Is E-billing Safe For You?

Many companies out there would prefer that their customers switch to e-billing, it cuts down on their paper and postage costs but is it any good for the customer?

The first thing on my mind about this issue is “what happens if you don’t get a bill when it’s expected?” – The company in question is relieved from all responsibility in this case. If you don’t get your bill in time to pay it, it’s your fault for not calling them and finding out how much you should send them. It’s the same situation if you have pre-authorized payment. It’s your job to make sure these companies get paid, you even have to sign a paper to that effect. However if they are slow putting it in the mail, they are responsible for providing you your costs.

The second thing on my mind about this is, “what about if you can’t afford internet anymore?” – Tough luck, you better keep your internet if you plan on having access to your bills. Although they will tell you that you can just head over to your local library and use the computers there, I have to question the security of that. How secure are those computers at the library? How do you know that a key logger (a program that records every keystroke made on the keyboard, including your username and passwords!) hasn’t been installed on the computer by the last person to use the computer? Maybe they come in once a week to pickup all their new passwords, they could even have the computer email them once a week, however that would be more suspicious, it could still be done.

It’s your choice but it’s one more way that corporations are shifting their responsibilities to their customers. BTW, North Bay Hydro is giving away an iPad or $300. It shows how desperate they are to get you to switch over.

What is patch Tuesday?

Patch Tuesday is the day that Microsoft decided that it would send out updates to all of it’s operating systems. However windows XP doesn’t receive these anymore because it’s over 10 years old and Microsoft feels that this is long enough to support an old operating system. Windows 7 is a much better OS in my opinion. It’s faster, prettier, and more logical to use. It’s also much more compatible with older hardware than Windows Vista. Also if you buy the professional or the ultimate version you get a free copy of Windows XP to use within 7. I’ve never found a use for XP mode, however if you need to keep old hardware then XP mode was designed for you.

A lot of people choose to not upgrade their computers because they think that the old stuff works just fine, well they’re mostly right. However hackers and malicious software designers love this mentality. It means that they don’t have to write new programs all the time to keep up with all the new updates that Microsoft puts out to thwart their attempts and stealing your system or causing you to go out and purchase a repair from a technician, who in turn lets you know that you should upgrade your system anyway!

So think a few minutes about how often you upgrade your electronics and consider having a professional put together a system that’s tailored for your needs and budget. Just keep in mind that you get what you pay for in the computer world, if you buy a budget computer you’re going to need to replace it every year. There are a few computers who last but become obsolete quickly after a year. Spend a few more dollars and have a quality system that may cost more in the short term but will outlast even the most expensive computer at those big box stores.

Give us a call or send us an email to get that perfect system for you. You’ll be glad that you did.

Adding the Hackulous Repo and Installing Installous on your iPhone or iPad.

I recently had a customer come in and ask about jailbreaking the iPhone and I really didn’t have a site that I could send them to as jailbreaking is quite simple, as long as you do it correctly. I’ve jailbroken hundreds of times and I’ve also run into almost every problem there is. I’ve spent hours searching on how to fix these problems and compiled a list of common problems and the solutions to these. I won’t be releasing this information, it is freely available on the web however there is a lot of misinformation and mistakes out there too.

Then I though I should charge a small fee and do it myself. So I’m now charging  a $10 fee to jailbreak an iDevice (which includes fixing any problem that may occur) or $50 to teach someone step by step how to do it themselves because it will take about an hour to do so. This will include common ways to unbrick a device that stops working. Also how to check if you should update to the latest version and when a jailbreak will be available for the latest software update.

As for the customer, he asked about trying out software.

Here’s a tutorial on installing Installous and finding LogMeIn Ignition in it, it’s also a sample of what the tutorial would be like that I would run any customer who would like to partake in the jailbreaking course.

First run Cydia (pronounced /sɪˈdi.ə/). (The red circle with the number 2 in it means I have two updates waiting for me in Cydia).

Once open wait until it finishes it’s updating. It’s common for it to take about a minute.

Then touch Manage.

While in Manage touch Sources.

Once in Sources touch Edit.

Now you’re in Edit mode. Touch Add.

Fill in the Cydia source for Hackulous, which is http://cydia.hackulo.us.

Touch Add Source and wait. A little while later Cydia will stop doing things and let you click on the Hackulous Source. Which will bring you to this screen.

Add AppSync for 4.0+, Hackulous Security, and Installous to your install queue.

Once all are queued, enter the queue and start them downloading.

This will aggregate all the changes, click confirm when you are ready.

Cydia will make the changes and then prompt you to either restart or go back to cydia. If it asks you to restart then do so, if not then press the home button and head back to the springboard (Home screen). If all went well, and it should, now you should have an icon that says Installous. Tap that.

I was asked to help someone try out Logmein Ignition. I Love it and have since bought it.To try it out, open Installous and search for Logmein.

So now touch LogMeIn Ignition and then touch download.

Pick the first download on the list.

Click on Regular if it’s fileape, or if it’s filedude they’ll ask you to solve a captcha. If it’s mediafire, all you have to do is click the download now button. Mediafire sometimes sends you to other pages, if this happens just hit back and try again. Usually the second time works.

Once it’s done downloading, you’re done. It’ll install by itself and you can exit Installous and try out your new program. Please don’t abuse this system by not buying the apps. If you find yourself using them support the developers by buying their programs and leaving feedback on their webpages.

Hope that helps!