Every now and then, there is a forum post worth bookmarking and a Search Engine Watch thread that compiles an excellent list of link-building resources is such a post. The post, and the comments that follow, provides for a very comprehensive list of tools, articles, forum threads and knowledge bases that can be found on the Internet.
Good job Nacho.
Monday, November 15, 2004
Google's Blogger to be Internationalized
Blogger's posting interface and some other pages are soon to be made available in other languages says Biz Stone in today's Google Blog. As time goes on native speakers of French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, and Korean will see an increasingly familiar version of Blogger in their own languages when they sign in.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Microsoft No Longer "more evil than satan", says MSN Search
If Satan himself came up to you on the street and says, "I am not Satan", would you believe him? Of course you would. That is exactly what MSN Search is trying to tell us now, that MicroSoft is no longer "more evil than Satan".
MSN Search just pushed out their latest round of automated relevance improvements and they changed the results. Now neither Google nor Microsoft rank in the top 10 any more for this particular query. Quote "[their] algorithm changed its mind".
MSN Search just pushed out their latest round of automated relevance improvements and they changed the results. Now neither Google nor Microsoft rank in the top 10 any more for this particular query. Quote "[their] algorithm changed its mind".
"Just so you know (since I’m sure you’ll ask), this wasn’t a targeted change. We are constantly refining our ranking algorithms to produce the best, most accurate results, so changes like this happen all the time."Nick does not believe it, thinks it is just a PR stunt.
"I just cant help thinking that all this is just designed to get tons of search related blogs posting about MSN every 5mins...Let me be one of the first to blog about Nick. LOL. And one other thing:
I'll be damned if i'll have the TW homepage and rss feed choked with this silliness, it's boring the crap out of me already."
If thine RSS feed offends thee, pluck it out.
Friday, November 12, 2004
Drupal's New Server
With the new release of Drupal 4.5.0 not too long ago and an elegant theme to match, the aging server was coming under a lot of stress. The Drupal website experienced a large increase in popularity with more than 10.000 visitors per day and 70GB of traffic/month.
Now they have migrated to a new server and they're happy as all get-out. I would be too.
Now they have migrated to a new server and they're happy as all get-out. I would be too.
Another Color Scheme Generator
Yet another color scheme generator:
http://www.wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html
VIA: Dave's Chalkboard
http://www.wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html
VIA: Dave's Chalkboard
AOL Tells Customers to Find New Carrier
Is AOL on the way out? I hope not, because I will surely miss those coffee cup coasters of theirs.
America Online, which earlier this year stopped signing up new broadband customers, is telling existing broadband subscribers in nine Southern states that they must find a new broadband carrier by Jan. 17. The affected states are Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Those customers who do not switch to a new broadband carrier by that date will have their accounts revert to AOL's traditional dialup service.
AOL has been telling its customers that they can switch to high-speed broadband service offered by BellSouth Corp. for a special promotional rate.
AOL's $54 monthly broadband service is relatively expensive and they expect to phase out existing broadband customers in the rest of the country in a similar manner over the next year.
America Online, which earlier this year stopped signing up new broadband customers, is telling existing broadband subscribers in nine Southern states that they must find a new broadband carrier by Jan. 17. The affected states are Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Those customers who do not switch to a new broadband carrier by that date will have their accounts revert to AOL's traditional dialup service.
AOL has been telling its customers that they can switch to high-speed broadband service offered by BellSouth Corp. for a special promotional rate.
AOL's $54 monthly broadband service is relatively expensive and they expect to phase out existing broadband customers in the rest of the country in a similar manner over the next year.
Firefox Hack: Suppress New Windows
Pinder has a great tip for suppressing the target='_blank' property of anchor links which opens new windows. Apparently, the new release of Firefox advanced preferences for this no longer works, it has been overridden by a new advanced preference.
To turn it on, go to about:config and set browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs to TRUE.
Alternatively you can add user_pref('browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs', true); to your user.js file.
A new option will appear in Tools>Options>Advanced>Tab browsing. You can then force links that open in new windows to open in the current window or a new tab instead.
Pinder says that it's an experimental option for now, so it might be a little buggy, but it works for the most part.
To turn it on, go to about:config and set browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs to TRUE.
Alternatively you can add user_pref('browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs', true); to your user.js file.
A new option will appear in Tools>Options>Advanced>Tab browsing. You can then force links that open in new windows to open in the current window or a new tab instead.
Pinder says that it's an experimental option for now, so it might be a little buggy, but it works for the most part.
InsideMicrosoft Launched
Nathan Weinberg of InsideGoogle has launched a new blog, InsideMicrosoft. Expect to see the same style of reporting on MSN Search (and other related material) with the same vigor as he does with Google.
InsideMicrosoft has the following feeds available:
InsideMicrosoft has the following feeds available:
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Google to Certify SEM Professionals
For $50 and a passing grade of 75% on an entrance exam, you can become certified as a Google Advertising Partner according to an article at DMNews. The program is similar to those run by Microsoft and Cisco for developers and engineers, but requires search marketers to prove their knowledge of Google advertising policies and product details.
Along with passing the exam, marketers must handle at least $1,000 in AdWords spending over a 90-day period to qualify for certification. Google Advertising Professionals receive a logo to display on their Web sites and marketing materials. They also get access to My Client Center, a centralized 'master account' for managing different client accounts.
Along with passing the exam, marketers must handle at least $1,000 in AdWords spending over a 90-day period to qualify for certification. Google Advertising Professionals receive a logo to display on their Web sites and marketing materials. They also get access to My Client Center, a centralized 'master account' for managing different client accounts.
MSN Search Blog
MSN Search has a new blog so they can keep you all up-to-date on what's happening with their new beta search product. Yes MSN Search is only in Beta right now.
They are having problems with Firefox compatability, although I have not really seen anything problematic with it yet. I think it had to do with the blog itself and not the search layout. I could be wrong on that.
Also some technical difficulties are being worked on:
They are having problems with Firefox compatability, although I have not really seen anything problematic with it yet. I think it had to do with the blog itself and not the search layout. I could be wrong on that.
Also some technical difficulties are being worked on:
In the process of making our new MSN Search beta broadly available we experienced some technical difficulties that caused the beta service to function improperly or be unavailable for some users for periods of time. We're working through these issues one by one and you should see service availability and quality improve soon if not already. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Mozilla Firefox 1.0 - 1 million Downloads on First Day?
Mozillazine is reporting that Mozilla Firefox 1.0 appears to have been downloaded over one million times on the day of its release, based on preliminary data. My emphasis on the word "appears".
This time around there were more unofficial mirror sites. Some mirrors were activated on the fly as the main servers came to an almost dead stop from the rush to download the new Firefox release. Actual totals are slowly filtering in.
I noticed that the SpreadFirefox site was shut down temporarily last night and throughout the early morning hours to reduce bandwidth and server load, you were greeted with a simple text message informing you of this.
Blog posts and information was soon released informing users of alternate download sites. One existing mirror site, and probably the best known, is CNET's Download.com. They are reporting only 33 thousand downloads over the past week, of which may include prior versions such as RC2 and RC1. Not known if this is an updated total yet, it does seem a little low.
Oddly enough two other browsers surpassed the Firefox total last week at Downloads.com, Avant garnered almost 170 thousand and Opera with a little over 100 thousand. Possibly they are getting a little more attention at Downloads.com with all of this Firefox publicity.
This time around there were more unofficial mirror sites. Some mirrors were activated on the fly as the main servers came to an almost dead stop from the rush to download the new Firefox release. Actual totals are slowly filtering in.
I noticed that the SpreadFirefox site was shut down temporarily last night and throughout the early morning hours to reduce bandwidth and server load, you were greeted with a simple text message informing you of this.
Blog posts and information was soon released informing users of alternate download sites. One existing mirror site, and probably the best known, is CNET's Download.com. They are reporting only 33 thousand downloads over the past week, of which may include prior versions such as RC2 and RC1. Not known if this is an updated total yet, it does seem a little low.
Oddly enough two other browsers surpassed the Firefox total last week at Downloads.com, Avant garnered almost 170 thousand and Opera with a little over 100 thousand. Possibly they are getting a little more attention at Downloads.com with all of this Firefox publicity.
Gmail Introducing POP Access
Over the next several weeks, Gmail will introduce POP access to all users. To make sure the feature is fully stable, they're giving users access to POP in phases. IMAP access is still not supported.
You will know when POP access is available to you when a New Features! link appears at the top of your account, along with a Forwarding and POP tab on your Settings page.
Screenshot of Gmail POP Setup
To enable POP, follow the directions in the Gmail Help Center for How do I enable POP?
There is a list of email clients with links to configuration instructions for each client. Clients include Outlook Express (Windows and Mac), Outlook, Entourage, Eudora, Netscape Mail, Apple Mail, Mozilla, and Thunderbird. Clients not on the list should be easy enough to configure by following instructions from one of the clients in the list.
You will know when POP access is available to you when a New Features! link appears at the top of your account, along with a Forwarding and POP tab on your Settings page.
Screenshot of Gmail POP Setup
To enable POP, follow the directions in the Gmail Help Center for How do I enable POP?
There is a list of email clients with links to configuration instructions for each client. Clients include Outlook Express (Windows and Mac), Outlook, Entourage, Eudora, Netscape Mail, Apple Mail, Mozilla, and Thunderbird. Clients not on the list should be easy enough to configure by following instructions from one of the clients in the list.
Tuesday, November 9, 2004
MSN Search to go Live Thursday, November 11th
Microsoft is planning to introduce its long-awaited Internet search engine on Thursday November 11th, a person knowledgeable about the announcement said.
Word of the introduction of MSN Search was leaked on Tuesday (November 9th) after Microsoft began phoning reporters offering briefings for Wednesday. A company spokeswoman declined comment on the announcement.
There is also an Associated Press article that appeared in the ABC News Business section in regards to this. It stated (incorrectly) that Microsoft will introduce a desktop search product by years end. I think they have their wires crossed on this item ... they were first with the report, but did not proof it well enough.
Either way, this is going to liven things up quite a bit and I cannot wait.
UPDATE: The AP article is correct. A Desktop Search product should be out before the end of the year. Thanks to Danny Sullivan for pointing that out.
Word of the introduction of MSN Search was leaked on Tuesday (November 9th) after Microsoft began phoning reporters offering briefings for Wednesday. A company spokeswoman declined comment on the announcement.
There is also an Associated Press article that appeared in the ABC News Business section in regards to this. It stated (
Either way, this is going to liven things up quite a bit and I cannot wait.
UPDATE: The AP article is correct. A Desktop Search product should be out before the end of the year. Thanks to Danny Sullivan for pointing that out.
Bloglines Firefox Center
Bloglines has announced the addition of the Bloglines Firefox Center. The announcement is due in large part to the continuing success of Firefox and its abilities for RSS discovery.
From the Firefox Center you can download the latest version of Firefox, find a list of the current extensions that use Bloglines Web Services (currently two, Bloglines Toolkit and LiveLines), plus several links to learn more about Firefox.
"Over the past few months, we've watched users steadily switch away from Netscape and Internet Explorer to Firefox. Back in July, while Firefox was still in beta, it had grown to over 5% of our traffic. Today, Firefox represents 20% of requests to Bloglines."The Bloglines Firefox Center is a one-stop shop for getting started with Firefox, RSS, and Bloglines. They created the Firefox Center to support the many Bloglines members that have switched to Firefox as their preferred browser.
From the Firefox Center you can download the latest version of Firefox, find a list of the current extensions that use Bloglines Web Services (currently two, Bloglines Toolkit and LiveLines), plus several links to learn more about Firefox.
Mozilla considers desktop search integration for Firefox
An InfoWorld article is reporting that the Mozilla Foundation is considering desktop search integration for Firefox. Chris Hofmann, the Mozilla Foundation's engineering director says, "There are a variety of companies that are working on that technology and we may just try and identify a way for Firefox to plug into a variety of desktop search engines and enable users to pick and choose." Some of the possible desktop search vendors include X1 Technologies Inc., Copernic Technologies Inc. and Blinkx.
The bigger news however is that the Mozilla Foundation also wants to place Firefox in PCs through OEM (original equipment manufacturer) deals with PC hardware vendors and to continue to sharpen the product's pop-up ad blocking technology. This would be a major push into Microsoft Internet Explorer territory by far.
The bigger news however is that the Mozilla Foundation also wants to place Firefox in PCs through OEM (original equipment manufacturer) deals with PC hardware vendors and to continue to sharpen the product's pop-up ad blocking technology. This would be a major push into Microsoft Internet Explorer territory by far.
Microsoft in Google's Future?
I have absolutely no idea what this is about. None. Ask the people at Zorgloob. I just find this image very intriguing.
Google's Index Shows Increase of 33%
Eric Baillargeon has just reported that the total number of pages in the Google Index has increased to over 9.85 billion. This represents a 33 percent increase in 10 days time. He offers before and after screenshots which clearly show the increase.
Eric maintains that Google makes a big move every November. Last year was Florida. In November of 2001, Google had started indexing Word documents. He has not yet ascertained what caused such a big jump in the index this time around. Whatever caused it, is huge, to the tune of 3 billion plus pages.
Eric maintains that Google makes a big move every November. Last year was Florida. In November of 2001, Google had started indexing Word documents. He has not yet ascertained what caused such a big jump in the index this time around. Whatever caused it, is huge, to the tune of 3 billion plus pages.
SEO Toolbar
InsideGoogle reported on the first-ever SEO Toolbar which assists site owners with tracking backlinks for all the major search engines and if the page is listed in DMOZ. The toolbar is offered by Garry Grant's Search Engine Optimization, Inc.
Some people may know Garry. He's played a guitar since the age of 19 and has appeared with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi. His career in web development started when he founded DAG Web Studios about 10 years ago. He also holds a degree, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, from Monmouth University.
So does all of this make for another must-have toolbar? Not really. Garry is an entrepreneur with a lot of savvy. As a self-professed leader in the SEO Industry, this toolbar (as most are) is just a gimmick.
It boasts that it will provide you with data from 9 search engines. In all actuality, there are only 2 that you need to concern yourself with, Yahoo and Google. All the rest are derived from these two.
One thing that sticks in my craw about this toolbar is that you are required to submit an email address and your Zip Code before you can download it. That is enough for me to pass it up.
Better Alternatives are Available
I use a service, Uptimebot, which will deliver the exact same results as this toolbar. Here are the results for this site Webstractions. I am sure that a bookmarklet could be fashioned to pluck the current page from the address bar and post it to the form. If anybody creates a bookmarklet, please let me know and I will blog it for you.
If you really want advanced linkback analysis though, I recommend Axandra's (maker of Arelis) Link Popularity Check. It is a free desktop program that checks the link popularity status of your web site on several search engines and compares it to other web sites on the Internet (for example your competitors).
Link Popularity Check is completely safe to install on your system. It will not change the system registry and it will not make any unauthorized connections from your system. The software also includes an uninstaller.
Some people may know Garry. He's played a guitar since the age of 19 and has appeared with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi. His career in web development started when he founded DAG Web Studios about 10 years ago. He also holds a degree, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, from Monmouth University.
So does all of this make for another must-have toolbar? Not really. Garry is an entrepreneur with a lot of savvy. As a self-professed leader in the SEO Industry, this toolbar (as most are) is just a gimmick.
It boasts that it will provide you with data from 9 search engines. In all actuality, there are only 2 that you need to concern yourself with, Yahoo and Google. All the rest are derived from these two.
One thing that sticks in my craw about this toolbar is that you are required to submit an email address and your Zip Code before you can download it. That is enough for me to pass it up.
Better Alternatives are Available
I use a service, Uptimebot, which will deliver the exact same results as this toolbar. Here are the results for this site Webstractions. I am sure that a bookmarklet could be fashioned to pluck the current page from the address bar and post it to the form. If anybody creates a bookmarklet, please let me know and I will blog it for you.
If you really want advanced linkback analysis though, I recommend Axandra's (maker of Arelis) Link Popularity Check. It is a free desktop program that checks the link popularity status of your web site on several search engines and compares it to other web sites on the Internet (for example your competitors).
Link Popularity Check is completely safe to install on your system. It will not change the system registry and it will not make any unauthorized connections from your system. The software also includes an uninstaller.
GoogleGuy Says More
In a few WebmasterWorld threads, GoogleGuy has shed a little more light onto search engine ranking placement (SERP) at Google. Some of the factors have been known to exist for quite some time. Some have been debated, and are now confirmed, albeit he stops short of saying how much weighting is applied to those factors.
GoogleGuy answered a direct question regarding the fresh indexing of a single page and whether they are factored into the SERPS. His answer was, "typically yes, for on-page factors." He also added that on-page factors do include outbound links from the source page as well.
Major Google updates (not toolbar PageRank) which affect SERPS may be a thing of the past. It appears that they are of a rolling nature, or "regular flux". GoogleGuy also says that "off-page factors can be updated asynchronously" such as inbound links to a source page which will affect the ranking of that page.
Asynchronously is not elaborated on by GoogleGuy, he does not answer the question on "how quickly" these changes take effect. I assume this would depend on how quickly their bots find the off-page factors and when they run their processes against them. Although he says that they're "well out of the monthly update mode; it's much smoother to update the index incrementally over time."
All of this points towards a higher level of link analysis. To some extent, the burden of this could rest on MapReduce which is a programming model and an associated implementation for processing and generating large data sets. Google has used 900 separate instances of MapReduce on the production index as of September of 2004. A majority of these instances occurred during the incremental backlink updates that started to appear as early as mid-June.
The extent of such analysis is not really known. However, it is readily apparent that they are able to process a fresh crawl and update the index for on and off-page factors very rapidly. It is also apparent that PageRank does not play so much a part in the incremental updates, for that is a process that is conducted separately and it is anyone's guess as to when.
GoogleGuy answered a direct question regarding the fresh indexing of a single page and whether they are factored into the SERPS. His answer was, "typically yes, for on-page factors." He also added that on-page factors do include outbound links from the source page as well.
Major Google updates (not toolbar PageRank) which affect SERPS may be a thing of the past. It appears that they are of a rolling nature, or "regular flux". GoogleGuy also says that "off-page factors can be updated asynchronously" such as inbound links to a source page which will affect the ranking of that page.
Asynchronously is not elaborated on by GoogleGuy, he does not answer the question on "how quickly" these changes take effect. I assume this would depend on how quickly their bots find the off-page factors and when they run their processes against them. Although he says that they're "well out of the monthly update mode; it's much smoother to update the index incrementally over time."
All of this points towards a higher level of link analysis. To some extent, the burden of this could rest on MapReduce which is a programming model and an associated implementation for processing and generating large data sets. Google has used 900 separate instances of MapReduce on the production index as of September of 2004. A majority of these instances occurred during the incremental backlink updates that started to appear as early as mid-June.
The extent of such analysis is not really known. However, it is readily apparent that they are able to process a fresh crawl and update the index for on and off-page factors very rapidly. It is also apparent that PageRank does not play so much a part in the incremental updates, for that is a process that is conducted separately and it is anyone's guess as to when.
Google's New Firefox Page
I guess in honor of the official release of Firefox, Google has put up an updated start page for it. Pretty cool looking.
Mozilla Firefox 1.0 Released
It is now official Mozilla Firefox 1.0 Released, the first major new product release since the Mozilla Suite's 1.0 in June of 2002.
Builds are available from GetFirefox.com or from the FTP server and release notes are also available.
Builds are available from GetFirefox.com or from the FTP server and release notes are also available.
Sunday, November 7, 2004
Copernic's David Burns SE Radio Interview
In case you missed it, Search Engine Radio has archived Brad Fallon's interview with David Burns, CEO of Copernic Technologies and former CEO and founder of FAST.
David discussed Copernic's view regarding Desktop Search, which is a key focus for the company. Desktop search refers to searching for files, documents, and other items that reside on your desktop computer. Essentially employing a web search engine approach to searching files on your computer. The Copernic Desktop search product also searches desktop-resident email and will search web-based email in the future.
The audio archives for this show are in three segments:
David discussed Copernic's view regarding Desktop Search, which is a key focus for the company. Desktop search refers to searching for files, documents, and other items that reside on your desktop computer. Essentially employing a web search engine approach to searching files on your computer. The Copernic Desktop search product also searches desktop-resident email and will search web-based email in the future.
The audio archives for this show are in three segments:
- Segment 1 - From FAST to Copernic
- Segment 2 - Desktop Search
- Segment 3 - The Future of Desktop Search
Blogger Database Server Still Experiencing Problems
For the third time this week, Blogger Status is reporting database server problems. This time it is determined that there are a number of queries running on this server which are adversely impacting performance. Previous hassles included performance issues and aging hardware which prompted them to migrate data off of the troubled server.
UPDATE: It is reported that they have solved one problem with the database servers by pushing out new code which should help. But now there is another issue. They have to temporarily disable stat data collection. They plan to restore this functionality in the short term but have needed to stop collecting the information for now in order to stabilize the database servers.
UPDATE: It is reported that they have solved one problem with the database servers by pushing out new code which should help. But now there is another issue. They have to temporarily disable stat data collection. They plan to restore this functionality in the short term but have needed to stop collecting the information for now in order to stabilize the database servers.
Virginia Court Convicts Spammer - NC Man to get Nine Years
In what is hopefully the first of many cases, a CNET News article reports that a North Carolina man and his sister became the first two people convicted of a felony for sending fraudulent unsolicited commercial e-mail -- otherwise known as SPAM.
Jeremy Jaynes and Jessica DeGroot were convicted in a Virginia court Wednesday of sending AOL users millions of unsolicited commercial e-mail messages with falsified routing information to evade AOL's filters. Jurors recommended that Jaynes receive nine years in prison and fined DeGroot $7,500, according to news reports. A third defendant, Richard Rutkowski, was acquitted.
Jaynes, who used the alias Gaven Stubberfield , was ranked by watchdog group The Spamhaus Project as the eighth-most prolific spammer in the world when he was arrested last December.
DeGroot and Rutkowski appear to be let off too easily. Both Jaynes and Rutkowski were facing up to 20 years in prison and $10,000 in fines under the indictment brought by Virginia attorney general Jerry Kilgore in December 2003. Kilgore said the state also would seek to recoup profits from the spam.
Here is a mug shot of Jaynes, complements of MugShots.com. They describe him as a "dorky-looking geek".
Jeremy Jaynes and Jessica DeGroot were convicted in a Virginia court Wednesday of sending AOL users millions of unsolicited commercial e-mail messages with falsified routing information to evade AOL's filters. Jurors recommended that Jaynes receive nine years in prison and fined DeGroot $7,500, according to news reports. A third defendant, Richard Rutkowski, was acquitted.
Jaynes, who used the alias Gaven Stubberfield , was ranked by watchdog group The Spamhaus Project as the eighth-most prolific spammer in the world when he was arrested last December.
DeGroot and Rutkowski appear to be let off too easily. Both Jaynes and Rutkowski were facing up to 20 years in prison and $10,000 in fines under the indictment brought by Virginia attorney general Jerry Kilgore in December 2003. Kilgore said the state also would seek to recoup profits from the spam.
Here is a mug shot of Jaynes, complements of MugShots.com. They describe him as a "dorky-looking geek".
Google Censorship - Slashdotted
A Slashdot poster sets off another round of Google badmouthing-goodmouthing rants over alleged censoring of Abu Ghraib Prison images (along with Lynddie England images).
The discussion got a response from Sergey Brin (via Chris DiBona):
The discussion got a response from Sergey Brin (via Chris DiBona):
"In short, There is no censorship here. We are embarassed that our image index is not updated as frequently as it should be. Expect a refresh in the near future.Some of the comments were very harsh and accused Google of being a Bush puppet. DiBona was a little more terse in this regard:
In the meantime, you can just search on Google Web Search for abu graib photos to get plenty of what you are looking for."
"Please don't ascribe some dating issues on images to some political motive, we take this kind of stuff very seriously. We have to comply with the law, but there is no law yet on the books reguiring that companies in the United States take down pictures that might be embarassing to the current administration."
Saturday, November 6, 2004
Firefox Not Ready for School District Deployment ...
... or corporate environment either. In response to a proposal to the Snohomish School District (SDS) to mass deploy Firefox on their school's computers, the District's IT Department head fired back a few reasons why Firefox cannot be deployed on such a scale -- no guarantee of support, interoperability with other installed software, browser settings that cannot be locked, Group Policy configuration and no means for mass deployment and/or maintenance of solutions across a network.
The proposal letter was sent by someone who calls himself Spencer, a student who attends one of the schools in the District. The letter, quite frankly, was not so much a plea to the District to use Firefox, but rather a general chastising of Internet Explorer. Readers of young Spencer's post at SpreadFirefox relating his experience not only chastised MSIE, but the IT persons follow-up response as well by calling her (sometimes erroneously "him") ignorant and "brittle".
It is obvious that none of these people read SpreadFirefox's call to enlighten, rather than enter into this mudslinging type of schoolhouse debate. This will not win over any supporters, but will probably have the opposite affect when it comes to School Districts -- they do not do feasibility studies all that often -- and this District (Snohomish) will not be looking at Firefox for quite some time now.
Ironically, young Spencer would have had a better chance at convincing the District to the South of him in Seattle. While this District is much larger, it operates in a dissimilar fashion. Each School within this District is independently Administered. While SSD has a centralized IT Department, the schools have more power over what goes into them and can over-ride their decisions when it comes to the labs themselves. Here is another tip, the IT Department installs Netscape as a default browser, if and when they do get involved with physical installations.
SpreadFirefox's mission to spread the word about Firefox, IMO, should rein in these types of ill-targeted stabs in the dark. You give one IT head a negative impression and that will spread quickly from one District to the next. These people communicate with each other across District lines almost on a daily basis. You are going to need a more coordinated effort to crack these nuts. Each District is different and will require multiple gameplans too.
The proposal letter was sent by someone who calls himself Spencer, a student who attends one of the schools in the District. The letter, quite frankly, was not so much a plea to the District to use Firefox, but rather a general chastising of Internet Explorer. Readers of young Spencer's post at SpreadFirefox relating his experience not only chastised MSIE, but the IT persons follow-up response as well by calling her (sometimes erroneously "him") ignorant and "brittle".
It is obvious that none of these people read SpreadFirefox's call to enlighten, rather than enter into this mudslinging type of schoolhouse debate. This will not win over any supporters, but will probably have the opposite affect when it comes to School Districts -- they do not do feasibility studies all that often -- and this District (Snohomish) will not be looking at Firefox for quite some time now.
Ironically, young Spencer would have had a better chance at convincing the District to the South of him in Seattle. While this District is much larger, it operates in a dissimilar fashion. Each School within this District is independently Administered. While SSD has a centralized IT Department, the schools have more power over what goes into them and can over-ride their decisions when it comes to the labs themselves. Here is another tip, the IT Department installs Netscape as a default browser, if and when they do get involved with physical installations.
SpreadFirefox's mission to spread the word about Firefox, IMO, should rein in these types of ill-targeted stabs in the dark. You give one IT head a negative impression and that will spread quickly from one District to the next. These people communicate with each other across District lines almost on a daily basis. You are going to need a more coordinated effort to crack these nuts. Each District is different and will require multiple gameplans too.
Friday, November 5, 2004
Goollery - Gmail-based Image Gallery
Turn your website and a Gmail account into an image gallery with Goollery. You can upload pictures from a website and they will automatically be stored in your gmail account.
Requires PHP, libmailer (gmail-lite project) to connect to GMail, ImageMagick and, of course, a Gmail account.
Requires PHP, libmailer (gmail-lite project) to connect to GMail, ImageMagick and, of course, a Gmail account.
Googlebot "Hitting Too Heavy" say Webmasters
In a WebmasterWorld thread many Webmasters are reporting heavy Googlebot activity. One member's Server was inadvertantly shut down with a Denial of Service (DoS).
One member had to resort to temporarily banning the rampant Googlebot IP address (69.249.66.51) off and on to control the indexing of his site. Googlebot 2.1, the new bot in town, had been requesting 20 pages per second says this member.
GoogleGuy responded with "the crawl team is looking into it. We don't want to crawl so hard that you have to take action like that."
I agree, this is a little overboard and out of control. Perhaps what Google needs to do is institute the same robots.txt directive as MSN and Yahoo have -- the Crawl-Delay -- which will allow individual site owners to have control over how fast their sites are crawled.
The crawl-delay is easy enough to use. With three major players in the arena now, and all thirsty to keep their indexes fresh, some type of regulation is definitely needed.
One member had to resort to temporarily banning the rampant Googlebot IP address (69.249.66.51) off and on to control the indexing of his site. Googlebot 2.1, the new bot in town, had been requesting 20 pages per second says this member.
GoogleGuy responded with "the crawl team is looking into it. We don't want to crawl so hard that you have to take action like that."
I agree, this is a little overboard and out of control. Perhaps what Google needs to do is institute the same robots.txt directive as MSN and Yahoo have -- the Crawl-Delay -- which will allow individual site owners to have control over how fast their sites are crawled.
The crawl-delay is easy enough to use. With three major players in the arena now, and all thirsty to keep their indexes fresh, some type of regulation is definitely needed.
It's Official: Nathan of InsideGoogle to Appear on Search Engine Radio
It is confirmed by Nathan that he will appear on Search Engine Radio this coming Tuesday (Nov. 9th) at Noon EST.
Nathan is asking us to let him know what topics you would like them to cover. (Google topics of course ... hehehe). You can call in Live at the time of the show at 1-888-327-0061 or email them to show[at]seoradio.com in advance.
Good luck Nathan!
Sunday, October 31, 2004
Extend Google Desktop Search Filetypes with GDSPlus
Scott Kingery writes about GDSPlus, which allows you to specify what extensions the Google Desktop Search (GDS) tool will index. This includes the ability to add new text extensions not yet supported by Google, such as:
Basically, any ASCII text document can be now be indexed by allowing you to specify the file extensions of those documents. This does not add additional support for other filetype like Adobe PDF documents in other words. Additionally, you can also remove support for any of the extensions that Google included and you do not want indexed.
GDSPlus can be downloaded for free at http://www.trivex.net/
This software does not come with an installer, so it is important that you follow instructions in the readme.txt file. The installation process calls for clearing your current Google Desktop data, editing a Windows Registry entry and then reindexing your hard drive.
Be forewarned, GDSPlus is a replacement for your GoogleDesktopCrawl.exe and GoogleDesktopIndex.exe files from Google. The current version of GDS is v.100504 and should be the only version of Google Desktop Search Beta available right now.
If Google updates GDS in the future, then you will more than probably have to get your update from GDSPlus instead of Google if you want to continue to have the extra filetype support. It may come to pass that Google will add this functionality into GDS in the future though.
While GDSPlus only supports text filetypes and does not add other types (Google will have to do that), Scott has noticed that you can still index the filenames of other filetypes such as .wav, .rar, .png, etc. It does not index the contents of the files, just the filenames themselves.
- .XML
- .log (mIRC and Trillian)
- .cs, .vb (Visual Studio .NET source code files)
- .frm, .bas, .cls (Visual Basic 6 source code files)
Basically, any ASCII text document can be now be indexed by allowing you to specify the file extensions of those documents. This does not add additional support for other filetype like Adobe PDF documents in other words. Additionally, you can also remove support for any of the extensions that Google included and you do not want indexed.
GDSPlus can be downloaded for free at http://www.trivex.net/
This software does not come with an installer, so it is important that you follow instructions in the readme.txt file. The installation process calls for clearing your current Google Desktop data, editing a Windows Registry entry and then reindexing your hard drive.
Be forewarned, GDSPlus is a replacement for your GoogleDesktopCrawl.exe and GoogleDesktopIndex.exe files from Google. The current version of GDS is v.100504 and should be the only version of Google Desktop Search Beta available right now.
If Google updates GDS in the future, then you will more than probably have to get your update from GDSPlus instead of Google if you want to continue to have the extra filetype support. It may come to pass that Google will add this functionality into GDS in the future though.
While GDSPlus only supports text filetypes and does not add other types (Google will have to do that), Scott has noticed that you can still index the filenames of other filetypes such as .wav, .rar, .png, etc. It does not index the contents of the files, just the filenames themselves.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
"Jane, you ignorant slut"
Some of you may remember this classic line uttered by Dan Aykroyd in a Saturday Night live skit many years ago. It seems that every twenty years or so that classics tend to re-emerge, and none could be so closer to this again as this classic blog post from one of the most ignorant sluts on the Internet today.
Janeth, you ignorant slut. You have bashed me in public long enough with hundreds of petty arguments and fabrications that are so far-fetched that even Jon Lovitz would be envious. You might remember Jon on SNL in his "lieing guy" character.
It seems that I and a friend of mine are the number one topics of conversation on two fora, Janeth's Freaks on Mushrooms and Phil de Crepid's SEO Front Shop, full of puppets-on-strings-like members who seem to believe everything that they are told. If it were not for us, they would not have any entertainment for their troops and the post count would be considerably lower. It is quite humorous reading, and I encourage you all to have a look see here and here.
Actually I feel kind of privileged to be getting more net-time from these two than Jill Whalen, one of my favorite all-time SEO Bitches. I should be thanking them for all this free publicity. Thanks, you anal retentive shitheads.
Keep it coming guys, I need a good laugh every now and then. God knows you ain't got anything else going for you right now. Phil has milked that fucking PR paper of his long enough and needs new material. Janeth, the "Queen of I agree posts", does not have a single original thought in that pea-brain of hers. And Fathom, what is up with this guy? I used to have a lot of respect for him. Now he is reduced to the same child-like behavior of the other two and rumor has it that he is covertly going back into WebProWorld and deleting his past posts.
Janeth, you ignorant slut. You have bashed me in public long enough with hundreds of petty arguments and fabrications that are so far-fetched that even Jon Lovitz would be envious. You might remember Jon on SNL in his "lieing guy" character.
It seems that I and a friend of mine are the number one topics of conversation on two fora, Janeth's Freaks on Mushrooms and Phil de Crepid's SEO Front Shop, full of puppets-on-strings-like members who seem to believe everything that they are told. If it were not for us, they would not have any entertainment for their troops and the post count would be considerably lower. It is quite humorous reading, and I encourage you all to have a look see here and here.
Actually I feel kind of privileged to be getting more net-time from these two than Jill Whalen, one of my favorite all-time SEO Bitches. I should be thanking them for all this free publicity. Thanks, you anal retentive shitheads.
Keep it coming guys, I need a good laugh every now and then. God knows you ain't got anything else going for you right now. Phil has milked that fucking PR paper of his long enough and needs new material. Janeth, the "Queen of I agree posts", does not have a single original thought in that pea-brain of hers. And Fathom, what is up with this guy? I used to have a lot of respect for him. Now he is reduced to the same child-like behavior of the other two and rumor has it that he is covertly going back into WebProWorld and deleting his past posts. Browser Newcomer, iRider, Beats Firefox Extensions
This is not the first time that I have heard this. Andilinks, a member of the Band of Gonzos forum, has tried iRider out already and came to the same conclusion. That conclusion is that it beats Firefox hands down in many departments.
The one feature that both Andi and Marjolein highly acclaimed was the sidebar navigation. Much akin to tabbed-browsing, this has more advanced features that tabbed browsing cannot provide. The sidebar is visually appealing by showing you thumbnail shots of the websites you are visiting. The navigation panel will let you instantly know whether a page is done downloading, whether you have visited a page or not, allows you to "pin" a page for future use (pinned pages are retained from one iRider session onto the next) and at which level the link was opened.
iRider is an Internet Explorer based product. iRider claims that they have plugged several security holes in their browser that currently plague other versions of IE. They also offer highly detailed technical support to secure your browser even further.
With security issues aside however, being an IE-based browser, iRider will accept any IE plugins that you may have grown attached to or just cannot do without. One such plugin, Pluck, which turns your IE into a full fledged newsreader has no comparative extension available in Firefox (Sage does not even come close).
UPDATE: I erroneously reported that Robin Good recommended iRider. The article actually was written by Marjolein Hoekstra, an independent writer who contributes to the Robin Good network.
"While I wholeheartedly respect Marjolein in-depth reporting and viewpoint, I have personally never stated that I would toss USD $29 to have iRider replace my FireFox.My apologies Robin.
I am a strong supporter of moving away from the IE platform, so while I must bow to iRider useful innovations, I look forward to having those same features without having to depend on IE."
Two New TLD's (.travel & .post) Near Approval
ICANN has announced that it has entered final negotiations for implementing two new top-level domains, .travel and .post. This final process can still take months.
In addition to .travel and .post, proposals for new TLDs include .xxx, .jobs, .asia and .eu. The status of the other applicants is still pending however.
In addition to .travel and .post, proposals for new TLDs include .xxx, .jobs, .asia and .eu. The status of the other applicants is still pending however.
Yahoo! Bidding for CBS MarketWatch
Yahoo! has an eye on the "big eye" of CBS MarketWatch. Yahoo! currently provides financial news and information through its Yahoo! Finance channel. This move could gain several subscription-based products if they could buy MarketWatch, it also would turn them into a content provider. To date, Yahoo! has merely been disseminating information from other content providers.
Google Desktop Search for Mac OS
Google chief executive Eric Schmidt says that Google has plans to release a version of its desktop search tool for computers running on the Mac operating system. He did not set a timetable for a Mac version of Google Desktop, saying it had to be rebuilt from the ground up because of the fundamental differences between the Mac OS and Windows.
So far Google has not targeted any other operating system other than Windows. This will be the first time Google will move away from that trend.
UPDATE: Nathan Weinberg of InsideGoogle dug a little deeper on this story, and it is basically a non-story. The report from Reuters (et. al.) was taken out of context and highly exaggerated.
What Schmidt actually said was "yes and no", that a Mac version would require a new project from the ground up, and that while Google would like to, it wasn't planning anything.
So far Google has not targeted any other operating system other than Windows. This will be the first time Google will move away from that trend.
UPDATE: Nathan Weinberg of InsideGoogle dug a little deeper on this story, and it is basically a non-story. The report from Reuters (et. al.) was taken out of context and highly exaggerated.
What Schmidt actually said was "yes and no", that a Mac version would require a new project from the ground up, and that while Google would like to, it wasn't planning anything.
Google plugs hole exposing Gmail mail-boxes
When the news hit that a vulnerability in the Gmail login that could allow attackers to hijack their accounts, it was all over the Internet. Just as quickly as the news was getting around, Google has fixed the security flaw.
"Google was recently alerted to a potential security vulnerability affecting the Gmail service. We have since fixed this vulnerability, and all current and future Gmail users are protected," Google spokesman Nathan Tyler said.
An investigation by Google found that only a handful of Gmail users were victimized, the source close to the Mountain View, California-based company said.
"Google was recently alerted to a potential security vulnerability affecting the Gmail service. We have since fixed this vulnerability, and all current and future Gmail users are protected," Google spokesman Nathan Tyler said.
An investigation by Google found that only a handful of Gmail users were victimized, the source close to the Mountain View, California-based company said.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Riddle : Correct Answer Gets a Gmail Invite
People love to hand out Gmail invites like candy. Screw that. That is too easy. Lets have some fun with these invites!
First person that can tell me what this is (that is the easy part) and what it is actually "pointing at" will get a Gmail invite.
First person that can tell me what this is (that is the easy part) and what it is actually "pointing at" will get a Gmail invite.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Placemark>
<name>Here is a kml file for you</name>
<View>
<longitude>-122.0836513298948</longitude>
<latitude>37.42228634135405</latitude>
<range>637.0999999999299</range>
<tilt>-3.180872743978974e-011</tilt>
<heading>-0.0007160463744580959</heading>
</View>
<visibility>1</visibility>
<styleUrl>root://styles#default</styleUrl>
</Placemark>
Round Two: AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo dish out more SPAM lawsuits
America Online, Microsoft, EarthLink and Yahoo are teaming again to turn up the heat on spammers.
The companies, which make up the Anti-Spam Alliance, announced that they've each filed new lawsuits in U.S. Federal Court against senders of unwanted computer messages. The companies filed suits in the states of Washington, Georgia and California accusing defendants of violating the federal Can-Spam Act, along with other state and federal laws.
The companies, which make up the Anti-Spam Alliance, announced that they've each filed new lawsuits in U.S. Federal Court against senders of unwanted computer messages. The companies filed suits in the states of Washington, Georgia and California accusing defendants of violating the federal Can-Spam Act, along with other state and federal laws.
Another Useless Google Trivia Bit
Ever notice that freshdate tag in the Google SERPS is sometimes one day earlier than the actual date in the cached version of that page? This is because the timestamp of the cached version is simply Greenwich Mean Time (GMT -0 hours). The freshdate tag is based on Pacific Standard Time (GMT -8 hours). There will be an 8 hour window where the date will not overlap.
VIA: Zorgloob
VIA: Zorgloob
Send Firefox to your Desktop
A mozillaZine member, wig_out_on_me, offers up a Windows Registry file that will create a Desktop namespace for Firefox similar to the way Internet Explorer, My Computer and the Recycle Bin shortcuts are set up. This namespace provides for a context menu with Profile Manager, Safe Mode, etc. included on it. Any shortcuts created from this namespace will retain the added context menu items which is handy for the Quick Launch toolbar.VIA: Gemal's Psyched Blog
AOL to offer free antivirus protection
America Online says it will start bundling McAfee antivirus software for free into its proprietary service and no longer charge a subscription for it.
AOL is not alone in offering antivirus software, Yahoo and MSN both offer antivirus and anti-spyware features in their premium service packages.
Of course, AOL will probably need the antivirus software for their new AOL Browser which is based on Internet Explorer.
AOL is not alone in offering antivirus software, Yahoo and MSN both offer antivirus and anti-spyware features in their premium service packages.
Of course, AOL will probably need the antivirus software for their new AOL Browser which is based on Internet Explorer.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Firefox 1.0 RC 1 Released
From MozillaZine Talkback:
They are not too much in want for testers either. Last glance at the tally, there have been over 6.5 million downloads of Firefox Preview to date.
"'Today we have our first Firefox 1.0 candidate builds available for testing. You can get these test builds from FTP. If you've already downloaded 1.0 PR (the 'feature complete' preview) and you're not really interested in testing and bug reporting, then you should probably stick with 1.0 PR for a couple more weeks and upgrade when we release the official Firefox 1.0.The Release Candidate is about one week behind schedule, as mentioned in the Firefox Roadmap, but they have accomplished one of their goals in reducing The List. There are just a handful that remain and those are newly discovered bugs in the software.
The release candidates include about 250 bug fixes since Firefox 1.0 PR and we'd appreciate any feedback around any of those areas. With this release, we're also featuring Mozilla Foundation builds for up to two dozen locales (slowly trickling in. if you don't see your language, try back in a bit.) If you do find regressions from the Preview Release, please file bugs in Bugzilla and nominate them as Firefox 1.0 blockers using the 'blocking-aviary1.0?' flag on the bug. Thanks for your help in testing Firefox!'"
They are not too much in want for testers either. Last glance at the tally, there have been over 6.5 million downloads of Firefox Preview to date.
Google Desktop Search: Tips, Tricks and Workarounds
While probably not a totally exhaustive document on Google Desktop Search, Scott Kingery's GDS Tips is pretty darn close. It covers the basics thru some of the more obscure features of GDS.
Scott has gleaned information from various sources, such as the Google Desktop Search Group, and compiled all of that into one handy page.
Scott has gleaned information from various sources, such as the Google Desktop Search Group, and compiled all of that into one handy page.
DHTML Lab: Popup Calendar 1.2
In the DHTML Lab section of WebReference, they introduce their first maintenance release of Popup Calendar. They have added better navigation bar styling and the ability to clear read-only input fields. Also included, new functionality that enables you to separate form elements to display any combination of a user-selected date, month and year.
This is a stunning piece of code that you will just have to see for yourself.
(Click on the
to access the calendar features)
This is a stunning piece of code that you will just have to see for yourself.
(Click on the
to access the calendar features)Videoblogging with Blogger
Svein Høier and Jon Hoem have put together an excellent tutorial on video blogging with Blogger. The tutorial includes template code changes and php/javascript code to launch a dynamic pop-up window for your video, as well as, general tips about video compression.
Once your template changes are made, posting the video is a snap. Enter the path to the video in your URL Link text box (this can be activated in your Blogger Settings), then upload your video via an attachment.
It dawned on me that you could also use this as a method for doing simple image blogging as well. By using this technique, you could just as easily have pop-up windows for your images.
VIA: Weblog Tools Collection
Once your template changes are made, posting the video is a snap. Enter the path to the video in your URL Link text box (this can be activated in your Blogger Settings), then upload your video via an attachment.
It dawned on me that you could also use this as a method for doing simple image blogging as well. By using this technique, you could just as easily have pop-up windows for your images.
VIA: Weblog Tools Collection
List of Photoshop Tutorials, Tips & Tricks
Just browsing around the net and came up with these interesting sites dealing with Photoshop. Tutorials, tip, tricks ranging from beginning to advanced. A little bit for everybody. Enjoy!
UPDATE: Oct 20, 2004
UPDATE: Oct 23, 2004
UPDATE: Oct 27, 2004
- Janee's Photoshop Tutorials, Courses in Photoshop
- Tutorial Outpost
- Good-Tutorials.com
- PhotoshopCAFE
- Photoshop Tips & Tricks
- Photoshop Tutorials
- PurePhotoshop Tutorials & Articles
- Free Adobe Photoshop Tutorials
- 80Four Adobe Photoshop Tutorials, Video Tutorials
- CreativePro Photoshop Articles
- Photoshop for Photographers
UPDATE: Oct 20, 2004
- Studio-X Photoshop Tutorials
- Axialis Tutorials
- HeathRowe Photoshop Tutorials
- Photosjop Tips & Learning
- TeamPhotoshop Tutorials & Tips
- DesignsByMark PS Tips & Tutorials
- Grafika PS Tutorials (Czech)
- BioRust PS Tutorials
- CBT Cafe PS Tutorials & Articles
- Photoshop Lover
UPDATE: Oct 23, 2004
- Creative Bits: PS Tips Blog
- 3 Simple Improvements (Greg Roberts)
- Planet Photoshop Tutorials
- Computer Darkroom (Misc Tutorials)
- DevCo Photo Tutorials
- Nebulus Designs PS Tutorials
- Phong PS Tutorials
- Eyewire PS Tips & Tutorials
- Think Dan PS Tutorials (Index listing)
- Magic Pixel PS Workshop
UPDATE: Oct 27, 2004
Google Acquires Keyhole Corp
A Google press release announces that they have just purchased Keyhole Corp.
With the Keyhole software and an Internet connection a user can enter an address or other location information which accesses the database and takes them to a digital image of that location on their computer screen. The interactive software then give users many options, including the ability to zoom in from space-level to street-level, tilt and rotate the view or search for other information such as hotels, parks, ATMs or subways. Unlike traditional mapping technologies, Keyhole creates a dynamic 3D interface for geographic information.
Keyhole is probably most famous on CNN when they do the "fly-by shots" that are composed of animated images from satellites and airplanes.
"With Keyhole, you can fly like a superhero from your computer at home to a street corner somewhere else in the world - or find a local hospital, map a road trip or measure the distance between two points," said Jonathan Rosenberg, vice president, Product Management. "This acquisition gives Google users a powerful new search tool, enabling users to view 3D images of any place on earth as well as tap a rich database of roads, businesses and many other points of interest. Keyhole is a valuable addition to Google's efforts to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."
There is a price reduction in the Keyhole 2LT, effective immediately, from $69.95 to $29.95.
With the Keyhole software and an Internet connection a user can enter an address or other location information which accesses the database and takes them to a digital image of that location on their computer screen. The interactive software then give users many options, including the ability to zoom in from space-level to street-level, tilt and rotate the view or search for other information such as hotels, parks, ATMs or subways. Unlike traditional mapping technologies, Keyhole creates a dynamic 3D interface for geographic information.
Keyhole is probably most famous on CNN when they do the "fly-by shots" that are composed of animated images from satellites and airplanes.
"With Keyhole, you can fly like a superhero from your computer at home to a street corner somewhere else in the world - or find a local hospital, map a road trip or measure the distance between two points," said Jonathan Rosenberg, vice president, Product Management. "This acquisition gives Google users a powerful new search tool, enabling users to view 3D images of any place on earth as well as tap a rich database of roads, businesses and many other points of interest. Keyhole is a valuable addition to Google's efforts to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."
There is a price reduction in the Keyhole 2LT, effective immediately, from $69.95 to $29.95.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Blog-style Buttons on the Fly
Adam Kalsey has a handy online tool to create those little buttons that everyone is so fond of. The tool uses Bill Zeller's button maker script which is written in PHP, so you could host this application yourself with without much trouble.UPDATE: It does not appear that the script is available on Bill's site.
VIA: Band of Gonzo Forums
More Google
As the Google Blog entry says, "It's not that all you know about Google is wrong; it's just that, most likely, all you know isn't all there is to know."
I guess this is true. For instance, they have a neat little "cheat sheet" and this is the first time that I laid eyes on Google Catalogs. Man, how did I miss that one.
I guess this is true. For instance, they have a neat little "cheat sheet" and this is the first time that I laid eyes on Google Catalogs. Man, how did I miss that one.
Microsoft Plans Release of Corporate IM Software in December
Microsoft is planning to release in December new software designed to secure instant messaging and other communications within big companies.
What all is Microsoft debuting that month now? New Search Engine and Desktop Search, now Instant Messaging on a corporate scale.
In a not so related article, Microsoft released on Tuesday a preview version of new tools intended to make it easier for companies to create custom Web applications.
Microsoft released a "community technology preview" version of modeling tools, formerly code-named Whitehorse, to be included in Visual Studio 2005 Team System, an upcoming addition to Microsoft's line of developer packages that focuses on enterprise developers.
What all is Microsoft debuting that month now? New Search Engine and Desktop Search, now Instant Messaging on a corporate scale.
In a not so related article, Microsoft released on Tuesday a preview version of new tools intended to make it easier for companies to create custom Web applications.
Microsoft released a "community technology preview" version of modeling tools, formerly code-named Whitehorse, to be included in Visual Studio 2005 Team System, an upcoming addition to Microsoft's line of developer packages that focuses on enterprise developers.
PostNuke Distribution Server Hacked
While the phpBB folk will probably snicker at this a little, it is no laughing matter. Hackers have compromised the download server for the open source PostNuke content management system, redirecting users to malicious code in place of the .zip download of the PostNuke program. The hacked code was distributed for more than 32 hours before PostNuke site maintainers addressed the security breach.
PostNuke users who installed a zip archive downloaded between 11:50 pm Sunday night and 8:30 a.m. today face a serious threat. All data submitted during the installation - including the server name, database credentials, admin name and password - were likely sent to the hackers. In addition, "in one file there was code allowing a malicious user to execute any shell command on the web server."
The PostNuke team is advising users who may have installed the compromised files to reinstall the code, and immediately change their database details, including username, password and the name of the database if possible.
VIA: Netcraft
PostNuke users who installed a zip archive downloaded between 11:50 pm Sunday night and 8:30 a.m. today face a serious threat. All data submitted during the installation - including the server name, database credentials, admin name and password - were likely sent to the hackers. In addition, "in one file there was code allowing a malicious user to execute any shell command on the web server."
The PostNuke team is advising users who may have installed the compromised files to reinstall the code, and immediately change their database details, including username, password and the name of the database if possible.
VIA: Netcraft
Bush Campaign Web Site Rejects Non-US Visitors
Yep, apparantly it is true, the Bush Campaign Website, GeorgeWBush.com, is rejecting web requests from outside of the United States. It is a wonder that Russell Beattie is not all over this yet.
Aggregate your own RSS newsfeed from Yahoo! News
Jacob Rosenberg blogs an entry into today's Yahoo!Search blog to expose some of the more useful (and lesser known) features of Yahoo! News.
He gives examples of advanced search queries to over 7,000 Yahoo! News sources. You can filter your content based on Location, News Source, Category, Language, and News Type. You can even compose your own advanced search by using the above search commands or use their advanced news search page.
There is also a new xml button on the News Search result page, in which you can now turn any search into a fresh full-blown RSS 2.0 feed.
He gives examples of advanced search queries to over 7,000 Yahoo! News sources. You can filter your content based on Location, News Source, Category, Language, and News Type. You can even compose your own advanced search by using the above search commands or use their advanced news search page.
There is also a new xml button on the News Search result page, in which you can now turn any search into a fresh full-blown RSS 2.0 feed.
"For example hurricane location:florida gets you your own ongoing feed of hurricane news from Florida. The only restriction is that the source parameter doesn't work in RSS mode, and some providers may choose to opt out of RSS results."This is probably the best new feature of all. You can roll your own news feed.
Improving SEO in your Blogger Template
SEbasic has some great suggestions for simple Blogger template changes you can make to optimize them for better rankings. He has complete sample code all laid out for you to paste into your templates. Worth a peak!
Finding mirrored hosts and duplicate content
One of the interesting technical challenges that every search engine comes up against is identifying duplicate content. Super-geek, Greg Linden, learns of a whitepaper from his friend Jeff Dean who co-authored (along with Krishna Bharat, Andrei Z. Broder and Monika Rauch Henzinger) a paper (PDF) on this very topic.
"The paper analyzes the performance of several techniques for detecting mirrors, from simple approaches like the similar IP address or hostname to more complicated and quite clever analysis of the link structure of sites. The paper concludes that a content-based approach (called 'shingles' in the paper) works well but that a combination of several approaches works best."
New Look of MSN Search?
An excellent find from Gary Price that may give us a glimpse of what the new MSN Search will look like. The interface is chock full of little goodies, of which, the most impressive is a set of slider switches that you can use to manipulate certain "ranking weights".
Gary discovered this interface when he noticed a new URL in the cache link at the Tech Preview site. The URL pointed to http://cc.msnscache.com/.
To access the sliders, click on the label +Search Builder. which will drop-down a tabbed interface. Next, click on Results ranking and you will see the sliders.
Unfortunately, the sliders do not work in Firefox. These may be ActiveX components and will probably only work in Internet Explorer.
I am wondereing what the "cc" sub-domain stands for. Perhaps "carbon copy" or "cache copy"?
Gary discovered this interface when he noticed a new URL in the cache link at the Tech Preview site. The URL pointed to http://cc.msnscache.com/.
To access the sliders, click on the label +Search Builder. which will drop-down a tabbed interface. Next, click on Results ranking and you will see the sliders.
Unfortunately, the sliders do not work in Firefox. These may be ActiveX components and will probably only work in Internet Explorer.
I am wondereing what the "cc" sub-domain stands for. Perhaps "carbon copy" or "cache copy"?
New Google Desktop Exploit Discovered
A new Google Desktop "phishing" exploit is being reported by Netcraft.
Salvatore Aranzulla, an Italian journalist who discovered the exploit, says "The flaw allows attackers to target users of the Google Desktop application and modify the contents of search pages by injecting scripts located on external servers. Such cross site scripting attacks provide attackers with a means of obtaining information under the guise of a reputable domain."
Aranzulla has published details about the new vulnerability on his web site, where he includes some example exploits (Italian). Inexperienced users may be susceptible to phishing attacks like this one. Experienced users may become suspicious of it however.
This exploit is similar but seperate to the exploits discovered earlier in which one Google had known about for two years. That exploit was not severe enough until the release of Google Desktop prompted them to look at it again.
What I can ascertain from Aranzulla's example (it is in Italian), is that this exploit will probably need an update in the software itself. The previous exploits could be fixed at the Google Website. Aranzulla is recommending removal of the software.
So far there has been no response from Google.
Salvatore Aranzulla, an Italian journalist who discovered the exploit, says "The flaw allows attackers to target users of the Google Desktop application and modify the contents of search pages by injecting scripts located on external servers. Such cross site scripting attacks provide attackers with a means of obtaining information under the guise of a reputable domain."
Aranzulla has published details about the new vulnerability on his web site, where he includes some example exploits (Italian). Inexperienced users may be susceptible to phishing attacks like this one. Experienced users may become suspicious of it however.
This exploit is similar but seperate to the exploits discovered earlier in which one Google had known about for two years. That exploit was not severe enough until the release of Google Desktop prompted them to look at it again.
What I can ascertain from Aranzulla's example (it is in Italian), is that this exploit will probably need an update in the software itself. The previous exploits could be fixed at the Google Website. Aranzulla is recommending removal of the software.
So far there has been no response from Google.
Google Testing New User Interfaces - Image and Froogle Links
RustyBrick finds a WMW post where a member had conducted a normal search at Google, at the top of the page, you would find a line of text that read IMAGE RESULTS FOR 'KEYWORD PHRASE'. When you click on that link, it would take you to where you would go if you would click on the 'image' tab.
GoogleGuy Says "You know us; we're always testing out different little UI changes.."
Meanwhile, over at Zorgloob, they reveal that a search for flower will show Froogle results at the top of the page.
This seems to be permanent feature in the Google results now.
GoogleGuy Says "You know us; we're always testing out different little UI changes.."
Meanwhile, over at Zorgloob, they reveal that a search for flower will show Froogle results at the top of the page.
This seems to be permanent feature in the Google results now.
Nathan Weinberg of InsideGoogle to Appear on Search Engine Radio
There is a rumor floating around that Nathan will be Brad Fallons guest on Search Engine Radio tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at noon, EST (9 am PST). The show will run for one hour.
"This should prove to be fun and stressful", Nathan says, "I'll, of course, be talking about Google, but the field is wide open ... I've done radio before, but never a guest, always a host, so I think I might enjoy this. That, or make a complete fool of myself."
If you want to ask Nathan a question, you can call in at 1-888-327-0061 at the time of the show. Good luck Nathan!
UPDATE: Nathan's interview has been postponed for at least two weeks.
Google is so horrendous ...
I tell ya, if it t'aint one thing, 'tis another. You would think that some people have better things to do with their time.
Monday, October 25, 2004
Google Labs MapReduce - Part of Florida Update?
Not too long ago, GoogleGuy broke his silence over at Webmaster World and made mention of a new document.
In that newly released paper there is evidence of Google using this process on its production index in August of 2003. The next major update in that index appeared in November of 2003, the Florida Update.
One graph in the document shows the significant growth in the number of separate MapReduce programs checked into their primary source code management system over time, from 0 in early 2003 to almost 900 separate instances as of late September 2004.
Also, from this point in time, numerous backlink updates have taken place. I am assuming that MapReduce may have had something to do with new instances of it being introduced into parts of the source code that addresses this.
I don't think it is a matter of coincidence, as Eric mentioned, it is now a matter of record. MapReduce is now part of Google and understanding the mechanics of it will soon be discussed in many a forum from this time forward.
"... if you didn't notice, Rob Pike is answering questions over at Slashdot:MapReduce is a programming model and an associated implementation for processing and generating large data sets. Users specify a map function that processes a key/value pair to generate a set of intermediate key/value pairs, and a reduce function that merges all intermediate values associated with the same intermediate key. Many real world tasks are expressible in this model, as shown in the paper.
http://interviews.slashdot.org/interviews/
Rob only joined Google a year or so ago, but I'm really glad we have him--I read his book a long time back. For the folks that like to read papers from Google, here's a systems one that Rob mentions:
http://labs.google.com/papers/mapreduce.html
I think it's pretty cool that Google keeps writing stuff like the GFS paper and the MapReduce paper; not too many other search engines are talking about their systems."
In that newly released paper there is evidence of Google using this process on its production index in August of 2003. The next major update in that index appeared in November of 2003, the Florida Update.
"One of the most significant uses of MapReduce to date has been a complete rewrite of the production indexing system that produces the data structures used for the Google web search service. The indexing system takes as input a large set of documents that have been retrieved by our crawling system, stored as a set of GFS files. The raw contents for these documents are more than 20 terabytes of data."Eric Baillargeon who discovered this passage is wondering if this is all coincidence.
One graph in the document shows the significant growth in the number of separate MapReduce programs checked into their primary source code management system over time, from 0 in early 2003 to almost 900 separate instances as of late September 2004.
"MapReduce has been so successful because it makes it possible to write a simple program and run it efficiently on a thousand machines in the course of half an hour, greatly speeding up the development and prototyping cycle. Furthermore, it allows programmers who have no experience with distributed and/or parallel systems to exploit large amounts of resources easily."It is very evident in the graph that Google has sharply increased its usage of MapReduce since February of 2004, which coincided with another update at that time, Brandy.
Also, from this point in time, numerous backlink updates have taken place. I am assuming that MapReduce may have had something to do with new instances of it being introduced into parts of the source code that addresses this.
I don't think it is a matter of coincidence, as Eric mentioned, it is now a matter of record. MapReduce is now part of Google and understanding the mechanics of it will soon be discussed in many a forum from this time forward.
Yahoo and Adobe in Browser Partnership
The Associated Press announced (via USA Today) that Yahoo and Adobe Systems have joined forces to tap each others' customers and put Web search features into Adobe's Acrobat Reader software. This is Yahoo's latest maneuver against Google and Microsoft in the fight to put its own search service and Web access on as many desktops as possible.
Initially, the toolbar will feature links to Yahoo products and services as well as to Adobe's Web-based subscription service, which converts documents into the Adobe P.D.F. (for Portable Document Format) file format.
Later, the companies said, the toolbar will add features like the ability to quickly convert Web-based content into Adobe P.D.F. files. Yahoo search will also be built into a future version of the Acrobat Reader, permitting users to search for more information from within the document without going through the extra step of launching a Web browser.
Initially, the toolbar will feature links to Yahoo products and services as well as to Adobe's Web-based subscription service, which converts documents into the Adobe P.D.F. (for Portable Document Format) file format.
Later, the companies said, the toolbar will add features like the ability to quickly convert Web-based content into Adobe P.D.F. files. Yahoo search will also be built into a future version of the Acrobat Reader, permitting users to search for more information from within the document without going through the extra step of launching a Web browser.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
A Trip Down Google Memory Lane
Through the magic of the Internet Archive via their Wayback Machine, we can look back at Google and "what a wild strange trip its been".
From the very simplistic design on 11-11-1998 you will see that they had a mere 25 million pages (soon to be much bigger) in the Google Search Engine Prototype. Then there is the "might work some of the time" Alpha Google (1-25-1999). Uck ... gag me! Glad this design went into the waste basket.
Fast forward to 04-23-1999 and they are wanting to know if you feel lucky! Well, do ya? Special Stanford and Linux searches are part of more Google...
Lets move way ahead to 05-11-2000 and see that Google was voted Best Search Engine by Yahoo Internet Life. Secretly they are still saying that, I'll bet.
At or around this time, you can get Google Buttons, three Google Web Search Plans including the Gold Plan for $2000 a year, they are hiring, and Google goes wireless.
Advancing on to 09-19-2000, you will see the hallmark Google as we know it today (with minor changes). Not much change in the layout over the last four years. They have added more tools, yes. But Google seemed to settle on what was going to be at this point in time.
Thanks to SEbasic for inspiration on this article.
UPDATE: Gary Price stopped by in the comments to let us know that he has a page of Google Milestone Pages which include Backrub (1997), Google's First Press Release (1999) and links to key documents and patents.
From the very simplistic design on 11-11-1998 you will see that they had a mere 25 million pages (soon to be much bigger) in the Google Search Engine Prototype. Then there is the "might work some of the time" Alpha Google (1-25-1999). Uck ... gag me! Glad this design went into the waste basket.
Fast forward to 04-23-1999 and they are wanting to know if you feel lucky! Well, do ya? Special Stanford and Linux searches are part of more Google...
Lets move way ahead to 05-11-2000 and see that Google was voted Best Search Engine by Yahoo Internet Life. Secretly they are still saying that, I'll bet.
At or around this time, you can get Google Buttons, three Google Web Search Plans including the Gold Plan for $2000 a year, they are hiring, and Google goes wireless.
Advancing on to 09-19-2000, you will see the hallmark Google as we know it today (with minor changes). Not much change in the layout over the last four years. They have added more tools, yes. But Google seemed to settle on what was going to be at this point in time.
Thanks to SEbasic for inspiration on this article.
UPDATE: Gary Price stopped by in the comments to let us know that he has a page of Google Milestone Pages which include Backrub (1997), Google's First Press Release (1999) and links to key documents and patents.
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Google Desktop Proxy - Remote Access to your GDS
Google Desktop Proxy (GDP) is a java program that provides access to your Google Desktop search service from remote machines. The software is provided by Project Computing in a precompiled Java JAR file. The Java source code is also being made available.
Google Desktop was designed with a built-in web server which binds to your PC's TCP/IP loopback interface and can only be accessed by requests originating from your PC. No other machines can send search requests to your Google Desktop search engine. Google Desktop Proxy allows you that access however.
This program is a very simple proxy. A browser or other program on another computer can open a connection to this program which passes the request through to the Google Desktop web server on the same machine as the proxy. Because it is on the same machine, the Google Desktop web server processes the request and passes the result back to the proxy which in turn sends it back to the originating requestor.
There are some bugs with this software that still need to be ironed out. Also, it has no authorization support, so use at your own risk.
Thanks to John for pointing to this.
Google Desktop was designed with a built-in web server which binds to your PC's TCP/IP loopback interface and can only be accessed by requests originating from your PC. No other machines can send search requests to your Google Desktop search engine. Google Desktop Proxy allows you that access however.
This program is a very simple proxy. A browser or other program on another computer can open a connection to this program which passes the request through to the Google Desktop web server on the same machine as the proxy. Because it is on the same machine, the Google Desktop web server processes the request and passes the result back to the proxy which in turn sends it back to the originating requestor.
There are some bugs with this software that still need to be ironed out. Also, it has no authorization support, so use at your own risk.
Thanks to John for pointing to this.
Google Making a Mockery of Microsoft
A passage in a New York Times article (or via Washington Post) that sums up Google's strategic plan pretty well.
Thanks to Bill Holmes for the tip.
"Several financial analysts said on Thursday that they were still trying to understand what the company's business would be over a longer period because the company has kept much of its strategy closely held, even after going public.We don't know what Google is going to do, but we know how they are going to do it.
'We can't adequately answer the question of whether the company's stock is overvalued until we can tell what the company is,' said David M. Garrity, a financial analyst with Caris & Company, an investment firm in New York.
However, he added that the broader underlying outline is that the company intends to use software technology made available freely to its customers to drive traffic and that could be a model that would be difficult for rivals like Microsoft to compete against.
'Google is making a mockery of existing technology solutions, to wit, Microsoft,' he said."
Thanks to Bill Holmes for the tip.
Friday, October 22, 2004
Microsoft to Release Desktop Search Tool by Year End
CNET News.com is reporting that Microsoft has set a firmer date for the release of its desktop search software.
During its earnings call with financial analysts, Microsoft said an MSN-branded tool would be made available before the end of 2004. The tool and an algorithmic Web searching engine will be in beta testing by year's end, a representative said.
Microsoft first demonstrated the technology for its own desktop search tool at a financial analysts' conference in July. At the time, MSN executive Yusuf Mehdi would say only that it would be out before the release of Longhorn, the next version of Windows.
The PC search technology that Mehdi showed allowed a computer user to search within Microsoft's Outlook e-mail client as well as within Windows folders such as "My Documents." It was just two weeks prior to the demonstration that Microsoft acquired Lookout Software, a small company with technology for searching e-mail, which may have allowed Microsoft to make progress on the local hard-drive search technology.
During its earnings call with financial analysts, Microsoft said an MSN-branded tool would be made available before the end of 2004. The tool and an algorithmic Web searching engine will be in beta testing by year's end, a representative said.
Microsoft first demonstrated the technology for its own desktop search tool at a financial analysts' conference in July. At the time, MSN executive Yusuf Mehdi would say only that it would be out before the release of Longhorn, the next version of Windows.
The PC search technology that Mehdi showed allowed a computer user to search within Microsoft's Outlook e-mail client as well as within Windows folders such as "My Documents." It was just two weeks prior to the demonstration that Microsoft acquired Lookout Software, a small company with technology for searching e-mail, which may have allowed Microsoft to make progress on the local hard-drive search technology.
Customizing Google Deskbar to Access Google Desktop
If you are using both Google Deskbar and Desktop, then here is a tip for customizing your Deskbar search for use with Google Desktop. The tip also includes suggestions on setting up "sticky searches" to filter for email, files, web history, etc.
Firefox Reaches Goal for NY Times Ad Campaign
Firefox advocates' call for donations to pay for an advertisement in The New York Times has more than reached its target , and only three days into the campaign.
The campaign, run by Spread Firefox volunteers, started Tuesday to raise money to place a full-page ad for the launch of the open-source browser in The New York Times. The goal was to get 2,500 people to donate $30 or more to the marketing fund within 10 days, or before the official release of Firefox 1.0 on Nov. 9.
The Firefox Release 1.0 is a landmark moment in the browser wars. "This is Mozilla’s most important release ever," says Ben Goodger, lead engineer for Firefox. "We have an opportunity to take market share from Microsoft. This is as good a chance as ever existed." And the fact that its fans are paying for a full-page ad in the New York Times calling attention to the product will likely result in a few more stories such as this.
The campaign, run by Spread Firefox volunteers, started Tuesday to raise money to place a full-page ad for the launch of the open-source browser in The New York Times. The goal was to get 2,500 people to donate $30 or more to the marketing fund within 10 days, or before the official release of Firefox 1.0 on Nov. 9.
The Firefox Release 1.0 is a landmark moment in the browser wars. "This is Mozilla’s most important release ever," says Ben Goodger, lead engineer for Firefox. "We have an opportunity to take market share from Microsoft. This is as good a chance as ever existed." And the fact that its fans are paying for a full-page ad in the New York Times calling attention to the product will likely result in a few more stories such as this.
UK to have own SEM Trade Association
A working group of search engine marketing professionals in the UK has come together to plan the formulation of a UK based trade association for Search Engine Marketers. The proposed Search Marketing Association UK (SMA-UK) will provide a platform to inform and educate the marketplace of the benefits of search marketing in the overall marketing mix, as well is giving its members an industry voice.The new Association is being headed by Barry Lloyd (acting Chairman) of the search marketing firm MakeMeTop. Andy Atkins-Kruger of search marketing firm Web Certain is the acting Deputy. Other current members of the working group include Paddy Bolger , Richard Gregory, Edward Cowell, Colin Irwin, Simon Collingridge, Jason Cartwright, Ammon Johns and Mike Grehan.
The Group cited that SEMPO (an existing US-based organization) was not seen to be appropriate in its operations for the UK market. Barry Lloyd, commenting on the reason for a new UK based association said:
"The UK search engine market is currently the second largest in the World outside the United States. After looking at the way trade associations are being developed internationally it has became apparent that the UK should have its own association for this growing sector, set up in a manner to reflect the specific way that both businesses and trade associations operate in the UK and other parts of Europe."
VIA: SEO Book
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Yahoo Buys E-mail Search Company Stata Labs
Yahoo has purchased e-mail software company Stata Labs, in what could be an investment in a coming PC search tool to rival Google and Microsoft. Stata Labs sells (actually sold) an e-mail application called Bloomba that lets people search message text and attachments. The Stata Lab's Web site notified its users of the buyout with this message:
We are pleased to announce that Stata Labs has been acquired by Yahoo!. We are thrilled to join Yahoo!’s industry-leading team of technical experts. This acquisition will provide Yahoo! with exceptional technological expertise and strategic assets.Bloomba was billed as the world's first search-based email. You can instantly find any email message, attachment or contact whether or not you use folders. Bloomba came with an integrated personal information manager that includes a searchable calendar and contacts.
We appreciate the ongoing support we’ve received from our customers and partners. We intend to continue supporting Stata Labs’ existing customers for one year from date of product purchase. Again, we thank you for your support and encourage you to review the Frequently Asked Questions.
Elizabeth Millard of ComputerUser interviewed Stata Labs Co-founder and CTO, Raymie Stata, earlier this year and asked him what he thought are the largest challenges that you see in providing your products?
"Our biggest challenge is the perception that, to survive as a software company, you need to out-box Microsoft. The fact is, fragmentation of the e-mail and PIM markets is inevitable, with players like us building products for heavy users. These users feel more pain at the hands of old-fashioned products like Outlook and need something new and better. Our company can not only survive, but thrive on this smaller segment, and in this role paint a brighter future for all users."Stata described their product as a "Personal Content Database," a database that's optimized for the type of semi-structured data typical of personal data and the configurations of personal platforms. At the database level, our focus is on fast, scalable search, and on replication. At the same time, we're building applications that leverage this underlying database technology. We've started with e-mail--where the management problems have become the most acute--and we'll be slowly expanding the footprint.
It seems that the "footprint" will be expanding much faster than he had imagined at that time. Welcome to Yahoo Raymie!
Security Patch Release for Serendipity PHP Weblog System
There is a security patch release (0.7-rc1) as well as the last release candidate for Serendipity 0.7. It is advised to upgrade to this version.
This release contains a bugfix to the a possibly exploitable HTTP Response Splitting, which may allow intermediate caching/proxy servers to perform man-in-the-middle-attacks.
This release contains a bugfix to the a possibly exploitable HTTP Response Splitting, which may allow intermediate caching/proxy servers to perform man-in-the-middle-attacks.
Gmail Drive Vulnerability Reported
Per a OSVDB report, Bjarke Viksoe's Gmail Drive 1.2 contains a flaw that may lead to an unauthorized information disclosure. The issue is due to the program naming the drive based on the Gmail account login name, resulting in a loss of confidentiality.
GMail Drive is a Shell Namespace Extension that creates a virtual filesystem around your Google GMail account, allowing you to use GMail as a storage medium.
Currently, there are no known upgrades, patches, or workarounds available to correct this issue.
GMail Drive is a Shell Namespace Extension that creates a virtual filesystem around your Google GMail account, allowing you to use GMail as a storage medium.
Currently, there are no known upgrades, patches, or workarounds available to correct this issue.
AOL offers broadband subscribers free flicks
Wowsers! AOL launched a promotion that lets subscribers of its broadband service download full-feature films for free through Movielink. This almost is a temptation to get me to sign up, but unfortunately I do not have a local number for AOL and the telephone company would tack on a surcharge to my bill for access.
Stll the promotion sounds pretty good. Under the program, the companies will make 10 'classic titles,' including 'Steel Magnolias' and 'Against All Odds,' available for free in the first month. In subsequent months, five movies will be offered. Once downloading is complete, customers have 30 days to watch the film and 24 hours to complete it, once viewing begins.
The words, 'classic titles', does give me pause however. I interpret it to mean 'only from a limited list of our choosing and you have no other choices'.
SOURCE: CNET News.com
Stll the promotion sounds pretty good. Under the program, the companies will make 10 'classic titles,' including 'Steel Magnolias' and 'Against All Odds,' available for free in the first month. In subsequent months, five movies will be offered. Once downloading is complete, customers have 30 days to watch the film and 24 hours to complete it, once viewing begins.
The words, 'classic titles', does give me pause however. I interpret it to mean 'only from a limited list of our choosing and you have no other choices'.
SOURCE: CNET News.com
Google (paritally?) fixes security hole
As I reported earlier, Jim Ley posted the warning about Google's script-insertion flaw. As it turns out, this cross-site exploit has affected Google's main site for as long as two years. Now with the addition of Google Desktop, it has become more serious because it places the results of a desktop search into the output of a regular Google search.
It appears that Google has fixed this security flaw in its Web search service that could have allowed malicious hackers to modify its pages. But, according to Ley, the fix doesn't seem to be complete to him. In special cases, strings used in javascript and vbscript can still put things other than http urls into img elements. This may mean there are remaining vectors to attack, either with different script methods, or by playing with charsets that bypass the filtering.
This is in direct contradiction to Ley's statement of them being informed over two years ago and leaves you to wonder just how safe the Desktop product is.
UPDATE: Netcraft reported that Google has fixed the second phishing vulnerability that was discovered on Wednesday. Google notified Netcraft that they had closed the vulnerability, making this less-than-two-days response much faster than the two years reported by Jim Ley when he discovered a separate but similar bug.
It appears that Google has fixed this security flaw in its Web search service that could have allowed malicious hackers to modify its pages. But, according to Ley, the fix doesn't seem to be complete to him. In special cases, strings used in javascript and vbscript can still put things other than http urls into img elements. This may mean there are remaining vectors to attack, either with different script methods, or by playing with charsets that bypass the filtering.
"I seem to be getting what appears to be successful google exploits coming in again, I don’t know if this is because of proxy caches, or some google boxes haven’t been patched, or just because the logs are making other requests look like google ones. But a reasonably steady request for the javascript files with google referrers. and then subsequent hits to the steal uri just like the pattern when it was working for me are coming in.""Google was recently alerted to a potential security vulnerability affecting users of our Web site," a Google representative said. "We have since fixed this vulnerability, and all current and future Google.com users are protected."
"Still appears patched for me though - Netcraft however says they’ve found another though, not surprising, but lets hope google are little faster at fixing it this time - Turns out my 2 years was actually an undersestimate, in May 2002 I posted it to usenet, and that was months after I’d let google know."
This is in direct contradiction to Ley's statement of them being informed over two years ago and leaves you to wonder just how safe the Desktop product is.
UPDATE: Netcraft reported that Google has fixed the second phishing vulnerability that was discovered on Wednesday. Google notified Netcraft that they had closed the vulnerability, making this less-than-two-days response much faster than the two years reported by Jim Ley when he discovered a separate but similar bug.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
List of Search Engine IP Addresses
You can see the latest list of Search Engine IP Addresses and hostnames here. Included on the list (last updated in September) are:
- Fast/AllTheWeb
- Alta Vista
- Lycos
- Inktomi
- WiseNut
- Google
- Ask Jeeves/Teoma
- Misc Search Engines
- Non Spiders
Mozilla / Firefox / Camino Tabbed Browsing Vulnerabilities
In a Secunia Advisory they have discovered two vulnerabilities in Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox, and Camino, which can be exploited by malicious web sites to obtain sensitive information and spoof dialog boxes.
1) Inactive tabs can launch dialog boxes so they appear to be displayed by a web site in another tab. This can be exploited by a malicious web site to show a dialog box, which seems to originate from a trusted web site.
2) Inactive tabs can gain focus from form fields on web sites in another tab. This can potentially be exploited to collect sensitive data entered in form fields on other web sites.
Secunia's solution is don't visit trusted web sites while visiting untrusted web sites or disable JavaScript.
Mozilla apparantly have been aware of this vulnerability since October 4th. It has now just been made public.
The form focus tab flaw (the second issue) was fixed on the Aviary branch (1.0 releases of Firefox and Thunderbird) and the 1.7 branch on October 6th. The fix is more of a workaround than a proper solution. The first issue is still open.
You can test for vulnerablities by visiting the Secunia Advisory page.
1) Inactive tabs can launch dialog boxes so they appear to be displayed by a web site in another tab. This can be exploited by a malicious web site to show a dialog box, which seems to originate from a trusted web site.
2) Inactive tabs can gain focus from form fields on web sites in another tab. This can potentially be exploited to collect sensitive data entered in form fields on other web sites.
Secunia's solution is don't visit trusted web sites while visiting untrusted web sites or disable JavaScript.
Mozilla apparantly have been aware of this vulnerability since October 4th. It has now just been made public.
The form focus tab flaw (the second issue) was fixed on the Aviary branch (1.0 releases of Firefox and Thunderbird) and the 1.7 branch on October 6th. The fix is more of a workaround than a proper solution. The first issue is still open.
You can test for vulnerablities by visiting the Secunia Advisory page.
I gotta get one of these
It is so long that...* Some webforms are unable to read it
* Some software cannot be configured
* People have a hard time typing it in
* Companies think that it is a fake
* It is the longest one on earth
What is it?
It is The World's Longest Alphabetical Email Address of course.
And it is free.
I am thinking about dropping one of these onto the site for the email harvesters to choke on.
Thanks to Itchy Hands
Cross-site Scripting Attacks Possible on Google Desktop
Netcraft is reporting that a cross-site scripting vulnerabilty has just been plugged, but another one still exists.
"A British computer scientist has demonstrated that opportunities exist for fraudsters to launch phishing attacks using cross site scripting bugs on the very widely used Google sites. Using these conduits, fraudsters would be able to inject their own content onto the site in order to collect credit card details and other sensitive information.
Jim Ley's demonstrations include a well crafted credit card submission form which explained that Google was soon to become a subscription-only service at $5 per month, but that users could take advantage of an earlybird special offer to obtain lifetime free searches for just $10.
See screenshot.
Google's introduction of the Google Desktop has exacerbated the situation, as Google search results can now include the content of local files. The vulnerability uncovered in the Google Desktop allowed an attacker to search a user's local machine for passwords and report the results directly back to the attacker's own web site.
Ley notes that both of these problems were fixed earlier this morning. However, while investigating his report, Netcraft noticed at least one more serious phishing vulnerability which would allow an attacker to inject their own content using the Google web site. Such links are easily hidden in web forms or disguised as links in phishing mails. Netcraft has notified Google of the vulnerability and will explain the issue when they receive a response from Google."
Google Top Ten Search for "powered by"
An interesting observation by Evan Williams for the search term "powered by" (with quotes) in Google. The search will pull up results that mostly contain the term in the anchor text of links pointing to the sites (view the cache version of the pages to see this).
Anchor text is one of the most powerful ranking factors at Google. The results are a pretty good gauge of how many pages are powered by certain software or services. Of course, pages with higher PageRank could influence the list and not just the brute strength method.
The top ten, at the time of this post, are:
Your results may vary, depending on your location. Evan actually had Apache, Blogger and MySQL in the top three.
Anchor text is one of the most powerful ranking factors at Google. The results are a pretty good gauge of how many pages are powered by certain software or services. Of course, pages with higher PageRank could influence the list and not just the brute strength method.
The top ten, at the time of this post, are:
- Apache.org
- MySQL.com
- PHP.net
- Blogger.com
- Bravenet.com
- FreeBSD.org
- ListBot.com
- RedHat.com
- RingSurf.com
- Linux.org
Your results may vary, depending on your location. Evan actually had Apache, Blogger and MySQL in the top three.
Google Rolls Out Corporate Search
Available only in the US for the last two years, Google has now rolled out Corporate Search into the global market. This technology enables firms to "google" their own networks easily.This Google appliance comes in a yellow box which can be rack mounted into the Company Server. The box contains a Google search engine with "tweaks" and runs on a version of Linux.
Google's new solution carries its own hazards though. It makes all documents on an intranet visible to all, unless security steps are taken.
VIA: The Unofficial Google Weblog
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