Jeff Walters July 23rd, 2008
Well, I just got done cleaning my WordPress program. There were a couple of exploits that I was unaware of for my older v2.1. Here’s how the story goes. One day I visit my blog and get a Virus Alert from my AVG antivirus program: JS / Downloader Agent Virus. I also noticed that I got reported on Google’s block list as an Attack Site. Doh! Doh!
So, I immediate started an upgrade to v2.6, but it didn’t help. After scouring the Internet for information, I came across a WordPress article that mentioned a bit of code in the Themes. In particular, in the footer.php and index.php files. I had some crap in the footer.php and also cleaned a strange php write() from the end of the index.php file. After that, I thought I was good to go, but I was wrong.
Somehow my site was still infected. Luckily, I noticed that I was downloading something from another Website when I loaded the blog page. The file was loading from 65.155.8.157 which was somewhere in California, US. So, I figured this was some kind of exploit for link building schemes or something of that spamish nature.
Noticing that the IP address couldn’t be found in any of my blog files, I turned to my database. I did a search of my entire database using the phpMyAdmin tool: search. It helped me find the blog entry that somehow had an iframe tag added to it. Doh! Doh! I removed the additional code from my blog posting and the Virus alert finally was gone. I did one last search for “iframe” in the entire database just to make sure I got all of the problems. Looks like XSS / iframe attacks are more serious than I expected.
Cheers! I hope this helps someone.
Jeff Walters
Jeff Walters July 13th, 2008
Today’s technology is changing at an extremely fast pace and is demanding that companies change with it in order for them to keep their competitiveness. Fiber laser technology is one of these fast changing technologies. Fiber lasers have been developed over the past decade and have replaced many YAG and CO2 laser systems in the United States and across the world. Recently ”high-powered” fiber lasers have began to appear with many benefits.
A high-powered fiber laser cutter is a very energy efficient system as compared to older YAG and CO2 systems. Some claim that they can be more than 10 to 15 times more effecient. Additionally, fiber laser systems require no optical system alignment and are virtually maintenance free, which means little to no maintenance costs. Fiber laser cutting systems are also lighter in design with a smaller footprint, which brings down manufacturing costs. All of these factors are changing the way businesses are looking at cutting systems.
Jeff Walters March 31st, 2008
IPRoundup.com: What is an IP Address?
When your web browser requests a web page from another computer on the Internet, it automatically gives that computer the address where it should send the information. This is called your computer’s “IP address.” (IP stands for “Internet protocol.”) For most users accessing the Internet from a dial-up Internet service provider (ISP), the IP address will be different every time you log on. This is commonly referred to as a dynamic IP address.
“What’s my IP address?“, you might ask. I’m glad you asked. I recently created a Web site that can quickly and easily show you your IP address. It’s called IPRoundup.com. There are several tools that have been created to help with IP/DNS related issues. Give it a shot. It’s 100% free.
Jeff Walters March 23rd, 2008
I’d like to mention one “on-site” search engine optimization factor that is often overlooked: “uniqueness”. Google in particular, with it’s addition of supplemental pages is noticing, with a very keen eye, the uniqueness of the pages it indexes from your Web site. Not only should your page content be unique, but your page titles & META tags should also be considered. This is especially true if you have a dynamically built/generated Web site, such as a Web forum, online store or social networking site.
To start to analyze the uniqueness of your Web site, you should first find a program or develop your own program that will allow you to crawl your entire Web site identifying several page attributes along the way. There are several site crawler programs available for download that will do this for you. I chose to write my own PHP program using the Snoopy Class and several regular expression matches. The page attributes you want to capture are as follows:
- Page URL
- Page Title
- Meta Description
- Meta Keywords
- H1 Header
- H2 Header(s) (optional)
- Date Last Modified (optional)
Once you have this data, save it into a CSV/XLS format so you can easily look at it through a Spread Sheet program. Download the Open Office suite if you don’t already have it. Once you start looking at your Web site as a whole, you’ll start to notice where work needs to be done. Sort the data by Title and you should notice any duplicate titles. Make the necessary changes on your Web site so you have unique titles for each one of your pages. This sounds really simple, but you’ll soon realize that some programs/scripts are not written in a way that you can easily create unique titles. For example, if you own a Web store you may have to find a “hack” or “modification (mod)” to help make your titles unique. In some cases you’ll have to include the items name, category and even the item id in order to create a unique title. Listings also need to have unique titles. Once you examine your Titles, move on to your Meta Descriptions and Keywords. Again, they should be as unique as possible. I’m of the believe that it’s better to have no Meta descriptions, rather than having too many similar descriptions. The same logic applies to the Meta Keywords. If you can’t make them unique, then leave them blank. Their importance today is marginal.
Also note any pages that seem old or “stale” based on the date last modified. Revisit these pages and update them if needed. Having a Web site that is producing fresh new content is one that GoogleBot (Google’s Search Engine Bot) will most likely visit often. Keep your home page fresh, even if it’s only a few small textual changes every other day. You’ll soon notice that Google will visit your Web site more often.
Cheers,
Jeff Walters
Jeff Walters March 12th, 2008
Laser Photonics’ (LP) has recently added the Titan FLS 48 fiber laser cutting machine to it’s product line. This incredible system is LP’s first multipurpose fiber laser cutting system with a single pallet shuttle table. It is equipped with a high-powered fiber laser (2000-5000W) and an advanced direct drive motion control platform. The Titan FLS 48 has one of the fastest cutting speeds (if not already the fastest - depends on comparison) on the market. This system offers ultra low power consumption allowing for the lowest operating costs among all laser types. The Titan’s fully software-controlled geometry alignment eliminates the need for special installation requirements. The Titan requires no optical system alignment, laser service or laser replacement parts making this system virtually maintenance free.
Some of the laser system highlights include:
- Latest generation Ytterbium Fiber Laser with Up to 5,000 Watt CW Power (Upgradeable)
- Smallest HAZ (heat affected zone) in the Industry
- Lowest Operating Costs Among all Laser Types
Check out this new system at Laser Photonics.
