What is an RSS Feed?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. In short, it’s a super-convenient way to collect information that you read frequently, all in one place.

An RSS reader is what someone uses to view your RSS feeds. A visitor to your blog can subscribe to your RSS feed and it to their favorite reader. Then every time you make a new post on your blog it will show up on the user’s reader. Most people who use readers don’t have time to travel to their favorite sites everyday to view what is going on. So they will use a reader – it’s kind of like reading the morning paper. When you subscribe to a site’s RSS feed, all of your favorite sites will show up in the reader and post the latest content.

Check out this short video that explains all about how an RSS feed works:

How to subcribe to an RSS feed:

Most websites and blogs use a widely recognizable icon that indicates an RSS feed. It usually resembles a little orange icon, similar to the one on the top right corner of this page. It is often placed in top right or bottom of a blog or site, but could feasibly be anywhere on the page. Click on the icon, and you’ll be asked what reader you want to subscribe with. I use Google Reader, like they mentioned in the video. It’s user-friendly and it’s free.

Once you’ve subscribed to the feed, you’ll see all the posts from that site and other sites that you’ve subscribed to. They’ll all be waiting there for you to read at your leisure.

Now go subscribe to some feeds, (including the Best Website Tips feed!) and happy reading!

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Almost everywhere you go on the internet these days you needs a password. You need one to secure your site, buy something on Ebay or to check your email. Not only do you have to have a password, you need to have a strong password.

In fact the word “password” itself is a little outdated. Passwords really shouldn’t be words at all, anymore.If you want your information to be safe, you need to get creative. A strong password should have between 8 and 14 characters and even longer if possible. Your password should consist of a random selection of characters, and ideally shouldn’t contain a word that can be found in a dictionary. Here are a few things to keep in mind when selecting a password:

Use the whole keyboard when creating your password.

The most random set of keys don’t come with thought. Don’t think about what your password will look like just type. Be sure to include capital letters, lower case letters, numbers, and special characters like the tilde (that little squiggly guy at the top left of most keyboards ~). If you make it easy, chances are the password crackers will figure it out. If you need to write the password down so you remember it, that’s ok! You can even use a random password creator that will create strong passwords for you. All you have to do is keep track of them.

Don’t use the same password in more than one place.

Lots of people get caught up with this one. If a password hacker gets your Hotmail password, it won’t be quite as bad if that’s the only place you use that particular password. If you use that same password on multiple sites, then the hackers have a better chance of getting access to everything.

Change your passwords often.

Not necessarily as often as you change socks, but passwords should be changed about every month or so. Some people do it every week, I say change your passwords at least every other month. If your password is a good size (14 random characters is a good size) then it could be used for longer.

Isn’t this a lot of unnecessary work?

Unfortunately we live in a society where theft is rampant, and it’s just the way it is. When you get too comfortable, you may find that someone is holding your blog hostage.
Have you had your site hacked into? Have a horror story to share with us? Help us curb identity theft and stop hackers by sharing your story in the comment area.

P.S. – I use 1Password to manage passwords on my mac. If you’re on a Windows machine, check out Roboform. Both are secure and super reliable!

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Were you affected by Google’s Gmail outage this morning?

Millions of people woke up to error messages and blank pages, causing a flurry of activity on social networking sites. I think the perception is that when the mighty Google goes down, something must be seriously wrong – like the end of the world is coming, or the sky is about to fall. I watched as people on Twitter scrambled to try to come up with another way to start their day. Some people were frantic, while others embraced the chance to ignore email for a while.

When things like this happen it reminds me of how dependent we are on technology. Cell phones, email, and the internet are what makes the world go ’round these days. We use gadgets to communicate. We conduct meetings through webinars and virtual conference rooms. Gone are the days when we walk down the street or drive across town to deliver a message. Nope, we fire up the browser, type a message, and hit send. Done.

But what if the unthinkable happened?

So what happens if the day came that the internet shut down completely? It’s a pretty sobering thought, isn’t it? Online stores would be forced to close their virtual doors without their online customers. Web developers would be irrelevant. Social networking would have to be done in person. People would be lost without their standard means of communication, and we’d be relegated back to what many consider to be “the dark ages” – when we had to have face-to-face contact in order to communicate.

Who says communication has to require a screen and a keyboard?

I see kids (including my own) texting and posting messages to their friends on Facebook. While that’s not a bad thing in and of itself, it can stunt communication skills if used too much. Do we still know how to converse in person? Can we work through a problem face-to-face, or do we hide behind our keyboard? When people communicate primarily through digital means, they lack the skills to communicate in person. Negotiating skills never get developed. People skills become unnecessary. My son and his girlfriend were having an argument a while ago, and they were arguing through texting. I said “why don’t you just call her?” He said she wouldn’t pick up the phone – that it was easier just to text.

Exactly. It’s just easier.

How do you think digital communications affect you in your life? Do you have it in check, or has it taken over a bit? Post your thoughts in the comments.

P.S. I challenge you to pick up the phone today, or better yet, meet up with someone in person – even if it’s just to say hi and reconnect. Deliver that proposal in person. Go to the bank instead of banking online. Do one thing. Just for one day.

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This is a super quick one! I’m still getting caught up after my recent trip to Atlanta, but I spotted this deal and wanted to get the word out to you right away.

I just got wind of a new discount coupon that will save you 10% off Mozy Unlimited backup services.

If you haven’t heard of Mozy, you should check it out. You can get unlimited backups of your computer data for just $4.95/month. As far as I’m concerned, five bucks is worth it, because it means I won’t ever lose all my precious data – and I like that sense of security.

Go check out Mozy and use the discount code FEBRUARY to get 10% off!

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Here in Vermont, we’ve been waiting for months for the opportunity to (legally) get an iPhone. The iPhone is only available through AT&T, and up until this month, Vermont was one of the few remaining states in the US without AT&T service. That, however, has changed. Last week our 10 existing Unicel stores were converted to AT&T stores, and on January 15th the iPhone was finally available for sale in Vermont.

I’m not usually one to stand in line for hours for a product release (or anything else, for that matter), but I at least wanted to get to the store relatively early. My old Palm Treo has been less and less reliable over the past few months, so this launch came at the perfect time.

I dropped my daughter off at school and headed to my local Unicel/AT&T Store. When I arrived at 8:30 am, there was no line – yes, I was first in line. I was really surprised, and delighted that I wouldn’t have to wait hours in 20-degrees-below-zero weather (of course, these events always happen on the coldest days of the year). The store was scheduled to open at 9:00, and since I had prepared for a long wait and was all bundled up anyway, I just waited outside and enjoyed some brisk freezing cold, January-in-Vermont goodness. At least the sun was out – that is always a bonus!

Once the store opened, it took about 90 minutes to set up the new account for our family plan and port over our phone numbers from our old provider. The staff had been trained, but there was still a learning curve for them. They were, however, friendly and patient. By the time I left there were about 30 people waiting behind me. Those folks would be standing in line for quite a while. The lines were longer at other store locations, but I intentionally chose a store that isn’t as well known, hoping the wait wouldn’t be as long – and I lucked out. 

So what do I think of the iPhone?

In short, it’s awesome. I have absolutely no complaints so far. I’ve been playing around with the features, and installing applications from the iTunes store. I’m sticking with mostly free apps for now, but adding in a few paid apps that go with desktop applications that I already use (like Omnifocus, for example). I highly recommend TwitterFon for Tweeting – it works very well. 

So that ’s the short and sweet review. If you’re considering switching to an iPhone, I highly recommend it.

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If you planned on taking advantage of the SBI Buy-One-Get-One-Free holiday sale but got caught up in the holidays and missed the Dec 25 deadline, you’re in luck.

I just received a note from Ken Evoy (creator of SiteBuildIt!) saying that he’s extended the special until January 5th. Apparently so many people have written in asking for more time, that it made sense to accommodate everyone. The good news is that you can benefit from this surprise.

It’s almost the new year. Are you ready to jump-start your business and make some money? Take a look at SBI while you can still get the 2-for-1 special deal, and see if it’s right for you.

P.S. As always, if you have questions or need some help, feel free to contact me.

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS Feed.

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If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time on your computer, and you’ve got tons of important stuff stored on it.

What happens if your computer crashes?

Are you protected from a virus attack? What about theft? If anything happens to your computer you risk losing all your info – financial documents, email, photos, music, and everything you have stored on that machine - in the blink of an eye.

I read recently that one in ten hard drives fail each year, but I’d be willing to bet that number is much higher. How do you protect yourself from disaster?

To prevent data loss it’s smart to do regular, frequent backups of all your information. External drives are a good solution for this, and will cost around $100 or so. Not too bad, but what happens in the case of fire, theft, or natural disaster? That external drive sitting on your desk isn’t going to do you much good if it’s damaged or stolen.

Well, I’ve found a web-based solution that I absolutely love.

It’s called Mozy, and it’s super easy.

Mozy stores all your data in a secure, remote location so it’s easily retrievable. It’s also automated. You can “set it and forget it” and it will back up your information for you. All you need to get started is an account and an internet connection. A Mozy personal account provides up to 2GB of storage absolutely free, with the option to upgrade to unlimited backups for just $4.95/month.

Bonus: Sign up before December 31st for one year or longer and get 10% off. The exclusive discount code is DECEMBER. Type that code into the referral box at signup to get your 10% discount.

If you want to sleep easy at night knowing that your data is safe, check out Mozy.

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Check out this story from ReadWriteWeb. Gmail users will now have video and voice chat right from within Gmail. That’s super exciting, and this will certainly give Skype something to work on.

I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ll be checking this out very soon. I use Gmail all day long, and would love to be able to use this instead of Skype.

Read the article here

Get the Google Voice and Video plug-in

**Updated 11/12: This evening I logged on and video-chatted with my son who is away at college. It worked flawlessly. You can view either within the gmail chat window, or pop the window out to view as large as full screen. This free service is a no-brainer for anyone who uses Gmail.

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