Choosing the Right Software for Your Non-Profit Organisation - The Necessary Guide

First things first - Managing all the donors efficiently can be quite a headache for charities of all sizes.
Reason - Charities usually think that their customers are their beneficiaries, which is also true to some extent. The truth lies in the fact that for the purpose of fundraising, the customer is the person on the other end of the phone/letter and without them, no charity could survive.
Choosing a system or software that's right for your charity isn't as simple as you think it is. Software for charities and churches cannot be a 'one size fits all' approach. Though the fundamentals maybe the same (e.g. event management, attendance management, fund management, etc.) but large and small organizations will have different considerations.
Mentioned below are some of the different things that you should consider depending on the size of the charity as well as the needs that you expect the software to fulfill.
For Large Charities and Churches
Software Implementation May Not Cheap for Large Charities - Large charities and non-profit organizations must understand that no matter what they're required to pay a certain sum of money for the implementation of an appropriate software for the management work. You may not be required to pay a large amount, but it will definitely not be cheap. Remember you're paying for the services that you avail.
Consider Software That Is Multi-Functional - There will be a number of things that you'll need to be managed, but this shouldn't mean that you purchase a number of software. Consider the idea of choosing the one that can perform a number of necessary functions - this will not only save your money but also your time choosing the one that's perfect for you.
Choose A Reputed Store - If you're buying charity management software for the first time, chances are that you'll have to do a lot of research before you can finally pick on the one that's perfect for your needs. However, sometimes it happens that despite research you tend to go wrong when buying the software. Choose a reputed store online or offline and once you're convinced with their software and services, go ahead and make the purchase.
For Small Charities and Churches
Bespoke Software? Really Not! Too many small charities think they do or are told they do. First, look at all the great 'off the shelf' fundraising/membership packages available and even the CRM systems - they almost certainly can do all (or most) of what you need. Since you're now functioning on a slightly lower level and going a way up might take some time, it is okay even if you drop the idea of choosing bespoke software.
Free Software Doesn't Mean Zero Cost - Getting a free software initially doesn't mean zero cost. You will be expected to spend where necessary, especially if your free software doesn't provide you the features of effective fund management.
Choose The Perfect Store - Choosing an absolute software for event management, charity management and even attendance management is important for small charities just as much it is for the big ones. Take reviews of various stores online and offline and only when you're satisfied should to initiate the purchase.
These three points each small and large charities act as a necessary guide for choosing the right charity and church management software. You can follow these simple steps and pick the best software for your non-profit organization.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9650826

How to Troubleshoot and Fix DLL Errors on Your Computer

If your PC is not working properly and you are dealing with some DLL errors, you need to do a few things. First of all, you need to know the source of the error. Since these files are not executable, they rely on other programs to work. Generally, the error starts with another software program. You should make a note of the file path, the name of the file, and the app that shows the error. Read on to know the next steps.
Troubleshooting Apps
Application on your computer may show a DLL error for several reasons. At times, the program itself may be corrupt. In this case, it may show a false error. If you think this is the case with you, try reinstalling the app to see if the error appears again.
Update Drivers
DLL errors may be the result of outdated or buggy device drivers. Again, you need to update the drivers of your computer. If you don't know where to get the drivers, you should go to the website of the manufacturer of your computer.
Scan for Malware
Malware infection in your computer may also cause DLL errors. For troubleshooting, we suggest that you scan your system with a good malware scanning application. You can use any of the top anti-virus software for scanning and fixing DLL errors.
System Restore
If the above tricks don't work for you, you should restore your computer to a date when you had no DLL issues. Follow the steps below to restore your computer:
· Start your computer and Press F8 in the boot menu. (This will take you in the Safe Mode)
· Once in Safe Mode, you should press R and the Windows key simultaneously to start the Run prompt.
· As soon as the command prompt shows up, type rstrui.exe in the given field.
· Next, you should hit Enter. This will open the Windows System Restore in a new window.
· Now, hit Next for the next step.
· At this step, you need to choose a date to restore your computer. Then click on Next.
· Lastly, Click on Finish to complete the restoration process.
Hopefully, this will fix the error in a few minutes.
Repair The Missing or Corrupted DLL Files
If none of the methods given above work for you, your last resort is to repair the damaged/missing DLL files. All you need to do is replace the old DLL file with a new one. You can also copy the right file from another computer. However, if this trick doesn't work for you, you can get the file from the Windows Installation CDROM.
Make sure you use the right Disk. For instance, if you are using Windows XP, make sure you get Windows XP installation media. And if you are using Windows 7, make sure you repair your OS with a Windows 7 installation media. The Start-Up repair setup will fix the DLL errors and make your computer work properly once again.

read more here / https://www.registrycleaners2015.blogspot.com

Three Simple Steps You Can Do Today to Enhance Your Information Security

There are two types of users. Those who say they have nothing to hide and conceal, and those who use all possible methods of data protection to keep their personal information secure.
This article is for the first type of people or for those who are somewhere in between. People of the second type are aware of these techniques and apply them in practice almost every day.
So what should you do today to ensure information security?

1. Make a backup copy of important data.
2. Replace simple passwords by stronger ones.
3. Make a copy of information stored in the cloud.

Why should you make a backup copy of important data?
Let's start with a question whether there is a need to save a copy of your hard disk on other media. The improvement of software goes side by side with the improvement of malware. Ransomware viruses became especially active. Getting on your computer, ransomware virus blocks the access to your data and requires a payment for decoding them. But often even the transfer of the required sum of money does not solve the issue with the encrypted data. In such a case these data may be considered as lost forever.
Unfortunately, such cases are common. You can get a malicious code even via a simple JavaScript in your browser. Thus, if you copy important personal data to removable data carriers at least sometimes, you will have a chance to recover at least a part of the lost information and protect it against fraud.
Why should you change your passwords?
In the fall of 2015 was published a list of the most popular passwords of Ashley Madison website. And at the end of 2015 year, we got an opportunity to see a list of the worst passwords used in 2015. According to these lists, which coincide in the majority of points, people do not like to complicate their lives and choose simple passwords. They keep using such easy combinations as 123456, password, password1, qwerty, etc. Coming up with a new password, try to make it very complicated for it not to be brute forced.
But still, even this is not enough. Unfortunately, online fraudsters are constantly improving their skills, and soon there will be not a single password they would be unable to get. Then how to protect your personal data? In fact, you cannot rely only on passwords, thus the best way to protect your data is to use at least two-factor authentication where it is possible.
2-factor authentication presupposes the use of two different factors of authentication when logging in the account. The first factor is something you know (usually it is login and password), and the second factor is something you have (usually it is one-time password generated with the help of OTP token or application on the smartphone, also it can be delivered via SMS or the voice call).
Thus, even if a fraudster hacks your main password, he won't manage to go through the next authentication step. And vice versa, even having the one-time password generator (token) or your phone, the fraudster will not be able to log in without knowing a static password. Two-factor authentication is especially important for bank accounts or corporate e-mails.
But even using 2FA you shouldn't forget that static passwords play an important role in two-factor authentication as they are one of two factors - a knowledge factor.
Why should you make a copy of the information from the cloud?
How many times we have already seen the faces of users who suddenly couldn't find important documents, which they stored in cloud services. And this may happen to anyone. So next time when you think of leaving the important information in your account in Gmail, Dropbox, or any other service, think twice and make a copy on your hard disk.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9505477

How to Perform Android Battery Testing

The rapid battery discharge is one of the most widespread problem of today's reality. Modern smartphones or tablets contain advanced features and they are full of diverse capabilities. But all this is the reason why software testing company should work harder than ever.
Frequently, users make some manipulations with their devices: switch off cellular data or select low power mode which reduces power consumption. For these reasons, QA specialists should execute thorough testing of battery to understand how much power is consumed by a certain application.
Usually, special testing tools are used to check battery consumption. Let us make an example how to check Android battery, using Battery Historian testing tool. Before proceeding directly to test process, one should consider the operation peculiarities of battery historian tool itself.
Battery Historian Tool Peculiarities:

• it is a Google tool;
• requires knowing of programming (at least command line);
• it is an open-source Python script;
• works on Android (starting from 5.0 version and later);
• analyze battery on the basis of Android bug report files;
• operates on Mac OS, Windows, and Linux.

The list above proves that this tool is rather effective. All you need to execute battery testing is to meet some requirements:

• activate USB debugging on Android device;
• install Python in the system;
• Android Debug Bridge (adb) presence.

Only after all requirements are met, QA team may start test process. Usually, the test procedure, using Battery Historian tool consists of five stages.

5 Stages of Android App Testing via Battery Historian Tool:

1. Removing all previous stats - first of all, to execute accurate testing, a tester should clear all stats in order to achieve relevant data (Adb command will look this way: "adb shell dumpsys batterystats --reset").
2. After the statistics is cleared, the specialist should disconnect device from the system.
3. Execute diverse test scenarios in order to define what consumes the most of power. It is important to behave like the user to better realize the impact of user experience on battery lifecycle.
4. Connect device to the system again and create a bug report (Adb command will look this way: adb bugreport > batterydata.txt). On the base of this log file, the tool may get statistics of the device battery.
5. Download Battery historian tool to be able to generate HTML report, using Android log file (Use this command: python historian.py batterydata.txt > batteryinfo.HTML).

Therefore, mobile testing, integration checking, multi-platform testing, load control, usability testing, and other standard types of QA activity may be added with such kind of checking as battery testing.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9614379

How to Stay Safe Online - General Advice and Tips

Viruses, ransomware, scams, identity theft and loss of digital information are becoming more and more common as we move towards a digital age.
With digital security becoming more apparent, it is very important to adopt a good habit in keeping yourself and your family safe online. Below are some basic tips and hints to protect your identity, files and your personal device.
Keep your computer, smartphone and tablet clean

• Keep your device up to date with the latest software
  Software updates provide enhancements and security updates.
• Keep your security software (anti-virus) up to date
  Security software needs latest virus definitions to identify new and emerging virus/malware. Yes, even Mac's and smartphones needs security software.
• Scan external devices (USB)
  USB and external devices can carry virus from infected devices onto yours. Make sure you enable external device scanning to ensure it doesn't get onto your computer

Be very web savvy online

• Watch out for dangerous links and attachmentsWhen there is doubt, delete it. Links/attachments in emails, tweets, SMS, posts and advertising are way cyber criminals can compromise your device. If its suspicious or too good to be true, delete it, block or mark it as junk.
• Check for trusted websites
  When banking online or shopping, ensure they have SSL (secure socket layer) security. SSL protects passwords and your banking information securely.
• Beware of Phishing
  Phishing is a way for cyber criminals to mask legitimate website with their own to steal your confidential login. Do not click on any requests to verify your password unless you requested it.
• Risks with public Wi-Fi Hotspots
  Adjust your security level on your device when accessing public networks. Your device firewall and anti-virus can detect and adjust automatically when connecting to different networks. Turn off your Wi-Fi to public networks when you don't need to use it anymore.

Protect your personal information

• Keep your password complex
  Don't use generic password. Keep it complex with the combination of upper case/lower case characters, numbers and symbols. If it's too hard to remember, use a secure password manager to keep track.
• Use Two Step Verification
  Two step verification will make it more difficult to access you online presence. If a cyber criminal has your password, they will be stopped if they don't have access to your other devices and accounts.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9418828

Sharing Data With International Security Organizations and Spy Agencies - Slippery Slope

Maybe we do need a rather substantial push back from globalism, maybe the global elite have pushed a bridge too far. Did you know that we are sharing data about our citizens with international security organizations and they with us? It's true. One could say this global safety net is for our protection, and yet, I wonder. You see, as a business person whose done business internationally, I hate to think all my communication data is being shared with others in other governments, who can use that data, sell it to my competitors or interfere in my business efforts. Whose idea was this?
"Oh, we need it for global security against terrorists" they say. Well, if we were not busy having wars for oil resources, or stirring up the hornet's nest in the middle east, there would be a lot less terrorism in the world. Do we really need to collect data at this level on all of our citizens? No. Likewise, do we really need to share all our data with the rest of the world, remember we can trust them even less than our own government insider corrupted scoundrels?
Now then, another troubling thing is that we give foreign surveillance teams access to our public's information; Britain, Vatican (to protect the Pope during travels), Germany, France, EU, etc. All this sharing means too many people have access to all this information. Many nations in the EU are pretending to protect their public from us prying, but the reality is we have reciprocal agreements for data sharing, especially cloud data now.
Having the voting records for everyone is problematic, as it can be accessed by anyone, foreign spies can find sympathizers, or know who their major opponents are for media feed manipulation, just as Google and Facebook tailor the news to what you most likely want to hear, thus, clouding your judgement pro or con a particular party, candidate, or thoughts on a specific issue, just like CNN, MSNBC, or FOX News might, or the NYTs, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe or Miami Herald, see that challenge too?
If you really believe all this data collection, privacy intrusion, and surveillance is good for you, our society, or our future, it is evident to me that you don't study your own history, or understand the Machiavellian world we live in. We all agree information is power, so why would you turn over all your information to your government, a foreign government or foreign spies and hackers? Think on this.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9596694

Protecting Your Business Website From Malwares

With ecommerce sites on the rise and over a million new stains of malware developed every day, protecting your business site from attacks from viruses and malware has become a priority now. Hackers are continually creating various new means to gather credit card details and other personal information from their online transactions. Adopting the best security practices has now become very crucial for merchants. It has become essential to install the proper website protection to stop various attacks and today, there are several programs that can be used to protect your computer from such malware attacks.
It is seen that attackers are not actually developing new means to penetrate sites, but they are taking the advantage of poor passwords, unpatched vulnerabilities, weak permission settings and ownership in the file system. Small to medium sized enterprises are the largest targets of cyber-attacks and about 30,000 SMEs are targeted every day. Don't allow your business to be the victim of expensive cyber-attack damages, instead, be proactive and take essential steps to prevent security threats. So, to ensure the highest levels of security, here are some means to protect your site from malwares.
Patches and updates: If your website is running on a Content management system like WordPress, then make sure that your website security is tight. Though a CMS is an easy and cost effective means to update your website content, but they are also to a large extent large target of cyber-crimes. There are many CMS platforms and extensions or plugins that are easy targets for the hackers and often allow access to your server and personal or vital data. Ensure that your plugins, themes and systems are always up to date. There are CMS solutions that automatically update the files for your site.
Firewalls: Continuously removing the existing website threats is a good idea, but it is also important to stop them from coming back again and again. With over 1 million fresh malwares created, your business site has a chance to get infected by a new virus every day. Using a web application firewall can help to prevent cyber criminals from attacking your site. The firewall will act as a filter and will only allow legitimate traffic to access your site while blocking malicious traffic.
Comply with PCI standards: The PCI or the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is a security standard that online businesses should adhere to if they are involved in online payment transactions and accept major credit cards. This will help to ensure that your customers are protected from any cyber threats and frauds. Businesses that fail to comply with the standards can result in financial damages, government fines and also ruin brand reputation.
Create a strong password: Good and strong passwords always help to protect your files. Your password should always contain over 8 characters, a mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters, include digits and special characters and etc. Unfortunately, most people are not careful while choosing their passwords and this allows brute force hacking techniques to access website easily and gather private data. Since hackers use various decoding programs to attack your site, the more unique your password is, the more protected is your site from cyber criminals.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9579555