I think we’re off and running

Well, it looks like the blog is fixed. I’ve fixed whatever broken links and images I could find. There are some more things I would like to do, such as revise the recent projects layout and organize examples of laptop repairs. That will be coming shortly. However, the main part and look of the site is complete. If you find any bugs, please don’t hesitate to contact us and let us know. It would be very much appreciated.

Thank you for your patronage.

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Blog is broken, but site is up

It’s almost humerous writing this in my blog, but my blog layout is broken at the moment. I’m working hard to get it resolved. There are still glitches here and there on the site that I’m finding, such as the occasional broken link, odd formatting and missing media and I’m working as quickly as I can to get it fixed. Thanks for your patience.

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New site nearing completion!

If you’re a fan of our Facebook page, you’ll know that I’ve been working late hours on our new website. It’s nearing completion and almost ready to launch. I’m getting very excited. Stay tuned as I’ll be launching it soon. This is by far our best looking site to date, with focus placed on graphic elements and easier navigation and access to key information.

When it’s being launched please be patient as there will be site outtages and broken links during that time. I will announce right here on my blog as I’m making the changes.

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Phishing scams in your email… The real truth.

I’m just going through some junk mail, looking at a phishing scam email from MBNA Canada (supposedly). This is interesting, take a look at this:

http://www.letsfish.net/images/glyph/include/
onlineaccess/NASApp/NetAccess/mba.jpg

Dear admin@npinc.ca,

Your MBNA Canada account(s) have been recently flagged by our security and fraud department in order to prevent any monetary loss or unauthorized charges. It appears that your credit card account(s) have been tampered with and accessed by an unauthorized user.

Protecting the security of your account(s) is our primary concern. Therefore, as a preventative measure we urge you to secure and confirm your account immediately. Once you have been identified by the system, your account status will be restored to normal as our security and fraud department continue their pending investigation in this matter. Please continue below to safely secure your account:

https://www.onlineaccess.ca/NASApp/NetAccess/ http://www.letsfish.net/images/glyph/include/
onlineaccess/NASApp/NetAccess/

Please note that you must authenticate your information within the next 48 hours. Failure to do so could result in a suspension/termination of services, as well as your liability of all possible unauthorized activities on your account(s). Thank you for your patience and cooperation in this matter as we work together to protect your account(s) security.

Sincerely,

Brian Sheldon
MBNA Canada Security

________________________________

Copyright © MBNA – MBNA Canada 2010
(74R4CB8H1B)

Note the links. The first link is the one you can actually see in your email. It looks like it’s coming from onlineaccess.ca. The second link is the REAL link. Where you’re directed to when you click on it (using html email coding, the same as web pages, you can hide actual links).

Here’s the interesting part. When you click on the actual link, you’ll end up at a warning page. The APWG has already been notified. Go to the parent site. www.letsfish.net. Notice what it is? It’s a website for fishing tours off the coast of Venezuela. Is it just me, or do you wonder just how much of people’s stolen money paid for the boats in those photos?

There you have it, for whatever it’s worth. I’m sure the owners of www.letsfish.net will have some glorious nonsense story about some “hacker” using their website to steal financial information. They’re no doubt COMPLETELY oblivious.

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Warranty changes

It’s official, our warranty policy has been changed to give our clients better value and service. Our new warranty policy is as follows:

New parts:

New parts, purchased individually and found to be faulty, will be exchanged in house for a period of six (6) months from the purchase date. If the part is no longer available, one of equal or greater specification will be substituted. If the part is available, but not in stock, we will order a new one in for you at no cost to you.

Custom computer systems:

Custom computer systems are warranted for one year from purchase date, parts and labour, in house. Any part found to be faulty will be replaced with one of equal or greater specification at no extra charge, based on availability.

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Price comparisons.. Compare apples to apples

Not too often, but on rare occasion, we hear “such and such box store has one for $xx.xx less”. Tonight I decided to look into that, as I do on a somewhat regular basis, to see what we were being compared to.

What I found was actually rather surprising. One famous electronics store sells LG monitors. Here’s the thing with LG monitors. They have three different types of panels that they use. Although they LOOK the same, both in specification and physical appearance, they’re actually quite different. The box store sells the low end LG flat panel for the same price that we sell the WTQ panel for. The WTQ panel, as any geek will tell you, is LG’s top end LCD panel, the most sought after, with the highest praises.

Another example is RAM. Comstar and Buffalo RAM is simply no name, generic RAM in a pretty package, or lower quality (known as tiers) main stream chips on them. Kingston Value RAM is the same idea. Kingston branded RAM, on the other hand (the Kingston name right on the little black chips) is a much different animal with a higher quality chip on them. The box store sells the cheap, generic product for the same price that we sell top name brands such as Kingston, Crucial, Patriot and OCZ.

Rocketfish is a very poor quality power supply in geek circles, made by a generic Chinese OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and thrown into a pretty box with an exaggerated power rating and sold for top dollar. For less money you can buy top name brands like Thermaltake, Fortron Source, Seasonic and Corsair with 80 plus efficiency ratings (less power consumption, less loss due to heat and actually delivering at rated power) and up to five year warranty.

There are many, many more examples, but it just goes to show that all is not as it seems in the land of computers, where every gimmick is used to try and get a leg up on a competitor (does advertising After Manufacturers Rebate pricing sound familiar?). Quality does matter, especially when you can get it at the same price with better warranties and service.

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