SMART Blog

Smart Services has been providing independent agents with proactive, fast, and expert technology services since 1991.

Remember That Time Apple Officially Told People to Drop Their Computer?

Remember That Time Apple Officially Told People to Drop Their Computer?

Even though the modern workplace tends to be PC-centric, Apple has had a major impact on technology and computing. It’s undeniable that Apple is pretty consistent with producing sleek, high-end hardware and efficient operating systems. Apple’s former CEO, Steve Jobs, was known to be a visionary and a perfectionist. That’s what makes this story even weirder.

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Keyboards Get Pretty Gross, Here’s the Safest Way to Clean It

Keyboards Get Pretty Gross, Here’s the Safest Way to Clean It

The keyboard that you may very well have used to access this blog is, in a word, gross. While we aren’t going to go into too much detail about what makes keyboards so grimy, we did want to outline how you can easily clean up your keyboard every so often, just to make sure that it’s A: more hygienic, and B: less likely to malfunction at some point.

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An Organized Workspace Has Major Benefits

An Organized Workspace Has Major Benefits

Every office has that one person that doesn’t seem to care that they are working in a room with other people. You know the type: They have day-old food on their desk. There are papers and other unnecessary items strewn about the desktop. Things are sticky and smell strange. The funny part is they seem comfortable with that mess. They may be the only one that is. In this week’s blog, we discuss the benefits of keeping your workspace clean.

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Ask a Tech: How to Choose the Right Laptop to Buy

Ask a Tech: How to Choose the Right Laptop to Buy

We spend a lot of time working with the technology that businesses rely on, including the laptop workstations used by just about everyone in many organizations today. As such, we wanted to share some of our insights so that you know what qualities you should look for when you’re ready to acquire some additional devices for your business.

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Implementing Bring Your Own Device, Without Bringing Your Own Risks

Implementing Bring Your Own Device, Without Bringing Your Own Risks

There’s no denying that running a successful business comes with its fair share of costs, and many would argue that some of these costs are anything but fair. As such, it makes sense to try and minimize your operating expenses by any sustainable means. Let’s go over one such cost-saving measure you can implement—Bring Your Own Device policies—and address how to do so without shortchanging your business’ security in the process.

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Chromebook Waste is a Serious Problem for Businesses and Education

Chromebook Waste is a Serious Problem for Businesses and Education

Laptops are no longer exclusive to the home and work environments; indeed, more and more schools and universities are adopting laptops and other educational technology for the purposes of delivering cutting-edge instruction. Chromebooks are just one option available, if not the most cost-effective one out there. This leads to a unique set of problems, though, particularly when the software powering these devices reaches its end of life.

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Biometric Checkout is Coming (But Don’t Hold Your Breath Just Yet)

Biometric Checkout is Coming (But Don’t Hold Your Breath Just Yet)

Love them or hate them, self-service checkout registers in brick-and-mortar stores are here to stay… especially considering that research has demonstrated that Gen Z has about twice the level of buy-in to the automated point-of-sale terminals as Gen X does, and that self-checkout is the predominant form of payment today. With this success, many have wondered how welcome biometric payment processing might be.

As it turns out, it would seem it isn’t.

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Why You Need to Use a Surge Protector, Not a Power Strip

Why You Need to Use a Surge Protector, Not a Power Strip

It’s easy to look at a power strip and a surge protector and question if there’s anything that actually makes them different. After all, they both give you extra plugs, right?

Yes, but there’s more to it than just that. Let’s review some of the important differences between the two that make one a far better choice for your business’ power delivery needs.

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What to Know About Your Business’ Wireless Router

What to Know About Your Business’ Wireless Router

The modern workplace wouldn’t exist as it does without the advent of wireless Internet or Wi-Fi. Understanding how your wireless router works can be incredibly helpful for any business owner, and it can help you get even more out of your wireless connection. Today, we want to share some information about wireless routers that can help you use them more effectively.

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With a Massive Botnet Recently Disrupted, Let’s Review What a Botnet Is

With a Massive Botnet Recently Disrupted, Let’s Review What a Botnet Is

It was very recently revealed that a global law enforcement effort took down a massive botnet that was in action for almost a decade. In light of this, we wanted to review what a botnet is and how it works, drawing from these events for some context.

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ALERT: Every Social Security Number Stolen by Hackers

ALERT: Every Social Security Number Stolen by Hackers

We’re still getting more information on this, but at the time of writing this, every American can assume that their social security number has been stolen. Let’s share what we know so far.

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You Should Know the Difference Between COPE and BYOD

You Should Know the Difference Between COPE and BYOD

With mobile devices being such a big part of doing business, It’s crucial that your business has a plan to manage them. Many times this comes with a lot of hand-wringing. One of the biggest issues is whether or not the business invests in their employee mobility or if they simply demand that they gain use of employee-owned devices. In today’s blog we’ll go through the mobile management strategies of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled (COPE).

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Hard Drives Don’t Last Forever… Can You Tell If One’s Failing?

Hard Drives Don’t Last Forever… Can You Tell If One’s Failing?

Digital storage has exploded, in no uncertain terms, over the last few decades. While hard disk drives (HDDs) were the predominant storage format for most of that time, today’s faster and hardier solid-state drives (or SSDs) are becoming more affordable and popular.

However, there are still plenty of HDDs out there, all far more prone to breaking than their more advanced counterparts. So, how can you tell when a hard drive failure is pending?

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Keep Your Business Functional While Moving Your Office

Keep Your Business Functional While Moving Your Office

Moving is already difficult, but when you factor in your business’ IT, it becomes twice as frustrating and time-consuming. You can make it easier by preparing for the job ahead of time. Today, we want to cover what you can do to prepare for a business IT move well ahead of the scheduled date.

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Understanding the Roles of a Router and Modem in Your Wireless Network

Understanding the Roles of a Router and Modem in Your Wireless Network

Both the router and modem are crucial components of any wireless network, yet many people are unsure about the distinct roles they play in a personal or organizational Internet connection. Let’s break down the function of each device and how they work together to support your network.

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Even the NSA Recommends Rebooting Your Devices, But Not for the Reason You Suspect

Even the NSA Recommends Rebooting Your Devices, But Not for the Reason You Suspect

Rebooting your device presents several benefits. If you ever experience an issue with your device, rebooting it will likely improve it. Heck, even the National Security Agency (NSA) recommends you do this… but why?

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We Can Put You With the Right Technology

We Can Put You With the Right Technology

Businesses need hardware and software to keep an infrastructure running, but not all organizations specialize in the management and acquisition of these systems. Furthermore, some businesses don’t even know what their specific needs are, which is shocking to think about. We’re here to help you make the best decisions possible with your hardware and software acquisitions.

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HDD vs. SSD: Which Hard Drive is Best Suited for Your Business?

HDD vs. SSD: Which Hard Drive is Best Suited for Your Business?

Any business venture nowadays is apt to utilize a lot of data, and therefore will require plenty of digital storage space to accommodate its needs. As a result, selecting a storage device is an important decision to make - especially when one is trying to decide between a Solid State Drive (or SSD) or a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) storage solution. A quick comparison between the two will help you choose one over the other.

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Tip of the Week: Adjust the Brightness of Your Device’s Screen to Prevent Eye Strain

Tip of the Week: Adjust the Brightness of Your Device’s Screen to Prevent Eye Strain

Computer monitors have become streamlined in appearance and design over the years. One of the biggest improvements was the addition of the LCD screen, which in comparison to the old CRT monitors is more pleasing to the eye. However, its brightness means that there are side effects that can lead to eye strain and headaches. You can lower your screen brightness to preserve both your eyesight and your sanity, in addition to saving precious battery life.

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Forget Backdoors, Hackers Can Now Infiltrate Garage Doors

Forget Backdoors, Hackers Can Now Infiltrate Garage Doors

Hackers have proven that they will do whatever it takes to get to your valuable assets, even if it means taking advantage of physical objects that work alongside a specific frequency. As it turns out, this is exactly how hacking a garage door works, and all it takes is a decade-old communications device to capture the frequency and unlock any garage door that utilizes it.

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