HAL-PC Announcements

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Warning: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone. in /opt/local/share/httpd/htdocs/hal-pc.org/announcements.php on line 148
Friday, August 29, 2014

Scheduled Maintenance Outage 08/31/2014

We will have a Scheduled Maintenance Outage on Sunday Morning August 31st. System maintenance will be performed from 4:00am to 4:30am.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Labor Day 9/1/2014

HALNet offices will be closed in observance of Labor Day Monday September 1st, 2014. Voicemail messages will be monitored for any emergency situations.

HALNet New Address

There are still people coming by the old office. Our new address is:

HALNet
5959 Westheimer Rd.
Suite 105
Houston, TX 77057

Also, please make checks out to HALNet, not HAL-PC.

Major Outage Update Resolution 11:30PM 08/21/2014

The remaining original users who were down should be back up. AT&T tested and restored them on their router and should be working now. If you still have an issue with your DSL service, reboot your DSL modem by powering it off for 30 seconds. If that doesn't work, power everything off for 5 minutes (DSL Modem, Router and Computer) and then bring it back up. If you think you were missed please let us know and we will get you restored also. Thank you for your patience.

Major Outage Update 7:45PM 08/21/2014

The 99% that were down since yesterday look to be working fine after the hardware outage. If you are still not working since yesterday, reboot your DSL modem by powering it off for 30 seconds. If that doesn't work, power everything off for 5 minutes (DSL Modem, Router and Computer) and then bring it back up. Now that the OC3 circuit is clean, we can continue troubleshooting the originals that were down since this helps solve their problem further. The ticket has been escalated with AT&T to solve the issue finally. We will update you with results.

Major Outage Update 3:45PM 08/21/2014

The major emergency hardware outage that happened since yesterday that affected many DSL users looks to be functional now. 99% of users should be back up if you were down since it happened yesterday. If you are still not working since yesterday, reboot your DSL modem by powering it off for 30 seconds. The original people down before the outage yesterday, we are still troubleshooting now to bring you back up.

Major Carrier Outage

There is a Major Carrier outage affecting many DSL customers. AT&T has replaced hardware and testing it out to bring the circuit back up as of 12:30PM 08/21/2014. Will update status soon as more information becomes available. Thank you for your patience.

HALNet UPDATE 2

We have pledged to try to keep you informed about what is occurring with HALNet, so here is the latest.

Today we sent a draft Memorandum of Understanding to several vendors. A key phrase in this MoU is "The objective of HAL is the continued operation of HAL-Net in a manner that is transparent to the HAL-Net user and the user is unaffected by a transition of control from HAL to the control of ___."

It is our hope that the vendors accept HAL's MoU with minimal changes and we can start moving your account next week.

HAL-PC BOARD OF DIRECTORS

JUNE GENERAL MEETING AGENDA CHANGE

The speaker scheduled for HAL-PCs 2014 Annual June General Meetng on Saturday, June 21, 2014 has had to cancel. He unexpectedly has to work on a special project. He expressed his disappointment in not being able to interact with HAL-PC members.

The General Meeting will start as scheduled at 1:00 p.m.

UPDATE TO MEMBERS SURPLUS SALE

HAL-PC Headquarters has been conducting this surplus sale of miscellaneous items that HAL-PC members may want to buy. All items are useable and all equipment has been tested and is in working order.

Coming to the 2014 Annual June General Meeting gives you the opportunity to see and buy the items not only listed on the HAL-PC SALE LIST located at the upper right of the HAL-PC home page below the ''HAL-PC Announcement area,'' but also many additional items not added to the list. These additional items include computers, servers, printers, chairs, etc.

The sale items will be on tables located at the back of SIG room B where the BOD election will also be held. Someone will be available there to receive payments and process sales ticket(s) you fill out. Cash is preferable. Master Card, Visa, or a check is acceptable.

SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OUTAGE

On Wednesday, June 11, 2014, system maintenance will be performed from 2:00AM to 2:30AM.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

MEMBERS SURPLUS SALE

HAL-PC Headquarters has been conducting this surplus sale of miscellaneous items that HAL-PC members may want to buy. All items are useable and all equipment has been tested and is in working order.

Coming to the 2014 Annual June General Meeting gives you the opportunity to see and buy the items listed on the HAL-PC SALE LIST located at the upper right of the HAL-PC home page below the â€œHAL-PC Announcement area.â€ All items that remain unsold will be offered for public purchase the week or so following the meeting.

The sale items will be on tables located at the back of the SIG room where the General Meeting is being held. Two HAL-PC members will be available there to receive payments and process sales ticket(s) you fill out. Cash is preferable. Master Card, Visa, or a check is acceptable.

NEW SCAM ALERT

This ALERT is to let you know you may receive a phone call where the caller says they are calling from Microsoft because your computer is showing an error. They ask you to go to your computer to give them your code to access your computer.

Hang up your phone immediately. If you follow their instructions, they now have control of your computer.

SURPLUS SALE FOR MEMBERS

As you know, HAL-PC is moving. We are disposing of surplus equipment so we do not have to move it.

We are identifying miscellaneous items that HAL-PC members may want to buy. HAL-PC will shortly begin a sale of these items to its members All sales will be first come, as is, and final.

As items are identified and priced, they will be placed in the HAL-PC SALE LIST located at the upper right of the HAL-PC web home page below the "HAL-PC Announcement area." Click to see the list of items. If a more detailed description is available, "read more..." will be present and may be clicked. After reading the detailed description, click on "Return to the list of sale items." Click on X when you have finished.

If you are interested in buying an item or items, call 713-993-3300. Someone at the Front Desk will assist you. Please identify yourself as a member and what you wish to purchase by providing the name and short description of the item(s). If you will be purchasing by credit card and supply the needed card information, the item will be marked SOLD online. Come and pick it up within several days. If you are not paying by credit card, bring the cash or check to Headquarters and pick up the item(s) upon payment. The item(s) will then be marked SOLD online. Price listed does not include tax.

NEW BOARD MEMBER AND FACILITY UPDATE

NEW BOARD MEMBER--We are pleased to announce the election of Jeff Watson to the Board of Directors to fill a vacancy on the Board. His election was at the meeting of the Board on March 25, 2014. His volunteering his time and effort to HAL-PC in this special capacity is much appreciated.

FACILITY UPDATE--We have asked contractors to provide preliminary pricing for building out the space to our specifications for all prospective locations.

HAL-PC PLANNING TO MOVE

The Houston Area League of PC Users, Inc. (HAL-PC) is planning to move.

There is a rumor that we are 'out of business' but, in fact, we are planning to expand our scope of service to meet the changing technical environment.

We are moving when we locate a new facility, negotiate a contract, build-out the space to HAL-PCs specifications, and move-in. We had hoped this would be accomplished by the first of 2014 but, as it turns out, has taken longer than one would have hoped. Until we have completed all the listed steps, we will be at the same address with the same phone number.

NEW LOCATION FOR ANNOUNCEMENTS

The home page will contain the latest announcement. All announcements are archived and can be read by clicking at the top right portion of the home page.