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Internet Explorer 8 slow and crashing?

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

Internet Explorer 8 Slow and Crashing

If you upgrade to Windows 7, you will need to upgrade the browser to Internet Explorer 8 or use a competitor’s browser, such as Firefox. Older versions are no longer compatible. Once you install Internet Explorer 8, you may find it runs very slow and crashes a lot. We did.

There are several possible reasons:
1. Type Maintenance in the Search bar. Choose “Fix Problems on Your Computer”. Choose Troubleshooting and then View All. Find the Internet Explorer 8 package and run it. That will fix some.
2. You may have too many restricted sites. To check, Choose Tools, then Options, then select the Security tab. If there are too many restricted sites this can slow you down.
3 The more likely problem is that an Add-On is causing the problem. Using the Tools menu, you can find the Manage Add-Ons option and go into that. Disable what you don’t think you need. You can always turn it back on, as disabling doesn’t remove it. Then restart IE8.

Need help: We’re in the Portland, OR area – email us at carltown@netadventures.biz

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Posted in Web Design, Windows 7 | No Comments »

Upgrading to Windows 7?

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

Thinking about switching to Windows 7?

Here are some notes about our conversion.

Summary: If you like war games, this is a good one.

Microsoft’s original intention in creating Vista was to load the new OS with every bell and whistle and make it the OS with many cool features. It didn’t take long for them to realize, however, that they already had a lot of angry Windows users out there because the basic Windows product was not stable, was viable to malware, and had a tendency to eat itself for lunch. The goals then shifted to building a reliable and secure Windows system that was easy for users to use. Vista was a step in that direction. Windows 7, just released, is finally what Vista should have been. It is a major upgrade to go from XP and earlier versions of Windows to Windows 7. From Vista it should be a minor upgrade, but that is not entirely true.

From XP

You can’t get there from here. To upgrade to Windows 7 from XP, there is no real path. Essentially you must back up your entire system, clear the system, install Windows 7 from scratch, reinstall any programs and drivers (drivers for Windows 7), and then install your data: word processing files, images, spreadsheets – everything. And a LOT of XP hardware and software won’t run Windows 7. As a result, to get from XP you are often better off buying a new computer. Don’t throw the old XP out, however, a lot of programs won’t run on Windows 7 and you will need the old computer for that unless you have several thousand dollars to update those programs.

If you do want to use your XP hardware, you can run Microsoft’s compatibility checker to see if it will run Windows 7.

Since you will have to re-install your programs to Windows 7, be sure you have the master disks and corresponding IDs before you start.

From Vista

For Vista systems, you can usually upgrade the operating system by purchasing a Windows 7 upgrade product. There are several versions of Windows 7. Be sure the upgrade is compatible with your version of Vista. Be sure your hardware is compatible before you start.

The Process

Before starting, run Microsoft’s Windows 7 compatibility checker.

If it passes, you are ready to start.
We did the upgrade.
1. Be very sure your system is backed up. If something happens, you want to be sure you can get home. If you are doing an upgrade, be sure the system has been scanned for viruses and any malware.
2. The upgrade process will first check your system for compatibility issues. This part of the install is looking for issues that would prevent the install from completing it’s task. It will then list issues it finds that should be resolved before updating. I had to uninstall some programs and uninstall one printer. Once that is completed, you have to begin the upgrade process again. You’ll need to repeat this until everything is seen as ready. Then the upgrade process automatically begins.
3. Once you’ve passed the compatibility hurdle, take a break for an hour or so while the update process continues.
4. Once Windows 7 comes up, then you need to reinstall the programs Windows had you take off and any printers that didn’t get picked up on the installation.

If the process seems too complex for you, why not let us help? We can help you make the upgrade. My rate is $40 an hour.

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Finding Links Into Your Site

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

For search engine optimization, having a large number of links into your site from qualified sites (sites Google trusts) is very important. Reciprocal links don’t work as well as those one-way links coming in from good sites. Here’s a good trick to find your incoming links. It doesn’t work too well in Google (the link command is broken there), but you can do it in http://www.yahoo.com. Probably the same links will be in Google.

In Yahoo, enter the following in the search box, replaceing yoururl with your domain name:

link:http://www.yoururl.xxx

This will return both the external and internal links for your site; i.e., it will also show pages linking into the home page.

To get ONLY the external links to the site, use:

link:http://www.yoururl.xxx -site:yoururl.xxx

To get the listing of links to any page of your site:
linkdomain:www.yoururl.xxx
(no http:// this time!)
and only the external links to any page of your site:
linkdomain:www.yoururl.xxx -site:yoururl.xxx

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Posted in Links, Search engine optimization | No Comments »

FTC to regulate your words on blogs and microblogs (like twitter)

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Big brother is at it again. The FTC is planning to regulate the words that you use on any blog or microblog (think Twitter). If you make money through your blogs or Twitter, you are at risk. The new guidelines could be in effect by the end of the summer unless bloggers can stop it. This hits me - I review books and send ‘em to Amazon for purchasing all the time. And Amazon gives me a cut.

The FTC will soon be looking at reviews or endorsements published on blogs or microblogs and if they believe you are paid to review a product or service without sticking to their guidelines, you could face action from the Justice Department and/or have to pay restitution to consumers.

The guideless mean you must provide full disclosure (who is paying you for what), you must be an expert, and you must be able to substantiate your claim. More information is in their 86-page document at: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2008/11/P034520endorsementguides.pdf.

Of course, I don’t see any way to respond to the document on the FTC website. The FTC website today runs slower than a 1980 computer on 300 baud.

Spread the news, then, to get Jon Leibowitz out of the FTC and this idiotic regulation never implemented. This post isn’t copyrighted. I also emailed the white house asking for an explanation of this nonsense.

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Posted in freedom, government | No Comments »

Making Web Content Work

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Picking the right keyword phrases, it is said, is the Holy Grail of the success of your website. It is your keyword phrases that drive your search engine positioning for the people who search for and answers to their needs. Your keyword phrases also drive your content and links, as well as your viral marketing. If those keyword phrases are the Holy Grail, then content and links are the king and queen. Even with viral marketing, your aim is to drive people to your web site with those phrases. Once they get to your web site, it is within the web site that you use your content to take your customer from those keyword phrases all the way to the action step.

Here are some basic steps for making that content work:

1. As a general rule, in site design, your keyword phrases should be problem to solution. People search on the problem, not the solution. Spin your content from these keyword phrases.
2. Structure your web site so that your web site is in categories and even subcategories, and then use the proper keyword phrases for the entrance page of each category and subcategory. For example, if the web site is for a pet store, your primary categories might be dogs, cats, fish, birds, and so on. And then, for each category you support, have subcategories. Under each subcategories use separate pages with keyword phrases based problem to solution: choosing the right food, choosing the right toy, should I declaw my cat, and more.
3. You should have about 400-500 or more of words of text content on a page.
4. Images, video, Flash, and JavaScript do not drive the search engines. Use these to draw the user, but remember to keep plenty of text on the page. Use ALT tags and CSS wherever possible to drive search engines.
5. Know your audience. What is their social-economic profile? Use the vocabulary of the people you are trying to reach, target your message to the audience and their needs. Target for your audience, not the search engines.
6. Write to draw an emotional response from your audience.
7. Optimize each page for the search engines but keep your user as the primary target.
8. Use a variety of content to enhance the user experience: FAQs, tutorials, video, pointers to offline resources. Try to engage the user in an interactive process: polls, games, blog comments, and more.
9. Use stories, stories, stories. If you are selling widgets, have people give their testimonies (stories) on how the widget solved their problem.
10. Subdivide your page with headings and use related keyword phrases in the headings.
11. Remember to give that call to action. Often I see great content on a web site only to find they never ask me to do anything.

Often the best way to develop your content is to outsource it. Why not contact us – http://www.netadventures.biz/content.htm ?
© 2009 Oregon Professional Microsystems
All rights reserved

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What are the ten major mistakes of SEO?

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
  1. Not seeing the search from the user’s perspective.
  2. Not planning an objective SEO strategy.
  3. Not using the right keywords.
  4. Not using link text correctly.
  5. Ignoring accessibility issues for physically challenged.
  6. Designing for a high number of links to the site instead of looking for link-in quality.
  7. Building menu structures with JavaScript or Flash and not providing an alternative.
  8. Not creating a site map.
  9. Not creating strong content.
  10. Not tracking site statistics.

Want more? See http://netadventures.biz/seomistakes.htm

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Posted in Search engine optimization | No Comments »

Ten search engine optimization tips for the non-professional

Saturday, April 11th, 2009
  1. Identify the key words the user might use to search for you on the
    search engines. Build the page from these. What is the problem
    that the user has? How will he or she search to resolve
    that problem?
  2. Choose a title for each of your pages that includes 1-2 of the primary
    keywords you are using.
  3. Do not duplicate titles between pages.
  4. Use Heading tags (H1, H2, H3) to define subtitles and use keywords in
    them.
  5. Build links into your site from other high-quality sites.
  6. Drive people to your site from your content. Google loves content-rich sites. Establish yourself as an authority.
  7. Google really doesn’t like JavaScript menus or Flash for menus and doesn’t see those links. Use CSS or direct links instead.
  8. Use lots and lots of social networking to sell your site. The pages of social networks are very dynamic, and Google loves indexing
    dynamic pages.
  9. Keep your site clean of errors.
  10. Make sure you have an ALT tag that uses keywords of the destination page for every image you are using.

Want more? See
http://www.netadventures.biz/tentips.htm

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Posted in Search engine optimization, Web Design | No Comments »

Webmaster - Update

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

We’ve been VERY busy with web site work recently and haven’t had time to to the major redesign on this site that is needed. We also need to update the SEO book we have been selling. Our priority is our client sites. Our primary market is search engine optimization and content development. We also continue to develop small web sites that, with the optimization, give customers a lot of bang for a minimum of investement.

Recently we updated the blog software - going from WordPress version 1.5 or so to 2.7, then changed the template so it works harder. We’ve also started adding tags now.

We will be updating this blog much more frequently now, so we suggest you subscribe by RSS or bookmark the blog. We write for 3 blogs, so that keeps us busy as well. Some of the better stuff we will blog here and then pop a longer version to library on our netadventures.biz site. Comments are open here - register and talk to us.

We are also on both Linkedin and Facebook.

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Posted in Web, Web Design, Webmaster | No Comments »

Security issue from CNN

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

Warning:
We encourage everyone to read this about a new security threat from CNN, of all places:
http://weblog.infoworld.com/gripeline/archives/2009/01/is_it_safe_to_w.html?source=NLC-GRIPE&cgd=2009-01-27

This refers to a plugin they offer, Octoshape Grid Adobe Flash Plug-in, which is more than a Flash Plug-in. I turns you computer into a part of a peer-to-peer network. Read the license agreement carefully. Not cool.

Posted in Google, Security, Technical Writing, Web Design | No Comments »

Vonage Going Down

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

Vonage still has problems, we just no longer track them. The Vonage stock value has plummeted to somewhere south of $1 most of the time, which means we predict they will drop off the NYSE pretty soon. Then they become pretty much road kill. Here’s another interesting insight on the company. Some years ago it took them 3 months (see below) to move my existing number from Qwest to Vonage. During that time the phone number was dead - it went nowhere. That was a business line - you don’t to that to a business line, ever. I billed them for the lost business. About $20,000. They never paid me.

Now I want to move my number from Vonage to Verizon FIOS. Guess what? Vonage won’t let you do that. To move my phone to Verizon FIOS, Vonage blocks my number and won’t let me transfer it. If you want to leave Verizon FIOS, that’s not a problem. they will let me move my number out. Since Vonage won’t, that means my business will need a new phone number. It also means I will need to hold onto that Vonage line for a few months until all customers and friends are moved to the new number. I have to edit the phone number on hundreds of my web pages. I have to reprint business cards for three businesses. The transfer cost for this will be about $1000 probably. but it should be done because I think Vonage will disappear soon. Incidentally, Bush and Company (SEC and FTC) have done nothing to stop their practices.

If you are currently using Vonage and wish to change, I would suggest you put your Vonage account on a separate credit card. This is what I have done. Then when you turn Vonage off you also turn the credit card off. Some people have told me that Vonage keeps billing them after they turn Vonage off. Don’t expect to get that money back.

Now that I’m switching everything to Verizon FIOS, I have to change my phone number on my business cards and several hundred web pages. I doubt if Vonage will pay for that. The SEC under Bush should have fined them and stopped their practices. But then, the failed Administration did nothing. Neither did the Administrative’s SEC do anything with Madoff. I’m glad God will judge the Administrative leaders. Congress certainly didn’t.

Posted in Vonage, Web Design | No Comments »

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