Recently, there has been quite a stir over the EU’s response to Google’s most recent privacy policy…

From PARIS (Reuters): “Google has four months to make its privacy policy comply with requests from European Union data protection watchdogs or start facing the possibility of disciplinary action at a national level.”

France’s Commission Nationale de l’Informatique, working on behalf of the EU’s 27 national data regulators, said on Tuesday it had found legal flaws with a new approach to user data that Google adopted in March.

Among CNIL’s concerns was the way the U.S. group combines anonymous data from users’ browsing histories across its services to better target advertising.

From theguardian:  “Google’s latest privacy policy means that users get a simpler experience when signing up for a new Google-owned service. But it also means that Google can build up a more comprehensive picture of the user for advertising – for example, monitoring a person’s use of YouTube to help better target adverts within Gmail.”

I find it interesting that the EU’s various sanctioning bodies have an issue with this.  What do they think Google is going to do with the information?  Seriously!?  Google is in business to make money.  They make money by helping advertisers get in front of people who are most likely to purchase their products and services.  Let me give a perfect example – Let’s say that a feminine hygiene advertisement is placed in front of male audience members. I dare say, that is a waste of the advertisers’ money because odds are probably REALLY good that there isn’t a single purchaser in the group.

Another example: I watch YouTube all the time.  99.8% of my YouTube views are music.  Actually, I can’t imagine life without YouTube – but that’s another blog.  In the past year alone, I’ve probably watched in the neighborhood of 2,500 music videos – and once, ONCE, was an advertisement placed in front of me that I was interested in.  I actually sat there and watched the advertisement because it was something I was interested in.  That means the other 2499 times that ads were placed in front of me were a total waste.  From both efficiency and user-experience standpoints, wouldn’t it be better if YouTube, Google, or whoever is displaying the content, knew something about the viewer’s likes, dislikes, sites visited, etc.?  It irks me a little bit that I have to wait the 5 seconds before I can click on the “Skip Ad” button.  I’d much rather see an advertisement that actually interests me.

In other words, by being able to target your viewer, as Google is allegedly doing, it serves both the advertiser as well as the viewer.  My question is: Why does the EU want to make it harder on advertisers (businesses within the European Union) and the citizens of the European Union?  Ah, government regulatory bodies at their finest, once again. Apparently the EU wants advertisers to pay for ads that get displayed in front of randomly selected people who might not have any interest at all in the product or service being touted, rather than be able to target their ads to those who have shown some type of behavior that identifies them as a potential buyer.  Also, why should anyone have to sit through an ad that they have no interest in?

Now, I do agree that people should have the ability to opt out of certain things like email, but isn’t what Google is doing beneficial for everyone?

If I were an advertiser and it was costing me X dollars each time my ad was presented, I would want to be darn sure that my ad was being placed in front of people who are most likely to take advantage of what I’m offering.

I’d be interested in hearing other views on whether Google, who is allegedly doing what the regulatory bodies claim, is right or wrong.  Perhaps you are indifferent? How do you feel about the use of this alleged data?

A few weeks ago, Jeremy wrote an excellent article concerning Black Friday and why it’s important to consider all the cloud has to offer for managing such a busy holiday. Remember that? If not, you can (and should!) give yourself a little refresher course, here. Now, to establish the obvious, Black Friday is a high-traffic “holiday”. The same thing goes for Cyber Monday. However, these days, this might be little more than the result of heavy marketing campaigns and layers upon layers of hype that have accumulated around it over the years. We recently stumbled over some intriguing statistics that The Wall Street Journal dug up. For those of you hardcore deal-seekers who may be tuning in–you should probably consider sitting down for this.

Did you know that Black Friday may not always be your best bet for finding the absolute lowest price or steepest discount? It was hard for us to believe, too! There’s always such a craze leading up to and—of course—on Black Friday; from the lines wrapping around entire city blocks, to the blinking, coffee-slugging early-birds maniacally refreshing retail sites. However, according to the aforementioned study conducted by The Wall Street Journal and Decide, Inc., all of this effort (and, well, misery) might not be monetarily worth it in the end.

Interestingly, it seems that major retailers are pumping up marketing campaigns surrounding their more extreme deals, while inflating the price of other items to avoid a diminution of profits. Therefore, let’s say you want a specific TV, and see that it’s absurdly marked down at a specific store. Go for it! You wait in those lines, hurdle those human beings, and get that TV by any means necessary! However, if you’re shopping in general or looking for something that has a significantly reduced demand post-holidays, you might want to just hang out for a week or so. Or, you know what? Be a go-getter! Create your own shopping holiday and have a “Super Saturday” a few weeks early, or something.

Before you give yourself a head-slap for time spent in the calamity of Black Fridays past, rest assured that Black Friday does offer some outrageous deals and you absolutely will and have saved yourself a good chunk of cash. Our point is, a lot of expert deal-hunters might be looking for bargains on days that aren’t Black Friday, and you’ll see high traffic spikes then, too. So, although you definitely need to consider Jeremy’s advice for Black Friday because of the less-informed masses who will virtually stampede through your virtual doors, you might ALSO want to do some research and apply it here and there at other times throughout the year. That way, you won’t be unprepared for the hordes of shoppers who have really done their homework.

Take a look at this graphic we pulled from Decide, Inc., and mull it over. Happy Autumn (and happy shopping!) from TurnKey Internet.

Do you read Ping! Zine? If you do, great! We do too. We love Ping! Zine.

If you don’t, we’ll tell the latter of you a little bit about them and you’ll be bummed that you’ve been missing out for so long. Ping! Zine readers — hang out for a second. We have some exciting news.

Ping! Zine is a web tech magazine, which caters to service providers and consumers alike. They’re celebrating their 10^th year (happy birthday, guys!) and are aging phenomenally. Want to read about super-cool gadgets? Head to Ping! Zine. What about web design? Read about it on Ping! Zine. Are you into cloud computing? We hope you are, for obvious reasons, but guess what — they cover that too! You can read more about them on their website, here, because we’re simply dying to arrive at the main point of this article. Also, because if you’re already familiar with our Ping! Zine buddies, we can practically hear you wishing we would tell you something you don’t already know.

Well, here it is: The Ping! Zine readers have spoken, and guess what they’re talking about…Us! We’re beyond excited to announce that TurnKey Internet was selected to receive a Ping! Zine Readers’ Choice Award for our dedicated servers. You can check out the Readers’ Choice Issue here, but only if you pay special attention to page 15.

We’re so thrilled and honored to have been acknowledged by such a stellar community. We’re also excited to pin another cool little award badge to our website, but that’s not important right now. What is important, however, is extending a massive “thank you” to everyone at Ping! Zine; readers, staff…everyone! Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you X infinity. You guys rock.

Today sure feels like a holiday… Wouldn’t you say, iPhone lovers? The iPhone 5 seems to not only have lived up to, but surpassed all hype and expectations, in innovative features and anticipation alike. It would have to, to make it worth waiting in the lines that are wrapped around blocks and buildings in nearly every Apple store in the country—well, world, actually. Did you pre-order your new smartphone, or show up to wait amongst your fellow iPhoners and iPhonettes a few (dozen) hours early? Lines in New York City could be measured per-hundred in the wee hours of the morning today! If you’ve been camping out for several days, we pass no judgment. Whatever it takes, right?

The iPhone 5 is expected to blow all previous models’ sales completely out of the water. So what’s all the fuss about? When Apple released the 4S, a quick once-over didn’t reveal all that much of an aesthetic difference from the 4. However, the 5 is a different story entirely, from the shiny surface of its larger screen all the way down to the bottom of its redesigned ear buds. It’s thinner, it’s lighter, it’s faster—oh, my!—and boasts a plethora of new technological advancements that I could go on for days about. It’s going to be so cool, guys.

Now, I am not personally an iPhone user—“yet,” as my friends like to remind me. However, the iPhone is very near and dear to all of us here at TurnKey Internet… For the obvious, we-heart-technology, tech-R-us, reasons, but also for some that live a little deeper. For instance, when Apple introduced the world to the iPhone phenomenon in 2007, it simultaneously paved the way to the modern day cloud. Now, let’s back up a few steps. Apple did not invent the smart phone. It also did not invent the cloud. However, their innovations with the iPhone brought the hand held device that could connect you anywhere, anytime, to anything, into the mainstream spotlight. Thus, the cloud hurdled forward in its wake, creating infrastructure repositories for applications, data, and storage, that the iPhone—and now, every other device from Android phones, to iPads, to desktop PCs—can remotely connect to.

Anyway, we know you’re just as excited as we are. Go ahead and put that iPhone 4S back in your pocket for the precious culmination of your time together, and have fun getting to know your new best friend. We wish you a wonderful journey together!

Okay, TurnKey fans, we need your help and we need it fast!

This month, our friends over at OurEarth.org have been running an amazing campaign. This campaign has been pumping up awareness and enthusiasm for a group of Earth-loving organizations (also amazing) in their efforts to earn some well-deserved cash in Chase’s Community Giving Contest. Basically, OurEarth.org and these charities joined together and collectively devised a goal of scoring $500,000 of Chase’s $5 Million total. OurEarth.org is calling this campaign “Vote for the Planet”, but in the interest of time, laziness, and my own propensity for acronyms, let’s call it V4TP. I’m glad we got that out of the way.

Over the past few weeks, V4TP has been putting up a serious fight against the competition. Out of a participant pool that is nothing short of massive, multiple V4TP organizations are looking at hefty winnings. Particularly noteworthy, is the fact that it’s not just the charity with the most votes that benefits from V4TP. All charities that rank within the top 196 of the total Chase Community Giving vote counts will be given a grant. If you jump over to the “Ranking” page on the V4TP website, you’ll find a quick-look at where your votes stand to make the biggest splash. For instance, bumping the Save the Manatee Club up just one spot would mean a difference of thousands of dollars! Or, pushing The American Hiking Society into the top 196 would, quite literally, make or break it for them in this contest.

Here’s where the sense of urgency comes in: V4TP is ending soon. How soon, you ask? Well, tonight-soon. 12am, EST-soon. Thankfully, the voting process is incredibly easy. There are more details and instructions on the V4TP website, here. Oh, and do you want to hear something really exciting? You are not limited to just one vote. Each participant can earn up to three voting credits on Facebook alone. Are you a Chase customer? If so, you have a little extra pull, and we encourage you to use it!

Lastly, don’t forget to check out the “Done Voting?” page when you’re –wait for it—DONE VOTING. There, you will find a list of ways you can help raise awareness or get involved with the V4TP organizations after all is said and done.

As of 6am today, the V4TP organizations stood to win $290,000. Think we can push them a little higher? I’m sure you, like me, have been told that more is not always better… In this case, it so is.

Hey, everyone! My name is Emily Wegener, and I’m the new girl on the block here at TurnKey Internet. As TurnKey’s Interactive Marketing Specialist, I could not have hoped for a more fun and exciting time to join these amazing people in the cloud. Let me tell you why.

As you Facebookers and Tweeters and Press-Release-Readers out there have probably already heard, we just began an awesome promotion. For those of you who haven’t, we are calling it “Let’s Make a Deal!”, based on the concept of the popular game show. Have you played yet? If not, you’re missing out!

Here’s the scoop: If you head to www.turnkeyinternet.net/deal, you’ll arrive at the “Let’s Make a Deal” page where the fun begins. You can get there from a bunch of other places as well, like our homepage and social media sites. As long as you get there, we don’t mind how. You decide; it’s your world. Anyway, on the deal page, you’re met with three briefcases and a human. No, that is not an Olsen twin.

This is where the game gets interesting. We’re offering HUGE product offers and discounts on absolutely everything. We picked out the deals that we thought were the coolest, and placed them neatly in the aforementioned briefcases for your consideration. Disagree with us? Think you can come up with a better, more personalized and relevant deal? TELL US. Our spin on this game show not only allows you to do that, but it encourages you to! You’ll see an option to talk to our “Deal-maker”, where you can negotiate your own special deal. It’s fun! Try it!

Lastly, most importantly, and most wonderfully, ”Let’s Make a Deal!” is being served up piping-hot with a side of “Deal of a Lifetime”. As the promotion progresses, TurnKey Internet will be randomly selecting winners from the participant pool, and awarding them a lifetime of free service! That’s right, a LIFETIME. AKA: The rest of your life. AKA: Forever and ever. I’m sure you understand. Didn’t find your perfect deal? Doubtful, but no biggie. We’re just happy you came to play! The giveaway is no-purchase-necessary, and if you would like to enter anyway, simply mail a letter of intent to us at our headquarters in Latham, NY. You can find the mailing address here.

Here’s the thing, guys: we really, really appreciate you. We like that you choose to use our services, and read our blog, and hang out with us in all of the other awesome ways that you do. That being said, we also like to give back to you. We want you to save money, and we want you to have fun doing it. This is our attempt at helping you kill those two birds with one stone. I mean, everyone offers discount codes and coupons, right? But how often can you make your own?

So, without further ado, I know I speak on behalf of all of my new TurnKey pals when I say – Have fun, and thanks a million. No, thanks a zillion.

Former Latham New York U.S. Post Office
This building once stood as the U.S. Post Office serving as a communication hub for thousands of residents here in Colonie. Today it now stands as a modern hub from which millions of people communicate from across the globe.

TurnKey Internet purchases this vacant U.S. Government building in 2010 which had been previously used for 35+ years as the Post Office for Latham, New York. After invested millions in retrofitting the facility with high capacity redundant power, fiber optic and cooling systems to make it a state of the art of Datacenter – TurnKey Internet launched it as their new flagship GREEN Datacenter in 2012.  The official ribbon cutting was April 18th, 2012 – and here is the video of the entire event, as well as the transcript of the speech from our CEO, Adam Wills.

Thank you Mark, thank you for the kind words, appreciate it.  Thank you everyone for coming out here today.  I really want to thank the partners that helped make this happen.  Jim Conroy from NYBDC, Kevin Catalano from the Technology Accelerator Fund, Phil Engborg from M&T Bank – These guys helped see the vision to assist us in getting this project done.  Thank you guys, you stood up and helped get to the vision we had, and I really appreciate that.  National Grid and NYSERDA you were very helpful in funding some of the green technologies we were able to bring to the project that has helped set TurnKey aside from others in this industry.

This building at one time back in the 1970’s was the U.S. Post office.  It used to be the communications hub for about 8,000 residents here in Colonie, NY.  Today, it sits as the modern communications hub for millions of people across the globe.  Clients from 100 different countries access their data through this facility right now.  It’s the old vs the new, it’s the way people communicate today – its very different. 

Up above us on the roof is our own dedicated solar power plant.  We are producing clean renewable energy that is powering up to 75% of our facility right this very second.  We are focused on green technologies not because it’s just the ‘in thing’, but to be sustainable in this business for the next 20, 50, 100 years you have to look to these types of green clean efficient uses of technology. 

We have made significant multi-million dollar investments here in special green cold containment pods, smart aisle precision cooling, and many other things that you will have the chance to see when you go in for a tour.  All of these make this datacenter among the most green, the most efficient you will find not only in New York state but across the globe.

New York’s Tech Valley region has talked about being the leader in Green Business.  I really feel this facility, with the partners that helped make this happen; the Chambers, the funding partners, NYSERDA, National Grid; you have all shown the commitment to making Green businesses happen here in Tech Valley, and I think this facility is a monument to that.

Thank you all for coming today.

If you check out basically any technology-related website this week (and many non tech-related sites as well) you will find information relating to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property, Protect IP Act (PIPA).  This proposed legislation (which has, for now, been avoided) would not only halt online piracy, it would take away a whole lot of online freedom too.

Sure, I believe that protecting intellectual property is important. Many artists, entertainers and the companies that employ them don’t want consumers getting their products for free. This is understandable. We all need to make a living. But we can’t protect intellectual property on the Internet by universally censoring content. Before I go any further, let’s explore what PIPA and SOPA really are.

PIPA

PIPA was first introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy, Orrin Hatch, and Chuck Grassley. PIPA would give the government and U.S. corporations the right to seek legal action with any website they determine has allowed copyright infringement. This extremely loosely-defined legislation could potentially:

– Force Internet providers to block websites on their networks.
– Force advertisers on “infringing” websites to pull their ads.
– Seek legal action by suing blogs, search engines, directories or any other site on the internet.

Goodbye, User-Generated Content

PIPA would create a perilous online climate for any website. It would encourage harsh restrictions on user content, effectively censoring any type of user-generated participation. This means user-generated writing, videos, audio files… ANYTHING. The fact is, user-generated content is a huge part of what makes the Internet so rich. If PIPA passes, we will lose our free forum. This will have wide-reaching implications for social behaviors and social control.

SOPA

SOPA would work in conjunction with PIPA. It would allow:

– The U.S. Attorney General to seek court orders to force search engines, DNS providers, advertisers and more to sever contact with any “offending” websites or content.
– Private corporations to create their own hit lists of websites they feel are breaking their copyright policies, for ANY REASON. Read: legal mafia. The companies would be able to contact a website’s provider directly to sever service within five days.

Sayonara, Innovation

Not only would these bills severely restrict user-generated content, they would stifle innovation. Developers aren’t going to experiment with new ways of distributing content if they are constantly under threat of take-down. Think about the big sites we all use today: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, DropBox… none of these would have made it a week under PIPA and SOPA.

Ridiculous Consequences

Imagine this scenario: a child makes a video of herself singing a popular song and posts it to the Internet. That child could be responsible for the blackout of YouTube. That child and her family could face legal action. They could face fines in the millions! Is this the kind of Internet we want?

We are finally starting to move in to our new data center home! We’ve powered up and started the process of migrating our servers and decorating our offices. After so much anticipation, it hardly feels real! We’re all in high spirits and the move is going smoothly without any disruptions in service.

Once we’re all settled in, I’ll take you on a virtual tour of the space. Highlights will include the ironclad vault, the fishbowl conference room and the data center floor where the magic happens!

We’re really looking forward to meeting our neighbors in the bustling town of Latham. We’re also looking forward to all the delicious lunch options, just a hop away from our front door! Speaking of which, it might be time to dust off the treadmill 🙂

This month sees the launch of our new TurnKeySSL, a robust SSL solution you can activate with one click! In today’s marketplace, SSL certificates are a necessity. Customers have come to recognize that SSL certificates equal privacy and security and an increasing number of them won’t shop online without the seal.  TurnKeySSL takes this one step further, now bundling our brand new web site malware scaning tool for your web site with our professional SSL certificates!

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with SSL, SSL stands for “Secure Sockets Layer,” a protocol designed to enable applications to transmit information securely back and forth over the internet. Many applications you likely use every day (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, SFTP and hundreds more) are equipped to automatically receive SSL connections. However, if you run your own website and have tried to setup an SSL certificate in the past, you know how complicated and confusing the process can be to get your web applications to establish a secure SSL connection.    Enter: TurnKeySSL the easiest to install SSL certificate available today, with 1-click technology to install on any web site!

Signing up for TurnKeySSL is fast: we don’t require any paperwork to issue your SSL certificate. We issue TurnKeySSL certificates in minutes via our secure website. We have several plans to suit your needs, from our instant 1-click issuance SSL to our Extended Validation plan that comes with the green bar–the same secure seal used by Verisign, Paypal, and all the major shopping sites on the Internet today.  In the potentially perilous online marketplace, visible security means increased sales!

TurnKeySSL certificates come with a clickable secure site seal, malware scanning and multi-year savings. We even offer the brand new one-click SSL creating a simple and  easy way to deploy an SSL certificate on your web site today.

Check out our TurnKeySSL website to learn more:
http://turnkeyssl.com