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Hopkinsville-Christian County Library Unveils New Computers

Local Library Unveils New Computers Pennyrile Technologies is pleased to announce the installation of 19 new computers at the Hopkinsville-Christian County Public Library. The new computers allow for patrons to browse the Internet, perform research, apply for jobs, pay bills, and more.  The computers run Microsoft’s newest operating system Windows 10, replacing older models running Windows XP. For this project, Pennyrile Technologies used Intel NUCs. The Intel NUC is an energy-efficient, fully functioning PC that not only fits your performance needs, but also fits in the palm of your hand. NUCs are great for small and medium business, computer labs, and call centers.

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PTECH Holiday Rewards

Refer Pennyrile Technologies and Receive An Apple iPad!*

Pennyrile Technologies recognizes that an important part of any business’ success is when one client’s trust results in a referral to a new client. We appreciate your confidence in us and would like to reward you for referring your friends and colleagues to us! We’re kicking off a new referral and rewards program and here’s how it works: Refer a firm to us and you’ll receive your choice of a Pennyrile Buck, which is redeemable for 1 hour of our services, or a Visa gift card worth $50! If your referral hires Pennyrile Technologies as their IT Service Provider and signs a Managed Services contract, you’ll receive your choice of an Apple iPad* or 8 Pennyrile Bucks with our deepest appreciation. Thank you to all our clients! You are the foundation from which our business grows! Referral Program Terms & Conditions. Offer valid for first-time business referrals. The referral program is only available for active Pennyrile Technology accounts in good standing. To make referrals, you must: (1) Provide us with a valid email address and name of referral; (2) Have an active account in good standing; (3) Each Referee must sign a managed services agreement within 60 days of receiving the referral. Please allow up to four (4) weeks after referral validation for referral reward to be applied. Unused Pennyrile Bucks expire (1) year after issue date. Pennyrile Technologies reserves the right to modify, extend or cancel this Program at any time. *Apple iPad Air 2 16GB Wi-Fi

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Securing Wireless Network

Securing Your Home Wireless Network

Why you should secure your wireless network In today’s connected world, it’s important to make sure your home wireless network is secured from threats. An unsecured wireless network is an open invitation for anyone to access your network, computers, and personal information. Hackers and identity thieves are increasingly targeting unsecured networks to gain access to passwords, banking information, credit cards, and data. When you leave your home, do you leave the door unlocked? Probably not, and leaving your wireless network unsecured is no different.   How to secure your network Before we start, there are a couple of things we need to do. Make sure your router is plugged in and powered on. We recommend connecting your desktop or laptop directly into the router while we make these changes. Connect an Ethernet cable from your computer to one of the Ethernet ports on the router. On most home routers there are 4 LAN ports available and labeled 1-4. Do not plug into the WAN port which should be labeled and color coded differently. We will need to log onto the router to secure your wireless network. We need to know the IP address to do this though. By default, most routers have an IP address of 192.168.1.1. You can check the documentation for your router to be sure, or by opening a command prompt and checking your local gateway. For the latter, go to Start and type “cmd” and hit enter. The command prompt will open. Type in “ipconfig” and hit enter. You will see an IP address listed for the default gateway. This is your router’s address. Log in to your router. Open up your browser and type in the IP address of the router. You will then be prompted to enter the username and password. If you are unable to locate the documentation that came with the router, you can find the default username and password of your router here. Change the administrator username and password. Make sure to create a strong password to prevent unwanted access to the administrative settings.Change the SSID (Service Set Identifier) of the router. The SSID is the name you give your home network. Always change the default SSID! By default, wireless routers will broadcast your network name (SSID) and anyone with a wireless device can connect within seconds to an insecure network.Enable WPA2 wireless security. Of the wireless encryption methods available today, WPA2 provides the best method of data security. WPA2 uses an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) security algorithm to secure wireless home networks. Every wireless device since 2006 has been required to support WPA2 to be considered Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ WEP – Wired Equivalency Protocol is an early security standard for wireless devices that uses a static (fixed) key and encryption algorithm to secure data. WEP is no longer recommended for home network security due to weaknesses in the algorithm that can be cracked in under 3 minutes. WPA – WiFi Protected Access is an improvement of WEP as a temporary solution to wireless security that uses Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) that generates a new key for each packet of data transmitted.Create a strong security passphrase. Disable guest access if enabled by default.Save your settings. Wait until the router power cycles to disconnect your computer.You are now ready to connect your wireless devices. Locate your home network (SSID) on your wireless device and enter the passphrase you set earlier.

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World Backup Day

World Backup Day

World Backup Days is on March 31st and we want to know if you have your files backed up? Need assistance setting up a backup for your data? Give us a call. What exactly is a backup? A backup is a second copy of all your important files — for example, your family photos, home videos, documents, emails, and financial data. Rather than storing it all in one place (like your computer), you should keep another copy of everything somewhere safe like an external hard drive, DVD, or the cloud. So why should I backup? Losing your files is  more common than you’d think. Ever lost your phone, camera or tablet? What about a hard drive failure on your computer? There could also be an environmental event such as a fire. Your stuff could have been saved with a backup. One small accident or failure could destroy all the important stuff you care about. How should I backup? There are several ways to back up your data. You can back up to an external disk or drive, such as CD or DVD burners, USB sticks, and external hard drives. You can also use a third party service that backs up to the Internet or cloud. How often should I backup? You should backup anytime you have updated or added media that is important to you. If your computer is starting to die or become less reliable, make a backup immediately. For some people, backing up daily is necessary, and for others, weekly or monthly. Choose a schedule that works for you. Using third party software can automate your backups so you don’t forget!  

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Net Neutrality

FCC Releases Net Neutrality Rules

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has released the full set of Net Neutrality Rules. A copy of the document can be found (400 page PDF). A quick synopsis of the ruling is as follows:8.5 No blocking. A person engaged in the provision of broadband Internet access service, insofar as such person is so engaged, shall not block lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices, subject to reasonable network management.8.7 No throttling. A person engaged in the provision of broadband Internet access service, insofar as such person is so engaged, shall not impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic on the basis of Internet content, application, or service, or use of a non-harmful device, subject to reasonable network management.8.9 No paid prioritization. (a) A person engaged in the provision of broadband Internet access service, insofar as such person is so engaged, shall not engage in paid prioritization. (b) “Paid prioritization” refers to the management of a broadband provider’s network to directly or indirectly favor some traffic over other traffic, including through use of techniques such as traffic shaping, prioritization, resource reservation, or other forms of preferential traffic management, either (a) in exchange for consideration (monetary or otherwise) from a third party, or (b) to benefit an affiliated entity. ederal Communications Commission FCC 15-24 285 (c) The Commission may waive the ban on paid prioritization only if the petitioner demonstrates that the practice would provide some significant public interest benefit and would not harm the open nature of the Internet.8.11 No unreasonable interference or unreasonable disadvantage standard for Internet conduct. Any person engaged in the provision of broadband Internet access service, insofar as such person is so engaged, shall not unreasonably interfere with or unreasonably disadvantage (i) end users’ ability to select, access, and use broadband Internet access service or the lawful Internet content, applications, services, or devices of their choice, or (ii) edge providers’ ability to make lawful content, applications, services, or devices available to end users. Reasonable network management shall not be considered a violation of this rule.

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