June 23rd, 2009
For the last 5 years I’ve worked at a small retail/manufacturing shop. There are three of us, a coworker and the owner. It’s a franchise, the chain is international. (It’s a great place to work. I get to take my dog in with me every day. We are getting more orders than we can reasonably handle. It’s been a great year. In case you were wondering.)
There are only two locations in all of San Diego county. There are more than 15 in Los Angeles county. The chain spends advertising money in the L.A. market but not any further South. No print ads, no mailers, no TV. I think they’ve run 2 radio commercials in the last 5 years.
I was hired as the office manager when the shop was a year old. I do some production work but primarily I’m supposed to answer the phone, be the face to the customer and perform other management functions, including building and maintaining the shop’s website (cwsandiego.com if you’re curious).
The website’s the focus of the present issue between the franchise chain’s owners and my boss and me.
In less than a month at the shop I realized how unknown our chain was in San Diego and how much we needed a way to publicize ourselves. “Corporate” wasn’t going to help. We paid into a marketing fund every month, only to have those funds used to finance campaigns in other cities. The contribution of only two shops won’t fund much. So I started pitching low to no cost methods of getting better known to my boss. The first shop owner was a geek, an engineer and a very nice person. But she was by her own admission no salesman. We couldn’t really afford a full-time salesman. But we could afford a domain and website.
I’m a well read geek. I’ve enjoyed and been challenged by books like The Cluetrain Manifesto, The Cathedral and the Bazaar and Naked Conversations. So I advocated for permission to start a website and get us involved in various social/business online networks. She liked the idea and I went ahead and bought our domain with the same host as I’d used for other registrations (1and1.com. I like them, some don’t. Decide for yourself. I confess I don’t care much for GoDaddy, not much at all.) The domain is registered in my name and I am paying for it. The first owner backed me all the way, as has the current owner. He’s even more encouraging than the first owner was. We’re considering Facebook.
Predictably, the chain’s owner called and told the boss the website needed to come down. They provided a cookie-cutter site for each of their franchisees and they don’t want competition. Sadly, their sites can’t be modified much and have a uniformly boring layout. Input to those sites, like a price quote request, goes first to the corporate people then they have to forward it to us, awkward and unnecessary. Their sites are sterile and don’t encourage conversation. I could go on for paragraphs about how much the site they expect us to “use” offends me, and I’m not even a hard-core site builder. I don’t disguise the fact I use Word Press. Some no doubt consider that not much better than using Front Page, I’d argue otherwise. 
Anyway, twice now they’ve objected to the site and demanded its removal. The first time I told the CEO to bug off; I own the domain and the site. I’d be happy to remove any mention of the franchise from the site (including the links to their sites). I can type our name so that it doesn’t mention the chain.I never heard back from him and considered the topic closed. Oops. They’re at it again.
We’ve been averaging 7000 unique hits a month. Time on site and pages read are decent enough for our type of site. We have a relationship established with those subscribed to us that trancends the international brand. Can they show me equivalent numbers for their sites? Our email address is our domain. It’s been a great marketing tool. Our coporate email address would be long and hard to remember.
We have an established reader base for both our site, our blog and our newsletter. Did I mention I also get to publish a monthly (sometimes) newsletter? Well, I don’t want to brag, but…
I’ve put a lot of time and effort, for which my boss has paid me reasonably well, into being creative and personal in our efforts to establish a relationship with our readers. I eschew stiff and unfriendly websites in general. I try to come across online the same way I would in person. And I’m not a big fan of formality. I wear jeans everyday. Everyday.I’ve also worked to make us within the first 5 returns for certain keywords on Google. I’ve made sure and do it properly, no cheating or dubious shortcuts. Our integrity is important to us. I don’t know if corporate shares those standards or not.
So I guess, once again, we get to play “Whose domain is it, anyway?“, a form of poker. I’ve got a great poker face when it comes to tech. The corporate guys have shown they don’t “get” the web. Our shop uses Twitter. Not as much as I’d like, but I’m stretched a bit thin these days, considering we’re doing over three times the business we were when I started all this, and there’s still only 3 of us. Several other franchises are on Twitter, but not the owners. The big boys show no interest in reaching out to the online community. I consider this especially insane in light of the fact that we work in a field that is tangental to the lives of most every computer owner out there, their printer. Who reading this doesn’t own a printer? Come on, raise your hands. I thought so.
We’ll see who wins this round. There will continue to be a site at that address.
Categories: Tech Politics
Tags: advertising, domains, websites
June 21st, 2009
Security sites are warning web users to beware fake Twitter invites in their email inboxes. The reports, based on an alert on Wednesday from Symantec, say the emailed invites come with a malicious attachment which, if downloaded, harvests email addresses from your computer and copies itself to removable drives and shared folders. 
The emails carry the subject line “Your friend invited you to twitter!”, while the sender’s address is spoofed as “invitations@twitter.com”. Unlike a typical Twitter invite, however, the email contains no invitation link: instead it carries the attached file Invitation Card.zip, tempting the receiver to download it. The attachment, of course, contains W32.Ackantta.B@mm – a nasty, email address-harvesting worm.
Read more on this at Mashable.
Categories: Security
Tags: attachments, Email, Security, Twitter, worm
June 14th, 2009
It’s been said a thousand times before but deserves to be repeated a thousand times more: Do not blindly click on “Yes” or “Next” in any registration box when registering on a website without carefully reading what you’re agreeing to.
Many sites (some legitimate some not so much) have a multi-step registration process. First you pick a username and password, then you’re often asked to fill in your profile information, agree to the Terms of Service and quite often, whether or not you want to send an email or text message to your contacts inviting them to join you on this site. Beware of agreeing to that.
Granted, social sites are not as enjoyable when no one you know uses them. But too many of these sites will send out an unsolicited email on your behalf to every name on your Gmail, MSN, Yahoo or AOL contact list inviting them to join you at this site. Is this going to be welcomed by every one of your contacts? If I’m on your contact list the answer is a resounding NO. I’m happy you found a site you like. I might consider taking a look at it if you send me a personal message or email telling me why this particular site would appeal to me. But if I recieve a generic email from a site I’ve never heard of telling me that my friend has joined this site and I’m invited to do the same, I’m tossing that email in the trash and re-evaluating my opinion of that friendship.
Our email inboxes are already polluted with too much spam. Even the best mailbox filters can’t catch it all. When people on my contact list spam me, that garbage gets a pass from my filters, since it’s from someone I know.
So please, the next time you find a cute new game to play on Facebook or join a new social networking site, do not blindly click on the option to add all the friends on your contact list. Show your friends some respect. If you can select particular contacts to notify, and you know for a fact that this site will appeal to me, go ahead and send me an invite. But do it from your own email account so I know the invitation is intentional and not the result of a twitchy right index finger.
An example of the pitfalls of blindly sending out invitations to everyone on your contact list has been posted to Time’s website. It’s worth a read. Sean Gregory, Tagged: The World’s Most Annoying Website.
Categories: Email
Tags: AOL, Facebook, netettiquite, spam, Yahoo
May 25th, 2009
I was just reading a post to Friendfeed that reminded me of my intention to pass along a simple tip that has saved me hours of frustration.
That post addresses a box of keys. Many people have them; a box of keys from ages past that no one has any idea which locks they go to. When I first conceived this tip I was thinking of the many chargers we accumulate as we add more and more electronic gadgets to our lives. 
How many of these things are floating around your house? I must have ten or more. The worst thing is that they are all far too similar. The only differentiating factor is the tip, and that usually doesn’t suggest a specific piece of electronics. Does it go to my old PDA or my new cordless razor?
They often don’t have a name brand on them, that would be helpful. And you can’t simply plug them into the wall then into a gadget to see if it powers up. Get the polarity wrong and you could fry a valuable device.
So whether you have a box of miscellaneous keys or a dozen no-name chargers, here’s a simple and inexpensive way to keep track of where all these things go and what they belong to.
The metallic silver, fine point Sharpie.
On every charger in my house is written the device it goes to in silver Sharpie. Even chargers that carry an identifying brand I write the exact device it powers. You may have to write small, especially on keys, and you may have to renew the label every so often, but seeing a charger with “SamCellPhone” written in silver on the plug-in means I don’t have to try and read the “Samsung” embossed on the side.
Silver Sharpies are great for writing on any dark object. Just please, don’t be tempted to use it to write your universal password on the bottom of your laptop for easy reference.
Categories: Hardware, Tips&Tricks
Tags: electronics, identification, Sharpie, tip
May 24th, 2009
Microsoft has introduced a new way to analyze your system for issues and offer advice for correcting them.
With one click, Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services will detect problems on your machine and automatically fix any common problems that are found. Check back often as we are adding new Fix it diagnostic solutions all the time!
New diagnose and repair solutions
(Note: You can only run this using Internet Explorer 7 or 8. It does not support Firefox or other non-MS browser.)
(Thanks to Greg Duncan and Corrine at Security Garden for the link)
Categories: Software, Tips&Tricks, Windows
Tags: Microsoft, troubleshooting, Windows
April 18th, 2009
Everywhere you look on the internet there are numbered lists. “The Top 10 Reasons Why…”, “The 15 Best Ways to…”, “20 Tips for a Better…”, “Five New … Rated and Reviewed”.
Following are the Top 10 Signs You Might be Addicted to Numbered Lists:
- You have an RSS feed dedicated to blogs that frequently post Top 10, 20 50 lists.
- You’ve set up a Gmail Alert for Top 10, 20, 50 lists.
- On a blog or website with a numbered list, you read the list first and the surrounding article last.
- You actually count the points made to see if they agree with the title.
- You get really irritated if the title is something like “the Top 10 Signs You Might be Addicted to Numbered Lists” then lists only seven signs.
- You can always think of at least one point they missed.
So there you go. Are you addicted to numbered lists?
(For my addicted friends: http://www.top10lists.com/)
Categories: Commentary
Tags: lists, top 10
April 1st, 2009
Surely by now you’ve heard of the potential threat by the Conficker.B worm. Here’s what Microsoft has to say and what they suggest to avoid infection and what to do if you think you may be infected.
Aliases:
TA08-297A (other)
CVE-2008-4250 (other)
VU827267 (other)
Win32/Conficker.A (CA)
Mal/Conficker-A (Sophos)
Trojan.Win32.Agent.bccs (Kaspersky)
W32.Downadup.B (Symantec)
Confickr (other)
Worm:Win32/Conficker.B is a worm that infects other computers across a network by exploiting a vulnerability in the Windows Server service (SVCHOST.EXE). If the vulnerability is successfully exploited, it could allow remote code execution when file sharing is enabled. It may also spread via removable drives and weak administrator passwords. It disables several important system services and security products.
Microsoft also recommends that users ensure that their network passwords are strong to prevent this worm from spreading via weak administrator passwords.
How do I know if my computer is infected?
System Changes
The following system changes may indicate the presence of this malware:
- The following services are disabled or fail to run:
Windows Update Service
Background Intelligent Transfer Service
Windows Defender
Windows Error Reporting Services
- Users may not be able to connect to websites or online services that contain the following strings:
virus
spyware
malware
rootkit
defender
microsoft
symantec
norton
mcafee
trendmicro
sophos
panda
etrust
networkassociates
computerassociates
f-secure
kaspersky
jotti
f-prot
nod32
eset
grisoft
drweb
centralcommand
ahnlab
esafe
avast
avira
quickheal
comodo
clamav
ewido
fortinet
gdata
hacksoft
hauri
ikarus
k7computing
norman
pctools
prevx
rising
securecomputing
sunbelt
emsisoft
arcabit
cpsecure
spamhaus
castlecops
threatexpert
wilderssecurity
windowsupdate
Recovery Instructions
Microsoft strongly recommends that users apply the update referred to in Security Bulletin MS08-067immediately.
Note: Computers infected by Conficker may be unable to connect to web sites related to security applications and services that may otherwise assist in the removal of this worm (for example, downloading antivirus updates may fail). In this case users will need to use an uninfected computer in order to download any appropriate updates or tools and then transfer these to the infected computer.
Microsoft Help and Support have provided a detailed guide to removing a Conficker.B infection from an affected computer, either manually or by using the MSRT (Malicious Software Removal Tool).
For detailed instructions on how to manually remove Conficker.B, view the following article using an uninfected computer:
Additional information on deploying MSRT in an enterprise environment can be found here:
Preventing infection
Take the following steps to help prevent infection on your system:
-
Enable a firewall on your computer.
-
-
Use up-to-date antivirus software.
-
Use caution when opening attachments and accepting file transfers.
-
Use caution when clicking on links to web pages.
-
Protect yourself against social engineering attacks.
(Source-Microsoft)
Categories: Security, Tips&Tricks, Windows
Tags: Conficker, malware, Microsoft, Security, threats, updates, worm
March 28th, 2009
A lot of people get confused over the difference between the internet and the World Wide Web. Aren’t they interchangable? Aren’t they the same thing?
image courtesy of http://icanhascheezburger.com/
They aren’t, but the difference is largely ignored, and which ever term you use, most people know what you mean. Still, there is a difference, and for those who are interested, here’s the easiest way to remember the distinction that I’ve come across.
The internet is the network connecting online computers. Just like your home network, built around a modem and router, the internet is a series of routers and servers (computers that serve files and web pages) that form an international network of connected computers. In the 1970s and 80s the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) created the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), the means by which the vast majority of computers connect to and navigate the internet.
The World Wide Web is the content being offered on the internet. It consists of web pages, files, web services and applications. For example, Amazon is a part of the World Wide Web that you can access via the internet. Tim Berners-Lee invented the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) in 1990 as a means to link to documents and files stored in servers around the world connected to the internet.
Internet: a network of connected computers.
World Wide Web: the content you can access on the internet.
Categories: Information, Networking
Tags: HTTP, internet, TCP/IP, world wide web
February 13th, 2009
Chris Pirillo’s passion for technology has made him one of the more influential members of, for want of a better term, the techno elite. In the early days of the world wide web, Chris’ emailed newsletter was a must read for those who wanted to keep up on the latest news about this modern medium.
Several years ago he turned his Lockergnome image into a well known internet brand. Chris’ passion for tech hasn’t waned a bit over the years. Currently he sponsors blogs, hosts a forum, streams video from his home office almost continuously and writes a regular column for CPU Magazine.
Now it appears he’s decided to reinvent himself once again, this time as a developer.
Introducing Chris’ newest gift to the internet, at least the part of it that Twitters.
screenshot of the Twickie page
Sound like fun? Click on over and give it a spin. And don’t forget to Twitter @chrispirillo and let him know what you think.
Categories: Software, Webware
Tags: Blog, Chris Pirillo, Computer Power User, Information Technology, Weblogs
February 8th, 2009
So many arguments online about Linux not being ready for the desktop, not being robust enough for the enterprise solution.
Bah.
Linux is good enough for everything I do online on a daily basis. Email checking, website maintenance, blogging, forum posting… So many services are web-based these days I don’t even have to depend on my OS to install applications. 
With Microsoft preparing to offer 7-9 different flavors of Windows 7, repeating the mistake they made with Vista, and many reviewers of the beta calling 7 “Vista SP2″, what are those great arguments about the superiority of Windows again?
Categories: Information
Tags: Blog, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Operating system, Windows 7
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