Everything Else: A Blog

Wow they Link Hacked me.

Brad — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:31:07 +0000

So one of my web sites (never mind which one) was hacked by somebody that wanted to put hidden links on my pages so they would get their sites to rank better in the search engines, mainly Google. At some point they pulled up stakes and that left an error message on my site.

404 Not Found

The server can not find the requested page:

linkr.m7y.de/getlinks.php?url=MYWEBSITE.COM/&charset=UTF-8 (port 80)

Please forward this error screen to linkr.m7y.de’s WebMaster.
Apache/2.2.10 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.10 OpenSSL/0.9.8b mod_python/3.3.1 Python/2.4.4 mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 PHP/5.2.6 mod_perl/2.0.4 Perl/v5.8.8 Server at linkr.m7y.de Port 80

Note I changed my url to MYWEBSITE.COM.

In looking around the web a few other sites were also hacked by this same outfit operating out of the domain: m7y.de. It also appears that somebody was using m7y.de to comment spam numerous blogs.

Now I have no proof that the registered owner of m7y.de knew about or was involved with the hacking or comment spam but here is the ownership information for m7y.de:

Domaindaten
Domain: m7y.de
Letzte Aktualisierung: 24.11.2008
Domaininhaber

Der Domaininhaber ist der Vertragspartner der DENIC und damit der an der Domain materiell Berechtigte.

Domaininhaber: Berg Mark
Adresse: Arbel 6
PLZ: 20100
Ort: Karmiel
Land: IL
Administrativer Ansprechpartner

Der administrative Ansprechpartner (admin-c) ist die vom Domaininhaber benannte natürliche Person, die als sein Bevollmächtigter berechtigt und gegenüber DENIC auch verpflichtet ist, sämtliche die Domain m7y.de betreffenden Angelegenheiten verbindlich zu entscheiden.

Name: Rechtsanwalt Harald J. Moench
Adresse: Nussbaumstr. 12
PLZ: 80336
Ort: Muenchen
Land: DE
Technischer Ansprechpartner

Der technische Ansprechpartner (tech-c) betreut die Domain m7y.de in technischer Hinsicht.

Name: Domain24 Hostmaster
Adresse: NetService24 GmbH
Dietlindenstr. 15
PLZ: 80802
Ort: Muenchen
Land: DE
Telefon: +49 180 55552424
Telefax: +49 180 55552422
E-Mail: service@domain24.de
Zonenverwalter

Der Zonenverwalter (zone-c) betreut die Nameserver der Domain m7y.de.

Name: Domain24 Hostmaster
Adresse: NetService24 GmbH
Dietlindenstr. 15
PLZ: 80802
Ort: Muenchen
Land: DE
Telefon: +49 180 55552424
Telefax: +49 180 55552422
E-Mail: service@domain24.de
Technische Daten
Nameserver: dns0.sigmos.de
Nameserver: dns1.sigmos.de

Draw from that whatever conclusion you will.

New Duneland Directory

Brad — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:48:14 +0000

I have relaunched my local web directory at: Duneland Links

I have made about 4 false starts on this directory: at one time planning an entire portal to go with it containing forums, blogs and reviews. But an honest evaluation of my schedule told me I would not have the time to maintain all that.

Therefore I made Duneland Links just a simple directory with the links arranged by towns. Such a directory has to serve two audiences really: local residents who want a business guide and out of town visitors looking for entertainments and accommodations I am hoping that the very clean, minimalist design will attract both computer and smartphone users.

Although directory use has been declining I still think that a good local directory is relevant in spite of the search engines. There is something very handy in searching through a human edited index where you know every single listing is either about or located within the geographic area. No search engine can do that.

Try it: Duneland Links.

FISA: Why I will not donate money to Obama

Brad — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:40:50 +0000

The FISA sellout reform bill passed the Senate. Obama voted for the bill which gives the government the power to wiretap Americans without a warrant. It also gives retroactive immunity to the telecom companies for allowing illegal wiretaps prior to this law being passed. This is the most cowardly congress in history.

Before this vote, my intention was to not only vote for Obama but also to donate money towards Obama’s campaign. While I may have no choice but to still vote for Obama, I now doubt I will donate. I’m beginning to doubt that a vote for Obama is a vote for change. Same old same old.

Mobile posting on blogs

Brad — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:39:37 +0000

This is an experiment with posting to my WordPress blog via a mobile web interface on my iPhone and the Safari browser.

Not bad for simple text posts. Blogger from Google lets you post via email which has the advantage of allowing photos to be posted which WordPress web interface does not permit.

Trying Ubuntu Linux for the First Time.

Brad — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 21:40:08 +0000

My first attempt at Linux was back around 2000 when I tried installing Mandrake Linux on my Windows desktop as a dual boot. It turned out the be a disaster, and after weeks of support messages it turned out my hardware just was not compatible with Mandrake. Eventually I switched from Windows to Apple computers and I have been very happy with the Mac, but that itch to try Linux has never gone away.

Enter DazzlinDonna who made a wonderful post about her adventures in switching to Ubuntu Linux. This inspired me to try buying a laptop with Ubuntu already installed. Nearly everything I do on a laptop is online and web based so there is no great reason to use a Mac. Ultimately in my search I settled on a laptop from Zareason, and I have no problems with the quality of the hardware, although I do sorta wish I had bought a smaller model.

Anyway, I’m really impressed with Ubuntu. It connected to my wireless network flawlessly and has been a joy to work with. I think anyone who can find their way around Windows or OS X can figure out Ubuntu in about 5 minutes. I won’t say it is as polished as Mac OS X, but it certainly is functional and there is a load of free software with it, which is something you don’t find much in the Mac world.

I like being able to buy a laptop for a couple of hundred dollars less than a Mac. I like the fact that I’m not going to have to pay each time I want to upgrade my OS. Like a Mac, the OS is in the background and I’m not having to constantly baby it like I did in the past with Windows.

I’m not giving up Mac computers. I need at least one (my iMac) to tend my iPhone, iPods, AppleTV and for my web design software. But I can say that I will probably be replacing my Apple laptops when they die, with Ubuntu laptops.

Thanks Donna!

More to come …

Cybook Gen3 eBook Reader: Christmas Present to Myself

Brad — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 17:23:15 +0000

I bought myself a Christmas pressie – a Cybook Gen3 ebook reader by Bookeen. Yeah it’s very expensive but so far I’m liking it. I still use my backlit eBookwise 1150 for reading in bed, but the backlit screen did not work too well last summer for reading on my sunny front porch. So I went with the Cybook which uses eInk technology for the screen.

Three things I really like about the Cybook:

1. It reads the ebook formats natively. This means I don’t have to worry about using some conversion software to load ebooks on the device.

2. It works with my Mac. For Mac and Windows and Linux computers you just plug it into the USB port where it shows up as drives and drag and drop files onto the device.

3. Long battery life.

I don’t read ebooks exclusively, I still have to buy some p-books by my favorite authors because they are not being released in ebook form. Of course I still use the local library too. But reading ebooks dovetails in well with reading Golden Age mystery stories since so many of those are in the public domain and can be had as free ebooks.

Health Insurance: Present to Myself

Brad — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 13:01:01 +0000

I bought a health insurance policy for myself, actually a few months before Christmas, so I guess it does not count as a Christmas present but I do sort of consider it a present.

I’ve been crusing along without any health insurance since early 2001 and I know the law of averages says sooner or later I’ll need medical care beyond the routine. Plus as I’m now getting painfully close to 50 in age it just makes sense to have something in place.

While the policy is not cheap it also was not as expensive as I thought it would be. However the deductible is $5000 so I’ll end up paying for things like broken arms pretty much out of my own pocket.

At least I won’t automatically lose my house and end up on the street eating out of dumpsters if I get hospitalized, so yea me!

SearchGuild: R.I.P.

Brad — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:19:20 +0000

SearchGuild was my favorite SEO forum and it died after 5 great years of service. You can read why it died here. I think I became a member of SearchGuild within 2 weeks of it first being started by Chris Ridings. Shortly afterward I was asked to be a moderator and later became an administrator so I traveled a good bit of that 5 year run with SearchGuild and it’s members.

SearchGuild was a great place because it never got too big so that it lost the personal touch or too noisy or became base, vulgar or mean. SearchGuild stuck pretty close to just covering SEO and marketing and did not cover web design much. That might have kept it small, but then again it also made unique. The members and other mods and admins made it great and special and I was happy in that time to go along for the ride.

SG also remained, somehow, quintessentially, British, with a wonderful dry sense of humor, discussions of tea, Cadbury chocolates and Doctor Who – you could almost see the bowlers and umbrellas and Big Ben ringing in the background. Yet everyone was made to feel welcome and at home no matter what nationality. Wonderful.

Now I am a bit at a loss as to where to hand out anymore: SearchGuild and Threadwatch were my two favorite places and both have closed down. There is a lifeboat group at Facebook: SearchGuild Lost and Found, trying to round up SG refuges. (Thanks to BurgerMan (who I don’t have a URL for) for forming that Facebook group.) Maybe we will all decide to migrate to another SEO forum.

Thanks SearchGuild, you will be missed.

PS.: I’ll miss the quirky little SG ‘Bots – Heilbot, Guildbot, Looksmartbot and the others. ~~Rust~~ Rest in Peace guys.

Maybe this is why Americans Like SUV’s?

Brad — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:13:21 +0000

I think the US likes big SUV’s and pick-up trucks because we like the upright seating stance, and a bit more headroom than the current crop of sedans give us. Once upon a time cars used to have bench seats and were higher off the ground and had lots of headroom and interior space and I think secretly we like that. We Americans are older, taller, fatter and more used to luxury than ever before.

I drive a 2006 Scion xB, I’m 6 ft. 4 inches tall and still have enough headroom in the Scion to wear a hat. Not a ball cap, but a real man’s hat. I like the upright driving position and I do not feel like I am sitting on the street in that car.

The vehicle does not have to be a huge gas guzzling SUV, just give people some room like the Scion does and they are more happy. We want interior room!

November is Directory Search Month

Brad — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:48:02 +0000

I just switched my default search over to ODP/Dmoz and I am very pleased with the results. I did it on a lark just to see what having only human reviewed result coming up first would be like. I have to say I’m finding more interesting sites for my queries than I have in a long time. I like ODP/Dmoz for this task for two reasons: 1.) they are by far the largest and most comprehensive directory on the web, 2.) at the bottom of the ODP search results pages they have the handy links that will let me continue my search on several leading search engines if I don’t find it with ODP.

It does take a little more time to find the specific site I want but sometimes fastest is not always the best. As I have indicated, I am finding ODP searches to be remarkably good, and if I get distracted by neat sites I don’t normally see in the search engine SERP’s but are still relevant all the better.

Switch to a Directory for November:

Anyone who is worried about search engines’ controlling to much of the web, or anyone who just likes to have some fun searching ought to consider switching their default search on their browser to a general directory for the month of November.

My short list of recommendations for directories are:

ODP/Dmoz – for the reasons stated above.
Yahoo Directory – second in size only to ODP, Yahoo directory’s search feature is pretty good and you can continue your search using the Yahoo search engine very easily if you do not find what you want in the directory.
Illumirate – I like this directory in that they rate the sites they list. It is smaller than the others but has a good database of sites that should appeal to a mainstream audience.

Other useful directories might include: Joeant and GoGuides.org

The idea here is to try a different way of searching for your everyday stuff – so add a little serendipity to your searches. Try it for November and see what you think.