Happy New Year!

Just a few days late, but Happy New Year to all you fans and customers of Digital Fruit!

New Threat

In my new segment on cyber crime and network security, I've decided to start listing malicious sites for sake of internet search.  So, when you can't find this one anywhere else listed on google, here you go:

This is a malware infected site:

https://tiuxiarndt-bruenner.pro/f40db1ed99ae8e42e273788ee31ffb25.html

Update: Did some digging, the website is operated out of San Diego, attached to this email:

monty.ratliff@yandex.com

An Intermediary

So, as I gear up to start working on Epic again, I've felt that I need a little exercise in the art and coding departments, and after a playing a short visual novel with my daughter this morning, I've decided to take a crack at writing my own.  If anyone has any suggestions on content, I would love some input, as this is being done on a whim to compel me to write code again.

Recruiting Help

So, with the recent decision to launch a funding campaign and finish our first couple of videogames, we're recruiting some local talent to help us get this done.  I've talked with a local musician, radio host and voice actor, Rick Moyer, and he loves the idea of working on the project.  Dean's list game design student Jon Kenworthy has already been a huge help and will continue to provide assistance, and computer graphics wizard Mark Hall will help with programming and graphics.  I'll be providing graphics, programming, and assistance with music and sound production.  Anyone else interested in particapating, email me.  Thanks for your support and interest in the game.

Starting a Kickstart

So, I've decided that it is time to get some of the projects I started with this company done, so Digital Fruit will be starting a couple of Kickstarters to fund two video games and a few videos.

The first will be for an old-school RPG tenatively titled Epic.  The second is a Japanese style dating sim. And the third will be for a series of animated shorts.

Work will start again immediately on the two videogames, but no serious progress will be possible until the funding is aquired.  The animations will be put on the back burner until funds are available.

Once again, thanks to those of you who already support us, and we look forward to comments and input from everyone.

An End To Tyranny

So, Internet Explorer has finally been scrapped, almost a full five years late.  And all I have to say to that is good riddance.  The insistence that Microsoft had that they had a superior product was annoying, and the problems created when IE would become infected were one of the biggest nuisances of the tech world.  We are better off without it, and it will be interesting to see what Microsoft does next.  Project Spartan had better be amazing, or I see a bitter future for the Redmond giant.

Over the Phone Fraud

So, I helped someone the other day who had recently been scammed by a company into paying for a copy of Microsoft Security Essentials, and who then used remote desktop to install it.

But that wasn't the worst of it.  They had also installed a key logger to capture his passwords, compromising his email account, which is a secondary mess this customer will now have to deal with.

Now, there are a lot of computer problems that can be solved by technicians and software, but nothing is more power or helpful at keeping your computer and personal identity safe than keeping yourself informed.  If someone calls and starts telling you how badly your computer is infected, ask yourself, "how does he know how many viruses my computer has?"  And if someone you didn't hire starts telling you you need to let them install a new program, question that, too.  Hop on Google real quick and look up the name of the company, or even the software they are peddling,  it may just save you a lot of money and heartache in the end.

New Galaxy Alpha

So just picked up a new phone the other day after my temporary disposable smart phone crapped out on me.  And, as you see from the title, it's a Galaxy Alpha.  It was a toss up originally between the Alpha and the S4 Mini, but after a debate over cost, size, and computing power, the costlier, slightly larger Alpha won out.  And I'm glad it did.

Usually, size is my first issue with a phone.  Bucking current trends, I don't like a massive smart phone, preferring something that can easily hide within a shirt pocket and not be noticed.  The Alpha really pushes this envelope for me, being closer to a standard smart phone in size.  But only five days later, I'm hooked.

The features that did win out kind of surprised me, too.  The screen is amazingly crisp and vibrant, the best I've ever seen on a phone.  The sound quality is awesome, too, making entertainment features fantastic.  And at 32gb of storage space, there is 0lenty of room for games, video and music.

Needless to say, I'm sold on the Alpha, and may just be a devoted fan of Samsung in general.

Another year here

So, there is another year down and Digital Fruit has passed another milestone.  We have now been in business for over five years.  Its been a very bumpy road, and many of you have stuck with us through all of that.  And for that I am very thankful.

With the new year, we are starting up some projects that I meant to launch last year, and have finally gotten around to some serious work.  One such project is the Digital Fruit Music section, and we have a couple of artist that already have pages up on the site, with more to come.  You can find those here.  Also, when I can finally get around to scanning them digitally, I have some new artwork to present as well.

Once again, thank you for all the continued support and patronage from you, our devoted fans.  And here is to a brand new year.

Operating the Collectionist

So, I have been doing a lot of work setting up a system that I affectionately refer to as the Collectionist.  Its a series of websites overseen by an umbrella website that will have single sign-on and the ability to track, grade and potentially monetize peoples collections of stuff.  And by that I mean anything collectable.

While not quite up and running yet, there is a mountainous amount of work that needs be completed before even a drop a bucket of what this web system will be capable of is up and running, so I'm spending a lot of my free time tinkering and tweaking in attempts to get this system operational.  Check back regularly to see updates.

The main page can be found here:

www.collectionist.info

Till next time, I'll catch you on the flip side.

Here Again

My how time flies when you're having fun.  Its been a while since my last post, and we've been busy.  I'll have to catch up with everything in a later post, but for now, the web business is doing well and Digital Fruit continues to march forward with it's goals.

One thing I will mention is that I will be putting an order in soon for more solar panels to move things forward towards our goal of being self-sufficient in our power use.  I'll be adding between 200w to 400w of power production, and I hope to be able to move into a kilowatts worth of production before the year is out.

Also, I've been doing a lot of work on further developing web programming skills, and soon I should have some updates to the Digital Fruit.biz website.  Along with some cosmetic things, the back end will be improved and I hope to be able to do more with dynamic content on the site.

Sale

So, just another quick note, Digital Fruit is doing installations of Ubuntu for $20 a forty dollar discount off of our usual OS installation price.  Contact us any time if you are interested.

Ubuntu 14.04

Just a quick note for those who didn't catch it, Ubuntu 14.04, the next Long Term Service release is out.  We hear at Digital Fruit highly suggest upgrading your Ubuntu systems soon if you haven't already.

Javascript Update

Just wanted to post a maintenance post that we have updated some of the javascript and PHP functionality on the Friendly Paws Grooming website, repairing some of the parts that didn't function.

New Websites Being Made

So, Digital Fruit is now building and maintaining three new websites.

http://www.pogcollector.info
http://www.petersensminiatures.info
http://www.youngrepublicansgh.org

So go ahead and check them out when you get a chance.  I'll try and keep you excited with more new web offerings soon, so stay tuned.

A Quick List of the Sites Digital Fruit Currently Maintains

http://www.digitalfruit.biz
http://www.recoveryridersmc.com
http://www.friendlypaws.co
http://www.libertysteeth.us
http://www.tcgindex.info

Web Design

It seems like too many designers these days have this idea that web design is all about what's trendy now.  They get caught up in buzz words like parallax scrolling, and the latest javascript library.  And with the invasion of mobile web devices, designers have given way to minimalism, using almost nothing on their sites to ensure mobile compatibility. When did design become anything more or less than design?

When I took design in college, we all started in the basic design 101 class.  Engineers, fashion designers, retail consultants, web designers, everyone.  And that was when I learned my first big lesson in design:  Its the same for everyone.  Design is honestly the magic art of knowing your audience, and playing to them.  Our professor in that class, Erik Sandgren, said that even after all these rules and principals he was teaching us, it ultimately came down to what the client wanted.

Which is where I'm going with this post.  Web design today seems to be suffering from too many arrogant designers who think they know what is best, and that anyone disagreeing with them is just an idiot, including the client.  Why, just today I was searching a web design blog to find any suggestions on how to achieve a certain layout, and in the comment sections of an article found a gentleman on the warpath about the some of the suggestions.  His argument was that two of the ten bullets on the list could be achieved without using javascript, a staple of web design, and not something outlandish or difficult.  Other commentators pointed out that it was to ensure backwards compatibility.  And this gentleman just responded that he doesn't care what the client wants or says, that is the way its supposed to be done, if people weren't going to update, it wasn't his fault.

So, if you are planning to get into web design, I would beg you to consider this; web design isn't about trends on the web, its about bring the best of the web to your clients and their visitors.

Till next time, catch you on the flip side.

DFSBC 2014

Due to some serious personal issues I was trapped in in 2013, the Digital Fruit Small Business Conference 2013 never got off the ground.  But as Digital Fruit is always committed to the health and support of small businesses, we will be working again this year to bring you the best information and skills to help your small business thrive.

Set for mid-June, with an entry cost of $25, Digital Fruit and our small business sponsors will be hosting this event and networking opportunity for two sessions.  As a firmer date is established, I'll post location and times, but if you are interest, there is no reason you can't RSVP now.  Any questions or reservations can be submitted to me at andrew@digitalfruit.biz.

As always, thanks for your interest, and we here at Digital Fruit hope to hear from you soon.

Your Favorite Industry Day

So, I felt compelled today to drop a quick note and let people know a little bit about ads running on small sites for there favorite companies.  Most people just see internet ads as an annoyance, something some terrible porn company or hacker has cleverly laid to trap you.  But the majority of ads, especially on small sites, are legitimate ads, and they serve a purpose.

Most small business sites host ads because it creates a new revenue stream, an extra source of money that can help to lower costs and keep them in business so you can enjoy their products and services.  They are picked by the company that puts them there because they feel that it is something their customers are interested in.  Or in the case of Google's ad network, with a little tweaking, the ads are custom tailored according to where and what you, the viewer, actually visit on the internet, in an attempt to get you to the very site you need to see.

But there is a problem in the modern world of advertising.  More and more people are falling prey to the stigma that all online ads are bad, and so they shouldn't click on them.  So as a tech guru and a small business owner myself, I would ask you to please, please support small business, and if you see an ad on their site about something you are genuinely interested, click on it and maybe earn them a couple of bucks.  I mean, pennies add up, ya know.  So that's my plea for today, so until next time, catch you on the flip side.

Christmas Time is Here Again

As happens every year, Christmas time has come again and Digital Fruit is working night and day to bring you more Christmas cheer than you can fit in a jumbo gift basket. 

So check back on the site for !ore details and maybe even a new look.  Catch you on the flip side.