How to Stop Spam

Spam and viruses are a problem. Everyday, the CWS network is bombarded with hundreds of thousands of emails- of which only a small percentage are legitimate. As you can see from the chart below, we've blocked over 64 million spam emails from reaching our customer's inboxes and eliminated over 400,000 viruses.


If you don't have a quality web hosting company that filters your email (for free), how can YOU limit the amount of spam you receive? How did they get YOUR email address in the first place?

The first way a spammer might lock in your email address is by guessing. Many organizations have the email addresses where the first part of the email address is a general word such as "info", "sales", "accounts", "support", etc. People often use the email addresses beginning with their first name, for example, John, Sandra, Julia. Spammers simply put the first names before the @ symbol followed by a domain name, and get possible email addresses. If you want to combat this technique, make sure your email address is unique.

Secondly, spammers can gather email addresses from the Internet. They use programs that search web pages looking for email addresses. If your website lists a contact email address, that email address will eventually be obtained by spammers. To avoid this technique, we suggest you use a "contact form" where users submit their information to reach you. This will keep your email address private, but some people find long forms frustrating.

The third way spammers get your email address is to buy it on a list. If your email address has been collected & validated as "active" by a spammer they will eventually sell it to someone else. This escalates your problem as you'll continue to receive more and more spam.

So what can you do? Your best option would be to change your email address to something new and then "protect it" like your first born child.

If that's not possible, your first line of defense should be to use a web hosting company that has some sort of spam/virus protection. At CWS, we implemented the award winning Barracuda Spam Firewall appliance. This is a physical "computer" that processes every piece of mail that enters our network.

As an additional line of defense, we run the Cloudmark SpamNet software on some client machines. With these two anti-spam measures, we have been able to eliminate 100% of viruses and nearly 98% of all spam. This allows us to continue to use generic emails like sales@cws.net and post them prominently on our website.

Filed in: CWS, Rochester, spam, barracuda, virus

Launch: BuyRochesterMN.com

Corporate Web Services is proud to announce the launch of BuyRochesterMN.com. The website was designed as part of a new initiative of the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce. The website will launch later this evening during the Chamber's Annual Celebration. Yes, we'll be there... we're just so talented that we can do cool things like this automatically.

The whole "initiative" is still top secret until after the 5pm press conference. So, we can't tell you too much about it just yet. :) We'll have more on this later. (Hmmm, I sound like Kiger now!).

Filed in: CWS, Rochester, MN, buylocal, chamber

And The Winner Is....

LKH! He/She made the best case for why they deserved the tickets. They said:

"I never, ever, ever, ever, never, ever, and I'm talking NEVER win anything!!! Ever. Pick me? I like free stuff. Free is good and if I win-then I can afford a costume! Imagine that."

Now that they have won two free passes to the party on Friday, they can no longer complain that they never win anything. Even better, we can expect them to show up in the best Halloween costume ever. Maybe we'll get a picture?

Thanks to all who responded and have a great time at the party!

Win Halloween Party Tickets

The Savvy Singles Group of Rochester is sponsoring a Halloween Party. Get your costume (optional) ready and come party with other local singles. Festivities include cash bar, live music from Long Shot (classic rock/variety), wonderful appetizer buffet catered by the Canadian Honker, and costume contest (with prizes).

WHAT: Rockin' Halloween Party for Area Single Men & Women

WHO: Hosted by Savvy Singles of Rochester for singles from ages 21 to 121

WHEN: Friday, October 27; 6:30 pm - 11:30 pm

WHERE: Rochester Int'l Event Center

COST: $15 (to be paid at the door)

This sounds like a fun time and I wish them great success with the event. Our community could use more events like this focused on Rochester's singles. If you'd like to attend, ClubRochester.com will be giving away two tickets to the bash. To win, simply post a comment below (begging is allowed). We'll select one random winner on Wednesday, October 25th.

Diet Coke + Mentos

It's been known for quite some time that when you combine Diet Coke and Mentos you get a very "explosive" mixture. I've seen many videos on YouTube of kids blowing up 2 liter bottles and other various tricks.

These guys have taken it to the next level. They orchestrated a 2 minute video of carefully timed "explosions" to simulate the Caesar's Palace fountains. They used over 200 liters of diet coke and 500 mentos to create the "show". I wonder how many "takes" it took to get this timed so well?

Filed in: CWS, mentos, dietcoke, vegas, youtube

My Inbox: Some Choices Are Easy

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:

"When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?"

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. "I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child."

Then he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning."

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay!"

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay, run to third!"

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, "Shay, run home! Run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world".

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.

If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the "appropriate" ones to receive this type of message. Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the "natural order of things." So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.

You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward

I had an additional choice... to post it on our blog for hundreds to see. I hope you enjoyed this "email" as much as I. Thank you to my father-in-law for passing this on, it was one piece of email that I thoroughly enjoyed today.

Filed in: CWS, inspiration, shay, email, stories

Web2.0: Simple PC Backup

Time and time again I see the average internet user who knows nothing about virus protection or backing up their data. However, almost everyone has important files on their home computers-- documents, photos, music and other things that they would be frustrated if it were lost.

It could happen today.

If you don't back up, you shouldn't whine when a dead hard drive, nasty virus, or exploding notebook battery robs you of that data. You've been warned, so apathy is no excuse when you call me next year wondering if there is a way to get back your old resume.

"Please tell me!", you say, "What should I do to avoid this peril"? Visit carbonite.com and install their free download. For just $5 per month, you can be backing up everything that is important to you. You spend more than that on a cup of coffee, so why wouldn't you do yourself a favor and spend some on a little peace of mind?

Installation is a snap. Carbonite's online backup service starts automatically and works quietly and continuously in the background protecting your data. You don't have to leave your computer on in the middle of the night to make sure you get a backup- it's doing it all the time. Carbonite online backup software is always looking for new data on your PC. The moment you add or modify files, Carbonite swings into action to back up your data.

Whenever your PC is connected to the Internet (at home, the office, a hotel or airport) Carbonite is working to keep your data safe. Best of all, it's at work only when you're not. Basically, when the software detects a break in the action (no keyboard or mouse activity), it backs up data; when you resume, it stops.

If you've accidentally erased something, don't worry; they still have a copy. You can restore deleted files with just a few clicks on your PC. If your PC crashes, just visit their website to recover lost files. It's such a simple thing that you should take seriously. Visit their website and try it out today.

Filed in: CWS, Web2.0, data, backup, carbonite

5 Reasons to Attend BAH Tonight

It's that time again, the Rochester Chamber's Business After Hours is this evening. Tonight's BAH is at Home Federal on Civic Center Drive. Here's my top 5 reasons why you should attend:

5. Banks have lots of money, so food and drink will be plentiful.
4. It's more fun than going to the gym after work.
3. John Wade will be there.
2. Did I mention free food?
1. You can see Jeff Kiger's new fashion trend.

See you there!

Filed in: CWS, Rochester, MN, BAH, chamber

7 Years of Google Halloween

The following logos appeared on the Google Homepage on October 31st of each year. It's interesting to see how their designers continue to find new ways to capture a recurring theme. For example, the most logical place to use a "round" pumpkin is as the "o's" in Google, but you'll notice they have strived to avoid this the past 3 years. It will be interesting to see if they can continue this creativity later this month.

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005


For your own amusement, you can find additional holiday logos here.

Please Note: Google has requested that the above logos are only available for historic purposes and should not be used for daily use. Official Google logos which may be used on a daily basis are available here.

Filed in: CWS, Google, halloween, creativity, logos

My Inbox: Vote Yes

As you might imagine, I am very involved in our local community. As part of that involvement, I am a member of the Government Affairs Committee for both the Rochester Area Builders and the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce. This morning, I sat in on an interesting meeting about the "Vote Yes" campaign you currently see on TV with all the other political ads. Normally I shy away from sparking political discussions, but I thought this to be an interesting topic. Here's why:

Did you know that only about half of the sales taxes we currently pay on new and used cars and trucks go to improving our transportation system? The other half - $300 million per year - is diverted away from transportation. And, despite the need and effectiveness of public transit, Minnesota currently has no dedicated source of funding for transit projects.

Twenty-five years ago the Minnesota legislature passed a law dedicating all of the existing motor vehicle sales tax to transportation projects but that commitment has never been fulfilled. Since 1981, more than $6 billion of that transportation tax has been diverted away from our transportation system.

Minnesotans have a chance to make sure our transportation tax dollars go to the right place - roads and transit. If you think this is important, you can show your support for Minnesota's Transportation Amendment and "Vote Yes" on November 7th.

A YES vote on Minnesota's Transportation Amendment will bring an additional $300 million per year in new funding for roads, bridges and transit. I encourage you to visit their website and learn more about this important issue before you're in the ballot box on Nov. 7th.

Filed in: transportation, MN, VoteYes, politics, elections

GroupLoop gets some more new features

One of the more common requests we've gotten from GroupLoop users (including ourselves) is a feature that would allow users to RSVP for calendar events. It's often helpful to know who's attending an event, and trying to collect responses by email can be a challenge. We've streamlined this process to make it fast and simple to use.

When you add an event to the calendar (or edit one you've already entered), you can request an RSVP from the members of your group. If you choose to notify them by email, they'll get a direct link to respond. Otherwise, when a member next logs in to the system, he or she will see a flag by the upcoming events that need a response.

When responding, users will be able to accept or decline the invitation and include comments as needed. The person who scheduled the event (and only that person) can see at a glance who's responded and who hasn't, along with each person's comments. No more searching back through your inbox to count up all the responses!

We welcome your feedback to help make GroupLoop as useful as possible. We've also rolled out a few small adjustments to the interface and added an option for notification by email when posting comments to messages. If you haven't tried GroupLoop, it's completely free to set up an account, and you don't have to give us your life history to use the system - you'll be going in 30 seconds. Quick and easy is what it's all about.

Filed in: CWS, web2.0, grouploop,RSVP, nptech

SargentsGardens.com Launch!

Sargent's Landscape Nursery, Inc. has been active in the nursery and landscape business in Rochester since 1971. We're thrilled to announce the arrival of their new and improved home on the web, www.sargentsgardens.com! This summer we've been busy overhauling their online resource for you. It is rich with gardening and landscaping information, details about their landscape services, garden center products, current sales and upcoming seminar information.

On the new Sargent's Gardens website you will find staff bios, as well as their company history.The extensive landscape section of their website offers information about the landscaping process, designer bios, and 9 photo galleries.

Also present on their new website is the unique learning center. Through the learning center you can expand your knowledge of gardening, find links to useful sites, and even learn some great new recipes.

It was a pleasure working with Sargent's to build their new home on the web and we look forward to our continued relationship.

Filed in: CWS, sargents, landscaping,gardens, nursery

Web2.0: PayPerPost.com

When you launch a new website, you're hopeful that traffic will start flowing to your website. Unfortunately, most people quickly discover that there isn't an easy way to open the flood gates. To really generate traffic, you have to be an expert at all the online marketing tricks, able to make adjustments quickly (and often), and one step ahead of your competition. This is a challenge for web professionals and nearly impossible for the average business owner.

We launched GroupLoop.com just over two months ago, and we were very pleased to generate a large amount of buzz from the Web2.0 blogging community. This generated a substantial amount of traffic to our homepage and helped us generate over 1000 users in a short period of time.

But what can you do if this doesn't happen? How can the average business owner get people to "talk" about your new product?

Enter PayPerPost.com, a new controversial service where you can pay bloggers to talk about you. It's controversial because blogs aren't supposed to contain paid content. Blogs are supposed to be about "journalism", right? Well, I put them to the test to see if this new service is worth your time.

You start by signing up as an advertiser, and depositing money into your account. I began with the minimum amount, just $20. On average, you must compensate each blogger at least $5 to write a post about your product or service. This seemed quite reasonable to me, as it can often take a half hour to an hour to write a blog post.

Once I had my account created, I was able to create an "opportunity" for bloggers to write about. This was a simple process where I told them about my requirements:

1) They had to display my logo, which I uploaded.
2) They had to write at least 50 words.
3) They had to provide a link to GroupLoop.com.
4) They had to test-drive GroupLoop with a free account.
5) The post should be a "review" of our service.
6) They were free to speak positively or negatively about our service.

The last point is where some of the controversy about PayPerPost.com is created. I could have required that the bloggers only say positive things about our service. One would hope that a blogger would ignore opportunities that go against their morals, but you never know what one might do for $5.

So what happened in our test? The results were surprising to me. Since we only deposited $20 we were able to get three "posts" (once PayPerPost added a small premium and a $5 setup fee). I was impressed with the quality of the three posts we received from our bloggers. After all, these guys spent a considerable amount of time and only received $5 in compensation.

The first blogger wrote a lengthy review and even offered suggestions on improvement to our service. It was well thought out and it was obvious that he had spent a considerable amount of time reviewing our website. To be honest, we actually agreed with some of his suggestions and probably will implement them in a future release.

The second blogger wrote a shorter post about "Getting Groups Online" and had generally favorable things to say. The final blogger also demonstrated that the he had taken some time to consider our product and write something meaningful.

While these three bloggers did write positive posts about GroupLoop, I don't expect too many signups from these posts. In the first day (usually the most popular), these blog posts received just over 100 views and generated very few visits to our homepage.

On the contrary, the "free" buzz we received came from popular blog sites like EmilyChang.com and DownloadSquad.com which have the ability to generate thousands of visitors to our website in a matter of hours. Nevertheless, these three "paid" posts do contain a link back to our homepage, which will add value to our Google PageRank over the long run.

All in all, it's hard to argue that our $20 wasn't well spent. We received three reviews of our website, valuable product feedback, three links back to our homepage, and additional exposure about our product. If you're on a shoestring budget, that's very affordable marketing.

Filed in: CWS, rochester, controversy,payperpost, PPP