Your Place for Mr. Pink’s News and Very Own Hot Tips!

    

 

Social Media for Small Businesses & Private Practices
 How to Set-Up, Use & Maximize Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, YouTube, eNews & More!

Led by Stacy, this series of courses will cover all the basics on how to get up and running with social media in order to promote your own business.
 
 
 
 

 Social Media: Crash Course 101 is a great way to learn the ins and outs of today’s available technology in an unintimidating way.

In this Four-Part Course, Participants Will:

  • Develop a Social Media Plan

  • Learn how to use technology to make new contacts, grow business and increase visibility

  • Feel capable, even if non-technically inclined

Four Separate Sessions / 6-7 p.m. / $20 Each:

April 21, Thursday
Introduction: Social Media – How to use the top 5 outlets & advance your business.

April 28, Thursday
Social Media 1: Blogging & Twitter – Setting up accounts & what they offer you.

 May 5, Thursday
Social Media 2: eNews & YouTube – eNewsletters & creating a YouTube channel.

 May 12, Thursday
Social Media 3: Facebook – Easy, useful ways to promote your business via Facebook.
           ...................................................

Space is limited to 20 per class, so call & sign-up today!
Classes are each one-hour. Pre-registration is required.

Held at Curious Cup, 29 Linden Avenue, Carpentaria.

Contact Mr. Pink Computer Shrink today to reserve your space:

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   Stormy Weather

   Protection from the SB Power Grid

With the ongoing stormy weather in combination with the tenuous Santa Barbara power grid, we've seen a lot of power related issues in the last couple months. One client lost a brand new flat screen TV. Another lost his main computing system. Another lost her router. Unfortunately, yet another client lost both her router and laptop. All these clients were using unprotected hardware.

Here are three *easy* things to do to protect your computer hardware. (And believe us when we say that it wasn't easy for the clients mentioned above to replace the hardware they had lost.)

1.  Surge Protector: Make sure your hardware is plugged into a "surge protecting" power strip. Even the cheapest surge protecting power strips are better than nothing. If your hardware is plugged into the wall, extension cord or a power strip that does not have the word "surge" on it, you should get one soon. Most surge protectors cost between $5 and $25.

2. UPS: An Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS a.k.a. Battery Backup) is one better than a surge protector. UPSes are great because they keep the power on during brown outs and short black outs. Brown outs are especially hard on your computer because the power supply will work really hard to keep you system running, sometimes frying the power supply and/or the computer itself. Brown outs also cause some router to reset leaving you without wireless security and sometimes no internet connection. you are truly protected with a UPS between the wall and your network/computer hardware. We recommend APC brand UPS units, costing between $45 and $100.

3. Unplug It: When you're at home during a storm and you notice the light flickering or dimming, it's a good idea to shutdown your computer then unplug your computer, modem and router from the wall. This gives these devices 100% protection from power surges and brown-outs. Occasionally it can be hard to get your internet connection back when it is all plugged back in but we or your ISP tech support can usually talk you through it.
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   Facebook Infected My Computer!

   Contrary to Popular Advice, You'll Need to
   do More Than Just Change Your Password

We are seeing a lot of people bringing systems to us that were "infected by Facebook." The truth of the matter is that Facebook itself is not really the problem.

Many of the items that appear as links in users' statuses, or appear as ads in the right hand column of your Facebook page are not Facebook at all. They are advertisers and sometimes even spyware or adware designed to make you click and leave Facebook. Unfortunately some of these take you to websites that try to get your personal information, install unwanted software or literally infect your systems with Malware.

The other way people are getting "infected by Facebook" is through notification and email scams where it looks like a friend posted on your page, sent you a message or an email saying something like, "I can't believe what your doing in this video!" or, "I can't believe I just got a free iPad!" These were not sent by your friends. These are sent by systems that have been compromised by your friends' accounts and are now using those accounts to send out infection junk. One or two clicks later and your system is now infected.

There is no one solution or software package out there to protect your system from all the bad guys. These bad guys are working hard every day to come up with new ways to get into your system and it is a constant race with the antivirus companies.

Next to thinking through which links you choose to click on (and as hard as it is for us to break it to you, no, that camera is not for free), the best thing you can do is have a good, up-to-date antivirus/antimalware program, and get familiar with what the scams look like. Also, use common sense when browsing through Facebook, just as you would when looking at your email and the web. Many of you throw the Viagra emails away, but when it comes to getting the free iPad, all common sense goes out the window. We know it's tempting, but in this case we'd like to encourage you to Just Say No. :)

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   When Spring Cleaning, Don't Forget
   Your Computer Needs Cleaning Too!

   Why It's Important to Feng Shui Your System

Computers slow themselves down when they get too hot to protect the CPU (the brain of the computer). This means that when your computer gets clogged with dust, dirt or animal hair, it runs slower.

Heat build up in your power supply and and drives can eventually cause them to fail.

Keeping the vents on the outside and back are a good idea but there are several places inside the computer that need to be cleaned as well.

We recommend having your computer cleaned every six months to a year to keep it running fast and to prevent breakdown.

The other part of spring cleaning is your startup items (programs that run when you turn on your computer) and your accumulated temporary data (cookies, temp files from the internet, old installation files and email you thought was deleted). Every time you install a program or go on the internet, the computer stores information that you are probably never going to need again. After a while your hard drive (where all that data is stored) starts to act like a file cabinet that has had every little scrap note of paper shoved in it as well as the important stuff but has not been organized in a year! Cleaning out this un-needed stored information can help maximize your systems efficiency.

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   Friend us on Facebook!

   News, Tips, Free Stuff, Specials

Every couple of days we read or hear about something we think our customers should know about. Our Facebook page is our main portal for dispersing these goodies. All our Facebook friends have the latest information. So if you're not already, become our friend on Facebook.

If you're already on Facebook, click here to
friend Mr. Pink Computer Shrink.

If you are not on Facebook... Um... Well... Call us?

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In This Issue:

Credit Where
Credit is Due

Mr. Pink accepts payment via all major credit cards. We can accept credit card payment on the spot at the time of your service call, or offer you a Pay Now by credit card link on your emailed invoice. Just ask and we're happy to oblige.

Please note that Mr. Pink's policy is that payment is due at the time of service, unless prior arrangements have been made.

Your Two Cents

If there's a subject you'd like included in our newsletter, just let us know and we're happy to comply. CLICK HERE to email us your ideas.

Less Acne,
More Experience

We've been working with computers for more than 25 years.  Call us at:
(805) 966-2966 if you'd like to ask us anything under the sun. :-)

Mom & Pop
Know Best

Mr. Pink Computer Shrink is a home-based and locally-owned business.

This means competitive & reasonable rates for you!

CLICK HERE to check out our fees & services.
 

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