Are You An Expert at Marketing With LinkedIn?

Learning The Secrets of LinkedIn

Reach Your Ideal Customers On The World’s Largest Professional Network.

LinkedIn is the most professional of the major social networking websites, used by over 450 million business professionals worldwide. It is responsible for more than 80% of a business's social media leads! And, since it is largely focused on B2B connections, LinkedIn should be a big part of your social media marketing strategy.

But, are you comfortable using LinkedIn? Do you know how use LinkedIn effectively when marketing? Is LinkedIn even a major component of your marketing calendar? 

Watch this 30 minute Learning the Secrets of LinkedIn pre-recorded webinar (from early January) and become a master of this amazing program.

Call us if you would like assistance with your LinkedIn marketing.    

Cyber Extortion - Why Cyber Criminals Are Winning

There’s no doubt that Ransomware is now a worldwide epidemic. In discussions with my peers in the industry and clients indicate that the threat of ransomware is stronger than ever, and the stakes have never been higher.

A friend of mine recently recounted a sad story. He told me about one of his clients, a family owned flower shop that suffered a $3,000 ransomware attack. They didn’t have the proper BDR (Backup Disaster Recovery) technology in place or the ability to pay the ransom demand. With limited cash flow, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and they were forced to close their doors and walk away after 15 years.

My friend also remarked that it’s almost like the old Hollywood gangster movies. We’ve all seen them: gangsters extort money from a small business owner using an implied threat of violence.  “You wouldn’t want your store to burn down, would you?” Of course, the small business owner has no choice but to pay up. Ransomware is Cyber Extortion! 

Luckily, there are affordable plans and technologies in place that can help businesses prevent and recover from such attacks. But first, you need to get serious about your technology. We are cyber security experts that know how to avoid Cyber Extortion and let YOU keep YOUR money in YOUR pocket with a properly managed BDR solution.

March Break Madness

Ah, March. That wonderful time when the kids are home on spring break. While we love our kids, let's be honest they can also drive us crazy. 

The secret to making it fun for everyone is being organized and making plans to keep them (and you) busy while schools out.

Do a quick search on the Internet for things to do and you will find a plethora activities that will keep them (and you) interested and occupied. So much so that you’ll be sorry to see them head back to class. Hmmm, that last part might be a bit of a stretch.

Here’s something to think about that will keep spring break in perspective; the spring break opportunity to spend time with your kids come by 12 times only.  So enjoy!

Law Firms Struggle With CyberSecurity Holes

Power Points - SIMPLE CYBERSECURITY HOLES IN LAW FIRM SECURITY

Law firms are no longer dodging cyber-attacks. While they once considered themselves to be immune, cyber-criminal attacks are, in fact, increasing the number of attacks against law firms.

In an industry where confidentiality is of utmost importance, many consumers believe that this is unacceptable. Though many firms are scrambling to get in front of any new attacks, others believe they are not in any real danger.

In our experience, many companies, including law firms, are not prepared to deal with cyber breaches.

Read More Here to discover two surprisingly simple mistakes that we see law firms making that increase the chances of a data breach.

Bob's Power Points

From The How To Geek

Whats Coming In Windows 10 in March

Why is My Internet So Slow?

How to Control Your Amazon Echo From Anywhere Using Your iPhone

How do I download or save a YouTube video to my computer?

Things Happening in Vancouver

Surrey Board of Trade Events

Vancouver Board of Trade Events

South Surrey And White Rock Chamber of Commerce

Burnaby Chamber of Commerce Events

Richmond Chamber of Commerce Events

North Vancouver Chamber Events

BECOMING A GOOGLE SEARCH EXPERT IS EASY WITH THESE KEY TECHNIQUES - Part 2

Power Points - Google Search Tips

There’s little doubt that Google has become part of our daily lives. It is our library, our go-to place for information, a modern day Library of Alexandria. Unlike Alexandria, which was located in Egypt, (history records that it was destroyed by Caesar in 48 BC), Google is at our fingertips no matter where we are – as long as we have an Internet connection.

Google is the engine we use to access the library. However, the key to getting the most value from Google is in knowing how to structure your search requests to make the search engine stand on its head and become our best friend.

Google is packed with advanced search features that, when used, can make life a lot easier. We covered a few of them in a previous article, and its time to build on that list of key techniques.

Read More for my 2nd installment of a three-part series on becoming a Google Ninja Warrior.

Learn The Top 10 New Features in Microsoft Word 2016

WORD 2016 Tips and Tricks

For the record let me begin by telling you that, here at Compunet, we are REALLY excited about what's under the hood in Microsoft Word 2016.

In my experience, most of us use only the features we know (and have come to love) and even at that most of us likely use less than 10% of the functionality. From my observations over the years watching people use Word, including myself, we don't embrace new features because we don't need them (or think we don't), and because it's difficult to become familiar with them when we are heads down just doing our job. Which means the new features remain unused by the vast majority of us.

In an attempt to solve that problem, starting today we will be providing a continuing series of online training.  The 1st training session is all about getting under the hood with Word 2106.

We invite you to take some time to join the on-line pre-recorded training session and become familiar with the new, incredible and cool improvements Microsoft has made to Word.

This training was recorded earlier and is available to playback as often as you like.   Click on the link at the top to access the webinar. What are you waiting for? Jump in and become a Word Wizard.

Power Points - Becoming a GOOGLE Search Expert is Easy With These 5 Key Techniques

Becoming A Google Search Expert is Easy With These 5 Key Techniques

Google: Love or hate it, but what will we do without it? Sure, there are other search engines out there; but let’s face it, Google has left them all in the dust, thanks to its speed and ease of use. What’s more, the search engine is packed with advanced search features that make life a lot easier.

Click the link above to read the 1st of a three-part series of how-to's on using these features and becoming A Google Search Expert! 

Power Points

From The How To Geek

7 Ways To Free up Hard Disk Space on Windows

How To Overclock Your Graphics Card For Better Performance

The Difference Between All of Phillip' Hue Light Bulbs

What Kind Of Smarthome Gadgets Can I Use If I Rent an Apartment?

From Our Blog

Optimize Google Reviews and BOOST your SEO

Dropbox Becomes Professional

Things Happening in Vancouver

Surrey Board of Trade Events

Vancouver Board of Trade Events

South Surrey And White Rock Chamber of Commerce

Burnaby Chamber of Commerce Events

Richmond Chamber of Commerce Events

North Vancouver Chamber Events

If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go further, go with others. African Proverb

Breaking News - Two B.C. Computer Solution Providers Merge.

CDN Channel Elite Award winner for Best Cloud Solution Compunet InfoTech of Vancouver and Cascadia Systems Group of Surrey have joined forces and will operate under the Compunet Banner.

This merger agreement essentially brings two Vancouver area solution providers together to offer professional services and cloud solutions across the lower mainland of B.C.

Cascadia has been providing managed services for computer systems to small and mid-sized businesses in the Surrey area since 1998. Compunet has been in the IT service and support business since 1989.

Compunet are fanatical about exceeding client expectations and obsessed with providing our clients with IT strategies, service and support that creates raving fans and long term lasting relationships.

Aye, Matey, Aye

A picture from the past. For those of you who don’t know me, I have a sailors’ gene. Long John Silver and I were friends – just so you know.

For quite a few years I was the skipper of a fabulous sailboat that become my second home. Alas, the boat is now gone but I still miss being on the water.

Racing every week out of Boundary Bay (Point Roberts) afforded an unforgettable learning opportunity that could not be found in books. Rain or snow or shine, we could be found chasing the mark on Saturdays in the winter and on Tuesdays during the summer.

We were a crew of 5 or 6 on most days - a great group to be with. Our purpose was to have fun, win races, and enjoy the ride. To be expected, there are many stories to be told  and the occasional rum toddy will always put wind in these sails. 

My lesson is enjoy what you do, whatever it may be, and stow the memories for later reflection.

Horseshoe Bay to New Westminster: 1966

BC Road Trip Time Machine - Highway 1, Horseshoe Bay to New Westminster: 1966

Wow. Fantastic video of Vancouver before things got crazy. Take a peek here.

The Ministry of Transportation just released a wonderful archival video from 1966! In it they drive from Horseshoe Bay, through downtown Vancouver, up Main street then onto Kingsway to Burnaby. It was part of their ‘photologs’ where they would mount a camera on a car and produce a film on 16mm.

In a blog post the Ministry states that “these roads were classified as provincial Highways 1 and 99 until the early 1970s. In fact, Kingsway was also a component of the Trans-Canada Highway until construction was completed on the current alignment of Highway #1 across the Fraser River on the Port Mann Bridge in 1964”.

September 23 CPABC Cyber Security Seminar

Strategies And Ideas To Help Lower IT Costs, Improve Employee Productivity, Increase Network Security And Solve Top Business Challenges

On Saturday September 23rd, we had the honour of presenting to the Surrey, Langley, North Delta Chapter of CPABC. We were grateful to Carl Markwart and his team for the opportunity to share some amazingly simple strategies that improve the ability to lower IT costs, improve employee productivity, and have an automatic disaster recovery process. During this three hour event we also explained how to be RansomFree.

With over 30 years’ experience in the computer industry, Bob is well qualified to speak on the management and operation of IT systems and the steps business owners need to take to keep their computer networks running problem free and responsive to changing business needs.

Book Bob for your next event. Call our office at 604.270.1730 or send us an email at seminars@cascadiasystemsgroup.com

Some Down Time on A Cruise With a Visit to San Diego

Everyone needs some time away from the grind of daily living – right? What better way to take the break than go cruising.

Why cruising? According to my wife it’s because everything is done for you – all you have to do is show up. For me it’s the opportunity to spend time on the water – give me a few (or more) days at sea and I am a happy sailor.

This past July, Liz plotted with her brothers from Toronto and Calgary to plan a late September repositioning cruise from Vancouver to San Diego. Toronto came ahead and stayed with us for a few days, we met Calgary at the airport and together took the Sky Train to the harbour on cruise day. So easy. So convenient.

We weren’t looking forward to the hassle of Canada Place, but were really surprised at how organized and easy it was. Compared to previous experiences, it was a cake walk.

Distance is the killer in Canada when the family is scattered across the country. Phone calls and emails are not quite the same as just being together. All six of us in one place for the first time in more than a few years with lots to catchup on, and catch up we did.

Liz and I spent a few extra days at the end of the cruse in San Diego being tourists. Hop on / hop off, Balboa Park, Old Towne, Little Italy, the USS Midway, and more. Absolutely, no end of things to do.

Sadly, the grind was still here when we got back. In the end I am grateful to Liz for plotting with her brothers.

Just How Valuable is a TV Remote?

"Cash, cheque or charge?" I asked after folding the items the woman wished to purchase. 

As she fumbled for her wallet I noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse.  "Do you always carry your TV remote?" I asked. 

"No," she replied. 

"But my husband refused to come shopping with me, so I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him."

Enterprise Data Protection for Small Businesses

Thanks to ransomware, natural disasters, and system failures, small business data is more at risk than ever. Luckily, there's a solution. 

Ideal for business with 1 to 99 employees, our MonkeyVault data backup is the only continuity solution designed specifically for small business. Using image-based backup and a hybrid cloud model, MonkeyVault delivers enterprise-grade functionality at a small business price.

What does business continuity mean to you? It should mean no business downtime, even in the event of a natural or technical disaster.  Is your data backed up? Can it be restored in timely manner? Can you operate during restoration?

If your data us important to your business, LET'S GET STARTED.

Saving Business – One backup at a time.

Power Points

My Friend got hit in the head with a can of soda.  Luckily it was a soft drink.

Seattle Tips

Argosy Boat Cruises

Ray's Boathouse, MUST DO seafood restaurant

Boeing Factory Tour

Ride The Ducks of Seattle

Power Points

Build a ChatBot In Minutes

Smart Phone is Key to Tesla S3

5 GMAIL Hacks To Reduce Email Pain

Roomba does NOT Spy or sell your data

Things Happening

Surrey Board of Trade Event Calendar

Vancouver Events This month

Always show up with a winning and giving attitude, or don't leave your home or office!

Digitize Your Business Processes With a Chatbot

The name is Bot, Chatbot:

Chatbots, like Microsoft's XiaoIce, have won the hearts of millions of users. Others, like Cortana and Siri, have made it easier for users to get the information they need, when they want it. By building a chatbot for your industry, you can reduce the time it takes for a customer to get the answer they need, all without staffing a human customer service department. 

Chatbots are one of the hottest trends in artificial intelligence and marketing, even to the extent that people will fantasize about their voice assistant. They are becoming capable of taking your food order, check the local weather or even hailing an Uber. However you use them, chatbots give you numerous ways to connect with your audience and not only help your company’s operations, but to also position it as a technology leader.

Another amazing article from the  Abundance Insider newsletter.  

Nine Secrets To Finding Relevant Content On-Line

Have you ever run into a virtual wall when searching for information on the Internet? With billions of websites online, finding good, relevant information can sometimes be akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

It should come as no surprise that the majority of Internet users have little knowledge on how to actually locate relevant, timely, credible and objective information.  It's a skill not generally taught in schools or universities - we're supposed to learn it by osmosis I guess.

Well today, I have good news! I have assembled 9 little-known secrets that will help you find what you are looking for in no time at all.  Use these 97 search techniques to quickly eliminate all the fluff from all of your searches and focus on only the information you need. 

You'll be amazed and stunned at the amount of relevant information that is available online and accessible with just a few clicks.  Get your copy of the 9 little-known search techniques here.

There Ain't No Cure For The Summertime Blues

YAHOO! Say good bye to nasty spring and say hello to super summer. Easy livin’, no school, flip flops, bathing suits, towels, sailing, summer camp, shorts, t-shirts, ….  and nice cold beer.

We can now quit our whining about the cold, wet and non-ending spring.  But wait, if I recall correctly some of us soon will be complaining about how hot it is and asking “when will it cool off?”.  Sigh, it seems that we can never be satisfied.   

I'm gonna raise a fuss / I'm gonna raise a holler / About a-workin' all summer just to try to earn a dollar / There ain’t no cure for the summertime blues. 

From the Marx Brothers movie The Cocoanuts (1929).

Why A Duck?

I go crackers over these guys - hope you enjoy.  

Note that at 0:33, Groucho almost calls Chico "Ravelli" (the name of Chico's character in Animal Crackers), realizes his error mid-syllable, and manages to save the take. Which, for budgetary reasons, was a big deal on these early Marx Brothers pics. Always quick on his feet, that Groucho. This clip was apparently the 28th take.

Workshop - Cyber Security And The War Against Small Business

Cyber Security And The War Against Small Business: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Your Company Safe!

Cyber Criminals and Ransomware have stolen over $75 Billion from small businesses worldwide in 2016. Join us and discover some amazingly simple strategies you can use to protect your business and keep you from becoming a victim in 2017.

We live in a war zone and if you are concerned about the security of your computer network, lost or stolen devices, or the privacy of your confidential information, this is a must attend workshop that will show you how to avoid the common mistakes that many small business owners make every day, and the 7 uncomplicated strategies you can use to keep your company safe.

When: Thursday June 8, 2017

Where: Surrey Board of Trade 

Click Here NOW to Register for this Workshop.

A Self-Healing, Water-Repellent Coating That's Ultra Durable

Unbreakable: Water-Repellent Coating | MSE Anish Tuteja

 A team at the University of Michigan has created a self-healing, water-repellent coating that can be sprayed onto virtually any surface.

Current water-repellent materials lack the durability needed for applications like clothing or ship hulls. Instead of searching for one specific chemical system, as has been the focus for decades, this team looked at the problem at a more fundamental level, examining the properties that make a water-repellent system durable. They found that most existing water-repellent materials rely on their specific geometry (microscopic pillars), which also makes them fragile.

This new material is far more resilient, healing itself hundreds of times, "even after being abraded, scratched, burned, plasma-cleaned, flattened, sonicated and chemically attacked."

This research is a reminder of the power of creating breakthroughs by approaching problems from a fresh perspective and asking fundamentally different questions.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield / Written by Jason Goodwin. Read the entire article here.

To My Readers

The newsletter provider we are using to build and distribute our monthly newsletter upgraded their system last month with the result that some problems emerged in our March edition in the form of broken links and incomplete articles.

We have resolved these problems and apologize for any confusion that you may have encountered.Thank you or your understanding and enjoy your read of this edition.

rfm

Birthday Time!

Winter is finally done, or so most of us would like to believe.  And with March comes the time to celebrate my wife's birthday.  

A great dinner at Cosmos in White Rock with the Grand Girls and family, a luscious St. Honore Cake from Veneto's Cakes & Pastries in Surrey, some flowers and a warm fireplace made for a fun night.  Some birthday cards (to be read out loud of course), some wine to toast the occassion, and on to the next year.

Birthdays have found a way into our time pocket, stealing our days ever faster than in our youth.  Never been able to figure that one out.  We are busy doing things (no layabouts here) but yet the days are a blur.  On this birthday though, we made the day stand still.

Happy birthday Liz

Innovation in The Chicken Coop

The Story of The Three Legged Chicken

A man was driving along a freeway when he noticed a chicken running along side his car. He was amazed to see the chicken keeping up with him because he was doing 50 MPH. He accelerated to 60 and the chicken stayed right next to him. He speeded up to 75 MPH and the chicken passed him up. The man noticed the chicken had three legs. So, he followed to chicken down a road and ended up at a farm. He got out of his car and saw that all the chickens had three legs.

He asked the farmer "What's up with these chickens?"

The farmer said "Well, everybody likes chicken legs. I bred a three legged bird. I'm going to be a millionaire." The man asked him how they tasted.

The farmer said "Don't know, haven't caught one yet."

News From The Help Desk

Late Breaking News: The mad scientists who run our help desk (604.996.HELP) have been dealing with crazy problems all month and have learned a thing or two along the way - and now they want to share with you. 

Things Happening In the World of IT

WebRTC vs VoIP: competing or complementary?

WikiLeaks Does It Again - Are You Affected?

Things Happening This Month

Vancouver Events In March.

Surrey Events In March.

Things You Might find Very Useful

Where Work Happens - #slack

Robots Can Be Beautiful

The Night Sky

Star Gazing -This Weeks Sky at a Glance

Recently Overheard

Robot and IT expert Dr. David Levy predicts that by 2050 humans wll be able to marry "enormously attractive"  robots after a brief civil rights struggle.  bigthink.com

Palm Desert Is The Place To Be

My wife and I decided to take a break from winter this year and headed for Palm Desert a couple of weeks ago.  A very pleasant 25 degrees at this time of year, but a scorching +40 degrees in summer. For now, emerald green grass everywhere you look, especially the golf courses.

Did you know that there are +140 irrigated gold courses in Palm Desert? That’s one every ½ Km2. Irrigated is the key word here - over 29% of all the water used in the Coachella Valley is directed to golf courses! That’s a substantial commitment to say the least. Clearly golf is king.

For us the highlight of our trip this year was a hike in the Tahquitz Canyon.  A fairly easy 2hr hike over an elevation rise of only 90 meters. And its kid friendly. There’s lots to see along the way with a 60 foot waterfall at the top. We picked up some walking sticks at the start to help us along – I highly recommend you do this.

If winter has got you down – take hike in Palm Desert.

Client Spotlight – SW Media Group

SW MEDIA GROUP is a media company catering to the news and knowledge needs of the South Asian community in the Lower mainland and Metro Vancouver Areas through print and television. Professional journalists and columnists provide in depth analysis every week on various topics of interest

SW Media Group is Surrey based and publishes Seven Newspapers in four languages weekly. You can find their Asian Journal online at http://www.asianjournal.ca/

They are known for their strong local content as well international news from India, Pakistan and other South Asian counties.

Cascadia’s Business-In-A-Box Computer Support Service keeps their computer networks problem free 24 hours a day.

Let us know if you would you like your company highlighted in our next “Client Spotlight” – 604.270.1730.

Books I Am Reading

Elon Musk.  A true 21st century visionary. The book is a fascinating read and an insight into the remarkable life of the most daring entrepreneurs of our time.  

His vision and ambition is to deliver sustainable energy and to end reliance on fossil fuels. Through Tesla Motors he is aiming to bring fully-electric vehicles to the mass market; through SolarCity he will put affordable solar power into the reach of every home owner; at SpaceX he launches satellites and is working to send humans to other planets.

Author Ashlee Vance offers an unprecedented look into this remarkable man.