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    • Blog / Nice Cars! Much to my wife's chagrin, I do like to drive nice vehicles. Her encouragement to drive more sensible cars falls on deaf ears. I am currently in my English phase, which usually means more cost and more difficult repairs. October 31, 2017
    Blog / 65 Days until Christmas I was searching around for a suitable topic for this week's newsletter when our Cyber Security Supervisor Karl Buckley forwarded a timely article to me that he wrote about Online Shopping. October 20, 2017
    Blog / The Role of IT The role of IT in your organization is not just to help make sure your computers are up & running. Making sure your devices are secure, is an important job for them too. October 20, 2017
    Blog / WIFI Vulnerability (KRACK) By now, most of you should have heard about KRACK, or at least that there is a serious vulnerability that exists in WIFI devices around the world. October 20, 2017
    Blog / Yet Another Crypto-wall Virus One of our techs went on a lengthy road trip last week.  It took him just over 10 hours to drive to the Client's location with a van-full of tech gear; essentially a complete network. He worked for two days and then drove home. He was gone the better part of a week. Thankfully, it's not a common occurrence. October 05, 2017
    Blog / EQUIFAX Security Breach EQUIFAX Security Breach Malware attack impacts up to 100,000 Canadian clients EQUIFAX has been in the news recently – and it’s not good reports. Their database of user information – names, drivers’ license information, social insurance data, and more – has been hacked.  For those unfamiliar with EQUIFAX, they are a credit reporting agency that rates […] September 29, 2017
    Blog / IT Medications IT Medications Recurring IT Services and Subscriptions can be confusing I’m getting close to retirement age and like many in my age bracket, I take an assortment of medications to keep body-and-soul together; 10 pills in all at various times during the day. The names of most medications are hard to pronounce and I only […] September 07, 2017
    Blog / Budget Season Budget Season Planning for changes to IT Systems in 2018 For many of our clients, Fall is more than leaves turning colour and the weather getting colder.  It’s a time when they start planning their 2018 budgets.  Of course, IT forms part of that planning process. For most of our clients who require 2018 budget planning, we […] August 31, 2017
    Blog / Life Without Wires Life Without Wires Network Cabling is Still a Significant Cost to Proper Networking For as long as I have been in the computer industry, the promise of true wireless has been just around the corner.  Not only devices that don’t need a network cable, but ones that don’t have any wires at all; no power, […] August 25, 2017
    Blog / Social Media – What’s the Fuss? Social Media – What’s the Fuss? Taking a look at Social Media from a Manager’s Perspective Our Marketing Supervisor Chris Penn has been attending a Social Media Summer School in Spruce Grove for the past 8 weeks,  The 3-hour sessions were held every Wednesday morning and  attended by 4 to 6 students in each class.  I sat in on […] August 18, 2017
    Blog / The NEW Cloud The NEW Cloud Next Generation of Cloud Providers may be in your Neighbourhood This August, Intel announced a new generation of server processors and related products.  You have to be very geeky to get excited about this – and at Trinus we are. There are some big changes coming to new servers in the areas […] August 14, 2017
    Blog / Your New Security Guard Your New Security Guard Organizations can benefit from a Holistic Approach to Cyber Security. I indicated last time that I had returned from holidays this week.  And while true, I wanted to include one more article from Karl Buckley, our Cyber Security Supervisor – as his submission this week is a follow-up to one previously […] August 05, 2017
    Blog / RSS Feeds RSS Feeds Rich Site Summary is a way to filter large amounts of website data into a concise summary. Today I wanted to share a tool that you may not be aware of: They are called RSS feeds. RSS stands for “Rich Site Summary” and it’s a way to get updates and notifications from websites […] July 27, 2017
    Blog / Hiding Viruses Inside of Files Hiding Viruses Inside of Files Why are some file formats more dangerous that others? You often hear about the dangers of opening attachments in your email. The problem is that nobody bothers to explain exactly WHY this is dangerous. “Oh you could get a virus” sure that explains WHAT could happen, but not WHY. I […] July 20, 2017
    Blog / Cyber-Awareness and Cyber-Bullying Bullying is real. It exists and it happens. This is a fact that most people accept and understand. "Cyber-Bullying" is just as real and happens (probably more than you might think) July 13, 2017
    Blog / A Treasure Hunt A Treasure Hunt Microsoft can request an audit of your licensed software Who doesn’t like the thrill of a summer Treasure Hunt.  Most often, I remember them from a church or company picnic, or a birthday party.  Sometime after the sandwiches and soft drinks, the hunt would be organized in the nearby bushes.  The prizes […] July 06, 2017
    Blog / Fool Me Once, Shame on You … Fool Me Once, Shame on You … New ransomware virus follows same pattern as WannaCry Just about everyone is familiar with the idiom, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. It’s one of life’s little lessons that we learn. No one likes to be tricked, but not learning from the […] June 28, 2017
    Blog / The Tax Man cometh The Tax Man cometh Same old scam looks like a notice about a tax credit As someone who has worked in the business world for several decades, I’ve had the occasional visit from CRA – the Canada Revenue Agency (aka: the Tax Man). None of the visits were to present me with a refund cheque, […] June 22, 2017
    Blog / It’s the Government, Man! It’s the Government, Man! Government of Canada issue warnings about the Internet of Things Devices I’m old enough to remember the Hippies of the 60’s – although I was a bit young to really understand what was going on.  It was a time when the Baby Boomers were into their teens and early 20s – […] June 14, 2017
    Blog / Keep your Smartphone Clean Keep your Smartphone Clean Forgotten APPs collect on your phone long after their usefulness I am attending a conference this week in Grande Prairie.  It’s a chance to meet several clients and discuss their IT needs away from the busyness of their offices.  We attend about 1/2 dozen conferences each year.  This year, the organizers […] June 09, 2017
    Blog / ZIP It! ZIP It! Popular File Archive format is a dangerous Email attachment In high school, I had one colourful teacher who was a bit rough around the edges.  She was a good teacher, but she had a blue-collar way of speaking that left her students wondering where they were – the classroom or the warehouse loading […] June 01, 2017
    Blog / Hasta la vista, baby Hasta la vista, baby An easy way to create great passwords that are tough to crack Who doesn’t remember Arnold’s famous phrase from Terminator 2: Judgement Day. It’s not high art, but it is iconic. Arnold used it frequently during his political career. Sir Lawrence Olivier could never deliver a line like that.  But, is […] May 24, 2017
    Blog / WannaCry Cryptoware Virus WannaCry Cryptoware Virus Latest Cryptoware virus uses familiar methods to attack computers globally I haven’t been back from vacation for much more than a week, and already I have lots to write about. The most recent fixation in the computer world is the WannCry virus. May 16, 2017
    Blog / More Travel Woes – right from the comfort of your own home More Travel Woes – right from the comfort of your own home Latest Email SCAM targets unsuspecting travelers who use online airline check-in My Dad worked for airlines for most of his adult life; Air Canada and Pacific Western Airlines. Employees got a PERC of free airline passes (4 per year) for travel anywhere the […] April 07, 2017
    Blog / Geek Travel Kit Geek Travel Kit What to take with you on your next trip to stay in touch During my last trip overseas, I found myself lugging around lots of overweight luggage. When it came to lifting my luggage, the look of the check-in agents at the airports was always the same – disdain.  I didn’t think […] March 29, 2017
    Blog / Tales from the Jungle Tales from the Jungle How we take our pervasive technology for grantedI have returned! As many of you know, I spent the past 2-plus weeks traveling to – and working with – a client in Papua New Guinea. It’s not our normal sort of IT and Network support work, but rather training and enhancements to […] March 22, 2017
    Blog / Travel Plans Travel Plans SmartPhones and Laptops can be examined at border crossings I am getting ready for some overseas travel next week, and as it’s a business trip that involves technology, I am taking a lot of it with me – 2 laptops, a tablet, and of course my SmartPhone. There was a timely information segment […] March 02, 2017
    Blog / Hot Potato! Hot Potato! Regular backups are a necessary evil that no one wants to deal with By far the most common question/complaint we get when talking to clients concerns backups. It’s almost universally accepted that they need to be done, but few want the responsibility of taking care of them. February 22, 2017
    Blog / If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It Lack of proactive maintenance and replacements hits client hard My Dad always believed in preventative car maintenance.  Not only did he want to insure we had a good vehicle to use, he also loved to tinker with cars at the local garage. I got to tag along. This […] February 09, 2017
    Blog / Be Prepared! Be Prepared! Contrasting approaches to Virus Countermeasures Impact Operations for 2 Clients I remember attending Boy Scouts as a youth.  The motto Be Prepared was drilled into us every week.  To reinforce it, they taught us lessons on how to build a campfire and cook over it, how to tie knots properly, and other skills […] February 06, 2017
    Blog / You’re Busted! You’re Busted! Latest SPAM plays on basic human fear of getting caught speeding It was bound to happen sooner or later.  The hackers are sending out speeding tickets.  With just about every jurisdiction in North America using photo radar cameras to enforce speed limits and traffic laws, most of us are accustomed to receiving their […] January 30, 2017
    Blog / Is Your Phone Number Unlisted? Is Your Phone Number Unlisted? Domain Name Registration SCAM Lures Clients Away From Legitimate Providers We just received our new phone book at home that is published by the Stony Plain Chamber of Commerce. Besides the nice Trinus computer ad, it has the traditional phone listings for all of the residents in the area. Our […] January 26, 2017
    Blog / Life’s Little Irritations Life’s Little Irritations Windows 10 Update Service causes more problems than just user aggravation I was getting ready to leave the office last Friday; it was just before 5:00PM. Of course, I started to shut down my laptop and was presented with the message that “Windows is getting ready to update your computer; please do […] January 19, 2017
    Blog / Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep … Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep … Complacent professional corporation is a ripe target for information theft I recently spent the better part of 2 days in a professional office in downtown Edmonton for meetings.  It wasn’t one of our clients; I was there representing someone else.  There was lots of downtime between sessions, […] January 16, 2017
    Blog / More Stuff You Might Not Need More Stuff You Might Not Need Upcoming Trends in Technology from the Consumer Electronics Show About every other year, a colleague and I attend the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.  Yes, we have some fun, but the intent is to pick up on industry trends for future technologies that will be coming to […] January 13, 2017
    Blog / Appropriate Technology Appropriate Technology Of paper, highlighters and calculators I recently had to prepare for a series of meetings.  My task was to review and distill about 5,000 pages of information into a timeline, picking out the important milestones and organizing them into something I could use for reference as the meetings progressed. The source documents were […] January 10, 2017
    Blog / Pretty In Pink Pretty in Pink What’s it take to track down and eradicate a hacker attack … No, this is not a review of the 1986 movie starring Molly Ringwald; I’ve never even seen it – and from reading a few online reviews, I don’t want to. But it does refer to a recent episode whereby one […] January 02, 2017
    Blog / Amway’s Evil Twin Sister Amway’s Evil Twin Sister Latest ransomware encourages victims to sacrifice their friends and colleagues. I’m sure most of you will remember Amway, it seemed impossible to avoid a friend or colleague that was selling their products in the home.  The marketing scheme was simple, but effective – as an Amway dealer, you were to leverage […] December 29, 2016
    Blog / The BIGGER They are … The BIGGER They are … The harder they fall – Botnet attack brings down DYN, Twitter, Netflix, Amazon Our story today – dear readers – begins innocently enough with a very simple virus that penetrated several Internet-enabled devices that still had the default manufacturer’s passwords.  These were dumb devices like printers, routers, security (IP) cameras, […] December 26, 2016
    Blog / Turn It Off Turn it Off Powering down computers at the end of the day can save more than power. It used to be that we’d recommend that clients restart their computers at least once a week; many people wanted to leave their computers on for extended periods of time, especially if they had complex configurations or a […] December 21, 2016
    Blog / More Printer Woes More Printer Woes MFP Devices Keeps Infecting Corporate Network With Crypto-wall Virus We received an unconfirmed report from a client that a U.S. corporation was having trouble eradicating a crypto-wall virus from their network despite a wholesale restore from backups and a thorough anti-virus inspection of the workstations. It was the gift that kept on […] December 19, 2016
    Blog / Mission Accomplished! Mission Accomplished! Twenty Ft. McMurray fire victims to receive refurbished computers for Christmas. No one can forget the devastation and panic the fires in the Ft. McMurray region caused this past summer. 80,000 plus people fled the area to get away from the raging fires that engulfed the region.  Hundreds of homes were destroyed, there […] December 14, 2016
    Blog / You Have Mail! You Have Mail! Canada Post SCAM leads to malware infection A client recently received an Email that appeared to be from Canada Post claiming that they had a package waiting for delivery.  It has the usual information about the delivery; ID number, date and time, and a payment amount.  There is even a link to […] December 12, 2016
    Blog / The Devil You Know… The Devil You Know … IT Manager does malicious damage to local college You may have picked up on a recent news investigation report from CBC and others about the massive trouble at Norquest College.  It appears that back in February, 2013 a disgruntled IT Manager perpetrated two fraud schemes against senior staff as a backlash […] December 10, 2016
    Blog / It’s BUDGET Time It’s BUDGET Time The leaves change colour and it’s time to start thinking about budgets. Many of our clients are municipalities who operate with a fiscal year and that coincides with the calendar year.  That means they need to start preparing budgets in the fall to insure their elected officials have time to review and […] September 10, 2016
    Blog / Hackers Strike Another Unsuspecting Victim Hackers Strike Another Unsuspecting Victim Northern Alberta Municipality network is shutdown for up to 2 weeks. There has been a lot of (unwanted) media attention given recently to a municipality in Northern Alberta who has been fighting an intrusion into their network.  According to news reports the problems started back in July, but reached a […] August 31, 2016
    Blog / I Need a REALLY BIG computer I Need a REALLY BIG computer There is more to document management than just scanning files We received a call the other day from a client asking for a REALLY BIG computer and a scanner.  Now, we’ll all for selling some gear to a client, but we asked a few more questions to dig in […] August 24, 2016
    Blog / Helping Ft. McMurray Fire Evacuees Helping Ft. McMurray Fire Evacuees Providing Recycled Computers to the Unfortunate Residents of the Recent Fire We have all watched as the residents of Ft. McMurray fled the devastation of the recent wildfire.  Many have lost everything and it may be years before some can return to the town and resume normal lives. The response […] May 18, 2016
    Blog / July Newsletter   In this issue: -Virtual Reality Headsets -Stay Protected on Public Wi-Fi -Trinus Announcements -Fun Facts! Click here to read the July Newsletter   Want to receive our newsletters to your email? Sign up today! July 02, 2015
    Blog / June Newsletter   In this issue: -Scam Emails -New NASA Technology That Saved Lives in Nepal -Trinus Announcements -Fun Facts! Click here to read the June Newsletter   Want to receive our newsletters to your email? Sign up today! June 01, 2015
    Blog / May Newsletter   In this issue: -Is Google Indexing Your Data? -Paris and Their Anti-Drones -Trinus Announcements -Fun Facts! Click here to read the May Newsletter   Want to receive our newsletters to your email? Sign up today! May 01, 2015
    Blog / April Newsletter   In this issue: -The new Cyrptowall 3.0 virus -How the Cyrptowall virus gets onto your computer -Trinus Announcements -Fun Facts! Click here to read the April Newsletter   Want to receive our newsletters to your email? Sign up today! April 02, 2015
    Blog / New Website, New Look Being months in the making, Trinus has launched a fresh new website to really bring forth our team, our services, and our work. Our new website separates the Computer Centre and its services from our Business Solutions. Our goal was to improve our online user experience by creating a well organized navigation with interactive elements. […] March 04, 2015

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