florenceit.net
it’s sun powered!
follow me on twitter! it’s a blast, and there’s lots of current and useful info we’re posting, that doesn’t make it into the newsletter!
reUSE
For still usable technotrash, Gadgets can be sold at gazelle.com
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Call us for your renewals too!
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Tech Soup
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Vista hardware requirements
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Hi!
We’ve been enjoying summer tremendously and I hope you have too! I finally finished up a deck/screen porch/shed structure I built, and we’ve been enjoying that alot. Looking forward to doing some water drainage and from overflow on a rainbarrel, then off to the more mundane home repair chores. We saw the latest harry potter movie, toured a windfarm, swam in a river, the ocean, rode our bikes, and planted some new plants outside. I hope you also are getting the chance to do whatever you enjoy outside this summer!
Make the sun work for you 
 This month I’ll cover alot of stuff with the usual assortment of cool links. Lets start with this: 10 cool DIY things you can make or do to harness the power of the sun: http://lifehacker.com/5314498/top-10-diy-projects-that-harness-the-power-of-the-sun. Note that for the solar powered outside wifi access we can help with this sort of project , to a certain degree, and can refer you to area renewable energy companies that I have worked with for more thorough assistance and product sales.
The open source application of the month
(which, yes, we haven’t done in a while) is the tweets module” for joomla. This is free and you can see it in action in our newly redesigned joomla  website. It shows the last 3 (configurable) tweets (twitter postings) in a user configurable location on the the website. BTW let me know what you think of the website redesign accomplished with the purchase of a new commercial Joomla template I spent a few days customizing. I’m pleased and think its alot easier to read. Actually that deserves it’s own heading:
Redesigning your joomla website with a new template: a couple days work. Customer satisfaction from the job? : priceless – checkout the new florenceit.net
With a Joomla CMS system as the basis for your website you have at your displosal a framework and engine for powerful, pro level design and technical features. This system allows you to easily, without a lot of technical knowledge, move elements of your website around to different locations, make certain portions or pages password protected, and change the entire look of your website with a customized new template in a tiny fraction of the time it would take a web developer to make similar changes. We recently did just this, spending a mere $40 on a template that I found I really liked. Another huge benefit of Joomla is it’s cloaking of email addresses. With Joomla, you can make users use a contact form to email you. This is “cloaked” so the user (or a spam robot, which is what we’re really concerned about) doesn’t get your email address. I posted a brief article we had published on this topic if you’re interested in cutting down your spam. Anyhow, back to the website redesign. We then added a free twitter module for Joomla so that we can update content on our homepage from a smartphone, anytime, anywhere.. and it’s easy! Again I hope you like the site, and we have also added a few customer succcess stories, a segment that I’ve been meaning to add to the site for years. I want to ad another customer success story on terminal servers, so if your company wants to be featured just let me know.
Toured a local wind farm
 We went on one of the free tours of the searsburg wind farm in VT last week and it was a very neat thing to see up close. I would like to take my son next on a tour of a coal burning power plant. I wonder if they give tours (?). The searsburg wind farm has been in service since 1997 with 10 550kw wind turbines. To give you an idea of the scale of the power generated: Our home has only 1.9 kwh of solar photovoltaics that covers 90+% of our yearly electricity usage. It makes one wonder why wind isn’t a huge percentage of our national electricity sources. CET, with offices in Pittsfield and Northampton, arranges regularly scheduled tours of the site, and even has a tour for kids I think I read somewhere. Contact them with questions.
My photos from the visit are posted here.
More on lightbulbs.
Those efficient incandescent light bulbs are out and available to purchase now if anyone is interested. I don’t consider the efficiancy factor to be that remarkable and personally still opt for LED technology. But.. if you really like or need the light quality of Mr Edison’s version check them out.
 Just as a reminder, we would love to host your website:
We are now working with a local company reselling web and email hosting. The packages start small and go up, offering up to 15gb in storage , and are super affordably priced. The standard account comes with 100 email accounts. The servers reside in an enterprise class data center offering redundant connections to the internet. An Enterprise class backup server backs up your data/website every 4 hours, and you get really good and fast local support. If you’re not thrilled with your email or web provider give us a call. We’ve worked with this company for the last few years so we know its a good service. Couple the hosting with our other hosted solution: antispam filtering and backup email service, and you have a complete solution. As with our regular services, discounts are offered to nonprofits.
System special: U.S. Built, Florence I.T. supported, entry level desktop $465.00+ship
A130 Desktop PC – AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ / genuine Windows® Vista Business / 2GB DDR2 / 160GB / DVDRW / Customized w/XP Pro.
For laptops we have a great deal on a factory refurbished HP laptop
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HP G60-121WM Refurbished Laptop Computer – AMD Sempron  SI-40 2.0GHz, 3GB DDR2, 160GB HDD, DL DVDRW, 15.6″ TFT, Vista Home Premium
For those who want technology to connect and manage everyday computing tasks, this HP Refurbished Laptop Computer delivers! $490.00
Factory refurbs have 3 mos. parts and labor warranty, but are extendable. We always have access to a huge selection of refurb laptops at great savings. We’ve sold many over the last few years. They copme out of the box like new and we have no complaints.
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Regarding Windows 7, due this fall:
I’ve been using it here for a month or so (we have a Microsoft subswcription that allows us to use any and all of their software inhouse). Anhow, all I can say about Windows 7 is that it’s what Vista should have been. It’s fast and stable. My account rep tells me that over the next 30 days or so we’ll be seeing more and more systems that come with a free upgrade to Windows 7 in the box. So when it’s out (oct), you’ll be entitled to a free copy. Be sure to ask for it in upcoming system purchases.
Until next time…
thank you!
Florence I.T. LLC – A Community I.T. Shop
Offering fast local I.T. expertise and products to save you money and optimize your business. |
