Web Design & Development

Data Recovery - when Hard Drives Crash

Maybe you've heard this...your hard drive dies and the solution is to freeze it for awhile and then it will supposedly work long enough to get important data off it...well - don't do it.

Freezing a stuck hard drive should be the last trick you try-because it will be the last trick you try. As the drive warms, moisture will condense inside it and after 15-30 minutes the drive will be likely irreparably damaged no matter what state it was in before it hit the freezer.

If you do decide to try this, put the drive in a freezer bag before putting it in the freezer to minimize condensation. Leave it overnight. In the morning, boot off of another drive and be ready to start getting the data you most want off the drive off the moment it spins up. Only then take the drive out of the freezer and try to spin it up.

But first before doing anything that drastic, try the following. Twist the drive vigorously in the plane of rotation of the platters. If this fails, give a series of increasingly vigorous glancing taps on one of the "short" edges of the drive with a wooden or, better, rubber mallet (think freeing a stuck jar lid). These solve the most common problem, stuck heads, by freeing them mechanically. If it works, you should still back up the drive immediately, but you have a much longer window to do so. If it doesn't', install the drive in a different bay or machine to solve the less common problem that the power supply or connector is bad.

If you want to try something else first, and the drive is still someone useable....a freeware data recovery software available: http://www.smartpctools.com/data_recovery/

If you are moving to a new computer from an old computer - computerwiz.biz can assist you with moving all your data so you lose nothing.  Contact us for details on our available computer services ....- we do repairs, upgrades, tutoring, data backup and moving, virus and spy ware removal among other things....

Longer Wi-Fi Reach

If your home Wi-Fi router doesn't reach the other end of the house, don't rush out to buy more wireless gear to stretch your network. Instead, build a six-inch-high passive radio wave reflector from kitchen items, like an aluminum cookie sheet.

Follow the instructions at freeantennas.com/projects/template. Place the completed reflector - a small, curved piece of metal that reflects radio waves just like a satellite TV dish - behind your Wi-Fi router. It focuses the router's energy in one direction - toward the other end of the house - rather than letting it dissipate its strength in a full circle. No cables, no batteries, no technical knowledge required. Yet it can easily double the range of your network.

Dirty DVDs

You need to clean a skipping DVD or CD, but don't have any cleaning fluids? Soak a washcloth with vodka or mouthwash.

Credit Card Reader

Credit card reader not picking up a worn card?  Put a single thickness of black trash bag plastic over it and try swiping the card again.  It works - but nobody knows why.

Pet Email Lists

Email lists are a great way to stay in touch with people with common interests. Yahoo has the largest number of groups to join and you can browse their index to find something that works for you.  They have lists for:

blinddogs   epilepsy    gimpydogs  small_dogs 

have_senior_dogs   DisabledDogs  bigpawsonly 

  MIdogeventinfo  Deaf-Canines-Network     pet-law 

DogSeminars  RabbitVet  Goats_101   BIRDS    

fortheloveofcats    WholeCatHealth 

and thousands more...(and not necessarily only about pets)...all you need is to sign up for a Yahoo ID and decide if you want to get emails individually or as a digest (grouped together).  Warning - some lists are quite popular and can fill your in box in no time...

Don't forget - even if you don't need a website yourself, you can refer a friend! Earn up to $100 cash for each referral that becomes a new customer. Register Here 

It doesn't matter where you or your friend is located, we can work with clients wherever they are -  by email, phone and fax. We are in Michigan, and have satisfied customers worldwide. We accept cash, check, Paypal and most credit cards.Visit our website at http://c-omalley.com.

Tips for Choosing the Best Web Designer

Finding a web designer is a daunting task.  Sometimes the best person for the job is not in your neighborhood.  It also means finding someone that can do more than make your site pretty and put it on the web. It's foolish to leave something so important as your business in the hands of an amateur.  Make sure your web designer can:

• Create a site that entices visitors to convert from information seekers to paying customers
• Generate a stream of online and offline leads
• Show you what functions of your business can be automated to save you dollars
• Show you how you might capture information and how to utilize it for easy access and follow up
• Show you how to make more sales with your existing customers
• Help you set up marketing campaigns that get real results and build customer loyalty
• Help you use marketing with email ethically and effectively
• Won't make you wait days for changes that take minutes just to feel important
• Will give you control over your own site - whether it be through having the passwords, content management, or just knowing that person will be available to you in a site emergency

Of course, you must trust and listen to that person as well. If it's not someone you can trust, you shouldn't be dealing with them anyway. The caliber of the web designer is not dependent on the price paid (or not paid) and you are not likely to get true expertise for pennies.  The integrity of the individual doing the work and their knowledge of many aspects of website development - from design to programming to search engine "stuff" to dealing with people in a friendly and comfortable manner is very important. If they are willing to explain in words you understand, and take the time to make sure you DO understand - not talk down to you or try and baffle you with BS...you've found your webmaster....

Only a couple of weeks left for the fantastic $250 website offer that INCLUDES a FREE year of hosting and domain. 

1. Intro Page with custom designed masthead - basic info about your business & navigation
2. Pdf page* - Example: About me page
3. Pdf page* - Example: Price/Product Page
4. Pdf page* - Example: Whatever else you need to say
5. Popup page - Example: Map, hours, directions
6. Album page with 4 thumbnails ( Example: showing products or your facility) & some describing text
7. Album linked full size photo page (and small amount of text) Example: Product A with description
8 Album full size photo page (and small amount of text) Example: Product B with description
9. Album full size photo page (and small amount of text) Example: Product C with description
10. Album full size photo page (and small amount of text) Example: Product D with description
*Pdf pages are provided to us in final proofed Word format.

Instead of product descriptions you can do before/after photos, photos of your facility; staff photos - the possibilities are endless.  This is just an example of how you can STRETCH your website dollars and get an affordable, professional first website that can expand as you grow.  Exchange the above features for other features such as a Paypal payment button, Sound, Contact form and more.  Don't delay - this offer ends June 30th...then it's gone forever....snooze you lose!  Get more information about the Webonomic Stimulus Package here.

Just like with any other website or blog, just because you build it, doesn't necessarily mean people will come. You should have a marketing plan in place to acquire new followers.

Elements of a Twitter marketing plan:

• Email signature: You probably already place your blog or website URL and contact information in your email signature, so why not add your Twitter handle? It's free promotion and every email you send can turn into a new follower.
• Personal/corporate website: If you already have a website for you and/or your company, then you have a platform on which you can promote your Twitter address to people who will probably be interested in following you.
• Blog homepage + posts: Your blog is a great place to promote your Twitter account because most people who read blogs know what Twitter is. You should take a two pronged approach. First, put your Twitter address in one of your sidebars and second, promote it discretely in posts every once in a while.
• Email newsletter: If you have an email newsletter, you can write about Twitter and link to your profile or put it at the bottom of your template, so that each email has a link to your account.
• Presentations: Do you do any public speaking? Why not include your Twitter account on the last slide of your presentation and tell people that they can follow you on Twitter?
• Business Card: Try including your Twitter handle on your business card.  
• Article writing / guest blog posting: Whenever you write an article for a magazine, news website or guest post on a blog, try to include your Twitter handle in your byline.
• Networking on Twitter: By using the '@' symbol and either retweeting or communicating with other people, you'll have some of them responding to you, thus promoting your Twitter account to many of their followers.
• Promotional products: Some people take Twitter promotion to the next level - Twitter T-Shirts with your handle, Twitter bumper stickers, the list is endless

Just like with any social network or blog, the more people who follow you, the easier it is to grow your already existing community. Retweets and following other people are two essential ways to get new followers. However, content is king on Twitter, so it is vital to make sure you produce consistent, quality tweets.

The Power of the Internet

It's interesting how "the Internet" has come to be a singularly collective, authoritative entity. At a meeting yesterday, a woman said, "the Internet said I-696 was backed up for miles."

"The Internet" said it. It seems these days many people regard "the Internet" as the go-to, authoritative information source, without any thought to the individual sources making it up. It's as though "the Internet" speaks with one voice rather than a discordant symphony of infinite voices possibly knowing, but just as likely to be wrong.

These days, if you want to be an expert on ANYTHING, you get on the Internet and blog.  As a business, there is nothing more frustrating than seeing and knowing some of the information out there is bogus and quite possibly harmful to your customers. That's why it behooves anyone that really is an expert, and values his customers, to get out there and make your point as well.  As a true expert,, with information that actually seems to work, you will be found in the wilderness.  You can shake up your little portion of the world with information - good information.. If your message is useful, different, or unusual or unique, the masses will follow your every word with baited breath. Who wouldn't want that kind of following... you were a carpet cleaner, or used car salesman or just about any business.

Entrenched power and money structures need predictability and control if they are to continue to succeed. And that makes the Internet a problem for them, not for the rest of us.  The big guys are out there disseminating information because they HAVE to...the little guys because they can. The problem is you can't always tell the little guys from the big guys and that presents problems - for the big guys.  Mainly because the little guys have the same (or better information) to share and aren't bogged down with controlling committees and the need to be 100% politically correct.  The ever-increasing desire of the few is to control what has become the masses' medium of choice. Governments, ISPs, Entertainment, Newspapers, and Others want this new Wild West reformed into something orderly, something controlled, something (immensely) profitable.  In other words, they want you silent and intimidated, afraid of the Internet, afraid to have your voice heard.

Therefore it's important you get your message out.   So YOU can be the "I heard it on the Internet".  It will drive customers to you as the "authority", and you'll even be doing something slightly subversive keeping the channels of communication and freedom of speech alive....Possibly making your bigger competitors look small and unknowledgeable by comparison.... and you know they hate that.