Internet

School’s (Almost) Out For Summer!

May 20, 2013 by Adam No Comments

tech College kids are headed home, if not now, very soon. Kids from Kindergarten to High School will soon be home during the day. Other than stocking the fridge, the one thing that they all want is their internet access. Make sure you are ready for all those devices with ZoomShare from Armstrong.

All of the video games systems, lap tops, smart phones, tablets and more will need fast, reliable connections to the Armstrong internet they love. Make sure you are ready with professionally installed and supported equipment that will be on and ready when you need it.

And just like the lock on the fridge, ZoomShare is setup to be secure, allowing access to only those you want to. Shop today to get your home ready for summer!

Filed Under: Internet, Products, Safe Surfing

Maps

May 17, 2013 by Adam No Comments

How do you get from Point A to Point B these days? I can remember days of highlighting a travel atlas and keeping it in the passengers seat when taking a road trip. Soon came the days of printing out your MapQuest or Google Maps directions and keeping those handy. Soon came GPS and smart phones with map access. These days I am not worried in the least. I know that at any point in my travels I could easily punch in an address, search for a business name or even bring up an app like Yelp and just type in the food I might want and follow the directions.

As an iPhone user I have several choices to help me find my way. Apple’s build in Map app is great for a quick view of my surroundings, finding a near by address or clicking through from an address in an email. If I am using a Google based app like Chrome or Google Search, I can be taken directly to the Google Maps app. However, if I want real time updates and time saving turn-by-turn directions, I go with waze. Waze is a crowd-sourced GPS navigation app that allows users to report road hazards, accidents and police traps, while the app collects speed and delay location in real time. While the app is somewhat gamified, it is meant to help every day users find safe and quick routes to and from their daily destinations.

Waze just made the news recently, as it is rumored to be in talks with Facebook in a possible buyout deal. Hopefully they will leave the app relatively unchanged, much like they did with the Instagram purchase. Either way, waze remains my go-to app for turn-by-turn navigation.

How do you approach your road trips and directionally challenged adventures? Do you prepare with a hard copy map or printout or are you a GPS convert?

Filed Under: Internet, Products, Reminder, Safe Surfing

The Armstrong App

May 13, 2013 by Adam No Comments

Armstrong’s first app is now available in the Apple App Store and Google Play. The Armstrong app is an easy to use application for managing your Armstrong account and services anywhere, anytime.

Features include:

View your bill summary
Receive notifications when your statement is due
Make a one-time payment
View your Internet usage
Receive notifications for new voicemails
Listen to and manage your voicemail
Enable and disable call forwarding
Find your local Armstrong office

One of the more interesting features of the app is having the ability to view your internet usage. Track your usage during the most recent billing period to help identify any unknown usage. (See our Internet Usage FAQ)

Also, listen to and manage your home voicemails. No more waiting until you get home to get those important messages that may have needed returned before the end of the work day. Get an alert and listen to your voicemails immediately. Download it today and let us know what you think!

Filed Under: Internet, Products, Safe Surfing, Special

Musical Chairs

May 6, 2013 by Adam

How do you currently consume your music? Radio, CD, MP3, or online music service? Just like the rest of our entertainment, music comes to us completely different than it used to. I can remember days of going to the mall the day that a new album came out to purchase it on CD (or even tape). These days it is as easy as downloading a new album from iTunes the moment it is available for release.

While there has been some backwards movement in the music biz lately, as vinyl records have gained some popularity with music purists. For the most part, things keep moving forward. I have actually been using Spotify for a few months, which gives me instant access to almost any song, album or artist you can think of. I enjoyed using Pandora radio for the last several years to give me a new mix of music based on my favorite artists or genres. However, Spotify can provide that as well.

How do you prefer to get your music?

Filed Under: Internet, Products

The World Wide Web

April 29, 2013 by Adam

A few months ago we talked about the way the internet used to be, but what were things really like then? We probably remember it being a little slower to download pictures. Maybe it took a while to load the entire webpage that had all the information you were waiting on. But how bad could it really have been?

Over the past few weeks, I have seen a couple of nostalgic articles that point out the early days of the world wide web. Yahoo! Finance had a feature regarding several famous “internet firsts,” including the first picture ever uploaded and the first AOL Instant Message. (Do you remember the first time you instant messaged someone?)

An article caught my eye the other day that featured major films of the 90s that had not updated or taken down their promotional websites; including Space Jam and appropriately, You’ve Got Mail. (Note: it seems someone has since updated the links to the three Warner Brothers movies to purchase a Blu-ray copy; smart!)

BONUS: 23 Ancient Websites Still live (Gizmodo)

So, maybe it was that bad; what do you think?

Filed Under: Internet, Products, Special

“How About That Weather We’re Having?”

April 26, 2013 by Adam

The king of ’small talk’ opening lines; weather. If all else fails, you can always break that uncomfortable silence discussing the weather. Years ago you had to wait until the evening news to get tomorrow’s weather forecast. Then along came the Weather Channel and their “Local on the 8s” overview. (You always seemed to catch on the 9s though.)

Today everyone has a smartphone in their pocket or a computer in front of them. With a few clicks or flicks you can have the most up to date weather forecast right in front of you. As an iPhone user, I usually go with the built in weather widget for a quick view of my local temperature or tomorrow’s forecast. However, for more details I usually relied on the Weather Channel app. However, Yahoo! just released a great new weather app (available on iOS and Android) that combines detailed weather information with beautiful localized photos from Yahoo’s own Flickr network.

How do you get your weather news?

Filed Under: Internet, Products, Safe Surfing, Special

The Best Part of March Madness

March 22, 2013 by Adam

basketball2

What is the best part of March Madness? Brackets? Non-stop basketball for 3 weeks? One of my favorite parts is basketball being on during the week day afternoon. If you are fortunate enough to be able to watch these games in front of a big screen, the you have it made.

However, if you are like most folks, you are busy during the day and can’t prop your feet up on your recliner. The NCAA makes it a bit easier for you to catch some of the basketball action. Head on over to ArmstrongMyWire.com to see how you can get set up from a desktop or laptop, tablet or smart phone. Take the Madness with you.

Filed Under: Internet, Products, Reminder, Television

Brackets

March 18, 2013 by Adam

I am not a gambler at all. I don’t play cards or even buy an occasional lottery ticket. However, I do love to fill out a March Madness bracket just for the fun of it. If there is an office “bragging-rights” pool I am usually inclined to fill out what is sure to be a lot of wrong picks.

My main reason: to make the games a little more interesting to watch; “how good were my picks (read: guesses)?”

Keep up with all this year’s “madness” with Armstrong.

Filed Under: Internet, Products, Reminder, Television

March Madness

March 15, 2013 by Adam

Why do I love this time of year? Spring is near. My birthday is in March. St. Patrick’s Day is always fun. Girl Scout Cookies get delivered. And of course, March Madness. Can it get much better? Well, yes! Yes it can. I can now watch March Madness games anywhere I want!

Armstrong customers can enjoy live streaming of all 67 games of the 2013 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. NCAA March Madness Live® is FREE with your Armstrong subscription.

Armstrong customers will have access to authenticated March Madness content being streamed on TBS.com, TNT.tv and Trutv.com. (Games broadcast on CBS will be streamed for free without authentication.) Enjoy live streaming at home or on the road on your computer, tablet or smart phone. The March Madness app will be available in the App Store and on Google Play in early March.

For more information on how you can be ready for the Madness, visit ArmstrongMyWire.com.

Filed Under: Internet, Products, Reminder, Television

PCWorld gives Trend Micro 2013 4.5 Stars

March 1, 2013 by Kelly Ann

Still haven’t upgraded to Trend Micro 2013 PC/MAC — Why not? It is free to all Zoom Internet customers and Sarah Purewal of PCWorld has given it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Sarah tested how well Trend Micro would handle new malware attacks and found that Trend Micro blocked 100% of the attacks. According to Sara, Trend Mirco rated second place (tied with G Data and Kaspersky) in the system cleanup test. Click here to read the full review. Ready to try it yourself — go here to download your copy today!