PCSS January 2014
Newsletter
Happy New Year Friends!
It’s a bright sunny New Year’s day in the Highlands of Virginia. A great day to start off a new year.
We’ve decided to end our blog after 10 years and will just
post our State of Technology thoughts in our monthly Newsletter. Saves on my effort and makes it easier for
our customers.
PCSS Work Schedule for 2014
Monday – Alleghany County – Focus on Covington
Tuesday – Bath County – Focus on Hot Springs
Wednesday – Alleghany County – Focus on Clifton Forge
Thursday – Bath County – Focus on Warm Springs/ Millboro
Friday – Other coverage areas and hi priority work
There is no change in PCSS hourly charge for 2014! Yeah!
We have a limited number of the PCSS, LLC 2014 pocket
calendars available. Let us know if you
would like one or more!
State of
Technology
The hacking of Target credit card information brings back to
each of us how we are more susceptible to fraud. In 2013 I’ve had 2 of my credit cards
compromised. The first one was where a
reputable agency began monthly charges to my card. I had not made those purchases. The credit card company refunded the money,
but we never found out how those monthly charges began.
The second incident was scarier. I received a call from a different credit card
company asking whether I had used that card in West Virginia that day. I had not.
The company thought that I had been the victim of process where the
information from my card was stolen and then a fraudulent credit card was
manufactured and used. I lost no money
in either case and the Credit Card companies did very good work to protect
me. That they happened both in the same
year is frightening.
Many of my friends have also had at least one issue with
credit card fraud. So what are we to do
to protect our cards? The US could move
to the credit card system that Europe uses.
The European cards have embedded micro chips instead of a magnetic
stripe. This is a more secure card and
difficult to copy. Getting away from
swipe card usage in the US is problematic.
From gas stations to car washes to every check out counter in Walmart
and grocery stores, they all would have to be changed. A huge cost.
Remarkably this is going to occur by October 2015. The US Credit Card companies are pushing for
that deadline by saying that any merchant that does not use microchip swipe
technology will be libel for any fraud that happens on their machines. A big stick indeed. The only group that will not be ready is gas
station swipes. They are projected to be
on board by 2017.
So you will see a change in your credit card very soon. If you have an option please take the
microchip credit card if offered. You
can also ask your credit card provider to change out your card for a micro chip
one at no additional cost.
2014 PCSS Sales
Items
We’ve just finished our inventory so everything you see
below is in stock. First come First
served!
HP Deskpro 6305 PC with AMD
A4-5300B processor, 4GB Memory, 500GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW Drive,
keyboard, Mouse, 3 year warranty!, Windows 7/8 Pro - $450.00
HP Deskpro 4300 PC with Intel i3 3220 processor, 4GB Memory,
500GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW Drive, keyboard, Mouse, 3 year warranty!, Windows 7/8
Pro 64 bit- $555.00
HP 255 Laptop with AMD E1 series processor, 4GB Memory,
500GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW Drive, 15.6” TFT Display, wireless, MS Windows 7 Pro
64 bit, 1 year HP warranty - $499.00
Toshiba Satellite 855D-S5201 laptop with AMD E1 series
processor, 4GB Memory, 500GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW Drive, 15.6” TFT Display,
wireless, MS Windows 8 Pro 64 bit, 1 year Toshiba warranty - $399.00
HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 All-in-One Printer/Scanner/Copier/Fax
with Wireless and sheet feeder - $150.00
LG 22” LED Monitor - $149.00
Wireless 802.11n router (speed up your wireless!) $49.00
Engenius Wireless extender – (improve your wireless
coverage) $49.00
AVG antivirus – 3 PC- $39.00, 1 PC - $29.00
500GB USB Hard Drive - $65.00, 1TB USB Hard Drive - $85.00
USB Flash Drives!
64GB – $39.00, 32GB - $23.00, 16GB - $12.00
USB Wireless adapter (add wireless to your PC or laptop) -
$24.00
4GB Micro SD memory card - $11.00
USB Hub (add more USB Ports to your PC) - $12.00
Tripplite 550VA Battery Backup - $65.00
Fellowes Mighty 8 Super Surge Suppressor - $15.00
January 2014 Sites
of the Month
A new year means a new set of holidays. This site has every US holiday listed: Holidays and observances in
United States in 2014
It’s the season for returns.
If you have a gift you want to send back to the store here is a very
good guide on the procedure: How
to return a gift and get the most for it
Here is an article on the microchip embedded credit
cards: U.S.
rolling out chip card technology, ever so slowly
Keep warm and see you in February!
Nick
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