Website Security Rules of the Road

In 2004, online consumer spending was at a record $65.1 billion.  More and more people are attracted to the ease of online shopping and are spending higher amounts. Unfortunately, the chances of becoming a victim of Internet fraud are also increasing. The Internet National Fraud Center Watch reported that the average loss to fraud victims for just the first six months of 2005 was $2,579.   This is compared to the $895 average for all of 2004.   Complaints relating to general merchandise purchases (goods never received or misrepresented) accounted for 30% of Internet fraud complaints, and auction purchases (goods never received or misrepresented) topped the list at 44%.

While many e-commerce Websites are reputable and have taken the necessary safety precautions to protect you, it never hurts to always proceed cautiously.  If you are making an online purchase consider these easy steps:

1.                  Use only one credit card, preferably with a low credit limit, when making online purchases.  Avoid using an ATM or debit card.

2.                  Be wary of unsolicited offers by sellers.  The Internet National Fraud Information Center Watch reported that email, as a method of contact by Internet scammers was up 22% in 2004.While the offer may be legitimate, spammers like to use this tactic to side-step reputable sites that provide consumer protection for online purchases. 

3.                  Use only reputable e-commerce websites that list a street address and telephone number in case you need to contact them directly.

4.                  Read the website’s privacy policy.  Some websites may reserve the right to sell/give your information to a third party.  Check the document to see if they allow an opportunity to “opt-out” of receiving special offers from third-party vendors or for permission to share your personal information.

5.                  Check for a lock symbol in the status bar at the bottom of your Web browser window.  Also, do not provide your personal information if the website address doesn’t start with “https” (a sign that the site is using a secure server).

6.                  Choose only verified sellers.   Check to see if the vendor is a verified member of a reputable third party such as the Better Business Bureau, VeriSign, or Guardian eCommerce.  These third-party sites help to ensure online consumers will be protected when shopping or conducting e-commerce transactions.

7.                  Check that the delivery date posted is reasonable.  If you have not dealt with the vendor on a regular basis, be wary of any Website that states the shipment will be delayed  20 or more days.  Delivery dates of 7-10 days are more common.

8.                  Keep a paper trail of all online transactions.  Print out a hard copy of the transaction and keep it in a file for future reference.

9.                  Be wary of website offers that just sound too good to be true.  The Internet is littered with get rich quick scams and false advertising claims. Investigate all claims thoroughly before proceeding.

If you do not receive what you paid for, and the vendor will not return your emails or calls, contact your state’s Department of Consumer Affairs for further assistance.

The Key to Better Websites, Part A, Navigation.

Introduction

Importance of the latter :

One of the primary implications of a well-organized / good website, is to keep your visitors in the website. A website is definitely created for a purpose, unless intended for personal use, which is the minority. For example, a portfolio website would want to be visited and it’s content viewed. For companies and internet businesses, your website certainly aims to provide product information, to make sales, or somewhat similar. However, most individuals undoubtly prefer visually captivating designs, so on and so forth. It is undeniable that this causes no harm, but one must put himself/herself in other people’s shoes, as to understand how a visitor to the website might think, do and react.

1 )  Navigation

 As I said, a web designer has to learn how to think the way your visitors think.

Situation A : Website with good navigation ( 2-3 hyperlinks to target page ), well planned  in terms of placement, and design.

Situation B : Website with poor navigation ( takes forever for the visitor to reach his/her target page ), hard-to-read navigation fonts and poor placement of the navigation buttons/bar.

In Situation A, a visitor will always want to be able to access his/her target page. For example, the individual comes across your website, and is interested in the product sold, but wants to find more information. He/she finds the navigation with no trouble, and enters the particular product information page.

As for Situation B, a visitor stumbles into the website, and would also like to find out more information about the product. Unfortunately, due to bad placement and fanciful font-types, the visitor takes forever, or even fails to find the navigation bar. Even when he/she does so, links to the product information are nowhere to be found, (example : home > about > products > product image > etc…[a few more clicks] > product information ).

 Analysis : In both situations, wouldn’t a website with characteristics similar to the Situation A be more rewarding ergo better?

The Key to Better Websites, Part B, Design

Design, design, design. To put the wonders of a good design into perspective, imagine a when we are purchasing a T-Shirt. First of all, what do we look at? The design of the T-Shirt, of course. Well most people do, other than the material factor. But let’s assume the all other factors are constant, wouldn’t the design or looks, become the key aspect then?

2 )  Design

Putting oneself in another individual’s shoes, as usual. Here are another two situations.

Situation A : A website with good design and breathtaking graphics. (Good color schemes with matching theme), pictures. (Optimum resolutions and relevant) and proper fonts and word sizes.

Situation B : A website inversely equipped with hideous graphics and pictures in terms of resolution, quality and relevancy. (Red pictures with a bright green background) Fonts used were not matching albeit too fanciful. (Too small, artsy font-types)

Situation A, visitors that enter the website are immediately awestruck by the design and artwork. The well placed pictures and designs will somewhat symbolizes the positive nature of the company/website. As we know, most people DO judge by impression.

As for Situation B, the shabby environment due to severe lack of creativity and badly taken pictures wouldn’t exactly help in attracting visitors. Fonts that were hard to be read, let alone comprehended, and mismatching themes in terms of color, isn’t exactly welcoming, is it?

Analysis: Now, the main idea here is to always plan your websites, try to get other individuals for feedback and perspectives. Each mindset might differ, but at least you will get room for improvement. Don’t get me wrong, even a plain website with proper design would generate plenty of positive implications, but the key idea here is to at least maintain an impressionable website.

Trojan Horse….Greek Myth or Computer Nemesis?

We have all heard the term Trojan Horse, but what exactly is it?  A Trojan Horse is a destructive program that masquerades as a harmless application. Unlike viruses, Trojan Horses do not replicate themselves, but they can be just as destructive. One of the most dangerous examples of a Trojan is a program that promises to rid your computer of viruses but instead introduces viruses into your computer.

The Trojan can be tricky. Who hasn’t been online and had an advertisement pop up claiming to be able to rid your computer of some nasty virus?  Or, even more frightening, you receive an email that claims to be alerting you to a new virus that can threaten your computer. The sender promises to quickly eradicate, or protect, your computer from viruses if you simply download their “free”, attached software into your computer. You may be skeptical but the software looks legitimate and the company sounds reputable.  You proceed to take them up on their offer and download the software.  In doing so, you have just potentially exposed yourself to a massive headache and your computer to a laundry list of ailments. 

When a Trojan is activated, numerous things can happen.  Some Trojans are more annoying than malicious.  Some of the less annoying Trojans may choose to change your desktop settings or add silly desktop icons.  The more serious Trojans can erase or overwrite data on your computer, corrupt files, spread other malware such as viruses, spy on the user of a computer and secretly report data like browsing habits to other people, log keystrokes to steal information such as passwords and credit card numbers, phish for bank account details (which can be used for criminal activities), and even install a backdoor into your computer system so that they can come and go as they please.

To increase your odds of not encountering a Trojan, follow these guidelines. 

1.         Remain diligent
Trojans can infect your computer through rogue websites, instant messaging, and emails with attachments.  Do not download anything into your computer unless you are 100 percent sure of its sender or source.

2.         Ensure that your operating system is always up-to-date.  If you are running a Microsoft Windows operating system, this is essential.

3.         Install reliable anti-virus software.  It is also important that you download any updates frequently to catch all new Trojan Horses, viruses, and worms.  Be sure that the anti-virus program that you choose can also scan e-mails and files downloaded through the internet.

4.         Consider installing a firewall.  A firewall is a system that prevents unauthorized use and access to your computer.  A firewall is not going to eliminate your computer virus problems, but when used in conjunction with regular operating system updates and reliable anti-virus software, it can provide additional security and protection for your computer.

Nothing can guarantee the security of your computer 100 percent. However, you can continue to improve your computer's security and decrease the possibility of infection by consistently following these guidelines.

Securing Your Computer System

oday, more and more people are using their computers for everything from communication to online banking and investing to shopping.  As we do these things on a more regular basis, we open ourselves up to potential hackers, attackers and crackers.  While some may be looking to phish your personal information and identity for resale, others simply just want to use your computer as a platform from which to attack other unknowing targets.  Below are a few easy, cost-effective steps you can take to make your computer more secure.

1.                  Always make backups of important information and store in a safe place separate from your computer.3.                  Install a firewall.  Without a good firewall, viruses, worms, Trojans, malware and adware can all easily access your computer from the Internet. Consideration should be given to the benefits and differences between hardware and software based firewall programs.

4.                  Review your browser and email settings for optimum security.  Why should you do this?  Active-X and JavaScript are often used by hackers to plant malicious programs into your computers.  While cookies are relatively harmless in terms of security concerns, they do still track your movements on the Internet to build a profile of you.  At a minimum set your security setting for the “internet zone” to High, and your “trusted sites zone” to Medium Low.

5.                  Install antivirus software and set for automatic updates so that you receive the most current versions.

6.                  Do not open unknown email attachments.  It is simply not enough that you may recognize the address from which it originates because many viruses can spread from a familiar address.   

7.                  Do not run programs from unknown origins.  Also, do not send these types of programs to friends and coworkers because they contain funny or amusing stories or jokes.  They may contain a Trojans horse waiting to infect a computer.

8.                  Disable hidden filename extensions.  By default, the Windows operating system is set to “hide file extensions for known file types”.  Disable this option so that file extensions display in Windows.  Some file extensions will, by default, continue to remain hidden, but you are more likely to see any unusual file extensions that do not belong.  

9.                  Turn off your computer and disconnect from the network when not using the computer.  A hacker can not attack your computer when you are disconnected from the network or the computer is off.

Consider making a boot disk on a floppy disk in case your computer is damaged or compromised by a malicious program.  Obviously, you need to take this step before you experience a hostile breach of your system.

Ideas For Handicap Bathrooms

shower units. This will ensure that you do not need to ask anyone for help while you are in the shower again. You will find that if you already have a normal shower in your home, you do not have to break it out to build the new handicap bathroom shower units.

The most important part of the shower is that it has to be accessible to your, if you are in a wheel chair. This means that if your current shower has a step up leading into the shower, you will need to get that taken out. For this part, you will need to call in a building team, so that they can chop out and re-plaster the floor. You may also want to create a sort of indent leading to the drain, so that the water does not run out of the shower as a result of not having a blocking wall.

There are so many things that you can do withshower units, so you may want to come up with a few ideas. It does not need to look boring, and it does not need to look like a shower that a handicap person uses, if you do not want that feel in your home. If you need to make use of a chair while you are in the shower, then you will have to make sure that there is enough space in the show to allow you to be seated while you clean yourself.

Observations About What Can Be Partnership Advertising

Client commitment is a vital component for being effective inside your company.Company is faithful with a manufacturer,products or services whom these peoplecompletely trust. Building believe in amongyour customers can be a important portion of a great partnership online marketing strategy.
Any Beginner’s Help guide to1.Partnership advertising explanation
What's Romantic relationship marketing and advertising all about ? Romantic relationshipadvertising and marketing can be defined as a procedure in which targets client preservation.This is a online strategy employed to produce a strong connect with the existingcustomers.Your nook natural stone involving profitable relationship marketing and advertisingis usually to build long-lasting associations using clients.
The objective of partnership advertising is usually to preserve and make client loyalty. A greatconnection online video marketing plan could aid in achieving this aim.
2. Romantic relationship Advertising and marketing is Central source associated with aBusiness