The legislation – postponed from last year – limits the use of tracking cookies on business sites and requires businesses to get browser’s permission or alert the browser to their existence. Fines for non-compliance could be up to £500,000.

Cookies are small text files which are used by websites to analyse their visitors’ Internet behaviour. The files are stored on a user’s hard disk to enable targeted advertising and personalised web pages and are also used by e-commerce sites to manage users’ shopping carts.

The directive becomes enforceable UK law from 26 May 2012. From then on, websites need to obtain users’ opt-in consent first if they install cookies that pass on information about browsing activities to third parties. Non-compliant websites may be subject to a fine.

Last year, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) gave UK companies a year to get into line with the EU regulations, which require them to obtain consent before placing a cookie on a user machine.

The UK Regulations mean that a website operator must not store information or gain access to information stored in the computer (or other web-enabled device) of a user unless the user “is provided with clear and comprehensive information about the purposes of the storage of, or access to, that information” and “has given his or her consent”.  The consent requirement in the UK Regulations replaces the previous position which provided that visitors should be given the ability to refuse cookies.

The only cookies that do not need users’ consent are those that are strictly necessary to fulfill the user’s request for services. That will cover, for example, the use of cookies to remember the contents of a user’s shopping cart as the user moves through several pages on a website. Other cookies, including those used to count visitors to a website and those used to serve advertising, will require consent.

Please get in touch with Dinesh on 01788 844014 to discuss how you should be complying with this legislation or send us an email enquiry form.

1. The law comprises the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 as amended by the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (“UK Regulations”).

We’ll tell you more about this in the near future but have a look round and tell us what you think: Trust for Africa’s Orphans

Please get in touch if you want to discuss web design and development for your projects.

Google Webmaster Tools notice of detected unnatural links to http://www.yoursite.com

Dear site owner or webmaster of http://www.yoursite.com/,

We’ve detected that some of your site’s pages may be using techniques that are outside Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.

Specifically, look for possibly artificial or unnatural links pointing to your site that could be intended to manipulate PageRank. Examples of unnatural linking could include buying links to pass PageRank or participating in link schemes.

We encourage you to make changes to your site so that it meets our quality guidelines. Once you’ve made these changes, please submit your site for reconsideration in Google’s search results.

If you find unnatural links to your site that you are unable to control or remove, please provide the details in your reconsideration request. If you have any questions about how to resolve this issue, please see our Webmaster Help Forum for support.

Sincerely,

Google Search Quality Team

If you have received or receive this message then you should take immediate action as it could damage your search engine rankings. Where there is a credible link back to your website from, for example, a partner organisation, a good quality blog, popular social media or a quality directory then you should have nothing to worry about. If you have ever purchased links from a link building company then this could be a problem.

Google is now targeting this unethical way of building Page Rank by eliminating unnatural links from its index. While there might be some short term pain in removing unnatural links and making the case for those links wrongly classified, we think the principle of Google showing relevant websites in its search results is strengthened.

If you are worried about this issue or need help with taking action then get in touch with Dinesh on 07941 686113.

A still from the Warner Bros movie Wrath of the Titans

His name is listed on the closing credits as a Concept Artist and this latest career development is a tribute to an amazing talent and a lot of hard work!

See the trailer and Bob’s Blog post here: http://www.bobcheshire.co.uk/site/film/wrath-of-the-titans-trailer/

You can also find Bob’s name on the Cast and Crew list here: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/wrath-of-the-titans/credits.html

A Word Press website means you can update and edit the website yourself

Our latest web design is for a new bespoke cake company, Sticky Fingers Cake Creations, from the very talented Karen Langham. The website showcases past bespoke creations including wedding cakes, celebration cakes, cookies and cupcakes. The website also includes a latest news section where updates on future events and news can be published.

The website is built using Word Press so it can be easily updated and edited by the website owner.

Visit the website here: Sticky Fingers Cake Creations

Web conferencing, webinars or online meetings allow a number of people to simultaneously hear the words and see the screen of one person from their computer, with the added option of interacting through online chat, Internet audio or teleconferencing.

There are two main corporate products on the market, Go To Meeting and Webex – which provide high quality, multiple featured services, enabling potentially large numbers of people to meet, interact and discuss online without having to leave their office or home. With prices starting at £30 a month these products are suitable for medium to large sized organisations.

A free subscription service such as Powwownow provides an excellent service where you only pay for local call rate teleconferencing. The additional web conferencing services are free and provide a stripped down version of what is offered by Webex or Go To Meeting but work very well. The organiser can share their screen to demonstrate or present and even transfer presenter status to someone else in the conference.

While face-to-face meetings will always have a place, travel is likely to become more and more expensive in the future and it is reassuring to know that viable alternatives exist in the present.

Have you ever used web conferencing and was it a positive experience? Leave a comment below.

The committee heard evidence from ex-Formula 1 boss  Max Mosley on how he spent a large sum of money removing Internet traces of a secretly filmed video by the now defunct News of the World. Despite a UK court upholding Mosley’s right to privacy, Google still had links to the offending video.

Google defended its position by upholding the principle of the unfettered flow of information. Their reputation has been built on the search engine’s relevant and unbiased search results without the influence of corporations or Governments. In exceptional circumstances they have censored search search results but only under extreme pressure or where there is strong evidence of the web community hijacking search results.

While one can sympathise with individuals with a genuine issue with privacy, legislation would be unworkable.

See our earlier blog post: George Bush’s miserable failure and the Michelle Obama image.

See the full article here:  Google should be forced to sensor search results

Paul Chambers was arrested in January 2010 after he vented his frustration at his cancelled flight on Twitter. “Robin Hood airport is closed,” he tweeted. “You’ve got a week and a bit to get your s**t together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!”

That statement was considered a credible security threat and Chambers was arrested and convicted in May 2010 at Doncaster Magistrates’ Court of sending “a message of a menacing character”, contrary to provisions of the 2003 Communications Act, fined £385 and ordered to pay £600 costs. His employees also sacked him.

Chambers now lives in Northern Ireland with the woman he was going to see in 2010. However when he revealed to his new employees about his appeal case he was promptly sacked again.

I am Spartacus campaign

When Chambers was first convicted it sparked the “I am Spartacus” campaign where thousands of Twitter users copied his original tweet to highlight the absurdity of a law that has been applied to the letter. Unfortunately it also makes the law look like an ass and has wasted huge amounts of taxpayer’s money. Surely these resources could have been better spent on monitoring and arresting real terrorists?

Read more:

Judges mulling Twitter bomber conviction

Judgement reserved in Doncaster Twitter airport threat appeal

Where are the judges fit for the internet age?

Al Murray on the Twitter joke trial: ‘Problem is, the law don’t do funny’

Pinterest has been around for a couple of years, a place with a largely female and American audience, where people share ideas on design, fashion, travel, books – or anything else you can think of – by “pinning” photos to their various online boards. Effectively Pinterest provides multiple mood boards that you can either start yourself, collaborate, comment or contribute an image. Unusually the early adopters appear not to be the usual geeks, with mainstream subjects as fashion, design and travel being some of the first popular topics.

The website was the third fastest growing in the US in January 2012 and is starting to attract the interest of corporates and retailers. Like other social networks that have come and gone, it’s difficult to predict what will succeed long-term but Pinterest seems to tick a lot of boxes on what makes a social network succeed.

See BBC’s Rory Cellen-Jones’ view here:  Pinterest – hot new network or another Quora?

• Free .co.uk domain and hosting for a year
• £50 of Google AdWords vouchers
• Starter SEO package worth £75 (Keyword research, Tag editing and website submission to Google and Bing)

Possible features include the following:

• Web design and logo / branding design
• Content Management by you using Word Press or Joomla
• Website copywriting
• E-commerce and advice on selling online successfully
• Forums, blogs and galleries
• Bespoke software development
• Email marketing
• Google Analytics for web traffic monitoring
• Contact forms, live chat
• Online booking
• Online Calendars / booking
• Online CRM
• …and much, much more!

Please call us Dinesh 01788 844014 or use our enquiry form to tell us more about what  you need for your business.