Entries by Garin Livingstone

Hackers Hijack Email Contacts

Have you received a rogue email from a friend or acquaintance that seems out of character?  For example:  Why is Aunt Mildred calling me “Friend” in her email?  Or, does neighbor Fred really want me to invest in Nigeria? Odds are, their email accounts – particularly if located at online services like Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, […]

Simple passwords = disaster

The top five end-user passwords from 2012 were: password (yes, the actual word itself) 123456 12345678 abc123 qwerty (top-left keys on your keyboard below the numbers)   The top three in this list, “password”, 123456”, and “12345678”, were also the top three passwords in 2011.  Basic analysis:  Most people prefer simple passwords that are easy […]

HP still top PC manufacturer worldwide in a slowing market

Despite internal issues, HP remained the top manufacturer of PCs worldwide in Q4 of 2012 followed by Lenovo (the Chinese firm that purchased IBM’s PC business in 2005) and then Dell. Overall, PC shipments dropped 6.4% from Q4 of 2011. Dan Reisinger of eWeek notes that Q4 of 2012 is the first time in five years […]

Preview into Microsoft Office 2013

In addition to Windows 8, I have also been using Office 2013 over the past few months; I like some things, but not everything: • Excel updates ripple slowly down the page; they seemed to run a bit faster in previous versions. • The top-right Window icons have shifted somewhat; the Minimize icon ( _ […]

Booting Windows 8 into Safe Mode

Safe Mode is useful for diagnosing PC problems. Because Windows 8 starts quickly, you cannot get into Safe Mode by pressing [F8] during the boot-up process (as you could with previous versions of Windows). The new procedure: Go to Settings and then select Power Hold [Shift] and then press Restart to open System Recovery Options Select Troubleshoot […]

Job Promotion at Bryley Systems

I am very pleased to announce that Michelle Denio has been promoted to the position of Administrative Support Technician. Michelle is a key member of Bryley’s Technical Service Department and with this new expanded role she will be able to use her expertise and knowledge of Bryley’s clients to everyone’s advantage.   Congratulations!!!!   Hudson Sun

Microsoft’s new (old) SharePoint

Microsoft SharePoint, currently version 2013, has been around since 2001; it is a document-management/collaboration and web-application tool designed to store, share, and synchronize important content.  It is closely aligned with the Microsoft Office suite and SharePoint Online is a component of Microsoft Office 365.   SharePoint Foundation (formerly known as SharePoint Services) is included within […]

Why business users might consider an Ultrabook over a Tablet.

It seems that tablet computers are in the news daily, from Apple’s iPad (iOS) to Microsoft’s Surface (Windows RT) to Samsung’s Galaxy (Droid).  I like a tablet for viewing, but typing on a bare tablet is not the same as using a full keyboard.  Also, compatibility with office-productivity applications is limited on most tablets. Ultrabooks […]