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Heart of Texas Network Consultants has been serving the Central Texas area since 1992, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.
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Heart of Texas Admin

For Cyber Security Month, Take Extra Care Not to Overshare

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October is Cyber Security month. We want to bring attention to this very important issue affecting every person and organization connected to the Internet. When discussing cyber security, we often talk about computer viruses and malware, but these threats are only part of the cyber security equation. It’s just as important that you, your staff, and even your family, are mindful to not overshare information online that can compromise your organization’s security and personal identities.

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Social Media Internet Best Practices
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How a Spam Filtering Solution is Like the Sheriff of Your Network

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When it comes to the security of your company’s network, you need to have a strike plan to get you out of any potentially threatening situations. Essentially, your network needs an email security solution like a spam filter to act as a sheriff for your business.

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Security Best Practices Email
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Your Biggest Vulnerability May Come From Forgetting to Logout

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Even if you have the best network security tools in place, you can still fall victim to a major data breach, just by doing something as seemingly-harmless as not manually logging out of your online accounts.

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Best Practices Office Office Tips
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If You’re Going to Read Employee Emails, You’re Going to Have a Bad Time

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For many office workers, there seems to be some confusion concerning the privacy of employee-to-employee communications made over a company network. It is okay for an employer to go through an employee’s email or instant messaging history? Many workers may be surprised to learn that an employer is in their legal right to do so.

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Best Practices Intranet Employer-Employee Relationship
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Does an Unlimited PTO Policy Sound Too Good to Be True?

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Paid time off is somewhat of an anomaly to the business owner. They don’t want to provide too little and destroy morale, yet they don’t want to lose capital by providing too much to their employees. It might seem strange to suggest unlimited paid time off, but according to some business owners, it might be a quality solution to this dilemma, with enough care put into its integration.

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Best Practices Business Employer-Employee Relationship
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If You Sense There’s a Better Way to Do Something, You’re Probably Right

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Have you ever found yourself neck deep in a major business project and nothing seemed to be working? In times like these you may have thrown up your hands and said, “There must be a better way to do this!” Often times there is, and it’s in the form of new technology. Is your current IT provider familiar with the latest technologies that can make operations easier for your business?

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Productivity Efficiency Best Practices
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Tip of the Week: How to Stay Sanitary with Your Technology

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Whether it’s warranted or not, some people are worried about the spread of the Ebola virus. Office employees should also be concerned with the many other cooties that remain on common surfaces. This points to sanitation as a primary issue, especially in public places like your office. Among many other surprising germ-transmitting mediums, like money, cats, and dogs, technology accumulates a lot of ilk which could potentially spread to the entire office… that is, if you’re not careful to nip it in the bud.

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Tip of the Week Hardware Best Practices
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Oh No, My Laptop is Stolen! Now What? Here are 4 Steps.

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Picture this, you're at the airport with your laptop, knocking out an important project between flights. Suddenly, you're approached by some touristy-looking people about taking their picture. You're a nice person so you grant them their request. After a longer-than-expected photo session, you return to your seat only to find that your laptop has been stolen. You've been conned.

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Hardware Security Best Practices
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What's a Hard Drive Crash and How Can I Prevent It?

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You've heard about how bad a computer crash can be. You may have even experienced a crash yourself, but are you familiar with the technical reason behind a crash? A crash happens when the tiny pieces of a hard disk drive stop working by crashing into each other at very high speeds. When this happens, the data on your computer is lost.

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Hard Drives Best Practices Computer
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CryptoLocker and GameOver Zeus: When Bad Meets Ugly

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It's been a few weeks since we've reported on the GameOver Zeus virus, and a few months since we first told you about the nasty ransomware known as Cryptolocker. Now, we're seeing the two threats merge into one code-red-mega threat that your business needs to be prepared for!

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Security Alert Best Practices
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Be Wary of Bitcoin Fraud

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On May 7, 2014, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a news alert declaring Bitcoin, and all other virtual currencies insecure and unsafe. Due to a rise in Bitcoin popularity, many investors and business owners like to use it for worldwide transactions. But, how safe is it, and how likely are you to run into a Bitcoin fraud scheme?

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Online Currency Best Practices User Tips
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Tomorrow Never Downloads: Protecting Your Database from Corporate and International Espionage

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Firewalls are the first thing companies think of when it comes to data security. What is the last security risk on an organization's mind? Your most tech-savvy employee. If someone were to "get to" the employee overseeing your network, they would be able to do some serious damage. What are you doing to protect your data from the employees you trust the most?

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Security Data Best Practices
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Don’t Let New Technology Blind You

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If your workplace is filled with computers, you likely experience a number of eye-straining problems related to your technology. According to All About Vision, symptoms of computer eye strain impair 50-to-90 percent of all computer workers. That's a pretty good-sized chunk of your employees, and they probably don't enjoy any of these symptoms, including physical fatigue, decreased productivity, and even increased error rate.

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Best Practices Display Hardware
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Red Light, Green Light – 4 Tips for Increasing Blog Traffic

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You've just started your own small business, and your head is swimming with ideas that you want to share with the entire world. You create a blog and publish a few articles, but only get a few hits. You sigh, write another entry, and then shut down your computer for the night. This happens for a few days, which turn into weeks, and months, and something doesn't feel right to you. Why aren't you getting any viewers?

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Best Practices Website Blogging
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3 Internet Dangers That Can Harm Your Kids and What You Can Do About Them!

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The Internet is a powerful tool. Another powerful tool is the circular saw. You wouldn't give your kid a circular saw and let them use it without any supervision. In the same way, you shouldn't let your kid use the Internet unsupervised and without any training.

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Best Practices Privacy Security
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Don’t Get Trapped in PowerPoint Purgatory

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Everyone dreads presentations, but for different reasons. Some people are just afraid of public speaking, or they are just overall unorganized. In the end, well designed presentations are essential for your company's success, whether they are given to clients or to your employees. Thankfully, there are ways to minimize the stress that giving a presentation can cause. One of the best ways to prepare a presentation is to use a Microsoft PowerPoint slideshow as an aid.

However, it's very easy to fall into "PowerPoint Purgatory", a place filled with overburdened slideshows that last for hours on end. The amount of professionals who don't use PowerPoint effectively far outweigh those who do. Heart of Texas Network Consultants is here to help by providing you with some useful tips to make your presentations both easy for the presenter and for the audience!

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PowerPoint Best Practices Microsoft
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Got Too Many Google Accounts?

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If you're like most heavy Internet users, you've got multiple Google accounts and you have to think twice about which Gmail address to give someone. It's not like you set out to have three, or five, or even ten Google accounts. It just kind of happened over time. Can anything be done to streamline your different Google accounts?

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Google Email Best Practices
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You Might Be a Technology Redneck If…

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Not too many years ago comedian Jeff Foxworthy became a star with his trademark "You Might Be a Redneck If..." jokes. Rednecks are an interesting breed that do things backwards because they stubbornly believe that it's the best way, and like all of us, rednecks use technology. Are you a technology redneck? Check out our redneck technology list to find out.

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Technology Best Practices Humor
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3 of the Most Common Downtime Scenarios Caused by Technology

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We've reached a point with technology that we're totally dependant upon it to accomplish most mission-critical business tasks. This is great for getting business done efficiently, but being dependent upon technology makes operations virtually impossible when technology fails. This is called downtime, and your business needs to be prepared for every downtime scenario possible.

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Avoiding Downtime Technology Best Practices
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7 Tech Etiquette Tips for the Office

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There seem to be some commonly unspoken rules about the appropriateness of using certain technology throughout the course of the workday. You may have an IT practices policy in your office, but for some of us, we need to infer proper times, places, and limits of our technology use. Here are some courtesy tips for tech use throughout your day at the office.

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Technology Workplace Tips Best Practices
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