Bamburgh 5 Star Rating

Geoff gave advice on buying a new computer and then set it up for me.  Very professional and saved me quite a lot of money.  Will call on him again when the need arises.

Very polite, timely and clearly knew what he was doing. Had the problem fixed in under the specified time.

Gave good advice and saved me quite a lot of money. Geoff was most understanding when family concerns suddenly interrupted his first visit. Very pleased and will call on him again if necessary.

Facebook users are once again warning their online friends about a threat – the only problem this time is that it doesn’t really exist.

Article published by Sophos

Messages are being sent across Facebook by well-intentioned Facebook users advising their friends to beware a virus that could “burn the whole hard disc.. C of your computer” while displaying an Olympic Torch.

A virus that actually physically burns your whole hard disk? Wow.. that sounds nasty. Especially if you’re resting a notebook on your lap at the time.

Could it even be possible? After all, you might have vaguely heard about how hackers might be able to set fire to your MacBook’s battery recently.

The truth is that the warning being spread on Facebook is nonsense, and although users are sounding the alarm to their online friends, they are actually doing nothing more than perpetuating a virus myth.

Here’s what a typical warning message posted on Facebook looks like:

PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS NOTICE TO YOUR CONTACTS!
In the coming days, you should be aware! Do not open any message with an attachment called: Invitation FACEBOOK, regardless of who sent it.
It is a virus that opens an Olympic torch that burns the whole hard …disc C of your computer.
This virus will be received from someone you had in your address book .. If you receive a mail called: Invitation FACEBOOK, though sent by a friend,
DO NOT OPEN IT and DELETE IT IMEDIATELY

Sound familiar? It did to me.

After all, there has been an “Olympic Torch” hoax (albeit one that doesn’t mention Facebook) doing the rounds for over five years already.

So what seems to have happened here is that a hoax has made the jump from traditional email to social networking site, and gained a Facebook-related element at the same time.

Remember to always get your computer security advice from a computer security company. Friends may be well-intentioned in passing on warnings, but it’s always good to check your facts before forwarding them any further.

If you want to learn about the real threats on Facebook you should join the Sophos Facebook page, where we’ll keep you up-to-date on the latest rogue applications, scams and malware attacks threatening social network users.

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Unlike many UK Companies please note that we will be operating a nearly normal service as  follows over the Christmas / New Year Period.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our Customers a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

Please check the list below for our Phone/Visit availability.

19th-23rd December  8am-8pm – Normal Onsite Service

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(Please note Voicemail may trip in but you WILL get called back.)

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David Morrell (client)

David hired you as a IT Consultant in 2006 and hired you more than once

“Geoff has been our IT support and hardware/software supplier for 5 years. Always reliable, punctual, great value and delivers exactly what we want when we need it. David Morrell Health Choice, Specialist Intermediaries for, only, Private Medical Insurance.” November 14, 2011

Information just released from Panda Security confirms that Viral activity is getting worse.

It is time that you checked your systems to ensure they are safe.

42 Threats every Minute may not sound that bad but that equates to 60,480 every Day or 22 Million Every Year.

We can check your systems to ensure you are adequately protected and advise on how to stay protected.

Please Phone 0800-0407048 or 07411-149666 to book a 1 Hour Health Check. 

Information courtesy of silicon.com 18/10/2011

Photos: Microsoft’s OmniTouch – The tech that turns any surface into a touchscreen

The world at your fingertips…

Researchers from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University have shown off technology that can turn any surface into a touchscreen.

The OmniTouch is a wearable device that projects a graphical user interface, such as a computer desktop or a virtual keypad, onto any surface, from a table to a hand. Users can interact with these virtual interfaces using their fingers, which are tracked by sensors built into OmniTouch, in the same way they would use a touchscreen.

The prototype technology is on display at UIST 2012, the Association for Computing Machinery’s 24th Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, that is being held in Santa Barbara, California.

OmniTouch is designed to be wearable. The prototype is a shoulder-mounted device made up of a laser-based pico projector and a depth-sensing camera, similar to that found in the Microsoft Kinect.

The OmniTouch uses the depth-sensing camera to build a graphical model of the world which allows it to calculate how far away objects are. The system’s software can recognise fingers, and a depth map allows it to determine whether a finger is touching a surface. When a finger touches a surface onto which an interface is projected, users can interact with the screen, clicking buttons or dragging icons, in the same way they would with any other touchscreen.

The ability of the system to track finger movements allows it to support a wide range of gestures, such as drawing with fingers, as seen here.

The system can be set up to allow users to create touchscreen interfaces on any surface. For example, the system could be configured to recognise a finger being dragged diagonally, as seen here, as a gesture telling it to create a new interface on that surface. The size of the interface would correspond to the distance the finger is dragged

Because the system can trace the movement of fingers on any surface, it can be set up to recognise gestures such as pinch-zooming on a map.

Microsoft Research Redmond researcher Hrvoje Benko said in a statement: “We wanted the ability to use any surface.

“Let the user define the area where they want the interface to be, and have the system do its best to track it frame to frame. This creates a highly flexible, on-demand user interface.”

Another potential use for OmniTouch is tracking the movement of fingers to highlight text in a printed document.

In this picture, the user is selecting apps from a menu on his hand which are then run on the interface projected onto the table.

Researchers say the wearable shoulder-mounted prototype could be reduced to a matchbox-sized device that could be worn on a watch or a pendant.

A shot showing how the system recognises and traces fingers.