St. Petersburg Web Design Blog

Hi! This is the latest web site I’ve completed:

Greene Rehab Services

Challenges:

• low budget
• client that keeps changing thier mind after they’ve chosen elements
• sites graphics theme was changed mid-course to be “more tropical” instead subject matter related
• clients refuses to provide new content and in fact re tooled exsisting content so that site’s content is less search engine frindly.

Comments:

A web Designeer has to realize it’s not his web site and the owner can do anything it wants to it even if it makes it drop in the search engine rakings and help the public less. It is, after all, the clients web site - not mine.

If you have bought any music CD’s made by sony, don’t play them on your computer. If you already have, then your copmputer has been infected with a new kind of spyware. It’s called “rootkit.” Sony doesn’t think your should worry about it. Everyone else tells a different story.
This software, rootkit, makes it very very easy for someone to place files, programs and code on your system. It changes Windows itself so that it cannot detect, edit nor remove any file or directory that has a name that begins with: $sys$.
It also plces on your computer software that sends information back to sony at one of three addresses (which hackers are trying to shut down by the way).

If you have played a recently purchased music CD from sony and you do have this spyware on your computer there’s nothing you can do. the antivirus companies fixes only remocve the part that mkakes it invisible. Sony’s fix leaves windows even more vulnarable to attack then before the fix is applied and Windows fix, well this is microsoft we’re talking about here.

So what can you do? At this moment there is only one thing you can do to completely remove “rootkit”:

1. Un-install Winows
2. Format your main hard drive
3. Re-install windows
4. yes you will loose everything tyhat you didn’t back up

I’ve been saying for years that just because a big company makes it doesn’t mean it’s good. Take Windows Media Player for example. It does several things that if it was made by anyone else it would be considered spyware:

• installs hidden files
• has an intentionally lengthy and hard to understand liscense agreement
• connects to the internet without your permission or knowledge even after tyou’ve told it not to
• It sends information about your computer to microsoft without your knowledge or permission
• It sends personally identifiying information and tracking information without warning you until you figure out the complicated method to tell it not to

The computer users of the world have a huge problem!
If the spyware is made by a large company, our security firms won’t do anything aboput it. Perhaps they are afraid of law suits, perhaps they are sharing in this information that is collected. I’m not sure why but the long term effects will destroy commerce and destroy what little trust people have in computers in general.

As promised here’s a picture of my cat, Spooky. It’s hard to get a decent photo. The first couple days he hid all the time. Now he’s always moving about when I’m home.

What’s new in my life?

Well since my new job as a web desinger at Results Driven Marketing, I’m feeling more fufilled and busier. I knew I had what it takes to do thhis for a living! You can check out some of my work on our proofing site at: IzonDesign.com.

Ok we (my fiance’ and I, that is), got a new cat. We adopted him from some cat rescue thjing. He’s less than a year old and he likes us. His name is Spooky. I’ll post some photos later.