Maine Web design and WordPress Theme Designs - Phoenix Massey Studio

Thanks, Steve.

suzy — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:22:57 +0000

Making it to the Big Time

suzy — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:44:48 +0000

Congratulations to my client Pam Kueber of RetroRenovation.com for the article about her and her site in today’s New York Times!

Password Security Primer

suzy — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 06:00:30 +0000

What NOT to do!

1. Use the word “password”.
2. Use consecutive set of numbers or letters: “123456789” “abcdefg”
3. ANY dictionary word alone or with a set of numbers – for ex: “fluffy505”

What to do…

1. Test your password at the Password Meter.
2. The longer the better. I use a 30+ character password for my wireless network, but keep in mind that some sites/applications limit the length to 8 characters.
3. Mix it up: UPPER CASE lower case. Break up a word/name and put it in and around numbers.
For example: Say you lived in Portland, ME from 1978 to 1994 -

pO19rT78lA19nD94 Looks awful, but it makes sense. (lower case, UPPER CASE, number)

Can you add punctuation? (Some sites & applications will let you.) Even better!

pO19rT78!@19nD94
! = i or l
@ = a
# = h
$ = s

Seriously, I have more than a dozen passwords that I use in my life and I rarely have to look them up, because they make sense and have meaning to me.

4. Another idea- Use acronyms:
Take a line from a favorite song, one whose lyrics you remember and use the first letter from each word, or create a pass phrase. Throw in some numbers and punctuation.

“My cat’s tail is as long as he is” mCtIaLaHi20+03

“Oh, what a beautiful morning, oh, what a beautiful day…” OwAbM88oWaBd!

Finally, PLEASE don’t use just one password for everything!! Try at least to come up with a base password and change it slightly for every site.

Iwanagara Apple Blossom Orchid

suzy — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:02:52 +0000

So pretty! It’s just opening up and it’s fragrance is during the day.

Who’s using your wireless internet connection?

suzy — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:25:53 +0000

Here’s a story that caught my attention this week. From the Today show:

What happened to Malcolm Riddell should not happen to anyone — but it can and does, and that’s the cautionary tale shared by the Florida man, whose garden-variety wireless Internet signal was ”stolen” by a criminal to distribute his library of more than 10 million child pornography photographs.

What a nightmare! Read the full story here.

Securing your wifi connection isn’t difficult – Here are instructions. As always, creating a strong password is a good idea. Want one that is cryptographic-strength? Try Steve Gibson’s Perfect Passwords Generator.

Brassavola Grand Stars

suzy — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:37:35 +0000

Not the showiest of orchids, but its fragrance is heavenly!

Kiss Internet Explorer 6 Goodbye

suzy — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 22:14:54 +0000

…and not a moment too soon!
After 10 years of designing websites and then going back and making sure that they display properly in IE6, I am letting it go. Even Microsoft is saying goodbye. If you landed on my site and you are using IE6, you got a message to upgrade. Please do so. You will find that the internet is a safer, better looking place if you move on to a newer browser.

Internet Explorer 8
Firefox
Chrome
Safari