Wow, maybe it's a sign of the times, but I saw this message from MSN adCenter today:

Firefox is Coming! Firefox is Coming!

You asked for it, so here it is. Starting August 6, you’ll be able to use Microsoft adCenter with the Firefox 1.5 browser!

Thank you for your patience while we make this important change.

The details:

Microsoft adCenter will be upgraded on August 5, from 7 A.M to 9 P.M Pacific Time. During this period, your current keywords and ads will continue to run. However, you won’t be able to access adCenter to make changes.

We’ll remind you about the maintenance downtime again in a few days.

As always, keep “refreshing” this blog for more announcements about new features.

Thanks,

Molly

Microsoft adCenter Community Team

 

This pleases me on so many levels. I just hope that it works in Firefox on Linux, since that's what I run primarily. Either way, it's a step in the right direction. I can't wait to try it out!

Their original post is here.

I've done this a couple of times now and thought I'd post details on how I did it. (Mostly so I don't have to go searching around to find the links again.)

It is recommended to use YaST for installation of the NVIDIA
driver. There are several reasons for this. First, it's
simple. Second, and this is the most important one, you won't need to
recompile the nvidia kernel module after a kernel update.

Use

YaST -> Software -> Change installation Source -> Add

Protocol: FTP
Server Name: : download.nvidia.com
Directory on Server: novell

to add the NVIDIA ftp server as additional installation source.
Now use

YaST -> Software -> Install and Delete Software

to install the NVIDIA driver. Select the following packages:

x11-video-nvidia
nvidia-gfx-kmp-"kernel-flavor"

"kernel-flavor" depends on your installed kernel. Check with
"uname -r" for installed default/smp/bigsmp kernel. Use "sax2 -r"
for X.Org configuration.

These directions were taken directly from http://www.suse.de/~sndirsch/nvidia-installer-HOWTO.html

Do search engines penalize related/linked sites that are hosted on the same class C network?

I say NO, it's much worse than that. Here's why: there is much more information out there to need to rely on a simplified class C network address analysis.

I've heard certain authorities state that hosting multiple sites on a single IP address will not help positioning in search engine rankings. This is mostly in regard to interlinking sites that are all hosted on the same IP address. There are also people that say it is just as bad to host/interlink sites that reside in the same class C address space. I think that most people underestimate the amount of information that is available to search engines and how that information is used. I'm specifically referring to WHOIS. Most people know that WHOIS contains information about owners of domains. But did you know that it also contains information about owners of netblocks?

(Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Vortech Inc. I have never hosted with them and am only using them as an example of how much information is available through WHOIS.)

A WHOIS query on this address (whois.arin.net) reveals that there are 16 neighboring class C address spaces that they own

"CIDR: 216.81.64.0/20" which is equivalent to the addresses 216.81.64.0 - 216.81.79.255. Why wouldn't the search engines use this more reliable information instead of fixating on class C address spaces?

To take it a step further, run a whois query on "Vortech Inc." You'll notice that they have control of many network blocks:

Vortech Inc. (VTC1)
Vortech Inc. (AS32065) VORTECH-INC 32065
Vortech Inc. VORTECH-BLK-1 (NET-216-157-128-0-1) 216.157.128.0 - 216.157.159.255
Vortech Inc. VORTECH-BLK-2 (NET-216-81-64-0-1) 216.81.64.0 - 216.81.79.255
Vortech Inc. VORTECH-BLOCK-1 (NET-66-103-145-0-1) 66.103.145.0 - 66.103.145.255
Vortech Inc. VORTECH-BLOCK-2 (NET-66-103-153-0-1) 66.103.153.0 - 66.103.153.255
Vortech Inc. VORTECH-BLOCK-4 (NET-72-21-10-0-1) 72.21.10.0 - 72.21.11.255
Vortech Inc. VORTECH-BLOCK-3 (NET-66-103-149-0-1) 66.103.149.0 - 66.103.149.255

If I'm running related and inter-linked flower shop sites on different network blocks at Vortech, it's easy as a search engine to flag those sites since they are hosted by the same provider.

The WHOIS Goldmine

Ok, just one more step of paranoia. It's also easy to look at the WHOIS information of one domain that is linking to another and look for similarities (name, address, phone, zip code) and assess the chances of those domains having some sort of relationship. I've been told that amateurs use their real information when registering their domains, intermediates use some sort of privacy guard or proxy to shield their information, and the experts just put fake information in when registering their domains. I do not condone the third method because ICANN states that domain registration information needs to be correct and up to date.

So, put on your tinfoil hats and be careful what you do and say. Somebody is always watching you.

The purpose of this blog entry is to show how easy it is to securely erase the sensitive information on an old computer.

I recently purchased a new desktop for my use at home and prior to disposing of my old computer wanted to be sure that the data on it was securely erased. I have done this multiple times in the past, mostly at previous employers but I don't recall ever documenting how to do it.

For those of you that want to be sure that your data is completely gone before donating or throwing out your old PC, here are the simple steps you need to take, see below for more detail on each step:

1. Boot from a Linux-based CDROM
2. Figure out which devices you want to securely erase.
3. Use the "shred" command to wipe the device clean.

In more detail, here's what I did with my computer:

1. Boot from a Linux-based CDROM. My preference for Linux-based CDROMs is Knoppix. Knoppix has good hardware support and is pretty easy to use. You can download a CD image from knoppix.org. Once you've created the CD, place it in your drive and boot the computer from it. When you are at the inital Knoppix boot screen, you can just hit "Enter" to load Linux.

(Just hit "Enter")

2. Figure out which devices you want to securely erase. In Knoppix, this is pretty easy. You'll see at least one hard drive icon on your desktop which will be named something like hda1 or sda1.

(Hard Disk icon)

You may see more than one of these if you have multiple partitions on your hard disk. The device is this name without the number at the end. Typically IDE devices start with "h" and SATA/SCSI devices start with "s". All you do when you know this is put a "/dev/" at the front of it (e.g. /dev/sda or /dev/hda)

3. Use the "shred" command to wipe the device clean. In its simplest form, you can just open a command window, type 'su -' and hit enter to become root (administrator) and then 'shred /dev/sda/'

(Launch a command window)

This will start the wiping process. This command is very thorough by default. I think it overwrites the disk with different patterns 25 times. If I recall correctly, the DoD standard for wiping hard drives is to overwrite data 7 times. 1 time is enough for most purposes, but I usually do 5 passes or so. The command I usually run is 'shred -vzn 5 /dev/sda' This does 5 passes, followed by a pass of zeros and it shows you the progress as it's running.

(my shred command)

You can now throw that old computer out or donate it knowing that nobody is going to get any of your personal information from it. Tune in later, I plan on reviewing a few options for protecting your data on the PC that you still have through encryption.

Q & A

Why should I wipe my hard drive?

There have been many cases where a second-hand computer has been purchased which had sensitive data on it. Sensitive things that have been found include usernames, passwords and account numbers. There is probably more information about you than you think. All of which can be used by someone that wants to steal your identity.

Can't I just delete the files I don't want people to see?

While this may seem like a good idea, the files aren't actually removed from the disk. The files are still there and can be recovered with an undelete utility.

Why would you want to overwrite the entire disk more than once?

Disks are magnetic media. Have you ever recorded over an audio cassette more than once? You may have noticed that you can hear a "ghost" of the previous recording when you play it back. The same principle can be applied to hard drives. With some expensive equipment, your hard drive could be analyzed and the "ghost" data recovered. Chances are nobody is going to do this unless there is sufficient motive to do so. Shredding or wiping the hard drive makes this method of recovery impossible.

You seem pretty paranoid, what other paranoid stuff do you do?

If I have any media that may have sensitive or non-public information on it, I either shred it or burn it. With my paper documents, I both shred and burn them. I only have a strip-cut shredder and that paper makes it really easy to start a fire in our woodburning stove. I also typically encrypt any partition that I expect will have sensitive data on it. It's free to do in Linux, on Windows you can encrypt your data with this software. (stay tuned for more on encryption)

If you have other questions, feel free to post them below and I'll do my best to answer them.

This is a brief review of High Performance Affiliate Marketing, an ebook by the Super Affiliate Jeremy Palmer.
This ebook is a great tool for anyone that is currently, or wants to be involved in affiliate marketing. I will do a quick review of each section and a summary at the end.

Affiliate Marketing 101 - This is a good introduction to what affiliate marketing is. If you've been doing affiliate marketing, you can probably skip this section. It answers questions like "What is affiliate marketing and how does it work?" The part I liked best about this section was when it separated fact from fiction, specifically when it clarified that this isn't quick and easy money. In my experience, I've found that you have to work hard for it, but that hard work pays dividends over time.

Finding Products and Services to Promote - This section assists you with deciding what you want to sell. Even though I'm already promoting things online, I found it very to use these methods to choose which markets I want to expand into.

Keywords: The Foundation of Your Success - There is some good background on keywords but nothing that is earth-shattering. It did offer some insight regarding the use of brand names and trademarks. It has some good screenshots showing you how to utilize many of the free keyword tools that exist on the net.

Building a Website that Sells - This section is great for a beginner. It walks you through setting up a website from scratch and offers tips regarding the layout and style to use in your site.

Driving Traffic to your Website - Covering both paid search and organic search, this section covers these two methods of getting new traffic to your site. Search Engines are a major source of traffic on the Internet, but it seems like there are other methods that could have been brought up here.

Here are a few other items of interest regarding the book:

• Free Updates - Times are always changing and Jeremy recognizes that in order to keep up with changes, he's going to have to constantly update this book.
• Forum - One great resource after you have purchased the book is the forums on quityourdayjob.com. Jeremy is quick to respond to questions that come up and gives great advice on specific topics or concerns.
• Another thing that Jeremy makes clear is that you won't make money online unless you take action! Skimming or reading this ebook, then forgetting about it won't benefit you at all.

Summary
Jeremy has a direct, to the point writing style. It seems like he has packed as much information as possible into these pages. Don't expect any fluff or filler material in this book. It's worth every penny at the full price but is being offered at 1/2 off currently.
I think that the only thing this book is lacking is a few more details on raw SEO and how to actually track the progress of your marketing efforts. I'm sure Jeremy will be adding this in the future (nudge, nudge...)
Overall, this ebook is a great value to anyone in the affiliate marketing business. It will help a newbie get started and help an experienced affiliate marketer improve is efforts even more.

Here is more information on how to get the ebook.

When I posted the 19 things I learned at PubCon Boston 2006, I said I'd provide some more detail so here it is.
This was my first PubCon and I feel like it was money and time well spent. The sessions were very informative and it was great to meet people and make new contacts.
Here are a few of the items I wanted to explain further:

1. Not everyone that’s online has a technical background. Don’t act like they do. - I was reminded of this point during Malcom Gladwell's Keynote presentation. He had a few very interesting stories to tell. In one, he related how he recently was shopping for a laptop and found that in computer stores, they have rows of laptops each with their own little specification sheet (RAM, disk, CPU, etc...) He said he doesn't understand any of that so he just calls his brother to ask which laptop he should buy. After answering a few questions, his brother makes a recommendation and Malcom goes out and buys the recommended model. This was contrasted against Apple's iPod with the simple choice they offer, "do you want the big one or the small one?" The iPod is marketed as a fashion accessory and isn't marketed by CPU, operating system or things like that. As I recall, the only specification I've only heard regarding iPods is the storage size. It was enlightening to keep this in perspective as I work on my own marketing campaigns.

4. It is necessary to have external links to your site’s pages (from related sites with high-quality content.) - I'm relatively new to SEO and came to the realization that on-page optimization, or tweaking the content of your pages has little influence on SE rankings compared to off-page optimizations. These off page optimizations are primarily external links into your website. The value of these links is determined by the quality of the page they come from and how well it relates to your content as well as a few other factors.

5. Always be split testing improvements to your pages. - If you're not constantly working to improve your sites, you're sites are becoming stale. It isn't difficult (especially w/php) to setup a simple split test to check minor changes to your pages. In some of my testing, I've found that small layout changes could increase my conversion rate by 1/2%.

6. Make your pages W3C compliant. - All of the search engines will be able to index your site more easily if it is W3C compliant. When I make pages, I usually run them through the W3C validator and usually find that I forgot to close a tag here or there. Many of these errors won't come up when you're looking at a page in your browser since most browsers do a pretty good job of handling them.

7. Submit sites to Google Sitemaps. - This was pounded into our heads during at least two sessions. Google Sitemaps is a method for Google to communicate to you when their crawler has trouble indexing your website. It also lets you send information about your pages to Google, such as the last time a page was updated.

11. “Better late than lousy” - I can't remember who said it, but I've seen too many projects get rushed out the door and released to the public before they're really ready. It is better to put off releasing a sub-par product or site temporarily so that it can be most effective. You only have one chance to make a first impression. You'll probably scare people away and they'll never come back if you release a lousy product.

16. “Create pages for users, not search engines” - This has been repeated over and over, mostly by the representatives of search engines. Search engines want to help users find quality content. They want websites to be created with the end user in mind, not ranking well according to the latest algorithm.

There were so many things that I learned at this WebmasterWorld conference. I encourage anyone who has anything to do with selling things online to attend the next one (November, in Vegas.)

Here are a few things that I learned at my first PubCon, in no particular order:

1. Not everyone that's online has a technical background. Don't act like they do.
2. To sell more effectively, trigger emotions in favor of your product or service.
3. One-page-wonders can be effective sales tools.
4. It is necessary to have external links to your site's pages (from related sites with high-quality content.)
5. Always be split testing improvements to your pages.
6. Make your pages W3C compliant.
   
7. Submit sites to Google Sitemaps.
8. 301 redirects are necessary for moved pages and frequently requested non-existent pages.
9. Perform your due diligence on sites before acquiring inbound links.
10. Create content that catches eyes quickly on SERPS (both PPC ads and organic summaries.)
11. "Better late than lousy"
12. React and counter attack against bad Public Relations.
13. Follow the $$$ but work in markets where you have interest.
14. It is possible (and ambitious) to obtain control page #1 of SERPS for specific search terms.
15. Study what your competition does and use it to improve your competitive advantage.
16. "Create pages for users, not search engines"
17. Properly send a 404 header when using custom 404 error pages.
18. Don't have any dead-end pages on your site. Always have a way to continue to other areas of your site.
19. Site menus are seen as content, use them wisely.

I will be touching on a few of these points in more detail over the next few days. Be sure to check back later. Who knows? You may learn something new too.

In the past, I've always setup a cups server for my home network to handle all of the printing. Since I'd like to use that server for some testing that sometimes makes it unavailable for being a print server, I decided to test out the Netgear PS121 with my Canon i560s printer. The setup ended up being pretty simple once I found some documentation online.

This page turned out to be a good reference. Here's what I did:

• Bought a refurbished Netgear PS121 off ebay for ~$30 (shipping included)
• Updated the firmware to the latest version (which is currently version 6033)
• Started up the Printer configuration utility from YaST:

• Click the "Change" button, then "Advanced", then "Clear current configuration" to clear all of the current printer settings (I didn't want anything wierd to happen w/existing settings.)
• From the "Printer administration for CUPS window, click "Add"
• Select "Print via LPD-Style Network Server" and click "Next"
• Enter the IP address of the PS121 (it gets an address from DHCP by default)
• Enter the name of the remote queue (That is the "Serve Name" of the PS121 that can be found by going to it in a browser - e.g. http://192.168.1.105) and click "Next"
• Enter a valid name for "Name for printing", put a check in the box for "Do Local Filtering" and click "Next"
• Select CANON and BJC 7000 for the manufacturer and model, click Next
• Run a test if desired or click OK to finish.

It seems to print fine with these settings. If I run into reliability problems in the future with the PS121, I'll definitely post details here.

Hehe, it looks like Google deleted their own blog off of blogger.com. Theories on the cause vary from "they were hacked" to "their splog (spam blog) filter caught it and deleted it." It'll be interesting to read all of the details when/if they release them.

If you noticed your webserver being pounded by Yahoo! Slurp over the weekend, it was because Yahoo! made some changes to their index.

Google appears to be testing a few new changes to their search results. You can see what it looks like here.

Wow, what an ordeal. There went 4 hours of my life that I want back. Last night, I initially was on the phone for over an hour with Vonage trying to get an obscure bug with my Motorola device fixed. Whenever I dail a number that is busy, the call is immediately dropped w/o any sort of busy signal. This is pretty annoying and requires me to think way too much about whether I really dialed the right number when it happens.

Vonage's first line of support appears to be in India. The call quality was horrible with both static and very faint voices on the other end. Second tier support appears to be here in the U.S. The guy was very courteous and willing to assist. Unfortunately, I was transfered to some guy on their "Advanced Services Dept" (third tier support) that was more interested in filling his call quota than helping me. At one point in the conversation, he said that he made a change to my device and that I needed to reset my entire network. Due to my techno-curiosity, I asked him what he changed. He vaguely responded, "I changed settings." I probed further since he was dancing around giving me an answer by eventually asking, "What settings did you change on my device." He responded, "Are you calling me a liar? It sounds like you are calling me a liar." From there, I don't think he heard one word of what I said. I asked to speak to a supervisor and he flatly refused and hung up on me.

A little more progress was made when I called the second time. I had almost an identical experience with tiers 1 & 2 but when I hit tier 3, I was helped by a man named Ahlonko. He was very nice and patient. After a long time on the phone with him, he said he would investigate further and call me back today. He had me do a few more things on the Motorola VoIP adapter than anyone else did. He followed up today and we ran a few more tests. The final verdict is that the device is messed up. It will cost me about $80 for a new VoIP adapter. If this would have happened in the first year of service, the device would have been covered under warranty.
It seems that's the typical support you get from almost any company today; if you don't get someone willing to help you out, you can call back and get someone else. Eventually, you'll get someone that cares about helping you.

Overall, their phone service is good and you can't beat the features you get for the price. I'll stick with them for my VoIP provider. But I sure am thankful that I rarely have to call Vonage for support.