November, 2011 | Dangerous Common Sense

Skype’s Sharing Violation

List of he Facebook Permissions Skype Wants

I bought a new HD webcam this month and downloaded Skype software so I can talk with someone who’s living in the Middle East with spotty phone service. To recoup my investment I decided that I would expand my Skype universe and import my Facebook contacts into Skype. That would let me know when more people are online, and maybe increase a chance for a chat or two.

But, really, Skype. You aren’t that good a friend for me to give you all the power you’re asking for!

I like my friends too much to let Skype do everything it wants. Here’s what the Skype app wants:

Access my basic information which includes my list of friends.
This makes sense if I want Skype to give me a list of my Facebook friends that use Skype.
Send me email.
Okay, they already know my email address because I registered their software on my PC.
Access Posts in my News Feed.
Why? So, no.
Post to Facebook as me
I think this is just a scary way of saying that Skype can post to my wall as me when I am doing something with it. But, no. I want Skype to get my contact information. No more.
Access my data at any time.
Huh? Why?
Access Facebook Chat
This stumps me. Do they want to access chat as me? Would this let me use Skype to video chat on Facebook? Tell me more, Mr. Skype.
Access my profile information.
No. And, I am running out of polite ways to ask “whatever for?”
Access my photos
Skype, keep your paws off my pictures. I’ll give you a profile picture, but the rest are off limits, okay?
Access my videos
No. See above on photos.
Access information people share with me
No. They are my friends. Find your own.

I don’t mean to pick on Skype. It’s a good service. But, really, the intrusiveness of corporate Social Media apps feels increasingly like the stalking of a creepy, socially inept voyeur who peers into your windows whenever they need a fix of humanity.

I don’t want Skype to tell people when I am using Skype to talk with other Facebook friends. It’s just not anyone’s business. And, I don’t want Skype to go digging around in my circle of friends of juicy marketing opportunities.

For me, it’s “No!” to Skype and to other overreaching corporations. I am reading the Facebook permissions they want and saying know when what they’re asking for has nothing to do with what they need to deliver service to me.

By Ozdachs|2011-11-28T07:50:09-08:00November 28th, 2011|Facebook|0 Comments

How Not to Avoid Spam

One of my clients contacted me today because people are complaining to him that emails they send are bouncing back. My client wanted to change the contact address on his website to one on another email server that is more “reliable.”

The email system he’s using is the same that over 20 other of my clients have, and none of them have reported problems with messages to them bouncing back to the sender. So, I looked at his Contact Us page to see if I could find a problem.

Oh.

When we created the site several years ago, the client was concerned about the amount of spam he was receiving. Spammers were scraping the website and collecting email address. They then were clogging the inboxes with the normal collection of get-rich-quick schemes and offers for panacea pills.

So, my client asked me to delete the email link and to instead list his address as Name <AT> domain.com. His address appeared as mine would if I posted my email address as Galen <AT> ozdachs.com.

This method kept the screen scraping automated programs from collecting his email address. It’s worked for years.

Ozdachs Business Contact Form

However, there are side effects! Some percentage of his clients apparently cannot figure out how to cut Galen <AT> ozdachs.com, paste it into their email program, edit it to become Galen@ozdachs.com. I’m guessing that they’re leaving in an errant space or to. Trying to send email to Galen @ ozdachs.com won’t work.

Basically, web surfers expect to be able to click on a link to send you email, or else they want to fill out a form. You don’t want to make it fancier than these two options because some percentage of your potential clients are not going to be able to figure it out!

I use both ways, an email address that leads to a spam protected mailbox and a contact form, to keep my spam down.

The form on the right is the way to contact me that I provide on my business website.

And, I use SpamArrest to protect messages sent to my personal email account, Galen@ozdachs.com. If you send a message to that public email address, you’ll be sent a message back asking you to click on a link to prove that you’re a human before your email is delivered to me.

These techniques keep the automated mass-mailing messages from appearing in my inboxes.

Of course, determined spammers are going to get their message to you. Some companies hire workers in poor countries to go through sites and fill out inquiry forms with their spammy messages. And, other bulk-mail senders respond to the spam challenge messages sent out by services like SpamArrest.

But, the use of forms with a CAPTCHA (those PQAJ characters in the picture at right) and the use of a spam challenge system will stop almost all of those unwanted email messages.

These two methods work. Asking your customers to cut, paste, and edit your email address leaves a lot of people out.

By Ozdachs|2011-11-20T12:13:38-08:00November 20th, 2011|Web Design|0 Comments

How to Get Your News Published Like a PR Professional

I’ve been on both sides of the press release. I’ve attracted press attention for my active San Francisco church and I have edited the group’s weekly electronic newsletter.

I know what grabs me when I am editing. When I am in PR mode and seeking media attention, I send out pieces that would appeal to my editing side.

Here are 4 Top Tips for Getting Your Story Out

Make your press release “camera ready” so that ~~lazy~~ pressed-for-for-time editors can cut and paste what you’ve submitted right into their article templates.Top news outlets don’t run prepackaged press releases However! Many news outlets wind up running stories that are changed very little from the original press release.
Grammatically correct stories in paragraph form that lead with Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How stand out. A huge percentage of press releases submitted leave out some part of this basic information!

Write paragraphs. Announcements that are all bullet points grab attention on the bulletin board, but they have to be re-written for most news stories. Your material is more likely to be thrown out than lovingly rewritten by a busy editor.
Write your announcement like it is news. Don’t just state the facts about what you’re doing like you’re describing a dead fish. Use action verbs and use the headline to tease the editors into wanting to read more.
If the event doesn’t have a natural news hook, create one!When the church wanted to publicize its anti-Iraq war stance it faced a problem: a church against war is not on any assignment editor’s list of hot news stories.

But, the peace activists and ministers created two brilliant hooks. First, they created a Mother’s Day event that focused on the pacifist sentiments of Julia Ward Howe, the creator of Mother’s Day in 1870. Then, they encircled the entire church block in a colorful peace ribbon which made a great visual backdrop.

When the congregation gathered on the church steps to promote peace on Mother’s Day, television and radio and print media outlets were all represented.
Include pictures in your release. Conventional wisdom says that editors do NOT want photographs and that email systems for many organizations strip out photographs. Maybe.
However, when I wanted coverage for a new minister with five adopted children under 13 years old, I shamelessly embedded a photo of the kids in the press release. Several major news organizations bit on the news release which, if you think of it, could have been dismissed a routine story of a congregation hiring the latest in a series of ministers. The San Francisco Chronicle created a front-page Sunday feature.
Post a summary box at the top of the page. Include the event title, date and time, press contact name and number, and target publication date. This box will let editors know at a glance what you’re publicizing and how to get more information.

When you are attracting publicity you want to do everything you can to grab the editor’s attention and make your story easy to run. Be a great assistant to that work-worked editor, and you’ll see your story picked up and shared.

By Ozdachs|2011-11-11T10:18:13-08:00November 10th, 2011|Writing|0 Comments

Monthly Archives: November 2011

Skype’s Sharing Violation

How Not to Avoid Spam

How to Get Your News Published Like a PR Professional

Here are 4 Top Tips for Getting Your Story Out