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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Types of Malware

The main types of malware include adware, backdoor, heuristic, rogues, trojans, viruses and worms. Each of these have their own level of danger and degree of maliciousness.

Adware or spyware is a small program designed to show advertisements on your computer. Often adware reports personal information back to its owners and as a result your privacy could be violated.

Backdoor programs are used to gain access to a computer bypassing its security programs, giving the attacker unlimited rights. Backdoor programs can spy on a user and install other malware on a computer.

Heuristic detection is a technique to detect malware by empirical means without having the specific data, based on observing the behavior of the suspect malware, or perhaps even the pattern of what it does.

Rogue programs are malicious programs that are disguised as a trustworthy anti-spyware program or registry cleaner. These programs are put on the market to scare you into buying them because they either make claims about the safety of your computer, give erroneous scan results or install their own malware on your system.

A trojan horse is a malicious program that pretends to have a particular function, but is actually destructive. Trojans cannot multiply themselves like a virus or worm.

A virus is a malicious program that multiplies and is capable of attaching itself to other programs after being executed. Viruses then cause an infection causing various degrees of damage to your computer.

Worms are often characterized as a malicious application that uses a host machine to infect others. Therefore worms can create enormous damage on networks with multiple computers.

Knowing the main types of malware could be helpful to understand what kinds of dangerous software could threaten your PC. Keep yourself informed in order to avoid a possible threat or attack to your computer system.

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Friday, February 19, 2010

The Degerstrom Family Genealogy Websites

A recently launched website on my Degerstrom family genealogy has been launched along with a matching blog and family tree page. This website documents one branch of the Degerstrom family name from Maine with the help from my father, Jim Degerstrom, his brother Ed Degerstrom, and Leif Persson in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Degerstrom Genealogy website features the Swedish branch and history of the Degerstrom family from Maine. The other branches are covered in Degerstrom.org, known as the Degerstrom International Family Page including Peder, Petter, Gabriel, Carl, Fredrik, Jacob and Per Degerstrom. Myself and my father are descendants of our root ancestor Peder Danielsson born in Ranea, Sweden in 1560.

Genealogy is a great way to see the history of your family and understand where you come from. Some great genealogy websites include RootsWeb, My Heritage, US Gen Web Project, FamilySearch, and also very useful for research would be The 50 Most Popular Genealogy Websites for 2009 and Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet.

Tags: degerstrom, genealogy, genealogy website, website

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Pay Per Click is Temporary--SEO is Forever

The comparison between Pay Per Click(PPC) and search engine optimization(SEO) brings up the question of which one would be more profitable to use. Choosing the proper way to drive traffic to your website involves research, although I tend to lean towards Natural Methods of Search Engine Optimization.

Pay Per Click advertising is used on websites to increase traffic by paying for keyword phrases related to a target market. Advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked on and usually use a fixed price per click rather than a bidding system.

Using natural methods of search engine optimization tends to be a more permanent method to have a website that is indexed well in search engines. By obtaining the proper keywords, keyword density, updated original content, inbound links and avoiding duplicate content in your website, there is no need to pay for PPC advertising. These natural methods could far outweigh using paid advertisements in order to get more traffic to your website.

Although there are hundreds of Pay Per Click search engines to buy traffic from, search engine optimization could be a better choice for getting traffic to your website. However, should you decide to go with Pay Per Click advertising, here is the top 8 search engine list you could consider:

7Search
ABCSearch
Google AdWords
Marchex AdHere
MIVA
MSN AdCenter
SearchFeed
Yahoo! Search Marketing

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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Free Texting From Your Computer

You can text message from your computer for free when you aren't able to text from your mobile phone. Setting up a text messaging account is easy and free. Text messaging services online allow you to send, receive and set up contact lists for any mobile service provider.

If your mobile service is disconnected, or you don't have your mobile phone with you, using your computer for texting is just as easy if not easier. I have tried a few text messaging services and found one of the best ones is Textem.

Free texting from your computer is useful when alternate resources are not available. Take advantage of these texting services when you want to text from your computer. Try Textem now.

Also try these computer to text websites:

ipipi.com
TextMagic
txtDrop.com
WhitePages Text

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Friday, December 18, 2009

Personal Information Search Resource

Just recently added to my resources section of my website is this Resources for Searching Personal Information website page. Whether looking for someone you haven't talked to in a while or searching to find a business you're trying to get a hold of, online information can be easy to obtain if you know where to look.

These useful tools can be helpful finding people by name, address, phone number, email, social security, area code, IP address and check criminal, death, divorce background or property records. When you want to trace someone online, these useful Resources for Searching Personal Information can come in handy.

Have a look at these other Resources for Web Design:

Website Design Webmaster Tools
Website Design Tools
Tools For Search Engine Optimization
Useful Web Design Resources
Other Free Useful Resources Online
Useful Computer Maintenance Tools
Web Browser Add Ons

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Saturday, November 28, 2009

Analyze Suspicious Files With Virustotal

VirusTotal is an excellent website to analyze suspicious files and detect viruses, worms, trojans, and malware. Simply upload a file and click "send file" for VirusTotal to check whether the suspected file has any possible viruses or malware hidden in it.

VirusTotal's Specifications
- Free, independent service
- Use of multiple antivirus engines
- Real-time automatic updates of virus signatures
- Detailed results from each antivirus engine
- Real time global statistics

Anytime you have suspicion that a program has malware, spyware, trojans or a virus, VirusTotal can come in useful to uncover any mystery. Suspicious files can be harmful and dangerous to your computer, so finding out if a specific file is safe could save you computer problems in the future.

Have a look at my Website Page on VirusTotal

Check your files with VirusTotal

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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Use Anti-Malware To Protect Your Computer

Malwarebytes' anti-malware download from Cnet.com is useful to protect your computer from the Packer.Malware.NSAnti.J virus and many others. This dangerous Packer virus can go undetected and cause serious harm to your PC.

Packer.Malware.NSAnti.J, disables some system restore, antivirus and malware programs that you have and need on your computer system. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware download from Cnet.com will extract, quarantine and delete infected files and clean your system to run faster.

Any file detected as Packer.Malware.NSAnti.J is designed to conceal the true nature of any software packed with it. Malware authors often implement this method to install malicious software on your computer system.

Be careful opening emails and only open ones from people you know and trust. When pop-ups come up on a site that’s not recognized, exit out of it by using the bottom toolbar at the bottom of your computer screen or with task manager, and make sure you only download software from trustable websites.

Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Read my page about Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Review these useful Computer Maintenance Tools:
Use VirusTotal to Analyze Suspicious Files
Anti-Spyware Keylogger Detector
Rising Antivirus to Protect Your Computer
Disk Cleaning Options
Download AML Free Registry Cleaner here

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Saturday, October 24, 2009

Blogger to WordPress Blog Conversion

The previous custom cms website launch for Masterson Construction earlier this month included an announcement that a matching blog was planned and involved performing a Blogger to WordPress blog conversion. The general contractor matching WordPress blog has been converted and launched.

During evaluation of the blog content it was decided to enhance the seo, or search engine optimization, of all the posts going back two years. Post headlines, URLs, and on page content was changed to improve the seo value. To maintain rank value of these aged pages, custom 301 redirects were included in the htaccess file to forward external links pointing to old file names to the new file names created in the redesign. In addition to posts, labels became categories, plus archive file names all required redirects to maintain the existing seo value, as well.

Moving the existing blog to WordPress provides ease of use and near perfect xhtml code quality, plus optional plugins that were easy to install for added functions of social bookmarks, seo automation, and automatic database backup operation. While Blogger is fine, and my choice for a blog platform, WordPress is considered superior especially for site owners without advanced technical skills.

Related Posts:

Custom CMS Website Conversion of Masterson Construction
Custom CMS Website Conversion of CodeRepair
Florida Aluminum Awnings Website Launch
Custom CMS Design LLC Family Sites
Custom CMS Redesign Project Launch

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Custom CMS Web Design Budget Tips

This recent article written by expert author Jim Degerstrom on a wide variety of Custom CMS Web Design Budget Tips could come in useful to have a great functional website and feel good about the price you paid for it.

Some excerpts from Jim's recently published article:

"Budget funds for as much quality as you can afford for the initial development and launch of your custom CMS web design."

"Evaluate your options for a source to create the custom CMS web design based on their quality and experience."

"Plan to add original quality content often to your new custom CMS web design to attract repeat visitors."

Finding the right website designer to handle your project for your small business may not be as easy as it sounds. Being able to have a site with the ability to add, delete or edit content in plain text without technical skills could be very valuable, and that's what Jim Degerstrom and myself at CodeRepair offer.

Read the entire article on Custom CMS Web Design Budget Tips

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Monday, October 12, 2009

Custom CMS Website Conversion of Masterson Construction

A new converted website design for Masterson Construction of Los Angeles and Orange County, California launched recently in a cms content management system. Jack Masterson wanted a well-designed layout with quality search engine optimization to attract visitor traffic. My intent is to eventually redesign the blog as well to match the "new look".

Masterson Construction is a licensed general contractor in California for residential and commercial construction, remodeling, and additions. The conversion of Masterson Construction has recently been completed from static pages to a custom CMS content management system design. Www.JackMasterson.com has been optimized for better search engine optimization by concentrating on how the competition hit google page one and focusing on what people search for to find this business niche.

Success online depends on a growing website. The benefit of having a custom CMS website design is that you can add content to your website without paying your designer for each revision. This allows Jack to upgrade his website constantly by investing time instead of money.

High quality similar to the revised design is what you can expect from CodeRepair. Learn more about the advantages of a cms custom website design by exploring our site, or email us from any page with questions about a new custom website redesign for your small business or for a prompt quote on your next web design project.

Related Posts:
Custom CMS Website Conversion of CodeRepair
Florida Aluminum Awnings Website Launch
Custom CMS Design LLC Family Sites
Custom CMS Redesign Project Launch

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Sunday, October 4, 2009

Protect Your Computer With Antivirus

Protecting your computer with an antivirus program is extremely important ot insure the security of your system. Choosing an antivirus which is both safe and secure isn't always easy. Many antivirus programs are actually adware, malware or spyware which can be more harmful to your computer than good. Many antivirus programs force you to purchase their complete package in order to continue using their software, and make it difficult to be deleted off of your system.

My choice for computer protection is a free download from Rising Antivirus. It’s important to choose an antivirus which is both safe and secure. Many antivirus programs out there are adware, malware or spyware and may force you to purchase the complete package in order to continue using their software. Rising Antivirus is a free download which is adware-free, malware-free, and spyware free.

You can protect your computer with this free download from Rising Antivirus and keep your computer safe from threats. I’ve been using it for a while and have been very happy with the protection Rising has given my computer.

Download Rising Antivirus here
Read more about Rising Antivirus

Review these useful Computer Maintenance Tools:

Use VirusTotal to Analyze Suspicious Files
AML Free Registry Cleaner
Anti-Spyware Keylogger Detector

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Saturday, September 19, 2009

What is Spyware?

Spyware is a type of malware installed on computers which collects information about the user completely without their knowledge. Typically the presence of spyware is hidden from the user, secretly installed on the computer. However, sometimes spywares such as keyloggers may be installed by corporate, shared or public computers on purpose to monitor any activities online.

The functions of spyware extend well beyond simple monitoring of a computer by collecting personal information such as sites visited and surfing habits. Spyware is known to change computer settings and cause slow connection speeds, change in home pages and loss of internet or program functionality.

Running anti-spyware software has become increasingly popular practice for computer security users with Microsoft Windows. Many jurisdictions have passed anti-spyware laws to protect internet users to lower the risk of infection.

Understand what spyware is to give you insight on how it can be dangerous to your computer. If you download a file and your computer suspects it to be spyware, the best choice is always to refuse the file. Understand what spyware is and compare to other downloadable software such as adware, freeware, shareware and malware.

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What is Shareware?

Shareware refers to software online that is provided to users on a trial basis without payment and limited on availability, functionality or convenience. Shareware is often offered by download on the internet or as a CD included with a magazine or newspaper. The aim of shareware is to offer a program to potential buyers and judge how useful it is before purchase of the full version.

Shareware usually is offered as a trial version with limited features, or as the full version for a trial period. The program may stop running after the trial period until the full program or the license is purchased. Shareware usually is offered without updates, support or help menus, and the terms "trial version" or "free trial" are an indication you have shareware.

The term shareware is used in contrast to retail software and freeware. Retail software refers to commercial software available by purchase of a license and may not be copied for others, public domain software, referring to software not copyright protected. Freeware refers to copyrighted software that the author solicits no payment for, although donations may be requested. Understand what shareware is to give you insight on what the term refers to. Other downloadable software terms you may want to be aware of include adware, spyware, malware, freeware.

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What is Malware?

Malware, short for "Malicious Software" is designed to infiltrate the user's computer without getting the owner's informed consent. Malware includes a variety of intrusive, hostile or annoying software or program code. The common term "computer virus" is used as a phrase to include all types of malware, also including actual viruses. Malware is different from defective software which has an actual legitimate purpose but just contains bugs.

Software is considered malware because of the malicious intent of the creator, not just particular features. Malware, sometimes known as a computer contaminant, can contain worms, spyware, trojan horses, computer viruses, rootkits, crimeware, dishonest adware and other unwanted malicious software.

Understand what malware is to give you insight on how it can be dangerous to your computer. If you download a file and your computer suspects it to be malware, the best choice is always to refuse the file. Understand what malware is and compare to other downloadable software such as adware, freeware, shareware and spyware.

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What is Freeware?

Freeware is computer software that is available online at no cost for unlimited time. The author usually restricts the rights to copy or distribute such freeware for "personal, non-commercial use".

Freeware is a bit different from shareware which obliges users to pay after a trial period or perhaps to gain additional functionality. Freeware is not the same as "free software" in the way that free software can be studied, used and modified without any restrictions. The software license for freeware could impose restrictions on the type of use including individual, personal, non-profit, academic, non-commercial and commercial, or any combination of these.

By understanding just what freeware is will give you insight on how it can be used and compare to other downloadable software such as adware, malware, shareware and spyware.

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What is Adware?

Adware, otherwise known as advertising-supported software includes any software package that automatically plays, downloads or displays advertisements on a computer while the application is used or once the software is installed.

These advertising functions integrated and bundled into the software notes what internet sites the user visits then presents ads pertinent to goods and services that are featured there. Developers of adware see this as a way to recover money from development costs, therefore allowing the software to be provided for a reduced price or free of charge. These advertisements could be seen by the user as annoyances, interruptions or distractions from the task at hand.

Adware is primarily advertising supported and by being downloaded on your computer, can also install spyware. spyware is a type of malware installed on computers that collects information about users without their knowledge. Understand what adware is to give you insight on how it can be dangerous to your computer and compare to other downloadable software such as freeware, malware, shareware and spyware.

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Saturday, September 12, 2009

Analyze Website Info With "Who Is"

It's useful to analyze website registration information with Who-Is to find out who owns the site and which domain servers are being used. When potential customers have an existing website created by another company, I like to see whether it was put in the customer's registration information or if it's being withheld by the company they had make the site for them.

Whois.com can be used to find out:

•The Registrant-the person owning the website
•The company the website is registered through
•Domain Servers in listed order

Many companies who create websites don't give control to the owner for the website, so then the customer becomes obligated to pay the monthly fee that the company charges. This doesn't let the so-called "owner" have control of the website, and they end up having to pay for changes each time.

The difference with my system is that when I make a website for you, the registration becomes yours, so you own it. And even better, with a CMS (Content Management System) you can add and change content without paying a web designer each time you want edits done. Investing time instead of money is a great advantage of Content Management.

Useful Resources:

Find the Value of a Website With Website Outlook
Analyze a Website With Website Grader

Other Website Evaluation sites:

Sootle Directory for checking a website's value

Written Posts:

Review of Website Grader
Find the Value of Your Website
Custom CMS Website Design Advantages

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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Benefits of Valid Code

The benefits and importance of valid code may seem insignificant to websites that are in the top rankings, but think of how much better these websites would be indexed with perfect (X)HTML valid code.

Having valid code with no errors prevents browsers from auto-correcting your code, so you don't end up with a broken layout. Pages will load faster when a website has valid code because the browser doesn't have to think as much. Valid code ensures your website will display properly today and on future devices as well. Also, Google and other search engines tend to put websites with valid code higher in the rankings, above those that do not. Finally, websites with valid code are considered accessible to most types of platforms, browsers and screen readers.

There is no replacement for having perfect (X)HTML code in your website. When you run a check for validation and get that green bar, you know it's a job well done. Also, having valid code in (X)HTML on your website can give you that edge needed to place higher in the rankings of search engines. Giving my customers websites with perfect code is a practice I base my reputation upon.

Validate HTML and CSS with these websites:
CSS Validator
HTML Validator
W3 HTML Validator

For more on this subject read my article
"The Benefits of Perfect XHTML Code"

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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Florida Aluminum Awnings Website Launch

A new custom website design for Haggetts Aluminum Awnings of Central Florida launched recently in a cms content management system. They wanted a well-designed layout with quality search engine optimization to attract visitor traffic. Their business is custom aluminum awnings manufactured and installed from their factory in Kissimmee, Florida.

The site features colorful awning photos in the top header, and a custom video tour of their factory on the home page to show how their custom aluminum awnings are manufactured. Other pages include product descriptions with photos, a photo gallery, and an awning colors gallery created in advanced web design techniques using xhtml with css instead of flash. Each page of this custom cms web design lists contact information and extra awning photos in the right sidebar, and a FAQs page with more aluminum awning information.

With a custom aluminum awning website in a CMS content management system, the website owner has the ability to add content without paying a web designer to make each revision. Learn more about the advantages of a cms web design by exploring our website, or email us from any page for a prompt quote on your next web design project.

Related Posts:
Custom CMS Website Conversion of CodeRepair
Custom CMS Design LLC Family Sites
Custom CMS Redesign Project Launch

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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Custom CMS Website Conversion of CodeRepair

The conversion of CodeRepair has been completed from static pages to a custom CMS content management system design. Since I offer custom CMS webdesign to my clients, it made sense to convert my website to the same system that I sell.

The new look is designed with a 1600 pixel width background with all content centered so it will look great on any monitor size. In addition, the redesign includes a revised template with css so the blog matches the look of the main site.

Success online depends on a website that grows. The benefit of having a custom CMS website design is you can add content to your website without paying your designer for each revision. This allows you to upgrade your site constantly by investing your time instead of your money.

High quality similar to the revised design is what you can expect from CodeRepair. Email us from any page with any questions about a new custom website or redesign for your small business.

Related Posts:

Florida Aluminum Awnings Website Launch
Custom CMS Design LLC Family Sites
Custom CMS Redesign Project Launch

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Monday, April 27, 2009

Custom CMS Redesign Project Launch

Recently I helped in the launch of a custom CMS (Content Management System) website redesign for CDAAlliance by collaborating on this rather large project with my father, Jim Degerstrom. This website contained almost 100 pages, and their direction of business had also recently changed. As a result, a major overhaul of the site was required to reflect their new business model and their new future direction.

CDAAlliance's redesign collaboration between myself and my father had text content that had to be edited and updated. From Joomla we converted it to a less complicated custom CMS package by doing text rewrites and seo revisions to this site prior to launch, and then 301 redirects from the old page names to new ones.

Now that the site has been converted to a custom CMS system, it's usability is enhanced, page load time is faster, and the website owner can easily take it over to add and edit content.

Update Aug 2009: This redesign in a green color scheme has been transferred back to JimDegerstrom.com and changed again. He will manage a family of 3 websites created by him and redesigned for the client with a new matching look similar for each one.

Related Posts:
Custom CMS Website Conversion of CodeRepair
Florida Aluminum Awnings Website Launch
Custom CMS Design LLC Family Sites

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Saturday, April 11, 2009

Social Media Marketing to Improve Traffic

Using social media marketing to improve traffic to a small business website can be both advantageous and profitable. Some approaches include the small business website owner to write about what people care about, start a buzz on Twitter and Facebook, use social bookmarks, and share with like-minded individuals.

If you write about something that interests people, your post may have a better chance being picked up on the internet. Posting on Twitter, an amazing resource for spreading news, links and current events, can incorporate small business website owners into a web of followers. Using social bookmarks such as Digg, Zimbio and Blogflux will incorporate multiple blog resources to bring small business website owners traffic to their site. Sharing content with like-minded individuals may translate to greater traffic to a small business website also. Video, linking, email and podcasts are some other good media devices which can spread your word as well.

Using social media marketing to improve visitor hits is helpful to increase internet traffic to any small business website. A small business website owner should include as many types of media that is relevant to aid in the constant forge ahead to page one of Google.

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Micro Small Business Website Ownership

Of the approximate 6 million small business enterprises in the USA, those with 20 or fewer employees are still the vast majority. 5.23 million have fewer than 20 employees, and only 760,000 have 20 or more. These are the latest published statistics from the US Census Bureau, and the breakdown is rounded off as follows:

Total Number of Small Businesses in USA by Size

20,000 with 500+ employees
110,000 with 100+ employees
630,000 with 20+ employees
5,230,000 with 20 or less

5,990,000 Total Number

Micro small business website ownership of at least one home page is more than 70%. Of those, only 5% have added a small business blog to their site according to a NY Times piece reported in December 2007, and entitled Blogging’s a Low-Cost, High Return Marketing Tool.

Based on this 5% which may be slightly higher according to others tracking data, there are only 299,500 small business websites with blogs. If you are one of the 30% of small business owners without a website, or one of the 95% without a blog, my advice is starting now with this low cost marketing tool to promote your small business. Let us know how we can help with your strategy of keeping up with or staying ahead of the competition.

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Saturday, March 1, 2008

Tools for Website Design

A series of new pages were added to the Code Repair main site with tools for website design for established web developers, or do-it-yourself site owners interested in custom small business website design. Four new sections provide reviews on a variety of great tools for website design.

Visit these links to learn about Website Design Tools, Web Browser Add Ons, HTML Coding Software, and PDF Creation Software.

The majority of the resources reviewed at the links above are free. Questions? Please email us about any of the tools that we use and recommend for custom website design.

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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Code Repair Custom Site Makeover

The advice theme for www.CodeRepair.com has been revised under new ownership to commercial services for custom website design, custom blog design, and standard package website design, plus web graphics.

This site was previously managed by my father, and I am the new owner, Roger Degerstrom. The format was changed from a Joomla cms based system to custom XHTML 1.1 and CSS2, and topics on this blog include design advice, custom blogs, website design, related news, podcasts, site promotion, various reviews, and search engine optimization.

I apologize for the sudden change or any inconvenience. The time required managing several sites can be difficult, and he continues working full time and long hours in his custom web design business, blog, and podcast, and he will continue as a mentor to Code Repair as this site is now strictly design related.

I welcome small business owners interested in low cost standard or fully custom websites designed in XHTML 1.1 with CSS2, or custom Blogger blogs. With the change of ownership, yet all in the family, my slogan relates to that plus the advantages of using the latest XHTML code with "The Next Generation in Custom Website Design".

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