Safe Surfing

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 built 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

“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

Life Hacking

April 1, 2013 by Adam

If you are not familiar with the term “life hack” you might assume it has something to do with computers, code and mainframes. For the most part, a life hack has very little to do with a computer, but has a lot to do with making your life a little easier. Whether you realize it or not, you have probably seen and even used one of these tips. Generally they might involve a simple picture with white block-font at the top and bottom, explaining the shortcut or tip you see in the picture. (See examples below)

Many of these give you just a little “ah ha” or ”why didn’t I think of that” moment. With sites like Lifehacker.com or Lifehack.org you can get full articles with more information and tips than you can from a life hack picture you see on Facebook or Pinterest. Either way, these little “hacks” can give you ways to make your life run a little smoother.

From ways to use your cellphone or tablet to become better organized to ways to repurpose and reuse household items to solve life’s everyday dilemmas. Many of these revolve around food, home office or cleaning. What life hacks have you used? Have you developed any yourself?

PS. I have used the last tip and it makes perfect pancakes!

Filed Under: Safe Surfing, Special

Oops!

March 25, 2013 by Adam

Most parents these days have at one time or another handed their iPhone, iPad or other smartphone or tablet to their child to keep them preoccupied while they were waiting somewhere, perhaps at a restaurant. Maybe, as a parent, you have even let your children pick apps and games to purchase. But, how much attention do you pay after that?

A lot has been made out of the “in-app purchase” systems, especially with Apple’s app store; most notably when a f ive year old spent $2,500. According to a Tech Crunch article, apple has made a change to the way apps with in-app purchases appear in the app store. While the new change does make the purchaser aware of the app that there are in-app purchases, it does not stop kids from quickly accessing an in-app purchase.

Do you have your phone “kid proof” or are do you know. Make sure your settings are set up to require a password after every purchase. You can even hide the app store if you worry your children might be able to figure out a password. Every parent will have to make the adjustments that are right for them.

Filed Under: Reminder, Safe Surfing

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!

Filed Under: Internet, Products, Reminder, Safe Surfing

Another Good Reason to use Zoom Internet – Free Protection

December 17, 2012 by Kelly Ann

The holiday season is upon us and it is easy to get lost in gift buying, cookie baking, and all the family events you have to attend. So protecting your PC or Mac is probably the last thing on your mind. That is why Armstrong is making it easier by offering Zoom Internet customers free Trend Micro™ 2013 Titanium™ Maximum Security, a $89.95 value.

Trend Micro is all-in-one, easy-to-use internet protection not just for viruses and malware but also features the new Facebook Privacy Scanner that helps you identify settings that may leave your personal information vulnerable. Also, it identifies safe and malicious links in search results as well as in popular social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. Now, you can be confident that it’s safe to click on a shared link.

Trend Micro also helps to keep your children safe from cyber-criminals and inappropriate online content. Trend Micro makes security effortless for you by providing set-and-forget security that won’t pester you with annoying alerts and pop-ups.

Click here to learn more about Trend Micro 2013 and to download your free copy!

Already using Trend Micro – click here for instructions to upgrade to 2013.

Filed Under: Internet, Products, Safe Surfing

Zoom Internet Email: Your Spam Filter

October 29, 2012 by Aaron

Armstrong automatically scans incoming messages and eliminates most Spam before it reaches your Inbox. Want to eliminate even more? Activate the my Spam Web App today. This highly effective, FREE product will move unwanted emails from your Inbox to the Spam folder. Accessing your Spam Settings is easy!

Click the Check Email link in the upper right
Right-click on Spam Settings in the Web App menu
Select Change Spam Filter Setting.
Armstrong recommends setting your Spam filter to “Medium”
To activate your selection, click Apply Spam Settings

That’s it. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact customer support at 1-877-486-4666.

Filed Under: Internet, Products, Safe Surfing

Zoom Internet Email: Password Reset

October 15, 2012 by Adam

The new Zoom Internet webmail interface launched this week.

If you were a webmail user and had enabled the “Remember Me” functionality and do not remember your password, visit ArmstrongOneWire.com/WebmailContact.aspx to request customer support.

In the coming days, customer support will contact you at a time that is best for you.