I had planned to write an article on the internet and the vast amount of choice it enables us to have this month. However, the events of yesterday have left me so gobsmacked that i felt compelled to write the article on this subject instead.

Here’s a true story for you. This week i was robbed. No, they didn’t mug me in the street, no they didn’t break into my house, no they didn’t even take cash or credit cards from my pockets either. In fact, I didn’t even know i’d been robbed until yesterday when somebody told me!

Talk about being in a state of shock. I still am. I didn’t even know what hit me. There i was going about my day to day business when i opened a letter from my telephone company/Internet Service Provider, British Telecom (BT). The letter started “As part of our commitment to Customer Service we aim to alert customers to unusually large phone bills as soon as this appears likely.” As soon as i read the word “alert” my mind was racing. The letter basically went on to explain, in very vague terms, that my bill so far had exceeded £100 due largely to international calls. I hadnt made any international calls i thought to myself. Actually, i don’t even make any calls on this line, i only use it for internet access.

I immediately called the phone company as requested in the letter. The person on the other end was so unsympathetic, I had to practically draw the details out of her. The facts were, she was in no doubt, that a virus had infected my computer and dialed first a premium rate number within my country, and then an international number at an even higher premium rate (via satellite apparently). All completely without my knowledge or permission.

I found out that one call alone had cost me a whopping £83 (approx. US$140), and it turns out, i am fully liable for the costs. “But, do i have any say in whether i pay these fraudulent charges” i say. “You will have to pay” she states still completely unsympathetically.

Actually it turns out i was lucky, if you can call it that, in one respect. The phone company at least had the foresight to stop international calling from my line soon after they spotted this “high international usage”. Otherwise, who knows how high the bill might have been. I wonder how many people around the globe have had a similar experience? I also wonder why i haven’t heard about this before and yet for the BT lady i spoke to it seemed alarmingly common and she was certain what had caused it?

I suppose that in a world where things are increasingly done electronically, it is inevitable that criminals will commit crimes electronically too. E-crime is therefore a reality and something we should reasonably protect ourselves against. A word to the wise – protect your computer (and therefore your personal details stored on them) with whatever antivirus/ security software your qualified computer technician advises. Always keep it up to date so that it recognises all known viruses and security issues. In other words, arm your computer to the high teeth!

You may also want to consider stopping international calls being made on your phone line as an added precaution. I’ve written this article in an attempt to stop others being robbed in the same way. Please give the matter some serious consideration. There is an enormous amount of help and information available on protecting your computer available on the internet too.

Just go to your favourite search engine and search under terms like: virus, antivirus software, computer security, etc. My technician also recommended some free software called Spybot which found various virus type programs on my system and removed them. You can find it easily in a search engine by searching under the term spybot. (Just to make it clear. I have no affiliation with the makers of this software whatsoever. Im just passing on a tip.)

• Be unique.
  Your page doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s. The best web sites are those that reflect the personality of the artist.
• Offer something worthwhile.
  Web sites are the business cards of the 21st century. Your site is out there representing your business 24 hours a day – make it professional, make it clear, and make sure it looks like you.
• Offer something extra.
  A killer links page, some free printables, miniature making tips – something to keep people coming back regularly, and something for you to talk about when you promote your site.
• Make it easy on your viewer.
  Don’t clutter up your page with stuff that really doesn’t have to be there. Keep it simple and clear.
• Update regularly.
  A page that is updated regularly is more likely to encourage visitors to return.
• Avoid too much primary color.
  Using a splash of primary colors to draw the eye can be a good thing—but using them as the background for your site can be deadly. Primary colors cause eye fatigue—viewers will suddenly feel tired after looking at your site, without realizing why.
• Write your links as part of your text.
  Avoid Click Here links – write your links in context.
• Remember the Three Clicks rule.
  It should never take your viewer more than three clicks to get to what she wants to see. Any area of your site should be accessible from any other area in three clicks or less.
• Remember the Five Finger rule.
  Any time there are more than five similar items grouped together, your eye tries to break them into a smaller group. Try to break your groupings into smaller numbers, to help your viewer focus on your page content instead of its layout.

Improving Your Images…

• Use height and width tags in image commands.
  This makes your text load faster because the browser knows how much space to allow for your image. If your viewer has something to read, they are more likely to stay until the image loads.
• Break pages with lots of graphics into several smaller pages.
  Smaller pages with fewer graphics=faster load times.
• Use thumbnails.
  Let your viewer decide which images to zoom in on.

About That Email…

• Include easy to find, well labelled contact info in every page.
  Make it easy for your viewer to talk to you.
• Answer your mail promptly.
  Show your viewers that they are important to you – if they email you, answer them ASAP!

If you are in business then in today’s world you need to be online. To be online you need to have your own website. Your own website will enable you to reach customers from around the globe. To have a web site, you will probably need to use one of the thousands of companies that offer web hosting services.

In the world that we live in today, it is necessary for individuals and for businesses of all sizes to have their own web sites. Web hosting is a more economical and convenient way for the web sites to be accessible at all times. Basically, web hosting means that the files for a website are stored on another computer, which is called a web server. Essentially with web hosting, a web server is able to stay connected to the Internet at all times so that the web page is available 24 hours a day to people who want to get into the site. This web hosting service is available from many hundreds of thousands of web hosting sites all over the world. There are many web hosting sites that can be explored on the Internet.

Web hosting can be tailored to an individual or company’s requirements, with speeds, efficiency and range of available services, costed accordingly. Certain top-of-the-range packages provide a raft of features, including complex software and round the clock technical support. An important question to ask when choosing a web server for web hosting is its capacity for transferring data. For example, the available disk space should always meet your requirements.

Web hosting is viable in a variety of packages that will vary from individuals to large business organizations. The web server will have different speeds and reliability. Some will offer 24-hour technical service and easy to use software. It is important to know the amount of data that can be transferred when selecting a web server for web hosting. The amount of disk space offered by web hosting services should match the needs of the individual or the business.

People and businesses want web pages that are secure, fast and reliable. Choosing web hosting that meets those needs can influence the success of a web page, and ultimately sometimes the business.

Computers and the Internet have spawned a “new” technology-centered language. Yet another benefit of web hosting is its capacity for keeping abreast of constantly evolving new Internet terminology. If you’re new to web hosting, take a look at the online guides to familiarize yourself with the fast moving world of web hosting.