Using a strong password when interacting with the numerous sites online is not an option but a requirement. As technology is continuously moving towards the use of the Internet for many of our transactions, processes and interactions, we have to take the necessary steps to be sure that we keep our online information secure. With this in mind, here are a few tips that can help with creating a strong, secure password.

• No Passwords Based on Personal Information
  It is strongly not recommended to have a password with any personal information associated. This would include information such as one’s name, address, birthday, age, social security number or telephone number.
• No Dictionary Words
  Although using words found in the dictionary are easy to remember when selecting a password, it is much easier to crack by a hacker. If regular words are unavoidable, try instead to use syllables from regular words. Also, syllables from multiple words can be combined as well.
• The Longer the Better
  A one character long password generates 26 possible passwords. Therefore having more characters in a password makes it more difficult to crack. With this in mind, it is recommended that a password be at least 6-8 characters. However, a password with 12 or 16 characters are the best.
• Special Characters are Welcome
  The use of special characters such as @, #, ^, & or ! help for the creation of a complex password.
• Use Letter/Number Substitutions
  Another option is to substitute a letter in a word being used for a password with a number. For example, the word “vacation” can be changed to “v4c4t10n”.
• Change your Password Regularly
  Regular password changes are recommended every ninety (90) days especially based on the way hacking attempts are evolving. Changing a password every thirty (30) days or less may prove to be inefficient and lead to forgetting passwords and creating insecure passwords.
• Keep your Password Secure
  It is best not to write down passwords or keep them close to your computer. Hence, selecting a password based on a pattern that is easy to remember is recommended.

Examples of Strong Passwords

• H@rd2Cr@k!: Password is more than 8 characters, uses letter/character substitution, special characters and still is easy to remember by combining regular words
• (L4cp4B?): Password is more than 8 characters, uses letter/number substitution, special characters and is based on using the first letters of the words in the sentence “Long And Complex Passwords Are Best”

So what needs to be taken into consideration when launching a business online? How does one gain success and remain successful? I’ve put together a few tips based on my past and present business ventures that I’ve realized worked well. Hopefully these will assist with making a successful transition.

• Do Your Research

  This in my opinion is one of the most important aspects to a successful online business launch. Effective research can involve assessing other online businesses, meeting with business owners and even playing the role of a client.  Once time is taken to understand the nature of one’s industry, it is easy to understand market demographics, patterns and practices. Therefore, effective strategies can be implemented that are not only cost-effective but also based on current trends.

• Give your Business a Home

  A website is one of the most common and popular mediums a business can employ to present itself online. At a minimum, establishing a website consists of a domain name that matches the business name and also storage space to hold all website content. Overall, a simple and attractive website design can prove sufficient enough in presenting one’s business serviceand product offerings.

• Use Social Networking

  Social networking is another popular medium that any business can utilize to market and establish themselves. Most times it complements a businesses’ primary website.  With the growing trend that the average Internet user is a member of a social networking website, having a business social networking presence makes any business available to numerous potential clients.

  Social networks leaders Facebook and Myspace have tools for businesses including fan pages and groups. However, LinkedIn, Meetup, Xing and NetParty are a few social networks worth mentioning that focus primarily on professional business connections.

• Don’t be Afraid to Experiment

  Many businesses have and continue to practice some form of experimentation. This can be the implementation of some new technique, idea or known practice in an attempt to gain some measure of success. Some of these ideas may fail or prove to be advantageous.

  The key to effective experimentation is calculated planning which many know as risk assessment. Part of this planning would need to include consideration to alternative options in the event of an unexpected outcome thereby exercising damage control.

• Too Much is Bad

  Yes, too much of a good thing may be bad especially when overly utilized. The tendency exists for any business to overuse various techniques or strategies which sometimes may lead to negative effects. Such effects can include loss of overall popularity and even loyal patrons.

  One way a business can prevent such issues is to perform frequent business assessments which can include analyzing the frequency of past and present marketing campaigns and strategies. Particular attention should be paid to the effectiveness in delivery to the desired target audience and also the campaign duration. The results obtained from this assessment would prove to be beneficial in order to execute the right adjustments.

• Be Patient

  As previously mentioned, there is huge potential with an online presence. However, this does not guarantee any success even if the best practices and methods are utilized. In some cases it may take numerous attempts which can easily cause one to become impatient or loose motivation. However, patience is key to a successful online presence. No business has been able to enjoy success without some measure of failure.

  One such business, eToys, established itself online in 1999 selling toys to children and ended up closing in 2001 after various techniques that failed. However, eToys has now reopened and appears to be doing well.

An online business presence is a win-win situation. The pros definitely outweigh the cons. Once approached correctly and in a precise manner, the possibilities for any online business are limitless. So launch your online business with confidence today.

Assuming that I was able to convince you on setting up a twitter account, you probably may be actively using Twitter. You’re probably also following many other Twitter users, being followed and putting some of the justifications for Twitter usage from last month’s post to full use. So whats next? How can you continue to use Twitter to its full potential? Well this post will seek to answer these questions by providing a variety of tips to make anyone a Twitter guru.

Practice Twitter etiquette

There are various guidelines that help to make using Twitter a fun experience. Some of these include:

• Use of the @ sign in front of a Twitter user’s name when directing a reply to them. Also, realize when a conversation requires the use of the direct message (DM) feature as sometimes everyone may not want to read certain replies.
• Do not send repeated messages to people. Also, constantly using the direct message (DM) feature and sending links may cause users to think you are a spammer. They could likely unfollow you or worse report you for abuse.
• Do thank users for retweeting or following you. It’s a great conversation starter and may go a long way.
• Yes, Twitter is a public medium and not a medium to vent. Therefore, everyone may read what you wrote at some point.

Integrate Twitter with other mediums

Many of us have other social networking accounts particularly with Facebook and Myspace. There are tools available to link your twitter account with these social networks. Myspace has a status sync tool that allows for Myspace updates to be shown in Twitter. Similarly, Facebook has a twitter application that performs status updates to Twitter.

Use a Desktop client

Although Twitter usage via the web may be sufficient, desktop clients help to unleash features that make Twitter usage more efficient. Some of my recommended Desktop clients include:

• Tweetdeck
• Seesmic Desktop / Seesmic Look
• twhirl

Use a Mobile client

One may opt to have access to Twitter on a mobile device which is possible through any web-enabled mobile device including Blackberry, iPhone and Android. Additionally, mobile clients are available should one prefer not using a mobile web browser. Many recent mobile devices now have Twitter mobile clients pre-installed. However, one can easily download ÜberTwitter, Twidroid or Twitterific to name a few.

Now I’d love to hear about your Twitter experiences. Feel free to share and continue to enjoy Tweeting.

The debate has been ongoing as to whether it is good practice to keep using the target attribute to open a link in a new window.  There are numerous reasons for and against usage which I honestly think depends on the situation. However, should one wish to use a strict doctype and still  have the ability to open a link in a new window without validation errors there are workarounds.

On a past project I was faced with a similar dilemma. The project utilized html strict doctype pages and there were sections of the project that required the links to be opened in a new window.  So in order to best accomplish this the decision was made to  utilize a solution incorporating jQuery.

Apart from your incorporation of the jQuery framework, all you would need to use is placed this code snippet just after the body of your page:

$(document).ready(function(){
	$('a[href^="http://"]').attr("target", "_blank");
	$('a[href^="https://"]').attr("target", "_blank");
});

Essentially, any link that starts with http or https will be opened in a new window.

This code snippet can be extended even further to incorporate classes or divs.

$(document).ready(function(){
	$('a[href^="http://"]').attr("target", "_blank").addClass('external');
	$('a[href^="https://"]').attr("target", "_blank").addClass('external');
});

As you can see I used chaining to add a class called external which I can use to maybe incorporate a link icon or even manipulate the color of that link.