Taylor Telecom Blog
We all know that Black Friday and Cyber Monday mean big savings and the opportunity to get a jump on holiday shopping — with many deals already available before you carve the turkey. As you’ve probably noticed, many Black Friday deals already started this October and Cyber Monday deals might be available for a whole week.
Does one save you more than the other? Not really. The big advantage of going inside a store is if being in-stock (or selling out online) is a concern.
Black Friday deals do occur over a holiday weekend so that is a plus! Cyber Monday technically kicks off the week when people are back to work. Note that some retailers might continue a sale on Cyber Monday if they sold out in stores with their Black Friday offerings.
Here are some websites and stories with more information to plan your shopping:
- Blackfriday.com – Provides copies of flyers/ads for popular retail stores.
- Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals – According to Cosmopolitan
- Cyber Monday Deals – including early sales and some predictions from Techradar
- Black Friday sales and deals you can shop now according to Good Morning America
To kick off holiday shopping, Amazon recently unveiled new or updated devices including: a Kindle e-reader, Echo smart speakers, Ring and Blink security cameras, Fire TVs and accessories and Eero network hardware.
Kindle Scribe – The 10.2-inch 300 PPI device is the first to have writing capabilities. The basic or premium pen are incredibly precise and magnetically attach to the e-reader. You can read your favorite books and add handwritten sticky notes! You’ll can also write directly on PDF documents or use the device as a notepad. The $340 device ships November 30th.
Amazon Echo Dot (5th generation) - The Echo Dot and Echo Dot with Clock deliver up to two times the bass of the 4th generation. It also has a new temperature sensor. Both devices also have new gesture controls and a new display. The coolest new feature is probably a built-in Eero, which turns your device into a WiFi extender to improve network coverage in your home. Eero built-in will also roll out to older 4th gen Echo Dots and Echo Dots with Clock in the next few months. The $50 devices will be released Oct. 20th.
Blink Wired Floodlight Camera – One of Blink’s most affordable additions, this camera allows you to select motion zones, offers 1080p live video and two-way audio. The Blink Mini Pan Tilt adds a motorized mount to the Blink Mini, offering 360-degree coverage of your space. The Wired Floodlight Camera is available for $99.99 with pre-orders in the coming months. You can pre-order the Pan Tilt with the Blink Mini for $59.99, or just the mount for $29.99.
Read more about Amazon’s new devices here.
Taylor Telecom has held its Annual Meeting for 66 years. As a cooperative, Taylor Telecom belongs to its members. Our business is operated to benefit the members rather than outside investors, so we meet every year and elect representatives to our Board of Directors.
In 2021, due to COVID-19, our Annual Meeting was turned into a drive-through meeting, and it was such a success that we decided to keep it again this year. Last year, we had more than 500 registered customers (members) come through the Annual Meeting.
What to Expect on September 29th
Members arrive at Taylor Telecom Area anytime within the drive-through window (11:30 a.m. to 3:30 pm).
- The first tent you’ll see is registration. Please bring your mailed invitation with you so we can scan the barcode (or we can look you up if you’ve forgotten the invite). At the registration tent, everyone receives a voter's card.
- The next station is the gift tent where everyone gets a gift bag with some nice giveaways. This is also where members receive the Manager’s report about the past year and the state of the cooperative.
- Right beyond the gifts, you’ll see the grand prizes on display, such as a smart TV, a Blackstone griddle, a DeWalt toolkit, and more. At this tent, members drop the perforated portion from their invitation that has their information. This is your entry to win a grand prize; we’ll do the drawing the next day on Facebook live.
- The member fills out the voter’s card to select a director for our Board of Directors and takes it to the voting tent to process it. Taylor will count the votes after the Annual Meeting and let our members know the election results.
- Finally – and importantly! – cars will reach the final tent - the food This year we have delicious to-go lunches provided by The Shed.
About the Taylor Telecom Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is very important – it manages the business of the cooperative. This year, we wanted to single out and recognize Joreta Smith who has served on the Board of Directors since 1994 and is retiring. A huge thanks to her for her many years of service.
We can’t wait to see you at the 66th Annual Meeting!
The Abilene Reporter News 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards are out -- and Taylor Telecom is honored to be named a Winner in the Internet/Satellite/Cable Provider category.
According to the Abilene Reporter News, these “Best of the Best” awards “celebrate and recognize the best our community has to offer.” The organization collects nominations and then readers vote in May for the top businesses in each category.
Taylor Telecom has won other awards for our service, but there is something extra special about being designated the best of the best by the people who use our internet service and live in our community. Now more than ever, the residents of this area rely on the internet as part of their everyday life – for work, for school, for communicating, for entertainment, for health – and we are proud to connect this community to what matters most to them.
Since 1951, when Taylor Telecom (then Taylor Telephone Cooperative, Inc.) was founded, our mission has been to provide high-quality, essential telecommunications services that enhance the quality of life and economic well-being of our customers and the communities we serve. Though we’ve evolved over the years from telephone service to high-speed fiber internet, we still adhere to that mission.
At Taylor Telecom, we want to be known for our reliable and fast service, but most important to us is to be a local company that you can depend on, so we thank you for your trust. We appreciate this award.
How many passwords do you think you have? Email, social media, banks, medical records, streaming services… they all pile up. One recent study showed we have on average 100 passwords! With that many rolling around, we all have some amount of cyber risk which includes getting an account hacked or our identity stolen. So how do we stay protected?
Use A Strong Password - While it is tempting to take the lazy approach and use names, birthdays, pets, or locations - don’t use them! Strong passwords contain a random combination of characters, symbols, or words, and some experts suggest using 16 characters or more.
Don’t Repeat Your Passwords - Using the same passwords for multiple accounts—we’ve all done it. Maybe you came up with two or three that are easy to remember but hard to guess. That may simplify your logons, but if you use the same password on multiple accounts and you are compromised, a cybercriminal will likely go from accessing one of your accounts to many of your accounts.
Data Breaches - “70% of people who had their passwords exposed in 2021 or in earlier years were still using the same credential pairs [combination of usernames and passwords].” Don’t be like them! If your logon information is exposed in a data breach, make sure to change your passwords and your usernames.
How Do I Know If I’ve Been Exposed? Sometimes, the company that experiences a data breach will notify you that your data has been compromised, so don’t ignore those notifications. Additionally, you can check Google’s Password Checkup, Mozilla's Firefox Monitor, or Have I Been Pwned.
Use Multi-Factor Authentication - Multi-factor authentication provides more than just one layer of security. Most often, it entails entering your password plus another step such as entering a text code to prove that it’s you. Set up this extra layer wherever you can.
What Else Can I Do? Taylor Telecom offers free internet security. All you need to do is download the Taylor Telecom app and register your router. Need help with that process? Watch our video on YouTube or call us at 325-846-4111.
For more tips, read Taylor Telecom’s blog on Staying Safe Online.
Sources:
https://www.consumerreports.org/digital-security/tips-for-better-passwords-a3656305306/
https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/keep-your-passwords-strong-and-secure-with-these-9-rules/