by Everett Cussins | Sep 17, 2018 | Good fo Business, Google, Privacy, Web Security
There is so much finger pointing and so many accusations among politicians and those who have a public facing career. It can get overwhelming to read, hear and watch. Many people I know have told me they have stopped watching any news programs because it’s depressing. Others have been plowing through it in a state of confusion.
A group out of UC Berkeley has come up with a way to help us filter out the garbage from what is real in what we read. They’ve come up with three apps that each perform a specific task. They are available within a main website called RoBhat Labs.
Botcheck is used to learn if a Twitter account is a political propaganda bot.
For those who haven’t noticed, there are a bunch of little programs floating around the internet. They post text and media – just like a human would – on Twitter and Facebook, as well as some other social media. The automation of bots can radically affect search engine rankings and public opinion. It’s very scary that their lies or misinformation can convince people that they are truthful or honest.
SurfSafe offers a unique approach. Rather than telling you what news sources are honest, biased or fake, you pick the news source you want checked and then the app identifies its validity. You have the option to continue reading those sources or not. (Before using the app, you can read the explanation of how it works.)
NewsBot is an app that lets you see all your Facebook messages and which way they are leaning, politically. It first prompts you to sign into Facebook Messenger, then it begins to scan.
I’m glad that, with all the stuff that is flying around Facebook, Twitter and even traditional news sources, there is a service that can identify the fake news for me.
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by wrangler | Aug 6, 2018 | DIY Website, Updates, WordPress
Over the years I have worked with people who insisted on having their website look a certain way. The content was either over baring too much or not updating and fresh. Then they would look at me a say, “Why don’t people come to my website and buy my goods?”
I have tried to explain that what looks good to them (because they created it) may not be attractive to search engines and people who surf the internet.
The first rule before building any website is look at the compition. What is working for them and what is not. I am not saying copy their websites, but get a feel as to what works. Ask prospective customers what they like to see and what turns them off. Then build from it. You can always to what is known as A/B test later.
There are a few basic that will make a website. Realize these will not make you website instantly successful. But it will get you pointed in the right direction.
Be Personalable
Let the visitors see who you are. A picture or two of you and your team goes a long ways. They see real people. Seeing real people happily working goes a lot further than shapes, colors and bunch of words.
Capture who is visiting
Get people to give you their email address for a free PDF or discount coupon. This tells you you have something they want. Then you send them a an announcement or newsletter, keeping that connection alive.
Mobile Friendly
Every website these days not only should look good on you desktop or laptop computer, but on your tablet and cell phone. The reason being more and more people are using their smart cell phone for surfing the internet, doing research and making purchases.
I have often attended training for web development and design. They would say, “Mobile First”. Meaning design your website for mobile devices first then for the desktop and laptop.
