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We Would Like to Thank You for Your Continued Support

and Wish Everyone A Prosperous 2010!

IN THIS ISSUE:                                                                                                                                  

Thought For The Month                                     Credit Card Online Shopping           

Windows 7 w/ Windows XP Mode                       The 'Tech Line'

Things About TOP                                             

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Thought For the Month

"Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday".

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Payroll Taxes for 2010

The Social Security limit for 2010 will remain the same as 2009 at 106,800. Medicare will remain unlimited and the annual Dependant Allowance will remain at 3650.00. The Federal Tax Tables for single and married have changed and will be on page 40 of the 2010 Circular 'E'. Be sure to use the Annual table.

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Online Shopping Using Credit Cards
There is a lot of misinformation regarding online shopping that suggests that the Internet is the cause of most credit card fraud but credit card fraud has actually been on the decline for the past six straight years. The reality is if you follow simple rules, Internet based transactions can actually be one of the most secure ways to use your credit card because you are the only one involved in the transaction.

When it comes to online shopping, retailers that offer e-commerce use secure pages. In order to know that the page you are entering your credit information onto is secure, you need to make sure that the URL address contains https:// and not just http://. There should also be an image of a yellow lock to the right of the address line or in the bottom right corner.

One important thing for you to do to help keep safe is to keep your computer updated with the latest operating system updates that usually contain security updates. Do not fall for any of the thousands of email phishing scams or download scams. One way to tell if you have security issues is if your computer takes a long time to startup or is running very slow. Avoid any electronic transactions or online banking until you know your computer is not affected.

Credit card companies have done a good job of making it easy to report fraud and shield their customers from any financial losses. Most companies have a zero liability policy when fraud has been determined. Debit cards usually carry similar coverage but if someone uses your debit card, the amount of the transaction is tied up until things are cleared and your checking account is impacted immediately. Or pay cash if you are not comfortable in a given situation.

Note: Article published on www.datadoctors.com.

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Windows 7 with Windows XP Mode

Microsoft knew they were going to have a difficult time convincing hard core XP users to switch to Windows 7 because some older applications and some hardware, like scanners, could not be updated to work with Windows 7.

Certain versions of Windows 7 have an optional feature called Windows XP Mode which is an actual copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 that can run as a 'virtual' system within Windows 7. That means that older applications and peripherals that would only work in Windows XP can run as a separate session and would appear as just another icon on Windows 7. But before you get too excited about the approach, there are some requirements that you should know about.

In order to support XP Mode, you will need a computer with a processor capable of 'hardware virtualization', at least 2GB of RAM and 15GB of free disk space.

Note: Hardware virtualization must be turned on in the BIOS and is generally off by default. If you want to know if your computer is capable of supporting XP Mode, you can run Microsoft's detection tool at http://bit.ly/1qPcbl

Only versions of Windows 7 that support XP Mode are Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise editions. The Home Premium version does not allow for this option. You won't need this feature to surf the web, exchange emails, etc. It is only for special software applications and older peripherals.

This feature is not designed to be setup by a casual user. If you think you might have a need for this, consult a local computer technician to review your situation and see if it is really needed.

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Things You May Not Know About TOP

Many of our customers may not be aware that Total Order Plus has a 'User Appendix' manual online on our support website www.mindwarecorp.com and can be accessed by clicking on 'Documentation' on the left side of the screen. This manual contains numerous screens and instructions to help you with Windows issues, UnForm, UPS, Anzio Lite, Unix commands, End of Day and End of Month processing and how to use the TOP Report Writer.

In this month's newsletter, we are publishing the instructions for 'How to Cancel a User Process' on your Unix file server:
To cancel an active user process on your system, you must enter the following command:
Login: root
Password: xxxxxx (ask system supervisor)
# who - lists all current users logged into the system
# ps -a - lists active processes for all users
# ps -t ttyxx - lists active processes for one specific user
# ps -u - lists active processes for this user only
The process for each user is listed on your screen. You must decide what user's tty you want to cancel and what process is associated with the tty. The process to cancel for Total Order Plus will always be the pro5 process. You will need the process identification number or PID number to issue this command:
# kill -9 XXXXX  (X=PID number)
# exit

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The 'Tech Line'

                      By Joanne Simmons   

Question:
I have been getting messages on my monitor every time I enter an order. It is telling me that the order number has already been used. What does this mean and how do I correct?

Answer:

It means that your current order number is the same as an order number in the history file, usually from years past. You will need to either purge the invoices from history on the PM Options Menu or reset the order number in Order Parameter Maintenance on the Order Entry Definition Menu or both. Otherwise, there will be a serious problem with duplication of records in history.

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New Changes To Total Order Plus and UnForm

Changes to Total Order Plus and UnForm are made on a continual basis. We will keep you updated by listing the most recent changes in each of our newsletters. Following are the most recent:

TOP Enhancements:

bulletEmail Reminder using MailCall is a new feature in TOP to email past due invoice notices
bulletSales by Salesperson by Zip Report has the capability to export to a file for Excel

UnForm Enhancements:

bullet

Note: UnForm versions 4.X, 5.X and 6.X are no longer supported by SDSI or Mindware Corporation.

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Time Zone Changes for Mindware Office Hours

Eight months of a year, from the middle of March to the first part of November, the country is on Daylight Savings Time. Following is a chart that shows the different time zones and the time in Arizona when Mindware office hours begins:

Time Zone

DST

MCA
Eastern Standard Time 11:00 am 08:00 am
Central Standard Time 10:00 am 08:00 am
Mountain Standard Time 09:00 am 08:00 am
Pacific Standard Time 08:00 am 08:00 am
              
From the middle of November to the middle of March when Daylight Savings Time is not in effect:
 

Time Zone

No DST

MCA
Eastern Standard Time 10:00 am 08:00 am
Central Standard Time 09:00 am 08:00 am
Mountain Standard Time 08:00 am 08:00 am
Pacific Standard Time 07:00 am 08:00 am

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Event Calendar

  

Location

Date
Christmas Eve (1/2 Day) 12/24/2009 *
Christmas Day 12/25/2009 *
New Years Eve 12/31/2009
New Years Day 01/01/2010 *

 

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bulletPhone:         800-950-0401
bulletFax:             480-718-7416
Mindware Corporation Website

Send all TOP support emails to support@mindwarecorp.com