Get on-site support for your home computer or personal electronics at a rate that blows the competition out of the water!

Don’t be fooled by cheaper hourly rates! Fast and reliable work will save you money and frustration.  All my work includes a 100% satisfaction is guarantee.

On-site Rates

Normal Business Hours
(9:00am – 7:00pm Monday – Friday or by scheduled appointment)

Service call fee: $70 (includes first hour of service).
Each additional hour: $35.

After Hours Emergency Support
(24 hours/365 days)

Service call fee: $130 (includes first hour of service).
Each additional hour: $70.

Off-site Support

If you don’t need immediate service, then off-site support is right for you! Off-site support includes free pickup and delivery and typically takes from 24 – 72 hours depending on the services required.  Off-site service is significantly less expensive than on-site service and all off-site service includes a free hardware inspection to detect problems that could lead to a hardware failure!

Off-site Rates (pickup by appointment – non-emergency service)

Pickup: Free!
Dropoff: Free!
Virus Removal: $70
System Reinstallation: $110
System cleanup and virus scan: $50
System Diagnostics: $40
Additional Services: Call for quote

Note that you must also use the www. subdomain for this to work!  A complete url should now look like this:

https://www.google.com/

Currently changing this will bring back the classic white background you have grown to love, and it is more secure!  https creates a secure connection between your browser and Google so it is more difficult for others to snoop in on what you are searching for.

The reality, unfortunately, is that you don’t.  Even by using the very best anti-virus software and the most up-to-date browser, you can still be susceptible to viruses and other malware.  Without locking a computer down to a point most would consider unusable, there will always be some potential for the bad guys and girls to get in and do terrible things.  However, some simple precautions can be taken.

First, if you don’t have an up-to-date virus scanner you should install one. There are some very reliable free options on the right sidebar of this website that I recommend to home users.  Corporate and business users should consider getting a business license that covers both their workstations and servers.  It is important that the entire network is protected.

Second, install anti-malware software. Spybot Search and Destroy is a favorite of mine.  There are also many other free and paid offerings available that also work.  The advantage Spybot offers over some competition is the “immunization” feature.  When you immunize your computer with Spybot, known bad websites are immediately blocked so you can’t visit them by accident.

Keeping your operating system, anti-virus, and anti-malware software up to date is an essential part of staying safe on the internet.

Next is a quick trick you can use if you have concerns about a specific website.  Google’s web crawler visits millions of web-pages every day. When it does so, Google also checks for things that might hurt your computer.  Google offers free access to reports that are generated based on this data.  To check a particular website, simply enter the address in the form below.

Check a website for malware:

While using the form above will not guarantee that the website is safe, it will certainly limit the chances of you visiting a problematic website.  Remember, just because a website is very well known does not mean it is immune from problems.  Viruses have infected websites from The New York Times to the Drudge Report and everything in between.  An ounce of caution can prevent a ton of problems when it comes to surfing the web.

To learn more about how you and your business can stay safe on the web, contact me today!

UPDATE: A writ has been filed in Oregon District Court against Google for capturing wireless data of U.S. citizens.  Complicating matters, Google has declared on their blog that they intend to destroy the data that was captured as part of their Street View program.  With a potential legal case against Google, any action on Google’s part to delete or destroy the data for privacy reasons could be perceived by the courts as an attempt to obstruct justice. The parties behind the impending lawsuit have apparently requested that Google retain the data.

While it is well known that Google has been gathering street level data for some time, until recently it was unclear just how much they were after.

Google’s Street View program, which offers street-side imaging of Google Maps has been vocally objected to by a  few members of the public, but citizen complaints have been almost completely ignored by legal authorities — until now.

In addition to collecting pictures, Google has now admitted to German authorities that they were collecting much, much more.

As Google Street View cars passed by recently, they not only collected geolocation data and pictures of the streets, but also recorded information received from wireless hotspots. Google collected data not just from public wifi locations, but from private individual’s wireless routers as well.

Google originally claimed to European Regulators that the information they gathered was strictly for augmenting their GPS data.  But when pressed, Google admitted that they were essentially war-driving, a process where all wireless frequencies are checked very rapidly for any available signals.  Google would then capture a set of data from each open (unencrypted) connection.

While this may not appear to be a serious concern at first, the data collected by Google was stored on hard drives for later processing, and could easily contain personally identifiable information such as Email correspondence, web surfing data, chat conversations and more.  Anything being transferred over a wireless connection that was not encrypted could have been gathered as Google’s cars drove past your home.

On May 14th, Google posted on their official blog, admitting that a previous post about Google maps data was false and that they indeed had gathered private data over wireless.  In response to this Google has taken the apparent high road, writing:

“The engineering team at Google works hard to earn your trust—and we are acutely aware that we failed badly here. We are profoundly sorry for this error and are determined to learn all the lessons we can from our mistake.”

Google also recommended the obvious: make sure you password protect your router and encrypt your internet connection!

It is very easy to take the most basic precautions when surfing over a wireless connection:

• Secure your wireless network using a strong Encryption method. Just because you use a password on your wireless router does not mean it is safe! You should use WPA-PSK or WPA2 for the encryption method and be certain to use the latest firmware from your router manufacturer.  Failing to update your router’s firmware may leave you vulnerable even if your router’s network is encrypted!
• Don’t make purchases or do banking over a wireless connection you don’t trust. If you don’t know who runs the network they could mislead you and steal your personal information.
• Check all websites you go to for an https:// in the url. If it does not have an https and a padlock icon, you should assume that the information on the page and anything you enter will not be secure.
• Check the url to make sure it was not mistyped. Hackers and scammers often register typos and similar looking domains to trick unsuspecting users into entering their passwords.

If you still have questions about how to stay safe on the web or how to protect your network or wireless router from problems like the one in this story, contact me today!

UPDATE: Unfortunately, Google is no longer letting users manually specify that they want all results, making the URL below useless. For those who still want access to a more simplistic interface I suggest using Google mobile located at https://www.google.com/m or an alternate search provider such as Teoma. The plugin listed below however, still works great for adding additional search providers to your Firefox search bar.

Google recently changed the way their search looks to more closely match the enhancements offered by  rival search provider Bing, but many users do not like the new interface.

Many users are complaining about the new left sidebar on google's redesigned search results page

Users can get the old search results design back by using a specially crafted URL for their google search

I reported previously during the test period that it was possible to disable the everything sidebar by clearing cookies, but now that the interface has been deployed to the general public this trick no longer works.  But do not despair, if you still prefer the old interface there is still an easy solution: simply set your google homepage and bookmarks to http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=all&source=hp.

To fix the search bar in firefox simply install the “add to search bar” add-on, restart firefox, and go to your new google bookmark (http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=all&source=hp). Next right-click on the search input box (where you normally type what you want to search for) and select “add to search bar” and that is it!  Enjoy having your old google back!

If you use McAfee Anti-virus and experience symptoms similar to this there is a relatively easy fix.  To repair the problem boot your computer and hold down the f8 key during start up (after the computer manufacturer logo but before the windows logo).

When prompted with several boot options, select “safe mode” from the list by using your up and down arrows and pressing enter or return when it is highlighted.

After booting into safe mode you will be prompted with a message asking you if you want to continue. Be sure to select yes or ok to continue.

Next click the start button and select “Run”.  In the dialogue box type:

C:\Program Files\McAfee\VirusScan\DAT\5958.0

and click ok.  Once a new windows opens, delete the contents of the folder.

Now click on the start menu and select “Run” again. In the dialogue box type:

copy %systemroot%\system32\dllcache\svchost.exe %systemroot%\system32

Now open the start menu and click “Run” a final time. In the dialogue box type:

sfc /scannow

The system file checker will now check your files to make sure everything is back in place. Once it completes successfully, reboot your computer by selecting shutdown from the start menu and clicking “Restart” at the prompt.

If this fails to correct the problem please contact me and I will be happy to assist you in fixing this problem at no cost to you!

According to McAfee’s website:

“For impacted home or home office customers who have incurred costs to repair PCs as a result of the security update issue, McAfee will reimburse reasonable expenses, such as a visit to a local tech support specialist.”

If you do not use Mcafee antivirus or experience a problem other than the one described, you should still call 352-234-4278 right away to schedule repairs. Repairs often become more difficult and time consuming the longer you wait to fix a virus or other computer problem.

Update: Now that Google has made this change available to the general public the solution below no longer works, but a new solution can be found here.

Google is well known for their “Google Labs” and “beta” products, but usually you must opt-in to get access to these features. Unfortunately for some google account holders there is a test being run on google search that there is no apparent way to opt-in or opt-out of. The Feature, while possibly useful is annoying to many users as it uses up the left side rail of the website and complicates how search results are displayed.

Google testing search features on sidebar

According to an interview by Search Engine Land with Marissa Mayer, vice president of user experience and search products, “We’re basically looking at a new look and feel for Google.”

The test began in November, and was originally planned to roll-out to additional users at the beginning of this year, but so far that has not happened.

The delay may be due to concerns stemming from users that have been upset with the new interface, often writing in comments that it looks like the interface was inspired by Google rival Bing, run by Microsoft.

For those users who have been subjected to the new interface and wish to revert, there is no obvious solution, although testing has shown that the interface can be reverted by clearing all google cookies and browser cache, closing your browser and then opening it again.

Hopefully if Google chooses to deploy the new interface en masse they will give users the option of disabling it or setting a preference in their Google account.

Many mac users are reporting problems with itunes after recent updates. The problem appears once itunes is closed after a recent update is installed. Once closed, itunes will not reopen or will crash constantly.  Sometimes the itunes icon just bounces in the dock and must be forcibly quit.

Thankfully, there is a simple solution. First, note the problem appears only to affect itunes 9.1 or greater. If you have a different version of itunes you may have a different problem!  The crashing is caused because a plugin called “Flip4Mac” that allows Windows media content to play was modified by a program called monolingual.  Monolingual strips out unnecessary language files, printer drivers, and computer architecture information that you don’t normally need.  Unfortunately, in this case it also damages the plugin so that it causes itunes to fail when it is opened.

To correct the issue click on Finder and select Go > Go to Folder.  Past in:

/Applications/Flip4Mac

and click on:

“Flip4Mac WMV Uninstaller.pkg”

Then follow the removal instructions.

itunes should now work properly.  Reinstalling Flip4Mac should not prevent itunes from working unless you run monolingual again.  If you decide to use monolingual in the future, you should add Flip4Mac to the blacklist by going to:

Monolongual > Preferences > Add

Then select:

(Local Hard Drive Name) > Library > Frameworks > TSLicense.framework > OK

Uncheckmark  “Languages” and “Architecture” next to this new entry and close the preferences.

This bug has been reported to the software vendor (tracker ID 2872799) and also affects other products that use video or audio decoding plugins such as Adobe After Effects and Final Cut Pro.

SEO

—

Search Engine Optimization Service

Optimizing search results is an absolute must if you want to have a successful website or online business. Without implementing strategies to improve search results you will be unable to achieve top search rankings for your website.

Not all SEO services are the same!  Many fly-by-night services use improper techniques to artificially boost your search ranking.  These techniques might make you number 1 in the search results now, but you could end up penalized or even delisted!  Being delisted is worse than just a bad search ranking, it means that clients might not be able to find you at all.

Beware of services that promise number one placement on Google, Bing, Yahoo, or other search engines. This is an unrealistic promise. While a good SEO service provider can improve your search rank, they do not have absolute control over a search engine. Only the search engine company can determine who will achieve number one for search terms.

If you are looking to improve the performance of your website on top search engines I offer both a one-time and monthly SEO services that can greatly increase your ranking for the search terms that are important to you.  My services will show marked performance increases and you will be updated on what terms are performing well and which ones still need improvement.  I achieve these higher rankings by researching and studying search algorithms and following best practices as outlined by the major search engines.

If you want to sustainably increase the number of visitors to your website, contact me today!

Information Technology Coordinator

Kevin Hart has been providing technical guidance, web-design, programming, and new media services in Florida for over a decade. In addition to his contributions to independent news and journalism outlets, Mr. Hart helped to produce the award-winning independent feature film Miami Model. In 2005, Mr. Hart collaborated with reporter and film-maker Brian Conley to develop the Alive in Baghdad project, which employed Iraqi journalists to produce video packages each week about a variety of topics on daily life in wartime Iraq. That project has since burgeoned into its own citizen journalism syndicate, Small World News. Mr. Hart currently provides support for Small World News projects including Alive in Afghanistan, an Ushahidi-powered project that maps information on governance and security in Afghanistan.

EDUCATION:

B.A., Anthropology, University of Florida – Gainesville, 2009

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

2005 – Present, Information Technology Coordinator,
Small World News, Philadelphia, PA

Provides web and hosting support services for Alive in Baghdad, Alive in Afghanistan, Alive in Mexico, Alive in Honduras and Alive in Tehran. Performs internal security audits and data integrity checking of online content management systems. Provides automated backup solutions for websites and databases. Develops proof-of-concept sites for new projects and site redesigns. Implements new features for citizen interaction using new media technologies.

2008 – Present, Systems Support Engineer,
Campus Communications, Inc., Gainesville, FL

Provides technical guidance on website content management system adoption and deployment. Performs hardware and software deployment, networking, and repairs to hardware infrastructure. Provides desktop security and support services. Responsible for identifying and resolving disparate technical needs between departments including hardware, software, and web presence requirements. Provides 24 hour support for time-critical operations.

2008 – Present, Web Services Consultant,
The North Florida Herald, Gainesville, FL

Consultant for major regional newspaper. Responsible for converting print content to electronic edition and publishing content within a limited time frame. Performs error checking on asset delivery to customers.

2008 –2009, Website Development and Hosting Consultant,
Champ City Realty, Inc., Gainesville, FL

Develops and maintains standards compliant website and custom content management system. Codes custom parsers to allow the import, export, and syndication of housing data between MySQL database and other systems. Creates custom geo-location tools to encode and display database assets to end-users via an interactive web interface.