Source: PRlog (Press Release Distribution)

Alan D. Crowetz the CEO of InfoStream, Inc. located in West Palm Beach, Florida has been invited to join the Rinker School of Buiness Advisory Board at Palm Beach Atlantic University.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Dec 01, 2011 -
Alan D. Crowetz the CEO of InfoStream, Inc. located in West Palm Beach, Florida has been invited to join the Rinker School of Buiness Advisory Board at Palm Beach Atlantic University.

The Rinker School of Business Advisory Board responds to needs and issues, identifies opportunities and resources to improve and create a positive environment for development and change. The Advisory Board is Palm Beach Atlantic University’s primary link to the regional business community.

Read more…

Want to see how computer literate you are (or aren’t!)… Take our very first version of our InfoStream knowledge test.

InfoStream’s “Network Expert on Random Data” (I-NERD) Test version 0.94.01a is below. Why version 0.94.01a? No logical reason what so ever… it just proves our nerd prowess!

1. What does Ctrl-B do in many Windows programs? (1 point)

2. What do the following abbreviations stand for? (1 point for each of the following) RAM, IBM, LCD (2 points for each of the following) USB, CPU (3 points for each of the following) SCSI, LAN

3. Name TWO famous computer people (1 point each)

4. Get two points if you have ever done ANY of the following things: Used a floppy disk, owned a Commodore or TRS-80 computer, own a tablet computer, have used a DOS program, have internet access on your TV, or have used voice recognition on your cell phone.

5. Can you name 5 computer programs in 1 minute? (1 point each)

6. Where would you find a pixel? (1 point)

7. If you know how to delete your cookies add 1 point

8. Have you ever solved a computer issue for someone else (if yes, take 2 points)

9. Have you ever found the answer to a computer problem on Google? (2 points if you have)

10. What is an IP address? (1 point if even close)

Scoring:

More then 20: Oh yeah… you know you’re a NERD!
13 – 20: Almost there… run out and go buy a pocket protector… quick!
6 – 20: This likely means you have hit a computer before or at least cursed at one!
Under 6: These new fangled computer things %*(!~#(%&*!!!

Thanks for taking the test!

Answers: 1. It bolds what is highlighted, 2. Random Access Memory, International Business Machines, Liquid Chrystal Display, Universal Serial Bus, Central Processing Unit, Small Computer System Interface, Local Area Network, 3. Just some examples: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Scott McNeally, Charles Babbage, Michael Dell, Alan Crowetz (ok, not really, just checking if you are awake) 5. Just look under your start menu 6. On your monitor, its an individual dot of light 10. It’s a number that identifies your computers “address” like a phone number on a network on the internet.

Here’s a scenarios most of us have faced. Somebody has asked a question about their computer, about how a specific file should be formatted, or how to configure a setting on the OS. You are in a different location, and you would be able to help them if only you could see their screen. There are several options available to you (Go2MyPC, LogMeIn, VNC), but most solutions require a lot of initial setup in order to function by somebody with a lot of technical knowledge.

For this sort of unplanned remote access, there is a website that has done all of that prep work for you, and is offering it free of charge. This website is http://join.me . It’s a little different than most websites, you’ll notice it doesn’t start with www or end with .com. Just have people on each computer go to this website.

Once at the website, have the person whose screen you want to see to click on the “Share” button. They’ll need to download and run a file that that button prompts them to access. Once it runs, a small window will appear at the top of the screen with a 9 digit number. You can then type in that 9-digit number into the “Join” box and click the “Join” button. The two computers will sync up and you will soon be able to see and control the Sharer’s computer. Once you have finished sharing the computer, just close the join.me window at the top of the Sharer’s computer and the applet will uninstall itself.

A lot of people question how something this useful can actually be free. Where’s the catch? That’s one of the phrases I use to analyze if something is useful or a spyware download. Here’s how it works. Join.me is a subdivision of LogMeIn. They are using this simplified version to advertise a more powerful version of the same software. The Pro version includes extra features like being able to switch which computer is being looked at without disconnecting and reconnecting, and also allows up to 250 computers to connect to the Sharing computer for large scale demonstrations.

That can get a little more complicated, but for the basic one to one computer screen sharing, join.me provides a quick, simple access even though no preparation was setup before hand.

Every computer on a typical network is assigned a unique series of numbers specific to that network that identifies it separately from all other computers and devices (printers, routers, switches) on that same network. This is also true of anything connected to Internet as well. This series of numbers is referred to as the IP address. IP stands for Internet Protocol.

Every computer and server on the Internet can be reached through its IP address, whether you are trying to get to a website hosted on it, or sending email to a mailbox stored on it, or even connecting to it to work interactively with a remote desktop or application.

I can hear your first comment already: “But I’ve never typed in a number to get to a website.”, “I type in a domain name, not a number, to send email to somebody!”. Because people tend to remember names much easier than numbers, another system was setup to make using these numbers, DNS. DNS acts much like a phone book for computers, matching domain names to IP addresses the way a phone book matches people’s names to phone numbers. This system works so smoothly that for most scenarios you don’t even need to know that IP addresses exist.

However, many home networks don’t get a DNS entry setup, as their IP address changes on a regular basis. This isn’t normally a bad thing, but it does make it trickier to find out what IP address you are using to get to the Internet. In the unusual case where you need to find out what your IP address is, there are actually a few websites you can visit that will tell you what your IP address is for you.

Www.whatismyip.com gives you your IP address and also provides more information about IP addresses in general and DNS.

Www.ipaddress.com will show you your IP address and some more information about your connect as well.

It isn’t often that you need to worry about what IP address you are using to connect to the Internet, but when you need it, these websites make it simple to find out.

One of our greatest advertisements is your satisfaction. If you are happy with our service, we would love it if you would tell others about us. (If you are not happy with us, please tell US). With that in mind, let me tell you about our new promotion.

If you refer a new contact to us, and we provide them 5 hours of service, we will give you $200.00! That’s right, any new client you send our way is worth money in your pocket. But wait, there’s more! If that same referral uses InfoStream for 300 minutes, we’ll still give you $200.00! So whether it’s 5 hours OR 300 minutes, you get the $200.00. Still not enough? Well, OK, but only because we like you…if that contact gives InfoStream 18,000 seconds of ….. well, you get the picture.

Please tell your friends and colleagues about us and we will provide the same excellent service to them that we have provided for you.

Would you like an hour of free computer support? Maybe you have some minor computer issues you need cleaned up, or just want to learn some new tricks for your computer, or even a tune up and speed up of that computer. It could be a training-planning seminar or a review and maintenance of your software. Or if you have something else in mind, let us know and we’ll take care of it.

Now, how do you get this free hour?

InfoStream is looking for a little help from you. If you have a website, we’re asking for you to add in a link that points back to your excellent IT support company. It could be a link to our main page, or a direct link to our newsletter sign-up page, or even a link to our blog. The newsletter and blog both provide current articles by InfoStream staff and additional articles from across the country on a wide range of topics, some technical, and some informational. We do request that the link be on your website, and not in a blog post.

If you decide to set that link up, let us know! Send one of us an email with the link, and we’ll give you that hour of free help on anything you want.

So give your web designer a call.

And then give us a call!

Here’s a little challenge to stimulate the brain cells. The following quotes are from various movies. To give you a little help, we’ve given you the year of the movie’s release. They all have something to do with computers and technology. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to identify both the name of the movie, and the person who said the line.

The answers will be at the bottom of the newsletter.

1. “You’re in trouble, program. Why don’t you make it easy on yourself? Who’s your user?” (1982)
   
2. “Greetings Professer Falken, Would you like to play a game?” (1983)
   
3. “I’m Sorry Dave, I can’t do that.” (1968)
   
4. “Never send a human to do a machine’s job.” (1999)
   
5. “R2-D2, You know better than to trust a strange computer.” (1980)
   
6. “He got me invested in some kinda fruit company.” (1994)
   
7. “No, I’m from Iowa; I only work in Outer Space” (1986)
   
8. “Look, you are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you’re gonna go through life thinking that girls don’t like you because you’re a nerd.” (2010)
   
9. “I asked for a car, I got a computer. How’s that for being born under a bad sign?” (1986)
   
10. “Caution: Rogue robots. Caution…” (2008)
    
11. “I don’t know how to work this!” (referring to an iPhone) (2008)
    
12. “Sir, they hacked a firewall in more than ten seconds! Even with a brute force attack, a supercomputer would have to take twenty years to do that!” (2007)
    
13. “COMPUTER DO SOMETHING!” (2005)

===============ANSWERS ARE BELOW HERE================

Speaker                                             Movie

1. Master Control Program                       Tron
2. WOPR                                                   WarGames
3. HAL 9000                                             2001: A Space Odyssey
4. Agent Smith                                         The Matrix
5. C-3PO                                                  Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
6. Forrest Gump                                       Forrest Gump
7. Captain James T. Kirk                           Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
8. Erica Albright                                       Social Network
9. Ferris Beuller                                        Ferris Beuller
10. Ship’s Computer                                  Wall-E
11. Carrie Bradshaw                                  Sex and the City
12. Maggie Magsden                                 Transformers
13. Arthur Dent                                         Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Are you serious?

YES! Join Team Infostream for the Warrior Dash!

There is still time for you to join us for a crazy day. All you need to do is head over to our website at and sign up. After you’ve joined the team, then you can head to the Warrior dash website at and sign up for the race. The race is on December 3rd at the South Florida Location. We are trying to get the entire team on the 10:30 wave, so sign up early to make sure you get a spot!

Come on out and join the fun.

So, you’ve had your computer for a few years and it is time to get rid of it. The problem is that you’ve had it so long, you don’t even remember what kind of information is on it anymore. Or, you know you’ve got data on that computer that you don’t want anybody else to see. The answer to your problem is a program called Boot and Nuke, usually referred to as DBAN.

DBAN is a downloadable file that is then extracted directly onto a CD or DVD. You can boot any working computer from this disk and, by following the prompts, COMPLETELY erase the entire hard drive. This is different from your standard Windows deletions, that only erase the initial portion of a file. Windows methods are quick, allow you to reuse the space on your hard drive, but leave the data there until the computer reuses those sections of the hard drive. DBAN doesn’t take any shortcuts. It not only deletes all portions of the file, but also writes random information across the disk to prevent recovery attempts. This can take several hours to perform, but the good news is you don’t have to sit and watch it.

Best of all, DBAN is a free program that you can download from www.dban.org. You just need to have an empty CD to burn it to!

Of course, if you would like any help getting this program, we’d be glad to help.

Does this sound like you? You’ve got a new computer and are getting weird pop up software running every time you boot your computer. OR You’ve had your computer for a while and now have 6 different toolbars when you open up Internet Explorer. You’re screaming fast computer takes forever to open up any program. If so, then here’s a program that might help with general clean-up, and speed up.

PCDecrapifier is a free, downloadable program that will identify a lot of unnecessary “crap” software on your computer and provide options to uninstall or keep the software you need. Be sure to review the list and un-check any software you actually want to keep on the list. It will find software that MOST people don’t want, but everybody is different.

Head over to http://pcdecrapifier.com/ to read more about it, or to download it.

If you need any assistance, feel free to send us an email.