Microsoft has released “critical” updates for users running most versions of Windows. From their website:

“The Windows security updates for January 2005 include several important updates for Microsoft Windows and some installations of Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1, a component of Windows. If you have any of the software listed on this page installed on your computer, you should visit the Windows Update Web site to install related updates.

Visit their security bulleting for more information.

What you’re now reading is known as a “blog”, which is short for “weblog”. Basically it’s a method of publishing news on your website on a regular basis. You simply log in, type your post, and click “Publish” - it’s that simple.

Here’s more good news - search engines like blogs.

An example from this website: After Anna Mears won her gold medal at the Athens Olympics, I posted this short note of congratulations. Within days I was recieving a lot of traffic courtesy of people searching Google for “Anna Mears”. Within days. And even now, I still rank Number one:

The reasons why are outlined in the link above - but whatever the reasons, I can vouch for the result!

Do you have news you could share with clients on a reasonably regular basis? Maybe you could benefit from a blog too. It can be integrated with your existing website, and we can also use it to form the basis of an email newsletter.

Sharing your news with clients has never been easier!

Google have released their Australian top searches for 2004. The news everyone was waiting for? Shannon Noll was searched for more than Guy Sebastian! (Yep… we all needed to know that!) Also worth a look are the global results.

Worth noting:

• Janet Jackson was more popular than John Kerry (Maybe that explains the result of the US election)
• Searches for cricket made number 8 in the sports list
• The top 4 global searches were all females (Britney, Paris, Christina Aguilera and Pamela Anderson)

Enough useless trivia? Yep!

A recent survey indicates that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is losing market share. Whilst close to 89% might seem like a pretty high figure, that has fallen 5% since May. Another browser, called Mozilla Firefox, has taken up this 5% and is gaining popularity due mainly to extra features and tighter security.

So What?

What this emphasises is the need for proper testing of your website prior to launching it. It might look fine in Internet Explorer, but what about other browsers? Would you turn away 11% of your potential customers over something as simple as checking your website in alternative browsers?

We test our websites in 16 different browsers across 5 different operating systems, giving your website the opportunity to be truly “world-wide”, and not just “Microsoft-wide”.

Does your website give you the same coverage?

Websites are like pinball machines.

“How do you figure that out?” you might ask.

An interesting commentary was published on Evolt.org yesterday, in which the author makes the following observations:

1. Pinball machines have to stand out in the arcade, and quickly communicate a message to passers by (usually something like “I’m fun!”). The home page of your website needs to quickly communicate too, so people don’t just “wander by”.
2. Pinball machines have the same basic controls, and while the machines themselves differ in what they do, you don’t need a licence to operate them. Similarly, a website needs to be easy to use with simple controls (or buttons).
3. Pinball machines offer feedback when targets are reached, and encourage new players to keep going. Websites need to do much the same thing, and offer the right amount of information at the appropriate stages.
4. Pinball machines have a built-in processor that tracks usage, how many free balls are awarded, and so on. Websites can offer you a lot of information about it’s usage - the point is, do you monitor it? You can’t improve what you don’t measure!
5. Is your website memorable? Classic pinball machines have something memorable about them - what will people remember about your website?

And in closing, the author states:

“The reason pinball machines are a good metaphor for conducting business online is because they are business tools. Their purpose is to make money. And, they do so by giving users a pleasant experience in hopes of establishing loyalty and return visits.

Interesting illustration. Read the full article here.

Hard drives have moving parts. Little motors that spin disks around at 7,200 revolutions per minute. Like anything with moving parts, hard drives eventually wear out.

If yours wore out today - how much information would you lose? Family photos? Accounting data? More?

Backing up is a bit of a nuisance to have to do, but if you have anything vaguely important stored on your computer it’s a necessary chore. With the price and availability of CD or DVD burners, it’s not quite the task it used to be, either. A couple of options:

One: Burn it to CD or DVD

Quick tip: use re-writable media for your important backups. Either CD-RW or DVD-RW/DVD+RW. The reason? Regular CDs and DVDs have big questions over their longevity. Maybe they’ll last for decades, maybe they won’t. It’s pretty much agreed though that the re-writable versions last much longer, as they use a different method of actually storing the data. I won’t get all technical here, but to be on the safe side, use rewritables for your backups or archives.

Two: Use an external hard drive

An alternative is to use an external hard drive. These plug into a USB port so they’re nice and easy to use. Create a folder with the date, and copy your ’stuff’ over. Next time, create a new folder with the new date, and so on. When the external drive gets full, delete the oldest folder and keep going.

What to backup?

This will vary from person to person & computer to computer. But you’re basically looking for:

1. Your “My Documents” folder.
2. If you’re using Outlook, search for your *.pst file. That has all your email, your calendar etc.
3. If you’re using Outlook Express, search for the *.dbx files and include the whole folder that they’re in. Then find your *.wab file, which is your address book.
4. Accounting programs like MYOB or Quickbooks often save files in their own folders - make note of where they are too.
5. Check any other industry-specific software you might be running, and see where they save their data files.

This list is by no means complete - get some specific advice if you’re unsure.

But whatever you do - put some sort of backup strategy in place before it’s too late!

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a couple spammers have been convicted in the US and one has received prison time.

Jurors who convicted Jeremy Jaynes, 30, and Jessica DeGroot, 28, on Wednesday later sentenced Jaynes to a nine-year prison term and fined DeGroot $US7500 ($A9931) for three convictions each of sending emails with fraudulent and untraceable routing information.

More amazing than that is that in one month alone, Jaynes received 10,000 credit card orders, each for $39.95!

Don’t respond to spam - it just encourages them! We keep repeating this, but there are obviously (and sadly) enough people still taking the bait.

Perhaps a few more convictions of this nature might discourage others joining in, but there will no doubt always be some who think it’s worth the risk. It’s also a matter of not just of creating laws in the first place, but also providing the manpower to enforce them.

Read the full story.