Are you at home?

I had a blog post for today, all nice and neatly prepared.

This one isn't it.

The other one will wait. By now, if you haven't picked up on this, I am a bit of a security-minded person (if you weren't aware of this, go read this then come back.) I ran across a website, pleaserobme.com that I have to blog about. The premise behind PleaseRobMe is to post when people use social media to indicate they're not at home. This means facebooking/tweeting about work, grocery shopping, travel, etc. could be posted on this site as an "opportunity." They claim that they are doing this to make people aware of their postings, and thus their personal security flaws. Potential thieves, revenge-seekers, and other miscreants can then abuse this information.

I will say that, on the tweets I have viewed on this site, they were all on profiles set to let everyone view them. So that is one simple to solve, make your personal profiles accessible only to those whom you approve. But even then, who out there doesn't have someone on their friend list or followers who you are only on so-so terms with? Are you comfortable with them knowing where and when you are home? it certainly makes me re-think my postings. which, according to the PleaseRobMe creators, is part of their purpose.

AddisonTechnologies provides social media/marketing for many of our clients, and we promise we will never be posting your GPS location or intentionally exposing you to harm, physical or financial. But what about business owners who personally manage their own social media? They have to be diligent, especially if their business and personal accounts are one in the same. To make the account private would eliminate its usefulness as a marketing tool. Those owners would be wise to make the decision--business or personal--for their accounts and stick to it.

While I'm not for their methods, I agree with the message--that of security--that these people are trying to convey. There is a notice on the site that states that they are re-thinking their direction, due to all of the press they are receiving. I hope they will be responsible in their new direction.

Google Again...

Google's at it again. Yeah, I know, it seems like we talk about Google a lot around here. But lets face it, as web design/web marketing specialists, we've got to be on top of what the giant is doing, in order to be competitive. And thus, we ponder, we discuss, we muse, we mock. And we pay attention. All to give Addison Tech's clients the best opportunities to maximize their businesses.

Now, that being said, on to the next thing we're keeping an eye on at Google!
This article talks about how Google has further set its sights on competing with Facebook and Twitter for the social media arena. Features within Google chat allow status similar to Twitter and Facebook's status. They are working on real-time streams like the others, also.

The article points out, however, that other forays into this realm have failed for Google. Users are typically unwilling to give up their Facebooking to utilize Gmail's functions. In my personal experience, I understand this completely. I have friends on Facebook that, while I don't mind talking to in that format, I wouldn't want them having access to my email. (These are the chronic "they're tracking this email and will send you $1,000 for every forward!" emailers.) Plus, quite frankly, I'm lazy. I took the time to find all these people on FB. I don't need to find them again on some other network that does the exact same thing.

But, lest we forget, this is how Google got big. They took something that someone else had already done, tweaked it, and did it better. So we would be wise to not discount them entirely yet.

"That's amazing. I've got the same combination on my luggage"

Passwords. We all have them now days. Lots of people despise them, most tolerate them, and idiots write them down on post-it notes stuck to their monitors. It seems like all the time we're hearing about security breaches when accounts for some major company are hacked. Ever wonder why it is that accounts are hacked so easily?
Well, as this article points out, the Rockyou.com breach allowed an opportunity for that FAQ to be answered. Imperva studied the 32 million passwords that were hacked, and some interesting findings came up. Passwords haven't evolved much since 1990.
Think about that.
1990.
Think, if your hairstyle had not evolved since 1990, how much ridicule you'd be subjected to. You shudder at the thought, don't you? Yet our unevolved passwords make us vulnerable to much more than ridicule. Many people use the same password for their email, work, bank information, online bill payments, twitter, etc. By one being hacked, the rest are compromised. Are you able to access any sensitive data at work? The hackers can access it too. Money in your bank account? Its not secure any more.
This isn't just a pesky matter of having to re-set your passwords and set your facebook status to "hey everyone, i got hacked, that last post wasn't me, dude." No, this is a mindset. The article states that the top 10 most common passwords (of the Rockyou.com scandal) were:

1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. Password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123

We've all been told by our IT people that the most secure passwords are those that have upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. It's a pain, I know. But if your little fingers aren't getting a workout while typing your password, it's not a good one.

*wipes brow and steps off of soapbox* Now back to your regularly blogged snark :-)

We will be a real company when:

January 14, 2000 is the day Addison Technologies became incorporated. The idea was simple enough: design, host and market web sites. Addison has lived through the dot com crash, 2 recessions and what appears to be on of the tightest credit crunches in history. I remember a line we used frequently over the course of the past ten years: “we will be a real company when…” . When was whatever we were trying to do was accomplished. We will be a real company when:

We have toll free numbers
Our first employee
We have our own air hockey table
We have over 10 servers
we have over 20 servers
Health insurance
IRA
Our own controller
Have a devoted customer service rep.
We have 100 clients
We have 200 clients
We have 300 clients
Two T1 lines
Have multiple offices
Have our own Jet (well that one is still in the works)



This saying turned out to be prophetic, because somewhere along the way, we became a real company. Congratulations are in order, but more importantly we would like to offer thanks to all the helped along the way. Thank you for not just helping, but becoming part of the Addison Technologies family that continues to grow by the day. The next ten years will be just adventurous as the last, and we can’t wait for the next thing, that will make us a real company!

Quick Questions

So, dear readers, I was reading through this story about how a researcher has shown how Google is in bed with spyware, cheating its advertisers and annoying its users. Now, my first reaction to this was "Well, that figures." But after thinking about it for a minute, I came up with a couple of points, things I thought I'd never have to ask:
1) Is anyone sadistic enough to Like pop-up ads?
and, assuming the answer to number 1 is a big, fat "no!" then
2) Many browsers (like Firefox and Opera) come with an integrated pop-up blocker that work beautifully. Who wouldn't take advantage of that? And for those of you who are committed to browsers like IE who don't have that...
3) Who, nowdays, doesn't use a pop-up blocker?
I mean, really? Several places offer blockers that work well, over the years I've used various ones with success.
Now, I'm never for a company screwing its clients, nor for a company annoying its users. Its bad form. The point I'm getting to is, I would have never known this was going on, if I hadn't read this article. I would have gone on assuming things were all right and proper, because I wasn't seeing the offending ads. How many people are like the pre-article me? Lots, my friends.
Which brings me to my other point: if you're not going to let trusted professionals help you (like our marketing team at Addison Technologies)then become educated. Find out these things yourself, not in a tinfoil-hat education or instant expert way, but in a become savvy in what you're asking/receiving way. Things generally go more smoothly if you understand how they work.
Now, I'm off to read up further...

Top 10....Well, Make That Top 5 List

Happy New Year's Eve to all! The end of the year always means top ten lists everywhere, from tv to music to the internet. Of course, bloggers everywhere are making their own lists of 10 things they thought were important/stupid/influential/etc. All for you to read and ponder.
But let's face it, its New Year's Eve. You, dear reader, are more than likely about to go out with friends, or sit cozily at home and watch them take Dick Clark out of the formaldehyde vat for one more ball drop countdown. You have things to do. So, out of the greatest consideration for your time, we've condensed all the top 10 lists into the top five things that caught our attention.

5.Green Things
Everything has "gone green" lately, from laundry detergent to light bulbs. Why wouldn't IT? It's not only where to recycle those computer parts anymore, either, it's the fact that companies are evaluating how to make their data centers more energy efficient, and seeing how to reduce their carbon footprint.

4.More People Use Netbooks
Tiny computers for business folk to use for internet and email. Bigger screen than a cellphone, but smaller than the average laptop. Great for buses, subways, coffee shops and park benches nationwide. Of course they're a hit!

3. More Built-In Wireless Broadband
For us at Addison Technologies, and any other web businesses, this is a good thing. More people have built in wireless cards in their phones, netbooks and laptops, thereby giving more people web access. More people on the web = more potential customers.

2. Google Chrome
Its always interesting to watch competition, especially when it involves giants like Microsoft and Google. Chrome is promising things like security, which Microsoft has been notoriously hackable on. As with all free market competition, this should be beneficial to us, the end users!

1. Flying Car
It's quite nearly 2010, and we still don't have those flying cars that we were promised way back in the day. But things are looking up, a Massachusetts company is working on a car/airplane that runs on regular unleaded, and can drive on the highway.


Happy New Year, All!

The Searches, They Are a Changing

Bing vs. Google. Google vs. Bing. As the search war heats up, its only going to get better for web business. As the search giants battle it out, the spoils of the war will go to us, the consumers, by way of better and more relevant search results. Your target audience will better be able to search for your products with the features that are to come. Competition leads to change and innovation!
Addison Technologies already provides our customers with excellent search engine optimization. As the search engines improve their results, then, our work for you becomes that much better!