Patch time

Patch or “updates” is simply a process of updating your existing software (eg. Office suite or Operating System) either online or offline.  Doing it online is more  convenient but you need more bandwidth resources because, usually, these patch files are in huge file.  But, you can do it also in offline mode by saving first the file on your hard disk.  Today (June 9), is a Microsoft Patch Tuesday.

So, for most of Windows OS users, it’s time for updating.  But as an advise,  read the instruction carefully at the said site or ask your MIS team/IT consultants  first before downloading the file at microsoft website.  The top issues known for the OS Windows Vista Service Pack 1 version are:

• Diagnose and fix sound or audio issues
• Your CD/DVD drive cannot read or write media in Windows Vista
• Diagnose and fix Aero glass (transparency) effects not working in Windows Vista
• Diagnose and fix problems with hardware devices not working in Windows Vista
• Troubleshoot home networking issues
• Description of the System Update Readiness Tool for Windows Vista and for Windows Server 2008
• You cannot configure Windows Mail to use a Web-based (HTTP) e-mail account on a computer that is running Windows Vista
• What you should know before you install Service Pack 1 (18-03-2008 release)
• Download Vista Service Pack 2 (27-05-2009 release)
  

Top 10: Virus

The 10 Most Destructive Viruses of all time
—————————————————–
•  CIH
•  Blaster
•  Melissa
•  Sobig.F
•  ILOVEYOU – (Did filipinos really wrote this program?)
•  Bagle
•  Code Red
•  MyDoom
•  SQL Slammer
•  Sasser

For more information of the above list, visit http://www.networkcomputing.com/showitem.jhtml?docid=1713virus20-top10

Promoting Websites

In terms of your site’s marketing campaign, you should know the following*:

1.  Search listings are more than 6 times more effective than banner ads in originating consumer online purchases, and almost 8 times more effective than tile ads.
2. In fact, search listings are more effective in generating online purchases than all other methods combined, including banner ads and tile ads.
3. Search listings also worked better than banners ads and tile ads with regard to brand recall and favorable opinion.
4. People are more likely to search using multiple keywords than a single keyword. The trend for using multiple keywords is on the rise too. This is because users are becoming more educated searchers, realizing that multiple keyword queries often yield better results.
* From NPD Group, January 2001
Source: http://col.whatuseek.com/moreinfo.shtml

For your ICE Only

By: Vergel Rebuta with credits to Jeng B. & MCR

Do you have an “ICE” number in your mobile phone? If none, then you should create one in case of emergency. The acronym “ICE” was originally conceived by British Bob Brotchie, a Cambridge paramedic, wherein this acronym must be placed in every mobile phone for designated contact person in case of emergency. But identifying who are the appropriate person as your ICE member/partner is not that easy. Below are the following hints for assigning ICE contact:

1. You should have an agreement with the person’s name and number to be your ICE partner. The partner should know some of your medical conditions.

2. The ICE persons’ number should be accessible. For example, a home number is useless if the person works full time in the office. Thus, you can have more than one ICE partner and can be assigned as ICE1, ICE2, ICE# and so on.

3. If you are under 18 years of age, your primary ICE partner is your parent or guardian authorized to make decisions (e.g. Life and death operation).

ICE in my own way: “As Filipino”

I notice in our country, the ICE phenomenon is not very much visible. Even the awareness drive is not obvious. I even tried asking more than 10 professional filipinos about it and it seems the idea is new to to them. To think that this has been practiced in First World countries since May 2005. But as a cellphone user for more than 10 years already, I always put a contact number on my cellphone in case of emergency or misplacing it. I am familiar of more than 5 brands of cellphone and this is what I do:

a. During the analog era of mobile communication, I usually put a sticker name at the back of the cellphone for my ICE partner number.

b. When SMS was introduced, I usually put the ICE number at the Greeting screen as a heading. However, this is only seen everytime you switch on the phone. Some phone models have a feature wherein you can make a scrolling text together with your ICE number while the phone is in standby mode.

c. Today with colored phones, I created a wallpaper that indicates the ICE numbers within. But, what I usually do with my cellphone is to create a note message then show it while on Standby mode.

d. I think in a PDA or other sophisticated phones, you can make a screen saver showing your assigned ICE number.

“Be prepared: ICE your phone”

So, I guess you have your own way of saying to the world that this number on my phone is for your eyes only. I think we will agree that in one way or another, we must be a concerned citizen not just in ordinary days but especially during emergency cases. And, thanks to Mr. Brotchie who encourages people to enter emergency contacts in their cellphone address book under the name “ICE”, he has also urged cellphone manufacturers to put the ICE number as heading screen in every cellphone similar to what I’m doing now. I just hope others will do the same. For your reference, there are organization, blogsite, software and sticker campaigns on the Internet that support this idea of Mr. Brotchie .

Etiquette in forwarding Emails

Are you really authorized to forward e-mails? Of course, some will say depending on the content of the message whether it’s for your eyes only or for the general public. But in any form of communication like electronic mail or email, courtesy should always be considered before sending any information to another person. Courtesy may be in the form of asking permission from the author, or in acknowledging the original source of the message. It counts to be thoughtful in forwarding e-mails, but before making this effort, have a second thought and ask the following:

1. Is the message valuable?

• Does the message have accurate or complete information? One should consider the source of information, else, the message may be a hoax. To help you verify whether the message is a hoax, visit http://www.snopes.com.
• Is the message something that would be appreciated by the recipient? Would it meet the recipient’s needs?
• Humorous: As long as the recipient has the same sense of humor as you do; then it’s worth forwarding.

2. Is the message clear?

• In other words, are you sending a message that can be easily read by the receiver? Emails can either be retrieved through a Windows-based e-mail reader program like Outlook Express or Eudora, or as webmails such Yahoo!Mail or Gmail.com. These e-mails are also formatted depending on the type of Email server you have like your own web-based corporate email program (e.g. Squirrelmail) which may restrict or delete pictures or any other attachments. Be keen to notice some unnecessary characters which may mess up the structure of the email before forwarding it. As a word of advice, review and edit the message first or put a personal comment at the top before forwarding the message.

3. Does the message protect privacy?

• For announcements and chained-letter messages or other similar types of messages that will be sent to multiple recipients, it is a good practice to keep the privacy of the intended recipients’ email addresses. Instead of using Cc, use the Bcc (Blind copy furnish) field to forward messages to two or more email addresses. The Bcc box field will prevent email addresses from being published to others whom they do not know.

Always remember that forwarding emails is a nice way of sharing ideas. However, prudence must be observed when doing this. As a rule of thumb, do not forward e-mails from unknown authors or unverified sources, so you can help prevent the spread of non-sensible information. In addition, we can maintain a clog-free computer system by being careful in forwarding messages.