Think you have ANY privacy?

I just had a horrifying experience and it's a wake-up call for anyone who still believes we have any privacy. My brother tried to refill his TMobile minutes with their automated phone system, but apparently the system kicks out random charges for "verification." He was unaware of this, but was getting alerts saying he was still running out of minutes, so he knew something must be wrong.

This morning, I spent an hour trying to sort it out with the bank and TMobile, and finally got the information I needed, but he had to call them back to 'verify his credit card.' OF COURSE, his phone ran out of minutes mid-call, so only way to solve the problem was for me to call and use my credit card so they could speak to the card holder (me) since they now had no way to reach him. Here's the scariest part—remember, I don't have an account with TMobile and never have— they asked me a series of questions using information from "publicly available sources." The questions included the last 4 digits of my Social Security number, the town in which a street I lived on (they named the street) was located in (from a list of towns they named), the state I lived in between 19xx and 19xx, AND THE YEAR I WAS BORN. And they knew all this… I feel sick…
#TMobile #publiclyavailableinfo #NOPRIVACY

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All content ©2011Canzani Graphics

what will a website cost?

Business owners always ask what a website will cost. Anytime a business owner is considering an idea they are not knowledgeable about, they look for parameters and information that will guide them in making a sounds business decision. It’s cost vs. value — will the value of the service outweigh the initial expense?

Answering the cost question is not simple. When I buy a widget, I am purchasing a specific, defined product, but a client rarely knows exactly what their website will encompass. They usually have a general idea and may even have a well-thought-out plan, but revisions and additions often surface and will affect the final price. Outlining the set-up costs, such as domain registration and web hosting, I then give clients a price range for design and coding. When/if I reach the upper limit of that range, I consult with them before proceeding, giving the client the option of moving forward or limiting their expense. (See also http://websitewisdom.blogspot.com/2011/04/websites-what-about.html)

Today I found an online calculator buyers can use as a guideline. According to the calculator, the website I just completed, a 5 page custom e-commerce site, was worth up to $7,500. (They break cost down into providers charging the most to the least—Professional Firm, Freelancer or Offshore Provider. I found it a bit offensive that this implies that freelancers and offshore providers are not professional!) I charged less than half that amount, in part because the design and images were provided by another designer and needed only minor tweaking. Granted, I have lower overhead than a “Professional Firm,” but I am always walking the fine line between providing a service at a cost my clients can afford and under-pricing my services, since that sometimes leads to prospective clients undervaluing them.

Website design can be template-based or customized, and most clients start out just wanting to have a site at the lowest possible price point. Their ideas change once they get involved, as they see the site’s potential and want the site to reflect the same level of care and expertise they take with their product or service. A slapdash site reflects a slapdash attitude towards your business and that’s not going to attract quality clients. As long as there are tv ads for ‘free’ websites and domain names for 99¢, business owners are going to think charging anything more than that is an attempt to rip them off. It’s anything but; our work as designers is to enhance users/customers perception of your product or service, thereby resulting in more business for our clients.

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All content ©2013Canzani Graphics

the pros and cons of instant news

I have been musing today about the pros and cons of today’s “instant” news cycle. When news can travel as fast as a tweet, often little attention is paid to accuracy in the effort to beat other news outlets to the scoop. But reporters are not just parrots; they do research, take measurements, talk to sources and generally provide the most accurate understanding they can for their readers. This takes time, and it is the difference between journalists and eyewitness tweeters, reposters, and outlets just looking for whatever content they can find to fill space, regardless of veracity. It puts tremendous pressure on news sites to get that job done as quickly as possible, or to post what they have immediately and follow-up with the larger story later one. I personally heard so many conflicting versions of what happened in Sandy Hook Elementary that I turned the news off until the following day.

I found Twitter invaluable during Superstorm Sandy when all I had was my cell phone for news and updates, but have also seen rumor and innuendo passed on as fact in a flash due to less than scrupulous vetting. This story “Going Viral For Something You Didn't Do” is a prime example. Just as we are all warned not to post private information since ‘it lives forever online,’ google will forever be associating Forbes blogger Andy Ellwood with the drunken passenger on a flight Andy wasn’t even on.

What’s occurrring is a mashup of the game of telephone and a feeding frenzy, with some truly awful, if unintended, consequences. Sometimes I think there should be a time delay on what we post/tweet; fifteen minutes in which we can cancel or edit our input before it goes out to the world. There are too many itchy texting fingers out there. So please the next time you are compelled to use your digits to holler, make sure you engage your brain and pause to think about it first.

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Please indulge my venting for a moment. I disagree with the practice of making people sign up or login just to view a website. I want to be able to see what I am signing up for before I 'join.' I've noticed this trend a lot on fashion and home goods websites– they post a teaser image in an ad, but when you click on it, you can't view the site without logging in. Perhaps it's done to make the site seem more exclusive, but the only thing it does for me is drive me away. How about you?

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Content ©2012 Canzani Graphics

Syncing with iCloud

The greatest benefit of iCloud is keeping all your devices in sync. Add, edit or remove a contact on one device and it will automatically update on your other devices. But be aware, your master file is on icloud.com, so if you find you have duplicates, sign into iCloud and make your changes there.

For syncing photos, you must have iPhoto 9 ($14.99 in the App store) to automatically upload your Photo Stream to iCloud. To activate:

On your iOS devices, go to Settings > iCloud > Photo Stream, and turn on Photo Stream (or My Photo Stream).

On your Mac, go to System Preferences > iCloud and check the box for Photo Stream.

Photos are uploaded only when you are connected via Wi-FI, not over cell connections. Once there, they will be stored for 30 days to give all your devices time to sync. Your last 1,000 photos will be stored in Photo Stream on your devices- to keep them permanently, move them into another folder. (Click the + at the top of the window, use "edit' to add photos.) Photos sent to Photo Stream on your Mac will remain without the need to send them to other folders.

You can see which photos are in your album by choosing the Photo Stream tab- at the top of the Photos window on my iPad 1, which runs iOS 5, and at the bottom of the window on my iPhone, running iOS 6. Read  more about using Photo Stream with iCloud here.

Learn more about iCloud here with specifics here.

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All content ©2011Canzani Graphics

How to delete an app

This may seem basic to some, but I’ve been asked “How do I get rid of this app?” If you want to delete an app from your iPhone or iPad, hold your finger on it until it begins to shake. At that point, a red "x" will appear in the upper lefthand corner; touching the "x" will remove the app from your phone. If you have a folder with only one app in it, you need to choose the app and delete it, and the folder will automatically disappear. You still own apps you remove from the phone, and they can be reinstalled in iTunes.

You use the same method to move an app icon from one screen to another- when the icon is shaking, you can hold and drag it to another screen on your device. You can also perform either of these actions in the Apps screen of iTunes, where rearranging icons is easier. In that case, unchecking the box next to the icon in the apps list will remove it from your phone when you apply your changes. You can also sort apps by several methods in this screen- by kind, name, category, date and size. Sorting by size is especially helpful if your device is running short of room.

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All content ©2011Canzani Graphics

Camera +

Are you happy with the default Camera app on the iPhone? Check out Camera+, now available for iPhone and iPad for 99¢— I highly recommend it. (And no, I don’t have any financial investment in it!) It’s difficult to be sure your iPhone is parallel to your subject, and Camera+ has guides that help you line things up, as well as a visual zoom bar and a host of other features. You can read more on their website: http://campl.us

Put our knowledge and expertise to work for your business— visit our webpage and then contact Canzani Graphics today!
All content ©2011Canzani Graphics