Neglecting UpdatesTo look at your computer, you?d probably never guess that a war is waged every day over it. Yet software developers and hackers are locked in battle, working to improve their programs to thwart the others? in a digital arms race. While hackers work to create exploits for the vulnerabilities that a program may have, developers seek to improve protection of data and patch existing vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, while a hacker?s improvements are applied automatically, security improvements are released via updates, which require the user to activate. This means that if you have been neglecting your system updates, you have been leaving yourself vulnerable. Skipping the Terms and ConditionsWhile it may seem like a benign prospect, you could actually put yourself at risk by not reading the terms and conditions when prompted to accept them by a program you are trying to download and install. Try to resist the urge to click through before you?ve checked to see what you?re agreeing to. Oftentimes, these prompts will sneak in consent to have unwanted and unpleasant bloatware installed along with the program you intended to install. Before clicking ?Accept,? check with IT to be sure that everything is above board and secure. Not Accounting for Power FluctuationsWhile your computer relies on electricity in order to function, the relationship between your device and its energy source is far from perfect. If too much power is delivered (perhaps due to a lightning strike) you could find yourself dealing with the effects of a surge. These can damage hardware components and necessitate expensive repairs. Using a surge protector or an Uninterruptible Power Supply can help prevent these circumstances. In fact, a UPS will even sustain your devices for a few minutes if the power was to go out, allowing you to safely save and shutdown to avoid data loss. No BackupWe?ve said it before, and we?ll say it many more times: you need to have a backup solution in place to keep your business safe. As much as you may want to assume that a data loss event won?t darken your business? door, the chances of it happening are too great to ignore. By maintaining a comprehensive, cloud-based data backup solution, you give yourself the best chance of recovering your data whenever you need it. White Mountain IT Services can help keep you and your users from making too many mistakes, as well as assist you in bouncing back when errors are made. Call us at (603) 889-0800 for more information.

Some BackstoryBlack Friday was first established in the 1950s as a way to start the holiday shopping season off on a profitable note. In fact, Black Friday gets its name from its ability to bring stores and their annual profits out of the red and into the black. Cyber Monday, on the other hand, was born to encourage shoppers to use the new shopping capabilities to be found in ?cyberspace,? hence the name Cyber Monday. These sales often took place on Monday because, at this point, most personal users were still using dial-up Internet connections, while their offices had the faster connections. So Cyber Monday mainly got its start from workers who were doing their online shopping during work hours. These sales proved to be major money draws for online stores, so they made sure to make it as big of a deal, so to speak, as Black Friday. Nowadays, these two events have blended together somewhat. Black Friday?s sales can often be found online, as well as in-store. However, Cyber Monday will never make the move into brick-and-mortar establishments. Where (or When) The Best Deals are FoundOf course, there is no cut-and-dry answer to this question. There are many variables involved in finding the best deals for different items, and these factors change from year-to-year. Furthermore, if we only consider deals that take place on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we ignore another day that–at least last year–dominated, as far as the best deals are concerned: Thanksgiving Day itself. Turkey Day deals were the best of the three options in almost every category in electronics, computers, and beauty, were the best in half of the kinds of entertainment deals, and dominated home and garden purchases in all categories. Comparatively, Black Friday and Cyber Monday only managed to provide the ideal deals in, at most, one subset of each category. Sometimes, there was no competition, and Thanksgiving Day deals were just the best option. Notable exceptions were Android devices (Black Friday was the best time for these) and laptops (which were available for the best deals on Cyber Monday). Of course, since these are the results from last year, they may offer no valuable insights into this year?s tendencies at all. If you consider yourself a true bargain hunter, it may be wise to find an app that directs you to nearby deals or offers rewards for shopping and scanning your receipt. You also have to take into consideration the other, non-financial costs involved in each form of shopping during this time. For example, the convenience of Cyber Monday often offsets the slightly less-good deals that one may find. After all, isn?t it easier to order something in a few clicks to have it brought to your door than it would be to wait outside in the wee hours of the morning and fight your way through crowds of people, all for a difference of a few dollars? And to the same point, is the difference of a few dollars worth sacrificing the quality time a holiday can bring to scramble around a store? So, to answer the question of when is the best day to find a great deal on holiday gifts (and maybe a little something for yourself): it all depends, so you?ll have to do a bit […]

Holidays are the perfect chance for hackers to take advantage of unsuspecting consumers, which means that you need to take extra precaution when doing your holiday shopping. Just a few short years ago, Target suffered a massive data breach around the holiday season that exposed countless users? personal and financial information, putting the exposed people in peril and ruining many a holiday season. We?ll walk you through some tips about how to be careful both in-store and online. Look for Encryption ProtocolBefore you shop for anything online, look for encryption protocol set up on any retail websites or payment portals. By this, we mean that the site has been equipped with HTTPS security protocol, which hides your payment credentials behind a layer of encryption designed to obfuscate your information in the event of a breach. Furthermore, you should only shop via trusted online retailers and not sketchy unheard-of stores for hard-to-find items. Make Purchases with CashOne of the best ways to keep your credit card information safe during the holiday season is to just make purchases with cash. This is a simple preventative method, but it can be somewhat risky to carry a lot of cash in case of theft or loss. It?s all about risk management, so only carry what you need. Use Online WalletsServices like Apple Pay and Android Pay can act as a go-between for the retailer and your bank account, and as long as you only add cash as part of a one-time addition (so that the app doesn?t store your information), you can effectively limit the risk associated with using these services to make payments. Due to the increase in popularity of smartphones over the past several years, most retailers accept some form of payment via smartphone app. Just do a little bit of research beforehand so that you?re not caught off-guard when a retailer doesn?t allow it. With these tips from White Mountain IT Services, you?ll be sure to stay safe during this holiday season.

The New iPhones: 8, 8 Plus, and XWe know what you?re probably thinking. With three major iPhones on the market, how can you know which one meets your specific needs? The iPhone 8 and 8 plus opt for a glass case backing rather than aluminum, which lends itself to more overall bulk and weight (which isn?t necessarily a bad thing, as anyone who has dropped their phone knows). If you?re familiar with the iPhone 6 series of smartphones, you?ll notice a lot is familiar. You still have the Touch ID, which isn?t available on the iPhone X in favor of the more recent implementation of Face ID facial recognition. Basically, the main difference between the iPhone 8/8 Plus and the iPhone X are the display, camera, and the internal specs–however, the iPhone X is much more expensive than its predecessors, whereas the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus will likely yield a similar experience at a more affordable cost compared to the iPhone X. Model: iPhone 8Construction: Front/back glass & aluminum frameScreen Size: 4.7-inchDisplay: LED-backlit IPS LCD, 16M Colors, 1,334 x 759 (~326 ppi)SIM: Nano-SIMChipset: Apple A11 BionicCPU-GPU: Hexa-core (2x Monsoon + 4x Mistral) – Apple GPUOperating System: iOS 11 Memory Internal: 64GB or 246 GB models; 2GB of RAMExpandable: None Cameras Primary: 12 MP, f/1.8, 28mm, phase detection autofocus, OIS, quad-LED flashFront-Facing: 7 MP, f/2.2, face detection Audio: Built-in stereo speakers, No 3.5mm headphone jackSensors: Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometerFeatures: Fast charging, Qi Wireless charging, Siri commands and dictation, iCloud integrationBattery size-life: 1,821 mAh battery – 66 hoursAvailable Colors: Silver, Space Grey, GoldPrice: $699.99-to-$899.99 Model: iPhone 8 PlusConstruction: Front/back glass & aluminum frameScreen Size: 5.5-inchDisplay: LED-backlit IPS LCD, 16M Colors, 1920×1080 (~401 ppi)SIM: Nano-SIMChipset: A11 BionicCPU-GPU: Hexa-core (2x Monsoon + 4x Mistral) – Apple GPUOperating System: iOS 11 Memory Internal: 64GB or 246 GB models; 3GB of RAMExpandable: None Cameras Primary: Dual 12 MP, f/1.8, 28mm and f/2.8, 56mm) phase detection autofocus, 2x optical zoom, quad-LED flashFront-Facing: 7 MP, f/2.2, face detection Audio: Built-in stereo speakers, No 3.5mm headphone jackSensors: Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometerFeatures: Fast charging, Qi Wireless charging, Siri commands and dictation, iCloud integrationBattery size-life: 2,691 mAh battery – 81 hoursAvailable Colors: Silver, Space Grey, GoldPrice: $799.99-to-$999.99 Model: Apple iPhone XConstruction: Front/back glass & stainless steel frameScreen Size: 5.8-inchDisplay: Super AMOLED, 16M Colors, 2,436×1,125 ( ~458 ppi)SIM: Nano-SIMChipset: Apple A11 BionicCPU-GPU: Hexa-core 2.39 Ghz (2x Monsoon + 4x Mistral) – Apple GPUOperating System: iOS 11.1 Memory Internal: 64 and 256 GB models; 3GB RAMExpandable: None Cameras Primary: Dual 12 MP, f/1.8, 28mm and f/2.4, 52mm) phase detection autofocus, 2x optical zoom, quad-LED flashFront-Facing: 7 MP, f/2.2, face detection Audio: Built-in stereo speakers, No 3.5mm headphone jackSensors: FaceID, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometerFeatures: Fast charging, Qi Wireless charging, Siri commands and dictation, iCloud integrationBattery size-life: 2,716 mAh battery – 74 hoursAvailable Colors: Silver, Space GreyPrice: $999.99-to-$1,149.99 Samsung Galaxy s8 and Note 8Have you ever wondered what the difference is between the Samsung Galaxy line of smartphones and the Note line? Hopefully we can give you some tips to pick the one that works best for your needs. Compared to past Galaxy and Note devices, the screen sizes are larger and more technically detailed, which could allow for greater user experience and more enjoyable media consumption. However, the […]

There is no denying that, of all the application suites in the world, Microsoft Office is the most famous and most popular. Regardless of their size, businesses rely on these programs in order to function–so much so, that a working knowledge of Microsoft Office is often a prerequisite for employment. However, despite so many people using these programs on such a regular basis, few understand their full capabilities. Take, for example, Excel, Microsoft?s spreadsheet program. There are plenty of formulas that you can use to enhance your use of your spreadsheet. For starters, let?s review where these formulas should go, and how they should be formatted. Using FormulasMicrosoft has made using formulas in Excel relatively painless. The process that follows identifies the individual pieces of an Excel formula and how a user can create essentially any formula they need. First, to notify Excel that you will be inputting a formula, the first character that you type into the formula bar should be an equals sign (=). Then you need to identify the proper action command that will inform the rest of your formula. The formula tab can be referenced to find the correct action command. Once you?ve done so, identify the letter and number for each cell the action command should apply to inside the parenthesis. Finally, press the Enter key. If your formula is correct, your data will automatically calculate and populate in the spreadsheet. Of course, knowing how to use formulas only comes into play when you have formulas to use. Let?s go over some useful formulas to have up your sleeve as you use Excel. Total to Find a Sum=sum(cell1:cell2)This action will add up all the cells in a given series. Including a colon in the equation tells Excel to include all the cells between the two in its calculation. =sum(a1:a12)If you select two cells in the same column, Excel will automatically include any cells between them. As a result, this equation would give the total of all numbers in rows 1 through 12 of column A. Count Characters in a Cell=len(cell)Entering a specific cell into this formula will give you the total number of all letters, numbers, and other characters that are entered into the cell in question. This comes in handy when trying to complete a task with strict character limits, like creating content for Twitter. You can use this formula to ensure that your posts don?t exceed the 140 character limit Twitter enforces. Calculating Percentages=(cell1/cell2)This function gives you a quick percentage calculation based on your selected cells. Excel also offers a few other useful utilities to make using it easier. Freeze PanesFreezing panes keep columns or headers from moving offscreen as you scroll through your spreadsheet, which comes in handy when working with a larger document. Remove DuplicatesIf you have a row, column, or even a cell that redundantly repeats (and therefore adds confusion to your spreadsheet) this feature makes it easy to eliminate the extra copies. This could be useful when trying to merge mailing lists that have contacts that overlap. Excel is designed to enable the work that can be done in a spreadsheet to be as comprehensive as possible, with shortcuts and functions to help conserve time and your team?s energy. This has just been a brief sample of how Excel […]