Minerva

Document sharing. The foundation of collaborative work. Many people are excited know that Google Docs is allowing sharing of documents now.

Digital Beckley offers, as part of our Enterprise class e-mail solutions, folder sharing. This allows a customer to share out a folder from with their online e-mail with other members of their team. This goes for contacts, calendars, tasks, notes, and actual e-mails. (oh wait - does your e-mail provider place restrictions on document sizes to be attached? Typically 10 MB or less.  Digital Beckley provides CUSTOM file size attachments up to 100MB and larger!)

See our online demo of this built-in feature at http://www.digitalbeckley.com/demos/demos.htm

Wait, well that is all well and good but what if you wanted to share with some one OUTSIDE of your organization? We have a solution for that too! In fact many of our clients are doing that now (and have been for several years) - our sites can be designed to allow our clients to upload ANY file to be shared/disseminated or what have you by uploading directly to their web site and providing their customer access to a special section of the web site. This can be restricted based on passwords or open for all to access.

Is Digital Beckley saying we're better than Google? Not at all. What we ARE saying is that we are truely a professional development firm that doesn't depend on FREE tools from 3rd parties to get our job (or yours) done to the highest degree.

Heres a "gotcha" you may want to consider. If you upload a confidential or proprietary document containing sensitive 'protected' information to Google - you may lose certain rights. Google is considered a platform where you agree to THEIR terms to utilize it. By uploading a document to Google, you are giving up certain rights. That document may be considered 'pubically accessible' since Google can read the information and present ads based on it. This potentially can render the information as 'pubically' available. So all the effort to keep something confidential, company trade secret, or otherwise sensitive - becomes moot. Trade secrets MUST be protected or you lose the right to call it a trade secret. Check with your attorney on the legal ramifications! (oh bother another expense)

Excerpt from Google's privacy page for Doc Sharing:
Some features (e.g., gadgets) are provided by third parties, who may receive and process your data. When you use one of these features, you may be sharing data with the third party, including allowing the third party to process your data. Access to your data by these third parties is not governed by this Privacy Policy.

And finally - the fine print in the Terms of Service from Google:
11. Content licence from you

11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive licence to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This licence is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.

11.2 You agree that this licence includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.

11.3 You understand that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. You agree that this licence shall permit Google to take these actions.

11.4 You confirm and warrant to Google that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant the above licence

In the end - ask yourself - "how protected am I on Google docs?" THIS is why Digital Beckey provides all the needed services within our clients control - securely, privately, and without loss of any rights or priviledges.

Absolutely nothing. Nada, Zip, Zero, Zilch.

Did you know that NONE of the major search engines use meta keywords? Oh my, how can that be? Did your SEO/Integrated digital marketing company tell you search engines used keywords? I am sure they did, along with other misinformation in order to get you to write a check. (Heres a widely accepted article on this - http://www.pandia.com/optimization/SEO-metatags.html )

Keywords are used in meta data to describe what your site is about. Some search engines then see if those words are in your content, usually page by page. If there is a match then and ONLY then will the search engine possibly rank you. Search engines are more concerned about what words are used in your CONTENT than what is in your meta data keywords.

Google ignores the keyword meta data! Did your SEO company tell you this? I wonder else they may have or NOT may have told you.

Did you know that by using a 'format' of keywords for one search engine rankings may actually be lowering your rankings in other search engines? There is no standard format for using keywords, but every SEO firm will tell what THEIR format is. Just take it all with a grain of salt.

I'm sure many readers have seen the headlines where social networking is getting a bad rap - and with good cause. Its TRUE! I will be keeping this entry updated with national news headlines and links so you can see for yourself.

Oct 20 2009
Cyberthieves targeting Facebook, Twitter (link) from CNN

Oct 6 2009
Facebook imposter scams (link) from MSNBC

Sept 30 2009
Social media an inviting target for cybercriminals (link) from CNN

Unknown Date
Twitter: A Growing Security Minefield (link) from MSN