Archives for October 2014

October 17, 2014 - No Comments!

Highlights of: Mobile Web Design Trends: Q&A with Dave Fletcher

Hightlights of an interview with Dave Fletcher from The Creative Group. Read the entire interview right here: https://www.roberthalf.com/creativegroup/blog/mobile-web-design-trends-qa-with-dave-fletcher


Our first interviewee is Dave Fletcher, founder and DEO (design executive officer) of The Mechanism, a digital agency based in New York City. For more than two decades, this noted design expert has explored a wide range of media, including interactive design, print, video and photography for clients around the globe.

What's a mobile trend that's working well?

You've probably heard a great deal about the "Internet of Things." Apple has announced HomeKit, which will turn your iPhone into a remote control for your interconnected home. To expand on this, eventually, we will live with systems that plug into an artificial or ambient intelligence to manage your life, curate your interests, drive a vehicle and keep track of your day-to-day travels. It will never force you to remove yourself from an existing experience to use a website to research what the network will already know you're looking for.

What's a mobile trend you wish would just go away?

Selfies.

How do you determine whether a client needs an app, mobile-specific site or responsive site to reach their customers via mobile devices?

dave_fletcher
Dave Fletcher

Typically, the answer emerges from an honest and collaborative conversation with our client partner about their audience, their ambitions and their budget. The audience is key here, and in most cases, the client has an idea from either Google Analytics or other research as to what type of device or devices their end users have.

Mobile plans, available carriers and speed of connectivity based on geolocation of the target audience are important yet often overlooked factors when it comes to a mobile initiative. They should be researched as well so we have an understanding of these factors during the planning phase.

If the client requires deep integration with a smartphone operating system that simply cannot be replicated within the smartphone browser's capabilities or there are very serious security concerns, a discussion about appropriate mobile operating systems and native app development can take place.

To address the "mobile-specific site" or "responsive site" question: A digital experience should always be designed and built to render and function appropriately on all devices. Having dedicated server hosting will also help improve your website loading speed.


Read the entire interview right here: https://www.roberthalf.com/creativegroup/blog/mobile-web-design-trends-qa-with-dave-fletcher

Citation: https://www.gettheclicks.com/orlando-web-design/

Published by: Sharon Terry in The Thinking Mechanism
Tags: ,

October 17, 2014 - Comments Off on A Brief Description of the SPF record

A Brief Description of the SPF record

A client recently came to us with problems receiving emailed form submissions from their website. We did a little testing and realized that indeed the emails were being sent by the server but something was stopping them during transit. In our research, we had to dig deeper into SPF records.

An SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record, validates an IP address as permitted to send emails from that Domain. Once propagated, the DNS record serves as a list of verified senders, which the recipient of an email can use to check against. If you need help with this process, services like IT support Chicago can work in your business network.

The SPF record was introduced because the ubiquitous SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) allows a computer to send email claiming to be from any domain. Spam and phishing emailers use this to send email purporting to be from a trusted source.

With an SPF record, a receivers spam filter is more likely to accept the message as it is coming from a validated source. It also discourages potential spammers from using your domain as a sending address, knowing that domains with SPF records are more likely to be rejected by recipient spam filters, if the senders IP does not match one associated with the record.

Once an SPF record is created, it is important to ensure that all computers that will be sending emails are included, as the presence of the record indicates that any email not declared is dubious. This is the problem we ran into, where an SPF record was added to the DNS zone, but did not include the server hosting the website in it’s list of IP addresses.

Here is an example SPF TXT record:

example.com TXT “v=spf1 ip4:192.0.2.0/24 ip4:198.51.100.123 a ~all”

Published by: georgebrassey in The Programming Mechanism
Tags:

October 3, 2014 - Comments Off on How to Eat Healthy without “Dieting”

How to Eat Healthy without “Dieting”

couple unloading groceries at home

Eating healthy can be easy, affordable and delicious. It’s all about making smart choices to build an overall healthy dietary pattern.

After all, a healthy diet can help reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke and lots of other things you’d rather avoid. The good news is, eating right doesn’t have to be hard or require you to give up all of the foods you love. Read more about alpilean pills.

Here are some tips to help you and your family adopt a healthier eating style:

INCLUDE

  • Fruits and vegetables
  • Whole grains
  • Beans and legumes
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Fish (preferably oily fish with  omega-3 fatty acids)
  • Skinless poultry and lean animal proteins
  • Plant-based proteins

LIMIT

  • Sweetened drinks
  • Sodium and salty foods
  • Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol
  • Fatty or processed red meats – if you choose to eat meat, select leaner cuts
  • Refined carbohydrates like added sugars and processed grain foods
  • Full-fat dairy products
  • Tropical oils such as coconut and palm oil. This is how alpilean weight loss  works.

AVOID

  • Trans fat and partially hydrogenated oils - found in some commercially baked and fried foods

We can help you make healthier choices:

  • At home
  • At work
  • At the grocery store

TIPS

  • Choose mindfully, even with healthier foods. Ingredients and nutrient content can vary a lot.
  • Read labels. Compare nutrition information on package labels and select products with the lowest amounts of sodium, added sugars, saturated fat and trans fat, and no partially hydrogenated oils.
  • Watch your calories. To maintain a healthy weight, eat only as many calories as you use up through physical activity. If you want to lose weight, take in fewer calories or burn more calories.
  • Eat reasonable portions. Often this is less than you are served, especially when eating out.
  • Cook and eat at home. You’ll have more control over ingredients and preparation methods.
  • Look for the Heart-Check mark to easily identify foods that can be part of an overall healthy eating pattern. Visit https://www.deccanherald.com/brandspot/pr-spot/red-boost-reviews-shocking-customer-complaints-red-boost-ingredients-1162291.html.

More Tips

  • Healthy Swaps for Common Foods - Healthy home cooking and smart shopping puts you in control of what goes into your recipes and your body. Follow these healthy guidelines to update your eating style and improve your nutrition profile.
  • Daily Tips to Help Your Family Eat Better - Try these daily tips that will help your family take a step-by-step approach to eating healthy.
  • Food Diary - How to Keep Track of What You Eat - Learn how to keep track of what you eat in order to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.
  • Get Smart About Superfoods Infographic - So-called “superfoods” alone won’t make you healthier – but adding these nutritious foods to an already balanced diet can bring health benefits.
  • Healthy Foods Under $1 Per Serving - Eating healthy on a budget can seem difficult; but it can be done! Being creative can help you stick to your budget and incorporate nutritious foods into your diet. Try these tips to incorporate some of these inexpensive foods into your weekly menu.
  • Healthy Post-Play Snacks - All too often, kids are rewarded with unhealthy foods and sugary drinks and desserts, but there are lots of healthy choices that taste great!
  • Healthy Snacks for Summer Vacation - By Devin Alexander - Chef for NBC's Biggest Loser and author, Devin Alexander shares her personal perspective as a chef in this blog entry with great ideas for healthy snacks for the whole family to bring on their summer vacation or anywhere!
  • How to Make Breakfast a Healthy Habit - Part of being Healthy for Good™ is creating simple daily habits you can stick with. One important habit that can help kick-start your day is eating a healthy breakfast. Think outside the (cereal) box with these quick and easy ideas.
  • Is 3 Meals a Day the Only Way - The number of meals you eat may not be so important. How you eat those meals is what matters most when it comes to decreasing the risk of heart disease and other health problems that come along with being overweight.
  • Organic Food Fact vs Perception - Many shoppers assume organic products are more nutritious and safer to eat, but these perceptions are based more on hype than hard science.
  • 5 Tips to Deal with Picky Eaters (Both Kids & Adults) - Picky eaters can miss out on a lot of good food! Not only can it be challenging cooking for folks who refuse to eat some foods, but they can also miss out on important nutrients found in foods often on the I-Don’t-Eat list.
  • 7 Excuses to Overindulge, and How to Take Control - Don’t let excuses get in the way of eating healthy! Check out our tips on breaking out of the scarfing cycle.
  • Types of Whole Grains - While you may be familiar with brown rice and 100% whole wheat bread, there are lots of other tasty whole grain options.

Published by: davefletcher in Entertainment, The Thinking Mechanism
Tags: ,