I sincerely believe comics have a stronger ability to convey difficult information because of the combination of words and pictures. This is not a “dumbing down” of the information. We are visually wired, and the statement that a picture is worth a thousand words is a cliche because there is a deep truth in that statement. At their best, comics use words where necessary and not just to describe what’s in the pictures. Each can communicate information in unique ways. Working together, the images and words can help people understand things much more quickly than using only one or the other.

Along with the comic, they also produced a very effective video that summarizes some of the points made in the comic.

You can read more about it here. I’ve been using the term “comics,” while at one point they call it a “graphic novel.” This points up an issue with the term “graphic novel,” as this is non-fiction and therefore NOT a novel. Here’s hoping that this sort of thing continues to break down the prejudices against the term “comics.”

While I welcome comments on this blog, I beg you not to turn this into a political argument. I’m featuring this comic because I feel it’s a great example of someone using the medium to explain something very complex, not to start yet another flame war.

I received a doozy today, titled “Domain Service Notice”. As with all such scams they reveal themselves quickly if you read them calmly. But the veiled threats (you’ll lose exclusive rights, your time is running out, people may have trouble finding your site unless…) are there to keep you from reading calmly. After all, they make sure to underline the following: “Failure to complete your Domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may result in cancellation of this offer making it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web.” Let me assure you that it may also cause pigs to fly. Oh dear, they’re going to cancel their offer to scam me?

Click this image for a larger view

I knew immediately that this one was a scam because it ended up in my very clever spam trap. But beyond that, there were a ton of clues:

• This didn’t originate with my domain registrar (you should know who your registrar is, after all you paid them to register the domain for you).
• There is no company name listed.
• There is no contact email address, simply an email address in the small print for opting out (never do this with spam, you’re just letting them know they have a live one on the line).
• Fax-only reply? What is this, 1986?
• It’s a “final notice” even though I’ve never heard from them before.
• The deadline is today! Goodness gracious, there’s no time to lose…
• They want money. Asking for money or personal information should ALWAYS be a red flag when you receive a mystery email.
• Though you don’t see it here, it originates from a Hotmail address. No offense to those of you with Hotmail, but it seems to be the go-to for people trying to scam you by email.
• Most importantly: they never say exactly what it is you’re gonna get for your money. Most likely the most work they’d do is process your payment.

These guys are pretty careful, too. They don’t want you to send any payment details. After all, they don’t want to be caught taking payment through this method. And in the small print, they make it clear that if you accept you don’t hold them liable for anything. In this case, I’m sure it’s holding them liable for actually doing anything for you. Instead, they get you to create a relationship by contacting them. Then they bill you.

Don’t let them get that far. If you’re uncertain, contact the company you are actually registered with.

You can read about another scam to watch for here.

Produced in partnership with Sunni Brown of sunnibrown.com.

Keep reading to see the video.

This is a perfect example Google’s “don’t be evil” philosophy: they’re riding out to slay some pretty nasty dragons here.

We at Square Bear stopped caring about web design for IE 6 on January 1 of this year. Anyone on a browser that old should be used to things not looking very good when they surf. And for those who are still on ancient Windows systems that don’t support newer versions of IE, even Internet Explorer 6 can download a new, infinitely superior, browser for you.

In fact, the only thing most versions of IE are good for is downloading a new browser the first time you start up your new computer. Except on Mac, where we were freed from the tyranny of the IE browser many years ago.

Once again, the Bears who are Square recommend the following browsers to improve your online life:

• Google Chrome
• Firefox
• Safari (you already have this if you’re a Mac user)

The first step is to choose an appropriate photo. You can try this with just about any photo, but a photo with good contrast and without too much detail in the background is a good place to start.

Step 1 – Save the file with a new name

Always keep your original photo safe, you don’t want to lose it by saving over it with your sketch version. Open the photo in Photoshop and then save it with a new name: perhaps use the same name but add the word “sketch” to it. Now your original is safe, so you can work with this and still have the original photo file.

Step 2 – Desaturate The Photo

Choose Image> Adjustments> Desaturate. This gives us a grayscale version of the photo. You can also use Image> Adjustments> Black and White on newer versions of Photoshop.

Step 3 – Duplicate the Layer

Duplicate the layer your photo is on. For a photo, you’ll only have one layer to start with, probably called “Background”. The name isn’t that important, though. Select this layer drag it over the New Layer icon. Now you have 2 layers, the original layer and one with the word “copy” in it..

Next we’ll be working with the new layer, probably named Background Copy.

Step 4 – Invert the New Layer

In the layers palette, select the new layer you just created. Then go to Image> Adjustments> Invert. This will turn this layer into a negative.

Step 5 – Change The Blend Mode

In the Layers Palette change the Layers Blend Mode for this layer to Color Dodge. It may look like your photo disappeared, or at least went mostly white. Don’t panic, that’s what should happen.

Step 6 – Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter

While on the new layer, use Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur. Now move the Radius slider to the left. Then start sliding it to the right.

As you move the slider, you’ll see the sketch take form. Experiment until it looks like a proper sketch. Bigger numbers create a stronger effect, but if you go too far your image will start looking more like a photo than a sketch. If your image is looking too photographic, drag the slider back to the left.

Other Blur Techniques

You aren’t limited to Gaussian Blur, you can also get this effect with Motion Blur and Radial Blur. Depending on the photo, one of the other blur methods may give you a better result. Experiment for the best results.

The finished pencil sketch. Click for a larger view.

Coloring Your Sketch

One way to paint over without losing your detail is to add a new layer on top of the sketch and set the Layers Blend Mode to Multipy.

Paint over. As long as your colors are not too dark, the texture of your original will stay in place. You can always go back to the sketch layer and play around with the blur settings after you color.

And there is even some old-fashioned stop-motion animation mixed in here. Just watch the pages turn.

If you like, you can choose to watch this in glorious HD. Once it starts playing, you’ll see a box to the right of the Watch Now button. That box has a number and an up arrow on it. To watch the high-definition version, click that and choose 720P.

A "not a bill" bill (click for a better view)

It’s important to know this, because if you are registered as a domain owner, you will get notifications about renewing your domain.And not all of them will come from your actual registrar. There are a number of companies who will send you something that looks very much like a bill for domain renewal. They are actually trying to do is get you to transfer your domain to them, where they will often charge you over the odds for the privilege. As a web professional, I get a lot of these. And clients often call me worried that they are going to lose their domain and want to know if they should send the money.

Here’s some sample wording from a notification I received yesterday:

You must renew your domain name to retain exclusive rights to it on the Web, and now is the time to transfer and renew your name from your current Registrar to…

And:

Failure to renew your domain name by the expiration date may result in a loss of your online identity…

If you read that through calmly, it’s fairly evident that this is not your current registrar reminding you to renew. The mail also does state “this is not a bill.” But look at that front-loaded sentence filled with the statement that you “must” do something or you’ll lose your “exclusive rights.” These companies know people mostly skim this sort of mail, so many people will just pay this “bill” rather than lose their “exclusive rights” and “online identity.”

And the funniest thing about it?

You can take advantage of our best savings.

Note the “our,” because they sure as heck aren’t YOUR best savings. This company wants to charge me $35 for a year’s registration. What a great savings: I just checked and I can renew the domain in question with my current registrar for $11.62 (including fees). That’s a savings that would take $23.38 out of my wallet.

If you don’t know the name of your current registrar, check your emails and bills to see who you paid. If you’re being told to renew by someone else, chuck that mail in the nearest bin (recycle, though). Or delete it from your inbox, if it came in email.

If you are currently paying $35 a year, look at your expiration date and consider transferring to a new registrar when renewal time comes. I won’t recommend one registrar in particular, but I’ve done fine with GoDaddy (but I recommend against hosting a site with these guys) and Namesecure . Watch, though, that you only sign up for the domain and pass on all the extras you don’t need (privacy, extra email addresses, variations on your desired domain name). It’s a thicket to get through them, but worth the time spent clicking “No Thanks.”

As for the unethical domain registrar, I won’t name names, but beware those letters with a little American Flag in the return address portion of the envelope and the words “Domain,” “Registry,” “of,” and “America.” Scam artists of the first water. Don’t fall for it.

I’m assigning you a New Year’s Resolution: ditch that clunker and get a proper browser.

This stems from more than my general dislike of Microsoft products. If I were forced to defend my dislike of some Microsoft products, I’d find myself on shaky ground (though Vista provided continent-spanning areas of solid footing). No, Internet Explorer is what Winnie the Pooh would call a Very Bad Idea.

• It’s a less secure browser than the alternatives. Microsoft can be slow to patch security holes. And since IE is integrated into Windows, security flaws are even more dangerous. Heck, the German government recommended abandoning the browser.
• You might not have the latest version. Microsoft themselves have told people to protect themselves by not using older versions of their browser. It seems that lots of people don’t know what version they’re using, or even that there are possible upgrades. Go to Internet Explorer’s Help menu and click “About Internet Explorer.” If it’s version 7 (or heaven help you, 6) then you need to do something. You should upgrade, since its tendrils are in your operating system. But while you’re at it, install and start using one of the better choices (see below).
• IE is not standards compliant. Standards should mean that a website has a similar appearance and performance no matter what the browser. Ask a Website developer about trying to make sites work both with standards-compliant browsers and with IE, then watch the blood begin to boil. The fine folks at Microsoft thumb their noses at some of those standards and try to impose their own rules in other cases.
• IE is slower. I won’t get into the whole horserace comparison thing or the arguments over testing methodologies. Let’s just say that time and again, Google Chrome and Firefox easily outpace IE in page loading and script processing speeds.

So what are your alternatives? Lucky you: they’re all free and simple. There are many alternate browsers, but I’ll recommend two of them.

• Google Chrome, a zippy and clean browser. Whenever I have to use a different browser, I miss it. If you use multiple machines, it automatically syncs bookmarks and settings, which is a major selling point.
• Firefox, another great choice, and useful for those who like to trick out there systems with fancy add-ons.

Some people work for companies that require using IE on their computers (which seems insane but I digress…). You have an option thanks to the good people at Google: Google Chrome Frame. It may not be ideal, but it’ll help whip that bully IE into a somewhat better tool.

Internet Explorer used to have a 90% share of the Web browser market, but they’ve been declining steadily for years. By some measurements, it dropped below 50% in October of 2010. I hope you’ll join the crowd who continue that trend.