The netbooks are neat devices, provided you’re ready to give up computing horsepower, keyboard size, and screen size.

It is true emailing attachments is so old school.  With online solutions like Google Docs, webmail and Netsuite,  who really needs a standalone machine.  Give me high speed internet access and I’m ready for the world.

Bottom line:  If size does matter (if you don’t want to tote around a normal sized laptop), then take a look at the netbooks.  I’ll take one if you wanted to give me one.  But to really solve my road warriors needs,  all I need is my iPhone and a fold out, full-sized keyboard.  Anyone got one?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netbook

http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20081105/netbooks-come-into-their-own/

HTTP stands for HyperText Transport Protocol, which is just a fancy way of saying it’s a protocol (a language, in a manner of speaking) for information to be passed back and forth between web servers and clients.

The important thing is the letter “S” which makes the difference between HTTP and HTTPS.

The “S” stands for “Secure”.

If you visit a website or webpage, and look at the address in the web browser, it will likely begin with the following: http://.   This means that the website is talking to your browser using the regular ‘unsecure’ language. In other words, it is possible for someone to “eavesdrop” on your computer’s conversation with the website. If you fill out a form on the website, someone might see the information you send to that site.

This is why you never ever enter your credit card number in an http website!

But if the web address begins with https://, that basically means your computer is talking to the website in a secure code that no one can eavesdrop on.

Bottom line:
If a website ever asks you to enter your credit card information, you should automatically look to see if the web address begins with https://. If it doesn’t, there’s no way you’re going to enter sensitive information like a credit card number.

This recent article in the New York Times does a good job of capturing the current threat environment:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/technology/internet/06security.html? _r=1&scp=2&sq=computer%20security&st=cse

We all know that Black Friday is about great deals and shopping mayhem, but have you ever heard about Cyber Monday? Online shopping is growing more and more popular as many people do not wish to deal with the bustle of shopping malls during the holiday season. This can be a very convenient way to shop and it is safe as long as you are a aware and conscious online shopper.  SuperGeeks wants people to know that there are 6 things that can be done to be that internet savvy Santa:

1. Make sure your computer is safe and sound - Using a strange computer is not a good idea and it could be the same thing as giving your credit card to a random person on the street. Use a computer that you know is secure, is clean of threats, and has up-to-date antivirus protection.
2. Never email your credit card information – This is very risky as email can easily be compromised in transit. Reputable businesses use secure internet pages to prevent your credit card information from getting into the wrong hands which leads us to the next thing to be aware of.
3. Make sure credit card transactions are done through a secure web page – Usually secure websites will be designated with a lock. To be sure the page you are entering you information in is secure look at the URL. Secure sites have the prefix ‘https’ before the URL or web address.
4. Be careful of phishing websites – These websites will look just like the real thing but have been created to get your personal information from you. Again look at the URL to find out of the website is really what it says it is. An example of this would be our website www.supergeeks.net. If you go to supergeeks.wufoo.com it appears to be part of our website, but it is actually www.wufoo.com.
5. When in doubt, stick with the big name company – Websites like Amazon, Target, and Gifts.com are reputable companies. If you find something cool to buy but do not recognize the company or website, see if it is available with one of the bigger companies. It is safer.
6. Monitor your credit card statement – Review your statement for fraudulent activity. If you do not recognize a transaction contact your credit card company right away.

Checkout these links:

• http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97661105
• http://www.cybermonday.com/

Happy Holidays!

Know Thy Customer

Your website is your extension to the world. Regardless of whether you’re trying to sell t-shirts or just sharing info about your church group, you want the site to work. For example, from a design perspective, the site must be congruent with your brand. And from a usability perspective, your site must give people what they are looking for.

So here’s the question: If you discovered only one person were visiting your site very month, would you do anything about it?

What if you learned – to your utter delight – over 100,000 people were on your site every day? Would you do anything differently?

I imagine you would.

The point is this. A website must have a purpose. It must serve some goal. And to determine whether your site is reaching its intended goals, you have to measure it. You need to know many people are visiting your site, where are those people coming from, what are they looking at, and what percentage of those people fail to take some action, like buy your product or send you an email.

Without knowing these metrics, your site is like a kid fishing in a pond, hoping anything will bite the worm!

There’s a neat tool offered by Google to help you become wiser about your site and smarter about your fishing. It’s called Google Analytics. It’s free, it works, and you can get going in less than five minutes.

Here’s a good article what Google Analytics does and how it can help you understand what’s really going on with your site: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20081101/improving-your-sense-of-site.html

For more info, checkout these links:

• Google Analytics
• Free review of your website
• Need a new site
• Ask the SuperGeek