tapacity

free online virus checkers

January 28, 2008 at 2:42 pm | In protection | Leave a Comment

If your current virus protection software is not working correctly or out of date OR if you want to compare it to others, you can scan and fix your computer free through trusted providers of virus protection software. Trend Micro has Housecall. I have used it and was pleased with its preformance. It also found a virus that MacAfee missed. Symantec has a similar free service (they make Norton Anti Virus). If you want to see a list of others to choose from, I did a google search for you and you can see the results here.
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viruses and email

January 27, 2008 at 10:46 pm | In protection | Leave a Comment

Having virus protection software on your computer(s) is really no longer an option. It is mandatory. However, viruses still sneak through. Most likely, you use Outlook as your email program. One way you can add strength to your virus protection is to make sure you update Outlook whenever prompted to do so by Microsoft. The latest updates will include the latest patches created to fight emerging virus threats that could be transmitted through your email.

As well, be careful about opening attachments to emails from people you don’t know. Often your virus protection software or spam filters (if you have them) will keep such emails from impacting you. But the best protection is when you are keeping a vigilant eye on the attachments you open.

Of course, always keep your virus protection software up to date as well. If you don’t, you increase your vulnerability with each passing day that you don’t down load the latest update.
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your web presence

January 25, 2008 at 5:10 pm | In web sites | Leave a Comment

You probably have a web site. Many non-profits have good web sites, but more tend to have sites that are not necessarily well designed or well maintained. Sometimes web sites are built on grant money, but when the money is gone, resources to maintain it are slim. Often, a non-profit lacks the technical expertise to maintain even the most basic of sites. Even those who have fairly elaborate sites are likely unable to stay up with the latest innovations in web design, not to mention the World Wide Web itself.
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net lingo

January 22, 2008 at 11:24 pm | In Definitions | Leave a Comment

Are you concerned about “bruised rationals” or are you really just a “bullet clicker”? Likely your organization doesn’t have a “nerd rustler” but my guess is you have a lot of “muggles.” Ok. I never knew what those terms meant either until I went to NetLingo which has thousands of definitions that easily explain the Internet and the online world of business, technology, and communication. It’s basically a glossary. Good stuff there.
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is blogging for you?

March 22, 2007 at 11:16 pm | In blogs | 1 Comment

First, what is a blog? Here’s what Wikipedia has to say

A blog is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.

Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of most early blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media.

The term “blog” is a portmanteau, or, in other words, a blend of the words web and log (Web log). “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

This article provides a good overview of “corporate blogging” which offers insights that are applicable in large part to non-profits.

What does it cost?

There are many free blog sites. Two of the most popular are BlogSpot and WordPress - the latter being the host of tapacity. Each provides with many templates to choose from and a whole bunch of features (some times called “widgets”) at no cost to you. There are paid services of course at places like Typepad, Go Daddy, and the like, but no need to start there. Try the free stuff first.

Think about using a blog to communicate regularily with your membership or constituency about the work of your organization. Many CEOs now have blogs (even if they don’t write them themselves). It can be an onerous task to write regularily. The key to a successful blog is that it is updated frequently. But a blog is much easier to update than a web site. You just log in, click on “post” and write your stuff and publish it. Simple. Ok. Not always totally simple but you can put up a blog in a short time without having to know any HTML.
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tech soup

March 22, 2007 at 4:49 pm | In Definitions, resources | Leave a Comment

If you are looking for technology resources that can help your organization, get familiar with this site. The information there can range from basic to quite technical, so depending on your comfort level with techno speak, you might find some of the site hard to understand. That being said, you can read tips about what makes or breaks a web site, learn about virus protection, and begin to discover what things like “RSS” are. This site should be one of your major technology resources as a non profit.

http://www.techsoup.org
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