How to: Provide Technical support using Remote Assistance

Posted on August 23, 2009 by Wes Johnson

When family and friends have computer issues, who do they call?  Many times its their personal IT support person.  They call him or her up, then try to describe the issue(s) they’re having.  Depending on the circumstances, this can either be a short conversation or a long drawn out one.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Finally, after the attempt to describe the issue.  The IT person tries to make a best guess at what the problem is, then tries to walk the person on the other end of the phone through the steps to resolve the issue.  If only the IT person could see what’s going on, they’d make an observation and make an informed decision on what was really happening with your computer.  What could have taken the IT person 2 minutes to do in person ends up costing them 30 minutes or more trying to explain what to do over the phone.  Not that we don’t love talking to you for that long.  It’s more like we’d rather spend that time socializing with you instead of trying to describe how to fix an issue without seeing what’s happening.

I have a suggestion to avoid the frustration of your tech support person.  Use Remote Assistance to give your IT person remote control of your computer.  They can usually solve your problem quickly and help both of you avoid a lot of grief.

Remote Assistance to the rescue

Remote Assistance is basically a way to allow a remote user to see what’s going on with your computer.  When you first connect, they are in monitor only mode.  Your IT person can ask for control of your computer to make the necessary changes to your computer’s configuration.  Once you permit access they will see your computer in a window.  All mouse actions and keyboard strokes are sent as if your tech support person were right there.

How to setup a Remote Assistance session

One note before we begin.  This usually works better if you have high speed internet like Cable Modem or ISDN.  If you have dial-up you might NOT want to try this.

  1. Press the Computer Start button
  2. Select the Help and Support Menu
  3. Select Invite a frind to connect with Remote Assistance
  4. Click invite someone to help you
  5. Type email address
  6. Invite this person
  7. Enter your name in the from text area
  8. Enter your problem detail in Message text area
  9. Click Continue > button
  10. Set Invitation Expire time.  Default is 1 hour.  Set it to an appropriate time that will allow you to notify your IT person that you need the tech support.  Don’t forget, you will need to permit control of your computer.
  11. Enter password and password confirmation.
  12. Click Send Invitation
  13. When the IT person receives the email, they will open the attachment and type the password to connect with your computer.
  14. They will press the Take Control button on their Remote Assistance screen
  15. Click the Yes button when you see a dialog asking if you want to allow Control of your computer.
  16. When they have finished, you can press the Disconnect button on the Remote Assistance page.

Note: Your invitation will still be good until it expires.  So if you set the expiration for two hours, it will be good for two hours.  Make sure you delete the invitation once you are done.

  1. Press the Computer Start button
  2. Select the Help and Support Menu
  3. Select Invite a frind to connect with Remote Assistance
  4. Select View invitation status
  5. Select Invitation
  6. Press Delete button

I realize there have been many articles written on Remote Assistance.  I had to do a tech support call tonight and decided to include the direction here.  Then I could reference this blog for future tech support calls.

The directions in this article provides one way of many to connect with another computer via Remote Assistance.

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Blu-ray Disc Player for Christmas, around $100

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Wes Johnson

This might just be the year to buy a $100  Blu-ray Disc player for Christmas.  In one of my previous blogs, I commented that Christmas is coming to be ready.

DVD Format Wars

During the Blu-ray / HD DVD wars.  I jumped on the HD DVD bandwagon because the price of the player was a whole lot cheaper than Blu-ray.  I thought there would be room enough for both of them.  However, that was not the case.  Not too long after my purchase a winner was declared in 2008.  It was Sony this time.  It was a little painful to swallow for a while, picking the wrong technology.  Ultimately, I still won as, I saw many popular videos in HD DVD format go on sale for rediculously low prices.

No competition

After the war was over, there wasn’t any healthy competition driving the prices toward affordability.  It seemed like the prices hovered in the $200-$400 range.  You had two choices, an expensive game console or an expensive stand-alone Blu-ray player.  Both were way overpriced.  Since the format wars were over I have refused to purchase a Blu-ray player because of price alone.  I knew there was no reason why they couldn’t be more affordable.  All they had to do, was remove a few expensive options and provide us with a bare-bones model that can play Blu-ray discs.

A miracle happened

I don’t know exactly when it happend, but I heard rumors that Blu-ray players have started selling below $100.  I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard this.  I had to verify this myself.  So, I looked up some major retailers in my area (Fry’s, K-Mart, Target, Sears, Best Buy)  At the time of this article I found a refurbished Blu-ray Disc player for $99 and another within $10.  Pretty close for my book.

  • K-Mart & Sears – Magnavox Blu-ray Disc player, refurbished $99
  • BestBuy – Insignia Blu-ray Disc player $119

I hope this trend continues.  I’ve seen several Blu-ray Disc players start to drop below the $200 barrier.  I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen around Thanksgiving.  This should get real interesting.  I’m still not planning to brave the crowds on Black Friday.  But, with all the money we’ll be saving, maybe we’ll pay someone to buy it for us 😉

Christmas is still coming.  Now that Blu-ray Disc players are getting closer to the $100 price-point, we’ll be able to find a deal this year..

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OpenDNS helps cleanup internet access

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Wes Johnson

Search Engine Challenge

Have you ever had the experience of searching for something on a search engine and then been exposed to offensive content?  Have you ever had guests use your computer only to find out, they’ve been visiting places they shouldn’t have gone?  Have you ever visited a site and wondered whether the website is legitimate or not?  Have you ever wished there was a way to restrict the results that come from search engines?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, then look no further.  There is an absolutely free solution to your internet content filtering needs.

A Solution

There is a way to limit what your computer displays when it is visiting the internet.  The answer is OpenDNS.com. The setup is relatively simple.  It works for changing the access of a single computer or changing an internet access point like a router.  The directions are found at https://www.opendns.com/start/.  The configuration I have personally used is to configure it on the NAT Router that’s connected to the Cable Modem.  This catches all output searches and filters them through OpenDNS.  This means I don’t have to worry about new computers that are connected to my network.  They’re all subject to the OpenDNS internet filtering.

You basically create an account with OpenDNS to access the OpenDNS Dashboard.  Once you have logged into OpenDNS.com you can change the internet filtering from High (Very Restrictive) to Minimal (Very Relaxed) to None.  Each level turns on/off category filters listed in the level of protection you’re seeking.

  Protects against all adult-related sites, illegal activity, social networking sites, video sharing sites, and general time-wasters.27 categories in this group – View – Customize

  • Adware
    Sites that distribute applications which display advertisements without user’s knowledge or choice. Does NOT include sites which serve advertising.
  • Alcohol
    Sites about alcohol use, commercial and otherwise.
  • Chat
    Sites where you can chat in real-time with groups of people. Includes IRC.
  • Classifieds
    Sites for buying and selling (or bartering) goods and services.
  • Dating
    Sites for meeting other people.
  • Drugs
    Sites about illegal or recreational drug use.
  • File storage
    Sites that offer space for hosting, sharing and backup of digital files.
  • Gambling
    Sites that offer gambling or information about gambling.
  • Games
    Sites that offer game play and information about games (news, tips, cheat codes).
  • Hate/Discrimination
    Sites that promote intolerance based on gender, age, race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or other group identities.
  • Instant messaging
    Sites that offer access or software to communicate in real-time with other individuals.
  • P2P/File sharing
    Sites that facilitate the sharing of digital files between individuals, especially via peer-to-peer software, including torrent sites.
  • Social networking
    Sites that promote interaction and networking between people.
  • Video sharing
    Sites for sharing video content.
  • Visual search engines
    Sites for searching for images based on keywords.
  • Weapons
    Sites about weapons, commercial and otherwise.
  • Webmail
    Sites that offer the ability to send or receive email.
  • Photo sharing
    Sites for sharing photographs, as individual images, galleries and albums.
  • Adult Themes
    Sites that are adult in nature and are not defined in other rating categories. Note: This category should only be turned on if you want to be very restrictive on your network.
  • Tasteless
    Sites that contain information on such subjects as mutilation, torture, horror, or the grotesque.
  • Lingerie/Bikini
    Sites displaying or dedicated to lingerie/bikini that could be considered adult-only.
  • Proxy/Anonymizer
    Sites providing proxy bypass information or services. Also, sites that allow the user to surf the net anonymously, including sites that allow the user to send anonymous emails.
  • Sexuality
    Sites that provide information, images or implications of bondage, sadism, masochism, fetish, beating, body piercing or self-mutilation.
  • Nudity
    Sites that provide images or representations of nudity.
  • Pornography
    Anything relating to pornography, including mild depiction, soft pornography or hard-core pornography.
  • Forums/Message boards
    Sites with discussions, including bulletin boards, message boards and forums.
  • Phishing Protection
    By enabling phishing protection, you’ll protect everyone on your network from known phishing sites using the best data available.
  Protects against all adult-related sites and illegal activity.14 categories in this group – View – Customize

  • Adware
    Sites that distribute applications which display advertisements without user’s knowledge or choice. Does NOT include sites which serve advertising.
  • Alcohol
    Sites about alcohol use, commercial and otherwise.
  • Dating
    Sites for meeting other people.
  • Drugs
    Sites about illegal or recreational drug use.
  • Gambling
    Sites that offer gambling or information about gambling.
  • Hate/Discrimination
    Sites that promote intolerance based on gender, age, race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or other group identities.
  • Weapons
    Sites about weapons, commercial and otherwise.
  • Tasteless
    Sites that contain information on such subjects as mutilation, torture, horror, or the grotesque.
  • Lingerie/Bikini
    Sites displaying or dedicated to lingerie/bikini that could be considered adult-only.
  • Proxy/Anonymizer
    Sites providing proxy bypass information or services. Also, sites that allow the user to surf the net anonymously, including sites that allow the user to send anonymous emails.
  • Sexuality
    Sites that provide information, images or implications of bondage, sadism, masochism, fetish, beating, body piercing or self-mutilation.
  • Nudity
    Sites that provide images or representations of nudity.
  • Pornography
    Anything relating to pornography, including mild depiction, soft pornography or hard-core pornography.
  • Phishing Protection
    By enabling phishing protection, you’ll protect everyone on your network from known phishing sites using the best data available.
  Protects against pornography and phishing.5 categories in this group – View – Customize

  • Tasteless
    Sites that contain information on such subjects as mutilation, torture, horror, or the grotesque.
  • Proxy/Anonymizer
    Sites providing proxy bypass information or services. Also, sites that allow the user to surf the net anonymously, including sites that allow the user to send anonymous emails.
  • Sexuality
    Sites that provide information, images or implications of bondage, sadism, masochism, fetish, beating, body piercing or self-mutilation.
  • Pornography
    Anything relating to pornography, including mild depiction, soft pornography or hard-core pornography.
  • Phishing Protection
    By enabling phishing protection, you’ll protect everyone on your network from known phishing sites using the best data available.
  Protects against phishing attacks.1 category in this group – View – Customize

  • Phishing Protection
    By enabling phishing protection, you’ll protect everyone on your network from known phishing sites using the best data available.
  Nothing blocked.
  Choose the categories you want to block.

But wait there’s more

Not only does it allow you to set category filtering, it also has these other features:

  • Track which websites are being accessed by users of your computer or network just by enabling statistics
  • Track which websites were blocked, which sites are phishing, which sites have malware.
  • Add URL shortcuts to OpenDNS and it will resolve it to the proper address.
  • Add a website to a Blacklist to never allow access to the URL.
  • Add a website to a Whitelist to always allow access to the URL (for instance, allow a subdomain to be accessed even if it’s in a blocked category)

The best part of OpenDNS is it’s absolutely free.  I’ve been using it for a couple of years now and I usually forget it’s there until something pops up as being restricted.  If you’re looking for something to protect your family, home, church or any other organization you should give this service a try.

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Healthy interest or Obsession with web analytics?

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Wes Johnson

Google Analytics

A few months ago, I started learning about my readership.  I added Google Analytics to my website.  At first I was just curious to find out about my audience.  I wondered about how many people were visiting my website and where they’re located.

Then I discovered you can find out a lot more about the methods your audience is using to read an article.  For instance you can see which browser, screen dimensions, Operating System, Internet connection.  This is all useful information for your decisions on how to present your information.

As I started getting more familiar with the statistics and the terminology, I decided to add some conversion data to my Google Analytics.  A conversion is getting your audience to visit a desired page, as a result of clicking through the page they’re on.  This is a really important statistic to know when you’re trying to sell stuff.  In my case, I don’t currently sell anything, but I am trying to develop my own personal brand.  So, if the readers are interested enough to go to my personal information, then I consider that a conversion.

At the time of this article, I have people viewing from 10 countries or territories.  Most of them are from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.  The remaining 7 countries or territories are from around the world.

Within the United States I have a readership in 23 states so far.  It’s kind of interesting as I see which states are reading my blog on a regular basis.  I can also see where there are concentrations of people who enjoy my blog.  One of my goals is to eventually have my blog represented in all 50 of the United States.  I guess I haven’t found a topic that is interesting to everybody yet.  I may never find it, but I’m always hopeful.  For anyone who has been following this blog for awhile, you know I have a wide range of interests and like to share my views.  If I ever find that one special topic I’ll let everyone know.  I may even start a new blog just to focus on that topic.

Analyzing the statistics

I regularly visit my web statistics tools

  • Google FeedBurner
  • Google Analytics
  • Google Webmaster Tools (GWT)
  • Alexa.com – rating based on popularity of a website
  • WordPress statistics

In the morning, I check  just to see if there is any new information from the day before.  It appears to be information from the previous day.  In the evening, I’ll check once more, because I never know when those bots will be crawling my website.

If I see any technical issues have popped up, like broken links or duplicates or other suggestions related to meta data, I try to address it as soon as possible.

Sometimes, I can equate watching the web analytics to watching a single stock in the stock market.  You watch it rise and you’re celebrating.  You watch it fall and you wonder why.  I think this is where it could become an obsession if the focus is too much on the statistics.  I have already decided that I’m only going to check twice a day and not be too concerned about the peaks and valleys.  Because the statistics change daily.

After a few months of waiting, the Google Webmaster tools finally gave me a list of common keywords found while crawling my site.  I’m not sure what to do with this information.  But I’m sure someone has blogged about it.  I’ll check with www.ProBlogger.Net to see if they have some insight on how I should utilize this information. 

BTW:  If anyone has experience with other useful web analysis tools please feel free to leave your coments.

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Life Lessons in FarmTown

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Wes Johnson


FarmTown

FarmTown Logo


FarmTown is a Facebook application that encourages community and healthy competition.  I personally put off playing it for a long time, but I had so many gifts from friends and family that I finally decided to give it a try.  I found that it wasn’t a total waste of time as I thought it would be.  My wife and I just started playing it not too long ago.  Some of our relatives are way up there in the experience level and have upgraded their farms to the point that they have fun hiring others to do the work for them; they are enjoying the good life.  We were showing off our farms to our grand-daughter and were showing her how the plowing, sowing and harvesting works.  I actually think it could be a little educational without its players realizing it.  She thought it was really cool.  I showed them how they could make money in a short amount of time by working other people’s farms while you’re waiting for your crops to grow. Later on my wife said, you know this game might have some good lessons in there for her.

I thought about it for awhile and I agreed.  There are some lessons to be learned, I will enumerate a few.

Some lessons learned:

  • Money management
    • It takes money to make money, if you haven’t reserved some cash for emergencies, you might miss out on future opportunities.
      • It costs money for a equipment (water hose, rake,gloves)
      • It costs money to plow
      • It costs money for seed
      • It costs money to hire others
    • Money does not grow on trees, but you can earn it by harvesting trees
    • Money is the fruit of your labor
    • If you want to expand your operation or have more things, you need to earn more money
  • Good things come to those who wait.
    • Some of those crops grow really slowly.
    • But when the harvest finally comes in, you can reap the rewards.
  • Better things come to those who are not idle while they’re waiting.
    • If you have some time to kill, why not hire yourself out while you’re waiting on your crops.
  • Experience counts
    • As you increase in experience, you get to do more cool things
    • You have access to better things
  • Teamwork (manpower) gets a physical task done more quickly
    • Of course one person can do it all by themselves, but there’s more fun in numbers
    • And while you’re at it, you can practice outsourcing the mundane stuff, while you do the fun stuff
  • Hard work and persistence pays off
    • Hanging in there while looking for a job
    • Growing your skills to get to the next level
    • In the end you gain some personal satisfaction that you’ve reached the top
  • If you procrastinate, your harvest could go to waste
    • Timing is important

Observations:

  • I noticed that the Marketplace is kind of like the real life job market.
    • A crowd of people all trying to get the attention of a potential employer
    • Many of them frustrated, because they cannot get a job quick enough.
  • It’s a chance to practice your social skills
  • It’s a chance to practice some Personal Marketing
  • Notice when you’re in the Marketplace, how desperate some people sound; don’t be one of them.  There are other ways to stand out in the crowd.

FarmTown does consume some time, just make sure it’s your spare time, not prime time with your family.  Unless of course they’re playing it with you.

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