Author: Peter

Most people we speak to don’t know the potential benefits of switching their website to https, so here’s how it can help you.

I’m going to try and keep this relatively low tech – HTTPS webpages typically uses SSL to encrypt communications which involves two ‘keys’ to encrypt communications, a ‘public’ key and a ‘private’ key. Anything encrypted with the public key can only be decrypted by the private key and vice-versa. So if you think of it as a safe, if only you and the person you are sending to the safe to know the combination no one else and look inside. If you send the safe with the door open, there is potential for anyone to see what’s inside.

It will typically be shown by your browser – when a trusted SSL Digital Certificate is … [Read More]

Kogan is slapping a 6.8 per cent tax on customers accessing the company’s website on the Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) browser.

The world first tax will be applied to all products on the Kogan.com website when accessed through IE7. “Internet Explorer 7 has long since passed its use-by date. It’s a constant source of frustration for our web guys and we’re sick of burning cash on a browser that hit the market nearly six years ago. It goes against everything Kogan stands for,” said Ruslan Kogan, Kogan founder and CEO, in a statement.

Customers visiting the website using Internet Explorer 7 are met with a message saying,

‘It appears you or your system administrator has been in a coma for over 5 years and you are still using IE7. To help make the Internet a better place, you will be charged a 6.8% tax on your purchase from Kogan.com. This … [Read More]

Google has just announced it will proceed to introduce a major update on its privacy policy and terms of service in an attempt to make using Google products a “beautifully simple, intuitive user experience”. It involves linking user data across its email (Gmail), video (Youtube), social-networking (Google Plus) and other services.

For example, if you spend an hour searching on Google (while you are signed in to a Google account) for the latest iPhone, the next time you log into YouTube, you might get recommendations for videos featuring the iPhone, along with ads for the iPhone and the nearest place to buy them.

These changes will  take effect on March 1, and Google will be notifying users today via email and a notice on their homepage.

How is this different from what Google was doing before?

Google has always collected this sort of information, for example, you may have noticed … [Read More]

With the popularity of smart phones and tablets rapidly increasing the current mobile internet just doesn’t quite cut the mustard.

According to the Office for National Statistics 45% of people surveyed said they made use of the net while on the move, compared with 31% in 2010 and studies suggest that mobile internet usage may take over desktop internet usage by 2014.

Ofcom has revised proposals for its fourth-generation mobile spectrum auction, adding measures that could bring coverage to 98% of the UK meaning that rural areas will see much improved mobile internet connectivity.

This is all great news, but how does this effect whats on the web?

More and more companies are deploying mobile websites to react to the volume of people using smartphones and tablets to access the internet, although there are vast amounts of websites on the internet that unsuitable for mobile use.

What makes a website … [Read More]