on your calendar to cancel services before trial periods expire or keep a list of all of your paid subscriptions. If nothing else, the list will come in handy at tax time if you itemize deductions.
Buy (and use) a can of compressed air
This one sounds goofy, I know, but the vents on your laptop and the spaces between keys on your keyboard collect what technical experts call "schmutz." Clogged vents can cause overheating, and that can kill your laptop. Junk inside a keyboard can cause keys to jam. A 3.5 ounce can of compressed air costs $4.99 at Best Buy, and Amazon charges $7.34 for a 12-ounce option. Both are a lot cheaper than the new laptop you'd need if you fry your system's motherboard.
Find a password manager to love
Hacking is an epidemic today, but most folks simply aren't going to make and keep track of different passwords for every site. No one can track dozens of passwords without writing them down somewhere, and that, of course, defeats the purpose. But a good password manager can be a lifesaver.
I use LastPass, and its free version now let's you share your passwords across multiple devices. LastPass finally supports Microsoft's Edge browser, as well as Chrome and Firefox. The service generates complex passwords for each site you visit and stores them in what it calls your "vault." You only need to remember one master password. A couple more password mangers that get good reviews are LogMeOnce and 1Password.
Backup, backup and backup again
You've heard it over and over again, but many users are left without their data, music and photos when a drive fails or malware corrupts their systems. Backing up can be a pain, but so can locking your door and keeping your money in a bank. If your digital stuff is important to you, you need to back it up to the cloud or buy a roomy external drive — or both.
Microsoft OneDrive gives you 5GB for free and 50GB for $1.99 a month. Upload speeds are generally slow, so the first time you backup to the cloud will likely take a while. Another option is to buy an external drive. A 2TB drive (or 2,000GB) now costs well under $100, and most of them come with software to automate the backup process.
Recycle old electronic junk
By now, most Americans recycle newspapers, bottles and cans, but many old electronic devices still wind up in a landfill. That's a real problem, because they contain heavy metals and other pollutants than can get into the water table. Instead, take them to an electronics recycler. Most cities have them. To find yours, simply Google "electronics recycling" in your community and you'll quite likely find more than one. If you ditch an old smartphone or over-the-hill PC, make sure you wipe the hard drives and get rid of any personal data.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Managed Solution displayed the HoloLens at CalPoly Cyber Security & Awareness Fair
San Diego, CA. On October 25, 2016, Managed Solution participated in the 2016 Cal Poly Pomona Cyber Security & Awareness Fair. The fair aimed to bring awareness to the world of Cyber Security where our entire world is progressing into an internet connected world. At the fair students and faculty got to experience a variety of speakers that have in-depth knowledge of the Cyber Security do's and don'ts and experience in the Cyber Security field, a poster contest where students displayed their research of pressing issues in the Information Technology Industry, and a hands-on exhibit that allowed students to experience the world of a typical attacker on Internet of Things products.
At the event, Managed Solution demonstrated Microsoft HoloLens for education to over twenty interested ticket holders. The President, IT Staff, and select students got to experience the world of mixed reality and try out an application to see how they could learn with mixed reality in the classroom. Faculty and student developers tested the HoloLens for the first time and will be getting their own devices in the classroom in the next few weeks to collaborate on mixed reality application development in the classroom. Managed Solution is excited to work with the future generation of mixed reality developers and stay in touch to share their successes.
Soraya M. Coley, Ph.D., the president of Cal Poly Pomona experiencing Microsoft HoloLens for the first time.
We're technology enthusiasts with a people-first approach. For over two decades, we've witnessed the profound impact that the right technology and support can have on businesses and individuals. Success, to us, is seeing our clients, partners, and team conquer challenges to achieve their greatest goals and build lasting connections. This relentless pursuit of inspiration drives us forward, pushing us to deliver innovative solutions that empower growth and lasting success.
From grants to help spread the power of digital technology to a band that’s turning live music into a vivid visual experience, this week brought some interesting and uplifting news around Microsoft. Check out some of the highlights in this latest edition of Weekend Reading.
Microsoft announced 12 winners of the Affordable Access Initiative grants that will receive seed funding and a range of resources to bring digital technology and affordable Internet access to underserved places around the world.
Technology can connect expectant mothers with faraway doctors, help rural farmers access financial services or allow children in remote places to take online courses from top schools. Yet for more than half the world, wrote Peggy Johnson, Microsoft executive vice president of Business Development, these benefits remain out of reach.
With these grants, Microsoft is “partnering with local entrepreneurs across five continents, each of whom deeply understand the unique needs of their own communities, and are already delivering hardware, applications, connectivity and power solutions to solve them,” Johnson wrote.
This week on the Microsoft Facebook and Instagram channels, we met Bension Maina of Mawingu Networks. From a converted shipping container in rural Kenya, Benson provides his community with affordable Internet by tapping the broadcast power of unused television channels or “white spaces.”
Just in time for the summer music festival season, the artists of Big Grams have evolved their performances way beyond music to captivate audiences with boundary-pushing live visual experiences. The group — a collaboration of former Outkast member Big Boi, and Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter — partnered with V Squared Labs and are using Kinect technology to generate a striking visual display based on the artists’ movements onstage.
“We want the viewer, listener, fans that are there in the room to feel like they’re going on a trip,” says Big Boi. “If the music got them there sonically… then visually we’re aiming to put them in a trance.”
Microsoft researchers are exploring ways to better secure cutting-edge consumer technologies as well as more traditional tools that we rely on for everyday activities like accessing bank records and identifying ourselves at work. They’ll present four papers at the annual IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy that begins Monday in San Jose, Calif.
The Microsoft Research Blog shares the highlights of their work, which includes creating mechanisms that would prevent certain types of vulnerabilities such as Freak and Logjam, as well as developing a software system that limits the amount of information a person’s keycard discloses about them.
Great news for news junkies came out of the Microsoft Garage: The latest release of News Pro, where you can find news articles on hot topics and issues that are relevant to you, now gives you a way to share and comment on articles with your colleagues and others.
The new version also offers a News Pro bot that’ll help find information on the latest developments in your industry or field and even discuss it with you.
“Reading news, especially work-related news, can sometimes be a bit dry. A bot that can have some basic conversation with you could make news reading more fun,” says Yumao Lu, a principal development manager whose team works on Bing news products. “News Pro bot is your news agent at your beck and call.”
Exciting news also came this week for the young people who will have access to computer science training through a partnership between Microsoft and the Real Madrid Foundation: The collaboration has been renewed for another three years.
More than 6,000 at-risk children have already benefited from the training and digital literacy activities designed by both organizations to unlock new opportunities for young people at Real Madrid’s social-sport academies in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru.
The Real Madrid Foundation and Microsoft now plan to extend their reach, with a particular emphasis on at-risk young people in Spain and five other countries from Latin America. Microsoft will supply the software, cloud services, training content and funding to implement the activities designed by the foundation.
This week also brought big news in apps and games. For starters, “Battle,” the first mini game for “Minecraft” on Xbox 360, Xbox One and other consoles, will be available in June for an unbeatable price: It’s free. “Battle” allows you to set up a competitive multiplayer fight for survival in which speed, strategy — and sometimes just pure luck — will make you the winner.
And now’s the time to take advantage of the discounts available in the Ready, Set, Summer Collection, which is packed with more than 100 popular games, music, TV shows and apps. The promotion is now live in the Windows Store and runs through June 6.
If you’re looking to settle in this weekend with some fun games, get started building your dungeon and embarking on light-fingered escapades with 30-percent-off Special Starter Packs for “King of Thieves,” where the goal is to steal gold and precious gems from other players. Or give “LUDO Blitz!” a try; it updates the classic board game in this fast-paced, hi-res version with 3-D movements and actions.
Show your kids a magical playground of colorful fun in “Crayola Bubbles,” where they can explore a world of pathways, sandboxes and slides teeming with 3D bubbles that they can combine to create new colors as they go.
A special lineup of other games is headed your way as Games with Gold celebrates its third anniversary. These free games include “Goat Simulator,” “The Crew” and more; check out the dates and details on Xbox Wire.
You’re now caught up on this week’s top news around Microsoft. We hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend!
We all understand the importance of good personal hygiene, right? It keeps us from getting ostracized at school, it makes us more attractive to the opposite sex, and most importantly it helps us stay happy and healthy.
Just as brushing our teeth is vital to our individual health, maintaining basic cybersecurity hygiene is critical for the well being of businesses. The overwhelming majority of cyberattacks are the result of computer hackers taking advantage of opportunities that stem from businesses neglecting basic security hygiene. Running an outdated operating system (OS) or antivirus software may not seem like a big deal, but it could provide hackers the window they need to access sensitive corporate information.
Fortunately, investing in the latest technology and revisiting cybersecurity basics can safeguard against roughly 98% of what hackers are doing today. Learn how a renewed focus on security basics can bolster your cyber defense and keep your business happy and healthy in The Cybersecurity Bell Curve infographic.
5 simple steps to boost your digital hygiene in 2017
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
