Domain/Trademark Scams

This morning I opened my email to my art site and there was an email that - at first glance - looked like a scam, but as I kept studying it further it looked more and more legitimate. It had phone numbers, contact information, and had the feel of a "real" website. Real in quotes because it looked real and many times these scams end up re-directing you to a fake / phony site asking for login information (trying to get your login/password). Although my hunch told me this was a scam, it looked very professional and I was thinking that we usually look at these types of emails several times a day -- but this one could've really tricked people into thinking it was real.

But this was a domain scam where a "company" claims to be a domain registrar then warns you that someone is trying to register one of your trademarks/domains overseas. They say they are willing to give you the opportunity to make sure that doesn't happen. If you respond to their email, the "company" will then register your domain in other available web extensions such as .cn for China or .de for Germany or .eu for Europe and possibly .us for the United States. They will then try to sell you that domain or they will just tell you they charge a fee to secure it. Avoid these types of scams - don't click on their hyperlinks, don't reply to them, just send them to the trash or report them as spam. If you are worried about your domain being bought up in those extensions then go back to the place where you registered the domain from - or you can go someplace like GoDaddy.com, Register.com or any others that are ICANN certified and register them if you're worried.

Just so you know what to look out for, here is the text of the email I received:
Dear manager:
We are [insert various company names] in China, which is a domain registration agent authorised by Chinese Industrial and Commercial Department.We professionally engage in chinese and international domain names registration as well as trademark registration service.We also offer English and Chinese web design. We received an application from a chinese company asking to register "insert your domain" as their internet keyword and domain name and trademark. However,We find that it will conflict with your trademark via our confirmation.It is our duty to inform you of this issue according to the regulations of CNNIC. You are the owner of this trademark,so you have the preferential right to register and protect it by yourself.Of course,if you do not have any disagreement on this issue or you intend to give up the registration,any individual has the right to register those domains and internet keyword,which is legal.Then we will take the formal registration for that applicant.If you oppose other company to register your trademark and domains and internet keyword,even you want to protect your trademark completely,please contact us asap.We will protect your domains firstly.

Looking forward to your reply.

Sincerely yours,
[name and contact info]



So how do you know what's a scam and what's not? If you perform a simple Google text search for the name of the company - and add keywords like "scam" after it or "email scam" then this is where the internet is most helpful. Other people report spam and scams like this all the time - so it's better to be informed, do a little research before even being tempted.

And even when you are tempted - it's much better to go the route of addressing a notable registrar directly like GoDaddy.com or Register.com, etc. When in doubt - always, Always, ALWAYS assume it's a scam of some kind. It's always better to be safe than end up being sorry.

Why We're So Critical of Web Design

We have a simple approach to web designing:

"design something that's practical, that's attractive, that's customizable, that fits the clients needs and something the client can update on their own."

Just like a painter who stares at a stark white piece of canvas for the first time, designing and developing a website from scratch takes time. We're both artists in our own endeavors and we continually draw in our inspirations from a multitude of different places, but ultimately each design is unique in and of itself.

Why is this so important?

Because we want our client's footprint on the internet to be unique and while it would be easy to use and recycle the same over and over, it goes against the basic principle of what goes into a unique footprint on the world wide web. Therefore, we avoid some of the more "enticing" options currently out on the internet because we don't want your site to be "like the next guy."

COOKIE CUTTER SITES:
Cookie cutter websites have but one purpose: getting content on the web as quickly as possible on the cheap." Which for some people - it's the way to go because they don't really care about their website design is shared with the same template that created "Acme Plumbing and Heating." The main reason why we don't like cookie cutter sites is because they have no unique expression, no life and you're ultimately limited by your ability to expand and cannot add some of the many powerful enhancements to your site. Cookie cutter sites limit your design opportunities because of how the template has been created. Cookie cutters are logo here, text here, insert picture here... programing and don't allow you to make the website unique to YOU.

These are two types of cookie cutter sites: ones designed by you, and ones designed by a web designer. There are "all-in-one" type places where you can purchase your domain name, the web host and they have an online process where you can "construct" your website from scratch. This sounds like the most ideal, cheap approach to web design, doesn't it? There are severe limitations to these sites however:

- You're typically limited to the templates they employ on their site. Customization is very limited to the confines of the structure they provide.

- Extras may cost extra and beyond. If it's even offered -- things like an online gallery, shopping carts, and forums might come with a hefty price tag attached it. Be sure to read what you're getting for that low cost..

- If there's a glitch in the website coding, unless the website offers extremely helpful, timely and effective customer support - you may be out of luck.

*MAJOR WARNING: Make sure you read the fine print. Some of these cookie cutter "all-in-one" sites offer a simple monthly payment arrangement, but in turn they ultimately own the domain name and in some arrangements, they claim the right to use your material. (We have an upcoming article that will outline the difficulties of protecting your media for another blog entry.) But for now, we want to make certain that you own your domain name if you decide to move to another hosting company. Many of these sites claim ownership of your domain and if you ever have a problem or decide you want to move -- making certain that your domain name comes with you .... maybe extremely problematic..

If you're trying out the web for the first time and you want to see how to create a website from scratch, a cookie cutter is going to work for you. But eventually you're going to discover the limitations to the design and template -- and you're going to find yourself ready to take your website to the next level.

"WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET (WYSIWYG or Wizzy-Wig)"
WYSIWYG editors are computer applications like Adobe GoLive, Dreamweaver and Fusion. Other WYSIWYG editors like Microsoft's failed "Frontpage" is thankfully no longer in circulation. These editors have come a long way over the years, but they're all far from perfect. They work on the premise not unlike PowerPoint or MS Word where you can "drag-and-drop" your content and arrange your layout to your liking. These editors interpret when you click drag and move your logo to the upper left hand corner of the layout, and then these WYSIWYG editors attempt to decipher each placement and translates that into the HTML code that goes into your website.

Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?

But in order to make that happen successfully the computer doesn't think like a designer -- it thinks like a computer. The result is a very mish-mash, hodge podge assortment of coding which adds a great deal of "programming fluff" and makes it look great in the preview, but literally impossible to troubleshoot. The additional "fluff" can also add bulk to your website which means for slower load times. (while the number of high speed internet folks is increasing, there's still a good number of folks still on dial-up.) Also, if there's any glitches anywhere in the coding and you want to change it... good luck. Your WYSIWYG editor will be limited by the level of troubleshooting it can provide. Keep in mind that because the WYSIWYG editor is designing the code in a very verbose manner -- it's going to be incredibly difficult to troubleshoot it without the editor. It most situations, the editors will only compound the problem and make the problem worse.

HAND CODING:
Just like a brush in hand that comes in contact with the canvas, a web designer who hand-codes a website and has complete control of each stroke, each line of code and the designer knows how to tune each piece of code into something definitive for the website. Hand coding is therefore much different because good designers won't hobble hobble your website like a WYSIWYG editing software program can do. Good coding can allow YOU, the user to make changes to your own website with a little bit of instruction. Good coding can allow you to make your own revisions as needed without needing to constantly employ a programmer or the designer to make those changes.

Someone who hand-codes a website so that any editor (even Notepad) can be used to make changes to your website. Also, someone who hand-codes websites understands the intricate nature of website design and can troubleshoot problems at a coding level. A WYSIWYG editor merely interprets what the site is reporting, but it has an impossible time trying to troubleshoot the issue it finds.

That said, some design will have to go through a web designer due to the complexities of the menu structure and your technological skill level. Some menu structures and effects are derived with the help of programs like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe ImageReady. Other menu structures are created using programming languages like CSS and javascript, so depending on your technical prowess you may be able to make these changes to your website on your own.

The last really great trait about hand-coders is their ability to keep things nice and neat. Most computer programmers love to keep their coding nice and neat because if there are any problems, they can go straight to the area in question and make the necessary changes. Good web designers who operate in the same manner will have nice clean coding so that anyone can come along and see exactly what's a website doing and make any changes to it. WYSIWYG programs and do-it-yourself template construction don't care if the coding is clean or not - and oftentimes makes it incredibly tedious to work with sorting through it all -- it often is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

WEB DESIGN AS AN ART FORM:
Like an artist touching a brush to canvas and making art, the web designer creates elaborate pages with a combination 1's and 0's is a bit of an art form. Good web designers use wide range of brushes with a critical eye to the design of your website. Your website should have character, form and a style that makes it unique and different from other sites.

If you're a painter, why put your artwork in something that you will limit you. Your internet presence should be a unique as you and your artwork.

Living Virus Free

Our computers have become our mainstay in our normal every day lives. We've also come very reliant on our virus programs and other anti-spyware applications to help protect us from the nasty things on the world wide web. So much so, that in many ways users have become complacent and naive about the protection they provide. In this article, we're going to delve into some of the basic things one can do to help keep their computers virus free.

First off - you're probably wondering: "why do these guys do this?" Originally, hackers, crackers, and other spiffy computer geeks saw the propagation of viruses and other nasty stuff as a way to gain notoriety in the geek community. So "fame" was one motivation. In today's terms, virus and malware writers are generally hired guns to help propagate their malicious code and viruses through websites, emails and attachments. The trend is not likely to go away anytime soon, so what can we do about it?

The first line of defense when it comes to protecting yourself against viruses is YOU. A computer sitting alone in the corner does not generally pick up a virus just by sitting there. The majority of viruses are spread by our internet habits: if you have bad internet habits, you're running the risk of catching a virus, a trojan or host of spyware and adware designed to cripple your system.

1.) Develop a smart policy for using the internet. If you stop and think about how human viruses are spread, we get tired, we hang out with people who have colds, and we don't take the precautions to keep from getting sick. So, if your kids are doing any sort of file sharing or downloading music, movies or games from the internet your chances of getting something nasty has just increased. You want to go to sites you trust and stay away from known places that can download viruses to your computer.

What are known places?? File sharing applications like Kazaa, Limewire, any other peer to peer applications, some IRC (Internet Relay Chat) rooms also spread nefarious viruses and bugs, porn sites, sites that deal with hacking, cracking or freaking, etc.. etc.. etc..

PLEASE NOTE: It's important to realize that even legitimate sites can be attacked. Hackers will find a way into any site if they really want to get in. It's up to system administrators and cite owners to help keep this kind of propagation from happening, but it does happen.

2.) Don't open attachments unless you are sure it is a safe. If you open the attachments, you run the risk of becoming a carrier for the virus. In most cases, viruses will seek out your address book and send out it's malicious coding to all your friends and family masquerading as YOU. (that doesn't seem very fair, does it?) So then when your family and friends get your email, they will think it's legitimate and open it too. Now THEY are now infected.

3.) Don't be tricked by copycat emails. A copycat email is an email sent to you to make it look like it came from your bank, amazon.com, or paypal. Upon a casual glance, these forged sites can look completely legitimate, but they aren't. These sites have but one function: trick you into believing you're logging into your account, when in fact you're providing some remote server critical account access information. If you get an email from one of your accounts, then open up your web browser and manually type in the address for your bank or for wherever. Verify that they had been trying to get a hold of you and you can address it then.

Most institutions have a policy where they will never notify you via email except to have you manually open up a new browser window and to go to their site that way. Never click on the link provided in the email.

4.) Don't click "OK" when a pop-up happens. Pop-ups are another incredibly frustrating source of these hoaxes and tricks -- because you might get a pop-up that looks like a computer dialog box. Something like: "An error has happened and you need to restart your browser now." If you click "OK," you may inadvertently download something you shouldn't.

So how do you know if something is legitimate from your computer or not? Check the applications that you have open on the bottom of the screen. Traditionally a pop-up is nothing more than another small browser window. You may see more than one internet browser open - and if that is the case the pop-up might be one of them. Simply click the extra internet icon that shows up on the bottom of the screen a couple of times. Did it go away and come back? If so, this is a pop-up. To safely clear the pop-up, right click on that icon you just clicked on -- then select "Close" and the pop-up should disappear.

5.) Don't send e-cards. It's tempting to send a friend a "thinking of you" e-card, or to send a birthday wish to a cousin or a relative. But resist the temptation of sending an e-card because of the hoax I described for you in #3 up above about "copycat emails." It's nearly impossible to determine whether or not an e-card is legitimate because they can be easily spoofed to make it look like it came from your email. An unknowing relative can then click on the link and the damage is done.

6.) Resist the temptation of spreading jokes and stuff. This is the number one way of how our emails can get spoofed. People who forward jokes, images and such via the internet are opening up a big can of worms for people who may not know if they are infected with a virus. If your email address appears on a long list of people who received the joke or the funny email, then your email address can then be used against you. Viruses can then re-direct their "malicious emails" to make it look like a legitimate email came from you.

Also, let's not forget the lesson learned in #2: don't open attachments. When you forward something from your account, it becomes an attachment for those people on your list that you're sending it to. If they practice safe computing and don't open attachments, then whatever you are sending will go un-read and discarded. Even emails that seem completely safe because they have a cute picture of a kitty cat or a cute pup are not immune to spreading nasty things. Most of these images are downloaded from a remote site - and if you're allowing your computer to download the cute kitty cat or the pup dog, then you're also allowing your computer to download whatever other malicious code that could be lurking behind the scenes.

6.) Update update update, scan scan scan Now that you've developed a keen sense of living virus free, you have a couple more things to do: always make sure that your operating system has all of its updates, always make sure that your anti-virus & spyware software is operational, updated, and functioning properly, and make a point to scan your system on a regular basis. You do not need to scan it daily (unless your kids are constantly downloading from a peer to peer or you're practicing unsafe internet habits) -- but traditionally you only need to scan your computer once a month. Your system should let you know if you have a nasty bug or if something isn't right with the computer.

What to do when you get a virus warning DO NOT IGNORE IT. We don't always want to think that we've just stumbled into something really bad, so we tend to blindly ignore that it happened. Obtaining a virus doesn't make you a bad person or a bad surfer, it happens. But the first thing we don't want you to do is panic. When people panic, a lot of bad things can happen. So here is a short list of things you should do:

a.) Unplug your computer from the internet/network. If possible, leave your computer on.
b.) Call your IT person and tell them that you have a virus and that you need their help. Virus removal can be tricky and it can be costly.
c.) If your computer is hooked up to a network, notify other persons on the network that they need to scan their computer to make sure the virus didn't spread to them.
d.) Notify your family and friends via telephone (or from another computer) to let them know that you've obtained a virus and to ignore anything that came from you since you noticed the problem.
e.) Don't touch the computer until your IT person says you can. Oftentimes the tendency is to delete the file in question, but that actually can do more harm because you deleted the branch of a tree, but the trunk and root still remain.
f.) Don't panic, but learn from whatever happened. See what caused it and why, then seek a way to make sure it doesn't get repeated.
g.) Be prepared for the worst. In most cases, your files are okay - and should be backed up immediately thereafter. It's then strongly recommended that after you've backed up your important data - to reformat the hard drive to remove any possible trace of the virus. You can then restore your applications and your data and go from there.

Who can you trust?

The Internet has a lot of really useful information. Unfortunately it's also filled with a lot of dis-information designed to do but one thing: to get you trust what "they" say as gospel and hopefully persuade you to buy the product or service that they want to steer you towards. Often times these folks are paid to this.

They're paid to write persuasive reviews on behalf of the company, product or person that has hired them.

Doesn't seem very fair does it?

It's not, but you've already come to the first step of thwarting their attempts by being informed about what's out there. So what else can we do to help wade through their words and prose to figure out exactly whether a given brand of equipment is worth it to buy? There's a process that I go through every time someone asks: "hey, is this printer any good?" It starts with the most popular search engine out there: Google!

It's amazing what we can find in Google with the right keywords. Simply put in the brand and/or the model number including the word "review" at the end. I'm basically searching for sites that I have come to trust. I want to check out certain magazine sites, newspapers that have technology columns, and any other computer online resources that do thoughtful reviews on products, software and services. Basically, I'm looking for an honest assessment and not someone paid to say all the right things. If I'm looking for printer reviews, I want to check out places like CNet and PC Magazine to see if they have reviewed them or not.

"All I have to do is trust the brand name"
We don't always know if a reviewer has a bias against one company or another. It's like the whole "Ford vs. Chevy" grand debate. You can have people that drive Chevy trucks their hole life and refuse to even consider a Ford merely based on principle alone. In computer terms, this happens all the time in the ongoing battle between PC or Mac. Both are very capable platforms but are uniquely designed for different purposes. But you'll have the naysayers from one side or the other trashing the other platform without really giving a viable technological reason why they don't like it.

Another example of this though is blindly trusting the brand name for everything they produce. Here's an example: Hewlett Packard makes really good printers, but their desktop computers are okay, but not great. Now based on that assessment, we can see that HP makes good printers, but when it comes to purchasing a new computer, we may want to find a different company. It's this kind of review that proves more beneficial because we're not going to rubber stamp every product HP makes even though they maybe exceptionally good in one area.

"Customers can be trusted"
Sometimes this is true in some cases, but you need to be even more critical when a customer leaves a review because someone may be really upset by the way Dell handled their customer service from years before. Some people will continue to carry out a "vendetta-style" review that may not have anything to do with the product or their experience. It'll be a lie, a fabrication.

Others will get increasingly frustrated with a product because they didn't read the instructions or couldn't diagnose the product successfully. They condemn the product despite the fact it was likely cause by their own problem.

We then have the "I'm an I.T. expert" reviewer. Which basically is a desperate attempt to win you over that somehow their "expertise" somehow weighs more than the casual review. Be weary of the self-professed "I.T. experts" and their opinions because anyone who has to advertise their I.T. experience is a bit problematic. It's almost like saying: "hey, I know what I'm talking about, listen to what I have to say." I read reviews to be informed, not to be impressed.

The last group of customer reviewers are also "paid-for-reviewers" which will be focused on "product A" -- give them glowing reviews from several different accounts while trashing "product B", a similar product, but a competitor. The reviewer's jaded view on the product is predicated on getting payment from their contractor.

That doesn't seem very fair either.

Look for the middle
That's why when I'm looking into the background of a given product or service, I'm checking the good, the bad and the ugly. I want to know the worst case scenario and see how it matches up against the positively glowing reviews. When you read a cluster of reviews you want to look in the middle. You want to hone in on performance issues and reports of customer service. But when it comes to customer service, we need to watch out because most of those jobs were outsourced to another country and there's a pronounced language barrier. Folks get frustrated when they can't communicate -- so you need to temper the customer service score a little bit or at least take that into consideration when you are making your purchase.

Sometimes if you can't find your exact model, do a search for other similar models by the same company. More than naught, models have been discontinued for a newer model and thus have become obsolete. Sometimes these units are replaced by better, more capable products and may be more cost effective solution. Sometimes a particular run of products can have defects in them and it would be prudent to steer clear of them for a cycle or two.

Bottom Line
With careful consideration, weighing the pros and cons with an objective point of view, you can discern a practical perspective of the item you're considering. It's important to get as many different opinions of the product you're considering as well. Just because one person trashes your computer while another one thinks it walks on water -- the truth is somewhere in between. Don't be afraid to do a lot of digging and find more information before you make your decision. It's not unreasonable to dedicate some time in researching your product -- the trick is to know where to trust and how far to trust them.

Web Design Tips: Ads

I have designed quite a few websites ranging from businesses to artists and one of the things people look to do is find ways on how to generate a little extra income to help offset the cost of maintaining their website. There is a growing trend among website owners to put ads on their website or blog. As tempting as this might be, most of the time it is not a very good idea.

Reasons:

• You wouuldn't put someone else’s advertisements on your business cards or your stationary so why would you put it on your website? The main goal of a website it to market YOUR art, YOUR product or YOUR service. Your goal is not to be marketing something or someone else. Your website is a marketing tool and think of it as such. You want it to be the BEST representation of you.



• If you put someone else’s advertisement on your website, you’re only inviting them to leave your site and go else where. Why have a website if you’re only going to be a thorough-fare to someone else’s site?



• By placing animated, blinking, moving graphic advertisements on your site, it’s going to be distracting the attention away from the real reason why you want them coming to your site in the first place and thus taking them away from your website, artwork, service or product.



• You want your site to be clean and ads are often blinking or moving so distracting. One of the chief complaints from people viewing is annoying ads make it an unpleasant browsing experience. There is an 8-second rule that designers use because it is typically in that length of time a visitor will view your website before they decide if they are going to stay. And if there is an ad that is distracting and annoying them they might not even give it a few seconds before moving on.



• Always remember that first impressions count and often people view ads negatively so they would view your website negatively because you have ads on them. We don’t want your website to become a distraction to the point people move on. We want them to keep coming back for more and to tell others about what you’re doing on the web. There are ways to enhance your site with effective animation that keeps the design subtle and not overpowering. That will be a tip for another day.

Debunking web-myths

"If you build it, they will come."

It's a quote from the fantastic Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams. The premise of the movie is not unlike the desire so many folks have about building a website and hoping to improve their business. But like the Ray Kinsella character in the movie -- with a tremendous amount of hard work and a steadfast dedication, creating a web design to attract potential customers.

But where it's okay to be idealistic and thinking that all you need to do is to build a website - and the world will flock to you --- the reality is: it doesn't happen like it does in the movies. There are, however, some strategic steps that you can take to improve your standing online.

Surrounding yourself with smart people and developing a keen strategy.

It's a long standing belief that if you surround yourself with smart folks who can give you really great advice -- then they can optimize your business in a way that won't cost you a hefty sum of money. Web Designers can be hired to evaluate your potential footprint on the web and to help construct a viable strategy to optimize your online presence. We stay up on trends and news about the internet and how to employ the best options available to our clients.

It's all about the content.

Websites are tagged according to your content, who links to you, and whether or not you're a "real website." Keeping your content concise, non-repetitive and descriptive will improve your standing in the majority of search engines like Google and Yahoo! Avoid those "offers" that say they can promote your business so you can get more hits Oftentimes, these "optimizer" deals are nothing more than link farms. And if you agree to put your site on a link farm, then you're destined to be black listed. And if you're black listed - then no one will find your site from Google and Yahoo!

Patience little snowflake

The moment your website goes live, it's natural to want the visitor to come to your website within the first hour it's up. Unless you're publicizing the launch of your website on lists across the internet, spanning several hundreds of people, the traffic to your site will start out slow. This is natural and it happens because just like "word of mouth" it takes time to generate a buzz for people to come to your site.

It's not the "end all, be all" for your marketing strategy

And that ties in with what your marketing strategy is about your website. I regularly caution our clients who think of their website as the heart of their marketing process when in reality, your website is an extension to your overall strategy. You simply don't stop your marketing process after you've created business cards, right? Business cards are a tool, much like the internet, or your yellow page ad, or your listing in a magazine, or your posters for your upcoming show. Having an online presence is essential in today's businesses because people want a wealth of information and they want to get to know you and your company. The more "established" you appear, the greater that someone is going to be interested in hiring you or purchasing what you're selling.

It used to be that as long as you had a glitzy storefront with an interesting window display, that people would want to visit your store. In today's informational age, customers want to know more about the store, the artist, or the business person before they decide they want to conduct business with you.

Once my website is up - it's on auto-pilot

When you're sitting at your breakfast table and you're sipping your coffee, what if your morning newspaper happened to be the exact same newspaper as yesterday?? You might think that was an error on the news carrier's part - or you might even think it was a foul up somewhere in the process. If you called up your newspaper and they told you: "no, it was no mistake, we just don't have anything new to report today." A newspaper that isn't new each day?

Websites work along the same lines in a way. Bottom line: it depends on the function of the website and how it works along side with your marketing strategy. If you want repeating customers or visitors that will keep coming back - you have to give them a reason to come back. A fresh website accomplishes this task. This means keeping things updated and new whether you're selling artwork or whether you're informing a select group of people about an industry, group, or business.

How to make your website continually fresh may require some additional add-ons in the form of a blog or a Content Management System like Joomla or Drupal. These add-ons do not require extensive programming knowledge once the website has been assembled, uploaded and configured. In the case of a blog, you can be up and blogging in a matter of minutes whereas designing a CMS structure from scratch might take several weeks to accomplish with the help of a programmer and/or designer.

Depending on your marketing strategy, some websites may opt to remain static as they are nothing more than passing billboards on the super information highway. The strategy is different, but no less important to ensure that visitors can find your product, service or information with ease.

SUMMARY: Developing your online strategy is essential before even beginning to design a website. It's important to discuss with your designer the types of options available and how the website is going to work with your overall marketing plans. There's a lot of considerations that goes into the creation of a website in as much as it's important to consider what will happen after the website has gone live. Ultimately you want an online presence that will complement the plan you have in place for the success of your business, organization or agency. Keeping it real, planning it out and working with your support team guarantees the best possible outcome for your web experience.