This whole business of letting ppl use old browsers, mainly IE 6 is just really distressing. Why can’t Microsoft just automatically disable the old browsers, once the new ones come in effect. I hear IE 8 is out already. Meanwhile, we have ppl using IE6, STILL! There has got to be a better way of getting people to upgrade and keeping up with the times. It would make the web designers life so much easier, not to spend hours trying to figure out how to get it to show perfectly in IE 6 (all for that random 3 or 4 visitors that will visit the site using IE 6, or better yet the owner themselves).
Recently I came across great new, on Jonathan Hedley’s site.
Starting on or about the third week of April, users still running IE6 or IE7 on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Server 2008 will get will get a notification through Automatic Update about IE8. This rollout will start with a narrow audience and expand over time to the entire user base. On Windows XP and Server 2003, the update will be High-Priority.
Users can decline the update, and Corporate IT groups can block it, but this is a promising move to bring users up to date, and so to increase web-development efficiency.
I also came across “Grow up already and throw IE6 away!”. Fantastic article, with show and tell pictures, by Janko Jovanovic (my inspiring title is one of his quotes).
If you are reading this and haven’t updated your browser, please do that. No good can come of using old browsers that don’t support half all the graphic savvy stuff we can do online these days. You’re missing the good stuff. Get that upgrade. Click here
Facebook’s got our stuff :0
February 24, 2009
Although Facebook has been the fastest growing community site, connecting people from all over, old friends, new friends, far away family, exs’ etc, I’ve never been fully comfortable with it, mostly because so much drama comes from it…which I think I can do without, thank you very much. Drama from people who come across your page from a friend of a friend. But I neglected to examine facebook itself! Then I came across this….
The Consumerist has noticed a seemingly slight but very important (and disturbing) change in Facebook’s terms of service, regarding user-generated content.
In short, all of the content you’ve ever uploaded on Facebook can be used, modified or even sublicensed by Facebook in every possible way – even if you quit the service.
The TOS says the following:
You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.
It also used to contain another bit that is now missing.
You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content.
This is also reinforced by the “Termination” section:
The following sections will survive any termination of your use of the Facebook Service: Prohibited Conduct, User Content, Your Privacy Practices, Gift Credits, Ownership; Proprietary Rights, Licenses, Submissions, User Disputes; Complaints, Indemnity, General Disclaimers, Limitation on Liability, Termination and Changes to the Facebook Service, Arbitration, Governing Law; Venue and Jurisdiction and Other.
Sure, most users don’t really care (or think they don’t care) about all this, but the idea that you now cannot stop Facebook from using your content should you ever want to is frightening to say the least.
Looking at it globally, millions of people are uploading bits of information on everyone and everything, to a huge online database, and by doing so they’re automatically giving away the rights to use or modify this information to a private corporation. And not only that; they now also waiver the right to ever take it back from it.
Facebook should take a long, deep look into how it treats its users. Until now, users had options with regards to how the data they generated on Facebook was used. Now, they have no options whatsoever, rather than quit the service altogether. It’s a major difference; I’m not going to take it lightly, and neither should you.
Anyways, rather scary stuff. What am I doing putting all sorts of info about myself and other ppl on there?
Canaca – Worst web hosting company ever
June 28, 2008
This is my first rant and Canaca deserves to be #1!
I am a firm believer in giving credit where credit is due. So, if I like or have had a great experience with a company or service I will blab about it. Same goes for if I feel it was a horrible experience! I’ll blab!
I signed up with Canaca back in 2006 when I was in my last year of school and putting up my first website. It was recommended and cheap, totally ideal for someone starting out online. I was please with them and didn’t have any issues where I needed to get in touch with them. Soon, I started getting clients and I highly recommended Canaca, since I thought I could vouch for them. I had one client who asked me to purchase a package through Canaca, on their behalf. A year later, the domain expired and they never bothered to renew.
Fast forwarding to Jan 2008. I get a random email from them saying my web hosting was renewed, for(you guessed it!) this site whose domain expired 1 year ago! I call them up, a bit outraged they are charging for something that has an expired domain name! To actually talk to someone, I had to choose sales (they have a ‘call-back’ customer service). The sales person was able to access accounting, sales as well as technical details (I have a feeling its one person for all those different categories). I told her my issue, she told me if I wanted it canceled, I had to inform them before the date of renewal. Just a month ago I renewed my personal site for 2 years with these hacks. Now I had to wait for 2 years to get away from them.
What struck me as really weird was, when my domain was expiring I got at least 10 different emails in a span of one month, telling me to renew it. For the web hosting, I got no such warning, just BAM! an invoice, with the amount they take from your credit card and a link. Their excuse fro not sending reminder emails are, ‘we don’t want to bother the customer so we do it for them’.
The person I spoke with made me fill out a form through their site, thats the ONLY way they would address the issue. So I did, I got pretty much the same response…
====== Please reply above this line ======
AUTOMATIC RENEWAL
Dear Clarice,
I do apologize if this has caused any inconvenience, but I hope you understand that automation of renewal is the only way to keep customers’ sites online on renewal date, and avoid bothering them to confirm renews.
Invoice xxxxxx is for the automatic renewal of “mysite.com”, via the on-file Visa card (starting in xxxxx).
Since our billing system is automatic “Cancellations must be done on or before the renewal date, by e-mail and sent to accounting@canaca.com or billing@canaca.com” (our contract http://canaca.com/contract.html).
If you have requested that, please provide us with the related ticket number and we will investigate the issue.
Best Regards,
Canaca-Com Inc.
Billing Department.
I responded to their email above- no response. I sent the emails through their online forms, no response. I asked to speak with a manager or something- no response. I’ve been sending them the same email for about 2 months or so, no response. So they rip people off and can’t face the music, so to speak.
Soon after this I googled these people and theres a ton, i mean a TON of people out there who have had a lot of issues with these guys. I’m surprised the are still allowed to rip people off so badly with their automatic renewals and cutting service off for no reason (read their contract, its ridiculous, you’d never want to go with them!)
I was a loyal customer, who enthusiastically recommended them, but now, I’m ready to spread the word of what type of business they really are. Someone needs to get this hacks out of business!
