Gawkwire: Web Hosting and Internet News Resource

Phishing With Swine Flu As Bait

2009-04-30T09:41:00-04:00

(cnet) The e-mail scams have a subject line related to the swine flu and typically contain either a link to a phishing Web site or an attachment that contains malicious code, the US-CERT said in an advisory.

One scam features a malicious Adobe PDF document titled "Swine influenza frequently asked questions.pdf," according to Symantec. The malicious PDF file has been recognized as "Bloodhound.Exploit.6" and it drops malicious InfoStealer code onto the victim's computer, the company said. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/phishing_with_swine_flu_as_bait.html

Helpful Web Design Recommendations

2009-04-29T09:12:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) In fact The truth is that good web designing is an art that needs requires knowledge of programming and how your visitor will interact with the website. So, it is very important for you to make the website user-friendly. What is even more valuable, you should create it in such a way that search engines can consider you to be original and unique and find you organically. After all, your aim is to compete against the first 10 competitors for your keyword and search engine optimization is how to do this.

Let’s come to the main part of the issue. You should keep in mind that the most vital critical important rule you need to follow for a website is the KISS formula – Keep It Simple Silly. Do not lose your visitor with a whole lot of fancy stuff if you want them to find your product or message.

First and foremost you need to ask yourself a question: What do I want my website to do for you? You need to answer this question since you need to design your website according to this question. If your case is that all you want is a simple squeeze page then design a simple squeeze page. If your case is that you want to convey some kind of information then keep it simple and convey that information, as fancy graphics and other distractions are not conveying what you want to present to your visitor.

The second point that should be taken into consideration is planning the web design. For this purpose you must take a piece of paper and plan what you want on the web page and mind bear in mind that this point can not be omitted as it is very important for your website success. It will be much easier for you if you are doing your own research on other websites on the material you want to convey to your visitor. You can be sure that it will give you awareness for how to design your site.

Thirdly, you should plan your theme and layout for each page. Actually you can look at your competitors and see whether you find their theme attractive. You can include interesting ideas from those sites that you know will attract your visitor and later design those ideas into your website.

The fourth point to take into consideration consider is that navigation around your site needs requires a site map. Keep in mind that it is rather important that your visitor can easily navigate around your site. It should be also added that there is a need to implement normal links for moving around and placement of those links together like an index for your website. You should understand that it is important that your visitor does not get frustrated while navigating around your site because if this is the case they will they will simply leave your site or click away.

The fifth valuable factor that should be pointed out is that download time is important. The truth is it gets frustrating to the majority of visitors if they have to wait for a page to download. That’s why overuse of graphics and images should be considered as they increase the download time. It will be helpful for you to know that, ideally, a complete page should not exceed 30KB since this ensures that most visitors will see your whole page in about 5 to 6 seconds at the most.

The last but not least thing to mention here is that you should not allow your visitor the opportunity to click away on a link on your web site that leaves your domain as it has been proven that you generally have lost that visitor and a potential customer.

In conclusion it should be mentioned that you need to remember that it is about presenting the information in an elegant, decorative, user friendly and timely manner. So, follow the tips that were mentioned above when dealing with the web design in the future.

For more tips on website design go to www.edynamo.com

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The Most Dangerous Net Domain Is .hk

2009-04-28T14:00:00-04:00

(Domain News) The safest domain is Finland's (.fi) and second is Japan's (.jp) according to toptechnews.com.

The report, called ‘Mapping the Mal Web Revisited', found that 19.2 per cent of all Web sites ending in the (.hk) domain were a security threat for Web users. China, with a (.cn) domain, is in second place with more than 11 per cent of its sites risky, the report says. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/the_most_dangerous_net_domain_is_hk.html

Empowering People During Change Initiatives

2009-04-28T00:24:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) The critical missing piece is largely the failure to take into account how change affects an organization’s people. According to a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, research shows that nearly 75 percent of all organizational change programs fail because they don’t create the necessary groundswell of support among employees. When organizational leadership employs a three-phase Organizational Change Management Life Cycle methodology and techniques to address the stages of change, change management initiatives stand a much greater chance for success.
Before examining the Organizational Change Management Life Cycle, it’s important to consider the three organizational elements that both drive and are affected by change:
• Processes – Business processes, including maps, policies and procedures, and business rules, which are redesigned or realigned for new customers, or provide improved service to existing customers.
• Technology – Driven by process, technology ensures greater organizational efficiency in implementing change.
• People – Those responsible for developing and implementing new processes, and specifying and using new technology.

These elements are closely linked to the three stages of the Change Management Life Cycle: identify the change, engage the people, and implement the change. From the outset of any change management initiative, people must recognize and buy into the need for change. Leaders must recognize that an organization cannot successfully adopt change unless its people understand and support the reasons for creating the change.

The Change Management Life Cycle
Phase I: Identify the Change

While it may seem obvious, clearly articulating the proposed change in common, consistent language is the fundamental first step for any change initiative. Leaders need to identify and communicate the need for change so that it is understood and supported by people at all organizational levels. Project leaders should also be aware that there are intellectual, psychological and neurological responses that people have regarding change that can be addressed with the following recommended techniques:
Get People’s Attention – Change distracts and disturbs human beings, so directing their attention in a positive way will help them focus on the proposed change. Introducing the initiative in a setting away from people’s daily routines, off-site if possible, will create a shared sense of urgency and ownership in the change.
Align Their Disturbances – A disturbance is a neurological term for the conflict or gap between a person’s current mental map of thinking and the mental map required to operate in a changed state. To align disturbances means to create agreement among the individuals in an organization so they have a common gap between their current way of thinking and the mental state needed to adopt the change. This will enable them to agree on the direction and organizational response needed for change.
An important technique leaders should use to align disturbances is to create a compelling vision of the future state and continually communicate it. The vision should take into consideration the change need at every organizational level, so that the day-to-day work experience of the staff is described along with high-level change goals. Additional people-related issues leaders should be aware of and address when identifying change opportunities include
• Potential frustration in performing new tasks
• Clearly defined job responsibilities
• Job descriptions and metrics appropriate to the new process
• Understanding of the end-to-end process
• Organizational culture dynamics that may prevent people from adapting to the changed state.

Phase 2: Engage the People

            The next step in the change management life cycle is to engage people in the planning of the organization’s response to the change. This concept is the antithesis of a top-down rollout strategy in which a change initiative is delivered to the people expected to implement and adopt the change. Giving them the opportunity for intellectual, emotional and psychological reaction to the proposed change enables them to become accustomed to the idea of change and begin thinking in ways that can identify potential trouble spots and contribute to process improvement. It is critical to their personal stake in the proposed change.
            A technique project leaders can use to facilitate people’s adoption of a change is to conduct organization-wide workshops on appropriate change response. These sessions enable people to participate in the dialogue about how a deliverable should be used in the organization, and contribute to the emergence of an aligned approach for managing and adapting to the change. Aligning reactions and encouraging involvement in the change response typically moves people’s behavior to addressing the problem and creating a direction to facilitate change.
            The implementation strategy for change response can then be developed at a high level. The people executing the strategy, as well as those who will be impacted by it, should be included in the strategy development. The strategy needs to be acknowledged by all involved as a flexible plan so that changes can be made once implementation is begun.
Phase 3: Implement the Change
            During the final Implementation phase, change strategies developed in the Identify and Engage phases are translated into actions for achieving the proposed future organizational state. If the first two stages were effectively addressed, people will be well prepared to participate in the development and implementation of new processes and technology, and the implementation should essentially be a monitoring activity for leaders. However, most organizations spend the majority of their time in the implementation phase and don’t adequately address their people’s role in change. In such instances, successful change adoption rarely occurs.
Prototyping is a critical technique to get the change underway incrementally without waiting for a highly detailed, master plan which can potentially stall the change initiative, while allowing flexibility to respond to changing conditions. Prototyping takes into account people’s thinking and activities as new processes and technology are deployed. Since their thoughts and actions are used in developing the change response, it further increases people’s ownership in the change initiative.
Techniques leaders should use during implementation include reiterating the change mission through ongoing communications. E-mails, project milestone commemorations, conversations and other channels should be used to remind people why they are expending their hard work on implementing a change.

Organizational leaders should address people-related issues that arise by asking themselves the following questions:
• Does the individual have the ability or desire to work in the new environment?
• Are additional skill sets needed to transition to the new job?
• Are changes to job descriptions needed?
• Are job grades or pay impacted by this change?
• Does the change impact short-term productivity and is additional support needed to ensure business success?

Lastly, leaders should focus on people’s performance and satisfaction by questioning the following areas:
• Are change-oriented tasks being accomplished as planned?
• Are energy and enthusiasm present?
• Does alignment still exist among the people?

People First
The urgency of circumstances that precipitate change results frequently in the introduction of new processes and technology which are doomed to failure without the input and buy in of an organization’s people. Leadership that recognizes the importance of making change a personal commitment for all its people, not just executives and stakeholders, will be more successful at implementing change. Using the Change Management Life Cycle methodology’s three phases of Identify, Engage and Implement and related techniques provides organizations with a framework for creating a receptive environment for positive, lasting change.

Writer's Bio: Jonathan Gilbert, PMP, Executive Director of Client Solutions for ESI International, has more than 30 years of experience as entrepreneur, educator, chief executive officer, construction manager, management consultant, project manager and engineer. He earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park, concentrating in project/construction management and environmental engineering. For more information, visit www.esi-intl.com.

©ESI International 2009. Reprinted with permission.

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Hackers hijack DNS of High Profile New Zealand sites

2009-04-24T00:38:00-04:00

(DomainNews)The mass defacement affected major Microsoft sites in New Zealand including WindowsLive.co.nz, MSN.co.nz, Microsoft.co.nz, Hotmail.co.nz, Live.co.nz next to HSBC.co.nz, Sony.co.nz, Coca-Cola.co.nz, Xerox.co.nz, Fanta.co.nz, F-Secure.co.nz and BitDefender.co.nz. ...Go to source http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/hackers_hijack_dns_records_of_high_profile_new_zealand_sites.html

ICANN wants more people

2009-04-22T09:21:00-04:00

(DomainNews) ICANN just launched a new job site with a list of over 20 jobs.There are many positions range such as Chief Executive Office,Director of International Policy Development and many others. ...Go to source http://www.gawkwire.com/business/icann_wants_more_people.html

VPS and Virtualization Come of Age

2009-04-21T00:29:00-04:00

(WebHost Blog) In 1776 the first steam engines were installed and working in commercial enterprises. This technology development leads to the Industrial Revolution.

In 1870 the Second Industrial Revolution commences. Developments from the Second Industrial Revolution include the introduction of steam-driven steel ships, the development of the airplane, mass production of goods, mechanical refrigeration, and the invention of the telephone.

In 1945 the world’s first true computer debuts. ENIAC or Electronic Numerator Integrator Analyser and Computer can perform an equation of 5,000 additions. It weighed 27 tons.

In 1969 the ARPANet went live, with communications between the University of California in Los Angeles and the Stanford Research Institute. The network is the precursor to the modern Internet.

In 1974 Robert P. Goldberg, publishes a paper titled: Survey of Virtual Machines Research. The paper describes virtualization as a ”framework or methodology of dividing the resources of a computer into multiple execution environments, by applying one or more concepts or technologies such as hardware and software partitioning, time-sharing, partial or complete machine simulation, emulation, quality of service, and many others”. By all accounts the first mention of VPS.

In 1983 the TCP/IP protocol is introduced, which is still the Internet standard used today.

In 1991 CERN introduces the World Wide Web (www) which incorporates the HTML computer language. Shortly thereafter the very first web hosting companies emerge, renting shared space on centrally located servers.

On February 8, 1999, VMware introduces the first of a line of x86 virtualization products which creates the ‘VMware Virtual Platform’. Shortly thereafter mainstream hosting companies begin offering VPS hosting products similar to those we know today.

So VPS hosting has been around less than 10 years and really has gotten traction in the past 5 years. The technologies are now beginning to really take hold and become a true force in web hosting. For example, there are now over 5,240,000 results in Google for the search term: VPS hosting.

Here’s what Rob Lovell, an outreach specialist with virtualization company Parallels sees for the near term future of VPS hosting, ”Web hosting for the consumer will continue I think to consolidate and commoditize. the big few really are now established and entrances to the market from Yahoo, Google and Microsoft will impact the lower end of the hosting market considerably. I think web hosters in the small business area will see a dramatic expansion of their services away from just web hosting and domain names, to software and services. Low attrition services are required for companies to continue to grow rapidly in the industry, and with hosting companies already having a huge network of customers, they can simply add-on services to suit.”

Daniel Foster, co-founder of VPS and UK hosting company 34SP.com saw these trends in virtualization, ”I expect to see more companies moving to virtualised platforms in 2009 to enable them to rapidly adapt to the needs of their customers. We’ve seen virtualisation start to take hold of the industry, and this is set to continue throughout 2009. The fundamentals will still apply in 2009. Customers will still expect great service, great value and great hosting. If you’re not already doing that, make sure you’re moving in the right direction; customers expect it all!”

Mr. Lovell added, ”Hosting companies are in a fantastic position to start to offer more than just web and email, but focusing on line or business applications which almost all businesses use - and have to buy and support. Hosting companies already have an infrastructure and people to deliver these services and i think with higher margins on offer, this will be seen as a much more common option. For Parallels we will continue to address our service provider partners, focusing on enabling them to tackle the next step services such as Software as a Service and VOIP.”

This content was written by Derek Vaughan exclusively for WebHostBlog.com.

Tags: Parallels virtual servers, virtual servers, virtualization, VMware, VPS, VPS Hosting

About Derek Vaughan:
Derek Vaughan is a web hosting industry veteran, marketing consultant and writer. Mr. Vaughan has architected the marketing growth of several prominent web hosting success stories leading to acquisition including Affinity Internet, Inc., Aplus.Net and HostMySite.com. Prior to his entry into the web hosting industry, Mr. Vaughan was responsible for online marketing at The Walt Disney Company where he marketed ecommerce for the ESPN.com and NASCAR.com brands. Mr. Vaughan received his M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University and currently serves on the HostingCon Advisory Board.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/vps_and_virtualization_come_of_age.html

auDA recklessness damages Australian domain industry

2009-04-20T14:00:00-04:00

(DomainNews) There is now the possibility that - if Bottle Domains wins its case - auDA may be subject to severe damages for loss of business, potentially bankrupting the tightly budgeted administrator. "Chris Disspain of auDA has acted as judge, jury and executioner by cancelling Bottle Domains' accreditation so suddenly, and this action is now proving to be grossly negligent." ...Go to source
http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/auda_recklessness_damages_australian_domain_industry.html

Information Every Small Business Starting Online Needs to Know

2009-04-20T00:33:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Professional Web Design-- There are several existing industrial sites in the Internet business, but the design of these web sites range widely in business requirements. Thus, when creating your website, you must understand the requirements or the emotions of visitors to your market. After assembling these ideas, your job is to serve those things required of your website in a smart display.

What are the important topics of basic web design?

Design: This is a key aspect of each site and it’s different for each. Sometimes just creating a more appealing website can increase the growth of small business enterprise. You just have to appear as an attractive business fulfilling the market requirements. You could say that designing a website is just a graphic image, and thus must be perfect.

Central Division: The structure of the site must be made with a hard eye. It must show a remarkable, professional web design and very eye-catching factors. Central layouts create this important part of any web site design but you must separate the parts very carefully.
Navigation: This is a very important part in professional website design, but many times well designed websites are not able to achieve increased business because of poor navigation system. Thus, it is incumbent upon the web designer to maintain a robust navigation system, within the overall design of the site.

Trendy Design: Always try to use the recent web design styles for your website design. For each case tuning sites can make positive changes in small business growth. Today, modern styles, such as web design 2.0 are very useful in catching the attention of viewers easily.

Accessibility: This is the most indispensable element in web design recently. A clever design in the web site means it must be accessible to all visitors from every part of the world. There should not be any variation and language should appear without any problems of identification color for even color blind people. Usually visitors are not waiting for those sites that have a large lag time to display, thus creating a web site with fewer graphics or animated portions is key.

These are a few important points in web design and creative…but they are crucial. You must try to bring something new to site visitors to attract attention.

For more information on design tips and professional web design please visit http://blog.edynamo.com

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Three Firefox add-ons enhance Google searches

2009-04-18T06:00:00-04:00

Sharpen your searches with GoogleEnhancer
(cnet) The primary reason I click Google's Advanced Search option is to limit the results to a specific date range. With NettiCat's GoogleEnhancer add-on I can narrow my searches by date as well as by file type and a handful of languages via drop-down menus that are placed to the right of the search box. ...Go to Source http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/three_firefox_add-ons_enhance_google_searches.html

Domain battle hits the bottle

2009-04-17T09:50:00-04:00

(DomainNews) But the case will flare up again today.

.au Domain Administration (auDA) terminated Bottle's accreditation earlier this week due to security issues.

But the court granted a temporary interim injunction late yesterday, allowing the reinstatement of Bottle Domains' accreditation until the matter could be heard on 22 April. De-accreditation would stop Bottle Domains from being able to provide its domain name services. ...Go to Source

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/domain_battle_hits_the_bottle.html

Most constituents opposed to new top level domain

2009-04-16T09:37:00-04:00

(DomainNews) Another strange thing may be considered the fact that everyone wants a special treatment.For example American Bankers Association ,which thinks any top level domain related to finance should have strict regulations:"While many of the new generic domains will pose no threat to trusted transactions over the Internet, any domain name associated with financial services should be restricted to financial services companies, with substantial restrictions, guidelines and proof of eligibility." ...Go to Source http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/most_constituents_opposed_to_new_top_level_domain.html

Circuit City rises from the grave (well, the domain name and IP, at least)

2009-04-15T09:37:00-04:00

(cnet) Computer vendor Systemax has agreed to purchase the bankrupt company's trademarks and domain names for $6.5 million, according to the Houston Chronicle. The actual sale is part of a May 11 auction of assets, and in court filings, Circuit City said, "The sale of the intellectual property and Internet assets would bring significant recovery for the sellers' estates and creditors." ...Go to Source http://www.gawkwire.com/business/circuit_city_rises_from_the_grave_well_the_domain_name_and_ip_at.html

Bill Clinton Wants His Domain Names Back

2009-04-13T08:45:00-04:00

(DomainNews) For months, Culligan has been digging into the mystery of why Maggie Williams, a longtime Clinton staffer who served as Hillary Clinton's campaign manager and now works for her as a Secretary of State recruiter, used Clinton's taxpayer-funded office to receive correspondence about stock options she received from Delta Financial, a subprime lender. ...Go to source http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/bill_clinton_wants_his_domain_names_back.html

Conficker also installs fake antivirus software

2009-04-13T08:41:00-04:00

(cnet) The worm, which has infected millions of Windows-based computers on the Internet, is downloading a program called Spyware Protect 2009 and displaying warning messages saying that the computer is infected and offering to clean it up for $49.95, according to the Trend Micro blog. ...Go to source http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/conficker_also_installs_fake_antivirus_software.html

Yahoo Messenger gets its own iPhone app

2009-04-09T17:07:00-04:00

(cnet) Yahoo Messenger for iPhone has many of the same core chatting features you'll find on Yahoo Messenger for the desktop: sending IM and SMS messages, support for emoticons, status updates, adding new contacts, and photo sharing (either an image from the camera roll or a new picture taken from within the application itself). ...Go to source http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/yahoo_messenger_gets_its_own_iphone_app.html

Microsoft slapped with $388 million patent verdict

2009-04-09T09:35:00-04:00

(cnet) In the suit, Uniloc alleged that Microsoft used its patented technology as part of the software giant's product activation methods. A federal jury in Rhode Island found that Windows XP, Office XP, and Windows Server 2003 infringed on a Uniloc patent. ...Go to source http://www.gawkwire.com/business/microsoft_slapped_with_388_million_patent_verdict.html

Colombia Seeks New Registry Operator Sought for .CO

2009-04-03T09:43:00-04:00

(Domain News) The new registry administrator will be in charge of promoting the .CO ccTLD, management and technical operations for .CO domains although the Ministry will maintain responsibility for policies and the monitoring the operations. ...Go to source http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/colombia_seeks_new_registry_operator_sought_for_co.html

Rid your computer of the Conficker virus

2009-04-01T09:55:00-04:00

(cnet) First off, make sure that you are actually infected. There aren't many warning signs, but a few will stand out if you know what to look for. One fast way to check is to try to visit any major security software publisher's Web site. If you've cleared your browser cache beforehand, and you can load the sites of Symantec, Eset, Avira, or AVG, you're clean because Conficker blocks access to them.

Another good litmus test is to check on the status and functionality of Windows services such as Automatic Updates, the Background Intelligent Transfer Service, Windows Defender, and Error Reporting Services. If any of those have been disabled without your consent, or if your account lockout policies have changed without approval, you might be infected. Other warning signs include unusually high traffic on your local area network, and domain controllers responding slowly to client requests. ...Go to source

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