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Welcome to the FCS Newsletter, Winter Edition 2018
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As I prepare to type today's quarterly newsletter, the snow is once again falling outside my window.
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January isn't sure if it wants to warm up or not. Migratory birds are showing up again, and the horses in the back paddock are threatening to start shedding already! From what I've seen on the news, most of North America this year has experienced some level of snow from mere skiffs to 6ft or more depending on where you live.
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"Melt Down!"
Well, as usual, what's an FCS newsletter if there isn't some new threat to write about?! This time, it's a toss up whether you'd call it a threat, or a flaw. You may have seen news about the Meltdown flaw found in Intel chips before Christmas. This flaw affects all systems using any form of Intel hardware or software and apparently even affects various AMD chip offerings as well, meaning that almost no system out there is currently free from dealing with this flaw.
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The good news, is that all you have to do as a user, is apply the patch when it comes down the pipe. For users of iOS devices, that patch should have already been applied by now, but nothing conclusive has shown up yet as to when Microsoft and Google will be patching their systems. We also haven't heard anything about what the various Linux distributions will be doing either, as most Linux boxes have been made from or installed on Intel-based units.
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So as long as you are studious about your operating system updates, and checking for optional updates as well to ensure important but optional patches are applied, you should be good.
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Remember that for Microsoft, it's roughly every second Tuesday of the month when important patches are delivered for those doing it automatically.
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Who You Gonna Call!?! FCS!
As I prepare to wrap up this Fall's quarterly newsletter, I just want to remind everyone that I am still available for techsupport. I am hearing rumours still that some people continue to attempt reaching me on the old business number that was disconnected back in August. There is a new number now, only available during business hours and posted on the FACT website: http://fa-ct.com/ Hours of operation are also posted there in two places, at the bottom of the website where you can also log into your account, and on the contact us page. If you try to reach me outside of business hours, or when I am away from the app the new number comes through on, just leave a message and I will return your call as soon as I am able. In addition, I continue to be reachable via the following means:
1) Email, simply respond to this newsletter to request assistance.
2) The ticket system now available on the website http://www.fa-ct.com Using this system, you will have all correspondence in one place for each ticket you begin, with the peace of mind knowing you won't accidentally delete something important. Simply log into the site using the email you received this newsletter with, click "forgot password" to add a password to your existing account, then start a new ticket.
3) If you are on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, you can contact me there as well to ask for help. On Facebook, look up FACT Computer Services. On LinkedIn or Twitter, you'll find me by name.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas season to cap off 2017. As we go into the New Year of 2018, let's all remember to keep our systems safe this year. You can visit the FCS blog page, then click on the Safety and Security category on the right to review various articles I've written on staying safe online. There are articles there for general use, pc-only and laptop-only. A new string of articles is slowly cropping up as well, as FCS moves into the world of digital currency. If you'd like to pay for FCS services using BTC, simply choose that option when purchasing your next time block.
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Thank you for choosing FCS for your techsupport needs.
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