On May 29th, 2017, the MVTV Wireless Office will be closed. We take this time to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our nations’ freedom.
In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sincerely,
MVTV Wireless Internet Service
‘Connecting Rural Minnesota’
MVTV Wireless has done the hard work for you. Below we have listed several local flower and gift shops within Central and Southern Minnesota.
Truman Flowers & Gifts The Flower Basket Paws Floral
First Floral Hallmark Bugs & Flowers Late Bloomers
Trimont Greenhouse and Floral Sherburn Nursery & Floral
Petals & Balloons On Main A New Leaf Kelmans Floral
Avas Flowers Heather Floral Mary’s Flowers
Mountain Lake Floral Angels & Ivy Drummers Garden Center & Floral
Blossom Town Granite Floral Crow River Floral & Gifts
‘Connecting Rural Minnesota’
May 13th Fishing Opener ~Courtesy of MVTV Wireless’ Marketing Intern and Guest Blogger, Wyatt Hatch.
MVTV Wireless’ Marketing Intern and Guest Blogger, Wyatt Hatch.
The ice has been off the lakes for a couple of months, the temperature is beginning to be more consistent, and the 2017 fishing opener is here. If you are hitting the waters this weekend, here are some helpful tips and things to keep in mind.
First, stay safe. Be sure to check your trailer lights before hauling your boat. Accidents may occur if following vehicles can’t see your turning signals and break lights. Also, make sure you have proper safety equipment in your boat like a fire extinguisher, a whistle, and adequate life jackets.
This weekend fisherman will be able to start targeting three different species of fish. Northern pike, walleye, and bass. For the first time, this season, Minnesota is offering a catch and release season for bass starting the same weekend as northern pike and walleye. You will not be able to keep bass for another two weeks except for the northeast part of the state.
With ideal spawning temperatures at 60-70 degrees look for bass spawning shallow. Since bass will be sitting on nest they will be aggressive trying to protect their nests. Try pitching soft plastics and spinners to trigger a bite.
Northern pike are often the first species to spawn because their ideal spawning temperature is around 40-45 degrees. They should be done spawning by now, so look for them trolling the edges of weed lines in the mid shallows looking for small game fish. Trolling these weed lines with spoons or shallowing running crankbaits is an effective and efficient way to pick up fish.
Where to find the big ones!
Walleyes will be just getting done spawning since there ideal spawning temperature is around 45-50 degrees. You will expect to find walleyes in mid depths off points and rock beds. A couple simple and go to techniques to pick up these fish are pitching jig heads tipped with crawlers, fatheads, or leeches and trolling or drifting with lindy rigs tipped with the same type of bait.
I hope you enjoyed reading this article and picked up a tip or two to help put some fish in your boat. Have fun and be safe this weekend everyone.
MVTV Wireless Internet Service
‘Connecting Rural Minnesota’
What is the Google Docs Virus? According to Fortune.com Tech Writer, Jeff John Roberts,
A sinister email is making the rounds in which the sender—someone you know, in some cases—invites you to click on a Google Docs link.
The email, of course, isn’t actually from who it says it’s from, but is instead a phishing email intended to trick you into clicking a link.
The offending email and attached file is usually a Google Doc, but PDFs have also been found.
According to Time Magazine Tech Writer, Aric Jenkins,
This scam is more convincing than most — the email takes users who click on the file to a legitimate Google sign-in screen to grant permissions, so it’s no surprise to see widespread reports of the hacking across social media platforms like Twitter.
Because the scam appears to target everyone in the victim’s address book, it didn’t take long before more reports from people outside of the media world began to flood in.
The hacker will gain access to your entire Gmail account. They will in turn spam or infect EVERYONE you’ve ever emailed. It may also contain a program that will be harmful to your device.
If you did click on the nasty link, change you passwords immediately. Then, go to your Google account settings here, which will allow you to revoke access to apps—including the fake Google Docs one.
If you are in need of technical help, please visit our Local Area Computer Technicians site.
Fortune has contacted Google to ask about the nature of the scam, and who may be behind it. The company has now responded with this statement:
“We have taken action to protect users against an email impersonating Google Docs, and have disabled offending accounts. We’ve removed the fake pages, pushed updates through Safe Browsing, and our abuse team is working to prevent this kind of spoofing from happening again. We encourage users to report phishing emails in Gmail.”
Here is Google’s follow-up statement:
“We realize people are concerned about their Google accounts, and we’re now able to give a fuller explanation after further investigation. We have taken action to protect users against an email spam campaign impersonating Google Docs, which affected fewer than 0.1% of Gmail users. We protected users from this attack through a combination of automatic and manual actions, including removing the fake pages and applications, and pushing updates through Safe Browsing, Gmail, and other anti-abuse systems. We were able to stop the campaign within approximately one hour. While contact information was accessed and used by the campaign, our investigations show that no other data was exposed. There’s no further action users need to take regarding this event; users who want to review third party apps connected to their account can visit Google Security Checkup.”
For more information about identifying potential harmful links, visit our How to tell if a link is safe to click on… blog which can also be found under Popular Links at http://www.mvtvwireless.com/
We are here to help!
MVTV Wireless Internet Service
‘Connecting Rural Minnesota’
This Arbor Day take a few minutes to plant a tree or care for trees in your community. Here is a story of a young man years ago that took the time to plant a few seedlings. It is just amazing what one person can do just over a few short years, makes me wonder what can be done if we all took a few minutes just one day a year.
One man plants a forest larger than central park
In 1979, a 16 year-old Indian teenager named Jadav “Molai” Payeng planted twenty bamboo seedlings on a sandbar of the a Brahmaputra river in India. Molai was working as part of a reforestation project which lasted five years. Molai, however, chose to stay after the completion of the project and continued to plant and tend hundreds of trees over the course of the following decades. There is now a forest covering 1,360 acres were previously there was none. The forest has been named “Molai Forest” in honor of the man. It is the home to tiger, rhinoceros, apes, deer, and many birds. A herd of elephants also visits the forest every year and birth their calves there.
You don’t have to be a tree-hugger to appreciate trees or to celebrate Arbor Day this Friday. They shade us from the sun, feed us fruit and nuts, fill our lungs with oxygen, increase the value of our homes and so much more. We encourage you to take a few moments and visit the National Arbor Day Foundation website. Arbor Day is April 28, 2017.
Let’s get together and celebrate the importance of trees. ~ Arbor Day Foundation
Happy Arbor Day!
‘Connecting Rural Minnesota’
Earth Day is our annual reminder to slow down and appreciate the bounty of the earth. No matter what the weather is on April 22nd, get out and enjoy the day.
Earth Day is a great day to clean up trash and plant a tree but what else can we do the rest of the year? Here are some great ideas to get you started thinking about the earth all year round. Most of the ideas are minor but help in such a big way… maybe not tomorrow but years from now it will make a huge impact.
Plant a tree in your community.
What you do in your community can have a big impact on the world. Trees clean the air and provide oxygen. They help us prevent soil erosion and can conserve energy.
Support farmers and their families.
By giving a bag of fertilizer, for instance, you are helping farmers nourish soil, reap better harvests and earn more income.
Attend a farmers’ market.
These stands offer locally grown produce that’s nearly as fresh as picking it yourself. You are supporting your neighbors. Find a farmers’ market near you.
Support fair trade.
This Earth Day you may want to get some dirt between your fingers and plant.
Be the change.
Join in making a difference this Earth Day.
Connect on social media and share.
You can follow #OurEarthOurFuture for climate change related stories.
Have fun with the kids on Earth Day and get them involved at a young age. Here are some great activities to do with the kids on Earth Day!
Earth Day Crafts and Activities
‘Connecting Rural Minnesota’
Ever clicked on a link within an email and suddenly your device is super slow or you have a whole new home page? You’ve just been infected with Malware!
Good news is there are several tools available for checking links BEFORE you click on them. But first, here are a few definitions to make your research easier.
Link – an abbreviation of hyperlink: is the core concept/technology that allows the web to operate. A hyperlink connects one webpage to either; another document (webpage or file), or
a different part of the same document. A hyperlink is typically signified by an underline.
Shortened Link – a link that has been shortened using converter software such as timyurl or bitly. This is a popular choices for anyone trying to fit a link into the confines of a Twitter post. Unfortunately, link shortening is also a method used by malware distributors and phishers to conceal the true destinations of their links.
URL – which stands for Uniform Resource Locator: an address that identifies a particular file on the Internet, usually consisting of the protocol, as http, followed by the domain name.
HTTP – which stands for The Hypertext Transfer Protocol: is the set of rules for transferring files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web. As soon as a Web user opens their Web browser, the user is indirectly making use of HTTP. Your Web browser is an HTTP client, sending requests to server machines. When the browser user enters file requests by either “opening” a Web file (typing in a Uniform Resource Locator or URL) or clicking on a hypertext link, the browser builds an HTTP request and sends it to the Internet Protocol address (IP address) indicated by the URL.
HTTPS – which stands for Hypertext Transport Protocol Secure: is the same thing as HTTP, but uses a secure socket layer (SSL) for security purposes. Some examples of sites that use HTTPS include banking and investment websites, e-commerce websites, and most websites that require you to log in. If the Web address starts with https://, you know you are accessing a secure website. Most browsers will also display a lock icon somewhere along the edge of the window to indicate the website you are currently visiting is secure. You can click the lock icon to view the secure certificate that authenticates the website.
But make no mistake, the best defense is a good offense. An up-to-date Antivirus program will filter out malicious content before it event hits your inbox.
Lifewire’s reporter, Andy O’Donnell reminds us…
Unless you are expecting the email, DO NOT click on the attachment!
If your antimalware / antivirus software doesn’t have the latest virus definitions, it’s not going to be able to catch the latest threats in the wild that might infect your machine. Make sure your software is set to auto update on a regular basis and check the date of its last update to ensure that updates are actually taking place.
If you need help choosing/purchasing an Antivirus software or need help with an infected device, visit the MVTV Wireless Local Area Computer Technicians website for a list of trusted professionals in your area.
Happy and SAFE browsing!
MVTV Wireless Internet Service
‘Connecting Rural Minnesota’
Click here for Minnesota Dept Of Revenue Forms
It makes sense that it’s pushed from the 15th, which is a Saturday this year. But why not then the following Monday?
on Monday, the District of Columbia celebrates Emancipation Day, which is normally April 16, but that’s a Sunday. Emancipation Day affects taxes the same way federal holidays do. Therefore, the tax deadline is pushed out to the following Tuesday, April 18, giving taxpayers three extra days to file their returns. ~ https://www.thebalance.com/why-is-april-17-tax-day-3306324
If you are getting a refund, the extended deadline may not be that big of a deal. Chances are, you’ve already filed. But for the estimated 20% of us that end up owing Uncle Sam, the few extra days allow procrastinators the weekend to stew in their misery just a bit longer.
Originally, the due date was March 1st.
The U.S. had a federal income tax for about a decade around the Civil War. It came back for good with the Revenue Act of 1913. At that time, the deadline was set for March 1.
According to WCCO’s Good Question series and reported by Heather Brown:
“Lawmakers offered no explanation for that date, but it seems likely that it was selected to give taxpayers adequate time to gather materials and complete their returns following the end of the tax (and calendar) year,” writes Joseph Thorndike, a tax historian with Tax Analysts. ~ http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2017/04/12/good-question-tax-day/
It seems as though we all needed a bit more time…
‘In 1918, Congress changed the deadline to March 15. Lawmakers changed it again in 1954 to April 15.
Thorndike says lawmakers thought Americans needed extra time to deal with the extra complexity and paperwork. It was also an opportunity for the IRS to spread out its workload over a longer period of time. ~ WCCO Reporter, Heather Brown
According to TheBalance.com, a financial resources portal:
(originally) the federal government derived its revenue from tariffs on imports and exports. That hurt the middle class the most since they spend more of their income on these day-to-day necessities.
Congress created the income tax because it wanted to tax everyone more fairly. It had tried a national income tax in 1894. But it was unconstitutional because all federal taxes were based on state population at that time. The only solution was to amend the Constitution, and the 16th Amendment did just that. Congress gave everyone a year plus six weeks as the first deadline.
Only 358,000 Americans filed returns, which was fewer than 0.4 percent of the population.
The Revenue Act of 1918 moved the tax deadline back to March 15. It imposed a 77 percent tax on the highest income to raise money for the U.S. involvement in World War I. It also sought to replace tariffs, because World War I severely disrupted trade, significantly lowering the federal government’s revenue.
The income tax was so successful that the Internal Revenue Service couldn’t keep up. It hadn’t finished auditing 1916 returns by the time taxes were due in 1919. For more, see History of the U.S. Income Tax.
The Depression lowered incomes so significantly that people stopped paying taxes. Congress raised rates and cut exemptions to fund World War II. It became a patriotic duty to pay taxes. Irving Berlin wrote songs and the IRS made posters reminding people to pay. The Treasury Department began withholding tax payments from workers’ paychecks. The W-2 was born. (Source: “Never a Convenient Time for Childbirth, Death, or…” Bloomberg, April 11, 2016.)
In 1954, President Eisenhower asked Congress to reform the tax code. Congress added deductions and credits. ~ https://www.thebalance.com/why-is-april-17-tax-day-3306324
So… for those of you that have already files, we wish you a wonderful, relaxing weekend. For those of you who have yet to file, nose to the grind stone!
MVTV Wireless Internet Service
‘Connecting Rural Minnesota’
#incometax
Spring has sprung and so have the City Wide and State Wide Garage Sales! Below is a list of local garage sales.
Feel free to print the list to keep at your finger tips – Garage Sales
10 Tips to a Successful Garage Sale
Things You Should Never Buy at a Garage Sale
For the full Minnesota Garage Sale List check out Thrifty Minnesotan’s. Make sure to follow your local area Garage Sale sites on Facebook.
‘Connecting Rural Minnesota’
With April showers come May flowers. …And thunderstorms! This time of year severe weather could hit at any given time. Sometimes, a few minutes notice is all it takes to save lives! As we enter into the severe weather season, lets look at some Minnesota tornado statistics.
Tornadoes have occurred in March in the past, but are rare. Below is some interesting tornado statistics for the month of March.
- Before today, only 20 March tornadoes have occurred in Minnesota during the modern era (since 1950).
- The earliest known March tornado in MN was 3-18-1968 about 10 miles SE of St. James in Watonwan County. It was an F2.
- 14 of the 20 MN March tornadoes were on 3-29-98. Comfrey, St. Peter, Le Center, and Lonsdale were all hit in addition to nearby rural areas. A terrible day with 2 deaths.
- The most recent march tornado in MN before today was 3-19-2012 near Elysian. Rated EF-0. On ground 6.5 in Waseca & Le Sueur Counties.
- At the time the tornado warning was released, the same county was also under a blizzard warning.
Tornado Totals and Averages by Month (1950 – 2010) Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Total Totals 19 71 244 605 415 195 76 27 1 1653 Average 0.3 1.2 4.0 9.9 6.8 3.2 1.2 0.4 0.02 27 Percent 1 4 15 37 25 12 4 2 0 100
Mother Nature does not care if it’s March or July we need to be ready for the unexpected. Learn how to be severe weather ready by following the upcoming information.
CodeRED Community Notifications Save Lives
The national Emergency Communications Network offers FREE and instant severe weather alerts. They make it very easy to register.
It really is that easy! Dont’ forget the mobile app…
CodeRED phone app
Then, be a good neighbor. Check with those that are elderly or may not be as connected as you are. Let them know about the many ways to receive ECN CodeRED instant alerts.
CodeRED also assists in time of emergencies not related to severe weather. It provides evacuation notices, bio-terrorism alerts, boil water notices, and missing child reports. CodeRED alert system is a tool that can help pull the community together in time of need. Check out the ECN Success Stories page.
MVTV Wireless wishes you a fun AND SAFE summer of 2017!
Internet Service Provider
‘Connecting Rural Minnesota’
