Two recent events prompt today’s post.

First, in the last few weeks, I have come across a significant number of agency websites that have yet to add a security certificate. Website security is especially important if you have any forms that collect personal information — like a “request a quote” form.

The second event was an article I read describing how Google will be strengthening Chrome’s security with the next release. I realize that many agencies continue to use Internet Explorer, but the world — by an extensive margin — uses Chrome. The graphic below provides an indication of browser market share globally. Most people coming to your website are using the Google Chrome browser.

This next release will also “not trust” older Symantec security certificates (pre-June 2016). Access to the website will not be blocked. However, it will pop up warnings that will be annoying and might discourage your prospects from entering your site.

We are creating more digital information today than ever. Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDF proposals, pictures, video — all are piling up on our hard drives. The trick is finding a document when you need it. “I wonder… in what folder would I have stored that document?”

This question is all too common. The more information we have, the harder it is to find that one piece of information we need right now.

Searching for an email in Outlook is better than it used to be, but still not great. The Windows 10 operating system also has a much better search, but still not great.

That’s why Copernic Desktop Search is such a great tool.

I listen to many podcasts when I’m traveling, exercising, or driving. One of the tricks I discovered to help me maximize time (which I’m sure most of you know) is to listen to these audio programs at 2X normal speed. This trick allows me to cut in half the amount of time it takes to listen to a full program. So, I can listen to a 30-minute program in 15 minutes.

You can do the same thing with video by using the Enounce My Speed Program.

Why Change Video Playback Speed?

The average reader digests 200-250 words per minute while the speed of most speech is just 100-125 words per minute. Because you can listen faster than people talk, tools that help you speed up the playback of audio and video help you minimize the amount of time spent listening while still retaining the information. You can also slow down the speed if you need to concentrate on the material.

The tool I have used for many years to speed up video playback is MySpeed from Enounce.