Backslash Technologies

Cure your computer!

Kevin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 03:14:14 +0000

As you probably know, Backslash Technologies has closed its doors. However, Chris and Kevin have both joined the Cure Solutions Crew and would love to continue to help with all of your computer needs!

Cure Solutions is proud to offer systems from Dell, Lenovo, and Apple and will service any brand. The Cure Crew can also help with your networking, website development, and other technology needs… That’s right, they make technology EASY, too!

Call us at 319-372-9095 or stop by any of the four locations in Southeast Iowa — Burlington (where Chris works), Mount Pleasant, Fairfield, and Fort Madison (where Kevin works) — and make sure to tell them you’re a Backslash customer! Seriously.

And let them know that Kevin sent you!

Thank you!

Kevin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:30:35 +0000

We’ve been blessed with over 12 years in business, but unfortunately the time has come to close Backslash Technologies.

But this isn’t a farewell post. I’m going to continue to offer many of the computer services that home users and business owners have come to expect from Backslash such as PC and Mac repair, wired and wireless network design and implementation, website development, DVD production, and more. Please don’t hesitate to email me at kevin@backslashtech.com or call me at 319-372-9095. And make sure to watch this space for news on anything else that may pop up.

Thank you so much to all of the people that helped make Backslash what it was. We had so many great customers and friends involved that I’d hate to even begin to list people for fear of forgetting names. And I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of team members to work with. You all mean so much to me. Seriously.

Spring Cleaning Sale!

Kevin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:12:19 +0000

Backslash is doing a little spring cleaning and you can help! See, we’ve got a lot of extra stuff lying around and we’d like to get rid of it, so we’ve put it all on sale.

Printers, cables, parts, and pieces — we have a bit of everything ready to go at incredible prices. Need a DVI monitor cable? How about a buck. Optical drive on the fritz? DVD-RW drives for as little as $10. You can pick up an all-in-one HP G85 for $50 or a PC tower for $40.

This spyware does not have a catchy tune

Kevin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:33:50 +0000

Internet radio is cool, but not when it’s full of malware. If you get an email about a $29 charge on your credit card, don’t click on the included link. Doing so will install this pesky program and you’ll soon be listening to internet radio stations in the background. It doesn’t sound too bad, but it’s also spying on you while you listen.

John and Steve discuss how to avoid this and other pieces of malware, and how to deal with things if you are already a victim.

How to properly clean your PC

Kevin — Fri, 28 May 2010 18:23:45 +0000

Keep your cool, man!

Dust and dirt are terrible for your computer system, but cleaning your machine improperly can cause more damage than good. John tells us how to take care of our expensive equipment to ensure a long life of computing.

Is an SSD worth it for you?

Kevin — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:34:01 +0000

With no moving parts, solid state drives have all but eliminated mechanical problems with data storage. There are still some issues, however, so John and Steve talk about the benefits and pitfalls of SSDs.

Listen to this week’s TechTalk to see if replacing your traditional hard drive with an SSD is a good idea in your situation.

Congrats to the nominees and winners!

Kevin — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:04:01 +0000

While we at Backslash are honored to be nominated for Fort Madison’s Small Business of the Year, we would like to give a special congratulations to the other nominees and especially the winners announced this morning.

Small Business Person of the Year Nominees
Aaron Feagain, Air Evac Lifeteam
Bill Faeth, Faeth’s Cigar Store
Dr. Kristin Maus, Drs. Smith, Smith, & Maus Optometry
Bonnie Howard, The Bookmark
Diane Spiekermeier, The Flower Cottage
Chuck Vandenberg, KFC/Taco Bell
Tim and Lauri Wondra, Wondra Family Chiropractic

Small Business of the Year Nominees
Angel Scents
Backslash Technologies (w00t!)
Fort Madison Ready Mix
Fort Madison Football, Inc.
Pendemonium
Kempker’s True Value
SunnyBrook Assisted Living
Under the Sun

And the winners are…
Small Business Person of the Year: Bonnie Howard, The Bookmark
Small Business of the Year: Pendemonium

Once again, congratulations to each and every nominee. We are humbled to be included in such a great group of businesses and people. Thank you to our customers, fellow Fort Madison small businesses, and the Fort Madison Chamber of Commerce.

Kevin’s on Lockergnome today!

Kevin — Thu, 20 May 2010 21:35:45 +0000

Recently I submitted an article to the website known as Lockergnome, a network of blogs about a variety of topics (mostly tech-related). And today, it’s being featured on the main page of the site!

I’ve been a fan of Lockergnome for a long time, and even knew Chris Pirillo when we both went to the University of Northern Iowa. We weren’t best friends or anything, but he did hang out at the computer lab a lot (go figure) and I was a lab supervisor (also, go figure). We talked here and there, mainly about computers, and I enjoyed the conversations even though I found him a bit hyper. =) A few years later, I was surprised to see him online. I even attended a few Gnomedexes in Iowa and Lake Tahoe. Chris has done a ton of stuff since UNI and is now known internationally as a geek’s geek.

So, it’s a pretty neat thing that my story is now on his blog network. Check it out and let me know what you think (either on Lockergnome or right here). Also, please help me out by spreading the word… Put this as your Facebook status or send out a tweet that says:

Check out the Lockergnome post ‘Dropbox for the Divorced’ by my buddy Kevin Harter at http://bit.ly/csOYBF. He’s on Twitter: @TechDaddyK.

Thanks, everyone! Hopefully I’ll be able to do more with the Lockergnome blog network in the future as well. I’ll keep you posted.

Social media viruses

Kevin — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:59:28 +0000

The latest in Spring malware has arrived! While there are many things to watch out for on the Internet, sometimes the biggest threat is supposedly from your friends. No, your buddy isn’t out to get you, but his computer might be!

John and Steve talk about Facebook malware and how to protect your machine.

Pesky PDF problems

Kevin — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:19:49 +0000

A fresh batch of malicious PDFs is making the rounds via email, with the attackers trying to trick users into opening the files by making them look like instructions for an update to their email accounts. The difference this time, however, is that the attack uses a technique recently published by a researcher that takes advantage of the /launch command in Adobe software.

The technique enables an attacker to launch commands and open file attachments on users’ machines. The attack produces a warning dialogue box, but users are accustomed to seeing, and ignoring, those in many situations. In this particular new malware campaign, the attackers have used that tactic, along with adding some extra white space to the dialogue box to make it look less suspicious.

Some emails also arrive bearing subjects such as “invoice,” “statement” or “bill” and contain no text in the body. If the attached PDF is opened using a vulnerable version of Adobe software, the machine will execute code that lowers Windows security settings and installs a bevy of nasty malware, according to the SANS Internet Storm Center.