Nifty Stuff for Free!

I am a big fan of open source software, and there is an amazing variety of tools available now for free on the web. I recently came across this great list of free open source software that I thought I'd share. Enjoy!

The Internet May Be More Public Than You Think

We (hopefully!) all know by now to be careful what we post on the internet -- after all, depending on the location and the nature of the post, your words may be extremely permanent. Nevertheless, many people also use the internet to share pictures of friends and family, fun vacations, or...even the local church car wash.

A Dallas family is suing Australia's Virgin Mobile company for using a photo of their sixteen year old daughter in an advertising campaign that features her along with the slogan "Dump your pen friend" and the tagline "Free text virgin to virgin." The young girl's photo was apparently taken at a church car wash, and later posted to Flickr by her youth counselor, who published the photo using a sharing license from Creative Commons that allows others to reuse work such as photos without violating copyright laws, provided they credit the photographer and indicate where the photo was taken. You can read the full article here.

So next time you're automatically clicking to accept a license agreement on a website, give a little pause. Take a moment to actually read through the terms of use, and be sure you understand the fine print of what you're agreeing to. You may be unintentionally giving others rights that you didn't intend.

So How Much of Your Own Website Do You "Own?"

I always caution my clients to carefully read the fine print of their web hosting account, and highly recommend that all new clients sign up for a hosting account through Hostasaurus, because I trust them to treat people right.

Unfortunately, not all hosts are as respectful of client ownership of their own data. This week, Pamela Hazelton of DesignExtend posted a nightmare story of an ecommerce client of hers who had no right through the standard hosting agreement to access, let alone control important customer information. Rather than repeat Pamela's tale, you can read her story here .

A Great Read for Geeks R Us!

I am often contacted asking for recommendations of resources for learning to build websites, and the first place I usually send people is htmldog.com There are tutorials on the site for the beginner and the advanced user alike, all of which are carefully thought out and based on best practices in web design. I occasionally breeze through there looking for a new perspective on how to accomplish a goal I may have for a given site, and I was delighted the last time I stopped by to see that Patrick Griffiths has published a book: HTML Dog, The Best Practice Guide to XHTML and CSS. I promptly snapped up a copy, which arrived on Saturday, and I have hardly put it down since!

Although the writing style is distinctly light-hearted, it is clear that author Patrick Griffiths takes best practice web design very seriously. If you're interested in learning to build websites the right way, this book is an excellent read, and even advanced designers can learn a trick or two.

Thumbnail book cover copyright Patrick Griffiths. Reprinted with permission.

VANA Blog of the Week!

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