App Review: RedLaser – Barcode and QR Code Scanner

Works with: iPhone, Android, Windows Phone

This is the most popular bar code and QR code scanning app on both the Android Market and the iPhone App Store– and for good reason. It is one of the few apps on my phone that I use regularly and actually provides me benefits other than mind numbing repetitive entertainment (fruit ninja?).

Things I regularly use RedLaser for:

• Checking if what I am about to buy is sold anywhere else for less
• Creating a wish list of items “to-be-bought”
• Scanning QR codes for deals and coupons
• Finding out how much someone spent on a gift (and don’t give me that… “it’s the thought that counts!”)

Things I didn’t know it could do:

• Find a specific item for sale in nearby stores
• Check food allergen and nutrition info
• Find a book in a local library
• Bring up reviews for a video game before you purchase it

I highly recommend this app. It is extremely easy to use and quite handy. It’s free, so if you have a smartphone, you have no excuse not to save money, count calories, find books, read reviews, organize your “wants”, and know exactly how nice of a gift to repay your friend with when their birthday rolls around.

…continued from Part 1

Week 3:

The following week, another familiar face joined me at Cody. Sean Lynn (DE Consultant) came with me to Detroit to teach the students something he learned to do in Iraq—make network cables.

We brought CAT 5 cable, ends, a crimping tool, scissors, and a test kit to show the kids how to make their own Ethernet cable. It is a pretty complicated process that consists of getting 8 very small wires into the plastic tip exactly how you want them before you clamp the tip onto the wire.

Sean used to do this task daily running Ethernet cable between base tents in Iraq for the US Marine Corps. In his demonstration, he made it look simple, but I can attest, it’s extremely tricky. At first, students took turns, but eventually they worked on their wires simultaneously as Sean helped them get it right. In the end, two students built successful cables with no assistance, in the allotted class period. A few students stayed after and kept trying until they got it right.

Week 4:

The next class, I brought a newcomer with me to Cody. Brian Kohls (DE Consultant) made the trip for the first time. Brian’s lesson was less hands-on as he talked about the cloud and showed the students how to download and use Evernote and Dropbox.

Volunteers took turns controlling Brian’s laptop as they downloaded and used the two pieces of software. At the end, we split the group up on opposite sides of the class and had them share music between my laptop and Brian’s using Dropbox. Then, we also showed them how to access the same music files on a phone.

Initially, she wanted to get the kids out to see the U of M students exhibit their capstone projects, but that ended up being just a small part of the trip. After some networking, Deb organized a visit to the Nano Technology Lab for 12 students.

Mr. Smith brought the students out on a bus and met Deb and me at the Lurie Nano Lab. Once we got there, some great U of M faculty pretty much took over the show. The group was split into two: half followed Nadine into the Nano Lab, while half joined Brenden on an interesting tour.

Brendan showed us the inner workings behind the lab; from the ridiculous air filtration system, to the underground boilers, to outside views of all the different “clean rooms”. The kids listened intently as Brenden heaped massive amounts of information their way. It was fascinating to get a peek inside such a technologically advanced world. Something you truly won’t see every day.  

After lunch, our group joined Nadine to enter one of the clean rooms and work on a nano-scaled project. Nadine told the kids they would get their own little piece of Nano Technology to take home with them. Each student would be designing a silicon wafer with a freehand pattern, and then altering it on a molecular level.

When the experimenting was done, their designs showed up in a nano thin layer of gold. It was pretty neat, and DE and Cody can’t thank Nadine, Brenden, Debra, and the U of M Nanofabrication team enough for providing this experience for the students.

Week 6:

The field trip was a tough act to follow, but Rhys (DE Consultant) stepped up and gave the students a lesson they had been requesting for weeks. For the last class of the year, Rhys showed the students how to clean some nasty viruses off their computers.

Rhys did a lot of leg work before we made the trip. He put together disks with about 5 different pieces of software the students could take home and use on their home PC’s. The disks contained the same tools the guys at DE use to clean up customer computers.

Rhys also infected a loaner machine with a nasty “Root Kit” virus (the worst kind; very tough to remove). To begin the lesson, we had students take turns volunteering to install all the software Rhys gave them on my (clean) laptop so they would know how to use these programs when they went home.

With the tools installed, Rhys broke out the infected laptop and a tutorial he created for how to remove this particularly tricky virus. He gave the tutorial to a volunteer and 4 or 5 students gathered around the laptop for this challenge. They worked past the bell, but when they were done, the computer was cleaned. Rhys and I just sat back and watched as they removed a virus that would give most IT guys headaches. It was truly impressive.

That’s it for 2011! I’ll keep you updated on what happens in 2012.

~Bryan

Cody Project: Semester in Review Part 1 of 2

Dynamic Edge has continued its outreach program this year providing weekly after school technology classes for the students at Cody High School in Detroit. I (Bryan Emmendorfer, Sales and Marketing) head out to Cody each week and bring along with me a techie, a geek, or someone smarter than me in general, for some small class size, hands-on, interactive, sandwich fueled, non-classroom style, high level learning.

Background:

Cody High School in Detroit was chosen as a “turnaround” candidate by the United Way. It was split into four separate schools with specialized disciplines. Dynamic Edge got involved last year with the “Detroit Institute of Technology” section of Cody when Bruce heard about the project and decided to step up.

New This Year:

One change this year is that a teacher from Cody, Mr. Smith, has decided to get on board with the technology team as our staff liaison. He has already made life much easier handling things like spreading the word to students and getting permission slips signed for the field trip (more on the field trip later!).

Week 1:

Deb (Customer Experience Manager, and behind the scenes Cody Support) and I met with the students to get a feel for the things they wanted to learn, and how many students would participate. We found most of the regulars from last year were back, so we also gathered their feedback about last year. Oh, and we asked if they preferred pizza or Jimmy John’s. (The consensus was Jimmy John’s)

We talked about the direction they’d like to see the technology club take. The students agreed that they’d like the club to get more in depth and have more structure. We all agreed that we could learn more as a group if the same students showed up on a consistent basis, instead of having a random group each week.

Overall, we got great feedback from the students. They showed us that they were there to learn. It really made the time we were spending feel worthwhile to hear the students reflect on the last year of classes so positively.

Week 2:

The first technology lesson of the year played off of things the students would have learned last year, as well as problem solving skills. We also threw some competition into the mix.

Conroy (DE Consultant) made the trip to Detroit with me for his “Computer Practical Exam” lesson. He brought with him two old PC’s that may or may not have still worked and a couple tool kits. He set one computer on each side of the room, each with a big sheet of orange poster board facing downward.

He then split the group in two and gave these directions: They were to disassemble the computers and place each part with the correct corresponding part name on the poster board. After the parts were all labeled correctly, Conroy would approve, and they could start reassembling. First team done got Game Stop gift cards. Oh, and they got three life lines: One Google search, One “Ask Conroy”, and One “Phone-a-Friend.”

Conroy said “Go” and each team began furiously dismantling their machines with screwdrivers. We were surprised at how much they remembered from last year. They exhibited team work and problem solving abilities as both teams completed their machines at roughly the same time. But, upon inspection, one team didn’t have all the plugs connected properly, while the other did. So to the victors went the spoils. By far the most exciting and drama filled lesson we have taught thus far!

…continued in Part 2

-Bryan

Some Lessons from last year:
Lesson #9: http://www.dynedge.com/cody-high-school-project-5-3-2011/
Lesson #7: http://www.dynedge.com/landing/cody_4-27-2011
Lesson #6: http://www.dynedge.com/landing/cody_4-13-2011
Lesson #4 & 5: http://www.dynedge.com/landing/cody_3-30-2011/
Lesson #3: http://www.dynedge.com/landing/cody_3-23-2011
Lesson #2: http://www.dynedge.com/landing/cody_3-9-2011/
Lesson #1: http://www.dynedge.com/landing/cody_2-16-2011/

We have all seen those annoying spam posts on our friend’s Facebook walls. Or gotten the apology/please don’t click on that/my account was hacked inbox message. These Facebook viruses are spread when a hacker gains control of another user’s Facebook account and starts blasting out spam to the their friend list. How does the hacker gain control? Well, they could have manually hijacked your password, or you could have clicked on a bad link. Or, you could have downloaded a “rouge app” by mistake. All finger pointing aside, if your Facebook has somehow been compromised, follow these steps to take to protect your data and stop annoying your friends:

First – Change your Password:

If someone jacked your password using a phishing scam, keylogger spyware, or the old “look over your shoulder method,” they could be using your account maliciously to spam your friends list with dangerous links. Simple way to put an end to this– Change your password. Make it strong and secure . Also, if you use the same password anywhere else, change that too. (It’s good practice to reset your passwords frequently anyways!)

Next Step – Remove Unused Apps:

A “Rouge App” could be the cause of your headaches. You may have unknowingly downloaded a malicious program posing as a Facebook app. Easiest way to clear this up– delete the apps you don’t use or that may look suspicious. Go to [Account -> Privacy Settings ->Apps and Websites: Edit Your Settings->Apps You Use: Edit Settings-> “Bad App”: Edit Settings ->Remove App]

The Final Step – Run a Virus Scan:

If you have up to date antivirus on your computer already, run the scan. If you’re a Fixed IT client, just submit a ticket or give us a call and we will take care of it for you. If you don’t have antivirus and you are not a FIT Client, download Malwarebytes (free version) and run the virus scan. Then, remove any malicious files.

The next blog will be on how to avoid picking up a Facebook virus in the first place.

One of our clients was recently infected with the “FedEx Virus”. He got a fake email claiming to come from FedEx with an attachment claiming to be an invoice. When the attachment is opened, a virus is installed. Below is a screen shot of the email.

If you receive this email, do not click on the attachment. This virus is very serious and will allow the hacker to gain control of your machine.

As always, call us if you ever have any questions about an email being legitimate or not.

-Bruce

Dropbox.com allows registered users to share up to 2 GB of data between devices wirelessly– for free. With Dropbox, you can download music from your Smartphone, and listen to it on your computer. Edit documents on your iPad while you’re on the road, and when you get home, you’ll have the same documents already on your computer. No more thumb drives. No more emailing files back and forth to yourself.

How it works: Dropbox gives you a 2GB “Box” located in the cloud for you to store whatever you want in. Then, you control who and what devices have access to that box. For instance, you can create a folder inside the box containing your vacation photos. Once you put the photos in the box, you will automatically be able to view them on all of your devices with Dropbox installed (Smartphone, tablet, laptop).

Then, you can easily choose to share that folder with any other Dropbox user as well. So when your mother-in-law wants to come over and hear all about the big vacation, you can say, “Just check your Dropbox.”

There’s a catch, right? I wouldn’t use this for any sensitive data. This service is about as secure as email and, as our HIPAA compliant friends know, is not secure enough to send patient health information.

The free limit of 2 GB isn’t a ton of space, but for the casual user who wants to share a few photos with friends, this is all they will ever need. More space will cost you. Here’s the pricing break down:

• 50 GB Box—$9.99 / Month
• 100 GB Box—$19.99 / Month
• 350 GB w/ 5 users—$795 / Year

Oh, and did I mention that Dropbox is fully MAC to PC compatible? iPhone to PC or Android to MAC, all seamlessly integrated.

Get your free space in the Cloud at Dropbox.com

Sad to say, but it isn’t always a good idea to upgrade your software to the latest and greatest version. An upgrade can potentially exhaust or damage your systems in ways you hadn’t anticipated. For example, Office 2003 uses up considerably less resources than Office 2010, which is too bad because there are a number of handy new features in Office 2010, like the way the new version of Outlook organizes your email. If you are going to upgrade your software you should consider upgrading your computer and maybe even your network.

Another issue that we see out there: Some computer peripherals like printers, scanners, plotters and even mice do not work with Windows 7. Even though the switch may seem like a great decision, it could cost you a considerable amount of time and money. If you are considering an upgrade to Windows 7, we recommend you have your system evaluated to see if the new software will run sufficiently on it. Make sure you indicate if you have network devices that you print to that are not directly connected to the computer in question. In fact, we really suggest you get a full network audit before taking the plunge.

Of course, if you are a Fixed IT customer, just ask our team about upgrading, or we will bring it up in your next strategic planning session to figure out the right solution for you.

We just caught a couple new “Phishing” scams going around that we want everyone to be aware of. They look pretty legit and have potential to trick even the saviest users.

Here’s the scam: Decision makers receive an email notice that an ACH payment has been canceled. It prompts the user to click on the attachment for a detailed report. If the attachment is opened, a virus is installed. Once the file is open, it asks the user to either enter information or download another file.

If you install a file like this unknowingly the possibilities for damage are endless. This virus could steal account numbers, send out emails to your contact list, delete information, or access your business’s server. Once a user invites a hacker in by downloading his software, he has full access to take whatever he wants.

We updated our spam filters to catch these messages for all of our clients, but new threats like this are popping up daily. Educating users to recognize suspicious activity is really the only way to prevent these viruses from being contracted. Email monitoring to make sure less of these messages make it through to the end user is the next best defense. Below are some screen shots of the recent scams to watch out for:

1.) This one appears to come from Nacha.

2.) This one says its from the IRS

It’s important to remember emails aren’t always from who they say they are. Be careful what you click on. And if you want us to help defend your company against threats like these, please contact us to schedule a Network Security Evaluation.

If you’re a Fixed IT customer, it should be. In case you haven’t heard, on Thursday nights, the Dynamic Edge team is hard at work into the wee hours of the morning performing maintenance on your computer. We apply critical security patches, install software to make your computer run faster, manually scan for viruses, quarantine spyware, clean up temporary files, and defragment hard drives. We’re like the tooth fairy, but better. Because when your computer runs properly, you’ll make more than a nickel.

How can you help? Just leave your computer on for us, so we can make sure it is in tip top shape.

What can you expect? We will reboot your computer on Thursday, so save your work.(You should really be doing this every time leave your machine). It also means that you can anticipate having to log in when you arrive at the office on Friday.

What if you miss the maintenance window? Your computer turns into a pumpkin. Kidding. But, you might encounter problems if you don’t perform a manual back-up. If you have an hour or so, simply right click on the DE Fixed IT icon in the bottom right hand corner of your screen (down by the clock). Then, choose a Back-up option. If you only have an hour, select the “quick backup” option. If you are going to be away from your computer for a few hours, use the “full backup” option.

Rather have maintenance on a different night? No problem, just let us know!

Yes? Sometimes the best solution to this extremely irritating and worrisome problem is the simplest solution– Reboot!

Many users, especially desktop users, fall into the trap of never turning off their computer. Leaving a computer running 24/7 does save on start up time and gives us a chance to do maintenance. However, over time a computer left on will begin to slow down more and more. The reason? Wasted energy. As you probably know, your programs utilize a number of your system’s resources in order run smoothly. Unfortunately, these resources frequently remain running even after you’ve exited the program that needed them. This means that as you open and close programs, resources are snatched up but never released. At some point your computer begins to use hard drive space as RAM. This slows everything down!

There is no easier way to ensure that your computer isn’t using more system resources than necessary than a quick reboot.

A reminder to laptop users: putting your computer to standby, sleep, hibernate, or simply closing the lid is not turning it off. (I know, I forget, too!) You too need to reboot your computer in order to release crucial system resources.

Fixed IT users, you, as always, can rest easy. We reboot your computer for you at least once a week on maintenance night!