Ian Dunn » Spam http://iandunn.name Seattle-based web developer blogging about tips and solutions Fri, 18 May 2012 18:11:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4 Why Short URLs are Evil and You Should Never Use Them http://iandunn.name/why-short-urls-are-evil-and-you-should-never-use-them/ http://iandunn.name/why-short-urls-are-evil-and-you-should-never-use-them/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 17:07:06 +0000 Ian http://iandunn.name/?p=1306 a comprehensive analysis of the concept of Short URLs and the myriad problems associated with it, but the biggest one for me is the fact that the true URL is... [more]]]> Ok, so maybe that title was a bit of a hyperbole, but this is one of my biggest pet peeves on the Web right now. Joshua Schachter has a comprehensive analysis of the concept of Short URLs and the myriad problems associated with it, but the biggest one for me is the fact that the true URL is hidden from the user. As a user, if you want me to go somewhere on the Web, you better damn well tell me where that is first, instead of expecting me to blindly trust you. Another primary reason short URLs should (almost) never be used is their potential as a massive attack vector for hackers.

In order to get around the “opaqueness” problem, there are several browser extensions that will automatically expand the short URL — my favorite is Explode – which goes a long way toward mitigating the negative impact on user experience, but doesn’t solve the fundamental design flaws or security concerns.

]]> http://iandunn.name/why-short-urls-are-evil-and-you-should-never-use-them/feed/ 0 Excessive SEO is Ruining Google Search http://iandunn.name/excessive-seo-is-ruining-google-search/ http://iandunn.name/excessive-seo-is-ruining-google-search/#comments Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:15:03 +0000 Ian http://iandunn.name/?p=743 the recent decline in the quality of Google search results : People whose opinions I respect have all been echoing the same sentiment — Google, the once essential tool, is somehow losing its edge. The spammers, scrapers, and SEO’ed-to-the-hilt content farms are winning.]]> Sadly, I have to completly agree with Jeff Atwood’s assessment of the recent decline in the quality of Google search results:

People whose opinions I respect have all been echoing the same sentiment — Google, the once essential tool, is somehow losing its edge. The spammers, scrapers, and SEO’ed-to-the-hilt content farms are winning.

]]> http://iandunn.name/excessive-seo-is-ruining-google-search/feed/ 0 Adding reCAPTCHA to a Kentico Form http://iandunn.name/adding-recaptcha-to-a-kentico-form/ http://iandunn.name/adding-recaptcha-to-a-kentico-form/#comments Tue, 15 Feb 2011 20:35:26 +0000 Ian http://iandunn.name/workblog/?p=391 Google reCAPTCHA in a BizForm Tutorial shows how to use reCAPTCHA in a Kentico CMS form. Note my comment in the thread about needing to reference the reCAPTCHA library; if you don’t you’ll get an error saying that it can’t find the assembly.]]> Google reCAPTCHA in a BizForm Tutorial shows how to use reCAPTCHA in a Kentico CMS form. Note my comment in the thread about needing to reference the reCAPTCHA library; if you don’t you’ll get an error saying that it can’t find the assembly.

]]> http://iandunn.name/adding-recaptcha-to-a-kentico-form/feed/ 0 Working with Qmail’s Queue http://iandunn.name/252/ http://iandunn.name/252/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:21:00 +0000 Ian http://iandunn.name/workblog/?p=252 qmqtool is a great tool for viewing and changing messages in qmail’s queue. It’ll help you search for and delete spam, for instance. The FAQ has a some examples to get started with.]]> qmqtool is a great tool for viewing and changing messages in qmail’s queue. It’ll help you search for and delete spam, for instance. The FAQ has a some examples to get started with.

]]> http://iandunn.name/252/feed/ 0 Relaying Qmail Through a Spam Filter http://iandunn.name/relaying-qmail-through-a-spam-filter/ http://iandunn.name/relaying-qmail-through-a-spam-filter/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:19:47 +0000 Ian http://iandunn.name/workblog/?p=250 relaying outbound mail through a spam filter , or it could be used to send spam if the forms get hijacked. For qmail, you just need to create /var/qmail/control/smtproutes and enter “:yourmailserver.com”, then restart. Make... [more]]]> If you’re running a mail service on a web server so it can send out e-mail from contact forms, etc then you’ll want to make sure it’s relaying outbound mail through a spam filter, or it could be used to send spam if the forms get hijacked. For qmail, you just need to create /var/qmail/control/smtproutes and enter “:yourmailserver.com”, then restart. Make sure the spam filter is configured to allow the mail server to relay through it.

]]> http://iandunn.name/relaying-qmail-through-a-spam-filter/feed/ 0 The Good, Bad and Ugly of SEO Methods http://iandunn.name/the-good-bad-and-ugly-of-seo-methods/ http://iandunn.name/the-good-bad-and-ugly-of-seo-methods/#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:47:27 +0000 Ian http://iandunn.name/workblog/?p=170 Spammers, Evildoers, and Opportunists . His main gist is that the good SEO techniques — like using tags that match the semantics of the content and setting up 301 redirects when pages move — should just be considered good development practices, and that all... [more]]]> I agree with a lot of what Derek Powazek wrote about the SEO industry in Spammers, Evildoers, and Opportunists. His main gist is that the good SEO techniques — like using tags that match the semantics of the content and setting up 301 redirects when pages move — should just be considered good development practices, and that all the other crap is just polluting the web. If you want to be successful on the web, “Make something great. Tell people about it. Do it again.”

But, I do think he takes things a little too far, and makes some generaliztaions, over-simplifications and also some presuppositions about the types of sites he’s talking about. I think there are some SEO techniques that are ethical and help a site earn (not buy) a good ranking without hurting the web. So, I’ve sorted some of the most common techniques into Good, Bad and Ugly categories to help me when I’m trying to find a good SEO consultant.

The Good

  • Server configuration issues
  • Organizing and improving content
  • Unintuitive search engine quarks, like archived content being counted as a duplicate
  • Pay-Per-Click campaigns and other traditional advertising
  • Keyword research
  • Configuring Google’s Webmaster Tools
  • Training CMS users on good practices
  • Setting up 301 redirects
  • Pretty URLs
  • Not using images for text, not making the entire site in Flash
  • Don’t generate links with JavaScript
  • Using tags that are appropriate for the content

The Bad

  • Contrived link building schemes
  • Creating mini sites that link back to the real site
  • Paying other sites to publish articles you wrote about yourself
  • Buried on-site content written specifically for the search engines

The Ugly

  • Spam blogs
  • Comment spam
  • Duplicating content
  • Domain squatting
  • Hiding links and keywords
  • Google bombs
  • Cloaking content for search engines
]]> http://iandunn.name/the-good-bad-and-ugly-of-seo-methods/feed/ 0 Protecting Contact Forms From Spam http://iandunn.name/akismet-libraries/ http://iandunn.name/akismet-libraries/#comments Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:27:23 +0000 Ian http://iandunn.name/workblog/?p=8 Akismet , the anti-spam service that WordPress uses. I setup... [more]]]> I’ve had several clients complain about getting spam through their contact forms. Initially, I tried checking the referrers to make sure the comments were being submitted from a browser rather than just a bot, but that didn’t help enough. Luckily, many people have created libraries for Akismet, the anti-spam service that WordPress uses. I setup the contact form to use Bret Kuhns’ PHP4 class, which submits the comment to Akismet’s service and lets you know if it’s spam or not. There are several other libraries available, including ones for PHP5, Python, Java, Ruby on Rails and .NET2.

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