Susan Finch Solutions

Nigerian Scam with a Charity Twist

Some of you know that I founded a 501c3, Binky Patrol, Inc. in 1996.  We make blankets for children who are ill and abused and give them away. That's it.  100% volunteer, local chapters are self-supporting through their own fundraising and donations. 

I'm quite familiar with the Nigerian Scam that has been around for several years but this was a new spin.  I recognized what it was from the first letter, but kept the correspondence going until they began to ask for the money.

Charities, I know times are tough, but be very careful of free money, "partnerships" with unknown entities, people who start their letters, "beloved in Christ..." etc.

Here's how it went:

Time to move on from IE6 - really.

As of January 29, 2010, Google announced it will begin phasing out support for Internet Explorer 6 web browser. Beginning March 1, 2010, Google's Web based applications and services will stop working well with Internet Explorer 6.^{[29][30][dated info]} YouTube announced that it will no longer support IE6 beginning on March 13, 2010. Many major websites are now trying to discourage use of the web browser, thus far without success.^[31]

On August 25, 2010, Facebook announced that it will be dropping support for Internet Explorer 6 as part of their plans to improve chat on the site.^[32]

Unlike most other browsers currently in use, IE6 does not fully nor properly support CSS version 2, which makes it difficult for web developers to ensure compatibility with the browser without degrading the experience for users of more modern browsers. Developers often have to resort to strategies such as CSS hacks, conditional comments, or other forms of browser sniffing to make their websites work in IE6.  As a developer, I will no longer be developing for IE6 or supporting IE6 coding.  It's time to move forward.  Newer browsers are FREE. 

Additionally, IE6 lacks support for alpha transparency in PNG images, instead removing all transparency and displaying the image with a solid colour background (grey unless defined in a PNG bKGD chunk). There is a workaround by way of Microsoft's proprietary AlphaImageLoader, but it is more complicated to use and not wholly comparable in function.^[34]

Internet Explorer 6 has also been criticized due to its instability.

In May 2006, PC World rated Internet Explorer 6 the eighth worst tech product of all time.^[

And for you AOL folks, what version are you running?  Most AOL browses are IE6 with an AOL layer over them.  Please upgrade your AOL browser: http://wspart.websys.aol.com/ie7custom/  or just stop using it and use the more accepted and current browsers.

Page Title Character Limit

There will be differing opions on this topic of page titles, but the current belief is that you have 60 - 70 characters that will actually be considering in the weighting of your pages.  For those of you who try to cram in your keywords on EVERY page title:

Sales Lead Management Association as an example, there isn't much left to make the rest of the title unique, especially when posting news articles by notable authors.  Make every character count.  What will increase your search engine visibility without losing your branding on every page?  Is there a way to shorten your name in the title leaving more space for unique words that pertain to the specific content of that page?

This was a recent discussion on WebWorld

Excerpt from the discussion is here:

Search engines usually considering up to 60 characters (including space) in the title tag, however you can use 1 or 3 keywords within 60 characters search engine spiders will crawl them.

I do see your concern Hamilton. There are a few things to consider though before making a judgement as to whether breaking up your longer title tag to become more targeted to keyword sets.

    * The semantic relation between the key phrases is taken into consideration
    * The strength of the links pointing to your website
    * The relativity of the anchor text within links pointing to the home page and (most likely) their sub-related pages
    * The structure of your website - your internal linking structure combined with pages you've directed users to the most.

Many variables.

Rather than: Pet Food|Cat Care|Dog Walking Equipment

Try: Pet Food & Cat Care as well as Dog Walking Equipment to make it more of a descriptive sentence of the content on that page rather than just keywords or phrases.

How to remove/change automatic Yahoo! search from the Firefox ADDRESS bar?

This was making me crazy, but not enough to pay a Yahoo! expert to solve it for $18.  I searched Google: "in Firefox address bar yahoo comes up with results how to change it." ...and VIOLA!  an answer that works.  

Gift ideas that are unique: buy a domain for that new baby.

You never know where it will lead.

How many plastic toys, layettes and blankets does a new baby need?  Once the basics are covered, why not give a unique gift that shows your belief that this child will go onto greatness, or at least success?  Buy the baby a domain.  You never know what the future holds for children, why not believe in them and secure their firstlastname.com for at least 5 years. Their parents can decide to keep it going, or you can at that point.

If you do this, be sure to register it with an email address you're pretty sure you'll have in five years.  Have the domain registrar list the parents as the administrative contact and you as the technical to ensure it won't laspe when it's time for those notifications.  Have it auto renew so that if you have other domains, your email will always be current for these notifications and you can forward it to the parents.

Susan Finch to Participate in WEO Panel Regarding Social Media

November 9 - Portland, OR -- Catapult Your Social Media Marketing: Creating Integrated Marketing Strategies Using Social Media and Blogs

Join WEO for an interactive networking and business development event focused on social media marketing strategies. Business owner and creative strategist Marlynn Schotland will provide a practical overview of the topic. Experts on Facebook, LinkedIn, blogging, and Twitter will host tables in a trade-show format, discussing the unique environment of each social media platform and suggesting solutions for your business. The event will include a hearty appetizer buffet and plenty of networking.

Don't miss this opportunity to discuss your online marketing strategy with the following industry specialists:

Does your computer take FOREVER to start up?

If your computer takes forever to boot up, or run slowly throughout the day, it may suffer from start-up bloat. It's common ailment as we continue to add new hardware, software and tools to our computer.  Suddenly they all want to be first in the morning when you boot up or run "quietly" in the background in case you need them that day.

Hey - just whose website is it, anyway?

Lately I can't attend a workshop, networking event, business meeting without hearing a tale of woe about  "..they've stolen my website and won't give it back!"  The cry for justice varies from: "I don't know where my website is" to "I don't know how to find 'the guy' anymore."

Don't cry victim, don't be helpless, don't give up.  Take control.  Learn to ask the questions that will leave you informed.  This is YOUR marketing tool, YOUR identity, YOUR branding. Shouldn't you take steps to protect it, just like you would a product, logo or trade secrets?  (hint - the answer is YES!)

 

Have I told you lately, that I love you?

Ahh, Valentine's Day approaches.  Who needs Hallmark when we have the Internet?  We can tell some of those around us how we feel, quickly, for free and then move on with our day.  I'm not talking about your main squeeze, children and best friends; I'm talking about those we encounter each day in our lives.  These include the grocer, dentist, hair salon, gas station, restaurants, coffee houses.  Tell them how you feel the best way you can - REVIEW their businesses for the world to see!

From AdAge: The Official Social Media and Mobile Glossary of 2010

I'm so out of the iPhone arena at this time, since I'm usually tethered to my desktop with a VOIP phone that most of these terms were new to me. I geek-speak pretty well, but this is in another category altogether. Perhaps most of you are familiar -- or guilty of committing these terms below.

Top 20 Labels, Buzzwords to Describe Our Curious Stampede to the Social-Media and Mobile Future

by Pete Blackshaw 
Published: January 12, 2010