Microsoft was founded in Albuquerque. The headquarters are now in Redmond, WA.

This month's question is:

Who invented the Internet?

A)The Russian Military
b) Microsoft
c) Al Gore
d) U.S. Department of Defense

Be the first to call 717-291-4689 or e-mail Sue Worthing sue@ezsolution.comwith the correct answer to win a $20 gift certificate to Isaacs Deli or Starbucks!

This month as we begin the holiday season, I want to pass on a couple of tips you may find helpful in staying healthy and sane over the holidays.

Is Your Computer Keyboard Making You Sick?
Now that we're at the height of cold and flu season, you might want to take a closer look at what's living on your keyboard. A series of studies called "Germs in the Workplace," found that the following four office surfaces had the most bacteria (in this order):

1. Phones
2. Desks
3. Computer keyboard
4. Computer mouse

Obviously these are items you touch all day, every day. Germs and dirt from your hands and mouth get transferred easily on to these items, and vice-versa, making them breeding grounds for harmful bacteria.

To lessen your chances of picking up colds and flu, we recommend cleaning your mouse and keyboard daily with a good antibacterial wipe.

Backup Alert To iPod Users
If you've been an iTunes and iPod customer for any length of time, you'll quickly rack up a number of songs, videos, and audio books in your library. In no time flat, you can end up spending a small fortune.

But be warned! Most iTunes customers don't realize that Apple will NOT allow you to re-download the music you've paid for, even if you lose every file because your computer dies, gets fried, infected, or destroyed.

If you don't want to risk losing the purchases you've made, then make sure you back them up. Here's how:

First make sure you have some blank CDs or DVDs ready to go, and then do the following: From the iTunes File menu, choose Backup to Disc. A dialog box will open up giving you an option to do one of the following:

1. Back up entire iTunes library and playlists (to back up everything)
2. Back up only iTunes Store purchases (to back up only your purchases)

If you have previously backed up your library and only want to back up the changes, then check only backup items added or changed since last backup. Click "Back Up" and wait for the CD drawer to open. Add a disc each time iTunes asks for one. If your library won't fit on a single disc, iTunes will ask for as many discs as needed and write your library to them.

Make sure you store your backups in an off-site location. If your office catches on fire, gets burglarized, has a faulty sprinkler system, or violent storm, they'll go down with your PC.

by Tom Malesic

In the Spring of 2009, I had the pleasure of speaking at a client's conference - (www.prea.com) . The topic was web design and marketing. I had been immersing myself in social media so I thought I would throw in a section at the end of my presentation about Twitter.

Well, after I starting talking about TWEETING, the entire room started to giggle (yes, the men too). I realized that I had a new stand up comedy act.

Although the words do make your conversations about Twitter more fun than the average marketing conversation, the principles are still the same... How will my business/organization use this new marketing media to our advantage and to make money?

What is Twitter?
Twitter is like a blog except you only have 140 characters to get your message across. You can use text and links to a website.

How do I use it?
1. Communicate with your customers.

For example, Authorize.net (a large credit card processor that many of our clients use) recently had an outage. This is a huge crisis for their customers. They used Twitter to post updates to their customers about what was going on and when they would be back up and running.

2. Reinforce your company and personal branding.

Most small businesses don't pay a lot of attention, if any, to the concept of branding. After all, isn't that just for Coke and Pepsi? Twitter and other social media give you the opportunity to create the "I'm an expert at... (this topic) campaign".

3. Sell products or services.

You can tweet about your products and services and then link to the appropriate section on your website.

Can I make money at it?
Yes, you can make money on Twitter. However, you will need a lot of people following your tweets. This will take a lot of time and focus to make this happen. My staff and I are actively working on our Twitter campaigns to make Twitter a source of revenue. I will keep you posted on this venture.

Join me on Twitter
I invite you to follow me on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/tommalesic

Learn More
If you would like more information about how you might use Twitter, call me 717.291.4689 Thanks – Tom

Heather graduated from The Art Institute of Philadelphia with a degree in Computer Animation in 1999.  Her childhood dream was to be a become a Disney animator and, with a box of crayons, she began her passion for art. By the time she reached college, hand-drawn animation was no longer common place in the industry and she turned her attention to graphic design and the web.

In Spring of 2000, Heather put her artistic talent to work for EZSolution web clients.

Today, Heather is our Senior Web Designer, which means, yes, she works on conceptual designs, but she also is instrumental in building and maintaining our websites as well. She says her job is to create the client's ideal "look and feel" for each site.

Heather got married recently and, while there are no children in the Hurst household, there is a nose-licking tabby cat named Bella.

On her own time, Heather still continues to engage her passion for traditional art by doing commissioned character drawings at trade shows and through her personal website. She also enjoys spending time with friends and family, as well as quiet time with a good book.

Isaac's Deli

Last month we had the honor of launching IsaacsDeli.com. If you have ever eaten at Isaac's (and if you live in the Lancaster area I'm sure that you have), working with their team was as fun as eating a sandwich with a fun bird name. Isaac's corporate culture of having fun is in every employee that we worked with.

Our original task was to create an online menu ordering system. At first glance, this is no big deal. After all it's just an e-commerce site, right? Well that would be the case if you just bought the sandwich on the menu. But, that's not how you buy it when you go to Isaac's. Each sandwich needed to have the option to be customized. You can remove ingredients and add ingredients from your sandwich.

We also needed to be able to select a pick-up or delivery time. This is based on how much time the kitchen staff would need to complete your order.

Of course Deb in our office is always up for a good programming challenge.

At the same time Isaac's was having us build the ordering system, they were having another well known local web development company build a new website for them. New website, new online ordering – what a great combination.

Unfortunately for Isaac's, the new website project did not go as planned. At several times during the development process the other web company said to Isaac's "I know we have this section quoted in our project… but we don't feel comfortable building this… Why don't you have EZSolution help you with it."

Here's what Johnny Roberts (Marketing Coordinator) has to say about EZSolution:

"I love EZSolution! I can't say enough about them. I tell everyone about the quality of their work, their professionalism and innovation. They are able to handle any problem that I throw at them. They are a one stop shop. They cover everything."

Water Fowlers R Us
www.waterfowlersrus.com

Cosmetic Creations
www.cosmeticcreationsdmd.com

Best China Wok
www.bestchinawok.com

Ehwater
www.ehwater.com

EZSolution is pleased to welcome Jay Provanzo and Heartland Builders, Inc. as a new customer. Easily accessible on Nolt Road in East Hempfield Township, Heartland Builders helps you build your dream.

EZSolution recently installed Heartland's first server. The 2008 Windows server brings all their files into one central location for storage and back up.

Now the staff has easy accessibility to shared files and increased productivity while in the office. An added bonus for the staff is RDP (Remote Desktop), This allows any of the users to login to their own desktop directly from home. The desktop experience at home is exactly the same as at work.

With over 40 years of combined experience, Heartland has the professionals dedicated to serving your needs. In addition, Heartland Builders encourages their clients to be actively involved in the homebuilding process.

Along with direct access to their project manager, you also will have opportunity to meet and interact with the many professionals needed to make your house a home. You are encouraged to stop out and visit your home while it is under construction.

Heartland is active in neighborhoods in Lancaster County. If you visit their website at www.heartlandbuilderspa.com, you can see The Reserve at Union School in Mount Joy and Windemere Place in the heart of East Hempfield.

EZSolution supports Heartland Builders with complete 24/7 technical support through the EZSolution Total Care Solution.

The EZSolution Total Care service center monitors all workstations and servers 24/7. Patches and updates are automatically installed and critical alerts can be sent to on call technicians for quick resolution, before the alert becomes an issue.

"As a small business, we were looking to install a computer network. EZSolution took the time to understand our business and designed a network to meet our needs ... and our budget. And with EZSolution's Total Care, we no longer have to worry about our computers and network, which has enabled us to focus more time on our business. I recommend EZSolution to anyone with networking needs."

Jay Provanzo

We suggest you DON'T use the following passwords. Your name or your spouse's name, your children's names, your pet's name, your birth date, the last four digits of your Social Security number, your phone number, your address, a series of consecutive numbers, such as "1, 2, 3, 4."

Your best bet for creating a strong password: Use combinations of letters, numbers and special characters.

You can test your password strength for free at: www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/ passwords/checker.aspx

When your referral becomes a client (and has spent $1000 or more) then we will pay you $50 more. And, we will give your referral $100 off their purchase.