WaltBren Blog: Computer Technology, Web Design and Hosting

Who could have predicted the explosive growth in the popularity for blogs as news or media outlets? Today, more and more people are tuning into their favorite news blog instead of catching the morning or evening news on the TV or radio. While the majority of those receiving news still get it from the major media outlets, more and more media blogs are becoming the go-to source for news.

Short for “web log,” a blog is a specialized site that allows one or more people to share a running log of events and personal insights with online audiences. Basically, a blog is an online journal.

There are millions of blogs currently out there. In fact, there is probably not one topic out there that does not have its own blog. With topics ranging from food to fantasy, home improvement to hot news topics, college sports to celebrities, or baseball to beauty products, blogs are everywhere. Blogs that are particular to political or current-events themes have especially grown in popularity. These blogs, serving as news outlets, have become “soap boxes” for instant mass-audience commentary.

After all, what is media without criticism or commentary? Who does not want to talk about what they see, hear, or read about in the news? The news is a part of our everyday lives – what we see, hear, or read about largely affects us – worldwide, nationwide, and even community wide. With all of the news stories thrown out there, you can hardly expect people to keep quiet about it.

Hence, this is the number one reason for the ever-growing popularity of media blogs as news and commentary outlets.

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Webmasters need to avoid making these common web design mistakes. Website visitors who have a pleasant experience on a website are more likely to trust the website, and as such they are more likely to purchase products from that website. Use the following guide to avoid some of the more common web design mistakes…

1. Legibility

Use standard web fonts and normal font sizes. The font color should be dark enough that the reader does not need to strain to read the text, and not so large that it screams at the reader. Bold text should only be used for emphasis and headings.

2. Graphics

Optimize website graphics so they are not slow to load. Avoid using animated graphics that will distract or annoy website visitors. Graphics should be clean and not pixelated.

3. Links

Links should be easily distinguished from other text on the website. And all links should be tested to ensure they function properly.

4. URLs

When selecting a domain name, choose carefully! A number of factors should be considered, not the least of which is how the domain will "read".

Examples:

www.expertsexchange.com could be a valid website for "Experts Exchange", but the domain name itself could also be read as "Expert Sex Change"

www.penisland.com could be a valid website for "Pen Island", but the domain name itself could also be read as "Penis Land"

5. Features

Benefits sell; Features do not. Drop any "technical" lingo, and simply tell users how they will benefit from using your product or service! I can not say it any more plain than that. You should use web copy that explains how your product or service helps, and in very simple terms.

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How do you know if you have a spyware infestation? Do you know what actions to take once your laptop or PC is infected with spyware, ad-ware or viruses?

It's estimated that around 90 percent of computer systems are infected with some form of spyware, ad-ware or virus. With odds like that, it's very likely that your computer either now has, or will soon manifest signs of a system take-over.

What is Spyware and What Does it Do?

Spyware is generally defined as software that secretly takes advantage of vulnerabilities in a user's computer system to the benefit of an unseen third party. The name spyware comes from the fact that the software often records information about your computer and transmits that information covertly to a remote server or intruder. Spyware can make your laptop or PC slow down, crash, get infected with viruses and worms and even cause hard drive erasure. This is on top of collecting sensitive data like your passwords, logins and banking or credit card details.

Spyware often comes bundled together with Ad-ware and browser hijackers. Ad-ware displays advertisements and hijackers secretly change your browser settings. An example of Ad-ware is a pop-up generator, which opens advertisements in pop-up browser windows, even when you're not searching the Web. Having recently had a severe encounter with Ad-ware on my own laptop, I can personally atest to the disruption, inconvenience and loss of sanity they can cause.

My system suddenly seemed possessed and would pop up cryptic error messages every 10 minutes or so. These messages were not true errors, but they were meant to give me the impression they were. An icon would later appear in my system tray which when clicked, started Internet explorer and opened to an anti-spyware site that offered to fix the problem with their own custom spyware removal software for around $30. I won't tell you the name of the site because I don't want anyone else to possibly get an infection but this company was obviously responsible for the problem in the first place. Of course, I didn't fall for this conspicuous sales ploy and if the same thing ever happens to you, DON'T buy anything from them. These slime-balls should never be allowed to profit from their "hold your system hostage" style tactics. Not only that, but they may be setting you up for another round of infections.

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By Jason Z Bell

When it comes to our computers, speed is of the utmost importance. After all, no one wants a sluggish PC that takes 10-15 minutes to start up and then an additional 5-10 minutes to load selected applications. Admittedly, these small setbacks aren't much, but they do add up after awhile, resulting in quite a bit of wasted time. That fact leads us to this very important question — what are the causes of a sluggish PC?

There are many reasons why a computer may become slow & virtually unresponsive. Some of those reasons can be easily found and fixed, while others will remain hidden and virtually impossible to find and/or fix. Your job is to start with the easiest and most common reasons of PC slowness and then work your way up to the more uncommon causes. Below are just a few of the common causes of a sluggish PC; Read through them and see if they might be affecting you.

Faulty Windows Registry: The registry is basically the governing body of your computer. It knows about everything that goes on and it takes record of anything & everything that happens. The only problem, though, is that the registry is not very picky about what it records, or what it lets in for that matter. Because of this fact, the registry is known to accumulate numerous errors, as well as become victim to a wide array of virus and spyware attacks. These errors & "attacks" can cause severe performance issues for a computer, which tends to get worse when nothing is done.

Too Many Processes: The more processes you have running, the slower the PC responds to commands. This includes both on-screen windows and background applications. Many people think that they have only a few processes running on their computer when, in fact, they actually have dozens — this typically leads to sluggish PC behavior.

Temporary Internet Files: When left unchecked, the temporary internet folder can wreck havoc on a computer system's resources. This folder is full of files that are not needed for the long term and may be disposed of at the earliest convenience; pictures, videos, audio files, etc. The term "temporary" implies that the files will only be needed for a short time and then deleted. Unfortunately though, this process is not automatic — the user must find this file and delete the contents manually.

Viruses: If a PC becomes slow both suddenly and unexpectedly, a virus is the likely culprit. These malicious programs attack from all angles in order to slow up and potentially damage your PC. They do all that they can to initiate harmful processes that will have adverse effects on your computer's behavior as well as it's security. The best way to get rid of these troublesome annoyances is to fend them off with reliable anti-virus software.

There you have it — a few simple reasons why you might have a sluggish PC. It’s now up to you to do something about it!

About the Author: PCTuneUpTools.com has done the research so you don't have to! Our experts have created an online resource with PC Speed Up Tips so you no longer have to ask yourself, "How can I speed up computer applications?" For more information, check out www.PCTuneUpTools.com

By Heather Colman

If you don't work with graphics on a regular basis, you may not know which image format to use for your web projects. It can be a bit confusing. If you're a beginner, take heart, I've seen even experienced webmasters use the wrong formats.

To help you get a better understanding of what to select and when, lets look at some common image formats available.

The BMP Format

The BMP format is Windows' default format which is often referred to as a (bitmap).

For many reasons, I've always felt that Windows' is it's own worst enemy. This couldn't be more true when it comes to it's default image format. BMP images are very large in file size. There's not much you can do to remedy that. What you see, is what you get.

Consequently, this format is not a good candidate for web use. The browser simply can't load a BMP file in an acceptable amount of time. If your favorite photo is in BMP format and you want to add it to your website, use one of the many graphics programs available to convert it to a JPG format first.

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Everyone who understands Internet Marketing will tell you to analyze your web logs… but what does that really mean? What particular things should you pay attention to when analyzing your web logs?

Errors - Page Not Found

How many visitors to your site experience an incorrect or invalid URL? Perhaps you have links on your website to a page that no longer exists. Reviewing the number of "page not found" listings in your web logs will help discern if you have any pages that are not accessible to your visitors. If that is the case, you can then either replace the missing page, or implement a system to automatically redirect the visitor to an appropriate alternate page.

Top Referrers

Where is your traffic coming from? Reviewing the sources of web traffic allows you to assess what advertising campaigns have resulted in increased web traffic.

Top Exit Pages

Where are you losing your traffic? Are there specific pages on the website that bleed traffic? This means that, for whatever reason, website visitors choose to leave your website after viewing a specific page. Evaluating which pages lead visitors to leave your site might mean that the content you are providing is not what the visitor expected. Perhaps small changes can be made to specific webpages to capture traffic and retain the website visitor's interest.

Top Incoming Pages

What pages are bringing visitors into your website? Perhaps you have a webpage buried deep within your site that unexpectedly generates a significant amount of traffic. Perhaps you have an obscure page in your site that contains odd or unusual phrases that perform surprisingly well in the search engines. Can the results be reproduced by using a related phrase on a similar webpage?

Top Search Words & Phrases

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Copyright © 2008 Titus Hoskins

Like most things on the planet, faxing has entered the computer age, can companies who are still tied to the old fax machine remain competitive in our ultra modern world?

It can no longer be denied, there is definitely a new way to fax. One that is paperless, mobile, convenient and a lot simpler than the old fax machine. Faxing has entered the computer age.

Actually the old traditional fax machine's days may just be numbered as more and more individuals and companies switch their faxing services over to Internet or Email Fax; there has been a definite shift in how faxing is done.

For those still living in the Dark Ages, a little explanation may be in order. Internet Fax is simply using the Internet and your email system to do your faxing. Faxes are sent as email attachments, usually in TIF, PDF or JPEG formats, and because your send and receive your faxes via the web, there is no need for the old fax machine or a second phone line. It can all be done from your PC and your online fax service site.

Some well known Internet fax service providers are MyFax, eFax, TrustFax, RingCentral, Rapidfax, Send2fax… as well as lesser-known yet very good services such as Faxage out of Denver and MetroFax out of Seattle.

There is a small service charge for these faxing services that can be a very modest ($20 a year) to around $10-$15 a month - depending on your faxing needs. Keep in mind, international faxing rates will be more expensive.

Why use Internet Fax?

Mainly because online faxing is much more convenient; you can send and receive your faxes anywhere, anytime. It is completely mobile, you can access it wherever you have the Internet and these days that's just about everywhere.

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So you've decided to blog, but aren't sure whether you should host the blog yourself or sign up for a free service like blogger.com. It's a dilemma that many bloggers face. There are pros and cons to both, which makes the decision difficult for many. Neither is perfect, and neither is for everyone. Fortunately, you should be able to make the best decision for you if you are armed with adequate knowledge of both. In this newsletter, we'll go over services like blogger.com, and others, plus software that allows you to host your own blog. We'll also go over the pros and cons of each. After reading this, you will know which is best for you.

Who offers free blog hosting?

Many sites offer free blog hosting. Among them are Forumer, Blogger, BlogEasy, Aeonity, BlogThing, and Blogates. A quick search for free blog on Google reveals many possibilities.

What software can I use to host my own blog?

Like free blog hosting, there are many possibilities for software that makes hosting your own blog easy. Most of them are free to use. These include:

WordPress(the most popular software), Apache, Roller, Blosxom, Geeklog, Textpattern, LifeType.

There is also blog software which you can purchase for use on your site. These include:

Community, Server, Movable, Type, Radio, UserLand.

One negative about using software and hosting your own blog is that the process can often times be complicated. You have to download the software and install it to your server, which doesn't always go easily. It's particularly hard for those who don't have a lot of experience installing things on servers.

Why should I remotely host my blog at a place like Blogger?

Places like Blogger allow you to host your blog there. It's a good option for many people.

The Pros

It's easy to set up and maintain a blog. You don't have to go through the trouble of installing software and configuring it to work on your server. All you have to do is sign up for an account and start posting.   It's friendly for beginning bloggers. Sites that host blogs offer good tutorials on how to make your blog postings, so that even someone who is completely new to the concept of blogging can do it easily.   Most blog hosting sites are completely free to use. There is no need to pay for things like a domain name and hosting.   Monetizing your blog is easy. Rather than having to manually put HTML/Javascript codes on your blog to manually set up things like AdSense and Pay Per Click advertising, you can select an option on most blog hosting sites that does much of the work for you.

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Blogs are now a dime a dozen, and bloggers need to make their blog posts stand out. Developing a blog following is not as easy as it once was. Learn how to write blog posts that attract readers and retain their attention. Follow these guidelines to cultivate readers…

1. Draw Attention

Use titles to attract the reader's attention to the blog post. The title should mimic newspaper headlines and generate interest in the blog post. The title can be controversial, but not to the extent of being misleading. Use action words in the title. Bloggers will often come up with a handful of potential titles for blog posts, and then settle on the title that is best suited to a particular blog post.

2. Deliver

Having a catchy title, but following it with content that fails to deliver, will not endear you to your readers. The blog content must deliver what is promised in the blog title, or readers will unsubscribe and stop reading. When deciding on a blog title, do not stray too far from the content, as the two are intricately related — the title will attract the reader's attention, but the content must then live up to expectations… or the blogger's reputation will suffer.

3. Accurate

Nothing stains a blogger's reputation like inaccurate information, so be sure that your blog posts contain accurate information. Intentionally posting inaccurate or false information will significantly damage a blogger's reputation. But if an error unintentionally or inadvertently occurs in a blog post, be sure to quickly post a retraction or correction, along with an explanation and an apology in order to salvage your good reputation.

4. Relevant & Timely

Blog posts should always be relevant and timely. Hearing about something long after it has occurred will not captivate readers. Blog about information that is occurring in the here and now. If you are going to write something that is no longer timely, be sure to add some sort of twist, or include new or updated information to make it relevant.

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The last thing you want to do is be connected to the Internet or for that matter, networked into another computer that is Internet accessible without any form of computer security in place.  You need to safeguard your computer at all costs to avoid spyware, adware, malware, spamming, viruses, worms trojans and 100's of other things and terminology that deliver havoc to your computer's operating system.  The purpose, intent, directive, mission, modes' operandi (whatever you want to call it) of operating system disruption is multifarious in nature.  It could be criminal intent, malicious, prank, spying, diversionary, bridging, dominating, altering and (once again) a thousand other tactics.  The bottom line is if you don't value your computer's operability you'll be a victim of actionable intent that could result in the loss of a perfectly good computer, your identity, financial data, privacy or all the above and more.

You took the time to learn how to use your computer and hopefully along the way you also learned not only how to keep it optimized but you and it safe as well.  If you think problems only happen to everyone else, you are living in a vacuum!  Your computer is an IP address that has nothing to do with your face, character or honest disposition.  Your computer is electronic in nature and it depends upon you to keep you both functional and secure.  Yes, the computer is brilliant but the one thing that sets you aside from the high speed logic of your computer is that at this point in time; you have the additional intelligence it has not and that is - common sense.  With this in mind, that makes you the doctor and the computer a patient needing care, concern and nurturing.

So doctor, here are some sure signs the patient (your computer) is suffering and needs a good quality course of care.  Another words it's infected with a virus, worm, malware, etc. etc.

1. You computer is running significantly slower, taking much longer to display webpage, takes forever to open a program, application or save a file.

2. You type in a specific URL address and end up somewhere else or, you do nothing and a webpage not requested suddenly appears as if perhaps a hacker has preselected your browsers' destination.

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