FREE RESOURCES
Use these resources to learn a new skill or enhance an existing oneTCC Tuesday Tidbits Issue 386
All progress takes place outside the comfort zone.
IT Security Tip #42: Do you allow guests to access your WiFi network?
Do you have guest access on your company WiFi network? Or do you simply give out the same password that your employees use? If you give out your password, you’re practically opening the door for anyone to come in and steal private information, infect your private computers and even steal customer credit card data if you are processing them over the same Internet connection.
The key to providing free guest WiFi access is in segregation and security. Your WiFi guests need to be completely isolated and segregated from your private network. Your guests should not be able to reach your internal computer network, credit card terminals or other network-connected devices.
Don’t know how to enable guest WiFi access? Give us a call and we’ll help you out.
PowerPoint: Make Your Slides Sing
Just a few clicks and you’re playing music for the duration of your slide show.
- Select Insert > Audio > Audio on My PC.
- Select a music file > Insert.
- Select Audio Tools Playback > Play in Background.
The music will start automatically during your slide show.
Shortcut of the Week
When browsing the Internet, pressing the spacebar moves the scrollbar down a page. Pressing Shift+spacebar moves the scrollbar up one page.
Use channels and teams in Microsoft Teams
You can create teams (groups of people) and channels (like topic-specific chat rooms) to organize conversations in Microsoft Teams. Create a team or channel to have a conversation among your department, discuss a project, or just to share fun memes and GIFs.
See how teams and channels work in Teams
Check out this training video to learn more about the differences between teams and channels and how to set each one up.
Have an unfortunate co-worker that’s not getting a copy of the TCC Tuesday Tidbits? Forward them your copy. Or, better yet, have them sign up at http://computer-center.com/tidbits/
Submit your TCC Tuesday Tidbit requests and ideas to me by calling (608) 755-1524.
Sincerely,
James Pearson, President
The Computer Center
One Parker Pl, Ste. #655
Janesville, WI 53545
(608) 755-1524
TCC Tuesday Tidbits Issue 385
Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.
IT Security Tip #41: Do you enter your PIN when you use your debit card?
We live in a mostly cashless society these days. Our parents wouldn’t have ever thought to pay for a $1.50 cup of coffee with plastic; now it’s commonplace. How you swipe that plastic, though, makes a big difference in how you are protected from your neighborhood cyberthief.
If you enter your PIN when you run a debit card transaction, STOP! Run the card as credit. Not only will you not have to enter the PIN, you’ll almost always get more anti-fraud protection should you have a problem with a purchase or if the card number is stolen. In addition, always use the card as credit when shopping online, out of town on vacation or business, or when making large purchases.
Running your transaction through the credit card network instead of the bank network offers these additional protections – plus it’s faster!
PowerPoint: Tall or Wide? You Decide!
Change the orientation of your slide to fit your content.
On the Design tab click Slide Size > Custom Slide Size. Under Orientation, choose Portrait or Landscape. Sorry, landscape and portrait can’t be mixed in the same presentation.
Shortcut of the Week
Ctrl+P is used to open a print preview of the page or document currently being viewed. On Apple computers use Cmd+P to open the print preview.
The Computer Center’s Weekly Webinar Series
Take advantage of The Computer Center’s webinar series that helps you learn how to protect your small business and your employees without leaving your office!
- Thursday, October 10 – Protecting Client Data – Behavior vs Technology
Follow the link to register for more information.
Have an unfortunate co-worker that’s not getting a copy of the TCC Tuesday Tidbits? Forward them your copy. Or, better yet, have them sign up at http://computer-center.com/tidbits/
Submit your TCC Tuesday Tidbit requests and ideas to me by calling (608) 755-1524.
Sincerely,
James Pearson, President
The Computer Center
One Parker Pl, Ste. #655
Janesville, WI 53545
(608) 755-1524
TCC Tuesday Tidbits Issue 384
There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.
IT Security Tip #40: Basic Cybersecurity Training
Think fast: what’s the first thing you do after realizing you just replied to the e-mail from the Nigerian prince wanting to give you a sum of $34 million? Okay, you most likely didn’t reply to that…but the concept still remains. Do you know what to do immediately upon discovering a virus, e-mail threat or other cybersecurity issue?
You need to have step-by-step instructions about what to do if employees believe they have witnessed a cyber-incident. Training needs to happen NOW – not when the problem is happening. A simple training program can be very effective. Things like physically disconnecting the machine from the network (or the power from the machine), notifying The Computer Center of any suspicious e-mails or unusual activity and what to do if you lose your mobile device are all parts of a simple yet effective employee cybersecurity plan.
Give us a call if we can help you develop your plan.
PowerPoint: Bring Your Slides to Life With Zoom
Emphasize your main subject by removing the background of a picture.
Select the picture that you want to revise. Choose Format > Remove Background.
Mark areas to keep, mark areas to remove, or let PowerPoint do it for you.
Shortcut of the Week
Ctrl+Home moves the cursor to the beginning of the document, and Ctrl+End moves the cursor to the end of a document. These shortcuts work with most documents, as well as web pages.
On Apple computers use the Cmd and the up arrow to get to the beginning of a document or text or Cmd and the down arrow to get to the end of a document or text.
The Computer Center’s Weekly Webinar Series
Take advantage of The Computer Center’s webinar series that helps you learn how to protect your small business and your employees without leaving your office!
- Thursday, October 3 – What Every Lawyer Must Know About Data Encryption and Security
- Thursday, October 10 – Protecting Client Data – Behavior vs Technology
Follow the link to register for more information.
Have an unfortunate co-worker that’s not getting a copy of the TCC Tuesday Tidbits? Forward them your copy. Or, better yet, have them sign up at http://computer-center.com/tidbits/
Submit your TCC Tuesday Tidbit requests and ideas to me by calling (608) 755-1524.
Sincerely,
James Pearson, President
The Computer Center
One Parker Pl, Ste. #655
Janesville, WI 53545
(608) 755-1524
TCC Tuesday Tidbits Issue 383
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.
IT Security Tip #39: Is This Request Really From The Boss?
A common scam going around requires everyone to be on their toes. Here’s the situation. An e-mail comes in from the boss asking you to e-mail a copy of employee pay stubs, tax information, and files with confidential data such as social security numbers in them. In another example, the boss asks for a transfer or ACH payment to a vendor or a different bank account. The problem: even though it has the boss’s e-mail address and name, and appears to come from the big guy – it is still a scam. To compound problems, a lot of bosses DO legitimately send these types of e-mails.
If you get a request relating to personal, confidential information or a request for banking transactions from someone in your organization, you must double-check that it really came from that person. In lots of cases, a quick text message is an easy confirmation. And even if it’s a legitimate request, never send confidential information like social security numbers (or attachments with this information inside of them) without taking precautions to password-protect and encrypt the message first. If it doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not right.
PowerPoint: Bring Your Slides to Life With Zoom
Get creative with your slide show!
With Zoom for PowerPoint, you can create a zoom-in effect that skips ahead, revisits a previous slide, or creates a visual table of contents. Play the video at left to see a Zoom transition.
Shortcut of the Week
While working on a document or another file in almost every program, pressing Ctrl + S saves that file. Use this shortcut key frequently if you’re working on anything important in case of an error, lost power, or any other issues that causes you to lose any work since the last save.
On Apple computers, use Cmd + S to save a file.
The Computer Center’s Weekly Webinar Series
Take advantage of The Computer Center’s webinar series that helps you learn how to protect your small business and your employees without leaving your office!
- Thursday, September 26 – Why Your Law Firm Must Have 2 Wireless Networks
- Thursday, October 3 – What Every Lawyer Must Know About Data Encryption and Security
- Thursday, October 10 – Protecting Client Data – Behavior vs Technology
Follow the link to register for more information.
Have an unfortunate co-worker that’s not getting a copy of the TCC Tuesday Tidbits? Forward them your copy. Or, better yet, have them sign up at http://computer-center.com/tidbits/
Submit your TCC Tuesday Tidbit requests and ideas to me by calling (608) 755-1524.
Sincerely,
James Pearson, President
The Computer Center
One Parker Pl, Ste. #655
Janesville, WI 53545
(608) 755-1524
TCC Tuesday Tidbits Issue 382
Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.
IT Security Tip #38: Don’t Just Throw Out That Old Computer
Getting rid of old computers or servers? Did you know that the components used in technology equipment are not landfill-safe? On top of the environmental hazards, unprotected e-waste typically contains a lot of confidential and private information in the form of saved passwords, Internet history and files left on the retired computer or server.
As a first prevention step, find a local recycling facility where e-waste can be safely disposed of. And make sure to take the following #1 security precaution before you haul it off: remove and destroy the hard drives. A drill and hammer usually do the trick just fine. Alternatively, many companies that shred paper documents will also destroy your hard drives.
Don’t forget other e-waste such as mobile phones, copy machines and any other device that ever touched your company data. Give serious thought to what data is on any device before you recycle it.
PowerPoint: Ace that presentation with a little help from Designer.
PowerPoint Designer helps your slides look their best.
While you’re putting your ideas onto a slide, Designer works in the background to match your content to professionally designed layouts.
Designer suggests different ways to integrate pictures with text. It also helps with charts, lists, and more.
Shortcut of the Week
Pressing Ctrl + Backspace deletes a full word at a time instead of a single character.
Holding down the Ctrl key while pressing the left or right arrow moves the cursor one word at a time instead of one character at a time. If you want to highlight one word at a time, hold down Ctrl + Shift, then press the left or right arrow key. Your highlighted selection moves one word at a time in that direction.
The Computer Center’s Weekly Webinar Series
Take advantage of The Computer Center’s webinar series that helps you learn how to protect your small business and your employees without leaving your office!
- Thursday, September 19 – What Your Law Firm Must Know Before Moving to the Cloud
- Thursday, September 26 – Why Your Law Firm Must Have 2 Wireless Networks
- Thursday, October 3 – What Every Lawyer Must Know About Data Encryption and Security
- Thursday, October 10 – Protecting Client Data – Behavior vs Technology
Follow the link to register for more information.
Have an unfortunate co-worker that’s not getting a copy of the TCC Tuesday Tidbits? Forward them your copy. Or, better yet, have them sign up at http://computer-center.com/tidbits/
Submit your TCC Tuesday Tidbit requests and ideas to me by calling (608) 755-1524.
Sincerely,
James Pearson, President
The Computer Center
One Parker Pl, Ste. #655
Janesville, WI 53545
(608) 755-1524
TCC Tuesday Tidbits Issue 381
Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.
IT Security Tip #37: Why is it so important to have unique passwords for all your online accounts?
A complex password is a necessity in the current age of cyberthreats, data breaches and other security incidents. Those of us who live in reality also know how hard it is to keep the seemingly hundreds of passwords straight, secure and different. Wait, what’s that? All of your passwords aren’t different?
Why is having different passwords so important? When an online retailer, or a website, gets hacked, oftentimes all you hear in the news is about how many credit cards were lost or what the financial damage was. You rarely hear about the user accounts that were compromised. However, if you have an account on a compromised website, the username and password you used very possibly could be published and available to anybody who wants to look at it at on the Internet. A clever crook knows that you probably use the same password on the compromised website as you do on your eBay, Amazon or other online account that may have a bank account tied to it. A good enough chance that they’re likely to try it anyway. Sure enough, when you used the same password on your eBay account that you also used to set up an account on the compromised website to reserve hotel rooms, buy clothes or whatever else, the hacker now has your eBay credentials.
It is possible to keep the password madness under control. Ask us for tricks to having unique but memorable passwords. You might be surprised by how easy it really is. The bottom line is that no matter how much of a pain it is, it is very important to have different passwords for each online account.
PowerPoint: Give Your Pitch More Pep With a YouTube Video
Add energy and action to your presentation with a web video. Go to the online video and copy the URL.
In PowerPoint, select Insert > Video > Online Video.
Paste the URL, and then click the arrow to insert the video onto the slide.
Shortcut of the Week
If you have your browser window open and other programs running in the background press Alt+Tab to switch between open programs. On Apple computers use Cmd+Tab to switch between open programs. If you are pressing Alt+Tab and pass the program you want to use, press Alt+Shift+Tab to move back to that program. If you have multiple tabs open in your Internet browser, press Ctrl+Tab to switch between them.
The Computer Center’s Weekly Webinar Series
Take advantage of The Computer Center’s webinar series that helps you learn how to protect your small business and your employees without leaving your office!
- Thursday, September 12 – Understanding Metadata and How It Affects Security
Follow the link to register for more information.
Have an unfortunate co-worker that’s not getting a copy of the TCC Tuesday Tidbits? Forward them your copy. Or, better yet, have them sign up at http://computer-center.com/tidbits/
Submit your TCC Tuesday Tidbit requests and ideas to me by calling (608) 755-1524.
Sincerely,
James Pearson, President
The Computer Center
One Parker Pl, Ste. #655
Janesville, WI 53545
(608) 755-1524
TCC Tuesday Tidbits Issue 380
Whether you think you can, or think you can’t – you’re right.
IT Security Tip #36: The Long-forgotten Piece of Security for Road Warriors…
Do you connect to the office network or VPN (virtual private network) to get some work done in the evenings, on the weekends or when on the road? For many, the answer is yes.
One of the most frequently forgotten pieces of network security is making sure that personal devices used in employee homes conform to the standards in your office. Make sure your road warriors and remote workers have up-to-date antivirus software on the computers they are connecting in from and that a good firewall is in use when possible. Just know that it’s generally safe to connect into work from public hotspots as long as your office VPN is in use. The VPN secures the connection between the computer and the office. Remote login software such as GoToMyPC and others may not use the same type of security as your VPN and therefore may not be safe to connect from a public hotspot.
Excel: What’s your status? See it instantly.
The Status Bar shows averages, counts, and sums — without typing out complicated formulas! Just select some cells in your table, and then gaze your eyes on the lower right-hand corner of the Excel window. There you’ll see instant stats about your selection.
Shortcut of the Week
Ctrl + F opens the Find field, which allows you to search the text currently displayed in programs that support it (Cmd + F for Apple computers).
Ctrl + G may be used to repeat a Ctrl + F search in a document or on a web page.
Have an unfortunate co-worker that’s not getting a copy of the TCC Tuesday Tidbits? Forward them your copy. Or, better yet, have them sign up at http://computer-center.com/tidbits/
Submit your TCC Tuesday Tidbit requests and ideas to me by calling (608) 755-1524.
Sincerely,
James Pearson, President
The Computer Center
One Parker Pl, Ste. #655
Janesville, WI 53545
(608) 755-1524
TCC Tuesday Tidbits Issue 379
Ideas are a commodity. Execution of them is not.
IT Security Tip #35: Your Copier is Spying on You…
Modern business equipment has radically changed how we conduct everyday business. Do you realize that copiers and multifunction printers are also one of the leading causes of data breaches?
They are the one device on the network that commonly does not ever have the default password changed. After all, who would want to get in and copy your settings? There might be a different answer if you realize that quite often those copiers keep images of all pages scanned on an internal hard drive. Perfect for someone to anonymously access and steal social security records and sensitive business data.
Take steps to secure your MFP copier today. Change – or ask your IT support firm to change – default passwords on ALL network-connected devices. Don’t forget this rule when the copier lease is up and a new one is installed! A few quick steps can save a lot of personal data breaches and a lot of security headaches down the road.
Excel: Find the Needle in the Haystack With VLOOKUP
VLOOKUP finds information in another table, and brings back related information to the cells you’re working with. And, with the TRUE argument, it will find the information with an approximate match. In this example it looks up 0.92, and finds the closest match: 0.9. Then it brings back the value in the next column to the right of 0.9 which is the letter A.
Shortcut of the Week
Using keyboard shortcuts increases productivity. Pressing Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z for Macs) will undo any change. For example, if you cut text, Ctrl + Z will undo the cut. Pressing Ctrl + Y (Cmd + Y) will redo the undo. Pressing either combination multiple times will undo or redo multiple changes.
The Computer Center’s Weekly Webinar Series
Take advantage of The Computer Center’s webinar series that helps you learn how to protect your small business and your employees without leaving your office!
- Thursday, August 29 – Free Productivity Enhancing Tools Included with Office 365 That You Probably Aren’t Using in Your Business
Follow the link to register for more information.
Have an unfortunate co-worker that’s not getting a copy of the TCC Tuesday Tidbits? Forward them your copy. Or, better yet, have them sign up at http://computer-center.com/tidbits/
Submit your TCC Tuesday Tidbit requests and ideas to me by calling (608) 755-1524.
Sincerely,
James Pearson, President
The Computer Center
One Parker Pl, Ste. #655
Janesville, WI 53545
(608) 755-1524
TCC Tuesday Tidbits Issue 378
You don’t need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea.
IT Security Tip #34: Don’t Send Your Private Information to Anyone!
We’re seeing a new variant of an old scam. Here’s what happens: a secretary gets an e-mail from her boss – who is traveling – to please send him, as soon as possible, scanned copies of all the W2s the company issued at the end of January. The message appears to come from her manager, including having what looks like his actual e-mail address when she looks at in Outlook. She gets suspicious – she has just talked to her boss on the phone that morning, and he never mentioned needing that information. Before she collects the W2 PDFs that are on the HR drive, she decides to text her boss and check on it. Great catch! The boss never requested that information. Had she not been proactive and instead just completed the task assigned to her, she would have given a scammer all of the confidential information that is on a federal W2 form for every employee in her firm! The scammer likely would have used the information to commit identity theft and/or file false returns next year to claim the refund.
Always be vigilant and proactive – it’s better to be suspicious and double-check everything when dealing with confidential information. Try to provide that detail in an encrypted e-mail, or at minimum with a password on the files (and don’t include the password in the body of the e-mail!). The few extra minutes it takes could save months of heartache for all of your employees.
Excel: Instant PivotTables: No Experience Required
New to PivotTables? No problem! Excel can create one for you.
Go to Insert > Recommended PivotTables, select your data range, and choose the one that looks best.
Shortcut of the Week
Using keyboard shortcuts increases productivity. One excellent shortcut is Ctrl + C which will copy highlighted text. This gets followed with Ctrl + V which will paste what you just copied to a new location you designate with your mouse cursor. Ctrl + X cuts the text you wish to move or simply removes it for you.
Using an Apple computer? Don’t fret! Simply use Cmd in replace of Ctrl to produce the same results.
The Computer Center’s Weekly Webinar Series
Take advantage of The Computer Center’s webinar series that helps you learn how to protect your small business and your employees without leaving your office!
- Thursday, August 22 – Critical Facts Every Business Owner Must Know Before Moving Their Network to The Cloud
- Thursday, August 29 – Free Productivity Enhancing Tools Included with Office 365 That You Probably Aren’t Using in Your Business
Follow the link to register for more information.
Have an unfortunate co-worker that’s not getting a copy of the TCC Tuesday Tidbits? Forward them your copy. Or, better yet, have them sign up at http://computer-center.com/tidbits/
Submit your TCC Tuesday Tidbit requests and ideas to me by calling (608) 755-1524.
Sincerely,
James Pearson, President
The Computer Center
One Parker Pl, Ste. #655
Janesville, WI 53545
(608) 755-1524