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When is the best time to get a maintenance plan on your computer? When you first purchase the computer! If you wait until you have problems with it, then you will have to pay to repair the problem first before starting the maintenance plan. It is best to get the preventive maintenance computer plans when everything is working well.

When you first buy your computer, you can be sure that it is virus free. The best thing to do is to keep it virus free. Although viruses and spyware can be removed from infected computers, once they are infected, the possibility that they have caused irreversible damage (without reinstalling the operating system completely) is high.

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As you know, E-Geniuses provides maintenance plans to proactively prevent viruses and spyware from infecting your computer. This allows our clients to safely perform time saving tasks such as online purchasing and online banking. In addition to having us maintain their computers to ensure security, we would also recommend that clients keep track of their credit reports and to look out for unauthorized charges.

Federal law states that you have the right to receive a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months. AnnualCreditReport.com allows users to view their credit reports from the three major reporting agencies; Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.

If you see any unauthorized credit cards or charges on your existing credit cards, then call your card company right away. Other companies also offer paid services that can alert you when there is suspicious charges made.

A credit report can also come in handy when purchasing a vehicle. If your credit rating is good, then you may use it as leverage to negotiate a better interest rate.

Checking your credit report is not only easy, it’s also free! Make sure to check your credit report at least once a year to ensure a level of security that will protect your credit score. Oh yeah, make sure your computer is also properly secured and maintained.

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Social networking websites have dominated internet culture and communication since the debut of MySpace in 2003, and now with the growing popularity of Facebook, some find themselves stuck between the two platforms.

The key to knowing the difference between Facebook and MySpace is being fully aware of the fact that they are two totally different ways of achieving the same purpose, which is to keep you in contact with your family, friends and co-workers in a cool and interactive way.

MySpace is preferred by many due to its many customizable aesthetic features (including a profile song or song playlist that comes on when friends visit your page), and the ability to post lengthy “Bulletins” to all of your friends at once— both aspects that Facebook lacks entirely. While some over-do it with page customization, making profiles slow to load, most find that customization, in moderation, makes for a more individual and interesting social networking experience.

Additionally, the freely customizable HTML allows you to hide any section you don’t want your friends viewing, which includes your blog, your general info section (with subsections for your favorite music, television and movies, and even your heroes), and, popularly, the comments. This is a favorite choice to make hidden because of the possibly private nature of discussions conducted in comments.

Facebook, on the other hand, is noted for its clean and uncluttered layout; each profile page looks exactly the same for different applications and friends listed on the sidebar.

The site, which originated as a site mainly aimed towards college students, boasts the ability to post Twitter-like status messages that appear on both you and your friends’ “newsfeeds”, indicating what you’re thinking, feeling and/or doing at any given time. Users may take full advantage of this feature to talk about themselves, seeing as the Facebook “About Me” section is limited to a tiny space and amount of characters—as opposed to MySpace, where you can write a biography of encyclopedic length on your profile page and still have plenty of space to go.

It’s plain to see within a short time of using Facebook that its main purpose is to communicate—and it definitely achieves that, if a bit intensely. The default settings allow you to see whenever your friends add another friend, get a new “wall post” or photo comment, achieve a high score in a Facebook game application, and more. If you don’t wish to receive this information or send it to your friends you can simply disable the feature.

However, even with those features hidden, the openness of Facebook is unavoidable—with the friend newsfeed displayed on your homepage, your friends can comment on or “Like” (a functionality allowing your friends to “approve” of whatever you’ve just posted) virtually any activity you take part in.

In closing, you might choose Facebook if you want a straight-forward social networking site with its share of fun and games minus the clutter, and can sacrifice a bit of privacy to communicate with your friends in a ton of different ways. Or you can choose MySpace if you want to be able to completely express yourself and your personality via your profile page and still be able to keep in touch in an efficient and fun way.

Article by Marnie

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Kogi verde is coming to Koreatown! Wilshire and Ardmore! @ 11.45. Bring it! 10:42 PM May 14th from txt

Twitter, the micro-blogging platform popularly used by celebrities, politicians and civilians alike to tell friends (or fans) about their current condition or whereabouts, is now being taken full advantage of by both stationary and traveling businesses.

Take, for example, the Kogi BBQ trucks in Los Angeles: vendors of Korean-style tacos, and a local favorite amongst Angelinos in-the-know.  The Kogi BBQ utilizes Twitter’s mobile functionalities to communicate with customers (and generate plenty of word-of-mouth attention in the meantime) by posting not only their location but also secret menu items, viewable only to “Followers” of their Twitter account. By doing this they not only effectively secure the customers they have, but attract more.

Twitter can be utilized by not only traveling businesses such as Kogi BBQ , but also by any company looking to find new customers or to widen their outreach. For example, if you owned a small shoe store you might alert your customers of new products in stock, or an upcoming sale. By helping businesses communicate with their client base, Twitter is helping to create a new method of marketing that is both fun, interactive and innovative.

Post by Marnie

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You have your laptop, you need get online but you don’t have a broadband card with you. The system is telling you that an open wireless network named “default” is available. Lucky you right? Wrong.

Common Unsecured Wireless Network Names: default, linksys, Wireless, WLAN, 1234, any.

Anytime you try to connect to an unsecured wireless network you cannot be sure who else is on the same network.

One of the main dangers of connecting to open wireless networks is that other users may be able to browse your shared folders. This can be prevented by making sure that folder sharing is turned off and a software firewall is installed and properly configured.

Windows XP File and Print Sharing Screenshot

Mac OS X Sharing Preferences Window

When connecting to these open hotspots, you also run the risk of having your data intercepted. It is possible for someone to read the wirelessly transferred data if it is not properly encrypted. Your emails, your chats, and your passwords can be captured by a hacker using a relatively simple setup.

We recommend that you only connect to secured networks. This greatly decreases the risk of being hacked. Even then, you will still want to have the added protection of a software firewall, encrypted email, and share settings turned off until you are on a wired network.

You might also want to consider subscribing to a broadband connection if you need have high speed Internet access on-the-go on a regular basis. This will give you a dedicated secure connection to your ISP.

USB Wireless Broadband Card

Now that you know the potential dangers of connecting to unsecured wireless networks, you can make sure your friends and family are aware of the risks as well.

To secure your wireless network, call us to talk to one of our E-Geniuses Technicians.
www.E-Geniuses.com.

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One of the most frequently asked questions I get is, “What is the best software for protecting my computer?” I am assuming that they mean to ask what the best security apps are at that given time.

Viruses change all of the time and the security apps that we use to protect against viruses, spyware, rogue anti-viruses, malware etc., needs to change as well. Keep in mind that it is a human who is creating these programs. If their goal is to infect as many computers as possible. If they are somewhat intelligent, they will make sure that their program will not be detected my the most common security suites and applications.

Currently, our team is using a combination of Malwarebytes, Super Anti-Spyware, Threatfire and Avast. We also make sure that our clients’ computers are up-to-date. In a few months, it’s likely that we will be using a new set of security apps depending on the current threats.

Thousands of new threats are created weekly and need to be monitored consistently. We suggest that you scan the forums for new security notices. If you do not have the time to do that, we offer Monthly Maintenance Plans that allow you to delegate that task to E-Geniuses.

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Try this fix if you are receiving the message: “Sending of password did not succeed. Mail server pop.gmail.com responded: Username and password not accepted.”

If you are using Gmail or Google Domain Apps for your email, you might have had a problem using pop or imap to download your emails. I had a problem setting up a client’s Blackberry through Sprint when the password would not authenticate. We knew the correct password and were able to login on to their email through the web browser.

Here’s what we had to do to fix the problem.

We typed in https://www.google.com/a/yourdomain.com/UnlockCaptcha 

We replaced “yourdomain.com” with the actual domain name.

We typed in their username and password.

Voila! Everything worked.

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Google SMS for your Phone

If you can text message, then you have the power of Google at your fingertips. Our newest technician here at E-Geniuses, Jonatan, showed me how to access all sorts of information just by texting 466453  “GOOGLE”.

You can look for places nearby. For example, you can text Google “starbucks 90015” and you will receive a text back with the nearest Starbucks. You can also get movie listings, weather, definitions, sports scores, stocks, flight status, product prices, language translations, currency conversions, unit conversions and more.

To simplify the process, save 466453 as Google in your address book so you can get information on your phone with a few keystrokes. Keep in mind that carrier charges may apply. If you have unlimited text messaging then you have nothing to worry about.

Go to Google Mobile’s Homepage for more information.

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The client was experiencing a very weak wireless signal. We arrived at his home and discovered that his computer was located on one side of the building while the wireless access point was on the other side. Normally it is recommended that a wireless access point should be located in a centralized position but the tenant arrangements prevented such a setup. Although the wireless access point had the ability to project a signal, testing with other devices brought us to the conclusion that the building construction (electrical wires, pipes, conduits) or furniture/appliances (large metallic surfaces such as a refrigerator or metal shelves) is interfering with the wireless signal.

Our solution was to install a repeater in a location that experiences a good wireless signal and through trail and error, find a suitable location where the repeater can bypass any interference and deliver a strong signal to our client. Unfortunately, the client’s landlord was apprehensive about our installation of the repeater and felt that he could do it himself, even after our client’s pleadings. Overall our client was grateful that we brought the needed signal repeater but dismayed that his landlord did not allow us to install the device. Hopefully the issue gets resolved as our client paid good money for his computer and wireless Internet is part of his rental agreement.

Here is what the client had to say in his own words:

“I am totally satisfied with your service as well as the people. When I called, the technicians were very accommodating. The guys really put their all into helping me out. Even though we weren’t able to complete the service, for other reasons not related to E-Geniuses’ services, they still called me back to follow up with me. The guy called later on just to make sure everything was taken care of.”

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Leading L.A.-based computer repair service company E-Geniuses illustrates how businesses can utilize technology and telecommuting to not only survive the economic crisis but to grow in a down market.

(PRWEB) April 9, 2009 — In today’s economic climate, achieving sustainable growth has become increasingly more difficult for business owners. Flaccid housing and investment markets have severely limited the resources and wherewithal of companies both large and small. Nonetheless, leading computer repair service company E-Geniuses shows business owners how making use of technological tools and telecommuting can enable companies to not only weather the storm, but realize real growth. When newspaper headlines read “Government Spends 1 Trillion to Stimulate Economic Growth,” consumers should be worried about inflation, which leads to an across-the-board increase in pricing, says E-Geniuses. With the government committed to inflationary techniques, tough times are still ahead of us. However, E-Geniuses believes opportunities that have yet to be realized still exist in business and tough economic conditions make ignoring them much more costly.

Government Spends 1 Trillion to Stimulate Economic Growth I think that more businesses should start adopting a work-at-home strategy to productivity The schools have understood this concept of ‘homework’ for a long time. Teachers don’t have to watch each student do their work, they simply manage by objective – was the work done on time? Was it done properly and did it achieve the end result? Businesses need to start thinking this way also. The employee can cut down on unpaid expenses such as time spent commuting and fuel consumption Less commute means less traffic, less carbon dioxide, and is therefore better for the environment. Whether you are working from a downtown Los Angeles penthouse or telecommuting from downtown to your home in the valley, the most important thing is to make efficient use of time and resources A recession can affect how consumers budget their resources, but it cannot affect the resource of time – people may have less money or credit but time will keep ticking. Businesses and individuals need to pay attention to how they spend their day. A business that spends thousands of dollars a month on traditional print advertising should start considering investing in their website as a powerful and effective alternative

When newspaper headlines read “Government Spends 1 Trillion to Stimulate Economic Growth,” consumers should be worried about inflation, which leads to an across-the-board increase in pricing, says E-Geniuses. With the government committed to inflationary techniques, tough times are still ahead of us. However, E-Geniuses believes opportunities that have yet to be realized still exist in business and tough economic conditions make ignoring them much more costly.

One such opportunity is the use of innovative technology, which enables us to do more with the limited resources available and lead to economic health and a higher quality of life. According to E-Geniuses, telecommuting has become an efficient, cost-effective, and resourceful way to adapt business operations.

“I think that more businesses should start adopting a work-at-home strategy to productivity,” says Joey Mariano, owner of E-Geniuses, which services and repairs computers for local businesses and nearby USC and FIDM students. “The schools have understood this concept of ‘homework’ for a long time. Teachers don’t have to watch each student do their work, they simply manage by objective – was the work done on time? Was it done properly and did it achieve the end result? Businesses need to start thinking this way also.”

Telecommuting – the practice of working at home and communicating with co-workers through phone and computer – offers benefits for the employer, employee, and the environment. Jessica Jenkins, co-owner of TotalTelecommuting, says that telecommuting gives businesses a larger pool of potential hires due to the added perk of working from home; it can also make current employees happier, which increases efficiency and productivity.

“The employee can cut down on unpaid expenses such as time spent commuting and fuel consumption,” she explains. “Less commute means less traffic, less carbon dioxide, and is therefore better for the environment.”

According to Ariana at The Reserve Lofts in Downtown Los Angeles, in order to consolidate home and office expenses, many people whose homes have been foreclosed on are relocating to downtown L.A. lofts that are zoned for both residential and business use. “There is also the added advantage of being neighbors with other business owners and professionals. For employees of these businesses, there’s also the perk that they can use the building amenities such as the gym and a garden/spa.

“Whether you are working from a downtown Los Angeles penthouse or telecommuting from downtown to your home in the valley, the most important thing is to make efficient use of time and resources,” say JR and Aaron of medical consulting firm New Money Consulting. “A recession can affect how consumers budget their resources, but it cannot affect the resource of time – people may have less money or credit but time will keep ticking. Businesses and individuals need to pay attention to how they spend their day.”

In addition to telecommuting, e-commerce is another tool that can significantly boost revenue with an added marketing benefit.

Angela of Los Angeles web design company, online marketing, and SEO firm Splyce Media Group (SMG) advises traditional brick and mortar retail shops to create an e-commerce site to automate sales.

“A business that spends thousands of dollars a month on traditional print advertising should start considering investing in their website as a powerful and effective alternative,” she says. “If you aren’t showing up when someone does a Google search, then you are non-existent to most of the populations that is getting more tech savvy each day.”

Even in a down economy, E-Geniuses reminds business owners that there are multiple ways to ensure that a company survives, and sometimes even grows. Innovation and technology are keys to productive growth for many.

For more information on E-Geniuses, please visit the website at www.e-geniuses.com or call 877-694-3648.

Media contact:
Joey Mariano
818-679-7338
egeniuses (at) gmail (dot) com

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