New website for Cottonworth wines

We are very proud of the website which we have recently finished for Hugh Liddell, an English wine grower based just outside Stockbridge, www.cottonworth.co.uk.  From our point of view we feel that this website has taken us to the next level in terms of web design, as the site incorporates some snazzy little features that Jason worked hard to perfect!

And now a bit about Cottonworth and the wine …

The sparkling rose wine is excellent – on a seasonal note Hugh says it’s “a good wing-man for turkey” – and they are expecting some lovely whites to be ready in a couple of years.   Hugh is building up a superb business on his family farm – the family have been planting vines since 2005 and are planning to hold wine-related events, weddings and corporate gatherings from 2012 onwards.  The farm is in one of the most beautiful locations in Hampshire, on the banks of the river Test and the river Anton with superb fishing and wonderful flora and fauna – visit their website to read all about it and see some gorgeous photos www.cottonworth.co.uk.

It's a Trap

I was just checking through my Google Mail spam filter and found this, it made me laugh  so I thought I would share it. Email scammers clearly have a sense of irony!

Secretary General (UNITED NATIONS)
United Nations Headquarters,
760 United Nations Plaza, New York,
NY 10017, USA

Subject: SCAM VICTIMS COMPENSATION FOR 2011. UNITED NATIONS 2007/2008/2009/2010/2011 SCAM VICTIMS COMPENSATIONS PAYMENTS.

ATTENTION:
SCAMMED VICTIM/$2,500,000 BENEFICIARIES.
REF/PAYMENTS CODE:06654.
AMOUNT 2,500,000.00 USD.

I write to bring to your notice that I am the UNA head of operations and an official delegate from the United Nations to pay 150 beneficiaries of scam victims $2,500,000 USD each. You are listed and approved for this payment as one of the beneficiaries to be paid this amount as compensation. As a result of this laudable recommendations, it is imperative to bring to your notice that during the last U.N. meetings held at Washington Dc, USA, it was alarmed so much by the rest of the world in the meetings on the lose of funds by various foreigners to the scams artists operating in syndicates all over the world today. In other to redeem the good image of the UNA, the Sec- General has ordered the payment of $2,500,000 USD each to the affected victims in pursuance with the U.N. recommendations.

According to the number of applicants at hand, 114 Beneficiaries has been paid, 60% of the victims are from the United States, while about 40% are from other parts of the world. we still have more than 30% left to be paid the compensations of $2,500,000 USD each.

Your particulars was mentioned by one of the Syndicates who was arrested in Africa,as one of their victims of the operations, you are hereby warned not to communicate or duplicate this message to him for any reason what so ever as the The International Police (INTERPOL) have combined effort with the United Nation Anti-crime commission to alleviate the plight of these victims as well as redeeming the image of the United Nations Association (UNA). The U.S. secret service is already on trace of the criminals. Other victims who have not been contacted can submit their application as well for scrutiny and possible consideration.

Many Banks, Universal firms, Companies and individuals have been in bankruptcy today due to the activities of these hoodlums. However, a thorough investigation have revealed that these people have dropped over 500,000 victims across the world, after collecting their money falsely, many as a result of this have committed suicide, while others are now living in abject poverty. As regards these ongoing developmental strive, we have over 600 suspects at hand. While many are awaiting trial, we are still in search of others, who think they are wise, and hope that you will assist by giving any vital information that could lead to the apprehension of these hoodlums. You will receive your compensations payments immediately without any hitch.

Note: this system of payment was imposed by the office of the Sec- General of the UNA, in order to avoid all the unnecessary office procedures, delays in payment, fraudulent activities of non officials and to comply with the instructions by the United Nations, International Monetary Fund to settle all outstanding debts owed to foreign nationals. Be also informed that you have been selected among the qualified beneficiaries who are to receive their fund. Please NOTE that as strictly warned by the office of the Sec-General to stop any further communication with any person that claiming to handle your payment.

(1) Your full name and address:
(2) Your age and marital status:
(3) Your occupation:????????????…
(4) Your telephone/fax number:???.
(5) Your nationality????????????.

You are advice to provide to us this information to make such you are the right owner of this fund, and once we have the remaining details that is required your information will be forwarded to the bank for your immediate payment.

let us know as soon as possible if you receive this email message to enable us proceed further in securing the IMF payment approval and Letter of Authorization on your behalf.

Making the world a better place

Mr. Ban Ki-Moon

Secretary General (UNITED NATIONS).
United Nations Headquarters,
760 United Nations Plaza, New York,
NY 10017, USA

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

A number of particularly nasty scams have emerged over the years involving computers and the internet.

This latest one is different. It is not carried out by autonomous viruses that infect your computer… or an email from your bank asking for your login details. It’s not an email from a “friend” that is stuck abroad without any money… or a fake website that takes your credit card details…

This scam is different in that it involves a phone call, from a real person. The scam can play out a number of different ways but the most common happens a bit like this:

1. You get a phone call from a pleasant-sounding foreign person, in a busy call-centre, offering to speed up your computer or fix some problems. (sometimes they will claim to be phoning from BT or another third party and that they have sanctioned the call).
2. The caller then talks you through a few steps, often showing you random folders of inane systems files, that they claim are viruses or files that are slowing down your computer.
3. (Optional step) The caller may now explain that some of these “viruses” are very serious or that there is a very large problem which is to serious to fix for free, so they will conveniently take payment over the phone to remove these fake viruses.
4. The caller then asks you to install remote-control software so that they can control your computer and clear out these folders and fake viruses. They will also install some clever cleaning software (sometimes the same that we use) as well as some of their own software, to help speed up your computer.
5. Job done, they hang up and everything seems great. Your computer is working faster than it has done ages and they seem to have fixed the problem… until one month later your credit card has been used to buy all sorts of strange things around the world, your bank account has been emptied and your identity stolen.

What did you miss? While they were cleaning up your computer they installed a little program that runs silently on your computer, reporting all your activity to criminals who have been using the information for all sorts of illegal activity.

The moral of the story: Don’t let anyone you don’t know or trust have access to your computer, remotely or otherwise. Letting someone else use your computer is tantamount to handing over all of your personal information.

If you need help from an IT professional always use a reputable UK company; Ideally a limited company with credentials that can be checked like… wait for it… shameless marketing link coming right up…

Southern Cross IT – IT Support you can trust!

Google Apps

Working from Home

With Google Apps (a full article on this is coming soon) all of our important documents and emails are accessible from anywhere in the world without any special software. We also use some very clever (and free!) synchronisation software, which enables us to make sure that we have access to all the files we have at work when we are at home.

The icing on the cake is the remote-extension feature of our VOIP telephone system which allows me to answer the main business number from the comfort of my home office. This is much more intelligent than simple call forwarding, both the phones in the main office and my home ring at the same time and If I pick up a call intended for Mike or Richard I can seamlessly transfer the call to them, in exactly the same way as I would working in the office. Equally, my colleagues back at base can forward calls to my home.

If you are interested in learning more about any of these technologies and how they can help your business then give us a call on 01794 400 105 or email info@socross.co.uk

A very old telephone

The way we all communicate is evolving. We no longer use our phones just for talking – they now allow us to browse the web, check & send emails, send texts and manage our diaries. At Southern Cross we have recognised this and over the past few months we have been working hard to bring you all the very latest telephony solutions, delivered with minimum fuss to bring you maximum results. Here are just a few of the areas where we have telephony covered ……….

New and existing telephone lines

Business telephone systems

A very new iPhone4

When your business is expanding and you need to be able to transfer calls from one employee to another, regardless of their location (another town, another county, another country, another continent) or you need to add more telephone lines to support your growing enterprise, Southern Cross can help. We can supply and install a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) business telephone system to suit any budget, with the option of paying monthly.

Mobile Phones

Contact Richard at Southern Cross now for an informal, no obligation chat to see how we can transform your communication systems and save you money at the same time! Tel: 01794 400112.

Follow SoCross

Welcome to our shiny new Blog with loads of cunning features like twitter integration, for up to the minute news and information from Southern Cross, one-click printing and social network tools!

This is all part of an exciting re-branding of the socross.co.uk, website with all of our new exciting services including communications, web-design & hosting and digital media.

Check back soon and see everything we have to offer! Or why not follow us on Twitter!

“Change of battery charge

When you find the battery is badness (for example: the time of power supply are being shorten), you should change it on time.  Please contact with the dealer, and assure whether being needed to change the battery charge.  The process of changing must be operated by eligible people.  Pay attention to the following matter: the battery charge may bring to the electrical shock and short-circuitry, so when you operate, you should pick off the watch, ring, or others mental goods.  You should use the tool with insulated handle.  Not to throw the wasted-battery charge into the fire for the battery may be easy to explosion.  You don’t open or destroy it, because the liquid in the battery is rodent, and it is harm to your skin and eyes.”