Lost in Translation

All web designers run across this at some point: a client has created something to sell and they want to make sure it won’t get stolen when they put it online.

Visual art, audio, video, poems, how-to’s, blogs, and other such materials are what we call IP or intellectual property. There is a lot of exaggeration and paranoia surrounding these items and the potential for theft/piracy.

Yes, there are means to prevent theft but none of it is 100% foolproof.

Here are a few facts about managing IP online

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GeekArtist hosting customers need to be aware of a change to how they login for FTP. This changes exists to improve security.

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There is a common assumption among those who do not work in a technical field that because an individual is qualified to do one type of technical work, they are qualified to do it all.

Everyone hears it at some point. The dreaded phrase “well you work on computers so you must know…”.

“So, you work on computers so you must know about web design.”

Or conversely:

“You build websites so how do I fix X on my computer?”

I’m not entirely sure how this mindset came about. When you think about it, do you go to a proctologist if you have skin problems? Of course not! You see the dermatologist.

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Well, I’ve finally done it. After refusing to make that move for years, I’ve finally created flat rate packages for web design.

I had avoided this for for so long because I felt that frequently, fixed rate packages weren’t fair to both the client and the designer. The client could be paying for more time than is being worked, or the designer could end up doing more work than they are getting paid for.

I’ve also avoided pricing plans for years because, generally speaking, they often tend to be convoluted and confusing.

However, over the past decade, I’ve watched people flinch whether I quote $25 or $75 an hour. When people hear the hourly rate, they think “gosh that’s a lot”, not realizing how much they get with that.

And of course, these days people like packages that show them exactly what they get. People like being able to point at something and just say “give me that one”. Read the rest of the article here…

The New York Times released an article titled If Your Password Is 123456, Just Make It HackMe addressing the popularity of very weak passwords.

Vance (the author) says, “According to a new analysis, one out of five Web users still decides to leave the digital equivalent of a key under the doormat: they choose a simple, easily guessed password like “abc123,” “iloveyou” or even “password” to protect their data.”

This doesn’t surprise me at all. In the years I’ve spent in this industry, I’ve seen many very weak passwords. As a web designer, some clients will authorize me to set up their site and create email accounts for them. This means they’ll give me the password they want used. Often, I’ve had to go back to them with a new password since their chosen one was too weak for the system to accept. Even the client’s alternative password, though finally accepted by the server, are still often far too weak to be secure. Read the rest of the article here…