Thursday, January 30, 2014

Here's how to know if your Gmail has been hacked





Stay safe (Image credit: Reuters)
With news of more hacks and leaks emerging every day, its pretty safe to say that you’re not necessarily paranoid if you constantly worry about your email being hacked. What with online vigilante hacker groups like the SEA and Anonymous leaking millions of passwords onto the web, and the NSA snooping on the email accounts of even world leaders, the chances that your mail could be hacked are not really that slim. But the good news is that if you have a Gmail account, you can easily check whether or not you have been hacked.

Google has provided users with tools right within the Gmail inbox that can help keep your account secured. Here’s how it works:

To check if your account has been targeted and hacked into without your knowledge, you need to log into your Gmail account using a desktop browser.

Now scroll down to the bottom of your inbox and locate a link called “Details”. When you click on it, a pop-up window will appear, and it will show you a detailed list of the last ten times you – or anyone else –has accessed your account. It will also show you not just when your account was accessed but also how it was viewed. You’ll know if the inbox was opened using an email app, browser, smartphone app and the IP address through which it was accessed.

If you see a suspicious device or IP address, you may want to change your password as soon as possible.

To strengthen the security on your Gmail account, you can even turn the two-factor authentication system on. You can store your IP addresses of the various computers and devices you use to access Gmail, in order to ensure nothing fishy is going on around your account.

While Google has been very particular about ensuring account safety from sleuths, it has been going through a rough couple of weeks with Gmail. An outage late last week caused about 10 percent of Google’s global users to lose access to their Gmail accounts for a good 30 minutes or so. This week, it was also revealed that a bug affecting certain Gmail apps was marking out wrong messages to be deleted or sent into spam folders.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

12 Outdated Web Features That Need to Disappear in 2014

12 Outdated Web Features That Need to Disappear in 2014
BY SCOTT GERBER


We've all been there — yelling at a computer screen or particular website because the antiquated design prevents you from getting where you want to go.
But outdated features on your company's website can do more than annoy — it can cost you potential clients or customers.
To figure out what exactly agitates users the most, we asked 12 entrepreneurs which website features small businesses should avoid (or get rid of) at all costs. Here's what they had to say:

1. Irrelevant Elements

Juha LiikalaBy far, the biggest issue I come across with new site launches is this: They use too many elements that bring no real value to the audience. In fact, these often just downgrade user experience considerably. There are too many crowded designs and too much text on one page. There are too many icons and photos. Does your site really need a search bar? Do you really need to show the tag cloud in your blog sidebar? Think hard. What are the 20% of elements that bring 80% of the results you're after? Start there. Always have a sound reason for adding new features, bells and whistles. Never add more stuff just because it seems "cool and hip."

2. Flash Intros

Josh WeissFlash intros are annoying for the customer, take too long to load, don't work on Apple mobile devices and are not recognized by Google. It is best to avoid them entirely.

3. Photo Carousel

Christopher PruijsenA lot of sites still feature these, but the time it takes for users to cycle through photos and the often too fast (or too slow) settings on the auto scroll make this a vastly inferior element to a simple and clean introduction video, such as the ones on Kickstarter and most Strikingly pages.

4. Large Hero Images

Eric BahnIt astounds me how many company websites feature a massive hero image right at the top of the site. This pushes down key content below the fold. It is a navigational blunder, and I think site visitors appreciate a simple, to-the-point experience. Nix the big image fillers!

5. Stock Photos

Bhavin ParikhAuthenticity and personality are more important now than ever. Customers want to interact with brands they trust and want to learn about the people behind the company. Rather than using stock photos for your website, try taking photos of your team or customers. You don't want a customer to see the same stock photo on your website and your competitor's website, which is a very real risk. Be real!

6. Animated GIF Flags

Brendon ScheneckerSure, animated GIF flags look cool. There is something about the seamless loop effect that can mesmerize a user for seconds. Now that we have had more than 20 years to test their effectiveness, it turns out they add value. I know what you are thinking — what about the flame ones? I am afraid those are no longer needed. With HTML5 popping up everywhere, I am sure a new generation of flags and flames will, too, and flags will flood the web again. Do your best to stay clear, and let them live only as a memory of the good old days.

7. Autoplay Videos

Chuck CohnNo one likes videos that automatically start playing. Websites that try to push up video views with autoplay are effectively stopping users from interacting with their content and brand on their own terms. That is a recipe for high levels of site abandonment, an indicator of user frustration and ultimately a lost chance to build rapport with a visitor.

8. Automated Popups

Aron SchoenfeldIn this age of mobile, too many websites are still built with pop-up windows. Some are instructional and others are for email capture. Getting a pop-up when you want to read an article or buy something is annoying to the user. And while how-to videos have a place, if you need to explain how it works to people, do it front and center on your homepage. Focus on a site that is clear, concise and has a strong call to action.

9. 'Hello World' Blog Post

Brett FarmiloeIf you're using WordPress, make sure the website is updated to delete the generic "Hello World" blog post. Nothing shows a visitor that your website shouldn't be taken seriously like an old-fashioned, auto-generated blog post.

10. Sidebars

Natalie McNeilDoes your website really need a sidebar? Don't you want people to focus on your core content and not have their attention drawn to a bunch of stuff that gets crammed into 300 pixels on the right side of your site? Sidebars don't often translate well on mobile, which will continue to be a growing problem for your business. If you insist on having a sidebar, at least do something different than everyone else. Work with a designer to kick it up a notch so it's happily married to the content you want people to stay focused on.

11. Reloading Pages

Gideon KimbrellWeb 2.0 is nearly 10 years old by now, yet I still see that most sites require the user to reload full pages at a time to navigate the site. With AJAX or Javascript/XMLHttpRequest, it is not necessary to reload entire pages. As a general rule, unless a page requires its own URL for SEO purposes, we do not make it fully reload. Instead, only the portion of the page changing will reload. The desired content is loaded into an HTML element container instead of reloading the entire page. This makes navigation much quicker, and the site responds much more quickly.

12. M.dot Sites

Rameet ChawlaWe call them "m.dot" sites, as in "m.facebook.com." You'll see this when a company redirects you to a mobile version of its site, rather than spending the time and money to design and develop a responsive website experience.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Image: Mashable composite. iStock, luchezarSuchotajacomstephens
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SCOTT GERBER
Scott Gerber is a serial entrepreneur, author (Never Get a 'Real' Job), TV commentator and founder of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneur...more

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Morgan Todd Lewistown, PA

Experienced Information Technology Manager with a strong knowledge of technical guidance, IT best practices, security protocols, team leadership, and analyzing business requirements.
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