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KnowledgeAlert Newsletter
Volume #4, Issue #2
 

Dear Dependable,

 

We hope you find the articles in our newsletter interesting and fun. We've created this newsletter as a way of communicating interesting and important trends affecting you and your business.

If you have questions or concerns about your network infrastructure, contact us at (818) 541-9195 or email support@dcgla.com.

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Sincerely,

Brent Whitfield

In this Issue
  • It's Free!! Skip Website Registrations
  • Cool Stuff - PocketFinder Tracking Device
  • Ask The Answer Guy - Download Youtube Videos
  • Tips and Tricks: Create Studio Quality Audio Files
  • Security Corner: Removing Personal Information From Your Phone
  • It Talk: Stopping Stuck Print Jobs

  • Cool Stuff - PocketFinder Tracking Device
     
     

    Locate anything almost anywhere, instantly, with this nifty tracking device from PocketFinder. This small device, about the size of an Oreo cookie, can track any item to within 30 feet with a single phone call. It works all over the world thanks to the global positioning system and cell phone networks.

    Put it in your luggage and get notified when your luggage takes a flight without you. Put it in a child's backpack and find out whenever they leave pre-approved zones (the library, school, etc). It can even check when your lead-footed teenager is speeding. It lasts 7 days on a single charge and texts you when its battery is low.

    The company that makes PocketFinder also makes tracking devices for fleet vehicles called VehicleFleetFinder. These rugged devices fit easily almost anywhere within a car and give you a wide array of data about the car's position and the driver's habits. Manage your company's vehicles more efficiently with the device's informative reports. You can see instantly where vehicles in your fleet are, what direction they are going and at what speed they are going there at.

     
     

    Ask The Answer Guy - Download Youtube Videos
     
     

    Brent, I like watching videos on Youtube, but sometimes I don't have an internet connection, like when I'm on a plane or when I don't have great cell reception. Is there a way I can download my favorite videos from Youtube to my computer or cell phone so that I can watch them again and again?

    Youtube videos are a huge part of our culture and everyone has their favorites. Whether you are looking up sports clips or the latest internet fad, there is something for everyone on Youtube.

    When I want to download a Youtube video for my cell phone or just to have, without having to search for it, I use a program called YouTube downloader. It's free and very easy to use. Simply type the Youtube URL into YouTube downloader's search bar and select what file type you want. Within minutes you'll have the video at your fingertips. Try it out here.

     
     

    Tips and Tricks: Create Studio Quality Audio Files
     
     

    MP3 files are everywhere, small and quickly made they are very easy to use. For your favorite albums though, you probably still want to pop in a CD to here the richest, most complete sound possible. There is a way to keep the portability and ease of use of MP3 files without sacrificing on quality and it's called FLAC. FLAC has much higher quality audio than MP3 but it's a compressed so that it doesn't take up nearly the space of a CD track.

    We have found an easy way to convert your CDs to FLAC with a free program called Exact Audio Copy. Download it here. When installing be sure that the audio format is set to FLAC. During installation you are also able to choose if you want to link EAC with a service called Freedb. It will save you the hassle of manually entering album names and song titles by grabbing them online.

    To get your CD rips as accurate as possible you're going to want to install this great add on for EAC called AccurateRip. This plug-in compares the audio files you've extracted from the CD with what other users have ripped for the same CD. If it's not accurate, you may want to consider cleaning or trying a different device to rip the CD. With the help of these two great programs you will be able to listen to your music at its best, anywhere.

     
     

    Security Corner: Removing Personal Information From Your Phone
     
     

    Today's phones contain so much of our lives; we carry around email addresses, phone numbers, photos and passwords. When it's time to get rid of your phone don't let all of the information fall into the wrong hands. Recellular has compiled a library of handy guides to make sure that when you dispose of your phone, your information stays private. Just enter your phone's model and they will email you a guide on how to completely remove all personal data from your phone.

    They also have information on how to donate your phone to a good cause. When buying a new smartphone for yourself why not donate your old phone to a well deserving charity, like the March of Dimes or Phones for Haiti? While your old phone might not have all the new features of the latest models, it can still make a big difference with one of the many charities Recellular can help you donate to.

     
     

    It Talk: Stopping Stuck Print Jobs
     
     

    If you print a lot of documents you may notice that sometimes your print jobs just don't print for whatever reason. Most of us know to click the printer icon in the system tray and simply right click the job and select delete. This doesn't always clear up the problem: the job will say deleting when it isn't doing anything. Here is a way to remove print jobs if that happens. In Windows open the command prompt on your computer by pressing Start, then Run, and then enter cmd. In Vista you need to right click the cmd.exe icon first and select run as an administrator. Then enter the following.

    net stop spooler
    del c:\windows\system32\spool\printers\*.shd
    del c:\windows\system32\spool\printers\*.spl
    net start spooler

     




    We have also created a blog to act as a home for some of our articles that ended up too technical or varying in topic to put into these newsletters. Take a look at the DCG Blog if you are interested in reading about various free utilities, tips, tricks, ideas and other bits of great information.

     
     

    It's Free!! Skip Website Registrations
     

    Are you sick of having to register every time you want to view one single photo or news article on a site? BugMeNot has an easy way to avoid this hassle for free sites by giving you pre-made logins. The site has logins to many popular news sites such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune as well as Youtube, Pandora or other entertainment sites. Bugmenot doesn't work on pay sites, but it will save you the hassle of having to register at many free sites.

    If you are using Firefox you can download the BugMeNot extension here. Simply right click on the user name bar when prompted to log in and it will auto fill in a user name and password. You can then enjoy the content on the site without having to go through the process of registering and giving your personal information.

    If you are using Internet Explorer or the password you got using the Firefox extension didn't work, you can get free passwords manually by going to bugmenot.com. Type in the site's name in the search bar and it will bring up a list of passwords that you can use to log in to the site you are trying to log in to.

     


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    DCG List of Services

    IT Outsourcing:

    • St. Bernard Managed Care
    • DCG Maintenance Care
    • Off-Site Tapeless Backups
    • Proactive Remote Network Monitoring
    • IT Forecast
    • Security Audits/Security Lockdowns

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    • On Site Service
    • Help Desk Support
    • Wide Area Networking
    • Mail Server Setup/Management
    • Router/Firewall/VPN Support

    Internet:
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    • Co-Location
    • Extranets and Intranets
    • Dependable SafeSTOR (Web Backups)
    • Web Site Programming
    • Anti-Spam Solutions


    DCG in the News

    Dependable Computer Guys Achieves Microsoft Partner Status

    DCG now offering "Rolls Royce" of Backup and Storage Solutions













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