Welcome to the CCS-Digital.Com newsletter. Inside you will learn a number of things to improve your online experience, from scams to avoid, useful free software, discounts and deals available online and more. If you are not already on our list and did not get an email from us, please join by sending an email and you will receive notification when the newsletter is posted, once a month. The notification email contains just the URL to the newsletter and the table of contents - not even the text of the newsletter. It also contains the secret code for the month which will get you discounts on many of our items.
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Inside this issue:
New cartridges in stock
We also added to our list refillable T079 cartridges for the Epson Stylus 1400 and the Epson T034 for Stylus 2100 and 2200, the HP 901xl, 940xl, and 564xl, the Canon PGI-7, CLI-9, Cli-210 and Cli-211. If there's a cartridge we don't carry for Epson, HP, Brother or Canon, drop us a note because we're constantly expanding our product line.
Our supplier of reusable and T125/T126 cartridges is closed through the month of July since he is in China investigating new cartridges. This means when we run out of reusables and tanks, we will be out until August. We are already out of T078 reusables, T054, T060, T125, T126 and running low on tanks and other reusables. If you expect to need these before August, don't wait to the last minute to order
However, unlike phone companies like Verizon and AT&T which are regulated, VOIP companies are not. Your service is only as good as the company you use. I have been with three I had to cancel due to poor service. One went bankrupt and shut down practically overnight. I am about to cancel with a company (Joiphone) I have been with for over 4 years. You can read the details at My VOIP experiences. My business number 718 868 3000 has been down for weeks at the time of this writing (and my personal number as well) and they can't even give me a estimate when it will work again. My only option was to switch to another company. I'm hoping I will be able to get back the phone numbers I have owned for over 20 years.
Viatalk - Currently I have been with Viatalk for over 4 years. They were recommended to me by a consultant who installs networks at large corporations. Setup of the equipment was plug and play. You plug it into your router (router required). The service has been very good and support is excellent. It costs about $179 a year for two unlimited phone lines. There are additional charges for equipment and taxes so it's close to $300 when it's all added up. You only get one phone number, but two lines. Calls come in on both lines unless one is busy, in which case it rings over to the second. Both lines can be used simultaneously for incoming or outgoing calls. I have recommended them to several friends who are happy with the service. For more info, or to sign up, please use the link below. One of these days I *may* get something for it.
Viatalk
Viatalk, 2 lines, 1 year: $179 + fees to about $300
Voipo : I have only been with them a short while but they have excellent reviews online. I called their tech support several times and sent e-mails. Everything was answered promptly. The equipment arrived in a few days. Their box is a bit better than Viatalk's because it contains both input and output internet ports. You plug your modem into the input port and your computer or router into the output port so a router is not required. Sound quality is better than Viatalk.
The cost is unbelievable. 2 phone lines for 2 years for $149. Unlike Viatalk, they show you all the extra fees up front ($36) so the total cost is $185. That works out to less than $4 a month per line! Like Viatalk, you get one number which rings on two lines, each of which can be used independently. For an extra $36 a year, you can get a second number for the other line.
Voipo
Voipo, 2 lines, 2 years: $149 + $35 = $185
What do you do when a phone company messes up your phone number?
You can go to google voice and sign up for a free number. You can even choose the number from a list. I claimed 34-PRINTER-0. You can then have that number forward to other numbers. My Google Voice number is forwarding to both my old 868 3000 number (which isn't working) and my new temporary number of 949 205 4402. If Voipo, my new phone company, can get the 868 3000 number back, it will begin working and I will remove the 949 number from Google Voice. If not, the service will continue working. And should the worst happen and VOIPO goes down, I can go into Google Voice and forward it to one of my other numbers. I never again want to be in the position where my clients can't reach me.
Small Businesses Learn From Mistakes
Chamber of Commerce article
Boogie Jack
Another newsletter I have been receiving for years, there is only a free version with useful HTML and Javascript tricks and articles on online money-making ideas. The author, Dennis Gaskill, also has a club you can join called the Inner Circle where you have access to tips, tricks and source code and special offers on other products. I have joined his Inner Circle and purchased a number of his products.
Boogie Jack
As I discovered years ago, they have automated the process of tracking dangerous sites. If someone reports a site as dangerous, MacAfee will spread the word without doing any investigation. They will not only brand the reported site but any other site which resides on the same server. Someone reported a site which is hosted by the same host I happen to use. ALL the sites hosted by that host were therefore marked dangerous by McAfee, including mine. Their report for ccs-digital.com says there are no scripts, no cookies, no phishing schemes. So what makes it dangerous? When I called McAfee to question it, no one was able to answer. They told me I can email a protest but it can take a year for someone to look into it. Does this sound like a reputatble company you will trust with your security? When a new virus comes out, will they take a year to look into it?
I have also been called in to help clients who were unable to connect to the Internet because Norton/Symantec anti-virus took over their PC and controled their connection. In the end we had to remove it entirely and this was no easy task, requiring third-party tools. I have heard it has improved lately but who needs it? As I said, there are free tools which do a better job.
Comodo Personal Firewall and anti-virus
Comodo Personal Firewall
A free program with security levels for the paranoid. You can set it to block any program from running until you approve it. I had this on my PC but it drove me crazy. Every time a program was updated - and this happens frequently - I had to allow it to run. After reading the Windows Secrets report on security, I decided I didn't really need it.
Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft Security Essentials
A free program by Microsoft and one of the best around. It is very unobtrusive, does not slow down your PC and does an excellent job. Fred Langa loaded it on a laptop which he brought to a public Internet cafe. After 6 months, checks of different anti-virus programs confirmed there were no viruses or spyware. He then attempted to load a virus on it by deliberately allowing it to load and answering yes three times when Security Essentials warned him of the danger. His conclusion is this program is as good if not better than the commercial ones. I have MSE on all my home computers and laptops and despite surfing to many sites, I have yet to find anything disturbing on my PC (other than the news). I run a number of different anti-virus scans regularly.
Firefox and No Script
Firefox No Script
No Script is a free add-on to the firefox browser. It will not allow any script to run unless you specifically permit that site to execute scripts on your PC. It has a little annoyance that the first time you go to a new site, things may not work until you remember to allow that site. But that is a small price to pay for security. You can allow a site temporarily or permanently.
Super Anti Spyware
SuperAntiSpyware
This program scans your PC, identifies and removes viruses and spyware. It likes to make itself resident so that it loads every time you start your PC but this is not really necessary. Since I already have MSE and No Script, I am not so concerned that I need another resident anti-virus checker.
Win Patrol from billpstudios
WinPatrol
This program monitors your PC and warns you when a new program tries to modify your registry or change something on your hard drive. it learns as it goes so it doesn't bother you about the same program again. I keep this one resident.
Until next time, have a great month!
izzy