Vipa Solutions

Did you ever catch yourself thinking about going the generic site-in-a-box route when creating your website? Do generic tires compare equally on every level to Michelin or your choice 'name brand'.  Simply answered: no. 

Cheap tires you got from 'Stan's Club' or 'Wal-Store' that were on special probably don't have the same tread, work that well in wintery conditions, plus they don't have other special components,meaning you will likely be buying new tires sooner than later. 

Believe it or not, the same goes for websites.  Which leads me to this silly cartoon I found on another internet marketing blog site. 

This is a parody for those of you who don't want to think about it for too long. 

Billboard= your website software

Sara's Gift Shop= your website

<JE
 

Let's play a game. Let me try to guess your password. Is it your name, your significant others name, your dogs name, your anniversary or birth date, the name of your hometown or simply the word 'password'? Any of these followed by a 1 or 0 since most passwords require numbers these days

If its not one of those, let me keep trying...

Is your password all lowercase letters, consecutive numbers like 12345 or letters such as 'qwerty'? Maybe it's a mixture of the two, like 'abc123'.

If I've guessed it by now you might as well know that your passwords are more like billboards posting the phrase "Hack me! Hack me!" on the side of the interstate, and not the small three lane interstate that graces the outskirts of Lincoln NE known as I-80, think more like the freeway in LA.

If you are using simple passwords, you are still posting a small banner on the side of a busy intersection for hackers of all ages, even thirteen year old boys can hack passwords that are all lowercase, and it only takes a few minutes.

Here at Vipa we require seven characters in a password with at least one upper and lowercase letter and a number as well. But, if you really want to be safe (and you should), don't use words from the dictionary, instead use a *passphrase* over 6 characters with multiple symbols (!@#$%^&*) numbers and random upper and lower case letters.

Don't believe me? What do you use passwords for? Do you online bank? Buy things online? You know those are attached to your credit card numbers, don't you? Just ask any of the thousands of people who are hacked each week.

Other things you probably need to change:

• Never duplicate your password for other user names
• Secret Questions are really easy to find out, what is your mother's maiden name? I can find out through an ancestry website, your local newspaper or anywhere else online. Same goes for anniversary dates and the town you were born in.

Moral of the Story: Treat passwords like you would treat your social security number, its private and its assigned only to you no one ever needs to know it, and change them often so no one finds it out.  

Want to test the strength of a password now that I have scared you into believing you are the next hacking victim? Try: https://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/passwords/checker.aspx

Dear Vipa Family, Friends, Partners and Clients,
 

We'd like to take this time to reminisce about the year almost past and inform you on just exactly what we have been doing this year. Although you may not know it, there are actual people that live, play, and work in and around the quaint town of Lincoln Nebraska. These people behind the support calls and numerous emails have been hard at work providing what you know as Vipa Solutions, let's take a moment to see what they have been up to.

We can all guess what Joe has been doing in this last year. Working, and working hard. Did I mention that he travels? It's for work, unless he's going to Vegas. In his spare time Joe loves to watch the city access channel on TV while he peruses the internet. We are sure that he does other things, but nothing has been confirmed. Joe will be travelling for the holidays, lets hope he finds some time to relax and enjoy the view.

There is a new addition to the Vipa Family and it comes in the way of Finley Long, Amanda's now four month old baby girl. Finley loves to sport pink clothing and get her picture taken; she is now 14.6 lbs and is 26" long. And what about Amanda? The new mommy enjoys taking pictures of the incredibly photogenic child and shares stories with all of the office. In her spare time Amanda enlightens and entertains the office with her quips and witty statements and soon plans to teach us all about glass etching and knitting.

Julie Vacek is now Julie Hensel, if you haven't noticed by now. She was married in September and took her honeymoon to Las Vegas. Julie enjoys talking about the even smaller town she is from, Wilber, (whose claim to fame is the Czech festival) and keeping us up to date at the water cooler about what is going on in the world. Julie recently surprised us all at the Vipa Holiday party by taking home the bacon in the way of a very large Best Buy gift card (I'm not talking about size), the new mystery in the office continues to be what she will do with the money. For Christmas Julie really wants a Wii, so lets hope she can practice for next years Vipa Wii Olympics.

Vivian spent her year in a triple role as a workaholic, the Vipa team holistic doctor and seer of the future. She has accomplished much this year but highlights include: buying land in Brazil, moving to a new home in Lincoln, learning how to type on an iPod, and keeping everyone from sickness with her herbal teas, garlic pills and other interesting remedies. For Christmas, Vivian would like a Kindle so she can save the trees. Keep on saving the world Vivian, one tree and/or co-worker at a time!

Dan is now a scientist in the way of Vipa Labs, our newest great idea. While he doesn't test hydrogen atoms when they collide with helium to form some weird compound, he will be surveying the public for new and fresh ideas, keep looking for the debut sometime in February.  Ever the entertainer, Dan keeps us musically inclined through his habitual humming, whistling and singing of songs.  For Christmas Dan would like a hunting knife, we really hope he has gone through a hunter's safety courses and that he doesn't bring his new toy to work. 

Becca started the Creative Center Art Program this year and will come out of it in 2012 as a graphic designer. This woman is rolling in cash, as she won the grand prize at the holiday party last night. It has been rumored around the Culligan that she will be sharing the prize in the form of dinner for all the employees. What does she want for Christmas? She's going with Julie on this one with a Wii. If she was a threat this year at the Olympics, she's got us all beat next year, that is if Santa or her Vipa Holiday winnings fulfill her wish.

By now you are probably wondering who is writing this ridiculous holiday letter and many of the blogs, which would be me, Jenna, I'm the newest addition to the Vipa Team, and your resident Master of Words (MOW) and Resident Psychologist (also known as your lowly and opinionated account services intern). In my spare time I enjoy reading good books, people watching, online shopping and thinking of ways to entertain the masses with my words. For Christmas I would like (hope you are listening, Santa!) for someone to read and comment on this blog and to possibly find an undisclosed but large dollar gift card for IKEA in my stocking.

As a company, this has been one eventful year. Even though financially the world is not as well off as it has been, we at Vipa Solutions have enjoyed a year of peace and prosperity here in Lincoln, Nebraska. Each day brings challenges and surprises in which we discover new and exciting ways to bring our partners and clients quality services.
And that's all of us for the year. We hope that you all have a safe, fun (but not too fun) and happy holiday season.

< JE

Note that some of this material, including this statement may be slightly exaggerated or underestimated. We (meaning this writer and the company) do not take responsibility for these claims. :)