A while back, we were introduced to a site that lets you type in your web site’s domain name – or even a specific page URL on your site – to see if the content on your page is being used on any other sites. We thought this was an interesting concept, so we plugged in our URL and were shocked to find our content was – word for word – being used on a number of other web sites – without our permission, obviously!

To add insult to injury, several of the sites that had outright ripped off our copy were themselves designers. In one case, the person had not only stolen our copy, but images from our portfolio, advertising our work as their own. Imagine being a client of an unscrupulous designer who searches out someone else’s web site to steal content to sell themselves to said client on merits that are not their own.

Needless to say, we were not about to take theft of our copyrighted content and images lying down! We immediately had our legal advisor draft a cease-and-desist message which was sent to the owners of each of the offending sites. Most responded quickly – and apologetically – and complied with our request for removal of our content from their sites. In one case, the owner of a printing company web site told us that the person who developed the site for them provided the copy and he was dumbfounded when we presented him with our claim of plagiarism. That case proved to be the most difficult to resolve, with the developer initially refusing to co-operate. Within a few days, however, it was, thankfully, resolved.

So, the moral of this story is two-fold:

Be pro-active in protecting your copyrighted material. Your content represents countless hours of research, writing and testing and monetary investment. Don’t let some fly-by-night thief take advantage of what is rightfully yours.

And, equally important – be careful who you hire. If the combination of stellar portfolio and bargain-basement pricing seems too good to be true – it probably is. Competent, experienced design professionals know the value of what they provide to a client and their rates will reflect that value. Do a thorough background check on the person/firm to be sure they’re legit. Ask to speak to former clients and ask if the work they received measured up to the portfolio they were shown.

While it’s unfortunate that there are unsavory sorts who would stoop to outright theft of someone else’s content, it is, in fact, a reality. The best defense against these types of crooks is to not let them get away with it. You can bet the people we caught ripping off our content will think twice before doing it again. Once busted, twice shy.

Check out the Copyscape web site – www.copyscape.com – to find out if your content is being used without permission.

In the modern age of word processing and unlimited digital resources, the practice of correctly citing material has begun to deteriorate. Potential sources have moved into digital libraries, and students have access to a plethora of previously written papers in any field with almost any subject. The technological revolution has strained the core principles that professional educators strive to instill in their students. As a society we are at a turning point. We can cower from our moral goals in the face of adversity or press forward and create new solutions to the drawbacks of living in a digital age. When it comes down to it, stepping back from our efforts to cite sources for original thought and reward people for their creativity is not an option.

At one time, academic integrity was an unquestionable pillar of essay writing and content creation. When research required a library card and a lengthy time investment in hunting down relevant resources, academic integrity was in effect protected by the distinction of taking time out to specifically harvest source material for your paper. Library time, made it more difficult for a student to blur the lines between research and other day to day activities. At the same time, there was no available access to vast databases of papers. Cheating meant sourcing a paper from a closer associate. The anonymity of downloading a cookie-cutter essay from the web was unavailable. Plagiarizing from close associates also meant that the work was more likely to be previously read by the professor. Before computers, not only was academic integrity more paramount, the act of plagiarizing was in many ways more difficult.

The digital age had a revolutionary impact on content creation in the education field. With the advent of word processing, spell checking began to shift to automated programs and essays could be printed or copied at the push of a button. The internet opened up a vast network of fully digitized resources. Library cards began to gather dust as student scoured to web for more specific and readily available resources. As web surfing became a part of nearly everyone’s day to day activities, the distinction between researching and searching began to blur. This breakdown was further exacerbated by the growing social activities available online. Student began sharing information across social networks and the art of copy and pasting interesting information became second nature.

As technology began to offer up increasingly easy channels for plagiarism, the education community and the technical community searched for means to defend the long running standard of academic integrity. The issue was not merely that students no longer cared about citation. In many cases, students never intentionally engaged in plagiarism, overlooking their behavior as just another online activity. The education community pushed for renewed understandings of academic integrity and turned to technical solutions to uncover academic misdeeds. Software companies began to offer programs that were capable of tapping into large databases and online collections of resources to crosscheck papers for citation errors. These tools allowed educators to more effectively identify plagiarism issues and pinpoint the missing sources.

As plagiarism became more difficult to self identify, a growing need developed for students to scan their own work for citation issues prior to submitting papers. Despite their best intentions, many students overlooked certain sources as the sheer access to information produced more specific and independent sources for each essay. With the potential of expulsion, students looked for more effective way to ensure they were meeting standards of academic integrity. Recently, the same companies that initially offered professors solutions for identifying plagiarism have turned their efforts to students. New paper plagiarism checker software offers a simple answer to the requirement that student self enforce proper citation practices in their essay creation. With this new technology students can research and write their original papers and then double check their citation with a simple scan of the document. The new programs will help identify which, if any, sections are flagged for citation issues and help the student police themselves for proper citation techniques.

The internet age has opened a Pandora’s box of potentially double edged technologies that can both help and hurt the education field. Ultimately, most educators would agree that more readily available access to information can only help advance education and understanding. As technology opened the door to undermine academic integrity, it also appears to have answered the call for protections against such evils. With an emphasis on citation and open access to plagiarism scanning tools, a new crop of students is prepared to meet the challenge of striving for academic integrity in a modern age.

The digital technology is a completely new technology which is being used in the recent years. Especially in the world of advertising this particular technology has penetrated greatly. Digital signage information points are considered the best mode of advertising as they are able to transmit real time information to the target audience. When the information is transmitted with the help of this technology, the information can be in the form of images, text, data, animations or videos. But one thing one needs to keep in mind is that when you are transferring information with the help of digital signage information it is important that the content of the information is colorful and attractive. Unless the information passed is catchy it will not hold the attention of the target audience.

The different types of display which are used in case of these information points are LCD screens, projectors or the LED screens. But all of these are touch screen that is to browse through it you can use either the finger or the stylus which is provided along with it. Suppose you get impressed by a particular offer and you want to know more about the product, the only thing which you need to do is browse through the touch screen monitor. In the initial stage the cost that is involved in the setting up of digital signage information points for the purpose of advertising may seem very costly. It is true that the establishment cost is higher than the cost involved in the other modes of advertising. But the return you get is worth the investment. Moreover in case of this technology you need not be bothered with the headache of updating the content at regular intervals. The addition and alteration of the messages in these information points can be done with ease and the time taken is just thirty seconds. In the other modes of advertising you need to undergo a lot of hassle for changing the content. As there is a lot of flexibility as far as content change is concerned in Digital Signage sometimes it is referred as the Dynamic Digital Signage Software Solution.

The greatest advantage of the digital signage information points is that from any part of the world you are able to communicate a message to various target consumers. Thus sitting in a different place you can arrange for revenue generation for your organization. When this technology is used to transfer the message to various parts of the world the cost is nothing when compared to the benefits received. The technology that is involved in the distribution of this kind of information is a network via TCP/IP protocols.

The technology is used by many of the industries as well as the retail chains. The technology used in the digital information points can be customized according to the required and they are monitored electronically. The technology which is used in the digital information is a blend of hardware devices and a digital signage software solution. This global mode of advertising is largely used in the airports, hospitals and entertainment spaces etc.