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Welcome to our monthly round-up of tech tips, news and Web wisdom.
If you have any questions you'd like us to address, please contact us at web@etccomputerland.com.

Nonprofit Organizations Invited to "The Nonprofit Doctor Is In" Workshop, October 15th

The Center for Effective Nonprofits will be holding a workshop on Thursday, October 15, 2009 at Quincy University Hall of Fame room for nonprofits in the community. They will be bringing together experts like Dean La Velle of ETC ComputerLand with experience working with nonprofits in the areas of Accounting & Finance, Foundations, Boards & Governance, Grant writing & Fundraising, Human Resources, Legal, Marketing, Website Design, Web Content & Social Media.

Click here for more information

RSVP Now for Hands-On Social Media Seminar

You have heard people talking about social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and maybe you have even set up your own account, but are you using social media to market your business or organization? If you are interested, but not sure where to start, RSVP for the Quincy Area Chamber's hands-on Social Media Workshop, slated for Oct. 29 from 3 to 5:00 p.m. at the Oakley-Lindsay Center.

RSVP to the Quincy Area Chamber at 222-7980 by Oct. 15 for a chance to be randomly selected to have your social media campaign set up during the seminar. Attendees are encouraged to bring laptops to this informal, hands-on workshop. Presenters include Dean La Velle of ETC ComputerLand, Travis Hoffman of Gardner Denver, and Quincy Area Chamber membership director McKenzie Disselhorst.

Three Windows 7 Features

Eric Thomas
President

Microsoft will soon release Windows 7, the next version of the Windows operating system. Below are three Windows 7 features that may be very helpful to your business and the security of your systems. Please contact us for more information as to how this operating system will fit into your network.

AppLocker

What Is It: AppLocker is a feature within Group Policy and Local Security Policy. It allows administrators to lock access to specific applications, installer files and scripts.

Why You Need It: It's less time consuming and allows for better control than software restriction policies in previous versions of Windows.

How It Works: Rules can be generated automatically by having AppLocker analyze the files within a selected folder. Rules also can be created manually. Publisher rules can be used to build rules based on an application's digital signature. For example, an organization can restrict access to a specific version of a program (Adobe Reader 7.0 instead of 8.0, for instance).

BitLocker And BitLocker To Go

What Is It: BitLocker is a full drive encryption feature in Windows 7 Enterprise and Ultimate. It is reinforced AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), as it combines AES with additional encryption security.

Why You Need It: BitLocker can add an extra layer of security in a network on the client side. It can help block hackers from accessing system and data files.

How It Works: When new files are added to a drive, BitLocker encrypts them automatically. BitLocker can be implemented by using TPM (Trusted Platform Module) technology, user authentication or USB key (BitLocker To Go).

BranchCache

What Is It: BranchCache is a feature of Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 that allows for the local caching of data on Windows 7 clients at branch offices from corporate Web and file servers.

Why You Need It: This feature reduces the amount of bandwidth needed to transmit data to branch offices. It's a potential cost-saver and reduces the amount of time branch office users need to retrieve data from corporate networks.

How It Works: BranchCache must be enabled in the file or Web server containing the data to be cached. Windows 7 clients can have BranchCache enabled via Group Policy or Local Policy settings.

[Source: ChannelWeb]

Going Mobile

Maria Margaglione
Web Designer

Cell phones have not only grown in popularity, but they've also become more Internet-friendly making browsing easier for the user. As if you didn't have enough to worry about with your regular website, now you have to worry about mobile sites too? Don't worry, ETC ComputerLand can handle that as well.

You may ask, "Can't people just view my regular website on their phones?" While the literal answer is yes, the actual answer is, probably not. Your current website was built, hopefully, with a particular audience in mind, which guided the formatting it has. The majority of people on PC's are using wider and wider screens, giving them a lot of real estate to view. Mobile phones, even the glorious iPhone, has a limited width in which to view. So if for no other reason than real estate limits alone, this is why a mobile site is necessary.

Now that you know that mobile sites are separate from your existing website, what are some questions you can ask yourself to start thinking about? Mobile devices are rarely used for the regular browsing experience, but rather they're used while walking down the street in a strange town looking for the nearest restaurant or bank. Perhaps a young lad is on his way to a job interview and needs to know the exact address. Lest we not forget all of the social media that people can't live without while waiting in line for the movie. Point being, people are on the move all the time and need quick bits of information to keep them going on their path.

ETC ComputerLand is excited to help people stay aboard the ever growing technology field train. Get your mobile site today by calling 217-228-6180.

Congratulations Girl Scouts of Central Illinois!

Girl Scouts of Central Illinois As many of you may already know, GiFT is a monthly computer and technology giveaway sponsored by ETC ComputerLand to benefit local not-for-profit tax-exempt agencies who are in good standing with the state of Illinois and/or Missouri and whose principal offices are within 30 miles of Quincy, IL, and Kirksville, MO.