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elfdesigns

What's New

Check out our new support and resources Our knowledgebase is always expanding, and we have lots of articles to help you navigate the Internet, market your website, communicate with your customers, and work with images, as well as many other subjects.

Do you need help, but have a hard time following written instructions? Then watch our video how-tos. We can lead you through many different tasks and help you better understand the technology you need to effectively grow your business.

Having a hard time finding an answer to your question? Send in your support requests, and Elf Designs can help you get the information you need.

Now that Internet Explorer 8 is available, Elf Designs is contemplating no longer providing support for IE6. If you are a fan of Internet Explorer, please consider switching to the newer version, as it is of course better than the previous versions. However, I would highly recommend switching to Mozilla Firefox, as it is, in my opinion, a superior web browser. Here is a link with some more information

Tools & Tips

Conficker: What is it?

You may have heard about the Conficker worm which was supposed to have been activated April 1. If not, here is an article:

While Conficker may have been a hoax, it does remind us that we always need to be vigilant with our computer security. Here are a few steps you should be taking on a regular basis to ensure your computer is safe:

  • Set your computer to automatically check for updates. Also, when your computer prompts you that a new update is available, make sure you install the update, don't ignore it.
  • Use a security system. There are many options available, like Symantec, AVG, and MacAfee. Any of these security programs can work for you, make sure to check them out and decide what is best for your setup.
  • Lock down your personal wireless network. Make sure your wireless network is protected by a password which prevents outside users from stealing your internet connection and, more importantly, protects your information from others.
  • Back up your information to a separate hard drive. You never know what might happen; your computer could become corrupted, it could be stolen, you could lose everything in a fire. If your back up onto a separate hard drive, and preferably store that hard drive away from your computer, you will have one less thing to worry about.

How can you tell if you've been infected? Here's a link to find out whether Conficker has made its way to your computer:

Social Networking for Your Business

With so many people joining social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, you may be wondering if these sites can help grow your business. After all, these sites can potentially help you reach a huge audience with a few clicks of the mouse. But what are the best ways to use these social networking sites to your advantage, and what are the possible pitfalls you should avoid? Here are a few articles that might help you decide whether either of these sites are right for you:

You can follow me on Twitter - lanelf

 

Interesting Links

Offbeat Earth offers you a little humour to brighten your day. Find out what crazy products are out there for you:

Every morning, I take my morning coffee and browse my favourite websites before I get going for the day. Do you do something similar? If so, Firefox has an add-on that will prove useful:

FTP (file transfer protocol) is a way to exchange and manipulate files over a computer network like the Internet. It's a useful way to safely send files over the Internet, and it's essential for anyone creating a webpage. Here is a site that offers two FTP client programs, and you can use them both for free to upload files:

Curdbee is a new application that allows you to send invoices to clients and then collect payments through PayPal or Google Checkout in the currency of your choice. It's a great option for small businesses. You can get more information here

Evernote is a great little tool especially if you have a poor memory - you can add notes - images and links and keep them all in one place - online version or desktop look at evernote Did I mention that it's free?

For those of you who blog, or if you are starting out you may be interested in this its a 31 day course on how to build a better blog, it started last week but you can still sign up

Finally I just read a great article on seo ( search engine optimisation) read it here the article offers suggestions on how to get that top listing for your product or service