Web Growth Consulting Blog » Internet news

Our August 2010 email newsletter

Dinesh Fernando — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:15:09 +0000

Our August 2010 email newsletter reports on how big companies like Next and Debenhams have been breaking the UK Distance Selling Regulations by not refunding the original delivery charge on returns.

Please view the newsletter here: August 2010 email newsletter

Big companies break refund rules for e-commerce

Dinesh Fernando — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:54:33 +0000

Next and some other big online retailers have been breaking the law regarding refunds for goods bought online. Under the Distance Selling Regulations the consumer is entitled to a refund for the goods AND original delivery charge if returned within 7 days of receiving the item.

Next and some other retailers such as Littlewoods and Debenhams have interpreted the law incorrectly by not refunding the full cost of the item and delivery charge. Debenhams and Littlewoods will only refund the delivery charge if the item is faulty, but this still breaks the law. On the vendor’s side, they are not liable for refunding the cost of the consumer returning the unwanted item.

The Distance Selling Regulations (DSR) were introduced in 2000 to protect mail order and online shoppers as they can’t inspect the item before making a purchase.

Once a purchase is made without face-to-face contact then there are some key time periods where

- Unless pre-agreed, the item should be delivered within a statutory 30 days from purchase.
- For goods, the consumer has seven working after receiving the item to return it and be entitled to a full refund of the cost AND delivery charge.
- The refund must be made within 30 days of the cancellation of the order

Consumers do not have the right to full refunds under the DSR for perishable goods, personalised or custom-made products, magazines and unwrapped CDs.

For more information visit the following web pages:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/10560466.stm

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft698.pdf

Please get in touch if you have any questions regarding selling online. Despite the legal requirements it can be an effective addition to your usual selling channels and we can tailor solutions to suit any budget.

Bebo to close while Facebook and others strenthen

Dinesh Fernando — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 13:41:06 +0000

The social media website aimed at teenagers, Bebo, faces closure as it is widely perceived to have lost the battle for market share to Facebook and Twitter. Although still quite popular in the UK, the website has not come close to justifying the £420 million price paid by AOL in March 2008 and its 12 million users are now dwarfed by Facebook`s 400 million users.

According to Comscore, February global visitor figures for Facebook were 462 million, MySpace nearly 110 million and Twitter 69.5 million. Used wisely, Facebook and Twitter could help raise the profile of you and your business. See our social media page for more information.

http://www.webgrowth.co.uk/social-media.php

Microsoft forced to offer choice of browsers, our quick guide to IE alternatives

Dinesh Fernando — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:36:43 +0000

Following an anti-trust ruling by the European Commission, Microsoft will be offering up to 200 million European PC users the option of choosing an alternative web browser.

Windows and Internet Explorer users who subscribe to automatic updates will be presented with a screen offering a choice of 12 browsers, including IE, with the top five displaying in a random order.

Here’s our quick guide to the top 10 browsers that you’ll be presented with.

Internet Browser	Pros	Cons
Internet Explorer (Microsoft)	Versions 7, 8, stable and security improved, auto complete on address bar	Still a major target for hackers and Malware. Version 6 has particularly poor security and stability with crashes that can affect the operating system.
FireFox (Mozilla)	Very fast, stable, very secure and well supported, good features and add-ons	Can get a little bloated with all the available add-ons which means start up a little slow.
Chrome (Google)	Fast and stable, good security	Relatively new, lack of ‘nerdy’ features / add-ons (which may well be a pro for some users!)
Opera (Opera)	Fast and secure, some useful features	Lacking widgets and add-ons
Safari (Apple)	Neat interface, secure up to a point.	Lacking in features, actually quite insecure but not currently targeted by hackers and virus writers
Flock	Social networking dedicated browser, friendly interface	Doesn’t support major web services
Maxthon	Easy to useSupports many plug-ins Customizable	Lacks competitors features like thumbnail previews, a smart toolbar, and anti-phishing technology
Avant Browser	User-customizable tabbed interface Page zoom slider – 25% to 500% Multiple home pages Good support	Lacks parental controls and ability to synchronize settings from other browsers
Deepnet Explorer	Pop-up BlockerAnti-phishing Peer-to-peer facility for file sharing	Not as intuitive as other browser
PhaseOut	Customizable and tailored to easy surfing Top Security Features	No password manager, feeds, or parental controls

This move will result in the further erosion on Internet Explorer’s market particularly with faster and more secure browsers being freely available.

See the following links for more information.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/mar/01/microsoft-windows-browser-choice-screen

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/mar/01/microsoft-browser-choice-which-best

http://www.honeytechblog.com/pros-and-cons-of-top-10-web-internet-browsers/

How the alert on Internet Explorer affects the design of your website

Dinesh Fernando — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:08:36 +0000

The German Government has taken the unprecedented step of warning its citizens to avoid using Microsoft`s Internet Explorer.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=3210429&

This was prompted by the publication on the Internet of what is effectively a hacker`s recipe book for malicious websites to install all kinds of unwelcome software on a PC using Internet Explorer. This is software that slows down your PC and could steal passwords and personal information.

Microsoft themselves have recognized the security flaw and are working on a patch that won`t be released until 9th February 2010. In the mean time both the German and French governments are advising their citizens to steer well clear.

These days Microsoft`s Internet Explorer is less and less important with excellent rivals FireFox and Google’s new Chrome browser eating into its market share. At the time of writing less than 50% of all web users now use Internet Explorer.

http://www.webgrowth.co.uk/latest-browser-market-share.php

The publicity around the German and French warning means that Internet Explorer`s market share looks set to fall even further which also means a few extra grey hairs for any conscientious web developer. Your website should always be developed and checked for the major browsers FireFox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera as there can be marked differences in how the same page displays. As long as the pages are developed using good coding practice then most issues can be fixed without too much hair tearing!

British hacker extradited to the US

Dinesh Fernando — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:41:59 +0000

British citizen Gary McKinnon will be extradited to the US to be tried for hacking into 97 US government computers including NASA and Pentagon in 2001 and 2002. Gary has Apserger`s Syndrome and became obsessed with the idea that the US was hiding alien technology that would produce limitless amounts free energy.

While Gary McKinnon is undoubtedly a fragile individual and should be treated with the utmost sensitivity, he should still face trial. Hacking is not a victimless crime and costs society millions in lost time, money and equipment.

Read more detail here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8389310.stm

Illegal downloading

Dinesh Fernando — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:22:18 +0000

Most of us like to get stuff for free but we welcome the Government`s plans for getting tougher on those who download copyright material from the Internet for free. Penalties might include throttling of perpetrator`s broadband speed or in extreme cases suspending their connection completely.

Those downloading copyright material justify their actions by citing the excessive profits made by record and film companies, but a culture of stealing people’s work also damages up and coming independent artists with only limited resources.

An album by young Welsh band ‘Future of the left’, who are signed to legendary label 4AD, was leaked on the Internet before its release, damaging precious sales for a new band.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/southeastwales/hi/people_and_places/music/newsid_8291000/8291053.stm

Lily Allen, members of Radiohead and Pink Floyd also agree and signed a statement to clamp down on illegal file sharers and downloaders.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8274072.stm

The browser that will not die

Dinesh Fernando — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:37:42 +0000

Much to our regret, Internet Explorer 6 is still being used by nearly 23% of Internet users. As a simple interface for viewing web pages it does a job, however it also leaves your computer vulnerable to all sorts of Malware, viruses and other Internet nasties that slow down your computer and allow hackers to steal your personal data.

For web developers and website owners this also presents a real headache as web pages looking great in one browser can look terrible in other browsers. Currently we check all our new websites with Internet Explorer versions 6,7 and 8, FireFox and Google Chrome. There are small differences in the way they behave but the most marked is with IE 6.

So please spread the word and tell your friends, family and colleagues to ditch IE 6 by upgrading to IE 7 or 8. Better still, try out FireFox or Google Chrome, which are faster and much more secure.

See the latest browser market share on our website.

Google apologises over Michelle Obama image

Dinesh Fernando — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:48:07 +0000

Google has apologised for an offensive image of the US first lady Michelle Obama appearing at the top of their image rankings. While Google apologised for the image they did not remove it from their index despite some public and media pressure.

The image was eventually removed from blog, making it fall off the rankings.

This case is reminiscent of when typing ‘miserable failure’ into Google pulled up George Bush’s personal profile as the first listing. Again this was because many bloggers and websites had mischievously linked this phrase directly back to George Bush’s website profile. Google eventually intervened and removed the connection but took months to act.

Google has intervened before in the case of George Bush and 'miserable failure'

Google is fiercely protective of its ‘algorithm’, which is the automatic system that decides which websites should rank highly. While the exact details are kept secret one important factor is the quantity and importance of websites linking back to a web page. The Michelle Obama image had obviously been discussed and published on other blogs and news websites sites, pushing it to the top of Google image search.

Relevancy is what has made Google such a huge success and they are justified in protecting their rights to free speech, however you could argue that anyone genuinely wanting to find a picture of Michelle Obama would not be interested in the offensive version.

What do you think?

See more details of the story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8377922.stm