Google Tips & Hacks
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Google Hacks: Tips & Tools for Finding and Using the World’s Information (Paperback)
Amazon.com Review
Everyone loves Google, and it’s the first place many people turn to locate information on the Internet. There’s a big gap, though, between knowing that you can use Google to get advance information on your blind date and having a handle on the considerable roster of fact-finding tools that the site makes available. Google Hacks reveals–and documents in considerable detail–a large collection of Google capabilities that many readers won’t have even been aware of. Want to find the best price on a pair of leg warmers? Try the Froogle price-searcher that’s hidden within the Google site. Interested in finding weblog commentary about a particular subject? Tara Calishain and Rael Dornfest call your attention to the special Google syntaxes for that purpose. This book makes it clear that there’s lots more to the Google site than typing in a few keywords and trusting the search engine to yield useful results.
If you’re a programmer–or even just familiar with a HTML or a scripting language–Google opens up even further. A large part of Google Hacks concerns itself with the Google API (the collection of capabilities that Google exposes for use by software) and other programmers’ resources. For example, the authors include a simple Perl application that queries the Google engine with terms specified by the user. They also document XooMLe, which delivers Google results in XML form. In brief, this is the best compendium of Google’s lesser-known capabilities available anywhere, including the Google site itself. –David Wall
Topics covered: How to get the most from the Google search engine by using its Web-accessible features (including product searches, image searches, news searches, and newsgroup searches) and the large collection of desktop-resident toolbars available, as well as its advanced search syntax. Other sections have to do with programming with the Google API and simple “scrapes” of results pages, while further coverage addresses how to get your Web page to feature prominently in Google keyword searches. ¶ 8/06/2009 0 Comments Links to this post
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Google Maps Hacks Tips and Tools
¶ 8/05/2009 0 Comments
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Google Maps Hacks Tips and Tools
Want to find every pizza place within a 15-mile radius? Where the dog parks are in a new town? The most central meeting place for your class, club or group of friends? The cheapest gas stations on a day-to-day basis? The location of convicted sex offenders in an area to which you may be considering moving?Google Maps Hacks Tips and Tools The applications, serendipitous and serious, seem to be infinite, as developers find ever more creative ways to add to and customize the satellite images and underlying API of Google Maps.
Written by Schuyler Erle and Rich Gibson, authors of the popular Mapping Hacks, Google Maps Hacks shares dozens of tricks for combining the capabilities of Google Maps with your own datasets.Google Maps Hacks Tips and Tools Such diverse information as apartment listings, crime reporting or flight routes can be integrated with Google’s satellite imagery in creative ways, to yield new and useful applications.
The authors begin with a complete introduction to the “standard” features of Google Maps. The adventure continues with 60 useful and interesting mapping projects that demonstrate ways developers have added their own features to the maps. After that’s given you ideas of your own, you learn to apply the techniques and tools to add your own data to customize and manipulate Google Maps. Even Google seems to be tacitly blessing what might be seen as unauthorized use, but maybe they just know a good thing when they see one.
With the tricks and techniques you’ll learn from Google Maps Hacks, you’ll be able to adapt Google’s satellite map feature to create interactive maps for personal and commercial applications for businesses ranging from real estate to package delivery to home services, transportation and more. Includes a foreword by Google Maps tech leads, Jens and Lars Rasmussen.
About the Authors
Rich Gibson is a Perl/Database programmer in Santa Rosa CA. He has worked professionally with computers since 1982 when he created Public Utility Rate Case Models in SuperCalc on an Osborne II. His current fascination is creating tools to aid in the acquisition, management, and presentation of information with a geographic component. He is currently converting an old golf cart into a mobile geo annotation platform.Rich is active with the NoCat Community Network in Sebastopol, California, and is the primary developer of NoCat Maps (http://maps.nocat.net/).
Schuyler Erle is a freelance writer and software engineer. After several years developing Web applications for O’Reilly, Schuyler has recently moved on to pursue his interest in free networks, digital cartography, the Semantic Web, and technology for social and political change. He is the chief architect of NoCatAuth, a leading Open Source wireless captive portal.Google Maps Hacks Tips and Tools His interest in digital cartography stems from a life-long fascination with maps and mapmaking, coupled with his experience as a co-founder of the NoCat community network in Sonoma County, CA, where he collaborated in the development of geographic analysis tools for wireless networking.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
20 Great Google Secrets
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1306756,00.asp
excl.gif No Active Links, Read the Rules - Edit by NISAL
Google is clearly the best general-purpose search engine on the Web (see
www.pcmag.com/searchengines
But most people don't use it to its best advantage. Do you just plug in a keyword or two and hope for the best? That may be the quickest way to search, but with more than 3 billion pages in Google's index, it's still a struggle to pare results to a manageable number.
But Google is an remarkably powerful tool that can ease and enhance your Internet exploration. Google's search options go beyond simple keywords, the Web, and even its own programmers. Let's look at some of Google's lesser-known options.
Syntax Search Tricks
Using a special syntax is a way to tell Google that you want to restrict your searches to certain elements or characteristics of Web pages. Google has a fairly complete list of its syntax elements at
www.google.com/help/operators.html
. Here are some advanced operators that can help narrow down your search results.
Intitle: at the beginning of a query word or phrase (intitle:"Three Blind Mice") restricts your search results to just the titles of Web pages.
Intext: does the opposite of intitle:, searching only the body text, ignoring titles, links, and so forth. Intext: is perfect when what you're searching for might commonly appear in URLs. If you're looking for the term HTML, for example, and you don't want to get results such as
www.mysite.com/index.html
, you can enter intext:html.
Link: lets you see which pages are linking to your Web page or to another page you're interested in. For example, try typing in
link:http://www.pcmag.com
Try using site: (which restricts results to top-level domains) with intitle: to find certain types of pages. For example, get scholarly pages about Mark Twain by searching for intitle:"Mark Twain"site:edu. Experiment with mixing various elements; you'll develop several strategies for finding the stuff you want more effectively. The site: command is very helpful as an alternative to the mediocre search engines built into many sites.
Swiss Army Google
Google has a number of services that can help you accomplish tasks you may never have thought to use Google for. For example, the new calculator feature
(www.google.com/help/features.html#calculator)
lets you do both math and a variety of conversions from the search box. For extra fun, try the query "Answer to life the universe and everything."
Let Google help you figure out whether you've got the right spelling—and the right word—for your search. Enter a misspelled word or phrase into the query box (try "thre blund mise") and Google may suggest a proper spelling. This doesn't always succeed; it works best when the word you're searching for can be found in a dictionary. Once you search for a properly spelled word, look at the results page, which repeats your query. (If you're searching for "three blind mice," underneath the search window will appear a statement such as Searched the web for "three blind mice.") You'll discover that you can click on each word in your search phrase and get a definition from a dictionary.
Suppose you want to contact someone and don't have his phone number handy. Google can help you with that, too. Just enter a name, city, and state. (The city is optional, but you must enter a state.) If a phone number matches the listing, you'll see it at the top of the search results along with a map link to the address. If you'd rather restrict your results, use rphonebook: for residential listings or bphonebook: for business listings. If you'd rather use a search form for business phone listings, try Yellow Search
(www.buzztoolbox.com/google/yellowsearch.shtml). ¶ 4/07/2009 0 Comments Links to this post
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1306756,00.asp
excl.gif No Active Links, Read the Rules - Edit by NISAL
Google is clearly the best general-purpose search engine on the Web (see
www.pcmag.com/searchengines
But most people don't use it to its best advantage. Do you just plug in a keyword or two and hope for the best? That may be the quickest way to search, but with more than 3 billion pages in Google's index, it's still a struggle to pare results to a manageable number.
But Google is an remarkably powerful tool that can ease and enhance your Internet exploration. Google's search options go beyond simple keywords, the Web, and even its own programmers. Let's look at some of Google's lesser-known options.
Syntax Search Tricks
Using a special syntax is a way to tell Google that you want to restrict your searches to certain elements or characteristics of Web pages. Google has a fairly complete list of its syntax elements at
www.google.com/help/operators.html
. Here are some advanced operators that can help narrow down your search results.
Intitle: at the beginning of a query word or phrase (intitle:"Three Blind Mice") restricts your search results to just the titles of Web pages.
Intext: does the opposite of intitle:, searching only the body text, ignoring titles, links, and so forth. Intext: is perfect when what you're searching for might commonly appear in URLs. If you're looking for the term HTML, for example, and you don't want to get results such as
www.mysite.com/index.html
, you can enter intext:html.
Link: lets you see which pages are linking to your Web page or to another page you're interested in. For example, try typing in
link:http://www.pcmag.com
Try using site: (which restricts results to top-level domains) with intitle: to find certain types of pages. For example, get scholarly pages about Mark Twain by searching for intitle:"Mark Twain"site:edu. Experiment with mixing various elements; you'll develop several strategies for finding the stuff you want more effectively. The site: command is very helpful as an alternative to the mediocre search engines built into many sites.
Swiss Army Google
Google has a number of services that can help you accomplish tasks you may never have thought to use Google for. For example, the new calculator feature
(www.google.com/help/features.html#calculator)
lets you do both math and a variety of conversions from the search box. For extra fun, try the query "Answer to life the universe and everything."
Let Google help you figure out whether you've got the right spelling—and the right word—for your search. Enter a misspelled word or phrase into the query box (try "thre blund mise") and Google may suggest a proper spelling. This doesn't always succeed; it works best when the word you're searching for can be found in a dictionary. Once you search for a properly spelled word, look at the results page, which repeats your query. (If you're searching for "three blind mice," underneath the search window will appear a statement such as Searched the web for "three blind mice.") You'll discover that you can click on each word in your search phrase and get a definition from a dictionary.
Suppose you want to contact someone and don't have his phone number handy. Google can help you with that, too. Just enter a name, city, and state. (The city is optional, but you must enter a state.) If a phone number matches the listing, you'll see it at the top of the search results along with a map link to the address. If you'd rather restrict your results, use rphonebook: for residential listings or bphonebook: for business listings. If you'd rather use a search form for business phone listings, try Yellow Search
(www.buzztoolbox.com/google/yellowsearch.shtml). ¶ 4/07/2009 0 Comments Links to this post
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Google Groups Still Littered With Malware-Infected Explicit Videos
InformationWeek
April 9, 2008 02:00 PM
¶ 4/10/2008 0 Comments
Links to this post
Sunbelt Software CEO Alex Eckelberry says the problem is directly tied to hacks of Google's CAPTCHA security.
By Thomas ClaburnInformationWeek
To demonstrate, Sunbelt Software CEO Alex Eckelberry strode purposefully through the RSA Conference exhibition hall Tuesday afternoon, toward a bank of computers set up for public use by conference attendees. From the Google Groups advanced search page, he entered the keywords "porn video" and restricted the search to the past three months. The Google Groups search results listed 838,000 posts made between Jan. 9 and April 8 that fit the search criteria. Most of those pages, Eckelberry said, contain "This is directly because of the CAPTCHA hack," Eckelberry said, noting that the conference computers could not be infected because they were completely locked down. Certainly not every one of those hundreds of thousands of pages contains malware. The handful of top Google Groups search results Eckelberry tested were infected. (Really, there are only so many porn pages one can test for malware on a public computer at a security show.) CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart. CAPTCHA images are used by According to MessageLabs, the CAPTCHA systems used by Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s Hotmail and Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) Mail were being regularly defeated last year. In late February and early March, security vendors Websense and MessageLabs, respectively, said that spammers had managed to achieve at least a 20% success rate in attempts to defeat Google's CAPTCHA system. CAPTCHA systems can also be defeated, albeit at a slower rate, by offering inducements to people in low-wage markets to solve CAPTCHA challenges. A Google spokesperson said that the company's security engineers continue to see significant human involvement in creating accounts for misuse. Google continues to mount a vigorous defense of its properties, to protect both its users and its brand. Google's spokesperson noted that the company in February had closed a hole that allowed malicious users to construct a Google URL with an "I'm Feeling Lucky" redirection command that could send victims to malware sites. The question is whether a vigorous defense is enough. Malware-infected porn continues to proliferate on Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Groups pages. 
How To Recover In Google After A Site Hack
How To Recover In Google After A Site Hack
My site's been hacked - now what? from the Google Webmaster Central team provides a much needed guide on how to recover from your site being hacked. Sites are sometimes hijacked in an attempt to inject code and links into that site, to try and boost the hacker's site ranking in Google and other search engines.
Due to that, Google will penalize the site and the links within the site from having any influence in the Google search results. But that leaves you, the owner of the hacked site, with a huge mess to clean up. So Google decided to write a post on how to recover from such a hack.
I will not repeat everything Google said in their post, but in summary, Google recommends:
(1) Take your site offline until you find the problem and fix it.
(2) Once you fix the problem, submit a reconsideration request in Google Webmaster Tools so you can get back into the Google index.
(3) Watch Google Webmaster Tools to see signs of improvements
(4) Once you are back, keep an eye in Google Webmaster Tools, as Google often notifies webmasters of issues early.
In addition, I compiled Google's advice on getting your site relisted after a site hack, back in January of this year.
¶ 4/10/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Phishing Attacks Reach New Level
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Celeste_Yates]Celeste Yates
The Georgia Institute of Technology has teamed up with Google to investigate how to counter new forms of phishing attacks by hackers. Hackers are able to control users' internet browsing by using the "open recursive" DNS (Domain Name System) server. This type of attack is not new, although hackers have developed a technique that makes it almost undetectable by anti-virus and anti-phishing software.
A DNS server is an internet service that translates domain names into a numerical internet protocol address. For example, users would type "google.com" into an internet browser and it would translate it to something that would look like this: "207.35.118,135". The internet browser would then direct the user to the site.
DNS servers work together in a network. If one DNS server can't find the address it would send it to another one until the address is found. Unlike other DNS servers, open recursive DNS servers answer all DNS look-up requests from any computer on the internet. It is this feature that hackers use.
Google and the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered that there are over 17 million open recursive DNS servers. Most of these give accurate information, but 0.4% or 68,000 are giving users false addresses to phishing sites. The hackers are able to send users to phishing sites with the DNS. [http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/p/phishing.html]Phishing sites are false sites set up by hackers. Hackers would create sites that look like the original and get users to give information such as usernames, passwords and pin numbers. For example, they could copy an online bank site and get users to register and log in. The login information is sent to the hacker and he or she is able to use it to gain access to the user's bank account. They trick users into entering their phishing site by sending a fake email. The email, for example, could be made to look as though it came from the user's bank, asking them to login and update their details. The e-mail would then contain a link to the phishing site.
Hackers are using the open DNS system by targeting the user's settings. The user would either open a virus infected attachment on an e-mail or a website with the virus embedded in it. The virus will exploit the user's computer by changing just one file in Windows registry setting. The changed setting will allow the hacker to have complete control over the user's browser.
If the virus is not stopped during the initial stages, it can go undetected for the rest of its existence. Users might believe that because they have anti-phishing software they can't be infected. However, because the hacker is operating at DNS level, the anti-phishing software is rendered useless. Hackers would allow the user to browse normally, but would re-direct them suddenly if they tried to use online banking.
Google and the Georgia Institute of Technology are looking into developing a type of software that will counteract the hackers. They are also trying to create more awareness among all administrations to change their DNS servers. There is no real benefit from having an open-server. The Georgia Institute has marked phishing attacks as one of the top threats for 2008.
Celeste writes for [http://emerging-technologies-news.info/]Emerging Technologies News, which is a news site for [http://emerging-technologies-news.info/]clinical, computers, telecommunications, data recover and all other news around the latest technology.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Celeste_Yates http://EzineArticles.com/?Phishing-Attacks-Reach-New-Level&id=880618 ¶ 1/13/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
The Georgia Institute of Technology has teamed up with Google to investigate how to counter new forms of phishing attacks by hackers. Hackers are able to control users' internet browsing by using the "open recursive" DNS (Domain Name System) server. This type of attack is not new, although hackers have developed a technique that makes it almost undetectable by anti-virus and anti-phishing software.
A DNS server is an internet service that translates domain names into a numerical internet protocol address. For example, users would type "google.com" into an internet browser and it would translate it to something that would look like this: "207.35.118,135". The internet browser would then direct the user to the site.
DNS servers work together in a network. If one DNS server can't find the address it would send it to another one until the address is found. Unlike other DNS servers, open recursive DNS servers answer all DNS look-up requests from any computer on the internet. It is this feature that hackers use.
Google and the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered that there are over 17 million open recursive DNS servers. Most of these give accurate information, but 0.4% or 68,000 are giving users false addresses to phishing sites. The hackers are able to send users to phishing sites with the DNS. [http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/p/phishing.html]Phishing sites are false sites set up by hackers. Hackers would create sites that look like the original and get users to give information such as usernames, passwords and pin numbers. For example, they could copy an online bank site and get users to register and log in. The login information is sent to the hacker and he or she is able to use it to gain access to the user's bank account. They trick users into entering their phishing site by sending a fake email. The email, for example, could be made to look as though it came from the user's bank, asking them to login and update their details. The e-mail would then contain a link to the phishing site.
Hackers are using the open DNS system by targeting the user's settings. The user would either open a virus infected attachment on an e-mail or a website with the virus embedded in it. The virus will exploit the user's computer by changing just one file in Windows registry setting. The changed setting will allow the hacker to have complete control over the user's browser.
If the virus is not stopped during the initial stages, it can go undetected for the rest of its existence. Users might believe that because they have anti-phishing software they can't be infected. However, because the hacker is operating at DNS level, the anti-phishing software is rendered useless. Hackers would allow the user to browse normally, but would re-direct them suddenly if they tried to use online banking.
Google and the Georgia Institute of Technology are looking into developing a type of software that will counteract the hackers. They are also trying to create more awareness among all administrations to change their DNS servers. There is no real benefit from having an open-server. The Georgia Institute has marked phishing attacks as one of the top threats for 2008.
Celeste writes for [http://emerging-technologies-news.info/]Emerging Technologies News, which is a news site for [http://emerging-technologies-news.info/]clinical, computers, telecommunications, data recover and all other news around the latest technology.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Celeste_Yates http://EzineArticles.com/?Phishing-Attacks-Reach-New-Level&id=880618 ¶ 1/13/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Anonymous Proxies - What Is An Anonymous Proxy?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Josh_Saunders]Josh Saunders
Being a computer nerd and active in the IT field for 20 plus years I am constantly asked about anonymous proxies, what they are and why they are needed.
An anonymous proxy is another computer located somewhere else (usually in a foreign country) acting as a server to pass your http requests. In easy to understand terms this means you type in google into your web browser, and your browser has been configured to use a proxy. Instead of fetching the page directly from Google, your web browser will go to the anonymous proxy and then the proxy will fetch the Google page and send it back to you. OK so now you ask "Why would I want to do that?". When you visit the Google (or any other site for that matter) directly, your web browser passes on information to the website you are visiting. Such information may include your IP address. This is a numerical value assigned to your computer by your ISP and is quite literally the "doorway" to your computer. Armed with your IP address, a hacker could start port scanning your PC looking for weaknesses to take advantage of without you knowing it.
If you visit websites under a proxy, the sites you visit will not see your real IP address but instead the IP address of the proxy. It is very easy to configure your browser to use a proxy by simply changing your settings. Now you ask, "Where can I find a proxy at?". I see lists all the time that show free "open" proxies. This may not be a good idea as you never know exactly who is behind the proxy. It may well be a honey pot set up by some three letter agency therefore, staying away from the free lists is probably a good idea.
There are commercial services available and one I personally use is Ultimate Anonymity which has been around for over ten years now. They provide proxies as well as a nifty tool to switch proxies on the fly without having to ever touch your web browsers settings to make it really simple.
They also provide an [http://www.ultimate-anonymity.com/ready.htm]Online Privacy Test to show you exactly what your web browser reveals about you. Note that once you have configured your browser for a proxy you can go back to this page to see that a totally different IP address is showing meaning you have setup properly. this means the first time you visit the page, it will show your real IP address. Once your browser is configured for a proxy and you revisit the page, it should show a different IP address.
In this day and age, privacy is crucial. Its good to remember that if a hacker or phishing website can't see you, they can't bother you. Identity theft protection starts with simple things like anonymous proxies and should not be overlooked.
It is always a good idea to have a good anti virus program as well as a properly configured firewall on your computer or network. Privacy services are a good addition, not substitution for these items.
Josh Saunders
MCSE
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Josh_Saunders http://EzineArticles.com/?Anonymous-Proxies---What-Is-An-Anonymous-Proxy?&id=762990 ¶ 1/13/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Being a computer nerd and active in the IT field for 20 plus years I am constantly asked about anonymous proxies, what they are and why they are needed.
An anonymous proxy is another computer located somewhere else (usually in a foreign country) acting as a server to pass your http requests. In easy to understand terms this means you type in google into your web browser, and your browser has been configured to use a proxy. Instead of fetching the page directly from Google, your web browser will go to the anonymous proxy and then the proxy will fetch the Google page and send it back to you. OK so now you ask "Why would I want to do that?". When you visit the Google (or any other site for that matter) directly, your web browser passes on information to the website you are visiting. Such information may include your IP address. This is a numerical value assigned to your computer by your ISP and is quite literally the "doorway" to your computer. Armed with your IP address, a hacker could start port scanning your PC looking for weaknesses to take advantage of without you knowing it.
If you visit websites under a proxy, the sites you visit will not see your real IP address but instead the IP address of the proxy. It is very easy to configure your browser to use a proxy by simply changing your settings. Now you ask, "Where can I find a proxy at?". I see lists all the time that show free "open" proxies. This may not be a good idea as you never know exactly who is behind the proxy. It may well be a honey pot set up by some three letter agency therefore, staying away from the free lists is probably a good idea.
There are commercial services available and one I personally use is Ultimate Anonymity which has been around for over ten years now. They provide proxies as well as a nifty tool to switch proxies on the fly without having to ever touch your web browsers settings to make it really simple.
They also provide an [http://www.ultimate-anonymity.com/ready.htm]Online Privacy Test to show you exactly what your web browser reveals about you. Note that once you have configured your browser for a proxy you can go back to this page to see that a totally different IP address is showing meaning you have setup properly. this means the first time you visit the page, it will show your real IP address. Once your browser is configured for a proxy and you revisit the page, it should show a different IP address.
In this day and age, privacy is crucial. Its good to remember that if a hacker or phishing website can't see you, they can't bother you. Identity theft protection starts with simple things like anonymous proxies and should not be overlooked.
It is always a good idea to have a good anti virus program as well as a properly configured firewall on your computer or network. Privacy services are a good addition, not substitution for these items.
Josh Saunders
MCSE
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Josh_Saunders http://EzineArticles.com/?Anonymous-Proxies---What-Is-An-Anonymous-Proxy?&id=762990 ¶ 1/13/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Delete History Files
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Mariyana_Vasileva]Mariyana Vasileva
What is history and why is it dangerous?
Your computer (well, actually the programs on your computer) track and save many of your actions. For example Windows remembers which programs you have started, Internet Explorer remembers which websites you have visited, Google Toolbar remembers the words that you have searched for, and so on. These traces of your computer activity are commonly known as history.
Contrary to the popular belief that this is done in order to harm you as part of some sort of worldwide conspiracy, history is actually used for the purpose of making your computer experience more convenient. However, as in many other cases, the good things can be used for bad purposes. In this case the information about your computer habits can be used from someone to gather very private information about yourself and to harm you, your work, your business, or your family. The privacy threats include many more things than history. Nevertheless, history is one of the most obvious traces and is very easy to abuse.
What kinds of history are there?
There are generally two types of history: the first one is created by Windows, Internet Explorer or other parts of the operating system; and the second one is created by other applications (such as Media Player, Google Toolbar, Google Desktop, etc.). The second type is covered in the next chapter of this article.
The most important type of history is the Internet history that is created by Internet Explorer (from now on we will call it IE), which records every page that you have visited on the Internet. In order to see this history start Internet Explorer and select View -> Explorer Bar -> History. This will open a narrow window in the left side of the main IE window, which shows the pages that you have opened in the past.
The second type of history is Windows search history. It can be seen if you open the Search results window. To do that you need to click Start menu -> Search.
The next types of history are the Start menu Run history and Start menu most frequently used programs.
There are other types of history but all of them are associated with specific applications.
Applications history:
The first type of application history is called Common file dialog history. Almost every application has some sort of open/save features and most of the applications use the Windows-provided dialogs for these operations. This ensures that open/save dialogs of most programs are very similar to each other. However here comes the bad news - Windows records the names of the files that you open or save. Even if these names do not show in the file open/save dialog of particular application, they are still recorded and can be viewed from someone who knows where to look for them.
Now, let's take a look at the Media Player history items. First, there is a list of most recently opened files in the File menu of Media Player. Second, each played file is remembered in the default playlist.
Google Toolbar, Google Deskbar, Yahoo toolbar and ICQ toobar all have a special type of search history that records the words that you have searched for.
How to delete history?
Deleting of all history traces is very hard task that can not be done manually because most of them are stored in system areas that are not directly accessible from the user. Also the history traces are so many and they are scattered at so many places that their manual deletion would be very long and tedious work with high probability of mistakes that could lead to privacy holes or even render your computer unusable.
Mil Shield is a powerful privacy protection program that was designed specifically to delete all types history that are described in this article; to clean and shred the index.dat files; and to clean all other privacy-related traces as cookies, Temporary Internet Files, AutoComplete forms and passwords, UserData records, and many others.
More information about the article: http://www.milincorporated.com/a-delete-history.html
Company profile:
Mil Incorporated was founded with an ambitious objective to be a trusted software partner for individuals and enterprises around the world. Mil Incorporated provides software security and privacy solutions that incorporate state of the art technology, security expertise, and substantial resources.
Web address: http://www.milincorporated.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mariyana_Vasileva http://EzineArticles.com/?Delete-History-Files&id=914906 ¶ 1/13/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
What is history and why is it dangerous?
Your computer (well, actually the programs on your computer) track and save many of your actions. For example Windows remembers which programs you have started, Internet Explorer remembers which websites you have visited, Google Toolbar remembers the words that you have searched for, and so on. These traces of your computer activity are commonly known as history.
Contrary to the popular belief that this is done in order to harm you as part of some sort of worldwide conspiracy, history is actually used for the purpose of making your computer experience more convenient. However, as in many other cases, the good things can be used for bad purposes. In this case the information about your computer habits can be used from someone to gather very private information about yourself and to harm you, your work, your business, or your family. The privacy threats include many more things than history. Nevertheless, history is one of the most obvious traces and is very easy to abuse.
What kinds of history are there?
There are generally two types of history: the first one is created by Windows, Internet Explorer or other parts of the operating system; and the second one is created by other applications (such as Media Player, Google Toolbar, Google Desktop, etc.). The second type is covered in the next chapter of this article.
The most important type of history is the Internet history that is created by Internet Explorer (from now on we will call it IE), which records every page that you have visited on the Internet. In order to see this history start Internet Explorer and select View -> Explorer Bar -> History. This will open a narrow window in the left side of the main IE window, which shows the pages that you have opened in the past.
The second type of history is Windows search history. It can be seen if you open the Search results window. To do that you need to click Start menu -> Search.
The next types of history are the Start menu Run history and Start menu most frequently used programs.
There are other types of history but all of them are associated with specific applications.
Applications history:
The first type of application history is called Common file dialog history. Almost every application has some sort of open/save features and most of the applications use the Windows-provided dialogs for these operations. This ensures that open/save dialogs of most programs are very similar to each other. However here comes the bad news - Windows records the names of the files that you open or save. Even if these names do not show in the file open/save dialog of particular application, they are still recorded and can be viewed from someone who knows where to look for them.
Now, let's take a look at the Media Player history items. First, there is a list of most recently opened files in the File menu of Media Player. Second, each played file is remembered in the default playlist.
Google Toolbar, Google Deskbar, Yahoo toolbar and ICQ toobar all have a special type of search history that records the words that you have searched for.
How to delete history?
Deleting of all history traces is very hard task that can not be done manually because most of them are stored in system areas that are not directly accessible from the user. Also the history traces are so many and they are scattered at so many places that their manual deletion would be very long and tedious work with high probability of mistakes that could lead to privacy holes or even render your computer unusable.
Mil Shield is a powerful privacy protection program that was designed specifically to delete all types history that are described in this article; to clean and shred the index.dat files; and to clean all other privacy-related traces as cookies, Temporary Internet Files, AutoComplete forms and passwords, UserData records, and many others.
More information about the article: http://www.milincorporated.com/a-delete-history.html
Company profile:
Mil Incorporated was founded with an ambitious objective to be a trusted software partner for individuals and enterprises around the world. Mil Incorporated provides software security and privacy solutions that incorporate state of the art technology, security expertise, and substantial resources.
Web address: http://www.milincorporated.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mariyana_Vasileva http://EzineArticles.com/?Delete-History-Files&id=914906 ¶ 1/13/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Google Adsense - Eight Ways To Make $30 Per Day
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Sinclair]Kevin Sinclair
When you know what to do - Adsense is quite easy to master. When I want to make about $30 to $35 daily on each site, I follow these Google Adsense tips:
Tip 1: Place Ads Above the Fold
When a page loads, what you see is called the fold. It is important to make sure that Adsense ads are visible without a person having to scroll down. The majority of people surfing the Net won't waste their time with this and often do not scan below the fold.
Tip 2: Do Not Exceed Four Ads For Each Page
This tip does not refer to ad blocks, as I am speaking only about ads. Google has a knack for situating the best advertisements at the top of a page so the fewer ads you display, the more you will receive for each click.
Tip 3: Select Medium Rectangles
When showcasing three ads, I suggest using a rectangle that measures 250 x 250. You may also split test a larger rectangle, but I have found that the best results come with a rectangle of medium size.
Tip 4: Don't Ignore the Power of Blending
You've probably already heard this before, but people are becoming increasingly blind to ads. If something looks like an advertisement, it has a good chance of becoming ignored. This means that your ads need to blend in with your website. I suggest using the same background color and the same size font. Also, blend in borders into the background. And:
Tip 5: Make Links Blue
It doesn't matter what your text or background color is - Adsense links are blue. People view the color blue as a sign that a link is present. The whole point of this entire process is to get people to click on your links - especially when they are attached to Adsense.
Tip 6: Channel Set-Up
When possessing more than one ad unit for each page, make sure to set up a channel for each unit, but also remember not to exceed more than four ads per page. If there is only one ad unit on a page, create a channel for each. Channels are a good way to monitor which ads are making a profit and which ones do not.
Tip 7: Monitor CTR Progress
CTR (Click Through Ratio) is rather important to consider, as it showcases the amount of clicks that are divided by the number of page views. This number is then multiplied by 100. If one of your pages possesses a lower CTR than the rest, you may want to consider altering the content on the page. When following the before-mentioned suggestions, you should have established at least a 5 to 10% CTR. If this is not the case, you may want to reorganize your site.
Tip 8: Constantly Check Adsense Ads for Content Relevancy
At times, some irrelevant Adsense ads will make an appearance on your pages. If so, it is highly recommended to investigate the issue. Some people have found that they had to switch meta tags, while others learned that a single word in the content was influencing efficiency and effectiveness.
When I want to make at least $30 per site on a daily basis, these are the tips that I follow. While I can't promise you that this will generate as much money as I make - I do know that it would be foolish to overlook these easy Adsense tips, as you stand to miss out on making a lot of money.
Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of [http://besuccessfulnews.com/]Be Successful News, a site that provides information and articles on how to succeed in your own home or small business.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Sinclair [http://ezinearticles.com/?Google-Adsense---Eight-Ways-To-Make-$30-Per-Day&id=832412 ]http://EzineArticles.com/?Google-Adsense---Eight-Ways-To-Make-$30-Per-Day&id=832412 ¶ 1/09/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
When you know what to do - Adsense is quite easy to master. When I want to make about $30 to $35 daily on each site, I follow these Google Adsense tips:
Tip 1: Place Ads Above the Fold
When a page loads, what you see is called the fold. It is important to make sure that Adsense ads are visible without a person having to scroll down. The majority of people surfing the Net won't waste their time with this and often do not scan below the fold.
Tip 2: Do Not Exceed Four Ads For Each Page
This tip does not refer to ad blocks, as I am speaking only about ads. Google has a knack for situating the best advertisements at the top of a page so the fewer ads you display, the more you will receive for each click.
Tip 3: Select Medium Rectangles
When showcasing three ads, I suggest using a rectangle that measures 250 x 250. You may also split test a larger rectangle, but I have found that the best results come with a rectangle of medium size.
Tip 4: Don't Ignore the Power of Blending
You've probably already heard this before, but people are becoming increasingly blind to ads. If something looks like an advertisement, it has a good chance of becoming ignored. This means that your ads need to blend in with your website. I suggest using the same background color and the same size font. Also, blend in borders into the background. And:
Tip 5: Make Links Blue
It doesn't matter what your text or background color is - Adsense links are blue. People view the color blue as a sign that a link is present. The whole point of this entire process is to get people to click on your links - especially when they are attached to Adsense.
Tip 6: Channel Set-Up
When possessing more than one ad unit for each page, make sure to set up a channel for each unit, but also remember not to exceed more than four ads per page. If there is only one ad unit on a page, create a channel for each. Channels are a good way to monitor which ads are making a profit and which ones do not.
Tip 7: Monitor CTR Progress
CTR (Click Through Ratio) is rather important to consider, as it showcases the amount of clicks that are divided by the number of page views. This number is then multiplied by 100. If one of your pages possesses a lower CTR than the rest, you may want to consider altering the content on the page. When following the before-mentioned suggestions, you should have established at least a 5 to 10% CTR. If this is not the case, you may want to reorganize your site.
Tip 8: Constantly Check Adsense Ads for Content Relevancy
At times, some irrelevant Adsense ads will make an appearance on your pages. If so, it is highly recommended to investigate the issue. Some people have found that they had to switch meta tags, while others learned that a single word in the content was influencing efficiency and effectiveness.
When I want to make at least $30 per site on a daily basis, these are the tips that I follow. While I can't promise you that this will generate as much money as I make - I do know that it would be foolish to overlook these easy Adsense tips, as you stand to miss out on making a lot of money.
Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of [http://besuccessfulnews.com/]Be Successful News, a site that provides information and articles on how to succeed in your own home or small business.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Sinclair [http://ezinearticles.com/?Google-Adsense---Eight-Ways-To-Make-$30-Per-Day&id=832412 ]http://EzineArticles.com/?Google-Adsense---Eight-Ways-To-Make-$30-Per-Day&id=832412 ¶ 1/09/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
10 Google Adsense Tips
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Connie_McKenzie]Connie McKenzie
Do you have a content site with lots of pages? You could easily earn some extra income by putting up some Google Ads. The following 10 Google Adsense Tips are a surefire way of leading you in the direction of setting up ads on your pages in the right way.
Tip #1: Your Ads Should Be Kept Above the Fold
You shouldn't have to scroll down the page in order to see your ads. Many people do not have the time to bother to go below the fold.
Tip #2: Do Not Have More Than 4 Ads Per Page
By this, I am not referring to the ad blocks but the individual ads. The better google ads are placed at the top so the fewer ads that are displayed the more money you will get per click.
Tip #3: Stick With the Medium Rectangles
The 250x250 rectangle that displays 3 ads is a good choice. You can split test with other ad blocks, but the medium rectangle looks and converts better. However, this may not always be the case.
Tip #4: Banners and Skyscrapers are Dead
Just ask the experts. Many people will simply ignore these types of ad formats. They are recognized by people as an advertisement and adverts are usually of little interest.
Tip #5: Blend, Blend, Blend
You may have heard this one many times before, but the truth is, many of us have become ad blind. If it looks like an ad, we usually ignore it. That is why your ad needs to blend in with the look and feel of your site. To accomplish this you will need to use the same text size and color as well as background color. Blend the border into the background, but....
Tip #6: Keep the Links Blue
It doesn't matter what color your text or background is, your adsense links should remain the same blue as all your other links. Here's why, people see blue text, they think it is a link and will click on your ads if they are interested.
Tip # 7: Don't Put Ads on Empty Pages
Without content on your web pages, how is Google supposed to know what your page is about? They will simply guess and display ads that are completely irrelevant.
Otherwise, you can update your page with content but then you will be required to wait up to 2-3 weeks for the ads to be change, because that is how long it may take before they re-crawl your pages again.
Tip # 8: Are Your Adsense Ads Relevant to Your Content?
You will need to check on this from time to time. You may occasionally find an ad that is not relevant to the content of your site. It might be that your meta tags need to be changed, or it could simply be a word in your content that is messing things up.
Tip #9: Set Up Channels
If each page has more than one ad unit, it is wise to set up a channel for each of those units. Or if there is only one ad unit on each page, then you can set up a channel for each page. Channels help to keep track of what ads are or are not working.
Tip #10: Keep a Close Eye on Your CTR
CTR stands for Click Through Ratio. This is the total number of clicks divided by the total number of page views multiplied by 100. A page with low CTR may require more relevant content. If you follow these 10 google adsense tips, you can expect a 5-10% CTR. If not, you might want to start changing things around some.
There is no guarantee that you will make as much money as you want, but I do know for sure that if you ignore these 10 Google Adsense Tips, you are leaving a lot of money on the table.
Connie McKenzie is a proud work at home mom. Do you have something to share? You too can discover how to build a successful website online and monetize it with google adsense ads. Watch this free video, it will be the [http://www.getqualityresults.com ]best 30 mins of your time you'll invest, guaranteed!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Connie_McKenzie http://EzineArticles.com/?10-Google-Adsense-Tips&id=831006 ¶ 1/09/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Do you have a content site with lots of pages? You could easily earn some extra income by putting up some Google Ads. The following 10 Google Adsense Tips are a surefire way of leading you in the direction of setting up ads on your pages in the right way.
Tip #1: Your Ads Should Be Kept Above the Fold
You shouldn't have to scroll down the page in order to see your ads. Many people do not have the time to bother to go below the fold.
Tip #2: Do Not Have More Than 4 Ads Per Page
By this, I am not referring to the ad blocks but the individual ads. The better google ads are placed at the top so the fewer ads that are displayed the more money you will get per click.
Tip #3: Stick With the Medium Rectangles
The 250x250 rectangle that displays 3 ads is a good choice. You can split test with other ad blocks, but the medium rectangle looks and converts better. However, this may not always be the case.
Tip #4: Banners and Skyscrapers are Dead
Just ask the experts. Many people will simply ignore these types of ad formats. They are recognized by people as an advertisement and adverts are usually of little interest.
Tip #5: Blend, Blend, Blend
You may have heard this one many times before, but the truth is, many of us have become ad blind. If it looks like an ad, we usually ignore it. That is why your ad needs to blend in with the look and feel of your site. To accomplish this you will need to use the same text size and color as well as background color. Blend the border into the background, but....
Tip #6: Keep the Links Blue
It doesn't matter what color your text or background is, your adsense links should remain the same blue as all your other links. Here's why, people see blue text, they think it is a link and will click on your ads if they are interested.
Tip # 7: Don't Put Ads on Empty Pages
Without content on your web pages, how is Google supposed to know what your page is about? They will simply guess and display ads that are completely irrelevant.
Otherwise, you can update your page with content but then you will be required to wait up to 2-3 weeks for the ads to be change, because that is how long it may take before they re-crawl your pages again.
Tip # 8: Are Your Adsense Ads Relevant to Your Content?
You will need to check on this from time to time. You may occasionally find an ad that is not relevant to the content of your site. It might be that your meta tags need to be changed, or it could simply be a word in your content that is messing things up.
Tip #9: Set Up Channels
If each page has more than one ad unit, it is wise to set up a channel for each of those units. Or if there is only one ad unit on each page, then you can set up a channel for each page. Channels help to keep track of what ads are or are not working.
Tip #10: Keep a Close Eye on Your CTR
CTR stands for Click Through Ratio. This is the total number of clicks divided by the total number of page views multiplied by 100. A page with low CTR may require more relevant content. If you follow these 10 google adsense tips, you can expect a 5-10% CTR. If not, you might want to start changing things around some.
There is no guarantee that you will make as much money as you want, but I do know for sure that if you ignore these 10 Google Adsense Tips, you are leaving a lot of money on the table.
Connie McKenzie is a proud work at home mom. Do you have something to share? You too can discover how to build a successful website online and monetize it with google adsense ads. Watch this free video, it will be the [http://www.getqualityresults.com ]best 30 mins of your time you'll invest, guaranteed!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Connie_McKenzie http://EzineArticles.com/?10-Google-Adsense-Tips&id=831006 ¶ 1/09/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Saturday, January 05, 2008
A View on Google's Patent: Information Retrieval Based on Historical Data
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Peter_Faber]Peter Faber
Google doesn’t stop innovating their search engine, and there where others try to follow, Google is not just 1 step ahead, but 10 steps ahead. Their latest innovation, which actually may already be in place for a year or longer, can be found in the patent: “Information Retrieval Based on Historical Data.”
The abstract of the patent is: “A system identifies a document and obtains one or more types of history data associated with the document. The system may generate a score for the document based, at least in part, on the one or more types of history data“.
This article has the goal to give a implified representation of this patent + contains recommendations as to what would be the best SEO techniques to obtain high rankings, with a specific focus on links. This article is the opinion of the writer and following recommendation in this article is done at your own risk.
Google’s search results have been increasingly difficult to explain and many theories have been developed on what is going on. Most popular is the “sand box” theory, which says that a new site is put in a virtual sand box and has to wait until it has aged before obtaining high rankings. This patent has some excellent information that can explain this phenomenon.
Information Retrieval
The information that this invention of Google is claimed to retrieve based on the historical data are:
Age/Time
Change
Trends
A score is calculated based on the above 3 factors which can then, at least partially, be used to rank the selected pages.
Historical Data
The patent describes a huge amount of historical data. The following is an overview of most items for which historical data can be measured:
Pages/sites
Links
Anchor Texts
Content
Query
Traffic
Ranking
User
Domain
Ranking Based On Information Retrieved From Historical Data
The patent describes in quite a lot of detail how selected pages are ranked based on the information retrieved from historical data. This chapter will describe the basic logic applied.
Age/Time
Of all historical data a date of inception is used to determine 4 important values:
Age
Average Age
Date
Average Date
These factors can be determined for pages, links, anchor text, content, topics, queries, etc. Comparing the age or date of a page to the average of the site for example tells the search engine if this information is relatively new or old.
Comparing the average age or date of a page to the average age or date of all pages selected for a query (keyword phrase) tells the search engine if the page is relatively new or old. This information can be used to rank the selected pages.
Comparing to an average has the advantage that there is no preset base of rules that determine the rankings of a page. For one query 6 months may be considered new (product descriptions for example) while for another page 6 days may be considered old (news items for example). It all depends on the average age.
This same logic applies to links. In order to determine how popular a page or site is, the average age of all back links tells the search engine if the popularity of the page is recent or not. It makes sense that if most back links have been obtained 4 years ago and that hardly anybody has been interested to link to this page/site since then, that the page is not as popular as the existing back links would suggest.
The patent goes even as far as determining age factors for anchor texts of links.
Change
Information changes over time. Opinions change, knowledge changes, popularity changes, etc. Like mentioned before, a page that was popular 4 years ago, may be totally forgotten now, but still have most of its backlinks that were obtained when the page actually was popular. However, if this page all the sudden becomes popular again, and new back links start showing up, the average age of the backlinks will remain high. This will prevent the page of ranking high.
Detecting changes is crucial to give old information the chance to rank high again. Consequently, the lack of change can be a reason to lower the rank of a page.
Trends
Even though comparing to averages is a great way to get information about freshness, it fails to recognize smaller events like a sudden increase in popularity of a page. Though detecting changes do help to recognize smaller events, more information can be obtained by detecting trends.
Sudden increases of popularity can be caused by seasonal events like Christmas or the Super Bowl. For this reason the search engine will try to determine trends within pages links, anchor text, content, topics, queries, etc. Detecting trends makes it possible to rank pages higher that would not be ranked high with the standard ranking methods or with comparing to average ages or dates. Google has recognized here a very important fact of information: Relevance and importance of information is (con)temporary.
Detecting Spam Using Historical Data
Having all kinds of historical data available can be used to detect search engine spam. Unexpected events that happen to a site can be an indication of spam. Obviously a strong improvement of 1 single factor would not be a direct indication of spam, generally multiple factors are showing strange behavior when a site is using spam to increase rankings. It would not be in Google’s interest to penalize a site for advertising. However, excessive advertising in sites/pages that are totally unrelated will not do your site any good.
Recommendations
Nothing changed in regards to links. This patent pretty much confirms what we already knew and have been explaining to our customers as well. The following recommendations can be helpful:
Keep links related
Related links matter, unrelated links can be considered spam.
Build links on a continuous moderate bases
As the patent describes, the average age of your backlinks should not be too high. It is therefore wise to continue adding backlinks to secure a reasonable average age of all your backlinks. How many you need to add over time depends on your market.
Be better than the average
Very important is to be better than the average, but don’t overdo it. It would be expensive and unnecessary.
Focus on seasonal events
A good way to increase the success of your website is to set up text link campaigns for seasonal events. Start your advertising campaign 2 to 3 months before the actual event to give Google the time to find the links and update your site’s information with it. After the event you can let these links go again.
Spread links over multiple sites (unique backlinks)
A very important factor is the number of unique websites in your backlinks. Google seems to put a strong emphasis on this factor.
About The Author
Peter Faber is an Internet marketing consultant working for [http://www.textlinkbrokers.com ]http://www.textlinkbrokers.com, an SEO company specialized in link building. He has his own personal blog at [http://www.seo-works.com ]http://www.seo-works.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Faber http://EzineArticles.com/?A-View-on-Googles-Patent:-Information-Retrieval-Based-on-Historical-Data&id=230601 ¶ 1/05/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Google doesn’t stop innovating their search engine, and there where others try to follow, Google is not just 1 step ahead, but 10 steps ahead. Their latest innovation, which actually may already be in place for a year or longer, can be found in the patent: “Information Retrieval Based on Historical Data.”
The abstract of the patent is: “A system identifies a document and obtains one or more types of history data associated with the document. The system may generate a score for the document based, at least in part, on the one or more types of history data“.
This article has the goal to give a implified representation of this patent + contains recommendations as to what would be the best SEO techniques to obtain high rankings, with a specific focus on links. This article is the opinion of the writer and following recommendation in this article is done at your own risk.
Google’s search results have been increasingly difficult to explain and many theories have been developed on what is going on. Most popular is the “sand box” theory, which says that a new site is put in a virtual sand box and has to wait until it has aged before obtaining high rankings. This patent has some excellent information that can explain this phenomenon.
Information Retrieval
The information that this invention of Google is claimed to retrieve based on the historical data are:
Age/Time
Change
Trends
A score is calculated based on the above 3 factors which can then, at least partially, be used to rank the selected pages.
Historical Data
The patent describes a huge amount of historical data. The following is an overview of most items for which historical data can be measured:
Pages/sites
Links
Anchor Texts
Content
Query
Traffic
Ranking
User
Domain
Ranking Based On Information Retrieved From Historical Data
The patent describes in quite a lot of detail how selected pages are ranked based on the information retrieved from historical data. This chapter will describe the basic logic applied.
Age/Time
Of all historical data a date of inception is used to determine 4 important values:
Age
Average Age
Date
Average Date
These factors can be determined for pages, links, anchor text, content, topics, queries, etc. Comparing the age or date of a page to the average of the site for example tells the search engine if this information is relatively new or old.
Comparing the average age or date of a page to the average age or date of all pages selected for a query (keyword phrase) tells the search engine if the page is relatively new or old. This information can be used to rank the selected pages.
Comparing to an average has the advantage that there is no preset base of rules that determine the rankings of a page. For one query 6 months may be considered new (product descriptions for example) while for another page 6 days may be considered old (news items for example). It all depends on the average age.
This same logic applies to links. In order to determine how popular a page or site is, the average age of all back links tells the search engine if the popularity of the page is recent or not. It makes sense that if most back links have been obtained 4 years ago and that hardly anybody has been interested to link to this page/site since then, that the page is not as popular as the existing back links would suggest.
The patent goes even as far as determining age factors for anchor texts of links.
Change
Information changes over time. Opinions change, knowledge changes, popularity changes, etc. Like mentioned before, a page that was popular 4 years ago, may be totally forgotten now, but still have most of its backlinks that were obtained when the page actually was popular. However, if this page all the sudden becomes popular again, and new back links start showing up, the average age of the backlinks will remain high. This will prevent the page of ranking high.
Detecting changes is crucial to give old information the chance to rank high again. Consequently, the lack of change can be a reason to lower the rank of a page.
Trends
Even though comparing to averages is a great way to get information about freshness, it fails to recognize smaller events like a sudden increase in popularity of a page. Though detecting changes do help to recognize smaller events, more information can be obtained by detecting trends.
Sudden increases of popularity can be caused by seasonal events like Christmas or the Super Bowl. For this reason the search engine will try to determine trends within pages links, anchor text, content, topics, queries, etc. Detecting trends makes it possible to rank pages higher that would not be ranked high with the standard ranking methods or with comparing to average ages or dates. Google has recognized here a very important fact of information: Relevance and importance of information is (con)temporary.
Detecting Spam Using Historical Data
Having all kinds of historical data available can be used to detect search engine spam. Unexpected events that happen to a site can be an indication of spam. Obviously a strong improvement of 1 single factor would not be a direct indication of spam, generally multiple factors are showing strange behavior when a site is using spam to increase rankings. It would not be in Google’s interest to penalize a site for advertising. However, excessive advertising in sites/pages that are totally unrelated will not do your site any good.
Recommendations
Nothing changed in regards to links. This patent pretty much confirms what we already knew and have been explaining to our customers as well. The following recommendations can be helpful:
Keep links related
Related links matter, unrelated links can be considered spam.
Build links on a continuous moderate bases
As the patent describes, the average age of your backlinks should not be too high. It is therefore wise to continue adding backlinks to secure a reasonable average age of all your backlinks. How many you need to add over time depends on your market.
Be better than the average
Very important is to be better than the average, but don’t overdo it. It would be expensive and unnecessary.
Focus on seasonal events
A good way to increase the success of your website is to set up text link campaigns for seasonal events. Start your advertising campaign 2 to 3 months before the actual event to give Google the time to find the links and update your site’s information with it. After the event you can let these links go again.
Spread links over multiple sites (unique backlinks)
A very important factor is the number of unique websites in your backlinks. Google seems to put a strong emphasis on this factor.
About The Author
Peter Faber is an Internet marketing consultant working for [http://www.textlinkbrokers.com ]http://www.textlinkbrokers.com, an SEO company specialized in link building. He has his own personal blog at [http://www.seo-works.com ]http://www.seo-works.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Faber http://EzineArticles.com/?A-View-on-Googles-Patent:-Information-Retrieval-Based-on-Historical-Data&id=230601 ¶ 1/05/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
iPhone Hacks and Threats to Personal Privacy
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Mohammed_Bhimji]Mohammed Bhimji
We’ve been amazed by it since its introduction. Who can’t remember the address given by Steve Jobs of Apple when he introduced the revolutionary iPhone? Who wasn’t amazed at the device that was capable of surfing the web, taking pictures, listening to music and of course receiving and placing calls?
Nothing new, right?
Just as the iPhone was released, hackers around North America started to dig into what makes this tick. The primary reason was to unlock the phone so that you didn’t have to sign-up with AT&T but with any carrier that supported the technology. But could there me more nefarious reasons to hack the iPhone?
Skilled hackers could now take their phone onto any carrier, but more importantly they could create and enable custom ring tones (without having to pay for buying ring tones), enable custom wallpapers and more.
In process of hacking into the iPhone, several tidbits were gleaned - such as the fact that the software on the iPhone runs as "root" - in the Unix world this basically gives you full and complete access to the machine. You could bring down entire servers and even chains of servers if you have ROOT access to a Unix machine.
So how does this impact you, the average user of the Apple iPhone that isn’t planning on hacking into their phone? Well someone may want to hack into your phone and they now have the blueprint to do it.
While Apple is working hard to try and prevent hacking by playing cat and mouse game, it will always be a cat and mouse game. If you happen to surf into a questionable website that happens to download software to your iPhone you could end up in a whole heap of trouble.
In an article in the New York Times Technology section from July 23, 2007, an iPhone flaw was found to let hackers take over the iPhone. Remember that most people store entire lives on their digital assistants (whether this is a Smart Phone, the iPhone or even a PDA). They keep names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses on them. Not to mention passwords, banking information (such as bank account numbers) and even digital images taken by the built-in camera.
Now imagine if a hacker has access to all this data.
The security firm, Independent Security Advisors found that through common flaws (and without even hacking into the phone) they were able to gain unauthorized access to the contents of the phone through a WiFi connection or by tricking users into visiting websites that insert malicious code onto the phone.
The hack enabled the firm to gain a wealth of personal information that the phone contained.
Dr. Miller, who was a former employee of the National Security Agency also demonstrated the hack by visiting a website of his own design, inserting some malicious code onto the phone and then proceeding to have the phone transmit data to the attacking computer. He went on to say that the attack could be used to program the phone to make calls thereby running up the phone bill of the user not to mention the phone could be used to spy on the individual by turning it into a portable bugging device - remember, it does have a built-in camera.
How can you protect yourself? As with any device, common sense should prevail. Don’t open e-mails from people you don’t know - if you open them, and there are attachments avoid opening the attachments or visiting the websites in question.
Since the Apple iPhone has automatic updates, always ensure your iPhone has the latest updates by visiting the manufacturer’s site.
If you are very concerned about threats to your iPhone you may also want to visit the website http://www.exploitingphone.com/, which is run by Independent Security Evaluators to stay on top of hacks and threats to your personal data on the iPhone.
Even doing simple searches in Yahoo, Google, or MSN with 'iPhone hacking threats' will give you a wealth of information.
Copyright © Mohammed Bhimji
Get more information about adware, spyware, malware and viruses plus information on wireless wifi theft and securing your wireless connection at http://www.free-adware-spyware-virus-removal.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mohammed_Bhimji http://EzineArticles.com/?iPhone-Hacks-and-Threats-to-Personal-Privacy&id=770611 ¶ 1/05/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
We’ve been amazed by it since its introduction. Who can’t remember the address given by Steve Jobs of Apple when he introduced the revolutionary iPhone? Who wasn’t amazed at the device that was capable of surfing the web, taking pictures, listening to music and of course receiving and placing calls?
Nothing new, right?
Just as the iPhone was released, hackers around North America started to dig into what makes this tick. The primary reason was to unlock the phone so that you didn’t have to sign-up with AT&T but with any carrier that supported the technology. But could there me more nefarious reasons to hack the iPhone?
Skilled hackers could now take their phone onto any carrier, but more importantly they could create and enable custom ring tones (without having to pay for buying ring tones), enable custom wallpapers and more.
In process of hacking into the iPhone, several tidbits were gleaned - such as the fact that the software on the iPhone runs as "root" - in the Unix world this basically gives you full and complete access to the machine. You could bring down entire servers and even chains of servers if you have ROOT access to a Unix machine.
So how does this impact you, the average user of the Apple iPhone that isn’t planning on hacking into their phone? Well someone may want to hack into your phone and they now have the blueprint to do it.
While Apple is working hard to try and prevent hacking by playing cat and mouse game, it will always be a cat and mouse game. If you happen to surf into a questionable website that happens to download software to your iPhone you could end up in a whole heap of trouble.
In an article in the New York Times Technology section from July 23, 2007, an iPhone flaw was found to let hackers take over the iPhone. Remember that most people store entire lives on their digital assistants (whether this is a Smart Phone, the iPhone or even a PDA). They keep names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses on them. Not to mention passwords, banking information (such as bank account numbers) and even digital images taken by the built-in camera.
Now imagine if a hacker has access to all this data.
The security firm, Independent Security Advisors found that through common flaws (and without even hacking into the phone) they were able to gain unauthorized access to the contents of the phone through a WiFi connection or by tricking users into visiting websites that insert malicious code onto the phone.
The hack enabled the firm to gain a wealth of personal information that the phone contained.
Dr. Miller, who was a former employee of the National Security Agency also demonstrated the hack by visiting a website of his own design, inserting some malicious code onto the phone and then proceeding to have the phone transmit data to the attacking computer. He went on to say that the attack could be used to program the phone to make calls thereby running up the phone bill of the user not to mention the phone could be used to spy on the individual by turning it into a portable bugging device - remember, it does have a built-in camera.
How can you protect yourself? As with any device, common sense should prevail. Don’t open e-mails from people you don’t know - if you open them, and there are attachments avoid opening the attachments or visiting the websites in question.
Since the Apple iPhone has automatic updates, always ensure your iPhone has the latest updates by visiting the manufacturer’s site.
If you are very concerned about threats to your iPhone you may also want to visit the website http://www.exploitingphone.com/, which is run by Independent Security Evaluators to stay on top of hacks and threats to your personal data on the iPhone.
Even doing simple searches in Yahoo, Google, or MSN with 'iPhone hacking threats' will give you a wealth of information.
Copyright © Mohammed Bhimji
Get more information about adware, spyware, malware and viruses plus information on wireless wifi theft and securing your wireless connection at http://www.free-adware-spyware-virus-removal.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mohammed_Bhimji http://EzineArticles.com/?iPhone-Hacks-and-Threats-to-Personal-Privacy&id=770611 ¶ 1/05/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
