Category: UncategorizedToday was a great learning experience for all the interns at Call That Girl. After everything was said and done this afternoon, the “I” Crew has stepped up their game big time. We have a great opportunity today to sit down with a friend of Lisa’s, John Eichten, who did an outstanding job of explaining the basics around professional sales and market research. Before today I was feeling a little weary about “cold calling” because I lacked experience there. Now I am much more confident in myself and can not wait to start my new project! As the summer wraps up, we are all learning the ways to streamline our projects and organize them in a more efficient manner. One thing I am positive about right now is that all the interns at CTG, have a leg up on our peers. We have had the experience like no one else and the value in our training is extremely high. So get ready corp world, because once we are done here, I know we will be ready to make an immense impact on our respective fields. In other news… the State Fair starts Thursday, which I am sure you all already are aware of. I hope everyone has their favorite pair of elastic waistband pants ready to go, I know I do!! 🙂
Random Computer Fact: The technology contained in a single game boy unit in 2000 exceeds all the computing power that was used to put the first man on moon in 1969.
This is a general reminder to all of my clients, colleagues and friends to check your back up systems and make sure they are working and backing up your data. Even though you may think it’s working correctly, it’s always a good idea to check on it periodically. The only back up to trust is YOU! Software goes bad, hardware goes bad and I’ve seen it all.
Tip: if you had a back up system set up a long time ago, and you haven’t checked it lately…now is the time to do that. Many times they fail or the schedule gets off course from crashes, updates, etc. If you need help, feel free to call that girl for a quick overview to make sure it’s still backing up.
MOZY Users: http://www.mozy.com If this is not selected, then select that button and the time when your daily back ups done.
To the clients we have configured the online back up program “Mozy” for in the past, we would like to take a moment to have you check to make sure the program is backing up or backing up the programs you want. The Mozy icon sits in the area by the clock in the lower right of your computer screen. It’s orange and gray. If it is not in that area, find it in the “programs” area in your computer
NOTE: We set up your Mozy for daily backups. If it’s been longer than a day, since you last backed up, here is a simple way to check your settings.
Questions? If you have any questions or need help with Mozy that we configured, feel free to contact Call That Girl for a free check done. If you are not using Mozy or any other online back up systems and would like to have it setup or checked feel free to Call That Girl and we can get this set up for $25.
I get many folks asking me what laptop they should buy, which one is the best, etc. All models of computers/laptops end up in my shop, so they all break at some point. My opinion? Follow these simple rules and you just bought the best laptop!
1.) Figure out a budget. Remember that with a new computer, you may need to buy new software. And for those that want help setting it up, we quote 2-3 hours to get everything installed and configured.
2.) Make sure you buy a laptop in person. Buying online gives you no sense of how the computer feels, weighs or views in bad/good/extra light. If you buy online, be sure to buy from a reputable company that you know you can return items too easily.
3.) If you go to a store (Microcenter still has Windows 7!), here are some tips!
4.) Pricing
A good work laptop is approximately $500-$900. You will pay more for higher quality (SONY) and of course for a faster processor, solid state hard drive and more options (longer battery life, docking station, etc.)
Many folks also ask about the processors and hard drive space, etc…my answer is you’ll be ok probably if you can find a computer that fits your needs with the list I gave you. Those are much more important. Most computers today come with plenty of hard drive space.
Happy Thursday!
Lisa
Hello Readers!
I am back from a two week break and just in time because things are heating up at Call That Girl! My work on the promotional materials for Reboot Electronics is basically finished, and I am very happy with the way everything turned out. This was a great opportunity for myself to gain some hands on experience in the design field for this project, which I am positive will be a great basis for more work down the road.
As my summer vacation comes to a close I have found myself eager for my senior year of college to start, and even more excited about starting the job search for my career after school. Let’s also not forget about the state fair being less than a month away!!! My mouth begins to water every time I think about the different delicious deep fried treats I am going to devour! So if you find yourself down, or getting a little complaicent during this later summer month, just remember one thing awaits you…Cheese Curds!
As my current project wraps up here at CTG, I have set my sights on marketing and promoting our services to all the local All-State Insurance agents. This is a perfect chance for our business to align itself with a clientele that we already know has a huge demand for our IT services. I am keeping my fingers crossed extra tight on this one. Look for more details on this new project in the next few weeks of my blog, each time I will give you all an update on my progress. Thats all for now, thanks for reading!
Random computer fact: There are 6,000 new computer virus’s released every month
Good news and bad news folks…it’s Friday, that’s the good news. I had a great week with clients, but unfortunately…the bad news. New viruses are out and on the path of destruction. I have 2 computers in the shop with the same virus. Both viruses are pretty bad ass. They are far from easy to remove. One computer I got out finally…but the other is in for life I fear. It won’t even let me load any new programs to get it out. So I will have to manually remove them. This is equal to a root canal done with pliers!
The latest virus is “Personal Antivirus” and it is bypassed by Norton and pctools *(my favorite too) but you have to remember this is SPYWARE viruses, not regualar viruses that should be caught by regular programs. This virus also attacks Firefox. So beware!
Just keep an eye out for anything suspicious and you get a window that pops up, I would just shut down your computer at this point and do not go back to that website you were just on.
If you want a play by play on how to close that window and not get the virus, in a nutshell…
Go to your task manager and end all IE processes.The virus window will close, but so will all of your other IE windows.
That’s the easiest way to not get it. Most folks click on the box and the whole box is an image, so if you touch it, you’ve got it pretty much.
Hope that helps some of you avoid it…
Lisa
I’m sure we all have somethings about networking that annoy us.
For me..the big one is being asked to go for coffee. I guess I used to accept the request more when I was out killing myself in the first year of my business. Then I learned that 9 times out of 10, it would end in a sales pitch from the person who requested the meeting. I learned to avoid these at all cost. If someone wants to get to know me, that’s fine. I figure out if there is a benefit to meeting them. (like maybe they can be a referring partner). I check out their profiles/website and make that determination and then agree or not. Lately I’ve been asking what the agenda is, that gets the pitch out and I can avoid the denial. I have very few things I can afford to buy or actually need, so I end up telling folks I will keep them in mind for future connections. I have referred people to them later too!
I also close by saying “Hey, that’s great we know what each other does now!”
Sometimes at events you don’t get enough talk time, but to do an hour over coffee, in today’s tight economy…no can do.
