Everything about identity creation leads back to a logo. We do not think about it’s importance and many take a logo for granted. My last logo was created by JAC out of Marion IL a very long time ago. It was a great design and has served very well. Impressive work. During these many years […]

Revised 6/14/22 Website clients need to represent themselves to the world by displaying what they do in a clear concise manner that is kind on the eyes. It should present well on a phone, tablet and computer. It must be secure, easy to read, simple to navigate, and offer easy methods for the visitor to […]

Online CRIMINAL activity? What is going on these days with spam, email and social media profile hijacking? Why is this such a thing? For a business this is a big deal! I keep mentioning haveibeenpwnd.com. This is a database of companies and customers of companies that were compromised. Put your email in to see if […]

US Mobile is quite possibly a cell phone provider you should avoid. In this post I will share the debacle I have experienced in seeking better phone service as I sought to move away from Straight Talk Wireless. US Mobile felt it was more profitable to charge me a restocking fee and use up hours […]

UPDATE 8/12/22 The store is up and running with nice looking emails bearing the logo and QR code. Invoices and Receipts also bear these. I am very happy to get this completed. Now I will be touching base with suppliers and updating products. I have a good system in place but the weak part is […]

A lot of time goes into the little things. Yesterday I discovered that the voicemail was not working correctly. I have that remedied. Half the voicemail was going where it should. The rest was going into the ether to seemingly be lost forever and hidden. It is one of those subtle issues. Someone would say, […]

Just love getting out and seeing the sky.

I have been waiting for a nice break in the weather. Now, I cant help the dents and paint issues at the moment. Here is what it might look like on a really good day. Here is a look at the sign mock up.

I do not need any power cords from you most times unless you have a laptop or device that has a cord with a power brick / dc power converter inside of it.

Windows 11 has simplified your desktop operating environment giving you less control over windows updates choices and delivery, and control over privacy settings. By default they turn everything on and try to get you to accept cloud services that you may not need. They have programs they include as defaults in the home and pro […]

There was all that madness around passwords. Remember? We all use them to access our computers, network resources, social accounts, banks, and various other sites we are tied into. Some used strong passwords and others did not. Lots of trust was lost when several organizations were hacked and the credentials you use were compromised. Yep. […]

A few years ago I was reviewing Trend Micro’s antivirus platform. One of the great features of that platform was a social media privacy sweep. I thought that was great because it looked to see if the general public outside of those we choose as friends could see our personal information of various types. The […]

Windows 10 a great platform that is designed to push marketing to the user of the operating system. If you are into cloud applications for your files, email, calendar, contacts and other things you will find it is built in. These options are nearly impossible to avoid. EG. I can use automated tools to clean […]

Well. Not a lot looks different here. But on the back end of things we have a new operating system, and current versions of IIS 10, sql, mysql, perl, and PHP.

Chip technology is a passive circuit in a card. It waits to be energized by a signal generated by the pinpad or payment device. Similarly this technology applies with the tap and pay. When the circuit is energized it transmits a response with all of your payment information. Criminal hackers will roam around carrying equipment […]

Check out these reactions coming from school age children.

This is a good read. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/infiltrating-networks-easier-than-ever-due-to-evil-markets/

I moved my private office to Marion. I am enjoying the new space. Marion appears to have more reliable internet, water, power, roads and is right by the interstate. Already it has been a busy year with a HP aio, wiring job at a school, and a few smaller calls for printers and of upgrades. […]

This year has been big. The attackers are gaining access email accounts and collecting information on what you prefer to look at, purchase, and do. They are not stealing credit card information. Instead, they get a very good idea about who you are, who you email, and what about. Then they deliver a message that […]

Time to make some changes. Http://www.firstbaptustcarterville.org is going to receive a face lift. I intend on moving it into a worpress format using a reactive template. This means that the same page content will display and conform to any screen on any device. The update is badly needed. The only drawback to the change is […]

  Albert Einstein: “Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid. Human beings are incredibly slow, inaccurate, and brilliant. Together they are powerful beyond imagination. ” See it from my point of view.  Who can’t love something like this?  Love what you do, never work a day in your life.

I decided to go ahead and change the website template again. Recently I mentioned that I added a mobile interface. That was not a lot of work and it was just an adjustment to keep the site functioning.  People are doing way more on their phones these days. I wanted the main website to work […]

Yesterday I picked up a system with a bad hard drive at 6pm just after it was called in. It was fixed and delivered today by 5pm with an incremental backup system.  I also have a website preview done for an important customer.  I am also planning two more websites. I am so excited to […]

Staying on top of security is not good enough these days. Phishing, deceptive online marketing, and social engineering attacks are on the rise. Protect yourselves. Keep all of your devices patched and current, make sure you have antivirus and verify that it is updating. Get a backup routine in place. Review your social network account(s) […]

I spent about 2 hours and easily made my site mobile compliant. A little tweaking is still needed on the menu for the mobile site. I want to spend some time and make that more reactive. This is another big win. I learned that google is now basing some of its search rankings based upon your […]

Our Microsoft trial of server 2016 Beta 2 has ended. Initially we were lead to believe it was an unlimited license by the Microsoft website classification of the beta product and were excited to get moving. After two or three days of configuration a year a go we migrated everything from our trusty server 2003 […]

[SMTP Error] 554 5.7.1 Blocked IP-Country XX (YYYYY UNICOM ZZZZZZZ) . Previously I picked on one area of the world and decided to retract this because in all reality, spam comes from everywhere including inside the US. It’s like mold or cancer. It moves around and spreads. But now there is a cure. I am […]

I am wishing everyone a happy healthy holiday season from my family to yours. God bless you, Buh ti žehnej, Gud velsign dig, God zegen u, Jumala siunaa, Dieu vous bénit, Gott segnen sie, Allah ya sa muku albarka, Isten áldjon, Dio la benedice, Gud velsign deg, Bóg blogoslawil pan, O deus abençoa, Dumnezeu sa […]

I believe everyone would prefer to save their money if at all possible. Rent based services and products are not smart investments. Examples I can think of are Office 365, web hosting, password vaults, antivirus, virtual fax systems, accounting systems… The list goes on. Over time your expense continues to increase.  If at all possible […]

Did you drop your device and break the screen? We will fix that for you charging only the cost for components and 1 hour of labor. Most phones cost over $400 when you buy them new. Some used are easily close to that figure. The repairs can be done for between $100 – $250 depending on your device because. The price […]

The Edge browser is from Microsoft for windows 10 and server 2016. They advertise that it is more secure and that it has improved performance. You can hit the blogs and learn that everyone is having the issues. But what if you do? If your edge browser gets compromised start by going to the top right and […]

Microsoft Edge is the lightweight browser integrated into windows 10 and the new server 2016 platforms. It is supposed to be fast and bulletproof right?  No. It can be compromised. I tested a few questionable search sites for non existent hardware drivers to see it would stand up or be hijacked. My test system was a […]

We have successfully moved to server 2016 and migrated our website and blog. There are more posts to come.  The mass of silence was due to a busy year and lots of changes. We look forward to a very active 2016. Your questions and comments are requested.

Make sure you do have antivirus and that it is up to date. Also verify you have a backup plan and that you have a current backup. There is a new virus out and it is Nasty. Besides stealing your information, it also encrypts your files. They ask you to pay to decrypt. That apparently […]

Pay less and get more for your dollar. We guarantee the work for 30 days. We come to your home or business at a time you choose. We look forward to helping you out! Set up an appointment today. Posted from WordPress for Android

Holidays come with a price. Don’t let your guard down. You need to protect yourself and your identity. Let’s start by keeping track of your personal documents. Try not to dismiss simple things like credit card offers and or bills. Don’t just throw them away. Shred or destroy them. In the wrong hands they can […]

I have maintained a lot of business this year all in the face of new and abounding opportunities for growth. It has been busy and exciting. For those of you I did help maybe I will hear back in a few years? It seems odd to say that. I have noticed that I don’t hear […]

Here is a link to an article about using unsecured wireless access points. I see it all the time. I just want everyone to have the facts. My opinion: Using unsecured wireless is dangerous. This article covers a few of the points I have in mind. http://www.ikeepsafe.org/privacy/the-scoop-on-using-unsecured-wireless-internet-connections/

  A new customer in Steeleville IL had a hard drive failure on an old dell system (volume not found). We went out and recovered everything he lost. It was a great experience and nice to meet someone new.

Get 1 hour of free service on any project that can be done remotely. To enter into the contest please visit our blog, click “Ask Questions”, and post your question. You will receive extra points for: 1. Really good stump the chump questions 2. Questions that contain good spelling and grammar 3. If your question […]

I have to hand it to UBUNTU for coming out with a decent operating environment. I am ever the pessimist but take it lightly. 1. When it finished installing the screen was dimmed all of the way off. 2. Had to run a bunch of terminal commands to edit 2 separate config files just so […]

All spam comes from some where.  If you have access to the servers logs you can identify exactly where. If you do not I can set you up so that you do.  The phrase, “Knowing is half the battle”, rings true here. Of the many subnets below 3 are from the US.  I can get more into […]

The actual definition of spam (electronic) by wikipedia: “Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately. While the most widely recognized form of spam is e-mail spam, the term is applied to similar abuses in other media: instant messaging spam, Usenet newsgroup spam, Web search engine spam, spam in […]

Spam is a huge issue these days and is fully intended to either plant a virus on your computer to get information (personal and financial) or to get you to click a link (known as phishing) to get your information. Here is a text example of such an email that was just reported to me.  […]

There is always something to fix and we are very good at it!  A lot of times these repairs can be avoided through the use of a good antivirus.  This year we will be using a new antivirus solution because it comes with 24/7 remote assistance and a “no repair” guarantee. Check out our facebook page to learn more! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Midnight-Tech-Inc/159564304159922  

Here’s an article you need to read.  Check out the link below and please take the appropriate steps to protect your kids and the computers they are using. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46006001/ns/technology_and_science-security/deck/msn

Kevin Mitnick  wrote the book, Ghost In the Wires. I purchased it in audio format and recently finished listening to it. He was very good at Social Engineering but ended up in prison for it. In his book he tells about how he used social engineering to hack telephone companies switchboards  and other systems to get what he […]

VM stands for Virtual Machine. It is really just software that runs inside another operating system to run another operating system(s). If you have a large amount of memory an hard drive space you can run several “virtual machines” simultaneously.  You are limited also by your operating system capabilities. For instance, a 32 bit OS […]

So I found a few comment entries on the blog being posted over the last few days that were spam. Go Figure. It appears that someone with international leverage of resources had found a way to get past the CAPTCHA and decided to pick on my server. So I have blocked those country subnets from […]

This says it best. Seriously – how hard is it to protect yourself with a password? Lets go one step further on the subject and ask how many user names do you really have? Bank, Email, Another Email, Your School, Your Job, Instant Messenger, and .. and .. and .. How many of them are the […]