Yahoo CEO: "Google Is Going To Have A Problem"

It's no secret that Google has, on a very steady basis, dominated its competition and managed to return big profits. And Carol Bartz may be in no position to question the company's methods. But Yahoo's CEO nonetheless chose to point out a potential weakness this week, and she may be on the right track.

Does Carol Bartz have enough credibility to criticize Google? Tell us what you think.

Bartz told Jonathan Fildes, "Google is going to have a problem because Google is only known for search. It is only half our business; it's 99.9% of their business. They've got to find other things to do."

Also, in terms of how Google will be judged as it attempts to find those other things, Bartz observed, "Google has to grow a company the size of Yahoo every year to be interesting."

The 99.9 percent figure is obviously an exaggeration. Still, if you figure that Google has a market cap of around $169 billion and Yahoo's market cap is closer to $24 billion, the second remark doesn't seem too inaccurate.

So as Bartz indicated, that puts a lot of pressure on Google to succeed at something other than search. Whether that something's Android, Google Apps, the TV Ads program, or a different product doesn't matter, but in this light, Yahoo's rather scattered network of properties starts to look a little more attractive.

UPDATE: A regulatory filing has revealed that Carol Bartz received $47.2 million in compensation for her work in 2009, which is far more than either Eric Schmidt or Steve Ballmer collected.

Source:

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/04/29/yahoo-ceo-google-is-going-to-have-a-problem

Redesign Your Web. Free Iphone, Custom Website Design

Adobe 'Moving Forward' Without Apple

All the back-and-forth on the Flash issue is getting a little ridiculous. Whichever side you happen to support in the issue, what really matters is giving customers what they want. That's what Adobe says it is going to do -- with or without Apple.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs penned a missive yesterday on Flash and why Apple doesn't support it in devices such as the iPhone and iPad. Later, Adobe's CEO fired back via an interview conducted by the Wall Street Journal. Thursday night, Adobe's CTO published his own thoughts. Here's what Kevin Lynch had to say:

Clearly, a lot of people are passionate about both Apple and Adobe and our technologies. We feel confident that were Apple and Adobe to work together as we are with a number of other partners, we could provide a terrific experience with Flash on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

We have already decided to shift our focus away from Apple devices for both Flash Player and AIR. We are working to bring Flash Player and AIR to all the other major participants in the mobile ecosystem, including Google, RIM, Palm (soon to be HP), Microsoft, Nokia and others.

We look forward to delivering Flash Player 10.1 for Android smartphones as a public preview at Google I/O in May, and then a general release in June.

If you read through Jobs' thoughts, and then compare them to Adobe's it is clear that business and technology are the two issues at hand. Each company has its own set of beliefs about Flash, and they can't come to terms on how to work together. This happens all the time. Technology and business will always clash -- and some times that comes at the expense of the end user (in this case, iPhone and iPad users).

Apple's desire to control its iPhone business and the overall experience surrounding iPhone OS devices is being over-vilified in my opinion. The notions of openness, competition, and the greater good can be debated all day long. In case anyone forget, Apple is a for-profit company. If people have a problem with its business model and products, they have plenty of choice in the market.

For More Read....

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/adobe_moving_fo.html;jsessionid=VGZKKH2WKBRE5QE1GHOSKH4ATMY32JVN

Website Redesign, Professional Web Design

Microsoft Credits Windows 7 for Record Earnings

Exceptionally strong sales of Windows 7 helped drive Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to another record quarterly performance, company executives said today.

For the third quarter of Microsoft's fiscal 2010, ending March 31, the company turned in revenues of $14.50 billion, up 6 percent from the same period a year ago, while earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter came in at $0.45, a gain of 36 percent.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial in advance of the announcement had expected Microsoft to turn in revenues of $14.38 billion and EPS of $0.42 for the quarter.

Microsoft cited operating income for the quarter of $5.17 billion, and net income of $4.01 billion -- increases of 17 percent and 35 percent, respectively, over the third fiscal quarter of 2009.

Adjusting for $300 million in deferred revenues due to the company's "tech guarantee" program reserves for pre-sales of Office 2010, Microsoft's revenue for the quarter came in at $14.81 billion, an increase of 8 percent overall.

In advance of Microsoft's announcement, analysts expected to see the company's earnings again buoyed by strong sales of Windows 7 to consumers -- and possibly the early signs of adoption of the new system by enterprise customers.

That proved to be the case with consumer sales of Windows 7 -- both on new PCs and as packages of the new system.

"More than 10 percent of all PCs worldwide are running Windows 7 today, making Windows 7 by far the fastest-selling operating system in history," the company said in a statement.

A similar story may be in the works for enterprise customers, with Microsoft suggesting that traction in that market -- which typically takes far longer than in the consumer space -- is ratcheting up.

"Business customers are beginning to refresh their desktops and the momentum of Windows 7 continues to be strong," Kevin Turner, Microsoft's chief operating officer, said in a statement.

Read the full story at Datamation:

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/features/article.php/3878191/Microsoft-Credits-Windows-7-for-Record-Earnings.htm

Professional Web Design,Redesign Your Web

Businesses Should Know About These New Local Features from Google

Facebook made some of the biggest news of the week with the anouncements from its developer conference, as far as online business goes, but Google had some significant news about local search that may have taken a backseat, but should not be ignored.

The Google Local Business Center is now called Google Places, as the company aims to rebrand the product around the Place Pages it introduced last fall. Place Pages are the pages for business listings that are found in Google local searches. They contain relevant information about a business from various places on the web, such as reviews and images, as well as other info the business puts up after claiming their listing.

Is Google's rebranded local business center a step in the right direction? Tell us what you think.

Google Places, the company says, is "just the beginning of what’s to come from our efforts to make Google more local."

New features that come along with the name change include:

1. Service areas - Businesses who travel can show the geographic areas that they cover. Those without a storefront can make their address private.

2. Advertising with Tags - For 25 bucks a month, businesses (in certain cities) can use Tags to highlight their listings on Google.com and Google Maps. These are yellow markers that let you promote important aspects of your business. They can be used for thins like coupons, photos, and other select features. They don’t affect the rank of search results, but they give customers more information and may prove beneficial. You can expect Google to increase the number of cities where this option is available.

3. Business photo shoots - Businesses (again, in certain cities) can request a free photo shoot from Google to have the interior of their business photographed and added to their Place Page. We've seen Google do this in the past. Now we know what they're doing (learn more here). You can upload your own photos as well.

For More Read....

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/04/20/google-local-business-center-now-google-places

Cooking Games, Professional Web Design, Free Iphone

iPad buyers targeted by Windows malware

As if to prove the Apple iPad's crossover appeal to PC users, spammers have launched a malware campaign to reel them in using the promise of extras for the new device.

According to BitDefender, the spam campaign invites its would-be victims to download an updated version of iTunes with the promise of a preliminary update that will give prospective iPad users "best performance, newer features, and security."

[ Read Galen Gruman's report on iPad security and IT's foolish double standard. | Stay ahead of advances in mobile technology with InfoWorld's Mobile Edge blog and Mobilize newsletter. | Get the best iPhone and iPad apps for pros with our business iPhone apps finder. ]

Following the embedded link leads to a piece of malware identified by the company as Backdoor.Bifrose.AADY, a data stealer which sets out to steal software keys and serial numbers from installed programs as well as login passwords for email, online storage accounts and IM services.

The iPad has, infamously, not even been launched in the U.K. even though U.S. users have had access to the new computer for some days. U.K. users are also being asked to pay a premium. Ironically, the malware won't affect Apple's Mac users at all and is PC only.

Bitdefender announced a Mac antivirus product a week ago while admitting that Mac malware is not exactly a common issue. It looks as if even Mac products can now be used to attack PC users.

Source:

http://www.infoworld.com/d/security-central/ipad-buyers-targeted-windows-malware-948

Website Redesign, Professional Web Design, Free Iphone

The Secret of Search Engine Optimization

Believe it or not, search engine optimization (SEO) is an important key to gaining more traffic and visitors to your website. Resorting to phone directories, dictionaries or newspapers for a quest for information is become obsolete. Nowadays, whenever people are trying to find out something, you can be sure that there is only one place that they head to. Yes, and that is search engines. How would you love to improve your business’s presence and awareness? Then you should do your utmost to make sure that your website is found on search engines.

That is the aim and objectives of search engine optimization. Basically, search engine optimization was designed to help you incorporate your website to an improved or higher ranking position within numerous search engines. If your website can grab a space on the first page of Google, and eventually up to the number one spot on the list or results; you will notice increase in traffic to your website at an alarming rate. This leads to a better business prospect and new customer than before.

So how can you use search engine optimization for the better? The concept behind SEO is simple yet, there are many brainstorming component and procedures to follow. Search engine optimization is constantly changing. It is dynamic not static. This means you should do your utmost to stay on top, amidst the latest trends. Only than will you be successful.

The very first step is to do a research on your market. Dig deep to determine the type of keywords and phrases that your potential customers will use when searching for information related to your products or service. There are special keywords related to the particular industry in which you do business, or a more general market. You need to know these keywords. Keywords work hand in hand with search engine optimization, so do you best to find the most popular and widely used keywords. Avoid taking competition to the extreme.

For More Read...

http://www.articlecache.com/articledetail.php?artid=141315&catid=362&title=The+Secret+of+Search+Engine+Optimization

Custom Website Design, Professional Web Design, Free Iphone

Obama pays tribute to fallen West Virginia miners

Beckley, West Virginia (CNN) -- President Obama paid tribute Sunday to 29 workers killed in an explosion at a West Virginia coal mine earlier this month, saying they died "in pursuit of the American dream."

"All the hard work; all the hardship; all the time spent underground; it was all for their families. ... It was all in the hopes of something better," Obama said during a memorial service for the fallen miners in Beckley, West Virginia.

Obama and Vice President Biden, who were among a group of dignitaries who spoke at the service, met with the workers' families privately before the ceremony.

In his eulogy, delivered from behind a row of 29 white crosses, Obama sought to comfort those loved ones.

"We have been mourning with you throughout these difficult days," he said. "Our hearts have been aching with you."

Biden offered similar words of comfort, saying the fallen miners "represent, what I believe is the heart and soul and spine of this nation," and adding "a nation mourns them."

The April 5 blast at the Upper Big Branch Mine was the worst U.S. mine disaster in nearly 40 years.

Obama ordered a review earlier this month and blamed mine officials for lax regulation and lack of oversight.

On Sunday, he said: "We cannot bring back the 29 men we lost. ... Our task ... is to save lives from being lost in another such tragedy. To do what must be done, individually and collectively, to assure safe conditions underground."

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, who was a constant presence during the recovery efforts at the mine, also spoke at the service, telling the crowd of mourners that it was the day "to begin the healing process."

Manchin said each of the 29 men, like their fathers and grandfathers, had not only a strong commitment to their work, but also "a deep, patriotic pride that the work they did and the energy they produced made America strong and free."

He called on Americans to "say a prayer for every coal miner working today," and to "not only thank them -- but to honor them for their work and their patriotism."

He also made a vow: "After today, we turn our focus on their legacy," he said. "I don't have the answers about why this has happened, but I promise you we will find the answers."

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, echoed that vow during his remarks at the service, saying: "We will pass legislation to meet the requirements of those answers. And we will do it for you, the miners of West Virginia and America."

"West Virginia, all of West Virginia, is in pain, and not without some anger," Rockefeller added. "But we will find our solace and bind together as a community because that is what West Virginians do."

The somber service began with Manchin accompanying families as they lay helmets on top of 29 crosses.

A photo of each of the men killed in the disaster was displayed on large screens, and the crowd applauded for each one.

The service closed on a stirring note, as one by one, each of the headlamps on the symbolic helmets were lighted while a chorus sang "This Light of Mine."

Source:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/04/25/west.virginia.mine.obama/index.html

Cooking Games, Redesign Your Web, Website Redesign

Microsoft launches SQL Server R2

Fast, in-memory analysis and centralized management are highlights, but will it make BI more accessible to business users

Few surprises were contained in the recent official announcement on Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, but the occasion did give the company a chance to stoke interest in SQL Azure cloud services and anticipation of the Parallel Data Warehouse edition of SQL Server expected to launch later this year.

Plans for an upgrade of SQL Server 2008 were first announced in October of 2008, and the community technical preview (beta) became available last November. Thus, customers know what to expect.

Highlights include in-memory analysis capabilities provided by PowerPivot add-ins for Excel and SharePoint, and master data management and complex event processing capabilities aimed at ISVs and developers. The PowerPivot add-ins will enable desktop users to do rapid analysis on up to millions of rows of data with the aid of "slicer" controls used to cut across multiple dimensions. These analyses can then be published for others to see through SharePoint. That combination ensures managed self service, according to Microsoft.

"It's self-service because companies can empower end users to do more analyses on their own in the familiar Microsoft Office environment," said Tom Casey, Microsoft's general manager of business intelligence. "It's managed because IT professionals can easily make data available for reports and analyses while governing who has access to data and monitoring who is using which analyses."

One drawback of the PowerPivot add-ins is that they only work with Excel 2010 and SharePoint 2010, which are currently available in community technical preview releases but won't formally launch until next month. Critics describe PowerPivot for Excel as little more than an in-memory upgrade of the pivot-table capabilities already available in the spreadsheet tool.

As such, the add-ins will enable power users to quickly crunch more data, but it won't make developing BI insight any easier or more accessible to spreadsheet novices. For that, developers and Microsoft partners must still create business-process-specific applications and interfaces in Excel.

"There's no doubt PowerPivot is useful and will be successful, but it's not a revolution in BI," said Anthony Deighton, senior vice president of products at QlikTech, a Microsoft rival that introduced in-memory analysis capabilities several years ago. "Microsoft BI still requires application-style development, but many companies just don't like deploying Excel applications."

Microsoft SQL Server R2 also includes several upgrades aimed at streamlining administration. New application and multi-server management capabilities, for example, enable database administrators (DBAs) to centrally manage all instances of applications running on any number of servers. Artifacts such as tables, views, and stored procedures can be grouped, deployed, and managed using unified policies and procedures.

Source:

http://www.informationweek.in/Software/10-04-22/Microsoft_launches_SQL_Server_R2.aspx

Free Iphone, Custom Website Design, Professional Web Design

Drug-dealing spammers hit Gmail accounts

Google is investigating a growing number of reports that hackers are breaking into legitimate Gmail accounts and then using them to send spam messages.

The problem started about a week ago but seems to have escalated over the past few days.

"The Gmail team takes security very seriously and is investigating the reports we've seen in our user forums over the past few days," Google said Tuesday in an e-mailed statement. "We encourage users who suspect their accounts have been compromised to immediately change their passwords and to follow the advice at the following page: http://www.google.com/help/security/."

Gmail accounts are often compromised after phishing attempts or via malicious programs, which can seek out and log online credentials from a hacked computer.

It isn't clear what's behind this wave of Gmail compromises. But in forum posts, Gmail users note that the hackers appear to be sending spam via Gmail's mobile interface -- which gives mobile-phone users a way to check their Gmail accounts -- and wonder if there may be a bug in the mobile interface that is allowing criminals to send the spam.

Most of the victims are reporting that their accounts were accessed via the mobile interface when the spam was sent. They are reporting any security problems on their machines. Gmail users can check to see how their accounts were accessed at a given time by clicking on a "Details" button at the bottom of the Gmail page.

Google says there's no Gmail bug. "Our investigation has not given any indication of a bug in Gmail, either in the mobile interface or otherwise," the company said. "Spammers may sometimes use a mobile interface to access accounts they have already compromised because it's simpler for bots to use this method at large scale."

The New York Times reported Monday that Google's centralized login system, code-named Gaia, was compromised by hackers in late December. But this seems unrelated to the Gmail problem because of the different nature of the two incidents -- the December attack was a sophisticated attempt to steal data and intellectual property from Google; the Gmail spam is hardly sophisticated. It's being used to flog Canadian pharmaceutical Web sites that promise to send cheap drugs to U.S. customers.

For More Read...

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9175857/Drug_dealing_spammers_hit_Gmail_accounts

Cooking Games, Redesign Your Web, Professional Web Design

Facebook? Twitter? Microsoft tops social media use

Twitter and Facebook are the bane of many bosses, but a new survey has found that employees at Microsoft Corp are the most social media-savvy in the world.

The survey, the first by sales and marketing contact database NetProspex, ranked the top 50 companies based on their social network membership, frequency of social media posts on Twitter and other blogs, and the friendliness or connectedness of a sample of employees for each organization.

The NetProspex Social Index was determined after an analysis of more than 100,000 business executives from the Fortune 1000 companies in the first quarter of 2010.

"This report shows that in today's business environment, employees throughout many of the country's largest corporations are using social networks," Gary Halliwell, CEO of NetProspex, said in a statement.

"This presents a new opportunity for sales and marketing prospecting and lead generation, as strategies adapt to encompass the landscape of social networks."

The survey found that almost half of companies analyzed have employees throughout their organization on social networking sites, with Microsoft leading the way.

Not surprisingly, the list was dominated by technology and software companies, while online retailers such as Amazon.com and eBay claimed two of the top five rankings.

Google and Walt Disney Corp rounded out the top 5, while Microsoft's rival Apple ranked number 10.

Microsoft's tech-savvy ranking comes almost a week after the company launched two new phones -- the Kin One and Kin Two -- aimed at the youth market and which will enable users to use Facebook, MySpace and Twitter accounts with ease.

Source:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63J1D520100420

Cooking Games, Custom Website Design, Professional Web Design

Facebook to push promo Pages to users

Facebook will try to spur members to become fans of more of its site's Pages, which are profiles that organizations, companies and public figures set up to promote themselves and their brands, the company announced Monday.

Facebook will do this by suggesting specific pages that are related to information people have posted about themselves on their profiles, such as the city in which they live and the type of music and movies they like.

People will have the choice of accepting all Pages recommendations with one click or consider each suggestion individually, according to Alex Li, a Facebook software engineer.

"Once you make your choice, any text you'd previously had for the current city, hometown, education and work, and likes and interests sections of your profile will be replaced by links to these Pages," he wrote.

Previously, members could subscribe to Facebook Pages by clicking a button labeled "Become a Fan," but that button now reads simply "Like." When someone clicks on a "Like" button, Facebook adds that Page in the contextually relevant section of their profile "Info" section.

One thing to consider on the privacy front is that Facebook Pages are public and available to anyone on the Internet, so posting a comment or photo on them makes the content visible to the Web at large. These Pages also display a small sample of their "fans'" photos and names.

In addition, Facebook has added a new type of profile page to its site called "Community," meant for people to virtually gather around a shared interest or topic.

"Community Pages are still in beta, but our long-term goal is to make them the best collection of shared knowledge on a topic," wrote Li in an official blog post.

For More Read....

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9175801/Facebook_to_push_promo_Pages_to_users

Free Iphone, Custom Website Design, Website Re Design

Intel To Introduce System-on-Chip Products

Intel Developer Forum has unveiled its latest Intel system-on-Chip (SOC) products for embedded applications. The upcoming Tunnel Creek System-on-Chip (SoC) is suited for IP phones, printers and in-vehicle-infotainment systems for cars.

According to a company statement, the new research will allow homes and small businesses to better use and manage energy. The forthcoming SoC product features an Intel Atom processor core that, for the first time, will let other companies create PCI Express compliant devices that directly connect to the chip. This offers new flexibility for embedded applications.

Intel is committed to focus our technologies on innovative new applications in China, said Doug Davis, corporate vice president and general manager of Intels embedded and communications group. Were cooperating closely with local companies in China to provide smarter and better connected computing solutions for cars, homes, businesses that provide infrastructure to power a more mobile and faster Internet experience, he added.

During his address Davis disclosed details on a future Intel product code-named Tunnel Creek. This SoC for embedded applications will use a standard interconnect to the processor. The highly integrated SoC combines an Intel Atom processor core, the memory controller hub, graphics engine and video engine into one chip.

The chip will also enable companies to connect their own custom-built silicon to the Intel chip as long as it is a PCI Express compliant. The flexibility in this highly integrated one-chip solution helps reduce bill of materials and saves on board real estate for embedded applications.

Intel Chief Technology Officer and managing director of Intel Labs, Justin Rattner, said the companys goal is to apply Intel technology in ways that empower consumers and small businesses to make better energy choices.

Source:

http://www.itvarnews.net/news/10631/Intel-To-Introduce-System-on-Chip-Products.html

Free Iphone, Custom Website Design, Professional Web Design

Google sees fake AV threat

Fake anti-virus software is on the rise and currently accounts for about 15 percent of all malware detected, according to a forthcoming report from Google.

Fake anti-virus software purports to be software than can find and remove malware. But in fact it's malware, the very thing it's supposed to eliminate.

Fake AV software typically pretends to scan the victim's computer and to find some form of malware, at which point it seeks payment from the victim to remove the non-existent malware. Whether or not there's a payment, the fake AV software may install more malware.

Computer users often come into contact with fake AV software through spam Web sites and online ads, which explains why Google is interested in the topic.

Beyond its general concern with maintaining user trust and security, Google wants to make sure that online ads don't become such a pervasive means of malware delivery that users reject legitimate marketing as a risk.

In a blog post, Google security engineer Niels Provos said, "[T]he Fake AV threat is rising in prevalence, both absolutely, and relative to other forms of Web-based malware."

Google's forthcoming report, slated for presentation later this month at the Workshop on Large-Scale Exploits and Emergent Threats (LEET) in San Jose, Calif., says the company found 11,000 domains involved in distributing fake AV software over the past 13 months.

The report, "The Nocebo Effect on the Web: An Analysis of Fake AV distribution," says that fake AV attacks represent 60 percent of the malware found on Web sites that include trending keywords -- popular search terms that generate visitor traffic.

It also says that fake AV software is responsible for 50 percent of all malware delivered via online ads, five times more than a year ago.

In a related note, Google's Postini Q1 spam report indicates that despite several high profile botnet takedowns, spam volume as a percentage of total e-mail volume remains steady.

"This suggests that there's no shortage of botnets out there for spammers to use," said Gopal Shah, from Google's Postini team, in a blog post. "If one botnet goes offline, spammers simply buy, rent, or deploy another, making it difficult for the anti-spam community to make significant inroads in the fight against spam with individual botnet takedowns."

Source:

http://www.informationweek.in/Security/10-04-15/Google_sees_fake_AV_threat.aspx

Website Redesign Company, Free Iphone, Cooking Games

Twitter snags over 100 million users, eyes money-making

The popular Internet service hopes to snag hundreds of millions more users in coming years by making the service easier, integrating Twitter directly into Web sites and focusing more on customizing the service for mobile devices.

At the company's first conference for Twitter developers on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Evan Williams said generating revenue was among the key priorities going forward -- a change of tone for a firm that had previously said it focused mainly on improving the user experience.

The comments come a day after Twitter rolled out a new advertising program dubbed "Promoted Tweets," its first attempt to make money from its service and a milestone on the path toward an initial public offering.

"Money is important," Williams said during a special talk at the event devoted to monetization. "It takes a hell of a lot of money to run Twitter. There has to be a very solid revenue stream underneath this to fuel it."

But co-founder Biz Stone stressed that while the company was not philosophically opposed to floating shares to the public, he stressed that a public offering was not on the radar for the time being.

"At this point we have 175 people and we just yesterday announced our revenue strategy. We're not talking about an IPO, Stone told Reuters at the event, which was attended by about 1,000 people.

While the fledgling advertising program unveiled this week now has just five advertisers in a trial run, Stone said in an interview that the company believed the new ad service represented one of the primary businesses that would finance the company's operations going forward.

"We are pretty confident that this is going to work out to be a profitable, sustainable, real business for us," Stone said in an interview on the sidelines of the event, which saw Black-Eyed Peas front man will.i.am interviewed about his Twitter views.

COMMERCIAL AIMS

Twitter executive Dick Costolo also cited commercial accounts, which Twitter is currently testing with a couple hundred companies, as the second main money-making pillar.

Twitter, which allows users to send short, 140-character text messages, or Tweets, to groups of so-called followers, is one of the Web's most popular social networking services, along with Facebook and LinkedIn. The social networking services are increasingly challenging established Web players, like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, by competing for users time online and for advertising dollars.

For More Read:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63D46P20100415

Custom Website Design, Website Redesign Company, Free Iphone

How to Redesign Your Web Site

Tips for Redesigning Your Web site

Web site redesigning can be as simple or as difficult as you make it. Here, we look at some methods to ease the redesigning process.

Pick A Reputable Web site Design Company

In order to get the best results, choose a reputable, well thought of company. This is important, not just from a design aspect, but to ensure that they can meet your needs. They should be concerned with what you're looking for, rather than how they feel. This is crtical to your success.

Develop a Good Style

One of most important considerations is the overall appearance of your Web site. Regardless of what you choose to do, an overall style is very important. It can determine several different things, such as the font(s) you decide to use and the graphics to include.

Think About Content

Content is key. Make sure that the information is legitimate, believable, easy to read and understand.

Make It Keyword Rich

Good SEO is also important, not only in design, but execution. Make sure you research your keywords.

Compare Web Sites in Search Engines

As previously mentioned, good SEO is important. If you don't know what keywords to use, make use of keyword search tools like Wordtracker. Once you have those keywords, compare them with Web sites that contain keywords that place well using natural search.

Keep Your Site Current

Keep your content current. To do so, one strategy is to check out the content on other Web sites. This will help keep you on track. Of great importance is checking out the trends, to see if anything new has been developed.

Easy to Navigate

Make sure your site is easy to navigate. Nothing is more frustrating than navigating a site where it's easy to get lost. This will negatively impact your profitability since potential customers are unlikely to stick around if it's too difficult to find what they want. Simple and direct navigation is key.

Make Sure It's Eye-Catching

One of the most important things that any Web site needs to do is grab attention. If yours doesn't, a site redesign may be in order. Carefully consider your message, then work on finding/creating a layout which matches that, yet is appealing to the viewer.

Develop Credibility

There are several ways to develop credibility. One method is to give as much information about your business as possible. Another option is to consider adding a discussion forum where all of your customers can recommend your services and share the experiences which they have had with your services.

Source:

http://www.webreference.com/authoring/newsite/

Chicago Website Design, Chicago Website Designers

Step by Step Guide in Building a Website

Here are simple steps to start building your own website

1. Choose and register your domain name

Firstly, you need to choose and register a domain name to build a website. It will be the address or URL of your website. Website needs to be storing its files and database and so it needs to a web hosting. You have to choose best web hosting company depending on your needs.Then you have to do some technical task on your hosting account. You have to add your domain to your hosting account if you buy domain from different company. And if you buy domain from same company sometimes hosting company do this work.

2. Design Your Web page

Now you have to design your web pages using web designing software or by coding using notepad. Then you have to upload your web pages to your ftp using ftp uploading software. You don't need to spend more time to design it at first as you can edit it or improve it later. Choose easy and best software to design the pages.
You can put good images, video, sound or other staff depending on your website type.

3. Learn how to build a sales page

Sales pages are important pages for online business. You can make different sales page for different type of business. You can make a sales page easily with the software. And if you can develop the pages that will be best.

4. Learn to create website header graphics

Header images are most important factor for a website. If your site's header is attractable, you will get more visitors.There are many sites or software to make header for websites. You have to make header size adjustable to your website.

5. Creating your web page banner

Banner is also an important thing to promote a site. Site must need a good banner to attract people. You can make 460x68 or 125x125 or other sized banner. You can use website to make banner or other graphics software. Or You can make flash banner. All you can using free software or websites. There is many site by which you can make good banner.

Source:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Step-by-Step-Guide-in-Building-a-Website&id=4075128

Professional Web Design Chicago, Web Design Firms

Website Design - The Three Most Important Elements

When it comes to website design, there are three very important elements that must influence the process of developing a site which can be viewed on the Internet.

1. Customer Satisfaction.

Although this should be common sense customer satisfaction does not always take a front row seat in the priority department for many agencies. It seems that in the era of our fast paced society a lack of customer satisfaction is the status quo. Companies often rush from completing one job to the next and in the process they somehow skip steps, miss promised timelines, or fail to meet agreed upon priorities. Which comes to my next point.

2. Listening to the Customer's Needs

The old adage that the customer is always right has been somewhat lost. Clients generally have an idea of what they want to achieve with their websites. Usually, for businesses, it is to bring in new business or increased revenue. What they often do not know; however, is how to accomplish this online in the form of their website. This should not really be a surprise, because often this is not an area of expertise for many entrepreneurs or company executives. This also does not mean that the web development firm hired to complete the website should just run ahead without consulting the client on their needs.

It takes a practiced skill to help the client identify what they want to accomplish online and what the look and feel of the website should be. This initial groundwork will certainly go a long way in understanding the overall goal of the site, and how to best achieve this within best design and development practice.

3. The Ability to Communicate with the Client

This skill of helping the client identify what they want to accomplish online can be best identified as communication. It is the process of exchanging information through various means to accomplish an understanding or shared meaning of ideas. The ability to do this well only comes with skill and practice. A good analogy of this process would be the traveller looking for directions in a foreign place using a different language. The traveller is like the website design firm looking for directions from the local: the client. Like the local who may or may not know the directions, the client may or may not know what they are looking for in their website. A good project manager in the web design firm will use all their skills to gather the information, and help the client along in their journey of conveying what they want in their website.

These skills may include interpersonal projection, asking for clarification, using probing questions to seek further details, and evaluating and explaining the process thoroughly. The client needs to know sooner than later what is possible with the budget specified, and how modifications during the website design process can increase the cost to develop the website.

Although there are many other elements that contribute to excellent website design, web designers or their project managers must be able to provide these three main aspects for the web design project to be on a successful track.

Source:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Website-Design---The-Three-Most-Important-Elements&id=3683811

Professional Web Design Chicago, Web Site Design

Microsoft to Fix 25 Holes in Windows, Office, Exchange

Microsoft will issue 11 security bulletins in next week's Patch Tuesday to fix 25 vulnerabilities in Windows, Microsoft Office, and Exchange, including two holes for which exploit code is in the wild.

Five of the bulletins address critical vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to take control of the computer, five are rated important, and one is rated moderate.

With the updates, Microsoft will be closing two outstanding security advisories that have been worrisome because code to exploit the vulnerabilities is available publicly.

One of the advisories is 981169, which involves a vulnerability in VBScript that could allow the remote execution of code and a complete takeover of the system. Disclosed on March 1, it affects older versions of Windows running Internet Explorer.

The other advisory to be closed is 977544, which involves a hole in Server Message Block (SMB) protocol that could allow a denial-of-service attack and that dates back to November.

Software affected by the updates: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Server 2003, Server 2008, Office XP, Office 2003, 2007 Microsoft Office System and Exchange Server 2000, 2003, 2007, and 2010.

Also on Tuesday, Adobe Systems will release its latest security updates for Reader and Acrobat via a new update system. Adobe has quarterly security update releases that coincide with Patch Tuesdays.


Source:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20002053-245.html

Chicago Web Design Firms

News site Web design: What works? What doesn't?

Nora Paul and Laura Ruel introduce a new OJR column examining the latest research how readers use news websites.

The tenth anniversary year of the start of many Web-based news sites was the occasion for reflection about how far (or not) we’ve come and speculation on how best to proceed forward. Here we are in 2007 and it’s time to do a measured look at where we are right now.

For the past ten years the features on news websites have evolved and expanded. Thanks to software developments like SoundSlides audio slideshows have proliferated on news sites, expanding experimentation with "multimedia." The "We Media" mantra has given rise to collaborative community reported news both within and outside mainstream news organizations. RSS feeds have changed the notion of mass product distribution to personalized news channel delivery. The aggregation of news stories on a given topic coupled with additional information (along the lines of Seattle P-I’s Transportation page or Lawrence Journal-World’s Legislation page) is moving news websites away from "your daily newspaper on the computer screen" to a valuable aggregation of community information.

Experimentation with individual story forms continues. The slideshow is getting a remake with the "flipbook" style of choreographed image display set to music (as with the MSNBC "Iraqi Kurdistan" video.) The packaging of series stories with multiple media elements is getting cleaner and more elegantly designed (the Orphans & Angels piece from Florida Today is a good example.) Flash and Google maps interfaces are being used to navigate the user through data and information (take a look at AZ Star’s Sealing Our Border interactive map and the Boston Globe campaign contributions map.)

How the success of these experimentations and evolutions are being measured is still an issue. Page views, time spent on the page, where people enter in from and where they go after can all be measured. But what do we know about how these news features and forms change attitude toward the news product, or how effective the form is at informing, or if a new design is a more effective way to get people to engage fully with the carefully constructed package?

Research into Story Design Effectiveness is happening in newsrooms and universities. In the case of newsroom research, the findings are regarded as competitive intelligence and not readily shared with the industry. In universities, the findings are written in academese and not readily understood by the industry.

In this column, we will ferret out the research and findings about story form effectiveness and profile the people and places who are trying to understand current practices and guide more informed design decisions. Creating stories that engage, inform, and get people to come back for more must be part of the media’s mix of offerings. We hope, in the coming months, to engage and inform you about story design research.

Source:

http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/070110paul/

Professional Web Design Chicago

AOL Wants Out of Bebo

Two years after buying Facebook rival Bebo, AOL is looking to unload the social networking site.

AOL paid $850 million for Bebo in 2008, at the time it was one of the largest social networking sites in the United Kingdom. At the time, AOL said the acquisition was part of a strategy to gain a foothold in the social media market and to help it grow internationally.

In a message to employees Tuesday, AOL said it is no longer committed to Bebo and would seek a buyer or close it.

Read more: AOL wants out of Bebo - Washington Business Journal:

The memo, from AOL Ventures Executive Vice President Jon Broad, said in part, “Bebo, unfortunately, is a business that has been declining and, as a result, would require significant investment in order to compete Polaris Pool Cleaner Parts in the competitive Social Networking Space,” the AOL memo said. “AOL is not in a position at this time to further fund and support Bebo in pursuing a turnaround in Social Networking.”

AOL is actively seeking a buyer for the business and says it will complete its strategic evaluation by the end of May. Bebo’s future may include either a new owner, or a shutdown by AOL this year.

Since its split from former parent Time Warner, AOL has been accelerating its transformation into an advertiser-driven content provider.

While that transformation has led to acquisitions of smaller companies and their technologies, it has also led to thousands of job cuts.

AOL (NYSE: AOL) reported a profit in its first quarter as an independent company, with net income of $1.4 million compared to a net loss of nearly $2 billion a year earlier.

Read more: AOL wants out of Bebo - Washington Business Journal:


Source:

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2010/04/05/daily25.html


Chicago Web Site Design Company

Cheap Wordpress Themes: 5 Semi-Premium Designs for Business Websites

We’ve talked about Premium Wordpress Themes ad infinitum on TutorialBlog. But, sometimes you need a cheap WordPress theme that you can get online and looking good in less than an hour. What do you when you (or your client) want it all … and your budget is under $25?

You call in reinforcements!

Take the pain out of working under an impossible budget by making it easy. Your “client” will be pleased as punch with any of these semi-premium WordPress themes and you’ll still have money left to buy a fancy coffee from your favorite java dealer.

What is a semi-premium theme you ask? These themes may not have everything as the expensive, bells-and-whistles-included brand of premium themes. That could mean fewer choices on the theme options screen or only a single page template or fewer plugins pre-built into the site. However, in most areas a good semi-premium theme has everything you need to build a quality website, quick and easy.

Elegant Themes is a WordPress theme club that specializes in Polaris Pool Cleaner Parts semi-premium themes. Buy in for $20 a year, and you’ll get full access to all their themes and support. The thing to note here is that buying into the theme club is a personal license, not a development license. So, pay the $20 to buy a license for your friend’s site and if you want to come back and use another theme buy a new license for yourself. It’s a shame that Elegant Themes doesn’t offer a developer’s membership, but even if you’re buying multiple memberships the price is still right!

For most “business websites” or “corporate website” projects a semi-premium theme is the best option. Small businesses need to be online, but the return on investment just isn’t there to spend several thousand dollars on a website. Install a simple, semi-premium theme and your client will have all the functionality they need at a price they can afford. Here are 5 great themes from the Elegant Themes Clubs that are perfect for a quick, quality corporate or small business website.

BusinessCard Wordpress Theme

BusinessCard is a simple jQuery-powered, one-page theme for presenting clean and concise information. BusinessCard has 5 color choices, enhanced javascript effects and a fully functional photo gallery with slideshows and lightbox built in.

TheCorporation Wordpress Theme

TheCorporation is a sleek theme for business sites with a jQuery slider and templated homepage. The theme has six candy-coated color choices that add a sense of modern sophistication while still maintaining the expected level of professionalism.

Basic Wordpress Theme

Basic has a more traditional “Blog-Style” feel that can be useful for corporate sites that have a lot of information to present. The theme features a very clean, easy-to-read layout with four color schemes. A built in advertisement widget can be used to promote in-store promotions or important company business.

TidalForce Wordpress Theme

Tidalforce features a smooth blue design that will appeal to many businesses. The tabbed layout is easy to navigate. This theme has the fewest add-ons of any of the business themes mentioned in this article. However, for some clients, less is definitely more.

PureType Wordpress Theme

PureType is a sophisticated CSS-based design without images. The result is a strong type-based layout. The theme comes with three widget-ready areas, two layout options and more, all managed from the Theme Options Page. The main reason I added this theme to the list are the color palettes. PureType has three color schemes that will stand out from the pack of gray and blue corporate sites with class and style.

Chicago Website Design

Microsoft Plans 64GB Zune HD

Microsoft plans to start selling a 64 GB version of the Zune HD Portable Media Player this month and is cutting prices of the smaller models.

The company announced Wednesday that it will start taking orders for the 64 GB model April 12 through the online Zune Store. The media player will cost $350, which is nearly $50 less than the competing iPod Touch from Apple. The new Zune HD will be available in all the colors and custom etching available with the rest of the product line.

In addition, Microsoft said it would immediately cut the estimated retail price of the 16 GB and 32 GB Zune HD to $200 and $270, respectively. On Wednesday, Microsoft was offering to cut $20 more for a limited time.

Microsoft sells the Zune HD at less than the iPod Touch. The latter device comes in 8 GB, 16 GB and 64 GB versions at $199, $299 and $399, respectively. Nevertheless, Microsoft has failed to make a dent in Apple's commanding lead in the portable media market with the Zune HD, which was released in September 2009.

While the Zune HD has had many positive reviews, its biggest disadvantage when compared to the iPod Touch is the lack of an online application store where third-party developers can offer software to extend the usefulness of the device. Apple's App Store has been very successful in driving sales of the iPod Touch and iPhone.

The Zune HD features a touch-screen interface powered by organic, light-emitting diode (OLED) technology and Nvidia's Tegra HD graphics processor for fast action. It also includes a Quickplay menu that puts consumers a click away from favorite tracks, videos, and other content.

Microsoft plans to release soon a 4.5 firmware update for the Zune HD.

Source:

http://www.techweb.com/article/showArticle?articleID=224201002&section=news

Web Design Firm Chicago

Global CIO: After Oracle Windfall, He's On A New Mission

Jeff Rodek shook up the software world in 2007.

He was chairman of Hyperion when Oracle bought the company for $3.3 billion, setting off a frenzy of deals for the largest Business Intelligence Companies, as SAP soon acquired BusinessObjects and IBM bought Cognos.

Since then, Rodek's been on a much different, some might say thankless, mission: to get business people to use all those tools and information a better way.

"There's so much data out there that they're swamped in data, but they lack insights," Rodek says.

Enter business performance management. BPM. Rodek's goal, working with the Fisher School of Business at his alma mater Ohio State University, is to make BPM a discipline that's widely accepted in businesses, and an idea that goes way beyond buying analysis and reporting tools. (Here's a BPM description from the school's Center for Business Performance Management.)

To Rodek, BPM means giving people in accounting, supply chains, marketing, IT, and every other part of the business relevant data so they know what to do in their jobs, and how they're doing. "In many ways it's all about the culture needed, and the processes and technology to help you manage better," he says. It ties in planning, modeling, analysis, and operations, and gives people just the key performance indicators they need. (My colleague Doug Henschen has done excellent coverage of this trend, profiling

One problem with BPM as a discipline is it sounds a lot like:

a) Just plain management, or

b) What ERP was supposed to deliver.

"For a long time, a lot of executives thought 'If I spend $200 million on an ERP system, don't I get that?'" says Rodek, who was Hyperion CEO as well as chairman for almost five years, from 1999 to 2004, before giving up the CEO role. In recent years, there's been more recognition that something like BPM--providing insights from data so they're part of daily business decisions--goes beyond those ERP Transactional Systems.

Ohio State this year started granting certificates in BPM that business students can earn along with their MBAs by taking BPM courses and doing real-world projects. "It'll be a very nice salary offered to students," predicts Rodek. The certification's developed through the Fisher school's Center for Business Performance Management, which is also reaching out to other business schools to develop curriculum and to companies to provide input. (And funding. Hyperion and Oracle provided initial funding for the Center.)

BPM faces the same problem in academia that it does in companies: It doesn't rest in just one area, crossing accounting, finance, IT, operations, and more. So add that to the thankless task facing Rodek--getting professors to change how they teach. "The beauty and the beast of academia is it's not very fast to change," says Rodek, who's a senior lecturer at the Fisher school.

Scoff if you want at BPM as just another three-letter acronym. But the reality is that people and companies need these frameworks, and we need people like Rodek and fellow academics to help shape them. We need common language to rally change.

The U.S. auto industry embraced total quality management--yep, TQM--in the '90s to conquer systematic quality problems and lower costs. That couldn't happen by telling everyone "Make better cars and car parts." People needed tools and processes and culture change to get there.

BPM's similar. We might want to manage better, to use data smarter. But we need to know how.



Source:

http://www.techweb.com/article/showArticle?articleID=224201088&section=news

Professional Web Design Services

Why The Social Media Aggregator has Croaked

A couple of years ago, they were everywhere: fresh, Design-Savvy start-ups, taking everything you might ever want to know your friends were doing on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Digg, and goodness knows what else.

Social Network feed aggregators--FriendFeed, Socialthing, Plaxo's Pulse--have been part of the dizzying array of Web Apps ever since it became evident that the average Internet user was using more than one of these nifty Social Media Services and just might want to have them all in one place. But they've been on the way out for some time: FriendFeed sold to Facebook, and Socialthing to AOL, both brands buried within their sprawling new owners. And earlier this week, another small start-up in the space, the well-regarded Streamy, announced that it had closed its doors; one co-founder departed for Facebook, the second for social-gaming powerhouse Zynga.

The demise of Streamy is one more sign of something that was already evident: Facebook--and to a lesser extent, Twitter--has completely won this game.

FriendFeed and Socialthing, the two aggregators that made notable exits, were built by solid engineering and design teams who have since moved on to greener pastures--FriendFeed's team is in-house at Facebook now, and Socialthing's founders are tackling new projects. But outside of the relatively small crowd of the Web's hard-core early adopters, the vast majority of these start-ups proved to have little mainstream appeal. It had nothing to do with who was behind them, but rather the core concepts; the average Web user simply doesn't use enough social-media services to have any desire to use something that will drag hundreds of contacts' minute Web activities into one place.

Through Facebook Connect, you can pull your Digg votes and Flickr photos onto your Facebook profiles--that is, if you're using Digg rather than Facebook's own "sharing" to promote the news you read, and Flickr rather than Facebook's own photo uploads. And for Twitter users, many of their contacts already tweet out links to new blog posts, photo galleries, and other various developments on the Web. For the smaller crowd that uses Twitter for news gathering, it's become a very simplified aggregator in itself.

And that early-adopter crowd, too, now has less reason to want to use a more complex aggregator. The pack of Social Networking Services has thinned out, and you're no longer going to encounter a frustrated blogger who absolutely needs to keep in touch with contacts on Jaiku and Pownce as well as Twitter. Now it's down to Facebook and Twitter, more or less, and any Twitter client can pull the two together. That's plenty for just about all of us.

If there's any kind of elephant in the room, it's Google Buzz, which uses Gmail's interface to pull in Twitter-like chatter as well as activities across other Google properties like Google Reader. But it experienced a massive contact-importing privacy blunder right out of the gate, and there are concerns that it will favor content coming through Google-owned channels over third-party services (which aren't yet integrated)--say, a geo-tagged Buzz post as opposed to a Foursquare check-in. It still has potentially huge muscle, but its Facebook-killing potential is less forceful than many thought.

Right now, people are talking about aggregation in the context of geolocation, one of the few niches of social media that's still legitimately spread out over different services like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Brightkite. There's no obvious winner yet, which has led some to suggest that the space needs an aggregator to pull "check-ins" from disparate services into a user's single, universal feed. But if the past is any indicator, the end result will be that this space will clean itself up and in a few months to a few years, no such aggregator will be needed.

And at the same time, the general social-feed aggregator may finally have found a far smaller niche where it can succeed: As part of the lead-up to the South by Southwest Interactive Festival that begins next week in Austin, Texas, an aggregation start-up called Cliqset began to promote its partnership with social-media company Mashable on its "Austin Real-Time" site. It's a hub that pulls together all varieties of digital content gushing out of the event, from Foursquare and Gowalla check-ins to Twitter posts and Picasa photos. If you're an outsider looking in, or a SXSWi attendee nursing a midday hangover from a hotel room, then yes, you want everything to make you feel immersed in the experience. But as something you'll follow for the rest of the year? Of course not.

In other words, we don't want the floodgates to be open all the time. But in the right time and place, they have their role. The social-network aggregator was an outcropping of the enthusiasm surrounding the novelty that was social media a few years ago, and the impatience over so much competition in the space. But these things mature, and the winners emerge, and that competition starts to fade.

If anything, the overzealous explosion of social aggregation start-ups a few years ago is a sign that even in the urgent, someone-else-will-beat-you-to-it climate of the Web, sometimes things will just shake out over time.

Source:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10462172-36.html

Professional Web Design Chicago

China Yahoo Accounts Reportedly Hacked

Also Reports of Google's Chinese Search Engine Being Intermittently Blocked as Censorship Row Continues

Yahoo e-mail accounts belonging to foreign journalists appeared to have been hacked and Google's Chinese Search Engine was intermittently blocked Tuesday, the latest troubles in China's heavily censored Internet market.

The Yahoo Inc. accounts of at least three journalists and an analyst became inaccessible over the last few weeks. They were greeted with messages saying, "We've detected an issue with your account'' and were told to contact Yahoo, they said Tuesday. Yahoo techs told one of the four that his account had been hacked and restored his access, but it was not clear if the other instances were related.

Sensitivity about Internet security has run high since Google Inc. announced in January it might leave China after a series of cyber attacks and complaints about censorship. Last week, Google made a partial retreat, shutting down its mainland-based search engine and redirecting those queries offshore, to the freer Chinese territory of Hong Kong.

Analysts have been watching closely to see if China retaliates for Google's high-profile departure from the mainland search engine market.

Many redirected queries appeared blocked Tuesday on the Hong Kong-based search engine. Searches for benign terms were met with results on Chinese competitors such as Baidu.com and Soso.com, however, an error page would pop up when typed into Google.com.hk.

Dozens of China-based Twitter users posted updates saying they were having the same problem. But it wasn't immediately clear what was causing the glitch.

Zhou Shuguang, a Beijing-based writer who blogs under the name "Zuola,'' said he tried to search the word "pest'' using several search engines. Only Google.com.hk returned an error message.

"The connection was reset,' it says. It's the same for all the terms I put in,'' said Zhou. He thought it might be a technical problem but if it isn't fixed in a day or so, "then maybe it means China has blocked it.''

Beijing-based Google spokeswoman Marsha Wang said she would look into the reports but didn't immediately respond.

It was not clear where problems with the Yahoo e-mail accounts originated from. All four people affected are professionally focused on China and related issues. They said they had heard of other colleagues having similar problems, including one journalist who lost his Yahoo account entirely in January.

Clifford Coonan, China correspondent for The Independent and the Irish Times newspapers, said he received the "issue with your account'' notice when he logged in Tuesday. Another reporter said she received repeated error messages from Yahoo last month.

The Western analyst said he was locked out of his account for four or five days, until he spoke with a Yahoo representative Monday who went through the security questions and restarted it.

"He said somebody had hacked into my registration details,'' said the analyst, who would not give his name citing the sensitivity of the issue. The analyst said he was concerned hackers may have also accessed his inbox.

Yahoo officials in Asia and London declined to comment, referring queries to headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.

"I'd just be interested to see if anyone in the business community or outside of journalism and academia has had the same problem, then it might be less sinister,'' Coonan said. "It's obviously annoying but if it's just journalists and academics, that's scary.''

Source:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/30/tech/main6347092.shtml

Professional Web Design Chicago

Twitterers Go Offline for Charity

Thousands of Twitterers worldwide put their fingers to rest and gathered offline on Thursday in the name of charity.

People in over 200 cities worldwide participated in the second annual "Twestival" which this year aims to raise funds for education.

"It's a pretty viral phenomenon that happened," said Sarah Prevette, lead organiser for Twestival Toronto.

The event is organised by thousands of volunteers globally, and local businesses fund the parties, where social media enthusiasts dance, mingle and network.

Funds raised for Twestival, via corporate sponsorship, ticket sales or celebrity eBay auctions, will benefit Concern Worldwide, which offers basic education programmes in impoverished nations.

"Education is that one tool that we can give someone, and knowledge really does empower and that was something that really struck a chord with volunteers globally," said Prevette. "It only costs $74 to send a primary school child to school for a year in these nations."

The first Twestival event raised over $250 000 for clean water projects in Uganda, Ethiopia and India.

According to Twestival's Web site, over 4 000 people purchased tickets to Thursday's events.

Source:

http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31625:twitterers-go-offline-for-charity&catid=147:internet&Itemid=68

Chicago Website Design

Google Sheds New Light on Broadband Plans

Company moves forwards with Fibre Network.

Google has posted an update for its planned high speed Fibre Broadband Network in the United States.

The company said that it would be announcing the targeted market for the first tests of the network by the end of the year. The initial test will cover a total group ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 people.

The project was first announced by Google in February. The company is planning to issue the 1Gbit/s fibre networks in target markets as a way of testing out open broadband networks. In addition to the experimental service, the company is also going to make its broadband cables open to other service providers.

Since the announcement, interest in the project has been high. Google said that some 600 community groups had expressed interest in participating in the project, while more than 190,000 individuals have looked into participating.

Some cities, such as Topeka, Kansas and Rancho Cucamonga, California have jokingly pledged to change their names to "Google, Kansas" and "Rancho Googlemonga" should the company choose their cities for the project.

Going forward, the company said that it will begin visiting perspective sites and speaking with local leaders and community groups before making its final decision later this year.

"This enthusiasm is much bigger than Google and our experimental network," wrote Google product manager James Kelly in a blog posting.

"If one message has come through loud and clear, it's this: people across the country are hungry for better and faster internet access."


Share:

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/170709,google-sheds-new-light-on-broadband-plans.aspx

Chicago Web Design

Web Design Firms' Role in Designing

Have you ever thought about the pace at which the modern day web world has evolved and has attained its present status? If yes, it's good for you to be a part of the current trend, and if not, it's beneficial for you to have some detailed ideas about the entire online processes.

Whether it's for professional or personal requirements, it's essential now to have one's own site. It's through the medium of a website, now businesses are done at speed of mind across the globe. The advantage of web business making can't just be limited to this only. It's beyond our imagination to be more precise.

Websites help in ecommerce services eating, making use of customer redressal cells, make payments for their purchased stuffs and what not! If you are also planning to jump into the thriving world of online business, then it's wise on your part to have a complete study about your business strength and capabilities before making any commitment. As the competition in the field is very high and there are no limits of competitors, you should be able to target the right customers with the right inventory of products or services. Here, the assistance of a Web Design Firms needs special mention for sure.

A Professional Web Design is a place where you can have a one-stop-solution for all your web based requirements. Right from the conceiving of a website to its design and development, from web page integration to SEO Services offerings, in every segment value deals can be availed from such a company.

As more and more people are now heading for web based businesses, the role and responsibilities of a web design studio or firm have also been perceived in a more value-based manner. In order to satisfy every client in an individualistic manner, such a firm now used the most trusted web design software programs and tools, no matter for what you opt for their services.

Ready made design packages are also available these days. They come comparatively cheaper than the customized or bespoke design packages. It all depends on you and your business what you will seek as per your budget and requirements.

Google Alerts Users of Suspicious Gmail Log-In Activity

Google Introduced a New Security Feature for Gmail today. It notifies the user when a suspicious log-in activity is detected on their account. This notification will come in the form of a message saying ""Warning: We believe your account was last accessed from…" along with the geographic region that Google can best associate with the access. Engineering Director Pavni Diwanji explains on the Gmail Blog:


To determine when to display this message, our automated system matches the relevant IP address, logged per the Gmail privacy policy, to a broad geographical location. While we don't have the capability to determine the specific location from which an account is accessed, a login appearing to come from one country and occurring a few hours after a login from another country may trigger an alert.

By clicking on the "Details" link next to the message, you'll see the last account activity window that you're used to, along with the most recent access points.

Gmail will allow users to change their passwords from the same window if they choose, or they can click "dismiss" if they are sure the log-in activity was legitimate.

Google intends to extend the feature into Google Apps after enough feedback is gathered.

Source:
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/03/24/google-alerts-users-of-suspicious-gmail-log-in-activity

Web Design Firms

Amazon Takes on Apple, Barnes & Noble with Kindle App for iPad

Amazon announces that more than 450,000 Kindle books will be available for the iPad when Apple's tablet arrives on April 3

Amazon.com introduced its e-book shop and reader app for the iPad Monday, entering the battle for e-books dominance against Apple's own iBooks store and Barnes & Noble's e-reader iPad app.

Amazon.com announced that more than 450,000 Kindle books would be available through its Kindle app for the iPad, when Apple's tablet arrives on April 3. The app will use Amazon's Whispersync technology to automatically synchronize the last page you read on other compatible devices, such as iPhones or Kindle e-readers.

The Kindle app for the iPad has been tailored to the size, look, and feel of the tablet, according to Amazon.com, and it lets you customize the background color and font size for the book's text. You can also adjust screen brightness from within the app.

Like the PC and Mac counterparts, the Kindle app for iPad will remember the last page you read and sync it with Amazon.com's servers, so if you continue reading on an iPhone, BlackBerry, or Kindle e-reader, you can pick up where you left off. Bookmarks, notes, highlights and annotations are also synced.

Amazon.com has also integrated the Kindle bookstore into the iPad app, which includes most of the New York Times bestsellers, alongside Amazon.com's own book collection of nearly a half million titles. Amazon.com says availability for some of these titles might vary for non-U.S. customers.

Similarly to Apple's own iBook store and app for the iPad, the Amazon.com Kindle app also uses page turn animations to replicate the look of turning a page in a book, and offers free book samples (the first chapter) before you decide to buy. If you purchase a book from the Kindle iPad app, you will be able to read it also on Kindle-compatible devices.

Alongside stiff competition from Apple's own iBooks store and software on its own tablet, the Kindle app will also have to battle Barnes & Noble's eReader app for the iPad, also expected to be available around April 3.

Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble have their own hardware e-book readers as well, the Kindle and the Nook, on which they sell e-books. Also, both have iPhone apps for reading books purchased from their respective stores.

An interesting tidbit from Amazon.com's announcement of its iPad app is that the company said that the app would be available "for tablet computers, including the iPad."

It's unclear which other tablets will get dedicated Kindle apps, considering the upcoming Hewlett-Packard slate was showed running the Kindle PC app. A possibility would be Dell's Streak tablet, running on Google Android, which is expected to incorporate many of Amazon.com's services.

Source:

http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/amazon-takes-apple-barnes-noble-kindle-app-ipad-395

Professional Web Design Chicago

Unity Pacific Ocean Cable Close to Completion

Connect Google's Japanese and US data Centers.

Google is reported to be almost ready to start using a new high-speed internet cable under the Pacific Ocean to increase lit cable capacity by around 20 percent.

The new cable, dubbed Unity, will give Google a direct connection to the Asian market from the US to potentially handle 7.68 Terabits/s and offer Asian internet users faster browsing speeds.

The project was funded to the tune of US$300m ($327m) by Google and a consortium of six Asian telecommunication firms known as The Unity Consortium.

The six firms are Singapore Telecommunications, Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, Google, KDDI Corporation and Pacnet.

Google said in a statement today that the growing demand for access to information had made investment in the new pipeline a necessity.

"As the economies of Asian countries continue to grow, data traffic and the use of the internet expands. Google is a global company and is committed to providing the best quality of user experience, regardless of geography," it said.

The new underwater cable will offer connections between Google's Japanese and US data centres, enabling it to offer improved services to Asian customers and guarantee it access to a large amount of new bandwidth to help it meet growing user demands.

The pipe's completion comes at a time when Google looks set to pull out of Asia's biggest market, China, something it probably didn't envisage doing when it first announced the Unity project two years ago.

Source:

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/170060,unity-pacific-ocean-cable-close-to-completion.aspx

Chicago Website Design

Judge Approves Facebook's Settlement Offer in Beacon Case

Facebook will spend $9.5M to set up privacy foundation under the deal

A federal judge has approved a proposed settlement by Facebook in a class-action lawsuit involving its now defunct Beacon behavioral tracking service.

Under the settlement, Facebook will pay $9.5 million to set up a privacy foundation to fund projects promoting the cause of online privacy in return for the lawsuit against it to be dropped.

In approving the settlement, Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California overturned several objections that had been raised by some members of the class-action in response to the Facebook offer.

In a 12-page ruling, Seeborg called Facebook's proposed settlement "fair, reasonable, adequate and proper and in the best interests of the Settlement Class."

The dispute stems from a lawsuit filed in August 2008 against Facebook by several users of the social networking site. The suit alleged that Facebook and Beacon affiliates such as Blockbuster and Overstock.com had violated several federal privacy laws, including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Video Privacy Protection Act, when they shared data about Facebook users with each other.

In response, Facebook last September extended a settlement offer under which it said it would spend $9.5 million to set up a privacy foundation focused on online privacy issues. As part of its settlement offer, Facebook said it would shut down the Beacon service entirely.

Privacy advocates welcomed the company's decision to shutter Beacon. But earlier this year, consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, of Washington D.C, and some Facebook users asked the court to reject the offer.

In their complaint, the groups said that the proposed settlement did nothing to compensate victims whose privacy may have been compromised by Beacon. Other than formally disbanding a program that Facebook had voluntarily already discontinued, the settlement offered little else the groups complained.

They also argued that the settlement would give Facebook a direct role in drafting the mission and bylaws of the proposed foundation and in appointing board members. The complaint noted that one of the three initial directors of the foundation would in fact be a Facebook employee and chief lobbyist.

Facebook, meanwhile, claimed that the opposition to its settlement offer stemmed from a complete lack of understanding of the proposal . The company insisted that the proposed privacy foundation would be an independent entity run by three well known and respected privacy advocates.

In his ruling, Judge Seeborg expressed similar sentiments. Those objecting to the proposed settlement had not shown "any substantial reason to doubt the independence of two of the three directors," he wrote. It is reasonable to expect that the Facebook director would be opposed to any actions taken by the privacy foundation that would directly harm Facebook, the judge said.

However, that does not mean that the foundation will end up being a "mere publicity tool for Facebook," or be under its direct control, he said. He also rejected the objection that class members were due any monetary compensation. The chances of class members receiving any compensation if the case was to go to court are "speculative at best" given the circumstances of the case, he wrote.

A Facebook spokesman expressed satisfaction over the ruling. "We're pleased that Judge Seeborg has approved the settlement after carefully considering all opinions," he said in a statement. It added that Facebook will be releasing additional details on the foundation over the next several months.

Jaikumar Vijayan covers data security and privacy issues, financial services security and e-voting for Computerworld .

Source:

http://www.itnews.com/internet-based-applications-and-services/15658/judge-approves-facebooks-settlement-offer-beacon-case?page=0,0

Professional Web Design Chicago

Viacom-YouTube Secrets To Be Exposed in Lawsuit

A legal tussle pitting media conglomerate Viacom Inc. against online video leader YouTube is about to get dirtier as a federal judge prepares to release documents that will expose their secrets and other confidential information.

The information expected to be unsealed Thursday will include some of the evidence that Viacom and Google-owned YouTube have collected to prove their respective points, but have kept under wraps so far during their 3-year-old dispute over copyright law.

The sensitive material is emerging now because Viacom and YouTube are citing some of the documents as they try to persuade U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton in New York to decide the case without a trial. Stanton isn't likely to decide on a so-called summary judgment for several more months.

Each side will likely be pointing to things that the other might find embarrassing.

The evidence is expected to provide insights into the early strategies of YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen and how they responded to copyright complaints that quickly accumulated a few months after the Web site's 2005 debut. The documents also could reveal whether other media suitors tried to buy YouTube before Google acquired the site for $1.76 billion in 2006.

Viacom, the owner of Paramount Pictures and cable TV channels that include Comedy Central, sued YouTube in 2007 seeking more than $1 billion in damages.

Viacom alleges that YouTube built its early success by rampantly infringing on copyrights. YouTube maintains it follows the copyright laws governing the Internet.

Viacom seems particularly interested in sharing some of the documents that it gathered from YouTube and Google. The company, based in New York, argued for a quick release of the records shortly after it and YouTube filed their motions for summary judgments.

YouTube's lawyers unsuccessfully tried to persuade Stanton to keep the documents under seal until this summer.

One of the biggest disputes in the case is how YouTube monitored its site for copyright violations before Google bought it.

Viacom contends YouTube's employees realized copyright-protected video was being illegally posted on the Web site, but routinely looked the other way because they knew the professionally produced material would help attract a bigger audience and encourage return visits.

YouTube lawyers have contended there was no way to know whether copyright-protected video was coming from pirates or from movie and TV studios looking to use the Web site as a promotional tool. If a studio issued a notice of a copyright violation, YouTube says it promptly removed the specified clip as required under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The 1998 federal law generally protects service providers such as YouTube from copyright claims as long as they promptly remove infringing material when notified about a violation. The outcome could hinge on whether Viacom can prove YouTube knew about the copyright abuses without formal notice from Viacom.

Although other content producers also initially complained about copyright abuse at YouTube, many media companies have since struck revenue-sharing deals with the Web site.

YouTube won over much of the professional media by developing technology that automatically detects video and audio claimed by its copyright owners.

Source:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100318/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_viacom_youtube;_ylt=AgOPiIY4__hzc83BxBstPiwjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTJtcjdob3BpBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMzE4L3VzX3RlY192aWFjb21feW91dHViZQRjcG9zAzEEcG9zAzIEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDdmlhY29tLXlvdXR1

Chicago Website Design

Microsoft Loses $106 Million Patent Verdict to VirnetX

A jury in Texas said the patent infringement was willful.



A court in Texas has ordered Microsoft to pay communications software maker VirnetX US$105.75 million after a jury found it guilty of willful infringement of two patents belonging to the company.

In a case that began over two years ago, VirnetX accused Microsoft of infringing the two patents, which are related to communications security, at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

The willful nature of the infringement means Microsoft faced treble damages in the lawsuit, according to court documents. The original complaint was filed by VirnetX on Feb 15, 2007.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to questions about the case.

VirnetX built its patent portfolio from a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency security project, according to the company. It expects Microsoft to appeal the decision.

Source: http://www.itworld.com/legal/101164/microsoft-loses-106-million-patent-verdict-virnetx

Chicago Web Site Design Company

Good Website Design Supports Search Engine Marketing

Your Search Engine Marketing efforts are geared toward bringing more visitors to your website. Once there, it is the job of your website to convert such visits into sales. How can your website do this if it does not have an optimized Professional Web Design? By optimized, we mean a design that is user-friendly and leads the user to purchase your products or services.

A website offers information to the visitor using a combination of graphics, text and, in some cases, video and audio. It can be a one-page website or a collection of web pages linked to each other to form a whole.

Like all other projects, web design needs careful planning for its design layout and contents. This will also be the basis for easier website expansion later.

It is very important that the main objective of the website be identified clearly in the planning stage. Who is the target audience of the website and what action do you want that audience to do? Only when these are clearly defined will you be able to plan the design of the website effectively.

Of course, anyone from around the world can view your website. You also have to make sure, therefore, that your website appeals to a wide audience even while it is especially targeted to your preferred primary audience.

Your business website's look should reflect the image you want to project for your company. It should contain the company's profile and products and services. Upon arriving at your website, your visitors should immediately see what you can do for them and why you are their best choice over your competitors. Your website should have rich content, an attractive visual design and an intuitive interface. Your content should be original and informative to your visitors. It is important that this content is written with search engine optimization in mind, with all the appropriate keywords and key phrases in place.

Most websites are made up of several web pages. Each web page should have its own objectives. The web pages should be titled based on your keywords and key phrases.

From the home page and all other pages of the website, the visitor must be able to see what other pages are available and what links to click to get there. Graphic icons can be used with text to aid navigation and interaction. Make sure, though, that the graphics do not take too long to load. Stick with small file sizes. Do not make your visitor rely on the "back" and "forward" buttons of the web browser. Your own menu should be on every web page, with links to all other web pages. These links should change to a distinctly different color once a link has been visited so that the visitor knows where he has already been and where he has not yet visited.

A very useful tool in planning the website is the storyboard. The storyboard is the counterpart of an outline for the website. It contains the general objective of the website and its primary target audience. It also includes all the individual web pages and their respective objectives. All the minor objectives should be working in support of the general objective of the entire website. With the storyboard, everything is placed in their proper places. You avoid having a confusing website. You also avoid duplicate content as well as missing out on some important details. At a glance, you immediately see what you have or do not have. This can also make your site mapping much easier. It saves you much time and effort.

With proper planning and preparation, you are on your way to the best Professional Web Design Chicago to support your Search Engine Marketing Campaign.