Category Archives: Tech Tips

Facebook Stalkers – 5 ways you can block them

Image via CrunchBase More and more practices are including a Facebook Fan Page as part of their marketing strategy and pet businesses with a Silver or Gold listing may also list their Facebook and Twitter accounts as points of contact and more information for potential customers. But along with all the good things having a Facebook can bring, it can also bring out some ‘stalkers’. In the case of a business, this can mean someone posting angry reviews and messages on your page, competitors trying to do your business harm. Many of you have personal … Continue reading

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Here’s how to fix your “frankenpet eyes that glow” photos

I was leafing through one of my old photo albums the other day, looking at pictures of a beloved dog who was part of the family for 16 years, when I came across several scary glowing eye pictures I’d snapped of her.  They made me smile because she looks like an alien pet and I remembered what we were doing when I took the pictures. However, most of the time you won’t want to have a glowing eye pet and will want to fix the problem.  And now with digital cameras and some free online … Continue reading

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VL Tech Tip: Cut down on spam from your website email with this free tool

Including your business email on your website can be beneficial because it allows potential pet owners to contact you easily.  But having an email address on a website is also an open invitation for spammers so it’s a toss up on whether to include an email or not. Here’s something I ran across when I clicked on an email address on a website I needed to contact.  The address looked like a normal link — info@companyname.com and when I clicked on it I was prompted to enter some characters before I could send an email. … Continue reading

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Tech Tips: What does your phone number spell?

We’ve all heard and seen commercials where the business gives their phone number as a word: “Call 1-800-HEAL-PETS and talk to one of our friendly receptionists…” Phone numbers that spell a word are usually easier for people to remember – in fact I can start humming a jingle from a local carpet cleaner whose phone number spells a word.  I’ve never used this company because we have hard surface floors at the office and at home, but I do know their number in case an urge ever comes over me to clean carpets. However most … Continue reading

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Tech tip: How to use Gmail to handle ALL your email accounts

Image via CrunchBase As you may or may not know, I’ve been part of the internet, and email, since 1994, and email has been part of my life even longer.  All things internet have evolved at light speed over the ensuing 16 years and this certainly includes email, which is still an indispensable part of most of our lives. But along the way email started to get out of control. There became too much of it, SPAM got really bad, and it started taking too much valuable time away from the things you should be … Continue reading

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Did you get to see Pac Man on Google’s search results page? Here’s the link

Image via Wikipedia In honor of the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man, Google replaced its traditional logo with an interactive Pac-Man doodle. For people who missed the game, this was entertainment of the highest order. For others, the Pac-Man doodle was just a distraction, plain and simple. After having the game up for several days, Google went back to it’s familiar logo.  And some were not happy with the change.  They wanted Pac-Man back. “We’ve been overwhelmed — but not surprised 🙂 — by the success of our 30th anniversary Pac-Man doodle,” Google VP Marissa Mayer … Continue reading

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3 Google search tips when you’re not sure what you’re looking for

Image via CrunchBase Ever sit down in front of your computer to find something on Google and then try and figure out how to word what you want? I do this from time to time and it frustrates me, so I was happy to find this short tutorial on three Google search tips that will help in your search efforts to find exactly what you seek. These tips are from the website  ‘Make Use Of’ and I’ve included a couple from the article below (geek alert – if you go to the original article you … Continue reading

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Tech Tip: 10 websites to download older versions of software

Image by Getty Images via Daylife It’s one of those things that I really dislike…. learning some new piece of software because the old version is being upgraded and the company won’t be supporting it any more (think Microsoft Windows for an example).  Because of this and because I have a thrifty streak that says, if it works why do I need to replace it, I have some older software on my laptop that I am very comfortable using. The problem is twice I’ve needed to fix or replace something and the old version was … Continue reading

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Tech Tip – How to record your office voicemail message better

Image by drewleavy via Flickr If you’re like me, you’ve probably recorded or had someone record a voicemail greeting for your office, home phone or cell phone. And, if you’re like me, you usually will record the same message more than once because it does not sound perfect.  Here are some tips to getting that perfect message in fewer takes: Start with a written script for your message.  If you need inspiration, you can check out these sample scripts and just modify them to fit your need. Encourage callers to leave a detailed message as … Continue reading

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