The Lounge

The Lounge: Are you ready for Hurricane season

Are You Ready For Hurricane Season?

With hurricane season fast approaching it's time to prepare your technology for the possible impact of damaging storms on the area. Having a plan in place will allow you to efficiently protect yourself and your business.

Here are some recommendations for protecting your data and equipment:

Verify your Ghost images are up to date. Every system should be imaged every 6 months to facilitate a quick and seamless restoration in the event of a failure.
Verify your backups. If your backup software generates reports, print out the last few days' worth and review them. If you make manual backups review the backup file dates and times. Ghost images do not protect current data!
Keep current inventories of all technical equipment in your office including serial numbers. This will make potential recovery or insurance claims easier.
Designate a central location for all software licenses, media, valuable manuals, vendor information, preprinted forms and backup copies of crucial information. Know and keep a secure copy of all your passwords.
Be sure to install at least a surge protector between the power source and the computer's power cable to handle any power spikes or surges. Even better, invest in a UPS, which uses batteries to keep computers running during power outages. Unexpected shutdowns from power problems can cause part failures or data loss.
Check your power protection devices annually to make sure that they are functioning properly. Most good ones will have a signaling light to tell you when they are protecting your equipment properly.

If a storm approaches, here are some precautions to take:

Pack up your latest backups. Take at least the last three (3) days worth of tapes or disks off-site. In the event of catastrophe at your workplace, your only current copy of data may be what you take with you.
Disconnect all equipment from wall outlets. This includes power, network, and telephone outlets. Also disconnect any incoming cable or DSL internet connections. Just turning off your equipment will not protect you-power surges can damage equipment even when turned off, and often come through cable, network or telephone wiring. Businesses in control of their own electric power should consider shutting off the main circuit breaker as the last person leaves before the storm.
If you feel your building may be at risk of flooding, pick up any equipment from the floor and place it on desks or other furniture. Consider placing plastic bags(painter's plastic drop cloths will work) over the equipment away from vulnerable windows or doorways.
Consider moving servers to a safer location. Business owners should ask themselves "what will it mean to me if the server is a total loss after the storm?" If you decide to remove your servers from your business locations, remember to handle them gently and provide sufficient padding inside your vehicle.

If you do experience storm damage, please consider the following recommendations:

Do not shake, disassemble or attempt to clean any hard drive or server that has been damaged - improper handling can make recovery operations more difficult which can lead to valuable information begin lost.
Never attempt to dry water-damaged media by opening it or exposing it to heat-such as that from a hairdryer.
Do not attempt to operate visibly damaged devices.

Jerry Solomom
Computer Corporation of Central Florida

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B2B Spotlight

Computer Corporation
of Central Florida

Name: Jerry Solomon
Occupation: Owner of Computer Corporation of Central Florida

How do your company's services benefit the general public?

We help small business owners ensure they get Return on Investment from both new and existing technology, and keep the existing technology running by backing up and maintaining business critical computer systems. In short, we keep small businesses running, and running efficiently.

Greatest achievement to date?

Completion of my PhD coursework and examination before the age of 40. I am now ABD (All but Dissertation)

Character trait you most admire?

Honesty and loyalty start the list-I'm an Eagle Scout. Few realize what this truly means, or how it influences every part of my life. There are exactly 12 character traits I constantly strive to live by, and most admire in others. I internalized this value system at the age of 13, and it has become part of who I am.

When are you the most productive?

In the mornings between 8:00am and 12:00pm

When are you the most bored?

When listening to software vendors pontificate about their products.

How do you define success?

Success is when goals are achieved. It does not matter how large or small, short or long term; success is achieved and to be celebrated one accomplished goal at a time. I am a strong believer in celebrating successes. Sometimes this can be misinterpreted as arrogance, but it has nothing to do with self worth-it is simply a celebration of achievement, and the key to happiness.

Are you involved in, or have you had any experiences/extra activities that you would recommend to our clients?

Have children-there is no greater love or sense of purpose than you feel once you look into the face of your own child.

From your experience/expertise, do you have any suggestions for small to medium sized business owners just starting out?

New business owners usually operate on a tight budget, and often place thriftiness over wisdom. Use experts whenever you make decisions: Use an accountant for finances, use an attorney for contracts or legal matters, use a computer consultant for technology, etc. Getting the best advice up front always saves owners significant time and money in the long run. Yes, always.

If you were granted one wish, what would it be?

That I could find and retain the best people to work with us to build our company and achieve our long term goals.

For more information about Jerry Soloman or Computer Corporation of Central Florida please visit www.computercorpflorida.com or call 941.753.3013

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The Tech Report

The Tech Report: Firewall's and Virus Protection: How secure is your personal computer?

Firewall's and Virus Protection:
How secure is your personal computer?

Is anti-virus software your home PC's only defense against viruses, worms, trojans and other code? Today that is not enough protection from various attackers.

Firewalls work as a barrier between the internet and your PC to prevent unauthorized access to your computer . It controls the traffic in and out like security agents in the airport, determining who is safe and who is not. This has long been the solution for large companies, but with the spread of virus and spyware attacks even our home PCs are not safe.

Viruses spread quickly even before they are identified, and it may not be until your computer stops working or gives you errors that you realize you have been infected . Firewalls can help prevent these programs from being placed on your PC and by having a firewall in place; your computer stands a better chance against trojans, worms, and hackers who try to gain access to your computer.

To help you choose the right firewall for you and your PC, go to TopTenREVIEWS

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Max Media

Making Your Site
Search Engine Friendly - Spiderability

Search engines are the public's first choice when shopping online or just for information . It's also proven that people don ' t usually go beyond 2-3 pages of results. That's why ranking high is highly valued but you should at least strive for the first page. To rank well your website should be "Search Engine Friendly" using the following methods:

1) Linked by Popular Vote
Search engines should find you . This can be achieved by acquiring links from other high ranking sites . Your rank is then based on the popularity of the linked site .

2) Content is King
No one can guarantee a top search engine position, however a site with keyword rich content will significantly improve your ranking . Also be careful not to write with only search engines in mind and remember that your visitors are your target audience . If you are trying to sell something then give a good description of the product.

3) Some Metas are Still Important
Give a good TITLE and DESCRIPTION to each web page

4) Work with the Times
All links in your site should be standard hyperlinks and not java script generated hyperlinks or flash codes. At this moment only google can pick up links from java script and flash codes.

5) Show Them the Way
Search engines should be able to crawl your entire website freely without getting stuck on the home page. Both visitors and search engines should also be able to navigate to any page within 2-3 clicks. Having a clear navigation and sitemap helps in this case.

6) Beware of Scams
Avoid SEO scams such as "We can rank you within 48hours". The internet is huge and new websites are submitted to search engines everyday. Search engines will take the time to crawl and re-crawl your site. A slow climb to the top position gives you a better chance of being staying at the top, while using unethical practices to jump can get you banned from all rankings permanently .

7) Know the Big Players
Another SEO myth is that "your site will be submitted to 1000's of search engines". The truth is that the majority of search engines pull their results from the four major search engines: Google, MSN, Yahoo and Teoma. You may rank well on one search engine and not at all on another, or two results may list you at different positions based on each search engine's algorithm . In addition to search engines, submitting your site to www.dmoz.org (the open directory project) is a good idea.

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Internet Video Promotions
Contact Troy Newport today to add a professionally filmed and edited promotional video on your web site.

Check out this video produced for http://internetvideopromotion.com/
video/13/lyteworks

Setting up your eMail and having it run smoothly is a vital part of most business, big or small. Here at webtivity we use email to easily communicate about current projects and change requests . This helps keep us organized and document communication internally or with clients for archival and reference purposes . However it has come to our attention that many of our clients may have lost vital information due to a server transfer of their email account. To prevent your stored data from being lost it's important to backup your email account at least once a week, and especially before the account is transferred. This can be accomplished through Outlook by simply going to File>Export

Catherine Bligh
Photography

m & m Printing
Company

Sarasota Chamber

www.sarasotachamber.com

Power Networking Lunch
Tuesday Mornings | 11:45 AM

PNL2
Thursday Mornings | 11:45 AM

Chamber Partners Meeting
Thu | 07/5/07 | 8:00 AM

New Member Briefing
Tue | 07/17/07 | 4:00 PM

New - Sarasota Prime Time...Exhibit, Meet and Greet
Wed | 07/18/07 | 5:45 PM

MANATEE CHAMBER

www.manateechamber.com

MYP Night with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Thu | 07/12/07 | 6:30 PM

MYP New Member Reception
Fri | 07/20/07 | 7:45 AM

MYP New Member Reception
Tue | 07/24/07 | 7:45 AM ________________________________

Dilbert.com

Click on the image to view the funny

The Lounge:
Giving Back to the Grid

B2B Spotlight:
Traci Kanaan, owner of Traci Kanaan Comedy

The Tech Report:
Surge Protectors

Max Media:
Business Cards

June Featured Item
Internet Video Promotions

June Newsletter
- Junior Achievement in Bradenton
- Spotlight: Robin Miller
- Changing Password
- Blogging: Can you afford not too?

May Newsletter
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