I really like it when a company takes the time to design an entertaining 404 page. Often times, it’s user error that will bring up a page not found notice, so it’s good that we can laugh about it. Looks like I’m not the only one who enjoys them, either:
One of my favorite 404 pages is the one for Ravelry, featuring Sherbert the Sheep:
It’s important to remember that not everyone who comes in to use our computers is as tech savvy as we are. It may be second nature for us to always sign out of sites we’ve signed in to, but not everyone does.
And have you noticed that our new system doesn’t always log off inactive users? It has a tendency to extend sessions instead, leaving a signed in computer easily available to another user. What if the first user didn’t sign out of their email, or Facebook, or their bank? While most sites will sign users out after a period of inactivity, not all of them do.
If a customer asked for help because they thought their Facebook account had been hacked, I would strongly encourage them to sign in to the website, change their password and check the security settings for their account.
The next step I would recommend is checking their account activity. Facebook will show you posts that you’ve liked, comments you’ve made, even searches you’ve done. This will help the customer decide if someone else has been using their account.
Next up is to find the list of where an account is open. Facebook will show you every device where your account is signed in. From here, the patron can close anything that they don’t recognize. Actually, I would recommend they close all other locations. This may include their mobile device, but since they’ve recently changed their password, they would have to sign in to the service on their phone again anyway, so closing it shouldn’t hurt anything.
Lastly, I would recommend that the user enable two step verification. When the user signs in to Facebook, from anywhere, it will send a text message with a verification code to the user’s phone. The user must enter this code, along with their password, before the application will open. Facebook can also send a notice to the user whenever their account is opened from a new device or location, which may alert them to unauthorized use in the future.
Hopefully these steps will help the patron to secure their Facebook account.
When I help a patron get set up on a computer, I always recommend that they use the Chrome web browser. I think it’s easier and faster than Explorer, but the best reason to recommend it is when it comes to printing.
Selecting Print in Chrome automatically generates a print preview and the dialog box is much more simplified than in Explorer.
The picture above is the Chrome print dialog box. The number of pages is clearly visible, as are your options for changing printers, number of copies, page selection and page orientation. I also like that the Print button is a different color.
Explorer print dialog does not tell you how many pages and you have to poke around a bit to find page orientation.
Having government services and elected officials online and available through Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites is a wonderful thing. It makes these people and agencies so much more approachable. I met my City Councilman when he was campaigning in our neighborhood and I love how he’s always out and about in South San Antonio. He’s very approachable and he uses Facebook to talk to his constituents. He recently asked what stores we would like to see on the Southside. I was real quick to answer with Jason’s Deli, JoAnn’s, Jamba Juice, and PetSmart. Whether he can get those stores to come to our side of town is a different story!
The City’s 311 app makes it so easy to report graffiti, potholes, animal problems, even overgrown yards. The best part is that you don’t have to wait on hold (or actually talk to someone). Just fill out the report, attach a pic if you want, and off it goes, to the correct department.
There’s three things I really like about the texas.gov page:
With almost 200 state agencies, it’s extremely convenient to have everything searchable on one website. The search box uses predictive search, so even if you’re not sure how to phrase it, just putting in key words will help you find your info.
I have a love/hate relationship with social networking. I love that Facebook lets me connect to far away family and friends, but I hate that it *so* intrusive. Always wants to know where I am and who I’m with. Don’t even get me started on it’s Messenger app. FB really does not need that much information from me!
On the other hand, I love Twitter! I have followed, met, and “talked” with crochet designers, TV celebrities, music and sports stars, and other SA Moms. Although some would argue that Twitter is more publicly open than FB, it doesn’t feel like a privacy violation when I use the service.
My further issues with social networking have to do with my kids. They are getting to the age where they want their own accounts for email, FB, Twitter, Minecraft, etc, etc. We talk about internet safety often and while I do give them the freedom to try things online, they know that they are being closely monitored.
This Keyword Challenge task was harder than I thought it would be! I realized that I often literally just ask Google questions, so having to pick out keywords, probably relevant, little effect and unnecessary words took some thinking. I wasn’t able to pass the Hollywood Challenge, got 94% on the Diamond Challenge, and it took several tries on the Great Wall Challenge to get this one to 100%.
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Reflections on 11.5 COSAs
This WordPress.com site is the bee's knees
This WordPress.com site is the cat’s pajamas
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