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News Round |
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31/12/04 Windows NT 4.0 Support Ends New Year's Eve At midnight on December 31st, Microsoft will stop publicly supporting Windows NT Server 4.0. It was expected that support would end last year, however due to customer demand Microsoft had extended its support until January 1st 2005. However this doesn't mean its the end of all support for Windows NT as Microsoft has designed a fee-based custom support program that will run through Dec. 31, 2006
06/10/2004 James joins Tapcast Tapcast would like to offer a warm welcome to its newest employee James, we hope he has both a productive and interesting time with us.
17/09/2004 Windows XP Service Pack 2 Released Windows Service Pack 2 has been released and offers significant changes to the functionality of Windows, it aims at increasing security on Windows XP Machines with better protection against viruses, hackers and worms. It comes with an improved firewall, pop-up blocker for Internet Explorer, and a new security centre, that lets you know if you're at risk. Tapcast now has this Service Pack available. If you would like to have your XP computers upgraded to this Service Pack please contact us, and we will arrange a suitable time for this upgrade to take place. For more information on Windows XP Service Pack 2 please visit the Microsoft Sp2 website at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx Or if you would like to book an upgrade with us please email support@tapcast.co.uk or phone us on 01386 792196
During June and July, Inkberrow First School held a Scarecrow Competition that was kindly sponsored by Brooklyn Motors. With over 50 entries, this proved to be a big success in its first year. For the full story and pictures of the 50+ scarecrows entered in the competition, click here
The Inkberrow exchange has now reached its ready for service date, making broadband available to the residents of Inkberrow. For more information on broadband and its benefits, click here
Tapcast's Inkberrow broadband campaign featured on the front page of the Redditch Advertiser today as the number of people registering their interest in broadband approaches the trigger level of 300. Below is a copy of the article as printed in the Advertiser.
Going for Broad appeal INKBERROW'S campaign to bring broadband to the village is nearing its target number of 300 names. The campaign for residents to register interest in broadband internet access has been running for the past year. Jane Neal (Above), of Tapcast Computer Services in Inkberrow, has been acting as a co-ordinator and has set up web pages and produced registration forms which have been in the local shop, post office and the village's two pubs. The parish council is also keen to promote broadband to speed up internet connections for rural homes and businesses. For more details of how to register, call Jane Neal on 01386 792196 or register at www.tapcast.co.uk/inkberrow-broadband
27/11/2003 Free beginners computer course Providing there is enough interest, the County Comput@bus is hoping to visit Inkberrow in January for a free 10 week computer course. The course is intended for beginners, from how to switch a computer on and use the mouse, to simple word processing, spreadsheets, internet access and Email. The Comput@bus is equipped to take 8 to 10 students and has heating and disabled access if needed. The Comput@bus would be parked in the village hall car park. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone to learn the basics of using a computer at their own pace, for free and at a convenient location. If this course could be helpful to friends or relatives, please pass this information on. To register for a place on the course, call Richard Morgan on 01905 428945. Places are limited so book now! For more information visit www.worcestershire.gov.uk/libraries or email wrmorgan@worcestershire.gov.uk
24/09/2003 W32.Blaster.Worm virus If your computer uses Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT 4.0 or Windows Server 2003, you may be vulnerable to the W32.Blaster.Worm and its variants. The virus exploits a security problem in these operating systems, if a computer is infected with the virus it often causes the computer to shut itself down within a few minutes of connecting to the internet after displaying the following message:
Users may still experience problems even if the virus does not succeed in infecting their computer. XP and Server 2003 operating systems may restart every few minutes as a result of the virus attempting to infect the computer, while NT 4.0 and 2000 can become unresponsive and slow. If you need help or advice with removing and protecting your computer from viruses, Tapcast will be happy to help.
08/08/2003 ECDL modules to be sold on the high street Training modules of the ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) will soon be available to buy on the high street. The training modules consist of a boxed software package and registration voucher allowing the buyer to sit an examination at one of the 2,500 participating further education colleges in the UK. The modules will be available through retailers such as Tapcast and booksellers for a price of £50. The ECDL consists of seven modules and is an internationally recognized qualification covering basic IT skills such as word processing, managing files and spreadsheets.
25/06/2003
PayPal Scam
If you have ever used eBay auctions to buy or sell items online,
then you will probably be familiar with PayPal, a system provided
by eBay so that people can send and accept payments over the
internet. During the last few days people have received a number
of fake PayPal emails asking them to log in at PayPal to verify
their account. They look just like official PayPal emails and even
contain the warning to only use PayPal links that start with
The total number of people registering their interest in getting broadband in Inkberrow has now reached 100. Tapcast plan to approach BT, to find out how many more people need to register their interest in broadband for them to evaluate the Inkberrow exchange for upgrade. To find out more about broadband and the campaign to make it available in Inkberrow, click here
09/05/2003
British Charollais Sheep
show Tapcast set up a stand at the British Charollais Sheep Society Open Day at Great Alne, this was the first show attended by Tapcast. Brenda Smith designed the banner, with Dan Underhill producing a great rolling presentation which alternated between showing information about Tapcast and pictures of the Sheep Event. Jane Neal commented "It turned out to be an enjoyable and challenging day. Great to see many familiar and new faces"
Richard and Debbie Francis making enquiries a the Tapcast stand at the British Charollais Sheep Show
To visit the British Charollais Sheep Society web site, click here
BT plan to extend their broadband coverage by 'enabling exchanges' in the following areas:
New "Help enable your exchange" Campaign The aim is to provide grass roots supporters/local champions of broadband who live in areas not currently connected to an ADSL broadband exchange, with a campaigning tool to help drive local support to the pre registration site. www.btopenworld.com/votebroadbandValid registrations help move your exchange towards its trigger level for being evaluated for upgrade. For more information on enabled exchanges and local trigger levels please use this link http://www.bt.com/broadband/
10/12/2002 "Final Notice" scam Watch out for a scam that is going on at the moment, official looking 'Final demands" with a request for £95 are being sent to local companies as registration for the Data Protection Act. Although there are requirements under the Data Protection Act, paying to register is not one of them. If you get a letter from any of the following companies then consider whether it could be part of the scam. ● Data Protection Act Registration Service ● Data Protection Agency Services Limited ● Data Protection Registration Agency ● Data Collection Enforcement Agency ● Data Registration Agency ● DPA Registration Agency ● Data Protection Act Registration Agency For more information visit the data protection website at http://www.dataprotection.gov.uk/dpars.htm
08/10/2002 Half a million take their computer driving test More than half a million people have now registered for or completed the BCS’s (British Computer Society) European Computer Driving License (ECDL) computer skills qualification. The BCS is now issuing more than 1,000 ECDL certificates a day to successful students, indicating that more employers and employees are learning to appreciate the importance of computing skills in the workplace. The ECDL allows employees , at senior and junior levels and across all age groups, to gain a real grasp of computing skills that they can quickly put into practice in the workplace. It also boosts their efficiency and adds real value to their career prospects. ‘We are encouraged to note that a growing number of mature workers are applying to register for ECDL as part of their mid-career retraining schedule’ says the BCS. Jane and Steve at Tapcast have both studied for and passed the ECDL, for more information about what it involves give Tapcast a call. The ECDL website is www.ecdl.co.uk
23/09/2002 Virus information update The Tapcast web site now has a virus information page displaying the top ten viruses of the previous month, top ten virus alerts and the top ten hoaxes. The information is updated automatically by Sophos Anti-Virus. Go to the virus information page
25/05/2002
Memory price fluctuations leave buyers hesitant This
article shows how PC component prices can fluctuate both up and
down – lucky they are mainly down!!! On
May 22, 128Mbit SDRAM memory spot prices once again collapsed
below US$2 after having finally made it back up to the US$3
marker. Since March 10 when 128Mbit SDRAM memory spot prices
approached US$4.50, prices have been slashed mercilessly until
hitting rock bottom at under US$2 on May 10. Perhaps thinking
that prices had finally reached the lowest point, buyers entered
the market for a spell, bringing global DRAM memory prices back
up to US$3 before they plunged back down below US$2 yesterday.
20/05/2002 Queen Jubilee preparation going at full steam Jane from Tapcast has been helping with Village preparation for the Queens Jubilee. Jane, part of an enthusiastic committee has been finalizing arrangements for the Queens Golden Jubilee. Children from the village are invited to a ‘Street’ party to be held in the marquee. At the moment 120 children are signed up. This number is expected to increase to possibly 250 on the day.
10/10/2002 Blindly using Windows David Neal is blindly using Windows on his new computer set-up. David has never seen a screen with Microsoft Windows on it – but first he needed to learn how to touch type. A program called Windows-Eyes has been configured to read out and describe all the events that are happening on the screen, this includes available options, descriptions etc. The latest step towards computing independence is the installation of a scanner. This means that a document can be scanning into the computer, converted into a text document, which Windows-Eyes can then start to read out!!! Future projects include getting on the Net and Email!!!! |
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Tapcast Limited
www.tapcast.co.uk
