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	<title>Webcraft Daily &#187; Technology</title>
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	<link>http://www.webcraftdaily.com</link>
	<description>News, rants and expert advice by Internet developers for Internet developers.</description>
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		<title>Watch Your Website: Is Your Site Blacklisted?</title>
		<link>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/watch-your-website-is-your-site-blacklisted/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/watch-your-website-is-your-site-blacklisted/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:43:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Carlos.Sanchez</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webcraftdaily.com/?p=209</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Did you know that your website can get blacklisted as a security threat without you knowing?  In this entry, Carlos Sanchez talks about this threat to your online business and what actions you can take as a webmaster to discover if you are blacklisted and to correct the problem.


No related posts.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>
	<img src="http://www.webcraftdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/carlos.jpg" alt="This image has no alt text" />
	</p><p>What do a photography site, a web referral site and diesel fuel site have in common?  They have all been identified as sites that attempt to install malicious software on we user&#8217;s computers.  For the record, I am not affiliated with any of these websites nor with any of the companies who have identified these sites as serving malware.  The sites are:</p>
<p>www.supermodels.com</p>
<p>www.referral-secrets.com</p>
<p>www.dfwdiesel.com</p>
<p>As you can see, all three sites have been rated as possible security risks.  The point of this article is not to point out sites that serve malware, but to show webmasters that their sites can be “black-listed” without them ever knowing.  For the sake of our discussion I am going to assume (perhaps mistakenly) that all the sites I mention in this article are intended as legitimate sites and to provide some useful product or service to web users.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s say that you have a website where you write an article about sites that spread malware, and then you provide links to these sites as a warning to your readers.  McAfee&#8217;s Site Advisor, along with others, will probably flag your site as a possible risk.  This very thing happened to the SANS Institute (one of the most respected computer security organizations in the industry).  </p>
<p>In August 2008 McAfee&#8217;s Site Advisor blacklisted SANS and warned about potentially harmful malware on the site.  Fortunately for SANS, their webmaster had the phone number of point-of-contact at McAfee.  But what do you do if you don&#8217;t happen to have this kind of “insider” clout?  How can you get your site “de-listed” from these blacklists?  How long and how difficult is this process?  Well, McAfee&#8217;s site promises to reassess sites between 10 and 365 days once they receive a complaint about a bad rating.</p>
<p>Yes, that&#8217;s right, it can take up to an entire year for them to change a site rating!  And what happens to potential customers who land on your site only to be greeted with a huge banner exclaiming the potential risks of your site?  Rather than give you example after example of this system gone wrong, I think it better to offer actions that you can take to prevent these things from happening.</p>
<p>1)  The first step is knowing that your site has been blacklisted.  In the SANS example above, it was a security advisor, not McAfee (or even SANS), who first noticed the rating.  Your first chore is to check to see if any of the site rating services has blacklisted your site, not an easy task because there are dozens of these “reputation based filtering” services around (complicated because they all have different methods for rating sites and complicated still further because some don&#8217;t review sites with adult content).  But start with some of the most popular services: McAfee Site Advisor1, Norton Safe Web2, Web of Trust3 and hpHosts4.</p>
<p>2)  Check with your web host to see if they employ Shared hosting or Virtual Hosting.  Either of these techniques could subject your site to a rating from another web site sharing the same IP.</p>
<p>3)  Regularly check to see if ANY content on your website has changed.  And by “changed” I mean not by you! Some of the worst malware sites are actually legitimate sites whose owners simply don&#8217;t watch the store. Websites cannot be “set it and forget it” any longer!</p>
<p>4)  If your site has been blacklisted, take quick, decisive action.  Document what the rating software found and seek professional (legal and computer security) assistance immediately.  The longer your site goes without being fixed, the longer it will take for the companies to remove it from the blacklist.</p>
<p>5)  Finally, as a last resort, if you simply don&#8217;t where to turn, you can drop me an email and I will help as I am able.</p>


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		<title>Blog Commenting Takes A Google Hit</title>
		<link>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/blog-commenting-takes-a-google-hit/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/blog-commenting-takes-a-google-hit/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:11:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jason Temple</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog commenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link building strategy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webcraftdaily.com/?p=203</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
	
	Google has updated its position on blog commenting in this post on their official webmaster blog:
Hard Facts About Comment Spam
What is clear from the post, crystal clear, is that Google is out to spot and &#8220;at best&#8221; ignore your efforts:
&#8220;Google has an understanding of the link graph of the web, and has algorithmic ways of [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.webcraftdaily.com/marketing/nsfw-social-media-marketing/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: NSFW Social Media Marketing'>NSFW Social Media Marketing</a> <small>Social media and social networking can be used to bring...</small></li></ol>

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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>
	<img src="http://www.webcraftdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/jason.jpg" alt="This image has no alt text" />
	</p><p>Google has updated its position on blog commenting in this post on their official webmaster blog:</p>
<p><a href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/11/hard-facts-about-comment-spam.html">Hard Facts About Comment Spam</a></p>
<p>What is clear from the post, crystal clear, is that Google is out to spot and &#8220;at best&#8221; ignore your efforts:</p>
<p><em>&#8220;Google has an understanding of the link graph of the web, and has algorithmic ways of discovering those alterations and tackling them. At best, a link spammer might spend hours doing spammy linkdrops which would count for little or nothing because Google is pretty good at devaluing these types of links.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>So if your current link building strategy relies heavily on finding blogs to add comments to for the purpose of getting a link, you need to re-evaluate right now.</p>
<p>I personally still intend to find relevant blogs, and will post relevant comments that add value to the site, and I will continue to add my site name and URL to create a backlink in that comment.  What I will be stopping is visiting any old blog, either personally or using automation, to drop links through comments.</p>
<p>Google has spoken, again, so it is time to mix things up again and evolve your link building strategy if it involves comment spam.</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.webcraftdaily.com/marketing/nsfw-social-media-marketing/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: NSFW Social Media Marketing'>NSFW Social Media Marketing</a> <small>Social media and social networking can be used to bring...</small></li></ol></p>
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		<title>&#8220;An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/%e2%80%9can-ounce-of-prevention-is-worth-a-pound-of-cure-%e2%80%9d/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/%e2%80%9can-ounce-of-prevention-is-worth-a-pound-of-cure-%e2%80%9d/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:58:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Carlos.Sanchez</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cybersecurity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hackers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[trojan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webcraftdaily.com/?p=172</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In his first entry for WebcraftDaily.com, security expert Carlos Sanchez makes the case for prevention by looking at two malware lessons from the past.  Simple backup procedures can keep your files from being held for ransom.


No related posts.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>
	<img src="http://www.webcraftdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/carlos.jpg" alt="This image has no alt text" />
	</p><p>Hello fellow Web Craft-ers!  I&#8217;m glad to finally be here in the “blogosphere” and I apologize for the delay.  It turned out that getting a photo I could use in this forum was a much bigger problem than I ever expected.  Normally I simply advise the powers-that-be that I am planning to contribute to a web forum aimed at Independent Web Developers.  However this time a few “issues” popped up.  You see, I work in the shadowy world of “cyber security” and while I am definitely a “White Hat” my work frequently has me traveling pretty far into the “badlands” and dealing with some very evil people.  What I will try and do is to relate information in a timely manner (or at least as timely as I am permitted); information that can help protect everyone who owns or maintains an on-line presence.</p>
<p>So, having said all that as an intro, let me start with an old story that keeps getting updated as technology progresses.</p>
<p>The idea of malware infecting and then encrypting a user&#8217;s files first came to my attention back in 1994 with a piece of malware called “Half Virus”.  The virus would secretly infect a computer running MS DOS or Windows 3.11 and then encrypt on-the-fly portions of the hard drive.  Overall this virus was fairly harmless unless it was carelessly removed, unlike the variants circulating today.  Half Virus still exists and is still circulating in the wild.  </p>
<p>But today&#8217;s cyber landscape has changed drastically from “hacker pranks” to “organized crime”.  Just about 2 weeks ago a new variant appeared called LoroBot.  This piece of malware encrypts users&#8217; MS Word, MS Excel, MP3, JPG, PDF and Data Base files.  The malware then demands $100 for the key to unlock the encrypted files.  Fortunately several big international anti virus companies have provided the decryption key for free.  But what about the next time, when the decryption key is different for every infection?  Or worse, if your website has been targeted for extortion and there is no cavalry riding over the horizon to your rescue?  </p>
<p>Well the unfortunate answer is that you don&#8217;t have many choices:  you can either pay or accept the total loss of all files on the compromised computer.  And as you can see, neither of these options is very good.  What is you pay and the hackers don&#8217;t send the decryption key?  What if you pay but the hackers have hidden some more malware in the “decryption software”?  The following is a true story of a very large state agency where this exact scenario occurred.</p>
<p>A particular state government recently had an entire database of critical data encrypted and then ransomed back to them (approximately 8-1/2 million critical records in all).  Like all kidnappings, they were given an amount to pay and a “pay by this date or else” ultimatum.  The state informed the Federal Government which tasked several Agencies to work 24-7 to break the encryption before the deadline.  </p>
<p>The outcome?  The state wired $10M to a bank, which then wired it to an offshore bank, and then another, and another, etc.  The Federal Agencies were able to see the transactions for approximately the first 5 hops, but then the money went to a country where the US has no diplomatic contacts and the trace was lost.</p>
<p>The fable of the story:  Backup EVERYTHING!  With external 1.5 Terrabyte hard drives selling for $109 at membership warehouses, it really is a case of an “ounce of prevention&#8230;”.</p>


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		<title>Why You Can&#8217;t Give Up Caffeine For 2010</title>
		<link>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/why-you-cant-give-up-caffeine-for-2010/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/why-you-cant-give-up-caffeine-for-2010/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:52:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jason Temple</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webcraftdaily.com/?p=168</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Google's new Caffeine technology is close to being released, and the impact will be felt in your website's page rankings.  If you haven't already done so, now's the time to do some research to get a sense for how these changes to Google's engine might affect you and your business.


No related posts.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>
	<img src="http://www.webcraftdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/jason.jpg" alt="This image has no alt text" />
	</p><p>It is official, Google&#8217;s &#8220;Caffeine&#8221; algo-update is coming very soon.  Described by Google as &#8220;<em>next-generation architecture for Google&#8217;s web search</em>,&#8221; Caffeine will be the largest update for several years.</p>
<p>According to Google&#8217;s Webmaster Central blog, Caffeine will be &#8220;<em>the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions</em>.&#8221;</p>
<p>Sounds serious&#8230;</p>
<p>You may or may not know that Google has been soliciting feedback from the online community for months now, by making their Caffeine update publically available at <a href="http://www2.sandbox.google.com/">http://www2.sandbox.google.com</a>. However, that URL now just displays a &#8220;thank you&#8221; message.</p>
<p>So if you already know via checking that your site will take a nasty SERP fall, or you are unaware of how your site will react to Caffeine, then now is the time to take action and educate yourself, rather than leaving yourself open to a nasty traffic drop as a New Year present.</p>
<p>If you employ an SEO company, and have not heard from them about Caffeine already,  phone them and ask them what impact Caffeine may have. If they cannot tell you then I would recommend making a new years resolution to find a new SEO company!</p>
<p>Matt Cutt&#8217;s has now <a href="http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/google-caffeine-update/">confirmed</a> that the Caffeine update will go live &#8220;after the holidays&#8221; (not particularly clear terminology for those of of use living outside the USA, but hey Google has always been bizarrely global in audience, while at the same time failing to educate it&#8217;s spokespeople to talk in a non-USA-centric manner).</p>
<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;The feedback on Caffeine has been very positive, so we’re ready to move from the developer preview to the next stage of the roll out: going live with Caffeine at one data center. This means that a small percentage of Google’s users will benefit from the technology behind Caffeine in their regular searches.</em></p>
<p><em>I know that webmasters can get anxious around this time of year, so I wanted to reassure site owners that the full Caffeine roll out will happen after the holidays. Caffeine will go live at one data center so that we can continue to collect data and improve the technology, but I don’t expect Caffeine to go live at additional data centers until after the holidays are over. Most searchers wouldn’t immediately notice any changes with Caffeine, but going slowly not only gives us time to collect feedback and improve, but will also minimize the stress on webmasters during the holidays.&#8221;</em>
</p></blockquote>


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		<title>Did Microsoft Rip Off Apple&#8217;s OS&#8230; Again?</title>
		<link>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/did-microsoft%e2%80%99s-windows-rip-off-apple%e2%80%a6-again/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/did-microsoft%e2%80%99s-windows-rip-off-apple%e2%80%a6-again/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:45:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Connor Young</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Microsoft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[osx]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Windows 7]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webcraftdaily.com/?p=161</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Many people believe that Microsoft has a long history of passing on innovation in favor of leveraging its position of power to take away market share from those who do innovate.  The rise of the Internet has changed the playing field, but has Microsoft turned a page with Windows 7, or is it still using that same old playbook that gave it two decades of pure dominance?


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/mozilla-blocks-vulnerable-browser-add-ons-by-microsoft/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Mozilla Blocks Vulnerable Browser Add-Ons by Microsoft'>Mozilla Blocks Vulnerable Browser Add-Ons by Microsoft</a> <small>Mozilla blocks two Microsoft authored add-ons from the Firefox browser...</small></li><li><a href='http://www.webcraftdaily.com/money/apple-breaks-records-with-mac-sales-for-q3/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Apple Breaks Record with Mac and iPhone Sales'>Apple Breaks Record with Mac and iPhone Sales</a> <small>Apple defies the Great Recession and reports record sales of...</small></li><li><a href='http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/windows-users-get-ready-to-scream-again/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Windows Users, Get Ready to Scream Again'>Windows Users, Get Ready to Scream Again</a> <small>Skepticism about Windows 7 is more than justified considering Microsoft's...</small></li></ol>

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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>
	<img src="http://www.webcraftdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/connor_200x200.jpg" alt="This image has no alt text" />
	</p><p>The operating system that Apple named “Tiger” was introduced in 2004, and many felt it was the finest to date produced by the California-based technology company.  Its main competition was, of course, the powerhouse up in Redmond, Washington – a company that went by the name of Microsoft.  While announcing Tiger at a technology conference, Apple had commissioned banners that hung from the walls and gleefully poked at the giant to the north; the banners read, “Redmond, start your photocopiers.”</p>
<p>That of course was a jab at Microsoft, who Apple (along with countless other software companies) had accused before of stealing its innovations.  Apple had previously sued Microsoft over the initial Windows operating system, which Apple felt was far too close to the Macintosh approach to be ignored; defenders of Microsoft pointed out that Apple’s own hands were not clean, having “borrowed” the whole idea for the original Mac OS from Xerox.</p>
<p>No matter where Apple got the idea for the original Mas OS, there’s no denying that Apple has succeeded in launching revolutionary new technology products again and again: it created the personal computer, revolutionized the market a second time with the release of the Macintosh, dominated digital music with iTunes and the iPod, and now has launched a “smartphone” revolution in the United States with its iPhone.  Most of Microsoft’s success has come from leveraging its position of power as the leading OS maker to sell its own versions of products that already existed.  Microsoft seems less interested in innovation, and more interested in adapting and dominating.</p>
<p>The movie <em>Pirates of Silicon Valley</em> was released in 1999 before Apple had risen from the ashes of its historic fall at the hands of a more aggressive and better positioned Microsoft.  In a memorable scene from the film, volatile Apple CEO Steve Jobs unloads in an encounter with Microsoft founder and CEO Bill Gates.  Gates admits that there maybe be “a few similarities” between his new Windows OS and the Macintosh OS.  “Similarities,” Jobs replies, “Try theft.”</p>
<p>Since the rise of the Internet, however, innovation has taken on a new form of prominence with technology companies.  Some companies who have embraced innovation have seen wild success; Google decimated a number of far less sophisticated early players in Internet search, Facebook smashed a less aggressive MySpace, and of course Apple found its groove again with the iMac and, later, the iPod.</p>
<p>“Microsoft’s business model was based around waiting for others to innovate, then making cheap knockoffs of what others were selling,” wrote columnist Daniel Lyons recently for Newsweek.  “Microsoft copied Apple to make Windows. They copied Lotus and WordPerfect to make Excel and Word, then bundled those apps into a low-cost suite called Office. They copied Netscape Navigator to make Internet Explorer, and then gave it away free, tied to Windows, and killed Netscape. But then the copycat model stopped working.”</p>
<p>Why did it stop working?  Lyons says, and I agree, it was the rise of the Internet that threatened Redmond.  Microsoft suddenly seemed unable to buy or muscle its way to the top with failed music projects and a disastrous Windows Vista.  The rise of Open Source software also made its mark, since developers from around the globe now found it a lot easier to collaborate on projects like Open Office, Firefox and countless others.  Fighting wars on a number of fronts, Microsoft found itself in a dire position; it was not irrelevant by any means, with more than 90% of the market share for personal computers, but was in danger of heading down that path if it didn’t start to make the right moves.</p>
<p>“Before the Internet came along, Microsoft ruled the computer industry,” Lyons wrote.  “Tiny software companies lived in Microsoft’s shadow, and they knew that if their business struck gold, Microsoft would offer them an unpleasant choice: either sell your company to us for a pittance, or we’ll create software that mimics your product and put you out of business. Microsoft bullied rivals and business partners alike, until the latter squealed to the U.S. Department of Justice, which brought an antitrust case against the software giant, resulting in a judgment against Microsoft in 2002.  These days nobody fears Microsoft. The company has become a stumbling, bumbling joke.”</p>
<p>Enter the Windows 7 operating system.  The hype surrounding the release of this OS has been deafening, with Microsoft all but pleading with consumers that it has learned its lesson and reformed.  But there are no really good signs yet that the hype has penetrated through to those consumers who aren’t rabid technology fans.  In fact, any way you look at it the Mac’s market share has only increased slightly since the release of Windows 7, although it’s far too early to have a really good sense of what the OS will mean to Microsoft.</p>
<p>As the marketing battle heats up between the two archrivals, the real question might be if Microsoft has changed its approach to development, learned the lesson of a new Internet age, or if it’s still the same old company that lets others do the hard work.</p>
<p>Incredibly, Microsoft partner group manager Simon Aldous had this candid comment when talking about his company’s latest OS that might shed some insight into that question: &#8220;What we&#8217;ve tried to do with Windows 7 &#8211; whether it&#8217;s traditional format or in a touch format &#8211; is to create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics.&#8221;</p>
<p>Others at Microsoft have since rushed to repair the damage, denying the validity of Aldous’s comments and insisting that he was flat wrong.  But the comments have already served like a shot of euphoria to loyal Apple fans everywhere who have hopped up and down and pointed with glee at their latest smoking gun.</p>
<p>In the final climax of <em>Pirates of Silicon Valley</em>, Jobs and Gates square off in a private fictional encounter.  After a heated exchange, Gates turns to leave and Jobs calls after him, “We’re better than you are.  We have better stuff.”  Gates stops and slowly turns to deliver the films final word on innovation in business.  “You don’t get it Steve,” he says calmly.  “That doesn’t matter.”</p>
<p>Time will tell if the fictional Gates was right.</p>


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		<item>
		<title>Good Advice: Set Up a Private Company Wiki</title>
		<link>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/good-advice-set-up-a-private-company-wiki/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/good-advice-set-up-a-private-company-wiki/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:31:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Connor Young</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webcraftdaily.com/?p=134</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Setting up a private company wiki is a great way to store important information about your company, and a convenient place to document company procedures and define job roles for your employees.  Best of all, setting up a wiki is free, and you can have complete control over what information is stored and who sees it.


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>
	<img src="http://www.webcraftdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/connor_200x200.jpg" alt="This image has no alt text" />
	</p><p>You’re probably familiar with Wikipedia.org, the free online information depository that seems to be at the beginning and end of congressional research efforts these days.  What you might not know, however, is that a “wiki” in Internet terms is nothing more than a website or section of a website where multiple people can contribute content.  The word was borrowed from the Hawaiian word wikiwiki, which means “quick.”  You can verify that fact on Wikipedia!</p>
<p>Most of the wiki sites you know are probably public websites, but there’s nothing stopping you from setting up your own private wiki as a convenient depository of information that relates to the operation of your online company or business.  Keeping specific company information in one secure location is convenient and extremely useful.</p>
<p>This works especially well when you have a company with more than one employee at remote locations.  Setting up a “company wiki” gives you a place online to deposit important information for employees, such as links to tax forms, codes of conduct, or legal notices about employee rights.  You can also use it to store general company information that other employees might need to access, such as your company’s tax-ID number, company fax lines, mailing address, staff contact information, or listings of all company websites and their admin areas.</p>
<p>A private wiki is especially useful though for documenting company procedures.  </p>
<p>Consider that each job at your company should be clearly defined, and a company wiki is an excellent place to store job descriptions.  Let’s say your company employs a ‘Website Content Manager’ whose job includes verifying the accuracy of information offered on your website.  This employee no doubt has a set of procedures that he or she needs to follow while carrying out assigned tasks.  Perhaps your website includes a listing of software vendors, and this employee needs to monitor entries on that list on a regular basis to verify they are still valid.  That means checking links, verifying descriptions, and when appropriate, logging into an admin area to delete outdated links or change information.  This entire process can be documented on your company wiki, making it that much easier to get the next employee up to speed and productive should your current employee leave for greener pastures.</p>
<p>If you employ a system administrator, you have to be concerned about that person being the sole source of knowledge about how to get things done on your servers.  If your system administrator leaves for another company, will you know how to train his or her replacement?  Will you know where files are kept on your server?  Do you know about any custom software that has been installed to administer your websites?  Asking your system administrator to document how to accomplish basic admin tasks is a really good idea, and your next administrator will thank you if your wiki is loaded with information about your specific setup.</p>
<p>Now for some really good news.  </p>
<p>Setting up a company wiki is free, and the same software that powers Wikipedia.org is open source.  You can download it at <A HREF="http://www.mediawiki.org/" target="_new">MediaWiki.org</A>, and assuming your server meets some basic requirements, you can have it installed and running in almost no time.</p>
<p>Spend some time thinking about security, however.  You’ll want to make sure your wiki is password-protected, and that employees access it via a secure connection so that usernames and passwords can’t be intercepted.  Since no system in 100% secure (an employee might be careless with his account information, for example), you might want to refrain from putting extremely sensitive information on your company wiki, just in case.</p>


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		<title>Online Networking Basics: Starting a Group on Facebook</title>
		<link>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/online-networking-basics-starting-a-group-on-facebook/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/online-networking-basics-starting-a-group-on-facebook/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:13:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Connor Young</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webcraftdaily.com/?p=63</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you aren't using the Groups application on Facebook to network with other professionals, you might consider starting your own group and building up your list of B2B contacts.


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>
	<img src="http://www.webcraftdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/connor_200x200.jpg" alt="This image has no alt text" />
	</p><p>If you plan to spend time marketing yourself, your company, your products or your services through social networking sites, there are really only a couple that are worth your time.  The giant in the room, of course, is Facebook – which by most estimates is now the second most-visited website on the Internet, behind Google of course.  </p>
<p>If you’re going to spend time on Facebook though, then you probably should get familiar with the “Groups” application, which is a simple way to stay connected with people who share a common interest.  </p>
<p>For those of you who are already familiar with the Groups application, you can skip this tutorial since it covers only the basics.</p>
<div id="attachment_79" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 243px"><img src="http://www.webcraftdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/fb12.jpg" alt="Applications Menu" title="fb1" width="233" height="340" class="size-full wp-image-79" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Facebook: Applications Menu</p></div>
<p>For the rest of you, we’ll need a common frame of reference for this discussion, so let’s assume for the sake of argument that your goal is to promote your book review website.  You have two choices when planning a group on Facebook for business purposes: you can target potential customers directly, or you use Facebook to network with other professionals who themselves might have access to potential customers.  In our scenario, we’ll assume the targets will be other businesses because I’m a big believer in the benefits of B2B networking.</p>
<p>So the group we’re going to make then is a professional group, and the people you want to attract would be other individuals who run websites, since they might make good partners for traffic trades or other forms of cross promotion.  You could always make a general group like “Website Developers,” but you probably need to narrow your focus down somewhat for starters.  If you live in Texas, for example, you might start a group called “Texas Internet Developers.”  If you’d rather be even more specific, go for “Houston Website Developers.”</p>
<p>Groups technically aren’t built-in to Facebook; strictly speaking, they’re a Facebook application.  The chances of that making any difference to you though are slim.  What that does mean, however, is when you start a group you’ll need to access the Groups application from the Applications menu, which at the time of this article is located in the bottom left corner of your Facebook screen.</p>
<p>Once you have selected Groups, the first thing you should do is search for groups similar to the one you plan to create.  If there is an existing group that fits what you’re planning to create, you can always choose to just join that group instead of starting from scratch.  If you’d rather be at the wheel, knowing what similar groups exist already can help you with naming your group so that it at least sounds different – and if there are too many similar groups, you can always change your focus.</p>
<p>After you have scanned what already exists, click on the link to “Create a New Group” and fill in the form that follows.</p>
<div id="attachment_93" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 610px"><img src="http://www.webcraftdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/fb23.jpg" alt="Facebook: Create New Group" title="fb2" width="600" height="469" class="size-full wp-image-93" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Facebook: Create New Group</p></div>
<p><strong>Group Name</strong>.  If you want people with like interests to find your group, use a descriptive name.  And since the group in our scenario is supposed to be a professional group, keep the name professional too.  Only teenagers really appreciate absurd group names, and teenage antics aren’t in short supply on the Internet, so put on a professional face and take networking seriously.</p>
<p><strong>Description</strong>.  This is your chance to get some good keywords into your group to help people find your group in the first place, but your group description should also sound professional and be descriptive.  If you simply stuff keywords, other people won’t take your group seriously.</p>
<p><strong>Group Type</strong>.  Here you get to place your group into a category, two levels deep.  In our example we’d probably select “Internet &#038; Technology” for the first category, and “Websites” for the second.</p>
<p><strong>Email</strong>: Add in your email address here, so you can get proper notifications of select group-related events.</p>
<p>You can ignore fields like “recent news” or “address” for now, those aren’t vital to the operation of a Facebook group.</p>
<p>When you’re done, click on the “Create Group” button.  Now you’ll need to do a little group administration and customize the settings for your new group.</p>
<div id="attachment_86" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 610px"><img src="http://www.webcraftdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/fb31.jpg" alt="Facebook: Customize Group" title="fb3" width="600" height="605" class="size-full wp-image-86" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Facebook: Customize Group</p></div>
<p>In addition to having the option of determining whether group members can post comments on the wall, share pictures or videos, or post links, you also get to decide the “Access” settings for your group.  All three choices are clearly explained on Facebook, just keep in mind the real questions here are: 1) “Do I want anyone to be able to join my group?” and 2) “Do I want anyone to be able to find my group?”  </p>
<p>In our scenario, we probably want the group to be findable by anyone on Facebook, but we might want to restrict who can join the group since it’s supposed to be focused on Web developers in Texas.  You can select “This group is open” if you don’t want to verify new members, or “This group is closed” if you’d rather approve new members before they can participate in the group.</p>
<p>Once your settings are complete, you’ll be prompted to send out invitations to people you can select from your Friends list; alternatively, you can enter a list of email addresses.  If you don’t know anyone yet who would be a good match for your group, you’re going to have to do some work.  Join other open groups that might include potential members for your own group, and start making new friends.</p>
<p>You also want to make sure your new group has some content of interest so new members have a reason to stick around after they join.  Post pictures if relevant, start discussions, post links of interest, and when you get enough members you can even consider planning a local event for group members in your area.</p>
<p>Facebook’s Groups application can be an effective tool for networking with other professionals, and it never hurts to have friends in business.  Just remember that marketing with Facebook takes work, and like anything else in modern Internet marketing, if you don’t stay at it consistently then it won’t be of much help to your business.</p>
<p>Remember: At the end of the day, Groups is a software tool; it’s up to you to use that tool to supply interesting content that attracts attention and solicits participation.</p>


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		<title>Mozilla Blocks Vulnerable Browser Add-Ons by Microsoft</title>
		<link>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/mozilla-blocks-vulnerable-browser-add-ons-by-microsoft/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/mozilla-blocks-vulnerable-browser-add-ons-by-microsoft/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:42:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Connor Young</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[firefox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Microsoft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mozilla]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Mozilla blocks two Microsoft authored add-ons from the Firefox browser after security flaws discovered in software.


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/did-microsoft%e2%80%99s-windows-rip-off-apple%e2%80%a6-again/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Did Microsoft Rip Off Apple&#8217;s OS&#8230; Again?'>Did Microsoft Rip Off Apple&#8217;s OS&#8230; Again?</a> <small>Many people believe that Microsoft has a long history of...</small></li><li><a href='http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/windows-users-get-ready-to-scream-again/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Windows Users, Get Ready to Scream Again'>Windows Users, Get Ready to Scream Again</a> <small>Skepticism about Windows 7 is more than justified considering Microsoft's...</small></li></ol>

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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>
	<img src="http://www.webcraftdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/firefox.jpg" alt="This image has no alt text" />
	</p><p>After blocking a Microsoft browser add-on and associated plug-in last Friday due to a documented security vulnerability, Mozilla today unblocked the add-ons for Firefox and said the plug-in will be restored in a matter of days.</p>
<p>Microsoft reported last week that two of its add-ons, .NET Framework Assistant and Windows Presentation Foundation, contained security flaws that made their users vulnerable to attack.  The company had issued a patch for the software, but Mozilla decided it wasn’t enough to protect users of its Firefox browser because Microsoft had been installing the software without the permission of users.  </p>
<p>Making matters worse, uninstalling the add-on was extremely difficult and until recently required users to edit the Windows registry.</p>
<p>&#8220;Because of the difficulties some users have had entirely removing the add-on, and because of the severity of the risk it represents if not disabled, we contacted Microsoft today to indicate that we were looking to disable the extension and plug-in for all users via our blocklisting mechanism,&#8221; said Mozilla’s Mike Shaver last Friday.</p>
<p>According to reports, the vulnerability in the Microsoft add-ons could be used by hackers to hijack Windows-based computers.  At risk were users of Firefox, as well as users of all versions of Internet Explorer.  Although Microsoft issued an announcement that a security patch it released last week would protect users of Internet Explorer, the company hadn’t mentioned Firefox.  When Mozilla blocked the two add-ons late Friday, it was only the ninth time the company has used its blocking tool since it was released in 2007. </p>
<p>&#8220;This was an unusual case of using the blocker,&#8221; Shaver said. &#8220;Version information was not available to us at first, and since [the add-ons were] installed by many users, many of them were unaware they even had it, and the add-on and plug-in were difficult to uninstall, we thought it best to block them, at least for a time. Microsoft agreed.&#8221;</p>
<p>Blocking the .NET Framework Assistant add-on proved to be a headache for users who relied on it to power certain software run through their browsers.  Although it has now been taken off the block list, the associated Windows Presentation Foundation plug-in is still blocked for the time being.</p>
<p>According to Shaver, Mozilla is working on an improvement to its user notification system that will automatically deactivate any plug-ins that are installed by third party software.  Users will then be notified of the plug-in and given the option of activating it.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re big believers in informed user choice,&#8221; said Shaver. &#8220;So we&#8217;re going to improve notifications to users when plug-ins are installed. We do that with add-ons in Firefox now, which checks for those added since the last time you ran the browser. We will do the same thing for plug-ins, likely in Firefox 3.7.&#8221;</p>


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		<title>Windows Users, Get Ready to Scream Again</title>
		<link>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/windows-users-get-ready-to-scream-again/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/windows-users-get-ready-to-scream-again/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:16:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Connor Young</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Microsoft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Windows 7]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Skepticism about Windows 7 is more than justified considering Microsoft's spotty record with operating systems.


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/mozilla-blocks-vulnerable-browser-add-ons-by-microsoft/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Mozilla Blocks Vulnerable Browser Add-Ons by Microsoft'>Mozilla Blocks Vulnerable Browser Add-Ons by Microsoft</a> <small>Mozilla blocks two Microsoft authored add-ons from the Firefox browser...</small></li><li><a href='http://www.webcraftdaily.com/tech/did-microsoft%e2%80%99s-windows-rip-off-apple%e2%80%a6-again/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Did Microsoft Rip Off Apple&#8217;s OS&#8230; Again?'>Did Microsoft Rip Off Apple&#8217;s OS&#8230; Again?</a> <small>Many people believe that Microsoft has a long history of...</small></li></ol>

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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>
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	</p><p>Well now, Microsoft is looking to stop the bleeding from the broken glass all over the floor from where Windows Vista shattered.  Their solution is Windows 7, the new version of their always flawed operating system that, according to the hype (hype they almost certainly manufactured themselves), is supposed to finally halt the Mac&#8217;s recent surge in market share.</p>
<p>Only problem is&#8230; this is still a Microsoft operating system, even if the company is someone less powerful than it was ten years ago.</p>
<p>Upgrading a PC to a new version of Windows is always so painful, even David Coursey from PC World is saying you might as well just buy a whole new machine.</p>
<p>&#8220;Windows 7&#8217;s biggest failing is that upgrading from XP upgrade requires reinstalling applications and moving personal data around. And who looks forward to doing that?&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/173792/windows_7_dont_upgrade_buy_a_new_pc.html">http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/173792/windows_7_dont_upgrade_buy_a_new_pc.html</a></p>
<p>If you hear a dripping sound, that&#8217;s just the collective drool of the hardware and software vendors who are fully expecting you to keep that wallet out long after you purchase Windows 7.</p>
<p>When Vista was released, I did the &#8220;purchase a new PC&#8221; thing too&#8230; and you know what?  It was STILL a nightmare.  Peripherals didn&#8217;t work, and searches for updated drivers often yielded results like &#8220;we&#8217;re working on it.&#8221;  And suddenly, half my software wasn&#8217;t working correctly.  I had a version of Dreamweaver that was about 2 years old at the time, and of course couldn&#8217;t find my registration key.  So when I called Adobe to retrieve it, they told me that the version of Dreamweaver that I was using wasn&#8217;t compatible with Vista, and recommended I spend another couple hundred upgrading it.</p>
<p>Looking back, I seriously doubt the &#8220;advice&#8221; that Adobe rep gave me was sound.  But after wondering if I&#8217;d be having similar problems with Photoshop, Premiere, Acrobat, etc., my final solution was to chuck that new PC into a closet and spend the money on an iMac instead.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m still using that same iMac today, and haven&#8217;t even considered a need to upgrade it.  To be sure, Macs aren&#8217;t the ideal platform for gaming.  But when it comes to keeping work days productive and minimizing the &#8220;scream at your computer&#8221; moments, it has been a godsend.  There have been a few bumps in the road, but I&#8217;m spending so much less time running down undesirable computer behavior &#8212; plus, the OS doesn&#8217;t get in the way of productivity.</p>
<p>Things just work nicer with my Mac than they ever did with Windows&#8230; whether that be Windows 95, 98, ME, XP, or especially Vista.  I hardly ever reboot now.  So you&#8217;ll have to pardon me if I don&#8217;t jump on the Windows 7 bandwagon.  It&#8217;s certainly possible that the financial kick in the butt that Microsoft got from their &#8220;just ship it&#8221; decision on Vista was just what that company needed to finally get it right, but I&#8217;m not holding my breath.</p>


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