Intro Search Engine Optimisation is an endless task. At the outset, WordPress is one of the most SEO friendly environments to develop a website. Adding SEO plugins such as All-In-One SEO enables even better SEO but there is no end to what can be done, often with diminishing returns. Site specific Content is king in the world of SEO. Google’s strategy for scouring the net favours good content. Artificial intelligence matches search phrases and serves the closest matches but also favours other factors such as how many other sites have linked to any given page – (backlinks). It used to

I recently helped someone with a computer problem. They had been using a computer one way or another for about 10 years apparently. Yet, they referred to their “main screen” which was in fact their webmail (ie the gmail web site in a browser). Entered website addresses into their google search box and chose from the “found” list. Also didn’t know who Microsoft were and why they kept sending messages. If you are thinking “well d’uh” then read no further, but otherwise the rest of this blog might inform you. This user was not dumb, but had jumped into the

USB1, USB2, USB3, 3.1, micro-USB, even bits and bytes – I’ll try to demystify these for you below. The term USB or Universal Serial Bus will be familiar to most of you as used by memory sticks (flash drives, thumb drives are the same thing), commonly about the width of your thumb and slightly shorter (though as these have developed, they have go shorter to the point where I now have one that sticks out less than 5mm from the slot). The main development has been in capacities, speed and price. 128gb* is the max currently at an affordable price

Windows users were being pressured to upgrade to Windows 10. It was free to install because Microsoft wished to change their income stream so that users will pay small amounts, to add extra functions to built in different applications. Most individual and small business users seldom buy Windows at all, they usually wait until their existing computers need replacing and get the current version included with their new model. Microsoft are trying to create a market similar to Android on tablets and phones where the income stream is from small apps. Perhaps eventually to create a subscription scheme whereby Windows

Back in 2014 it was news that a chatbot had passed the Turing test. Way back in the 50’s Alan Turing (“father of modern computing” and he of ‘Enigma’ etc) proposed a test which translates today as two people chatting via text or a messaging window. If one were actually a computer (ie a chatbot) and it wasn’t possible to tell who was the real person, the computer (manifesting as chatbot) could be considered as having passed. Of course this doesn’t mean that it’s suddenly going to become our Artificially Intelligent overlord (although apparently chatbots on Twitter gain followers more

A short google for “best free virus checkers” will usually come up with AVG. Most years this is one of the best, but more recently the popups to upgrade to the paid version are more insistent and appear obligatory (but are not). Windows Defender is the Microsoft virus checker which you already have but it has a middling score in virus detection rates. In my early years of computing Norton Utilities was a must-have set of tools and worth paying for, but many of its functions (such as undelete) are a native part of windows now and few remember the

Firstly, a bit of background. Virus is an emotive term that conjures up images of plague and pestilence when in fact, as far as computers go, its just software. Sometimes little more than a practical joke or a demonstration by a mischief maker that says “look what I can do”. Other terms can confuse but essentially they are all software, programs designed to do something unbeknownst to the person whose computer has been “infected”. Some terms are listed below: Trojan: the virus is in another program that might wait before running or infect you whan you install the other program.

You may feel pressured to update your version of Windows because, you are told how support for older versions will cease… That doesn’t mean your computer will stop working, far from it. Although my Win 98 computer is dead now, I still have two XP computers that whir along just fine. Why? Because I have applications that only run on XP, the development has long since stopped yet I still need those programs. The main potential problem with MS ceasing support is that some of their upgrades plug security holes. Usually (but not always) these are bugs in new features

Build it and they will come? Unfortunately not. A web site is not so much a product, more of an organic process, it must be built, for sure, but to be seen by search engines it needs to be active.  My workflow means that I build the site that you want and, for a small monthly charge I not only host it but keep it active with small changes that you request and regular security checks and updates to keep it safe and alive. I also establish a relationship with you. I send you regular reports summarising the activity on

Ok I’ll come clean, she is my wife. That being said she was no walkover in creating her new site. She had high expectations and lots of feedback from her clients and work colleagues. We worked on a fairly minimal theme but pretty. It is a simple static web site that enable those interested in her services to find just a little more background and hopefully get an idea of Delia’s personality. In summary showcasing some of her art as well as the personal assistance she can offer online. deliavirtualPA.com We decided that the need was for a minimal yet

I have been asked to recommend a replacement computer three times in the first fortnight of this year. So I thought I’d summarise what I think are the salient points to consider. The portability of a laptop means you can work anywhere but you can save as much as a third (specification for specification) by buying a desktop PC instead. Mac or Windows PC? It doesn’t matter too much these days in terms of functionality but again spec. for spec. a Mac is much more expensive albeit possibly more reliable. However, as a computer professional I have always found the