The following tech tip is provided by Patrick Cabral, Systems Engineer at Afinety. Patrick is also one of our trainers.
Virus-laden attachments and links to malware infected sites have been a long standing risk for email users. For those who use LinkedIn, fake emails can be sent with a Connect request. When the recipient clicks on the ‘Connect’ link, they are redirected to another site and malware is installed onto the computer.
The best practice for dealing with LinkedIn requests delete the email request that you received and log into your LinkedIn account to accept the Connect requests.
For further information concerning fraudulent email and LinkedIn, please refer to the LinkedIn Help Center:
http://linkd.in/1do2Kzs
Email Attachments/Links Best Practices Reminder:
Never open attachments or click on links in emails from people that you do not know.
Be suspicious of attachments or links from people that you do know if you weren’t expecting the attachment or link.
If you are suspicious of any email, contact your administrator who can escalate your question to Afinety.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Afinety Team Member Spotlight: Tara Todd, Service Coordinator
Tara moved to Chatsworth from Orange County and lives with her loving husband, Kaipo and puppy, Kyler. Her relationship with computers and technology initially stemmed from her husband's expertise, as well as her desire to learn.
Prior to Afinety, Tara worked as an executive assistant for an interior design corporation. She was drawn to Afinety's technology driven business.
In her spare time, Tara is an artist by hobby and also enjoys an ice cold Mai Thai on a hot day. She also loves a good book, diving into the pool, studying art and working on her many projects.
Tara's role at Afinety includes providing day to day interaction with clients to help resolve issues, and answering questions in a timely fashion. Among other tasks, she also coordinates with the sales team for the purchase of hardware, software, licenses, installation, and scheduling.
Tara mentioned that her main focus is to ensure great customer service for all Afinety clients!
Welcome Tara!
Outstanding Client of the Quarter: Lanak & Hanna, PC
Fall, 2013
Every quarter, Afinety selects a client to name as the “Outstanding Client of the Quarter.” This quarter we would like to recognize Lanak & Hanna. The firm will receive a catered lunch delivered to their Orange office, along with our thanks and admiration.
All of our clients are special to us and the relationships we form with them are very much a partnership. The Outstanding Client of the Quarter is selected for their professionalism as well as the benefits they receive from Afinety’s unique standardization and planned refresh approach. A professional firm like Lanak & Hanna requires a professional computer system and this becomes part of their own clients’ perception of the firm.
We caught up with Chief Administrative Officer, Lauren Carrier, who has been with the firm for over five years.
Every quarter, Afinety selects a client to name as the “Outstanding Client of the Quarter.” This quarter we would like to recognize Lanak & Hanna. The firm will receive a catered lunch delivered to their Orange office, along with our thanks and admiration.
All of our clients are special to us and the relationships we form with them are very much a partnership. The Outstanding Client of the Quarter is selected for their professionalism as well as the benefits they receive from Afinety’s unique standardization and planned refresh approach. A professional firm like Lanak & Hanna requires a professional computer system and this becomes part of their own clients’ perception of the firm.
We caught up with Chief Administrative Officer, Lauren Carrier, who has been with the firm for over five years.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Afinety Gets Social! Check Out Our Facebook Page & Twitter Feed!
Check out Afinety's new Facebook page and Twitter Feed! Stay in touch with what's going on with Afinety and get the inside track on IT trends, technology news, upcoming events, support alerts, and other key information and news you can really use - and enjoy!
See you online! Coming in July: a whole new website with great new features and online resources! Stay tuned!
So start planning for the future. You may find that your new system costs so much less to maintain than your old one that you end up saving money overall by upgrading.
Outstanding Client of the Quarter: Lewitt Hackman Shapiro Marshall & Harlan, A Law Corporation - Summer 2013
All of our clients are special to us and the relationships we form with them are very much a partnership. The Outstanding Client of the Quarter is selected for its professionalism as well as the benefits it receives from Afinety’s unique standardization and planned refresh approach. A law firm like Lewitt Hackman requires a professional-grade computer system and this becomes part of its clients’ perception of the firm.
We sat down with Firm Administrator, Darlene Heller, who has been with the firm for 25 years.
“Afinety has been our saving grace for many years,” explained Darlene. “Everyone is terrific and I enjoy working with the entire team.”
Afinety Team Member Spotlight: Shawn O'Connor, Consulting Engineer
Prior to Afinety, he worked as an IT Manager for a large corporation and provided support for their national team of sales reps in addition to maintaining the firm's network. Shawn mentioned that this experience was a good stepping stone in his career path.
Shawn lives in Pacoima with his wife, 2-year old son, his in-laws and 3 dogs. In his free time, Shawn enjoys fishing, working on cars, and programming. He is a movie fanatic, and also loves to watch marathons of shows, like "Breaking Bad" and "Arrested Development," to name a few.
Being the techie that he is, Shawn is big on gadgets and enjoys keeping up with the latest products and improvements.
Shawn's role at Afinety includes providing network health assessments. He also works in conjunction with the engineering and sales teams to provide recommendations for various solutions for our clients.
Welcome Shawn!
Windows XP Pro – Going to a Retirement Home Soon!
By Doug Hafford
Many of you have probably read or heard that the venerable Windows XP operating system is being retired next year. We are in fact less than one year away from that event. Considered revolutionary in its time, XP was released worldwide for retail sale on October 25, 2001. It’s hard to imagine ANY technology lasting for over 13 years in today’s fast changing environment but XP will have done that and more before its final bell is rung.
What does retirement mean to you? It means that Windows XP Pro will no longer receive any sort of updates or support from Microsoft. Those crazy folks out there who create malware to vex the rest of us honest business people will have a field day. If you have ever examined the list of patches on a Windows XP computer it is nothing short of massive. This is because of the far different environment we live in today vs. 2001 when this version of Windows was created. Microsoft has been hard pressed to close all the holes in this operating system as it ages and when they stop, the result will be quick and possibly brutal.
What does retirement mean to you? It means that Windows XP Pro will no longer receive any sort of updates or support from Microsoft. Those crazy folks out there who create malware to vex the rest of us honest business people will have a field day. If you have ever examined the list of patches on a Windows XP computer it is nothing short of massive. This is because of the far different environment we live in today vs. 2001 when this version of Windows was created. Microsoft has been hard pressed to close all the holes in this operating system as it ages and when they stop, the result will be quick and possibly brutal.
ALERT! Format Pleadings - Changes to Local Rule Amendments
Please note that General Order 625 contains the latest Local Rule
amendments effective February 8, 2013.
Among the changes are
revisions to Civil LR 5.1.a, Format of Pleadings, which now requires the use of
14 point standard font for printed text produced on a word processor or
computer; revisions to the Patent Local Rules; and changes to Criminal LR
57.2.1, Related Cases.
For more information,
please visit www.casd.uscourts.gov to view General Order 625
for a complete summary of all the rule changes for Southern
District Court.
If you'd like any
assistance with existing or new macros, please contact us.
TECH TIP: MS Word - Remove Metadata with Built-In Document Inspector
The following tech tip is provided by Patrick Cabral, Systems Engineer at Afinety. Patrick is also one of our trainers.
During our onsite training classes, our clients often ask about hidden data in documents and how to remove it. When you share an electronic copy of a Microsoft Word document with clients or colleagues, it is a good idea to review the document for hidden data or personal information that might be stored in the document itself or in the document properties. This hidden information, or metadata, can reveal details about your organization or about the document itself that you might not want to share publicly.
You can remove this this hidden information with a built in feature in Word 2007 and newer versions (2010 and 2013) called Document Inspector.
Click on the Office Button > Prepare > Inspect Document.
For more information on how this feature works, click on the below link:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/remove-hidden-data-and-personal-information-by-inspecting-documents-HA010354329.aspx?CTT=1.
For more information about scheduling a training class at your firm or via webinar, please contact us at sales@afinety.com
During our onsite training classes, our clients often ask about hidden data in documents and how to remove it. When you share an electronic copy of a Microsoft Word document with clients or colleagues, it is a good idea to review the document for hidden data or personal information that might be stored in the document itself or in the document properties. This hidden information, or metadata, can reveal details about your organization or about the document itself that you might not want to share publicly.
You can remove this this hidden information with a built in feature in Word 2007 and newer versions (2010 and 2013) called Document Inspector.
Click on the Office Button > Prepare > Inspect Document.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/remove-hidden-data-and-personal-information-by-inspecting-documents-HA010354329.aspx?CTT=1.
For more information about scheduling a training class at your firm or via webinar, please contact us at sales@afinety.com
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Partner Corner: CAPROS
Afinety regularly joins
forces with other professionals in the legal industry to help deliver the best
possible IT services to our clients. The company we keep - our partners - help
to make that happen.
One partner we're honored to
work with is CAPROS. Consisting of the combined chapters of the SoCalPROS and
NorCalPROS, CAPROS is a group of professionals representing highly respected
service and product providers. Their outstanding reputations, level of
commitment to their clients, and diversified expertise make them a unique
professional organization and a respected resource center for businesses
throughout the state. Afinety is a proud member of both SoCalPROS and
NorCalPROS. This provides us with a deep referral base for the finest
professional services that California has to offer.
We realize that efficiency
is the highest priority for any business. CAPROS provide experts who reduce the
administrative costs for our clients' firms while increasing productivity at the
same time.
To learn more about CAPROS or how they can help you to reduce costs while tapping
into one of the most respected resource centers for business in California,
contact Angie Moskalenko at 877.423.4638, or visit www.gocapros.com.
TECH TIP: How to Recover Text from Any File
The following tech tip is from the MS Knowledge Base and provided by Patrick Cabral, Systems Engineer at Afinety. Patrick is also one of our trainers. This is a very useful tool if your document is corrupt.
The "Recover Text from Any File" converter has its limitations. Document formatting is lost, along with anything that is not formatted as text. Graphics, fields, drawing objects, and so on are not converted. However, headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, and field text are retained as simple text. You are able to recover the information even if your document is damaged. Please see the following instructions:
The MS Word "Recover Text from Any File" converter allows you to extract the text from any file, whether it’s a Word or non-Word document.
The "Recover Text from Any File" converter has its limitations. Document formatting is lost, along with anything that is not formatted as text. Graphics, fields, drawing objects, and so on are not converted. However, headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, and field text are retained as simple text. You are able to recover the information even if your document is damaged. Please see the following instructions:
Client of the Quarter: Gorelick & Uslaner, CPAs
Winter/Spring 2013
Each quarter, Afinety selects a
firm to name as the "Outstanding Client of the Quarter." This quarter we would
like to recognize Gorelick & Uslaner, CPAs. The firm will receive a catered
lunch delivered to its Los Angeles office, along with our thanks and
admiration.
All of our clients are special to
us and the relationships we form with them are very much a partnership. The
Outstanding Client of the Quarter is selected for its professionalism as well as
the benefits it receives from Afinety's unique standardization and planned
refresh approach. A CPA firm like Gorelick & Uslaner requires a
professional-grade computer system and this becomes part of its clients'
perception of the firm.
We caught up with owner and
shareholder, Bill Osborn, who has been with the firm for 19 years. "I have been with Afinety from
the ground up as the firm's accountant," explained Bill. "When our network
needed an upgrade, it was only natural that we speak to Afinety." The firm is currently on their third generation of Afinety networks. “We have been very happy with the stability of our system and will likely move onto generation 4 sometime in 2013 or 2014.”
Thursday, January 10, 2013
IT Decisions: What NOT to do
By Doug Hafford
A lot of the articles published in this space deal with various new technologies, law firm specific IT needs and in general, individual solutions. This is almost always very good information for an administrator, however, it does not cover the other side of the equation – What not to do. Our firm provides network assessments every week for Southern California law firms and we see the same common mistakes over and over. This article is devoted to how to avoid common mistakes, why you should avoid them and some suggestions for better solutions.
Before we dive into some of the scenarios below, we should start with a very basic premise. There are only two factors of importance in a law firm computer system. The first is your users. A successful computer system allows the user to work all day, every day, without interruption at the full speed they are able to work. The second is software applications. A proper IT solution provides all of the applications needed by the users and allows them to produce high quality work in a fraction of the time spent by less efficient firms. All IT decisions should be driven by these two simple concepts.
Misconception #1: Any PC will do
It is not unusual to see law firms with 30 desktops of which there are 8 different models and sometimes 3 or more different operating systems. This makes a huge difference in the key areas of any law firm’s IT solution.
Before we dive into some of the scenarios below, we should start with a very basic premise. There are only two factors of importance in a law firm computer system. The first is your users. A successful computer system allows the user to work all day, every day, without interruption at the full speed they are able to work. The second is software applications. A proper IT solution provides all of the applications needed by the users and allows them to produce high quality work in a fraction of the time spent by less efficient firms. All IT decisions should be driven by these two simple concepts.
Misconception #1: Any PC will do
It is not unusual to see law firms with 30 desktops of which there are 8 different models and sometimes 3 or more different operating systems. This makes a huge difference in the key areas of any law firm’s IT solution.
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