Amherst Partners News

CryptoLocker Ransomware Virus

This is by far the worst computer virus (ransomware) attack I've ever seen.

If you get infected with this one there is no recovery except to pay the ransom!

CryptoLocker is a ransomware program that was released around the beginning of September 2013. This ransomware will encrypt certain files using a mixture of RSA & AES encryption. When it has finished encrypting your files, it will display a CryptoLocker payment program that prompts you to send a ransom of either $100 or $300 in order to decrypt the files. This screen will also display a timer stating that you have 96 hours, or 4 days, to pay the ransom or it will delete your encryption key and you will not have any way to decrypt your files. This ransom must be paid using MoneyPak vouchers or Bitcoins. Once you send the payment and it is verified, the program will decrypt the files that it encrypted.

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 October 2013 12:14

WordPress Expertise

Over the years Amherst Partners has focused its new website development around the well known and mature Joomla CMS platform. It's a little known fact however the we also support the WordPress blogging platform. These two website/blog development platforms each have their strengths and their weaknesses and we're not going to discuss them here.

In the past month Amherst Partners has greatly improved its expertise in building robust and feature rich websites on the WordPress platform. We designed and developed a brand new real estate website for the Brin Realty Group built completely on the WordPress platfform using the Ximenia theme from RocketTheme and the IDXpress MLS live listing tools from Diverse Solutions. This new site is live at this address: www.brinrealtygroup.com. This new site will eventually replace the current Brin Realty site at www.brinrealty.com.

Over the past few months we have also taken over complete support for www.claradoss.com and Essential Therapies Day Spa (www.etdayspa.com) - both sites built on WordPress. We have also provided technical support as needed on www.sweetshotphotography.com a site we originally developed in Dreamweaver/HTML, migrated to Joomla, and then migrated to WordPress.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 August 2013 16:30

Amherst Partners Updated Support Policy

From the time that Amherst Partners, LLC was first formed back in 2000 we have been providing ongoing technical support for our clients. Most of the time, we provide these support services at no additional charge to our clients. We consider this to be a major benefit of choosing Amherst Partners as your website design, development, and support company and we will continue to provide some level of technical support at no charge.

Because it is impossible to provide all levels of technical support for all possible adverse events, or for normal software updates and upgrades, at no charge, we have just written and published our Ongoing Support policy. This new policy outlines what we cover a no cost and what we must charge a fee for.

You can read this policy here.

Amherst Partners Receives Better Business Bureau A+ Accreditation

Amherst Partners is pleased to announce that we are now an Accredited Business with the Better Business Bureau. According to the Better Business Bureau website, "to be labeled a BBB Accredited Business reflects what a company stands for and what they have achieved. They earned this status by meeting BBB's standards. Accredited Businesses are part of an elite group with a proven track record for being honest, dependable and responsive."

At Amherst Partners we have always tried to do whatever it takes to "delight" our customers and we plan to continue to operate under this fundamental guiding principal of good business practice.

Amherst Partners All Inclusive Services

What you get when you hire Amherst Partners to Design and Develop your website

At Amherst Partners we don't believe in hidden fees or charging extra for services we feel are standard, not optional. Our philosophy is that when you hire us to build a website you get a complete website that is ready for both people and the search engines. This article outlines all of the technical and service components that are included in our proposal when we develop a quote. And, since there are always legitimate optional services that can be provided, it also provides a partial list of the additional technologies and services that Amherst Partners can provide.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 06 June 2012 16:59

Local Search Results Are the Most Relevant

Tablet and Smartphone Explosion Coupled with New Local Search Methods Underscores Increased Need for Trusted Local Business Search Results

Localeze Infographic - The Local Search Revolution

"The Social, Local and Mobile (SoLoMo) revolution – fueled particularly by the rapid adoption of the tablet -- now dominates the search landscape, according to the newly released Localeze/15miles Fifth Annual comScore Local Search Usage Study. The most significant findings revealed that as consumers rapidly adopt new devices and new methods to access local business information, online local listings are the most relevant and trusted search results. The data was presented today during a special joint SMX West presentation from Localeze, a Neustar service and the trusted business listings identity management provider for local search, and 15miles, a leader in local, mobile and social marketing solutions."

Last Updated on Monday, 05 March 2012 16:54

The Local Search Ecosystem

The Local Search Ecosystem
(Courtessy of David Mihm)

Early last year Amherst Partners established an affiliate relationship with Localeze, a provider of "certified" business data to more than 100 local search providers across the Internet. Since that time, the importance of claiming and maintaining your business data as it appears in these local search providers has continued to increase. With this exponential increase in mobile searches, making certain your business information is accurate couldn't be more important.

Most mobile searches are done with the intention of immediately contacting a business or service being searched for. Think about it, a person that is on the road using their in-vehicle GPS or their smart-phone to search for a business or service is typically looking to visit that business or service within the next few hours - or sooner. If your business information isn't in these local search providers' databases, you loose a potential customer.

Last Updated on Saturday, 03 March 2012 10:33

Amherst Partners Now Offers Backup Services

Get a FREE Backup Server installed on-site at your location!

Performing regular periodic backups of your critical data is probably one of the most important things you can do to protect yourself against disaster. It is also an activity that is commonly overlooked, postponed, or simply ignored. There are also cases where a backup procedure and capability is in place but not operating correctly due to oversight or lack of time.

Amherst Partners is pleased to announce that we are partnering with Carroll-Net, Inc. to offer their Healthy Server backup solution. This service is not limited to our existing clients. Anyone can take advantage of this service.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 14 February 2012 09:47