SWD News:
Check out the latest news from SWD and BBC E-Commerce
Stamford Google Street View
Google Street View finally comes to Stamford and the surrounding area! Can you spot your business?
Web site reaches record levels
Visit Stamford reached record visitor levels in December thanks to the amazing success of the Stamford Christmas Festival it was involved in. Visit Stamford now ranks at #2 for 'Stamford' on Google and is becoming the first stop for information on Stamford...watch this space!
Peterborough Weather - 3 Day Forecast
After the success of Stamford Weather in Google it's time to try Peterborough Weather
Popular Search Engines in the 90's: Then and Now
Put your nostalgia hats on as we travel back to the ancient times of the internet!
History Of The Internet
What better time to recap on the last 40 years and provide a brief history of how a technology that has changed our lives, came to be. Sit back and watch this wonderful video that will take you through the decades to today.
The Microsoft-Yahoo Search Deal, In Simple Terms
Great piece from Search Engine Land. Still trying to digest all the news about the Yahoo Microsoft search deal? So are we. While answers are still coming in, here's what we know so far...
Twitter 101 For Business - Special Guide
Every day, millions of people use Twitter to create, discover and share ideas with others. Now, people are turning to Twitter as an effective way to reach out to businesses, too. From local stores to big brands, and from brick-and-mortar to internet-based or service sector, people are finding great value in the connections they make with businesses on Twitter.
Read this guide to see how you can use Twitter for your business!
StamfordWeb Indexed on Google - July 09
Stamford Web Design started its Twitter account in June, Google has already found the new page so it will be interesting how this effects incoming links and rankings.
Stamford Web Design - Twitter
Stamford Web Design has signed up to Twitter, follow me, you never know what you might find out! Twitter Name: StamfordWeb
Adwords - Better ad texts, better performance
Your potential customers decide to visit your website based solely on what they see in your ads when they type in a search query, so ad texts play a crucial role in determining the success of your AdWords advertising.
Watch this video Google shares with you its best practices for creating winning ad texts.
What is a browser?
Watch this funny video about what people reply when asked 'What is a browser?'
Microsoft unveils new search engine Bing
Microsoft has unveiled its much anticipated new search engine, called 'Bing', billed as offering a more user-friendly alternative to traditional search engines.
Google unveils new search tools
As people get more sophisticated at search they are coming to us to solve more complex problems. To stay on top of this, Google have spent a lot of time looking at how we can better understand the wide range of information that's on the web and quickly connect people to just the nuggets they need at that moment. Google want to help their users find more useful information, and do more useful things with it.
Two new improvements to Google results pages
The first offers an expanded list of useful related searches and the second is the addition of longer search result descriptions -- both of which help guide users more effectively to the information they need.
How to Get Better Visibility on Google
Matt Cutts of Google, explains the basics of SEO in an interview with USA Today. Matt provides viewers with an SEO overview and talks about the preliminary tasks involved in performing optimisation on your website.
Google is always experimenting with new features aimed at improving the search experience.
This experiment lets you influence your search experience by adding, moving, and removing search results. When you search for the same keywords again, you'll continue to see those changes. If you later want to revert your changes, you can undo any modifications you've made. Note that this is an experimental feature and may be available for only a few weeks.
Search millions of historic photos
Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.
Domain Name Registry of America: Scam
IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR ALL OUR CUSTOMERS
Previously calling themselves the "Internet Registry of America/Canada", the DRoA/C has already received negative press coverage for sending renewal notices that looked similar to a government notice. DRoA/C originally started in the domain registration business as a reseller of Tucows. Our sources tell us that they were kicked out of Tucows due to these questionable business practices and it is reported that a number of other companies have already taken legal action or are in the process of doing so including the Office of Fair Trading.
There are a number of domain registration companies looking to grow their businesses by stealing business from other companies. Wherever possible, these companies will target registrants and trick them into moving their domain registration business. Often you find that you renew the domain and lose services such as email / webmail etc as well as customer support.
The letters sent are generic, yet formal. They don't state "The Domain Name Registry of America wants your business" or "DROA is offering your a better deal" and they certainly don't say, "switch to DROA"...
Companies such as the DROA and those with with similar business practices are what is know as "domain slamming" - the legal view is that this practice clearly constitutes a “deceptive marketing practice” and may, depending on the view of the courts, also constitute outright fraud, an offence punishable under the criminal code with fine or imprisonment.” under both US and European law.
As stated earlier if any of our customers wish to transfer their domain to the Domain Name Registry of America or any of their other alter-ego's they must contact us, we will then explain our position and them - if you still wish to transfer your domain to the DROA after this, they are free to do so.
An Introduction to Google Adwords
Every day people use Google to search for businesses just like yours. Google AdWords allows you to reach thousands of potential new customers - at the magic moment when they are searching on terms related to your business. And because you can target your ads by country, city or region, you can attract new customers from Stamford and around the world.
UK broadband use reaches new high
Almost nine out of 10 UK net users are connecting via broadband services, official figures reveal.
Google Test Results #1
Here is an example of how well one of our clients sites rank on Google for the products they sell.
Aces High Collectables sells diecast model aircraft (amongst other products) so let's see how well it ranks for 'diecast model aircraft' on Google.com
Google Moon
Google Moon went live back in July 2005 with relatively low resolution images of our closest neighbour. In conjunction with today's news about Google backing private moon landings through the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a new version of Google Moon has been released.
Resolution is higher, the company says. There's also short stories about things like moon landings integrated into the map (example), and you can get some 360 degree "Street View" style views in some places (example), as well as some charts.
No.1 for Stamford Weather
We did it! Stamford Web Design now lists at No.1 for the search term 'Stamford Weather'.
It was our attempt to see if we could rank for this term over the past few months and it also offers a service to the local (and international) community who want to know the weather in Stamford, UK. We also show the weather for Stamford, Connecticut for our American visitors.
Personal touch to Google homepage
Google is reinventing its simple homepage to offer users greater scope for personalisation - iGoogle.
The search giant is introducing features to allow users to publish their own content on a personalised Google homepage.
It represents Google's latest move towards a more user-centric web.
10 Most Commonly Used Passwords Online
In PC Magazine's upcoming May 8th issue they list the 10 most commonly used passwords online - if you are using any of these please turn off your computer immediately.
1. password
2. 123456
3. qwerty
4. abc123
5. letmein
6. monkey
7. myspace1
8. password1
9. blink182
10. (your first name)
Map of Stamford
Ok, time to get Stamford on the map. Stamford Web Design has decided to put Stamford on the map using this nice little gadget supplied by Google.
Google offers personal searches
A bespoke search engine that can be included on people's websites or blogs is the latest offering from Google.
Google Custom Search Engine, as the tool is known, allows users to choose which webpages to search.
Stamford Web Design will be trying out this great new offering asap! Watch this space!
And now for something entirely different — Google Dirtbike Jumping!
Is this going to far? Fun all the same, some people must be very, very bored!
Ever wondered how technologically enabled your neighbours are?
By entering a postcode in the e-Society profiler search box and clicking "GO", our classification will tell you about the type of technology use in your neighbourhood and those areas with similar profiles within Great Britain.
Funny Firefox Movie
This one made us laugh but only one for web geeks I'm afraid...enjoy!
Let your fingers do the walking...
Stamford Web Design means business so that's why we're on YELL.com (THE UK's LOCAL SEARCH ENGINE) for Web Design in Stamford.
Google Notebook
Search is all about finding the answers you need. Unfortunately, some kinds of questions--like where you should stay and what you should do on your Hawaiian vacation, or what kind of digital camera you should buy, or what the latest treatments for arthritis are--can't always be answered in one sitting, or by visiting one site.
That's why Google built Google Notebook--to give you an online "notebook" where you can organize all your research, add personal notes to it, and share it with others. Google Notebook surfs along quietly with you as you browse, letting you clip and annotate whatever text, images, and links that help answer your question, all without ever leaving the webpage you're on.
Fun with George
Drag George - Drag George with your mouse and then drop him.
It's not all work and no play here at SWD!
Google offers a free web page creation and hosting service
Google has rolled out a free web page creation and hosting service that uses a simple, web-based, what-you-see is what-you-get interface designed to make it easy for anyone, obviously SWD were the first to try it out!
First thoughts....nice, easy, produces very simple 'non-complicated' web pages.
Hot Air Ballooning Over Stamford
Some video footage SWD took last year.
Take a Hot Air Balloon from Stamford, across Burghley Park and on to Barnack. with Google Video (broadband required).
Google Dance and fun with Google
SWD has some fun with this short video.
Playing with the search engines
We learn by doing, right? I had noticed that the term 'Stamford Weather' had been searched for on Google over 360,000 times! WOW
So I thought I would try to get a page listed if you searched on Google UK for the term 'Stamford Weather', within two weeks I had a great listing!! Check out the link!
Remember search rankings change so let's see how long I stay on page 1 of Google!!
Contact me if you want to know more on how I did this.
BBC Technology News:
Call to check on mobile security
Owners of mobile phones are being asked to test the security of their network to see if enough is being done to stop eavesdropping.
UK troops use iPad app for fire mission training
Newsbeat's had an exclusive look at new training being given to UK soldiers at the Royal School of Artillery in Wiltshire.
Facebook data hoarder speaks out
Security researcher Ron Bowes tells BBC News why he collected and published the personal details of 100m Facebook users.
Chip sales boost Samsung profits
Samsung Electronics reports record quarterly profits thanks to higher sales of smartphones and components such as memory chips.
Google cleared of wi-fi snooping
No "significant" personal data was grabbed by Google when it snooped on wi-fi networks, says the UK data protection office.
Amazon offers new look UK Kindle
Online retailer Amazon launches its popular Kindle e-reader into the UK market for the first time, with a new look and more books.
Nintendo game copiers 'illegal'
A High Court has ruled that devices that allow gamers to play pirated video games on the Nintendo DS console are illegal in the UK.
Government's £6m web search bill
Four government departments spent almost £6m ensuring their websites appeared on search engine results pages, new figures show.
Legal action on 'zombie cookies'
Lawsuit filed in San Francisco district court after firms resurrected deleted browser cookies.
State of global internet revealed
Asian countries top the charts when it comes to internet speeds, according to a global survey by network giant Akamai.
Facebook makes move into search
Facebook has made its first steps into the search market with the launch a servcie that allows users to quiz the site's 500m members.
Hybrid supercar to go on sale
Porsche has confirmed it'll make a limited number of a new hybrid supercar it's been developing.
Online etiquette
Nothing said online is really private, says Bill Thompson
Step away from the iPod
Banning technology from classrooms is unlikely to solve any problems, thinks Bill Thompson.
Building the Networked World
Open software, fast broadband and a narrower digital divide. Europe lays out its digital agenda.
Facebook battles privacy and profit
Is the social network's pursuit of short-term profits risking its long-term survival?
Websites take on bogus reviewers
Search engines and websites are seeking ways to beat spammers who post fake reviews
Gadgets embraced by Wimbledon
How the oldest tennis tournament and its fans are embracing modern technology.
Hi-tech help for disaster zones
How technology has ushered in a new era for aid work in disaster zones
New era for African independence
Programmers, developers and software makers herald a new era of African independence.
Can someone download a doctor?
Afridoctor offers personal medical advice and emergency distress service via mobile phone.
View from the end of the world
Photographers and film-makers capture their 3-D views of the corners of virtual worlds
Girl Geeks: Women in tech on top
Are women happy being known as geeks?
Ash cloud passengers publish zine
The volcanic ash cloud that shut down British airspace, leaving thousands of travellers stranded also brought many strangers together digitally to create a silver lining.
On a mission with the rocket men
In our series about makers and hackers, we look at the world of amateur rocket-makers.
Resurrecting Victorian technology
The release of an album on wax cylinder inspired us to try to make a phonograph to play it.
Robots and gaming at hi-tech school
Robot and video game design classes are par for the course at San Diego's High Tech High.
Accessing content under the radar
Click looks at how people are using proxy servers and VPNs to access restricted content on the internet, and bypass geographical borders.
Who will win the 3D TV war?
Some of the biggest names in Japan's technology industry report earnings later today and the likes of Panasonic and Sony are betting on 3D to drive sales of new TVs, DVD players and camcorders.
The man with the keys to the web
A British computer expert has been entrusted with part of a digital key, to help restart the internet in the event of a major catastrophe. Paul Kane talked to Eddie Mair on Radio 4's PM programme about what he might be called upon to do in an international online emergency.
Gamers try out Nintendo 3DS
Two Newsbeat listeners, Neil and Melanie, have been given a sneak preview of Nintendo's new hand-held console the 3DS.
HTC makes first foray into China
One of the world's top designers of smartphones, Taiwan's HTC, has announced it is moving into the Chinese market for the first time.
Can you crack the cyber-crime code?
A Britain's Got Talent style competition is being held to find UK's finest IT workers.
Space age sub explores slick
David Shukman takes a dive in a research sub as it investigates the effects of the oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico's coral reefs.
Why women gamers are big business
Almost half the people who play computers games in Britain are women, but they often prefer a different type of game to men.
Astronomy apps
Nifty ways to navigate the night sky
Life among the cyber-elite
Web entrepreneur Joi Ito speaks about his life and career.
Speed limit
What makes your broadband connection slow?
Sneak preview
The world's first 3D handheld console on test
What is Wikileaks?
A look at the secretive whistle-blowing website
Stamford Local News:
Ill-health can't stop Jack, 76
A PENSIONER with a string of health problems is preparing to take part in a 192-mile trek to raise money for charity.
(30/07/2010)
Village unlikely to get lorry ban
THE leader of Rutland County Council has said it is unlikely lorries will be banned from the A6003 between Uppingham and Caldecott in the near future. (30/07/2010)
Engineer given community order for child porn offences
A TELECOMMUNICATIONS engineer who had child porn on his computer has walked free from Lincoln Crown Court. (30/07/2010 16:41:35)
Market trader still in limbo
A MARKET trader is in limbo after not being told by the council whether or not his licence will be renewed.
(30/07/2010)
Team behind Riverside bid for £20k grant
A BID will be submitted today for up to £20,000 to run a month-long cultural festival. (30/07/2010)
Trust idea for museum is explored
A TOWN council is looking into the idea of creating a trust in its bid to save Stamford Museum.
(30/07/2010)
Bringing boom back to Budgens
THE Co-op has confirmed it will be moving into the empty Budgens store in Bourne later this year.
(30/07/2010)
Pub caught up in licence nightmare
VILLAGERS have been rallying to support their pub after the landlords unexpectedly lost their licence to sell alcohol. (30/07/2010 10:11:24)
Work together to clean up the river
THERE needs to be a mass clean-up of the River Welland in Stamford, according to an RSPCA officer.
(30/07/2010 09:52:48)
Greengrocer's shop opens in former public toilets
A PROJECT to help vulnerable people get back into work has opened a fruit and veg shop in Oakham. (29/07/2010 16:29:11)