If you would like more information on creating a Google+ Pages, page for your business then contact Mandurah Web today for more information or visit https://plus.google.com/u/0/pages/create

1. Facebook does not allow you to have a regular account in your business name and will remove you or enforce you to convert your account into a page.
2. You must have a first and last name. This naming structure probably doesn’t suit your business name.
3. Once you have more than 100 “likes” you cannot change your page name. This means if you get more than 100 friends and are then forced to convert to a page you won’t be able to update the page name to correct match your business name.

I’m not entirely sure why business continue to create regular accounts rather than pages but I have a few ideas.

1. They don’t have an account and think they need to create an account first before they can create a page. This is wrong you can create a page here directly using an email address.
2. They think that with an ordinary account they will have the benefit of adding people as friends rather than waiting for people to “like” their page. This is a valid argument and I wouldn’t blame someone for taking this route. Just be aware of the points I mentioned above.
3. Finally I believe many users who are new to Facebook are completely unaware of the fact that you should have user profiles for individuals and pages for business.

With that said if you have any friends with business using regular accounts or you receive friend requests from businesses then please point them to this post so they can learn the difference between pages and accounts.

Mandurah Web offers Facebook page integration for your website. Integrating Facebook with your website will post all new website content directly to your Facebook page or Twitter feed without any user interaction.

Steve was also the single largest share holder in Disney after they bought out Pixar back in 2006. To read more about Steve’s life you can view the wiki page or look out for his upcoming book.

Apple have a page up in appreciation of Steve’s work. http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/

How does it work?

Their intentions are to simulate something similar to what Facebook’s “Like” already offers but instead for websites that appear in their search results. Google’s way of thinking is that people usually like what their friends like and are taking advantage of this fact. So for example when you find a new online store that you like you may decide to click +1 either on the website if they have the feature implemented of from the search results using the +1 button that now appears next to each link. If your friend then comes along the same link (while signed into their Google account) they will see an annotation next to the link stating that their friend has already voted for this link. If none of your friends have voted for a link then you will just see a cumulative total of  +1′s.

How does this help?

1. If you see a link that your friend “Like”s or has “+1″ then you are more likely to visit the website.
2. Website links stand out a little more with the annotation next to their link.
3. Website’s you have “+1″ are more likely to appear in your friends searches if they are signed in.

Mandurah Web has already implemented the Google Plusone feature and we are happy to help you too. If you would like to find out more contact us today.

Which should you buy?

Usually I never recommend a normal user to buy the latest and greatest hardware because to be honest they simply just don’t need it but if you are in the market to buy or build a new computer the Sandy Bridge architecture throws some other questions into the mix which make it a viable choice for all computers and even more so with budget PC’s. First lets take a look at what the common processor architectures are because things are quite confusing at the moment with Intel simply using the names i3, i5 and i7 for both the older line of processors and the latest Sandy Bridge processors. The only way you can tell the difference is by recognising the number of pins on the processor.

Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad Processors ranging from E5000 through to the Q9600

I still myself use a Q9600 in my Windows based machine and they are a great processor which offer a lot of performance. I bought it not long before the release of the first “i” range of processors. Any processor in this range can be beaten on both performance and price by their successors and rarely come into consideration when buying or building a new computer.

Nehalem Core i3, i5 and i7 Processors

This range of processors are what everyone is selling off. They have been around for a few years now and offer great performance at a good value. If you are looking to buy a new home PC and you can get a good deal on a computer with one of these processors then I wouldn’t hold you back. The i7 range of these processors is ideal for gaming and you are not likely to need the additional performance you will gain spending the extra dollars on the Sandy Bridge processors, that said most gamers just like wasting money on the newest hardware.

Sandy Bridge, i3, i5, i7

I’m led to believe that Intel simply decided that everyone understood the i3, i5 and i7 terminology so decided to stick with it. It’s true most people understand that i3 is the bottom end and is perfect for your home computers, i5 is faster still and can run most if not all commercial applications such as AutoCad and MYOB and is therefore great for a business computer. And as just mentioned the i7 computers are left for the extreme gamers and those of you who are into some hardcore video editing. Unfortunately that’s about as much as the consumer wanted to know and now we are left with two ranges of processors that use this terminology which seems to cause quite a bit of confusion. I just recommend above that I wouldn’t pay the extra money for a Sandy Bridge i7 if I was building a new PC for a gamer so when would I use them? Well with the new processors architecture Intel has also added a graphic core into the processor itself. This means that for those of you who are looking for either a home or business PC the additional cost spent on the Sandy Bridge processor is going to save you the additional cost of a dedicated graphics card and offer you far better performance than then equivalent Nehalem processor and a budget dedicated graphics card or a suitable motherboard with on-board graphics. Therefore the Sandy Bridge range is a great selection for your new home computer or laptop. Many laptops now have the Sandy Bridge processors so they can take advantage of the graphics core as dedicated graphics cards have always been expensive for laptops.

Conclusion

If you are still compelled to go out and buy one of the bargain computers from the likes of Harvey Normans with the previous Nehalem line of processors in then I can’t say you are getting a bad deal or a computer that is soon going to be outdated and not able to handle the latest applications but if you do some home work and look around for a PC that features the Sandy Bridge processor then I believe you will have invested well in a better product for around the same if not a lesser price.

Note: When the Sandy Bridge processor was first released there was a design fault with the motherboards which prevented the safe use of more than two SATA ports. This is OK if you buy the computer built and never intend to expand either your storage or add another CD/DVD drive but if you are buying a computer with the intention of upgrading in the future or you simply don’t want a motherboard which has known defects (I certainly wouldn’t buy one) then make sure you ask the reseller if they are selling you the latest version and now fixed hardware which is version 3 for the record.

Do Mac’s get viruses?

The answer is yes full stop. They exist, they are just as nasty and malicious as their Windows variants and you can pick them up just as easily online. So why do people have this assumption that they won’t get spyware or viruses with a Mac? I’m not completely positive of the exact answer but here are some valid points that probably contribute to the assumption.

1. Mac users in general tend to be more experienced and therefore avoid viruses better. This is just as easily done by an experienced user on a Windows PC. I haven’t had a virus on my work computer ever and I ran it without any virus protection whatsoever for nearly 18months (Not that I recommend that, I was just being lazy).
2. Windows has a much wider user base and therefore it is a bigger target group for the people writing this malicious software. It makes sense, if you are writing a spam application to make money then why not write it to target as many people as possible without having the complexity of supporting more than one operating system.

Unfortunately the people writing the malware are stepping up their game and are now writing applications to target both Windows and Mac’s. They are distributing them through websites and can infect your computer with ease. All it takes is for you to click on a link or image and your infected.

This article was written because I just wanted to clear up that buying a Mac because you’ve been told that they don’t get viruses is simply not true, by all means go by yourself a Mac Book and enjoy  the luxurious design and friendly user interface but tread just as carefully online and make sure you get some antivirus software.

For more information see this article last week by the bbc.

Holding Page

A holding page is simply a one page website that gives your business an online presence. They are the cheapest to build and we usually offer them to our clients as a temporary solution until they can afford to go ahead and develop a fully functional website. They are a lot better than just having your domain name showing a blank white page but because of the sheer lack of content on a one page website it will not perform well in the search engines. It may appear when users search Google for your exact business or domain name but its mainly for your clients going directly to your website address. For example if you have just had your business cards printed with your web address on but can’t afford a website just yet then this is your best option.

PHP & (X)HTML

All them letters either probably mean nothing to you, or you may recognise the “HTML” part of the title as the “web” language. I’m not going to explain either of the technologies or what they are used for but I will tell you what the end result is. This website type is a fully functional website with any number of pages. The website is built in code and you would need some understanding of the code to edit the website. The content is static meaning that it appears in the file the same as it does on the website. No databases are used for storing information in a static website and therefore they are not as flexible as a database driven website.

WordPress

WordPress based websites offer an easy to use WYSIWYG editor to maintain your website. They are a great solution if you intend to update your website in house and they are perfect for running a blog or regularly updating news to your website. See this article on WordPress websites for more information.

E-Commerce

E-Commerce is a phrase used to describe websites such as online shops. An e-commerce package will come with all the functionality required for you to easily add products and product categories to your website for selling online. They can also be combined with content management systems like WordPress so you have complete control over both your website and your online store.

Custom CMS

Custom content management systems require the most work as most things are written from the ground up. They are therefore the most expensive option for a website. Not every business requires a custom CMS as open source options like WordPress meet most of our clients’ needs. If you require some very specific functionality from your website then this may be a case for a proprietary CMS. View our other article on content management systems or just contact us today for more information.