WELCOME TO THE WEB!

We're delighted to announce the launch of www.DesertDwellersRealty.com, the real estate broker website of Desert Dwellers. The site features integrated IDX property searches and individual web pages for each of the Desert Dwellers agents. The site also boasts RSS news feeds, dynamic content (CMS) and a host of links, area information and tools.

Welcome to the web!

THE TANGLED WIDE WORLD OF WEB BROWSERS : A PERSONAL OPINION

As a web designer, part of my Quality Assurance (QA) testing is to verify that my websites work in a number of different browsers. One cannot "assume" that just because it's okay in one, it's going to be okay in another. Beyond just working, the appearance of the site is often affected by the browser as well. Sometimes the behavior difference can be quite dramatic.

Some of these differences are due to the fact that there are differing standards for browser and web design behavior. Though there are a fundamental set of "rules" that everyone follows, the difference in "tweaks" can be very frustrating at times, but the ultimate result is worth it.

As a result of all this testing, I've come to develop a fondness for certain browsers. While Microsoft's Internet Explorer used to dominate the browser market, others have begun to develop a following of their own. I thought I'd share some of my experiences with you.

The "Big 5" browsers are, considered by many, to be:

• Internet Explorer


• Firefox (Mozilla)


• Chrome (Google)


• Safari (Apple)


• Opera (Opera)

I used to be a big fan of Internet Explorer (IE) (www.microsoft.com/windows/Internet-explorer). However, as the version numbers went up so did the complexity of the browser. I've found that many "built in" features of Windows suffer from a tendency of trying be all things to all people and IE is no exception. In addition, the changes from one version to another have been very dramatic, both from a visual and usability standpoint. According to w3schools.com's month-to-month "Web Statistics and Trends" report, Internet Explorer, with no less than three major versions out there, has seen its heyday (mid 2008) and it's market share, though still significant at about 35% has dropped a lot. Whether this is due to security or usability concerns, who knows, but I'm betting that the numbers will dwindle even more as awareness of other browsers grows.

From a personal standpoint, my major complaint about IE has been the speed at which it loads and the continual having to unload or "switch off" various components. I also don't like software that interacts with my operating system at a level that makes me feel as though it knows better than what's good for me. Added to this have been security issues for years now. My use of IE has simply been reduced to testing. Yet, Microsoft does claim that IE is one of the "safest" browsers out there.

The lion's share of the browser market belongs to Firefox (FF) by Mozilla (www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/firefox.html). In the Windows world, Firefox became a big rival to Internet Explorer in 2006. I believe that much of this was as a result of the whole legal drama that surrounded Microsoft's including IE in Windows, along with what seemed to be one security issue after another. Firefox was there and took the lead.

I used FF for about a year as my primary browser until Google Chrome came along. I became increasingly frustrated with loading times that seemed to grow and grow, along with what seemed to me to be an incredible number of updates. Perhaps it was no more that IE, but the fact that the updates were installed when I loaded the browser, gave it the appearance of being perpetually updated. I always liked the "tabbed" browsing windows that Firefox, I believe, was first to adopt. Yet, over time, I feel as though the browser has suffered a little from the IE habit of trying to be too much. So, as with IE, I use it primarily for testing purposes.

Google Chrome (www.google.com/chrome) made it's debut in 2008. It was heralded (by Google) as being a fresh browser, built from the "ground up". Early reviews were positive. It was certainly different, and took a little getting used to. Gone were many of the text menus that I'd gotten used to. It behaved differently too. One tab crashing didn't wipe out the others. I also rather liked the way it tracked my browsing history.

Yet, there were some early problems. Some addins, such as Flash, were a little "iffy" and some sites refused to load in Chrome, telling me to use IE or FF instead. I'm glad to see that this has changed and, as Chrome's use has grown over the past year, many of the early problems have been ironed out.

From a personal standpoint, Chrome is my current browser of choice. It's fast. Very fast. Once you get used to piloting it, I've found it very reliable. It does what I expect it to do: allow me to browse the web. Sounds simple, doesn't it?

Safari (www.apple.com/safari/) used to be the "Mac" browser. It still is, but the Windows version has been adopted by a growing segment of the browser marketplace. Safari is what Apple products tend to be: glossy, streamlined and functional. It's a nice browser. It feels "clean" and "light". Many consider it to be the "fastest" browser out there.

My personal use of Safari has been for testing purposes, but I do like it and will continue keeping an eye on it as a potential alternative for Chrome should be need arise...

Finally, the last of the "big 5" is Opera (www.opera.com/). While this browser still has a relatively tiny percentage of users (about 3%), it's growing. Like Safari, Opera feels "clean" and "light". It loads quickly and does a good job.

Opera is the only browser that has not crashed once since I've started using it. I like the way it "remembers" the last site I was on, and this, straight out of the box. There is little "fluff" with Opera, like Chrome and Safari. I personally believe that it's popularity will grow as people become aware of it.

As the mobile platform usage grows, I expect both the mobile versions of the above browsers as well as new ones to make their presence felt. As a web designer, I do have to take mobile browsing into consideration. Most "airtime" costs when it comes to browsing, so sites need to load quickly and the amount of content needs to be "bare bones" to keep costs down. My mobile browsing testing has been limited to IE and some "emulators" from the mobile phone companies which allow me to do some limited testing. That said, Opera has a nice feature built into the desktop version which easily simulates a mobile browser. It was the original reason I downloaded Opera and, from a developers standpoint, I'm very glad I did.

As a designer, I also test my sites using Lynx (lynx.isc.org), which is a pure text browser. This allows me to see my sites in a mode that might be used by a visually impaired visitor as well as how search engines view the sites.

So, there you have it, the Dave Segrove opinion on the major browsers. To summarize, I think Internet Explorer and Firefox have become too "bulky" and slow to be practical. Chrome is where it's at, right now, but Safari and Opera show a lot of promise. You can download and run all of these browsers on the same PC and try them for yourself. It always comes down to what you're comfortable using, but it never hurts to try something new...or old again...

VIPRE ANTIVIRUS +ANTISPYWARE : ALL HYPE?

I was fortunate to be able to review this product for free (courtesy of Amazon Vine) . I have to confess that straight upfront, because I'm not sure I'd have purchased it knowing the little I'd read about Vipre and the concern about what it might do to my PC after install.

Unlike other software "applications", protective software tends to get into the "nuts and bolts" of a computer. It needs to in order to protect, but this has been known to go wrong. I wish I could say I were not speaking from experience...

Anyway, Vipre arrived. Cool-looking box. The quick-startup directions suggest you remove existing anti-virus software first. Again, from personal experience, I'd learned this. When I'd made the move from Symantec to McAfee, many years ago, the software didn't test for other anti-virus products and I ended up with two installations that were both convinced the other was malicious. On the positive side, my PC was probably the best-protected in the universe, but it was unusable.

So, this time I uninstalled McAfee and installed Vipre...fingers crossed...flip to "present tense"...

The installation takes time, mostly because after it installs from the CD, reboots the PC, it then has to download the latest version and definitions and reboot again. I found that doing other tasks while keeping an eye on the installation was a little more productive use of my time. On one PC, the entire installation process took about an hour.

Once installed, it's almost impossible to tell Vipre is running (apart from the glaring "V" in the windows system toolbox). It certainly lives up to its claim of not slowing down the computer. After moving from McAfee, I noticed a very definite speed increase.

The user interface – FINALLY SOMEONE GOT IT RIGHT – is the best feature (besides the protection), designed for the novice and expert alike. There is a simple "at a glance" screen on startup which shows you what's happened, what is active and a neat little "Worldwide threat level" box which actually does change as new worms and viruses come out.

As with many products in this category, you can "set it and forget it", just install and let it take over. If you're like me, the fine-tuning options are a pleasure. You can quite literally tell Vipre what it should consider a "threat", how often and in-depth you want your scans to be, how your email is configured, manage quarantine and so forth. Yes, other products offer all this too, but the way that Sunbelt Software has brought it together in a simple, yet in-depth interface is what makes it stand out for me.

I've been a heavy user, both personally and professionally, of anti-virus software since it was invented, when there were products such as "Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit" - if anyone remembers that, you're a dinosaur to :) - and I've found that as the solutions have become more integrated, they've become a bigger drain on system resources. I moved from Symantec (after 10 years) to McAfee when I found the Symantec interface and stability problematic (and my ISP offered McAfee for free).

- Please note that this review isn't intended to devalue what McAfee and Symantec security products offer, on the whole, they are very good. I've been very happy with McAfee, except for the overhead I feel it places on my computer, even after a lot of tuning and tweaking (and I'm a little technical). My decision to test Vipre was driven by this overhead and my decision to stick with Vipre (despite the promise of free McAfee from my ISP) is due to primarily to the performance. I do miss the anti-spam and firewall from McAfee and will end up getting these as separate products rather than part of an integrated suite -

Unfortunately, I cannot make an "apples to apples" comparison between McAfee and Vipre because Vipre doesn't offer a "complete Internet security" package, but between it and the Windows firewall, I'm very satisfied. My next step will be to find a firewall application that is a little more robust than the Windows one and see how it integrates with Vipre.

Since installation, Vipre has caught a couple of incoming dangers and found several pieces of spyware during its scans. The nice thing is, it tells me and then leaves me alone, just how I like it. One final thing to point out is the license covers you for every computer in your house. In my case that is 6 – for the price of 1. In this economic climate, that's certainly worth considering.

So, to conclude, it's affordable, simple to use, fast and effective. I would recommend giving Vipre a chance if you're looking to get something a little easier on the system than what you might be using right now...and shame on me for not having considered buying it.

I've run Vipre on a Dell Precision (4 processor / 3GB / XPP), Dell Dimension (1 processor / 2 GB / Vista HPE), Dell Dimension (1 processor / 2 GB / XPH) and HP Pavillion (1 processor / 1 GB / XPH).

MAGICJACK : 12-MONTHS LATER...

Well, it's been a full year. My subscription expired yesterday. I wrote the following back when I first received the "as seen on TV" gadget that looked pretty amazing.

• MagicJack...Does it work? when I first got it.



• Magic Jack : Does it work? after six months.

So what's the verdict?

I'm pleased to announce that it is GUILTY of working almost flawlessly!

But didn't he say "almost"?

Yes, he did. The few "bumps" I've had have been more due to the PC or Internet that the device. For the past 12 months, I have used my MagicJack on two different laptops, one with XP and the other with Vista as well as three different desktops also with different Vista/XP combinations. Here's a list of my findings:

• Regardless of the operating system, the "plug-and-play" feature seems to work just fine. When you plug the MagicJack for the first time, it self-installs the software and you're up and running.



• Transferring the 911 location (very important) is a snap, just go the the MagicJack website, log in, and change your location. I do hasten to add that I've not had to use the 911 feature, so it's not been tested in the field.



• Overall performance has been very good, for local and long distance. International calls are fine too. If you wish to make international calls, you do have to keep a balance on your account. Incoming international calls are not affected.



• Occasional "Max Headroom" like effects do happen, making the other person sound a little as though they're trying to rap. This primarily happens when the Internet connection is being heavily used by other programs or the bandwidth is low.



• I've used MagicJack on wired and wireless computers with comparable results.



• On the current computer, the MagicJack has been running continually for about 2 months with only 1 reboot (required for service pack updates).



• The telephone number is tied to the MagicJack, not the computer, so if you plug the MagicJack into a new PC, the number transfers with it.



• The control panel on the screen is very simple to use. You can see outgoing and incoming call history, use it to dial or save numbers to your phone book.



• The voicemail is so-so. It's usable, but not great, but it's there if you need it.

On the whole I am delighted. For $50 you get a dedicated telephone number (plus you pick your own area code). Just add handset and Internet. I have just renewed my subscription for 5 years ($60).

For the price, the ease of use and quality is incredible value. Wherever you go, you take the same number with you. It's perfect if you change locations like I do, or transfer from PC to laptop and back.

Personally, I am very hapy and will continue to use MagicJack and even get another...and no, I still don't own stock in the company :)

You can learn more at www.magicjack.com.

BLACKBERRY AND TEXTING ETIQUETTE

An increasingly large number of my clients are getting Blackberrys (or is it Blackberries...) and other texting devices. After all, it's a tried-and-tested technology for those on the move. But speed and convenience seems to be leading to short replies that may be misinterpreted...

When your email is routed to your Blackberry and you want to reply, it's relatively straightforward: type and send. However, the nature of the devices tends to mean that quick, one-liners are the norm. I often get these in reply, with a message footer "Sent from my Blackberry". I know that a short and often abrupt-seeming reply is nothing more than that. Be careful, however, if you're replying to a client or someone who may be a little more sensitive.

Interpretation of email and text messages can be very mixed. I, for one, am guilty of misunderstanding a sentence or two as mean something quite different than intended by the sender. The written messages don't reflect the tone of the sender, so it's prudent to take a moment and consider how the message may be interpreted.

Am I too concerned? Perhaps. But if someone sends you an email, for example "is this the best offer we can get" and you, caught up in a thousand other things, respond "yes" on your texting device, will your client think you're being a little abrupt...even rude because they're used to you explaining youself in "regular" email or on the phone? Will they understand BRT, LMAO or CUL8R (I've seen this happen)?

As technology moves forward and communication gets quicker, it's easy to forget that what you meant to say and how it was perceived can be very easily blurred.

Don't text and drive!!

1.5 Billion Internet Users...and Growing

According to the World Internet Usage Stats website, the current percentage of the world population that uses the Internet is almost 22%. The approximate world population is in the 6.5 billion range and there are almost 1.5 billion Internet users out there. I can't think of too many changes in the history of mankind that have impacted that many people so quickly, for better or worse.

Less than a decade ago, the numbers were vastly different, with only 360 million Internet users. That means a four-fold increase in less than 10 years!



When looking at "penetration", the total percentage of a population with Internet access, as one would expect, North America leads the pack with about 75.5% of its population "connected". The US is followed by Oceania (South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand) with almost 60% and Europe with 48%. Asia has only a 15% penetration, below Latin America and the Middle East.


Look at the numbers, and the picture changes dramatically. Asia, lead by China, has over 578 million Internet users. North America comes third on the list with 248 million, behind Europe (384 million). If China continues to grow in business and technology as it has over the past few years, that number will double or even triple in the next few years.

What most impresses me is the sheer number of people now connected and the potential for people who could never had met before now getting together, collaborating, sharing ideas, cultures, information and friendship.

It's mind-blowing!

Counting the number of websites is a little more difficult. This is in part because the definition of website is somewhat vague. Does a Facebook "site" count as a separate one from Facebook itself? According to Netcraft's 2008 December survey, they saw almost 187 million web sites.

As I said, the definition of a "web site" is a little vague. According to Royal Pingdom, the number is 162 million. Pandia estimates the number of pages (not sites) at between 15 and 30 billion). ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) say in their 2008 report that there are 163 million domain names and 1.4 billion users.

Take the ratio of sites to users and you have roughly 8.5 users to every site. That's not a big ratio.Web sites come and go, as do users, but in the past 10 years, the ratio has been dropping. In 2000 it was 9:1.

What does this all mean to us, down here? Search engine optimization, good site content, frequent updates, site promotion using everything from social media to advertising and a solid marketing plan is vital if your online presence is going to be felt.

That said, the possibilities are endless too. Never has a business playing field been so level. Sure, there are the big companies that can spend a ton in advertising to attract visitors, but there is plenty of room for the smaller player too. Collaboration and innovation is possible in a local, national and worldwide level. Success is possible with little investment, a good idea and the means to get the message out.

I those 1.5 billion users visit (we'll say conservatively) 10 sites a day, that's 15 billion visitors to websites around the world.

Just 1,000th of 1% of those visits means is 15,000...a day. Heck, I'll take a tenth of that...for now!

The Internet is an ocean. Let's go fishing.


Dave

Information courtesy of Pingom (www.pingdom.com), Netcraft (www.netcraft.com), Internet World Stats (www.internetworldstats.com), Pandia (www.Pandia.com, Yahoo (www.Yahoo.com), ICANN (www.icann.org).

WELCOME TO THE WEB!

HOME RELOCATION EXPERTS

www.HomeRelocationExperts.com



Home Relocation Experts is a group formed by broker Sue Griman of Desert Dwellers Realty, LLC who specialize in personal, corporate and military relocation.
Unlike many "traditional" relocation companies, the business model of HRE is more referral-driven than "fee for service". As Sue describes it,
"a personal touch in relocation backed by decades in relocation and real estate."
Their nationwide network of agents and service providers are all "best of breed". The product and site have been a vision of Sue’s for many years and we’re
very pleased to have helped realize it.



SUPERIOR FINANCIAL SERVICE

www.SuperiorFinancialService.com



We're also delighted to announce the launch of the completely redesigned site of Superior Financial Service. SFS offers secure online/offline banking transaction and credit card processing services.
The site features a very clean, modern look and technical features including XML, RSS syndication, Flash, Java, HTML and .Net. The technical and aesthetic challenges presented at the outset of this project has inspired some of my best personal work.
One principal said upon completion, "JDE really hit a home run in the building and delivery of our site. The visual presentation of our company in this medium conveys everything we represent at Superior Financial Service.".