Blog

The current issue of the journal Nature, reports that scientists have used gene therapy to achieve full color vision in two naturally colorblind male squirrel monkeys. The results bode well for people with colorblindness and may even be used to treat a range of vision problems, not just colorblindness.

Until that time, colorblind people can surf the Web safely with WOT's colorblind accessible version.

The traffic light colors of our add-on are difficult for most colorblind people to discern so the color schemes of the rating icons and the symbol language are designed to meet the needs of the colorblind. When you register with WOT, be sure to enable the colorblind accessible version. You can also choose it, by going to the Advanced Settings in the add-on.

Please share this innovation with your friends! Download WOT now!

Watch our video which explains more.

October is the month we set aside to celebrate all things spooky. Unfortunately scary Internet goblins, malicious ghosts and inbox gremlins haunt us year 'round. Which is why the good folks at the Department of Homeland Security in the USA and Public Safety Canada have devoted this month to National Cyber Security Awareness. This year's theme is "Our Shared Responsibility," and the goal is to increase awareness about Internet security issues and to help computer users take steps to protect their bit of cyberspace and stay safe online (no garlic, crucifixes or silver bullets required.)

WOT plays an important part in this type of mission. Our large community of users holds back the cyberspooks while making valuable contributions to Internet safety by rating sites for overall trustworthiness, privacy protection, suitable content for children and the reliability of online shops. Anyone with WOT can see at a glance if a site is risky to visit or do business with, so they can avoid potential security issues. Everyone can benefit from using WOT.

No tricks, only treats

It's a challenge to get people to take responsibility for their own cybersecurity. So it's up to those of us who are aware of the truly scary damage that can be done to help them out. Take some time this month to do a few things (add a piece of candy when you're doing it, and it really becomes a treat!)

First, get your own house in order

1. Make sure you have anti-virus software and firewalls installed, properly configured, and up-to-date (take a look at Panda's trial offers for WOT users if you don't have AV)
2. Update your operating system and critical program software
3. Back up your important files

Then, help someone else

1. Share your knowledge about Internet safety and security with a friend or family member
2. If you have a website or blog, copy this blog (add a link back please) or write you own
3. Use forums, newsletters, e-mail alerts, etc, at your school or business to increase awareness on issues like updating software, protecting personal information, and surfing safely
4. Install WOT for them and give them a quick tutorial 

Let us know in the comments section below what you are doing for National Cyber Security Awareness month.

LinkedIn users, you are invited to join the WOT LinkedIn Group.

Active WOT user BerArt created the group in February, and since then, it has grown to 200 members. It would be good to use the diverse talents and ideas of this group to discuss subjects like the future of WOT, product development, marketing, etc. So if you have a LinkedIn profile and you are a fan of WOT, please join the group.

LinkedIn is a social networking site with a business orientation. It allows you to build upon your professional network while making new connections in your areas of interest.

WOT helps make your Web searches safer, and now with the help of Surf Canyon, we also make them smarter. WOT has joined with Surf Canyon to test a new search refinement feature that offers you customized suggestions with your search results, and we'd like your feedback.

A small group in the USA and Finland are part of a random selection of users that will see occasional "WOT Safe Search" refinements on Google searches. Update your add-on to see if you are part of the group, and then please share your opinion about this feature. Of course, if you don't want the search refinement links, you can turn it off by clicking the [x] next to the refinements.

Let us know what you think about the WOT Safe Search refinements in the comments section below. Thanks!

WOT has a new wiki and you are invited to participate. In the spirit of collaboration, everyone who is a registered WOT user has access to the WOT Wiki. When you are logged in to WOT, you are also logged onto our wiki.

A wiki is simply an editable website. Wikipedia is the largest example. Which begs the question - why have a WOT Wiki when there is already a WOT entry on Wikipedia? Having a WOT Wiki allows us to focus on WOT with more in-depth articles because we will have an entire site dedicated to it! And with no worries of being deleted from Wikipedia for being written like an advertisement or for non-notability, we can make the WOT Wiki the way we want it to be.

This is the beginning, so if you would like to help create a great reference tool and have some fun doing it, please jump right in. We need YOU!

The WOT Wiki is easy to find. Just go to www.mywot.com/wiki and start editing.