Geek Squad Issues First Music Award of the Day; 2005 Civilian's Choice Award Presentation Not To Be Confused With Much Anticipated ''Official'' Music Industry Awards Ceremony

Scheduled to be formally announced at 12 noon (EST) today viaWebcast at GEEKSQUAD.com, the first-ever Civilian's Choice Award willbe conferred upon the amateur music video clip "Students Become a BoyBand," otherwise known as "The Back Dormitory Boys." The students shotto popularity last fall after they broadcast the lip-synched musicvideo clip from their dorm room in Canton, China.

The Civilian's Choice Award, determined by an online popular vote,speaks to avid music fans of a different sort - the online community -and celebrates the unsung rock stars of the Web whose performances, insome cases, have drawn more fans than live rock concerts.

"Voting ended Sunday, Feb. 5, and as the level of online chattersurrounding the possible award results increased, we opted to releasethe name of the winning clip ahead of the scheduled Webcast anddiscourage further misinformation," said Agent McKay.

Five amateur music video clips were culled from submissions fromAgents in Geek Squad Precincts across the United States, and madeavailable to the voting public for 10 days atGEEKSQUAD.COM/CIVILIANSCHOICE. In addition to "Students Become a BoyBand," the nominees included the legendary "Numa Numa Dance;" securitycamera footage of a man rocking out in a Best Buy store in "CaughtDancing in the Aisles;" a trombonist-turned-break-dancer performancein "Trombone at The Apollo;" and a low-tech, basement wannabe-rockerin "Rockin' in the Basement."

Tips for Creating Your Own Online Moment

While Agent McKay commends Web users who get creative and areadventurous with the tools available on the Internet, he alsoencourages caution.

"With so many ways to view and share information online, it can beeasy to get tangled up in tactics that may prove unsafe, non-secure oreven illegal," Agent McKay observed. "Geek Squad is committed tohelping Web users feel comfortable about the technology found on theInternet so they can welcome it into their routines safely andsecurely."

He suggests these tips for helping users "level up" when goingonline:

-- Host links, rather than files. Find a funny movie clip or song parody that you want to share on your Web site? Host a link to the site where you found it rather than downloading the item to your own server. Not only does this save you storage space, but linking to the source shows that you're not claiming ownership of the material or trying to imply that you created it.

-- Work with music from "podsafe" sources. As podcasting grows in popularity, stick with "podsafe" music available through sites like PodSafeAudio.com or music.podshow.com. These royalty-free sites protect podcasters and allow artists to upload their own original works for use by others.

-- Use Trackback judiciously. One of the beauties of the Blogosphere is the ability to connect your blog entries to those of others who may have inspired your writings. The Trackback feature available through Web-hosted blogging sites like Xanga.com or LiveJournal.com - or self-hosted software such as Movable Type and WordPress - creates links between related entries on unrelated blogs. While bloggers may disagree on the finer points of Trackback etiquette, most agree that it's poor form to use the system purely to drive traffic to your own site. If you have a related blog entry, use Trackback. If you just kinda liked what someone else wrote and think that people reading that entry might like to see what you've written too, well, that's not what Trackback is for.

-- Save bandwith for your viewing public. If you're sharing your own photos or images, link them from your main page. This allows people who are interested to view your files, but without dragging down the loading speed of Web page. Be creative with your links - try text or thumbnail versions of your photos.

About Geek Squad

Geek Squad, founded in 1994, is a 24 Hour Computer Support TaskForce. With our focus solely on computer and network support, we offerflat rate pricing for carry-in, on-site and phone-support service oremergency service for everything from setups and installs to upgrades.Whether your laptop is dead, your network is down, your hard drive iscrashed, your printer won't print, or you just need to get onto theInternet, we can help you. We provide our services wherever andwhenever you need them - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the eventof any technological emergency or if you witness any suspiciouscomputer activity, immediately call 1 800 GEEK SQUAD, visitGEEKSQUAD.COM or visit Geek Squad Precincts inside Best Buy storesacross the country.