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Home Wireless Networks: How to Make Them More Secure  A friend of a Tobin Solutions engineer was sued for illegally downloading music, yet he had nothing to do with the theft. The culprit was a stranger who had used the friend's wireless network without permission to access the music site.
Home wireless networks (Wi-Fi) connect to the Internet through a router or another access point. The wireless signals transmitted are easy to intercept. Someone sitting in a car outside of a home with a wireless computer can pick up router signals and connect to the Internet.
You can protect yourself by setting up your router correctly and securely. It takes a little time but is well worth the effort:
1. Change the out-of-the-box router administrator name and password as soon as possible since hackers know what many of the defaults are.
2. Turn on wireless encryption which scrambles the signal.
3. Use strong passwords or pass keys.
4. Regularly update the wireless router firmware. Firmware is the basic fixed programing software that makes the router function. |
 Learn Microsoft Office Programs to Improve Productivity
Tobin Solutions' SurePath Education Service provides training sessions ranging from 30 minutes to a half day that are designed to address the application-specific training needs of your employees.
Offerings include:
Pre-packaged training for Microsoft Office Suite programs such as Excel, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Publisher. Examples: Outlook Lite (getting started with Outlook), Excel Formulas, and Mail Merge with Word or Outlook.
Menu selection training allows you to choose training on features and functions employees use regularly. For example, in Outlook Mail select from folder management, out-of-office assistant, signatures, etc.
One-on-one or small group training is provided on-site or over the phone using your programs and files as examples. Both approaches reduce the time your staff is away from work.
Monthly education agreement plans allow you to provide ongoing training that is quick, convenient, and effective.
Additionally, free Web-based assessment tests are available to measure employee skill levels and pinpoint training needs and may also be used to help assess potential employees.
SurePath Education Service is a low-cost, high-value way of improving productivity and efficiency. Help your staff do more with less. |
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Meet the Tobin Staff... 
Scott Jelen, IT Engineer
Scott Jelen has provided help desk support since joining Tobin Solutions in 2009. He graduated from UW-Whitewater in 2005 with a Bachelors of Business Administration/ Computer End-User Technology degree. His customer service skills were honed and his technical knowledge expanded at previous jobs for consumer and business IT support companies.
Outside of Tobin, he enjoys wakeboarding, hiking, biking, fishing, and watching football and other spectator sports. He also plays the guitar and travels when he can.
Among Scott's many abilities is a special talent for making goat sounds. We know this has a potential use, we just aren't sure what it is. |
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WINDOWS TIP: Manage Automatic Start-Up Programs to Reduce Slowness
As a convenience to users, many programs start up automatically when a computer is turned on. Each program start-up, however, lengthens the time it takes for the computer to go through its initiation routine and display the desktop.
In addition, every program that is running uses part of the computer's memory and resources even when it's idle. This can make the computer operate slowly.
Some programs can be prevented from running during start-up by changing their settings in the system tray. Find the system tray in the lower right corner of the screen next to the clock and do the following:
1. Right click the program's icon on the taskbar; and
2. Look for the option to turn the item off.
 Types of programs that can be stopped from running automatically include: �Management programs used to synchronize phones - usually these are available in the start menu; �Photo management software; and �Automatic updates for programs that can be run manually (Java, Adobe updaters, etc.).
Not all programs running in the background are shown in the system tray. In addition, auto-start cannot be stopped for all programs. Programs essential to the operation of the computer and security programs such as antivirus applications should not be disabled.
If your system is running slowly, Tobin Solutions engineers are available to identify and disable non-essential programs-or correct other problems-to speed things up.
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Please mention Tobin Solutions to people who might benefit from our services. Or, let us know a potential client's name, and we'll make the contact. Let us know who could use our services
The best compliment is a referral! |
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