International Geek Superhero!

Today my IT tech support experience went international, wahoo!!

I was able to successfully remote into and resolve an issue on my friend Debbie's computer while she is in Poland...4,189 miles away!!

Debbie couldn't reach the Geek Squad, so emailed me for advice. Unfortunately, since I wasn't able to call/talk with her, all symptoms described by her, every probing question of mine to determine underlying problem, and instructions on how to get connected with her remotely, were communicated via email.

Email may seem quick, but in comparison to being able to talk with someone on the phone it is much slower and VERY frustrating method of communication particularly when a computer is not working well! I'm proud of my Friend for pushing through the pain-in-the-ass factor and standing with me while this fire was put out. You learn about a person in stressful situations :)

Back many years ago when I worked on the help-desk at Comcast Communications, I took calls from customers for issues with their computers which ranged from virus infestation to simple power issues. As a help-desk technician, I had the advantage of being able to talk via phone with customer. With my voice, I was able to direct the customer as my hands and eyes to resolve their issue. But today, not being able to talk or see the computer, I was working blindly had to find a way for me to reach Debbie if I had any chance to to assist her.

At first we tried connecting via "Remote Assistance" through her Vista OS, but there was connectivity issues that I surmised may have been between our Vista and my Windows 7 not communicating clearly. And after all, Debbie was in Poland learning the language...maybe HER laptop had learned the language too and didn't understand English anymore, LOL!!

So me being me, I started to think outside the box. One thing I learned growing up on a farm is, "If it can be broke, it can be fixed". Since she was able to get online with her computer, I knew it was not a connectivity issue. If I could reach her computer, I knew could help her.

I sent her an email describing one of the programs, Team Viewer, which I have used with many clients successfully. Team Viewer is lightweight, free for personal/non-commercial use and as I discovered by the end of working with her computer, also compatible with Vista.

Once Team Viewer was installed, I was able connect remotely to her computer, I ran a few diagnostics and quickly determined that her Internet Explorer was corrupted. Since IE is part of her operating system, when she returns home stateside, I'll run deeper diagnostics to determine extent of OS corruption and most likely recommend re-installation.

Thankfully her computer was still able to connect to the internet even with IE gimping along and this allowed her to install Team Viewer, allowed me to connect to her remotely and to install Chrome browser as alternate way (and I'll add my own endorsement of much more stable and quicker way) of reaching the internet.

When she opened up her Gmail to test whether the issue was resolved, the results were immediate! In Debbie's words, "It is working lighting fast!" and she officially gave me the title of "International Geek Superhero"....

I don't care what anyone says, I'm putting THAT on my resume! :)

How cold networking is like ice fishing

So my exercise in cold networking got me thinking about another winter pursuit here in Michigan: ice fishing. Although I've never gone ice fishing before, it's easy to see how cold networking is a lot like ice fishing:

1. Get up early in the morning.
2. Know your prey.
3. Be prepared for cold conditions.
4. Have plenty of bait.
5. Scout out your location.
6. Drill with precision.
7. Move to prevent your feet from freezing
8. Chip away at the ice to clear the opening.
9. Keep casting -- eventually you'll get a bite.
10. Reel in every bite, it may just be the big one!

Be a fool: Go for it!

At the top of today's agenda was the goal to exercise these three basic rules:

"If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it.
If you don't ask, the answer is always no.
If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place." ~ Nora Roberts 

So this morning I spent a few hours distributing my resume and pitching my elevator speech to 10 IT service providers/computer repair shops in Traverse City -- this was cold networking without job leads. Sure, it's a scary prospect going into a place and selling myself; but what did I have to lose except a few minutes of my pride? In the words of the Chinese proverb, "One who asks is a fool for five minutes; one who doesn't, remains a fool forever." After a few pitches, my delivery was very polished. Good practice for interviewing in the very least!

Well this afternoon, I received a call from one of the IT providers to schedule an interview with me  Wednesday, YAY! This "fool" just landed an interview :)

P.S. A couple weeks ago during an interview with local phone company for an Network Operations Specialist, I was asked how I felt about cold calling. My reply was this:

If you had asked me a couple years ago, my response would be to crawl and whimper into the nearby corner. But now, having launched my own self-sustaining business, I've approached the cold call with a different mentality. I believe in my product (myself) and am passionate my service (computer repair), and as such, I know I have the zest, energy, confidence and charisma to confidently pitch my elevator speech to anyone. If the answer is "no thank-you", I don't take it personally. I'm learning that if I don't ask, the answer is always "no"...I'm find out that as I ask, sometimes the answer is "yes"!

Testimonial #2

My client, Mick, had a 10 year old Dell desktop that stopped working about month ago. He took it to Best Buy and they told him he needed a new computer, urging him toward a $600 new computer. Instead, he hired me for a second opinion. I cleaned it up, tuning and updating software. Mick was ecstatic to not only save $600, but now he's back online emailing, chatting, etc. I spent 5 hours on it, but billed him for less than an hour because I wanted to show him what miracles I can do...as I build my reputation, I also build potential referrals!

In kind repayment, Mick's wife gave me a high-praised referral to the local senior center as a computer trainer and repair person. This type of bartering more than makes up for my "loss of revenue" with billing so low for such an extensive job. A win/win for us both! As a friend of mine said, "Best Marketing Strategy Ever!!" :)

Testimonial #1

This afternoon I spent an hour working on my client's laptop (Sarah) at her place of business...cleaning and tuning it, removing malware, speeding up performance, etc. After seeing her laptop boot up in a tenth the time, she was so thrilled that she suggested I talk with her boss about my servicing their 5 computers in exchange for my using their backroom for a few hours a week as a hotel office for computer repair. It'd be a win/win for us both!

I'm so stoked!! The business is on 8th St, with TONS of foot traffic and offers a safe/convenient location for my clients to meet me and/or drop off equipment. Just a few minutes ago, one of my clients met me here and complimented my resourcefulness of this location. If I didn't know better, I'd think I was being set up. Nope, I'm learning THIS is how dreams become reality through action!

Once a hoax, always a hoax!

You may have seen that very message pop up -- perhaps time and time again -- in your Facebook feed. The message has been making the rounds on the social network. It encourages people to copy and paste the text and post it on their own walls if they want to be placed "under protection of copyright laws."

It's a frightful message and those worried that Facebook will own their photos or other media are posting it -- unaware that it is a hoax. Here's the truth: Facebook doesn't own your media and there is NO such thing as the Berner Convention!

"We have noticed some statements that suggest otherwise and we wanted to take a moment to remind you of the facts -- when you post things like photos to Facebook, we do not own them," Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said in a statement. "Under our terms (https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms), you grant Facebook permission to use, distribute, and share the things you post, subject to the terms and applicable privacy settings."

Brad Shear, a Washington-area attorney and blogger who is an expert on social media, said the message was "misleading and not true." He said that when you agree to Facebook's terms of use you provide Facebook a "non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any content you post. You do not need to make any declarations about copyright issues since the law already protects you. The privacy declaration [in this message] is worthless and does not mean anything."

Snopes.com, a site dedicated to clearing up fallacies on the Internet, reminds Facebook users of that same thing. "Facebook users cannot retroactively negate any of the privacy or copyright terms they agreed to when they signed up for their Facebook accounts nor can they unilaterally alter or contradict terms instituted by Facebook simply by posting a contrary legal notice on their Facebook walls."

This isn't the first time a message like this has popped up on Facebook. A similar message made the rounds in June and a few years ago as well.

Bottom line? Don't bother copying, pasting, and posting. It was a hoax before and is still a hoax now.

I'm convinced of a several things:
#1 - There's a sucker born every minute...and every 30 seconds, there is also a snake-oil salesman born to try to take advantage of suckers. That's how they make a living. Duh!

#2 - "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." Whether the quote was originally said by Sydney J. Harris, John Kennedy, Eldridge Cleaver, Charles Rosner, or even John McClane/Bruce Willis from the movie "Die Hard", the Truth of the quote is profoundly simple!

#2 - I think some people enjoy living in ignorance because it feels "safe" or "comfortable". Stepping out of ignorance, means to challenge what is known and not known. Challenge means growth. Growth means change. And with change comes responsibility. Responsibility to live with integrity with oneself, with others, with one's community. To do otherwise, is harmful...

#3 - I've said this before and I'll say it a million times more: The greatest, most powerful, smartest computer is the one between our ears! I earn my living by providing IT support to people of all walks of life. My truly greatest sense of accomplishment is empowering people how to use their Personal Computer...the one between their ears!


References:
 Facebook Terms: https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms
Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/computer/facebook/privacy.asp

Tuesday is National Clean Your Computer Day!

In case you didn't know, Tuesday is "National Clean Your Computer Day". And since I'm a “techno-geek”, I thought I’d do my part and assist you as best as I can.

I found a VERY simple, safe, quick and easy way to clean up your computer. It takes just a minute to achieve a spotless well maintained computer, simply click here and you’ll be well on your way to having a super clean computer!

Feel free to call/email me if you have any questions :) Oh, and be sure to spread the word to your friends and help them out!