Archive for category My Thoughts
New Discoveries, The Google Dance and an Oil Change
Posted by Daniel Snyder in My Thoughts on May 14, 2011
I want to say thank you to my regular Info Carnivore readers, you’ve made this ride a real pleasure. The beginning of May came and went and I barely noticed that the one year anniversary of Info Carnivore has come and gone. This blog has gone through a lot of changes in its first year, and yet it will continue to evolve, develop and grow. This past week I determined to build and stick to a publishing schedule, my goal is to publish new content at least three times a week. Monday’s I intend to release a resource article that provides advice, information or how-to relating to the primary niche areas of the blog (Blogging, SEO, Keywords, Ranking, Security, and Social Media), Wednesdays will most likely be for guest posts, I’ve been receiving a lot of requests and submissions for guest articles but I don’t want to publish more than one a week. With my readership up and traffic continuing to grow Info Carnivore could also be a great place for you to submit a guest article. On Friday’s I plan to release content as well, most likely an opinion piece or a review of sorts. Occasionally on Saturday’s I will publish my own version of the ever popular round up article, featuring news and posts of the week. That’s what this article is!
WordPress Database Error (MySQL error 28) thanks Friday the 13th
My apologies to anyone who saw the ugly wordpress database error that was up on this past Friday the 13th (coincidence?). I logged into my dashboard early Friday morning only to discover this error message, “WordPress database error: [Got error 28 from storage engine]“. The MySQL error caused me to panic and threw off my brand new publishing schedule. I logged into cpanel and repaired all MySQL tables but the issue still did not resolve. I ended up submitting a support ticket to my host (Dreamhost) who replied about 5 hours later with a resolution, “It looks like there was an issue with the database server. I had an admin reboot it and the error should no longer appear.” The above Friday the 13th experience goes to inform anyone else with the MySQL error 28 that it may most likely be your host and not you. Since the MySQL database for info carnivore is on a shared server an admin at Dreamhost had to reboot that server. Issue resolved, first week publishing schedule… trashed.
Upcoming Info Carnivore Contest – LIKE the fanpage!
I plan on hosting a contest at this blog in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for details. I’m currently looking for some worthwhile prizes and sponsors. (PS. If you have a product you’d like to promote this could be your opportunity!) The contest will be nothing too complicated, more of a LIKE us on facebook and RETWEET this to win type of contest. Stay tuned for details. Speaking of the Info Carnivore fan page, if you’re not a fan yet why not become one? I use the fan page to publish some really unique (and actually interesting) minutiae and web discoveries. I’ve not been satisfied with the amount of fan interaction on the FB page, so I hope to be a little more active and creative over there in the coming days. Why not get a head start on the contest and jump over to our fan page now!
Discoveries of the Week
Recently I’ve spent some time over at IM Relationships the blog of James Pruitt where he has been sharing some really interesting SEO and link building articles. His article the Top 5 Best Link Building Methods You Should be Using provides some solid fundamental information for those who are looking to build new links for their blog or niche sites. His previous article however was perhaps even more informative (for me) when he threw out the 5 Worst Link Building Activities. This article sparked some good conversation as James and I discussed the topic of how fast should one build links, which also turned into a conversation about the Google Dance. If you are unfamiliar with the Google dance, you can read James’ article on Overcoming the Google Dance and How it factors into your rankings. I too have experienced the symptoms of the google dance with my niche sites (I’m still experiencing them) and it is an interesting topic for discussion. I’ve also written about my opinions on what some call the “Google Honeymoon Period” and speculating whether the so called honeymoon exists as part of the google algorithm.
Another blog I’ve been perusing regularly is iBlogZone Home Based Business Resources by DiTesco. In a recent article DiTesco answers the burning question “How To Build High Quality Websites” clearly and concisely. With the Google Panda update there is that growing awareness that the only thing that matters is quality. DiTesco provides us with the information we need straight from google that will insure that the way we present our content is “panda friendly”. As DiTesco puts it “It is now all about “quality”. Quality content, quality links, quality websites, quality navigational structure, and so on. Come to think of it, was this ever really an issue?”
Tony Hastings at The Top 10 Blog is a new discovery for me. How he locked up that domain name I have no idea, but Tony writes about the Social Media journey and shares his Top Twitter Lists weekly which is a great way to find some valuable people on twitter that are actually worth following. Tony provides enjoyable content with a unique way of viewing things, just take for example his recent article “Does your blog need an oil change?“ Where he makes the analogy of thinking about your blog the way you maintain your car.
Thanks for your loyal readership. Stick with us as Info Carnivore continues to grow. I look forward to your input, my readers are important to me and the content on this blog is crafted to meet your interests. If there is content you’d like to see please let me know, I do my best to write articles around any suggestions I receive.
Stop the CRTC from allowing Internet Metering in Canada
Posted by Daniel Snyder in My Thoughts on February 15, 2011
Are you a Canadian Internet user? If you are then there is something afoot that requires your attention. In our beloved Canada, Internet Providers are cracking down on our apparently ‘excessive’ internet usage.
In Canada Internet providers are attempting to monopolize the market, and raise the price of residential high-speed internet access. Providers such as Telus (in Alberta and British Columbia), Bell (in Ontario and Quebec) and Shaw are looking to put a cap on our home internet usage, meter everything you do online and charge you through the roof if you go over your limit. The decision essentially says that unlimited internet plans will cease to exist and downloading limits will be drastically reduced for customers of these ISP’s. Thankfully Canada’s internet regulator the CRTC has launched a review of this decision.
Are you looking forward to a future where your ISP will charge you per byte and bit, the same way they do with your phone? If this happens we will end up in a situation where we pay MORE for LESS internet.
Usage Based Billing, What is it?
“Large ISPs charge their customers based on usage-based caps that specify the maximum amount of bandwidth they can use for internet activities like streaming video and movies, talking on Skype or uploading and downloading data. Customers who exceed the cap pay “overage” charges of up to $2.50 per gigabyte unless they bought insurance.
Bell says usage-based billing is necessary to reduce network congestion and discourage heavy internet users from using an unfair amount of bandwidth.
However, consumer advocates say imposing the caps on small ISPs would lead to higher internet prices, discourage the use of new services such as Netflix and make it impossible for smaller internet providers to offer different packages than large ISPs, utlimately reducing competition and consumer choice. Netflix allows people to stream unlimited high-definition video over the internet to their TVs for a monthly fee and uses a large amount of bandwidth.”
CRTC Confirms Re-Examination on ruling
The CRTC has confirmed that it is re-examining its rulings on the way small internet service providers – and therefore their customers – are billed by large ISPs like Bell, and is seeking public comments as part of that review.
YOU can help prevent this from moving forward by being pro-active and using your voice to let the CRTC know that you’re NOT happy with big ISPs trying to corner the market. How would you feel about having a 25 GB limit on your monthly bandwidth (up and down!)? I know for myself I’ve transferred over 25 gigabytes in the last 30 hours alone. If I was capped at 25 for a month I’d be paying more than triple my current rate to continue using the internet the way I do, (and that may be a conservative estimate).
A Major Problem with Usage Based Billing
One significant issue that threatens the integrity of internet service providers and there eagerness to bill us extra for our metered internet usage, is the fact that they don’t seem able to meter us accurately at all. In fact there are plenty of reported cases of people (smart techy people!) who know how to track their own usage, and are discovering SERIOUS and blatant discrepancies between what their own computers and their ISP is telling them. Plenty of cases in fact that show without a doubt that ISP’s are claiming almost DOUBLE what the actual usage may be. And these aren’t just allegations either, take a look at this screenshot from Bell’s customer service site taken on Wednesday February 9th.
What YOU CAN DO to let the CRTC know how you feel, and put a STOP to this decision.
Step 1.
Go to the CRTC website where you can share your opinion. You have until March 28th to comment. The link to the CRTC review of billing practices for wholesale residential high-speed access is here.
Step 2.
Sign the online petition and stop the meter on your internet use. The petition can be found here and will be submitted to the CRTC by openmedia.ca.
Step 3.
Contact your local MP. You can find out who your MP is and there contact information by using the Government of Canada website, here is a link to the Member of Parliament directory.
Get a hold of your MP and let them know your feeling on this issue.
Visions Electronics Review, A Canadian Buying Experience
Posted by Daniel Snyder in My Thoughts, Technology on February 6, 2011
Though you may not be a Canadian, or may never have plans of buying at Visions Electronics you may still enjoy reading this story and sharing your feedback and retail electronics buying experiences with our readers. I recently purchased a new HD TV at Visions Electronics a Canadian electronics retailer. The experience was interesting to say the least so I’m sharing it here to assist other Canadians in their electronics buying journey.
From the Visions website: “Visions Electronics is dedicated to being recognized as the Best Name in Electronics in Canada by you, our Valued Customer. Visions Electronics has retail locations in all major markets in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and BC. Stores can be found in Winnipeg and Brandon in the Manitoba market. In addition to its retail operations, Visions services the wholesale market with its Commercial and Insurance Replacement Division (C.I.R.D.) which operates separately from the retail division. In addition to our retail stores and commercial division, we also ship products all across Canada via our website, visions.ca.”
Trip One: Researching Visions Electronics
My first trip into Visions Electronics on this particular buying occasion came on a Sunday, I was quickly approached by a young salesman Timothy (name changed) , which sometimes bothers me but in this case was alright since I had a lot of questions and was looking for answers. Timothy answered my questions to the best of his ability, but it became fairly clear that he didn’t know a lot about the various models and their specs. I also had some fairly technical questions, and was a researched consumer who knew more or less what I wanted. One TV that Timothy game me specs for he told me that it had a refresh of 120hz when I got home and looked up that particular model online I found it was only a 60hz refresh (a significant issue for me!).
Trip Two: Making a Purchase
Trip number two came the next day and culminated in a purchase. A different salesperson helped me and was quick to inform me that Timothy was a new employee and didn’t know much yet (well great, thanks for sending him out on his own to feed wrong information to potential customers, not good management.) Visions sales people operate on commission so it was understandable at that point why Timothy was so eager to engage me and try to tell me what I wanted to hear, unfortunately if a person is not doing their own research you could be a fed a bunch of misinformation by Visions Electronics salespeople not intentionally but by their own lack of knowledge and poor management.
This second employee, Aaron was fantastic. He knew a lot, had his own opinions and thoughts, but listened to me and deferred to my desires. After about 20 minutes of deliberating I decided on a model and size (A Samsung 40″ LED), and made the purchase. Aaron was eager to sell me the 46″ model but I decided to stick with the smaller size and be satisfied with that. He did even go as far as offering me a price reduction should I take the bigger model, and on my way out the store he reminded me that I could exchange it at any time within the next 15 days and upgrade to the bigger model.
Trip Three: Making an Exchange
This is where things got messy (a little). During the day I spoke to two people on the phone who both gave me somewhat different information. I was depending on the fact that my salesperson Aaron had told me I could exchange and upgrade the TV at any time in the next 15 days for no extra fees (other than of course the difference in price). I was annoyed by the woman I talked to on the phone, as she insisted I wouldn’t be able to get the discounted price Aaron offered me since he was not working that day, another employee told me otherwise. I had decided the night before to upgrade to the larger model (46″ Samsung LED). I boxed up the 40″ and headed over to the store. They were quite willing and ready to do the exchange and another employee was ready to give me the price Aaron had offered me. The paperwork and cashing out process was another story altogether. It seemed no one really knew how to run the till through something like this, and the manager was just not really interested in helping (didn’t look like he was doing anything in particular, but he just didn’t really want to help either). Had I not been pro-active and watched closely my card was nearly charged twice (once for the total cost of the first purchase, and again for the total cost of the second purchase) when I should only have been charged for the difference in price. I had to speak up and ask the employee why he was charging me the new total again, thankfully the manager and another female employee over heard me and stepped in to make sure that I paid only the difference.
I had forgot the remote from the 40″ TV at home, but thankfully that didn’t cause a problem, as they were able to take the remote from the new TV and swap it into my returned box.
Visions Electronics takes these returned TVs and resells them (at the same price!), even though they’ve been unboxed and used. The plastic from the screen and stand were removed on my new 46″ TV leading me to believe that those who do an exchange are likely to end up with an also previously exchanged model. At home the 46″ TV looks and works great, and I have no complaints!
Visions Electronics Final Thoughts
All in all my buying experience at Visions Electronics was positive. Provided you do YOUR OWN research, don’t rely on the employees information as gospel, and are okay dealing with some poor training and unprofessional service. The pricing was fantastic, and Visions is straight up about beating ANY price you find (even if you find it up to 60 days AFTER your purchase). The price I got on the TV is flat out unbeatable, and I’ve done a lot of research, checked a lot of stores and seen a lot of sales. I was 100% certain I would never find that price anywhere. The sales tactics were NOT high-pressure, and the sales methods were friendly and supportive of my own opinions and desires, for that reason alone I would go back to Visions Electronics and make my next purchase. In addition I did purchase the extended four year warranty on my TV (at a cost of around $220!) but the good news with Visions Electronics is that if you don’t make use of the warranty you get that money back as in store credit. So in all likelihood, four years from now I’ll have $220 waiting for me to spend.
Did you find this story helpful? If you have made a purchases at Visions Electronics share your experience with us here.
Getting Back in the Blogging Flow
Posted by Daniel Snyder in My Thoughts on January 31, 2011
The past month has been a hectic one for myself, and culminated in a physical move to a new (and much better) house for me and my family. Some of my faithful info carnivore readers may have noticed a decline in my web presence and published articles to the blog. I hope you can understand that the demands of life and family take precedence over my internet life! BUT, we are now moved and getting settled in our new abode. And if life goes according to plan (hahaha), I should be able to get back in the blogging flow soon. I appreciate all those who took time to retweet, comment, promote or otherwise engage with me during the last few busy weeks. I also apologize to those I’ve been unable to respond to or connect with.
I’ve had suggestions thrown to me for some posts, and there should be some new quality articles coming soon. Sometimes one must challenge themselves to stay motivated and focused! If you have any ideas or requests for posts, please throw them at me right away. Thanks, and happy blogging.
Daniel Snyder
‘Here You Have’ my opinion, enticing users to click.
Posted by Daniel Snyder in Computer Security, My Thoughts on September 11, 2010
I like to compare the internet to real life, as a way of helping people understand information security. I am often amazed at how people who are so quick to be sure their homes and cars are protected do not even give a second thought to their online security. For some reason there is still a mass misconception that the internet is a safe place. The net is like any city, it’s got beautiful parks and nice malls to shop in, but it’s also got a red light district and dangerous back alleys. Navigating the net requires perhaps a little more knowledge than staying secure at home does. When you go to bed at night it’s common sense and part of your routine to make sure your house is secure, you lock your doors and windows, and perhaps set an alarm, or turn on some motion lights in the yard. The same is true of the web, you have to be proactive, but online it’s always a dark night so you better make sure you’re protected. Sometimes it requires more than just a security system as the recent ‘Here You Have‘ worm has demonstrated (yet again!), internet users are still prey to the most basic of social engineering tricks and still think ‘buying speakers out of a car trunk in a busy parking lot’ is a good idea.. or perhaps that every nice person that knocks on your front door with a deal is legit. If you are the kind of person that would buy a vacuum off a guy at your front door for a thousand dollars, than you may need to upgrade your security common sense. (By the way, that vacuum is probably worth no more than two hundred bucks)
The Most Basic Trick in CyberCrime
The ‘Here You Have’ worm utilized one of the most basic tactics in cybercrime, users receive an email which enticed them to click a link to a web site that offered them something that sounded interesting for free (likely porn), clicking on the link executes the virus. First rule of email security: Never click directly on links, rather type known links into your browser. This gets a little confusing however since you often need to click long links full of numbers and other characters in order to get an email address verified, or gain access to a website. It’s true, the ‘rule of thumb’ always has exceptions and that is what makes net security so complex. No matter how secure your system is, how well you’ve made sure that you’re antivirus is up to date, that your firewall is in place, and that your software is updated – you can still be enticed to go down a back alley that you shouldn’t. The virus was ultimately responsible for taking down email servers at NASA and numerous other companies including cable giant Comcast Corp.
If the long history of cybercrime has taught criminals anything, it is that users will always be susceptible to clicking on things they shouldn’t… if you just feed them the right line. Kaspersky Anti-Virus is one of my highly recommended products that does a fantastic job of monitoring all virus entry points leaving you with a virus-free PC! Click Here. Is it possible to educate people on the dangers of being socially engineered and the risk of clicking unknown links, particularly links received in email? You can read more about Social Engineering in this article “How long can I browse the web without antivirus protection“.
China orders foreign computer security software out!
Posted by Daniel Snyder in My Thoughts, Security News on August 30, 2010
Communist China continues to go to extremes and has ordered its banks and other major companies to limit the use of computer security software developed outside of China. That means popular antivirus vendors will lose existing and potential business inside mainland China, and setting up an impending trade clash with the USA and Europe. Of course this is just like China as they continue to build up their own technology sector by hiding away from global competition. If you ask me, it seems pretty apparent that China is aggressively shutting out competition.
Considering the population of China software developers know that this is a very large viable market, and being shutout is definitely a frustration.
A manager of an inspection company said 10 to 20 per cent of enterprises that its technicians looked at in higher security tiers used technology from Cisco and other foreign providers. He said they were told to switch to or add Chinese-made firewalls or other technology.
“We asked clients to make changes and warned them they would fail to pass the inspection if they don’t,” said the manager at Guangdong Southern Information Security Industrial Base Co. He would give only his surname, Chen.
Essentially this Multi-Level Protection Scheme (MLPS), requires that core security software that is used by government and major companies that support major infrastructure (banks, transportation, airports etc…) must be provided by Chinese companies only. Foreign companies are being pushed to disclose encryption technology, which of course comes on the heels of some nations threatening to disable Blackberry service. So what does this make you think? Does this come as a surprise? I don’t think the majority of Westerners are at all surprised by a move like this. And it really isn’t a surprise since it’s been alluded to and in the works for over three years by the Chinese government. To what extent this may effect foreign developers we can only speculate. As I understand it many American and European firms were targeting China as a market that had the potential to pull them out of the recent recession. Now that they’ve been effectively shutout they’ll have to turn their attention elsewhere… but where?
Sources: Joe McDonald, Canadian Press Computer World, China Policy could force foreign security firms out.
How long can I browse the web with no antivirus protection?
Posted by Daniel Snyder in Computer Security, My Thoughts on August 1, 2010
Maybe you’ve heard of them running a car with no oil to see how long it takes for the engine to seize? (Normally bets are taken and whoever guesses the closest time, wins.) Well how long can I browse the web without any antivirus protection whatsoever (on a PC) before I get infected? Do you really need antivirus protection? The answer to the second question is unequivocally, YES you do. But when it comes to wondering (for sheer curiosity’s sake) how long you could browse the web before becoming infected there is no definitive answer. A lot of infections come from unsafe browsing habits, and this is where we really need to step up and help people learn how to browse the web safer. You simply can’t rely on your antivirus solution to stop any and every threat. For the same reason on the road you don’t just trust every driver to drive safe. You’ve got to stay alert, and use common sense.
Perhaps a tech savvy geek may believe they could safely browse the web for days or even weeks without becoming infected. Perhaps in their arrogance they would claim they are 100% certain they would not click on any malicious links or visit any malicious URLs, they are certain they can not fall for phishing scams and would never mistype a URL and find themselves hijacked. But in real life, with us more humble folk we are ready to admit we can never be 100% certain, some links look so legitimate they may be able to fool even you! Still, there are some valuable tips you can follow to ensure you’re browsing experience is a little more safe, and charged with a bit of internet common sense.
Failure to Update : The Number one Mistake
First and foremost, the number one thing I see people failing to do is update their software. Everything from your Operating System (OS) to Java, Flash and your browser needs to be updated from time to time. Manufacturers release patches to fix vulnerabilities and other security holes which cybercriminals will use to exploit your system. It seems to me a lot of the people I talk with think that because there system appears to be working fine, there is no reason to update it. They even have turned off Windows automatic updates. So quick tip, update everything. Once you’ve ensured your Operating System is updating regularly I highly recommend Filehippo’s update checker. This fantastic little program will scan your system for installed software and let you know what version you are running and whether or not you are up to date. It will then display all the results in your browser with links to safely download the latest version of all the software on your PC. This can really simplify the update process, which by now you understand is an absolute necessity.
Learn about Social Engineering and beware!
Social Engineering is a term used to describe how cybercriminals use clever marketing and disguise their activities in behavior that appears socially popular. By ‘engineering’ you to click their links they essentially con you and manipulate you into falling for their scams. The theory made popular by Kevin Mitnick is that it is easier to trick someone into giving you their password then it is to hack the system. You can read this fantastic article, 9 Dirty Tricks Social Engineers Use to get a little more detail on how you can be aware of and avoid being socially engineered. Facebook has been a popular target of Social Engineers and the type of scams you need to watch for are applications that try to lure you in with lines such as “This person has a crush on you, click here to find out who it is.” Sophos Labs, which tracks cybercrime trends, is seeing Facebook applications that install adware, which cause pop-up ads to appear on a user’s screen. The other danger, according to Cluley, is that installing many of these applications means you give a third-party access to your personal information on your profile.
Keep your Information Private
This is simple, but you’d be surprised how many people share way too much information online. Addresses, phone numbers, social security (social insurance) numbers, and of course passwords. I advise you to have several email addresses as well, one that you use for all trusted sources and at least several others that you can use for web registrations and other things that you are possibly uncertain of. Certainly there are websites that you can trust and share information with, but you can’t trust everyone. Still, limit the information you give as much as possible. Another tip that goes along with this is keeping your vacation plans zipped up, tweeting, facebook status updates etc, about your plan to be out of the country next week is always a bad idea. It really doesn’t matter how much you trust the people you believe your sharing this information with, it can get leaked… and if your address is out there, than you’ve just invited some criminals to come over to your empty house. Be wise with your personal info!
Use Multiple Complex Passwords
There is much that can be said about passwords and, if you don’t yet understand how to create and use a complex password than I hope you’d take some time and read a few of the articles here on this site. The most significant mistake people make with passwords is using the same one on every site. You may be surprised how many people are using guessable passwords on their facebook page and the same password for their bank. Banking websites may generally be somewhat harder to hack because of their security mechanisms, but if you’re using the same password in multiple locations than cybercriminals have a lot of opportunity to gather information on you. They can utilize dictionary attacks, brute force attacks, or even potentially social engineer you for your password.
Practice Safe Email usage
Phishing scams are prolific in spam emails and it is wise to immediately develop the habit of not clicking on links in emails. Criminals send fake emails that are disguised to look like your bank, or your craigslist account. Click on the links in those emails will take you to a fake site setup to look just like the bank site you are familiar with using. When you enter your login details this information can be used by the criminals to steal and transfer funds etc. Instead make it a habit to type in the URL directly into your browser or use bookmarks that you’ve saved. If you are using the latest version of your web browser most of those come with anti-phishing filters as well.
There are many other tips one must learn in order to browse safe, and avoid malware, scareware, phishing attacks and every other threat that exists in cyberspace. Educate yourself, learn to browse safe and use a good antivirus solution such as the ones I suggest in my 2010 Free Antivirus picks. What safe browsing tips do you suggest?
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