Find emails and other files FAST!

If you are using Windows VISTA, then this is a feature you already have so this article won't be that interesting to you. Enjoy your fast searching... which I believe is turned on by default in Vista (though I am not 100% certain).

But, if like me, you've not quite decided you want to upgrade to Vista just yet, then there is a way to provide "Vista-Like" searching for files and emails to your Windows XP computer.

The idea is as follows: you click on search, type a few keywords of what you are looking for and pretty much instantly, you get a list of files, emails and other data in your computer that matches your keywords! This feature can be a HUGE time saver from having to scour through hundreds of emails looking for something!

Of course, without this "tip", you can search for files using Windows XP search (and wait HOURS for the search to look in your entire computer). You can also use Outlook's search and have it scan EVERY email when you ask it to do so (also taking HOURS if you have many emails like I do). The reason why both of these methods take so long is because each will "start" to search for what you are looking for the minute you start your query and once they start, they are going through your computer's hard drive through every file (or every email) sequentially... opening each file or email and painstakingly looking for whatever it is you queried. This process is VERY slow... and forget changing your search parameters. When you do that, the search starts ALL OVER again!

So, what if instead of having to search "from scratch" for the keywords you are interested in, your computer kept an "index" of every interesting file and email for you. Then, when you needed to search for anything, instead of searching file-by-file, your computer would simply look in the index and instantly give you files and emails that match.

This is exactly the idea behind the "Desktop Search" products, most notably, Microsoft's free version called "Windows Desktop Search".

As of the writing of this post, you can read more and download Windows Desktop Search at:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/desktopsearch/default.mspx

Why this feature has not been pushed via Windows Update into every computer (like MS did with IE 7) is beyond me... but if you don't already have it, you should consider getting this installed on your computer NOW. Trust me, it will save you HOURS of searching for data not to mention that you'll be the hero (or heroine) when you are the only one in your team that can instantly recall ANY/EVERY email sent to ANYONE mentioning a SPECIFIC topic in 1/2 a second!

For instance, on my computer right now, there are 81,000 items indexed. I could recall any document (or EMAIL) mentioning ANY TOPIC in a matter of seconds.

Say it with pictures - how to get pro photography for your website wihtout breaking the bank!

In the theme of "Providing value" to your website visitors, another important (and very overlooked) aspect of a good website is the use of photography. Good quality photography can make your website sparkle and add a level of professionalism that carries a very positive image.

I once worked with a client that insisted that his picture be on the website (which is ok) but it had to be cropped out of some "bad" snapshot at a function he had attended. The quality was poor, the lighting was poor and the background horrible. The picture screamed "amateur" so bad that there was no way we could use it. The reason: photography can make or break a website! This picture would have destroyed this website - no matter how good the design or the content.

You might be thinking, then, that you have to spend a fortune having pro photos taken, hiring models, staging photo shoots and the like. I suppose you can spend a fortune if you want to, but that's absolutely not necessary in this digital age. Why? Here is my top list of websites where you can license photography for use on other websites for very little money:

• iStockPhoto.com - starting at $1 a picture for some pictures, this site provides the most value for your buck - although you may not "exactly" find what you are looking for.
• GettyImages.com - also a good source. The images are a little bit more expensive, but the quality is superb.
• ShutterPoint.com - another good source of photography. Highly search able and you can even "post assignments" which photographers may fulfill with their own photography.

The above all license photography in various ways, usually royalty free for use on websites, but you should read each web site's terms of use and license.

You may spend anywhere from $10 to $100 depending on the size of your website and the exact photo choices.

For even more choices, be sure to Google "online stock photography".

If you have NO budget for pictures, you may want to try some "free" stock photo alternatives:

• freefoto.com
• Stock Exchange (sxc.hu)

Just be careful with the concept of "free" and be sure to read the Terms of Service and License on the free sites. For instance, "Royalty Free" is NOT "free" (as you may have to pay an initial license fee before you can use the photos).

For even more choices, be sure to Google "free online stock photography".

One final thought, if you do license photography (or use free photography) be sure to keep a record of where you licensed / downloaded the photography from and the copy of your "rights assignment" (copy of your order, etc). These same sites that provide ample access to photography also protect their rights aggressively and you should be well documented in case anyone questions your usage of any photos.

Good websites provide value to the visitor - the content syndication trick!

Often times, customers ask me how they can make their website more compelling to a web visitor. Among my top answers is "Content is King!" What do I mean? Read on...

How many websites have you visited that have absolutely NO useful information in them? Or how many times have you access a business website to find out "old" articles, an old address or even NO contact information? Trust me, it happens often. Here's the catch: consumers are getting more and more web savvy! For instance, I will rarely deal with a business unless I've visited their website first, read about them and perhaps educated myself about them (and their competition).

However, as the person in charge of maintenance of many-a-websites, I know the problem of "content" versus "time". Who has time to go edit their website every day or every week? Worse yet, if your website was not built using a content management system, you may actually need to know a little HTML (the language of the WEB) in order to make changes. This is a skill you may not have.

Well, not all is lost! There are MANY sources of information content, regardless of the topic of your website. For instance:

• http://www.iHealthSpot.com - offers physicians a complete Medical Library of content for their patients covering hundreds of conditions, their treatment, etc. (full disclosure: I am a partner in this company).
  
• http://www.inman.com/ - offers Real Estate related news and articles.
• http://www.thenewsroom.com/ - offers local and national news from many local channels, the AP and other national news sources.
  
• http://www.mochila.com/ - offers articles of various topics of your choosing.
  

The services above can ALL be included on your site (and your web visitor may never need to know that the content is a feed), although some may require subscription or certain fees from the website operator - but some of these services are actually FREE.

If the above don't do it for you, don't despair. Just Google "news syndication" or "content syndication" and you'll get many, many sources of great content for your websites.

So, there is no reason to have a website with no content, or worse, old content. Place a feed on your website and start giving your website visitors a reason to come back and even share your website address with others!

Free video streaming for your website!

Everyone wants to stream video on their website. From business presentation, product walk-through videos or even TV appearances, the WEB is the perfect medium to share video. But video is not exactly "easy" to deal with for the average web user. That is, until now. The advent of YouTube.com (and the many other services like it) have made it very simple for anyone to capture video from their video camera or cell phone and post it online. Furthermore, uploading and sharing videos on YouTube is FREE! They even provide tools to allow the videos to be embedded on a website for a nice "clean" look.

See some sample customer videos, using YouTube, below:

• http://drsoto.net/Home/IVSedationVideo/tabid/2980/Default.aspx
• http://www.cholesteroldownbook.com/events.html

Of course, for most impact on business websites, videos should be properly scripted and edited, but that's a topic for another post!

For more information on YouTube, check out http://www.YouTube.com/.

Living with an iPhone - two words: GET ONE! [Updated]

I have been using an Apple iPhone for about 1 month now and I have to say that it is the best phone I have ever had. It is sleek and the Internet experience is SUPERB. As a matter of fact, for Internet and Email, it is BY FAR better than my TREO ever was. The Apple claim that they give you "The Internet not some pda version of it" is indeed TRUE.

Here are my favorite features:

1. VISUAL VOICE MAIL - wow... talk about a revolutionary feature. I am one of those people that used to accumulate 30 voice mails in my box before I forced myself to go one-by-one sequentially trying to listen to them. 20 minutes later, I had erased 99% of the messages and jotted down that I needed to call one or two people. Well, with Visual Voice mail those days are OVER. I simply tap on the exact message I want to listed to, which by the way is labeled with NAME of the caller, and do whatever. I can even save the voice mails if I want to.
   
2. Internet browsing via WiFi is superb. I had NEVER tried to "roam" WiFi with my notebook, relying instead on my Cingular Data Card, but with the iPhone I find myself looking for hotspots (free and paid) all the time.
3. Internet browsing with EDGE is OK too - but not great as you'd expect. Secretly, I am hopeful the iPhone has some "secret" chip in there that will give me 3G when that's available.
4. Bluetooth handling features are GREAT! Ok so I have a car bluetooth thing and a bluetooth portable headset. With my Treo, the phone seemed to choose which device I would connect to. With the iPhone - there's a button called "Audio Sources" and I can choose- and switch back and forth at will in the middle of a call! Simple. Period.
5. Call handling is also very good - the phone, in Apple's style, is VERY intuitive. On a call and get another call, simple to manage. Simple to ignore calls. On a call and want to three-way, simple.

Ok, so I may as well be an Apple stockholder... well, there are some things I don't like. But that's for a future post.

All I can say for now... if you don't have one you either don't know a thing about phones (and therefore don't care) or you totally want one.

No, you can't have mine.

[Update] - I still love my phone. The device is AWESOME. However, beware the AT&T contract. Even though the iPhone is not subsidized by the carrier, they will still only offer you a 2 year contract. So, if you are NOT sure you want to stick with AT&T for that long, then unfortunately steer clear of the iPhone. Alternatively, if you are a techno-geek... there are hacks out there which will allow you to "unlock" the iPhone so that you can use it on other GSM carriers in the US and abroad. In that case, you "may" be able to buy an iPhone and NOT be locked into a 2 year contract by using an existing SIM. I am not sure how your "internet over cell" experience works in those cases, though. Just check out http://www.iphonealley.com/ or http://iphone.fiveforty.net/wiki/ for places where you can find more information.

Easy steps to less SPAM!

I just pulled statistics from my Anti-Spam solution for two of my domains. In the last 24 hours alone, less than 20% of our mail was VALID. The rest, which is 80% was a combination of viruses and spam.

Incredible!

Are my users (about 30 total) just bad net citizens, posting their emails everywhere so they are harvested for SPAM? Do we publish all our email addresses on websites?

No... No...

We are actually quite careful with email. Still, this is a typical (and ever increasing) problem online for many, many people. Read this interesting blog post by Tim O'Reilly http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/06/spam_filtering_statistics_from.html.

As an ISP for many of our small clients, we are approached ALL THE TIME about SPAM. We always say the same thing: Anti-Spam is a needed tool, just like Anti-Virus and no one should be using email without an Anti-Spam solution installed.

Also as an ISP, we can offer our clients server side solutions so the SPAM never reaches their computers. We use the services of AppRiver.com and they are excellent and it takes 5 minutes to setup! (Shameless Plug: For a free 30 day trial please click here for AppRiver Spam and Virus Email Filtering.)

But what can an end user (not a SysAdmin type) do especially if your provider is not helping you? Well, the answer is simple. Get and install and anti-spam solution. Not sure where to start? Check this out: http://spam-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/. I am not affiliated with the authors of this list... so read and use your best judgment.

Of course, you can always reach out to us and we'll handle your spam... :-)

For a free 30 day trial of our server-based-takes-5-minutes-to-implement solution please click here for AppRiver Spam and Virus Email Filtering.

Finally, whatever you do, if you do get some SPAM; NEVER - EVER respond nor purchase nor endorse ANYONE who spams. The truth is that the only reason why most spammers continue to spam is because they continue to SELL their crap using this nasty tool.