C.I.S.TaxRefunds.co.uk is now online
The website for Upminster-based C.I.S.TaxRefunds.co.uk, has today been launched.
C.I.S.Tax Refunds.co.uk are specialist tax consultants for both the self-employed and individuals on the C.I.S. Tax Scheme.
The features on the website include a Flash navigation menu with sound effect. A news ticker, Price comparison tables and an online enquiry form for prospective clients.
C.I.S.Tax Refunds.co.uk are specialist tax consultants for both the self-employed and individuals on the C.I.S. Tax Scheme.
The features on the website include a Flash navigation menu with sound effect. A news ticker, Price comparison tables and an online enquiry form for prospective clients.
Fancy Dress 4 U is now online
Dovercourt-based shop Fancy Dress 4 U has today launched its online shop.
Operating in the UK, buyers can now not only purchase items from the online shop but can also place an order via the shop's order line number on 01255 554060.
There are many functions available on the shop, including registration/login for existing customers, a random whats new section. Furthermore buyers can review products online.
Operating in the UK, buyers can now not only purchase items from the online shop but can also place an order via the shop's order line number on 01255 554060.
There are many functions available on the shop, including registration/login for existing customers, a random whats new section. Furthermore buyers can review products online.
Invisible Secretaries Website is now online
The new website for Sussex-based secretarial service, Invisible Secretaries has been launched.
Invisible secretaries provide outsourced clerical services, including digital and audio transcription and specialise in legal correspondence.
Other than a fresher looking website, features include several pages listing company details and services, design of a new logo and a self maintenance links page.
Invisible secretaries provide outsourced clerical services, including digital and audio transcription and specialise in legal correspondence.
Other than a fresher looking website, features include several pages listing company details and services, design of a new logo and a self maintenance links page.
Debbie's Faux Pas Answerphone Message
I must say a big fat sorry to anyone who tried to contact me by phone today.
Basically I have been the victim of a practical joker who came over at the weekend and overwrote my answerphone message with an "Oh f**k off!" Hardly a welcome for anyone approaching a new supplier and I dread to think of the business I've lost today.
Luckily a friend of mine had the decency to tell me this, on the same note as she invited me to be a school governor!
Naturally the practical joker friend is no more, teaching them a valuable lesson that practical jokes just aren't funny.
Basically I have been the victim of a practical joker who came over at the weekend and overwrote my answerphone message with an "Oh f**k off!" Hardly a welcome for anyone approaching a new supplier and I dread to think of the business I've lost today.
Luckily a friend of mine had the decency to tell me this, on the same note as she invited me to be a school governor!
Naturally the practical joker friend is no more, teaching them a valuable lesson that practical jokes just aren't funny.
DVH Design can now been contacted via Skype
From this evening, DVH Design can also be contacted via the Skype service. Therefore if you already have a Skype account, you can simply click the button at DVH Design's contact page and contact us for free.
This service is to be used for genuine client enquiries only. For non-marketing calls, we have compiled an instruction page for marketing enquiries.
This service is to be used for genuine client enquiries only. For non-marketing calls, we have compiled an instruction page for marketing enquiries.
Online Business Women: A Step up from the Dark Ages?
I have no idea where this article is going to take me, but I have to share with you an incident that happened a few weeks ago.
Basically when I find myself working on a Saturday morning (pretty often) I find myself listening to BBC Radio Wales Saturday morning show with Rhod Gilbert (A VERY funny comedian) and his sidekick Chris Corcoran (The fellow that makes Doodle Do watchable).
One of the many features on their show is Listener Bingo where listeners are encouraged to contact the show when they are listening while doing something eg, listening to the podcast next Wednesday, listening while on a helicopter etc. The one a few weeks ago was listening to the show whilst Googling your own name. I contacted the show as my blog ranks 5th under the keyphrase Deb Harrison.
In hindsight, quoting my name on the show was a bad idea, but my logic was that a few listeners might also Google my name and either like my writing or look at my many services and hey presto, Business Lead or subscriber. Result!
Wrong, wrong and wrong again. A few evenings later, I got an anonymous phone call from someone trying to sound sexy, but sounded more like he had both a lisp and bronchitis. I thought it was one of my mates messing about so I persevered for a bit. When this guy da-daa'd the stripper music, he then proceeded to start a striptease on the phone (even I am still scratching my head on that one). I proceeded to put the phone down to put the poor soul out of his misery.
Now I can only assume someone listened to the show and followed the same path as me, but I do not hold the show responsible. It was my own silly fault. Even though I do see women as equals and just as capable as doing the same job as men, obviously there are still a few inbred members of mankind that don’t. The ones who still think women are mere baby machines and all working women are witches that should be burned at the stake in front of the entire village.
I have no idea if Jill Whalen of High Rankings.com or Martha Lane Fox ex-MD of lastminute.com have ever had to encounter stalkers or pervy phone calls, but for any business woman reading this, but please do share your stories as I would love to know.
The entire experience was actually quite amusing, but one last thing: please could the tele-stripper make themselves known: Just so I can seek closure (and point and laugh!).
Basically when I find myself working on a Saturday morning (pretty often) I find myself listening to BBC Radio Wales Saturday morning show with Rhod Gilbert (A VERY funny comedian) and his sidekick Chris Corcoran (The fellow that makes Doodle Do watchable).
One of the many features on their show is Listener Bingo where listeners are encouraged to contact the show when they are listening while doing something eg, listening to the podcast next Wednesday, listening while on a helicopter etc. The one a few weeks ago was listening to the show whilst Googling your own name. I contacted the show as my blog ranks 5th under the keyphrase Deb Harrison.
In hindsight, quoting my name on the show was a bad idea, but my logic was that a few listeners might also Google my name and either like my writing or look at my many services and hey presto, Business Lead or subscriber. Result!
Wrong, wrong and wrong again. A few evenings later, I got an anonymous phone call from someone trying to sound sexy, but sounded more like he had both a lisp and bronchitis. I thought it was one of my mates messing about so I persevered for a bit. When this guy da-daa'd the stripper music, he then proceeded to start a striptease on the phone (even I am still scratching my head on that one). I proceeded to put the phone down to put the poor soul out of his misery.
Now I can only assume someone listened to the show and followed the same path as me, but I do not hold the show responsible. It was my own silly fault. Even though I do see women as equals and just as capable as doing the same job as men, obviously there are still a few inbred members of mankind that don’t. The ones who still think women are mere baby machines and all working women are witches that should be burned at the stake in front of the entire village.
I have no idea if Jill Whalen of High Rankings.com or Martha Lane Fox ex-MD of lastminute.com have ever had to encounter stalkers or pervy phone calls, but for any business woman reading this, but please do share your stories as I would love to know.
The entire experience was actually quite amusing, but one last thing: please could the tele-stripper make themselves known: Just so I can seek closure (and point and laugh!).
Optical Character Recognition in Images: Have your say
The buzz in every major SEO news source over this last week has got to be the news that a patent that Google filed in June 2007 for optical character recognition (OCR) in static images and video has just become available.
For once, something that makes a SEO/web designer’s life easier! Up until this point, the web design community had 2 options when tackling headings: Opting for a font that is widespread on all/most PCs (very limited and very plain) and relying on stylesheets to spice it up a bit or creating a heading using any given font as an image and hoping that the search engines read the alternative text provided in the image tag.
With this new application, image headings can be read and indexed, as can videos, Flash presentations and even (and I dare to be bold) a whole web page consisting of 1 big image! Duncan Riley from Tech Crunch added further scope on the development:
With extreme technical advances also comes drawbacks. A Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) is a script that generates a random word in an image and uses a variety of methods to distort the image, eg an angled line or crowded symbols making it harder for bots to encrypt. This method is widely used by sites such as MySpace and Blogger to reduce the amount of spam posted.
If and when this scripting comes into use, this could leave the CAPTCHA with its days numbered. If this technology can be developed at Google Central, then what's to say the same software can’t be developed elsewhere? Once the spamming community get their mitts on this hot potato, it will be across the community quicker than nausea at a Mika concert.
I have seen the damage this minority of the underworld can do on a forum with no security measures: Using their shared scripts to automatically generate numerous fake users with their spammy web links for all to see. Fair to say, I lost the battle of keeping that forum rid of spammers. This could become more commonplace if forum/blog owners don't act quick enough to protect their fort.
Even if Google has the patent giving them exclusive rights to OCR, are they going to nail every spammer, scammer, splogger, tinker, tailor, soldier, spy in cyberspace? It would be great if they could (with a long-awaited revolution where spammers are placed in stocks and pelted with rancid fruit) but lets live in the real world for now and assume that that is not going to happen.
So what do you all think: OCR sweet or OCR sour?
Hello Liberated Web Design
For once, something that makes a SEO/web designer’s life easier! Up until this point, the web design community had 2 options when tackling headings: Opting for a font that is widespread on all/most PCs (very limited and very plain) and relying on stylesheets to spice it up a bit or creating a heading using any given font as an image and hoping that the search engines read the alternative text provided in the image tag.
With this new application, image headings can be read and indexed, as can videos, Flash presentations and even (and I dare to be bold) a whole web page consisting of 1 big image! Duncan Riley from Tech Crunch added further scope on the development:
"If Google has found a way to index text in static images and video this is a great leap forward in the progression of search technology. This will make every book in the Google Books database really searchable, with the next step being YouTube, Flickr (or Picasa Web) and more. The search capabilities of the future just became seriously advanced."
Goodbye CAPTCHA
With extreme technical advances also comes drawbacks. A Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) is a script that generates a random word in an image and uses a variety of methods to distort the image, eg an angled line or crowded symbols making it harder for bots to encrypt. This method is widely used by sites such as MySpace and Blogger to reduce the amount of spam posted.
If and when this scripting comes into use, this could leave the CAPTCHA with its days numbered. If this technology can be developed at Google Central, then what's to say the same software can’t be developed elsewhere? Once the spamming community get their mitts on this hot potato, it will be across the community quicker than nausea at a Mika concert.
I have seen the damage this minority of the underworld can do on a forum with no security measures: Using their shared scripts to automatically generate numerous fake users with their spammy web links for all to see. Fair to say, I lost the battle of keeping that forum rid of spammers. This could become more commonplace if forum/blog owners don't act quick enough to protect their fort.
Even if Google has the patent giving them exclusive rights to OCR, are they going to nail every spammer, scammer, splogger, tinker, tailor, soldier, spy in cyberspace? It would be great if they could (with a long-awaited revolution where spammers are placed in stocks and pelted with rancid fruit) but lets live in the real world for now and assume that that is not going to happen.
So what do you all think: OCR sweet or OCR sour?
Labels: captcha, google, ocr, optical character recognition
