Something is really odd here.

As a reporter covering Facebook, I do get the occasional cranky complaints from members who, for one reason or another, are experiencing errors when they try to access their accounts. But it's never been anything like the past week, with a steady stream of e-mails continuing to come in from Facebook members who say they remain shut out of their accounts--despite assurance from Facebook that profiles have not been deleted and that the company is working on the problem.

"This is now seven days and counting," an e-mail sent on Saturday morning read. "It's beyond ridiculous and extremely frustrating."

"The experience completely reversed the Facebook opinion and experience for me," one reader complained. "I see many people bitch and complain, many more beg and a few threaten. To me, the route to take is fairly obvious. Mark Zuckerberg on his own page invites democratic input from Facebook users in one of his most recent videos. Given that statement especially, I find the way their user base is being treated with respect to their disabled account policy hypocritical at best."

"My account has now been held hostage for a week," another reader wrote. "Some of my friends think that I have deleted (my profile) or even blocked them...None of my friends or family can see my profile or even find it in search. It's as if I simply deleted my account or blocked all of them from seeing it without even a word."

Some users have started threads on Get Satisfaction and Yahoo Answers. A few others have pointed me to blogs and YouTube channels devoted to the subject.

The inaccessible accounts appear to be limited to a very small subset of Facebook's over 300 million active users, which means that it's not a large-scale issue for the health of the site. And Facebook is supported by neither subscription money or taxpayer dollars (though it wouldn't have advertising revenue without its users) so there's an argument to be made that users shouldn't be complaining about something they don't pay for. But that's an argument that many of the people who have come to rely on Facebook as a channel of communication simply don't buy.

Whether the string of complaints is warranted or not, Facebook hasn't disclosed exactly what's caused the "extended maintenance issue," and that's what I find puzzling.

If Windows 7 has a killer feature, it’s search. As I demonstrate in this week’s screencast, you can find search boxes throughout Windows 7—on the Start menu, in Control Panel, and in Windows Explorer. The indexed search is fast and accurate, in my experience, and the indexing process itself is barely noticeable in terms of performance. The best change, though, is the addition of the Search Builder, which replaces the clunky search forms from earlier versions and allows you to filter a results set by date, type, size, or an attribute that’s appropriate to a particular type of data such as music or photos.
Every time I write about search, at least a half-dozen commenters show up in the Talkback section to proclaim that it’s unnecessary if you know how to organize your files into subfolders. But they miss the point completely. A well-managed filing system and a fast search index work together beautifully. As an author, for example, how should I keep my files organized? Should I have every document related to a single project in its own subfolder? Or should I keep contracts in one folder, proposals and outlines in another, drafts in yet another, and finished chapters elsewhere? And even if I’ve done a perfect job of naming and organizing those files, how do I find the contract that had the clause about foreign publication rights that I need to discuss with my agent in five minutes? A good search tool can track that file down in seconds. Without it, I’d have to find every contract in every folder and open each one to see what’s inside.

This is the third of four Windows 7 demos I’ve done in this series. Look for the final screencast in the series next week at this time.

GARRISON, NY--(Marketwire - October 13, 2009) - Aurora Information Technology, Inc., a medical website design and medical marketing company based in Garrison, NY, believes in the concept of personal branding, especially when it comes to healthcare. In this age of healthcare consumerism, patients are increasingly taking control of their choices in doctors and treatments. There is a huge demand for healthcare providers, but the supply is equally as large. Patients can afford to be selective, because it is no longer a case of a big fish in a little pond. Healthcare has become a big pond with an abundance of big fish.

In a recent BusinessWeek article ("Authentic personal branding starts with the real you" by Marshall Goldsmith, September 29, 2009), Dr. Hubert Rampersad, an authority on authentic personal branding, stated that personal branding should be done in an "organic, authentic, and holistic way," to make yourself "strong, distinctive, relevant, meaningful, and memorable."

So what can doctors, healthcare providers and hospitals do to brand themselves? Aurora provides these simple tips to doctors and healthcare providers to incorporate into their website and Internet marketing to promote themselves as personal brands.

Be the expert

Devote a section on your website to your successes and press mentions. Get the word out about how long you have been practicing in your particular field, and your experience with certain procedures. Numbers literally speak volumes with patients. In your website, promote the awards, certifications or distinctions you've earned.

Trust me

Experience means everything to patients so make sure your website clearly lists your training, board certification, experience, professional memberships in respected associations, safety records and hospital affiliations.

Manage yourself

What you don't know can definitely hurt you. With social media platforms, you can manage what patients are saying about you, and be able to respond accordingly. This can be done with a well-written, informative blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more. Link these directly from your website.

Optimization is optimal

A high search engine optimization (SEO) ranking is extremely important and helps build trust. Since patients start with word of mouth or the Internet, if you're at the top, they will find you and believe in you. Your website or blog must contain the appropriate keywords that are reviewed and updated regularly for freshness, credibility and visibility.

Get out there

Find events and venues where you can market yourself. We are talking medical conventions or panel discussions, or even keynote speaker opportunities. Media appearances are hard to come by, but if you have the right representation, you can garner a prime spot to promote yourself. Incorporate video feeds on your website from these events and appearances, or upload them to YouTube.com for added exposure.

Those who know, teach

Imparting your medical knowledge can help educate future doctors and providers. And your learning continues as well, because it increases your skill set and helps keep you up-to-date and current with what's new in the medical field.

About Aurora Information Technology, Inc.

Aurora Information Technology is a New York-based medical website design, content management, public relations, and healthcare marketing firm. A majority of Aurora IT's healthcare clients have experienced patient caseload growth of 20% or more, with some as high as 50%, after the creation and maintenance of an Aurora website. For more information about Aurora's medical logo, website design, and healthcare marketing services, call 1-914-591-7236, or visit them online at www.aurora-it.us.

Francis Marion University’s Information Technology Team was recently awarded the 2009 Innovation in Technology Award by the South Carolina Information Technology Directors Association (SCITDA).

Howard Brown, director of user services; Matthew Cantrell, director of network operations and services; Teresa McDuffie, network specialist; Robin Moore, director of campus applications and data services; and Kevin Torgersen, network administrator were presented the award during SCITDA’s Annual Conference in Columbia.

The Team award is designed to recognize excellence in collaborative and innovative technology-based projects. From e-mail to server enhancements to partnering with Google to provide students with FMU-branded Google Applications, the IT team has worked to establish a technology environment that challenges innovation, growth and service to its computing community while laying a foundation that can support emerging technologies and encourage pursuit of the same, said John Dixon, FMU’s chief information officer.

· Brown began his career at FMU in 1998, immediately after earning a bachelor’s degree from FMU.

· Cantrell joined the FMU staff in 2007. He earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Clemson University. He completed his undergraduate work in architectural design in 1999 and his graduate work in computer science in 2002.

· McDuffie joined the FMU staff in 1998. She is a 1988 graduate of South Carolina State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering technology.

· Moore began working at FMU in 1987 and is a 1981 graduate of Francis Marion University.

· Torgersen came to FMU in 2007. He earned an associate’s degree in computer science from Spartanburg Methodist College and a bachelor’s degree in information management and systems from the University of South Carolina Upstate in 2005.

Francis Marion University, founded in 1970, is one of South Carolina’s 13 state-supported universities. As one of the state’s six comprehensive institutions, FMU prides itself on providing a strong liberal arts education.

The university enrolls nearly 4,200 students and offers a broad range of undergraduate degrees and a select number of graduate programs serving the needs of communities, businesses and industries of the Pee Dee. Francis Marion is the only state university serving the Pee Dee, and many of its students are the first in their families to attend college.

SCITDA, originally formed in 1978 as the South Carolina Association of Data Processing Directors (SCADPD), serves as a forum for the exchange of information pertinent to the management of State IT facilities while also providing a consolidation of experience, knowledge and interest in improvement of IT administration and management. Since its inception, the Association has grown from a handful of people to an organization that includes most State agencies, colleges and universities.