A new worm is wriggling around the Internet. This time it's the latest variant of Sober, which first appeared in October of 2003.
The body of the malicious e-mail also has a myriad of possible content ranging from, "Your password was changed successfully!" to "Attachment: No Virus found" among others. Like other mass mailing worms in this family (and others like MyDoom, for example) it contains its own SMTP (define) e-mail engine, which allows it to construct and send outgoing e-mails.
The latest Sober variant harvests e-mail addresses from a long list of different types of files on a user's local machine and can use those addresses for both the "Sent to" and "From" fields of outgoing messages.
The payload of the worm is user activated and delivered only when the user clicks on the virus-bearing attachment. When clicked, a fake error message is displayed, which may lead users to believe that no malicious activity has occurred, when in fact it has. Like the message generated by the worm, the attachment extensions also vary and may be pif, .scr, .zip or .bat or a combination of extensions.
The new Sober variant is known by different names, depending on the security firm that is reporting it.
Symantec labels it W32.SOBER.I@mm. Trend Micro's name is similar to WORM_SOBER.I, and McAfee has dubbed it W32/Sober.j@MM.
Like the names it's known by with various security firms, the new worm may also show up under a variety of guises on user's PCs.
The security firms are reporting a number of different subject lines; Symantec alone has noted over 50 different options.
Security firms including Trend Micro, McAfee, Symantec, Panda Software, Sophos and other have all issued patch updates to their anti-virus software tools, which users are encouraged to update immediately.
"Although much-publicised virus outbreaks in the past should have made users more nervous of double-clicking on unsolicited e-mail attachments, some still find it hard to resist," Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said in a statement. "All users should be reminded to follow safe computing guidelines, and PCs should be kept automatically updated with the latest anti-virus protection."
Article by Sean Michael Kerner
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Saturday, November 20, 2004
Friday, November 19, 2004
When The "Experts" Give You Bad Advices On Search Engines Optimization
Today i was looking around at C/net, for some interesting news to post in here and on the homepage i found a big spot with a coloured Google logo backround and a title saying something like this: "Get Search Engines To Sit Up And Take Notice". "Wow - i thought - this sounds interesting! A title like this on the homepage of the biggest technology portal on the web must carry me to something really juicy to read and learn!" Wrong! I started to read the article and it was a bunch of obvious, ancient things about search engines, like: first build up your site, then submit it to the search engines. Wow (2)!! Not only, but the submit-to-the-search-engines part is pretty a very bad advice in today's search engines optimization times.
That part from the article was stating exactly this:
-------------------------
-------------------------
This is the worst thing i have ever heard from a SEO (Search Engines Optimization) "expert"!
Yes, because the author of the article is the founder editor of search.com, in 1995...and at that time he must have stopped "studying" search engines, i would say...
I have posted an answer to the article and i am going to post it also here, so that you can get the right advice about this matter, without being misguided by obviously well introduced "search engines experts"
"Well, it surprises me that the former founder and editor of search.com writes such misguiding and totally outdated articles, especially when it does it as an "expert" from a prestigious stage like c/net.
This article says really nothing and i am really surprised that it is even featured on c/net homepage. More...it says a big lie that can really drop your search engine ranking before even you get one.
Never submit to the major search engines, like MSN, Yahoo and especially Google. But let them find you. And they will find you fast, believe me...very fast.
Look for a SEO (Search Engines Optimization - This is what "experts" should explain to newbies, rather than telling them the very obvious things that you can find in this article...) forum on Google, for example (just make a search for "SEO forum"), visit one, register yourself, post a new topic (you may want to ask what SEO means...) and add a signature at the end of your post with your name, and url to your website; then wait, and within a few days your website will be indexed in the major search engines: guaranteed!
This is not an illegal trick, this is the way search engines like to find your site. Submitting your site to the major search engines just cause you stress, because you will not be indexed before months; this means that you will probably submit and submit again and the search engines (have a look at Google's submission policy) will get tired of you and your submission requests will be totally ignored.
Hey guys, if you want better articles to feature on your homepage, i have some spare time and some will and enthusiasm for doing a bit of a better job
That part from the article was stating exactly this:
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If the search terms fit, you must submit
Once you've fine-tuned your site to the specs you want, you can then tell the Web search engines about it. So figure out the page you'd like the search engines to start at (it may not be your home page), and go to Google's and Yahoo's site submission pages. Type in the URL and a description. Then wait. And wait some more. It could take up to two months to get results, and even then, who knows what those results will be. The search sites make no promises, unless, of course, you wave some cash at them.-------------------------
This is the worst thing i have ever heard from a SEO (Search Engines Optimization) "expert"!
Yes, because the author of the article is the founder editor of search.com, in 1995...and at that time he must have stopped "studying" search engines, i would say...
I have posted an answer to the article and i am going to post it also here, so that you can get the right advice about this matter, without being misguided by obviously well introduced "search engines experts"
Here is My Answer
"Well, it surprises me that the former founder and editor of search.com writes such misguiding and totally outdated articles, especially when it does it as an "expert" from a prestigious stage like c/net.
This article says really nothing and i am really surprised that it is even featured on c/net homepage. More...it says a big lie that can really drop your search engine ranking before even you get one.
Never submit to the major search engines, like MSN, Yahoo and especially Google. But let them find you. And they will find you fast, believe me...very fast.
Look for a SEO (Search Engines Optimization - This is what "experts" should explain to newbies, rather than telling them the very obvious things that you can find in this article...) forum on Google, for example (just make a search for "SEO forum"), visit one, register yourself, post a new topic (you may want to ask what SEO means...) and add a signature at the end of your post with your name, and url to your website; then wait, and within a few days your website will be indexed in the major search engines: guaranteed!
This is not an illegal trick, this is the way search engines like to find your site. Submitting your site to the major search engines just cause you stress, because you will not be indexed before months; this means that you will probably submit and submit again and the search engines (have a look at Google's submission policy) will get tired of you and your submission requests will be totally ignored.
Hey guys, if you want better articles to feature on your homepage, i have some spare time and some will and enthusiasm for doing a bit of a better job
Optimal Web Site Design
The idea of good website design is to offer your viewer a logicalflow while making it interesting and easy to understand. Lead yourviewers to the starting point and then direct them through your sitewithout confusing them.
Here are some excellent tips that can help you develop a userfriendly site and please your visitors senses. Give yourself a chancebefore they get away.
1. Use lots of white space.Don't feel that because you have a whole screen that you need to fill it up with stuff. Your page should follow a clean outline. Include your site name at the very top. Below that list the subject of your page and below that expand on yourtopic. Leave adequate space between each section. Don't cram a lot of pictures and ads. If you have an ad keep it off to the side or subtly intersperse it between your text. The idea is not to overwhelm your reader.
2. Don't use animation and flashing objects.As advertisers we feel the need to get our viewers attention.This is important but we need to do it gracefully. Flashing objects and scrolling images distract your visitor and take away from the content. If your product is better demonstrated with animation or some other multi-media, allow your viewer to select the option. Don't force it on them.
3. Every page of your site should contain an 'about' link.The internet can be a rather cold and quiet environment. If someone can come to your site and find out about who you are and what you are about, they can feel a little better about doing business with you or taking advice from you. Alwaysinclude your business address and phone number and email address as well. This lets viewers know that you are serious about your business and that you welcome contact.
4. Include a 'Privacy' LinkViewers like the reassurance that you have a policy that follows privacy guidelines. They want to know that you will not sell or give away their information. In these days of rampant spam, your privacy policy needs to be prominentlydisplayed. Many viewers and business partners won't do business with you unless you have it.
5. Always keep your links in blue.Why does that matter you might say? It's an expectation that viewers have along with the links being underlined. There's certainly no law that says they need to be as such but people spend a lot of time on the internet and it's good practice to keep your navigation consistent and recognizable. If it's not you may lose out on clicks.
6. Keep navigation consistentKeep your site's navigation consistent. What you do on your index page should be done the same way on the rest of your site's pages. Keep the colors consistent as well. Don't force your viewers to relearn each page of your site. Keep your navigation bars and links the same for each page.
7. Understandable buttons and links.Title your links appropriately. Don't use cute or misleading names. For example, if you have a link to sports equipment don't label the link 'Great Outdoors', call it 'sports equipment'. If you have a link to 'cameras' don't label the link 'hotshots', label it 'cameras'. Your viewers don't want to waste time figuring out what things are. Be clear with your labeling.
8. Focus on the 'YOU', not the 'ME'.Make it obviously clear to your readers that you are there for them. What can you do for your reader? What benefits are there for your viewer? How can you make their life or business better or more profitable? Request feedback on their success. Find out what they want to know or how you can offer them whatthey need.
9. Make sure your page loads fast.If viewers have to wait for a page to load they will click elsewhere. Here's a site that will help you determine how well your page loads. If a page doesn't load in 8 seconds you lose 1/3 of your visitors. Here's a great free tool to help you check your website's load time:
http://www.1-hit.com/all-in-one/tool.loading-time-checker.htm
10. Use a site map.A site map will give visitors a "guide" on viewing your site and also eliminate confusion, especially with larger sites. It's a road map for your visitors to follow while they are on your site. Sitemaps will also increase rankings and placement within the Search Engines.
About the Author:Elizabeth McGee has spent 20 years in the service and support industry.She has moved her expertise to the world wide web helping businessesfind trusted tools, enhance customer service, build confidence andincrease sales. You can contact Elizabeth at:mail@pro-marketing-online.com or visit her website at:http://www.pro-marketing-online.com
###
Here are some excellent tips that can help you develop a userfriendly site and please your visitors senses. Give yourself a chancebefore they get away.
1. Use lots of white space.Don't feel that because you have a whole screen that you need to fill it up with stuff. Your page should follow a clean outline. Include your site name at the very top. Below that list the subject of your page and below that expand on yourtopic. Leave adequate space between each section. Don't cram a lot of pictures and ads. If you have an ad keep it off to the side or subtly intersperse it between your text. The idea is not to overwhelm your reader.
2. Don't use animation and flashing objects.As advertisers we feel the need to get our viewers attention.This is important but we need to do it gracefully. Flashing objects and scrolling images distract your visitor and take away from the content. If your product is better demonstrated with animation or some other multi-media, allow your viewer to select the option. Don't force it on them.
3. Every page of your site should contain an 'about' link.The internet can be a rather cold and quiet environment. If someone can come to your site and find out about who you are and what you are about, they can feel a little better about doing business with you or taking advice from you. Alwaysinclude your business address and phone number and email address as well. This lets viewers know that you are serious about your business and that you welcome contact.
4. Include a 'Privacy' LinkViewers like the reassurance that you have a policy that follows privacy guidelines. They want to know that you will not sell or give away their information. In these days of rampant spam, your privacy policy needs to be prominentlydisplayed. Many viewers and business partners won't do business with you unless you have it.
5. Always keep your links in blue.Why does that matter you might say? It's an expectation that viewers have along with the links being underlined. There's certainly no law that says they need to be as such but people spend a lot of time on the internet and it's good practice to keep your navigation consistent and recognizable. If it's not you may lose out on clicks.
6. Keep navigation consistentKeep your site's navigation consistent. What you do on your index page should be done the same way on the rest of your site's pages. Keep the colors consistent as well. Don't force your viewers to relearn each page of your site. Keep your navigation bars and links the same for each page.
7. Understandable buttons and links.Title your links appropriately. Don't use cute or misleading names. For example, if you have a link to sports equipment don't label the link 'Great Outdoors', call it 'sports equipment'. If you have a link to 'cameras' don't label the link 'hotshots', label it 'cameras'. Your viewers don't want to waste time figuring out what things are. Be clear with your labeling.
8. Focus on the 'YOU', not the 'ME'.Make it obviously clear to your readers that you are there for them. What can you do for your reader? What benefits are there for your viewer? How can you make their life or business better or more profitable? Request feedback on their success. Find out what they want to know or how you can offer them whatthey need.
9. Make sure your page loads fast.If viewers have to wait for a page to load they will click elsewhere. Here's a site that will help you determine how well your page loads. If a page doesn't load in 8 seconds you lose 1/3 of your visitors. Here's a great free tool to help you check your website's load time:
http://www.1-hit.com/all-in-one/tool.loading-time-checker.htm
10. Use a site map.A site map will give visitors a "guide" on viewing your site and also eliminate confusion, especially with larger sites. It's a road map for your visitors to follow while they are on your site. Sitemaps will also increase rankings and placement within the Search Engines.
About the Author:Elizabeth McGee has spent 20 years in the service and support industry.She has moved her expertise to the world wide web helping businessesfind trusted tools, enhance customer service, build confidence andincrease sales. You can contact Elizabeth at:mail@pro-marketing-online.com or visit her website at:http://www.pro-marketing-online.com
###
Thursday, November 18, 2004
New Scientist Gives New Microsoft Search Thumbs Up
Author: Jeremy C. Wright, Staff Writer
Popular British scientific magazine New Scientist has given Microsoft’s new MSN search engine, still in very early beta, good grades.
By measuring response times, ability to answer plain language questions, quality and relevance of results as well as ease of fine tuning or drilling down into results, the experts have come to the conclusion that Microsoft’s new engine is just as good as Google’s. In fact, it is just as good as any search engine in the world.
"The differences between the search engines are now so slight, it's going to be hard for any company to differentiate on technical grounds," Chris Sherman of SearchEngineWatch website in Darien Connecticut, told New Scientist.
New Scientist does say that Google is unlikely to be dethroned anytime soon precisely for that reason. Users will need a compelling reason to switch, and “good enough” results simply aren’t good enough.
A recent Associated Press review of the search service, on the other hand, says that Microsoft’s new effort “falls short”, largely on the basis of comparative results with Google.
As we noted earlier this week, this is really less about relevance and more about helping users find the right data faster. MSN’s tool certainly has a way to go towards reducing the time it takes to find the right result, but it is currently no worse than Google.
The interesting thing will be watching how these two search giants really compete and push each other. Will MSN’s innovative “relevance sliders” push Google to provide more user friendly, non beta, customization? Will Google’s low-key advertising spur the MSN Search team to tone down the ads in favor of relevant data? It will likely take MSN at least 6-8 months to work out the kinks in their engine, so there is still a lot of watching to do.
###
Popular British scientific magazine New Scientist has given Microsoft’s new MSN search engine, still in very early beta, good grades.
By measuring response times, ability to answer plain language questions, quality and relevance of results as well as ease of fine tuning or drilling down into results, the experts have come to the conclusion that Microsoft’s new engine is just as good as Google’s. In fact, it is just as good as any search engine in the world.
"The differences between the search engines are now so slight, it's going to be hard for any company to differentiate on technical grounds," Chris Sherman of SearchEngineWatch website in Darien Connecticut, told New Scientist.
New Scientist does say that Google is unlikely to be dethroned anytime soon precisely for that reason. Users will need a compelling reason to switch, and “good enough” results simply aren’t good enough.
A recent Associated Press review of the search service, on the other hand, says that Microsoft’s new effort “falls short”, largely on the basis of comparative results with Google.
As we noted earlier this week, this is really less about relevance and more about helping users find the right data faster. MSN’s tool certainly has a way to go towards reducing the time it takes to find the right result, but it is currently no worse than Google.
The interesting thing will be watching how these two search giants really compete and push each other. Will MSN’s innovative “relevance sliders” push Google to provide more user friendly, non beta, customization? Will Google’s low-key advertising spur the MSN Search team to tone down the ads in favor of relevant data? It will likely take MSN at least 6-8 months to work out the kinks in their engine, so there is still a lot of watching to do.
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Bill Gates Gets 4 Million E-Mails a Day
SINGAPORE - Bill Gates (news - web sites) might not use AOL, but he's definitely got mail. The Microsoft Corp. chairman receives millions of Internet messages a day, said Steve Ballmer, the company's chief executive. "Bill literally receives 4 million pieces of e-mail per day, most of it spam," Ballmer said Thursday.
Spam or junk e-mails are unsolicited messages, generally advertising goods or services and usually sent to many e-mail accounts simultaneously.
Ballmer said Microsoft has special technology that just filters spam intended for Gates. In addition, several Microsoft employees are dedicated to ensuring that nothing unwanted gets into his inbox.
"Literally there's a whole department almost that takes care of it," he said.
Ballmer was in Singapore for the company's Government Leader's forum, which ends Friday
SOURCE: Associated Press
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Spam or junk e-mails are unsolicited messages, generally advertising goods or services and usually sent to many e-mail accounts simultaneously.
Ballmer said Microsoft has special technology that just filters spam intended for Gates. In addition, several Microsoft employees are dedicated to ensuring that nothing unwanted gets into his inbox.
"Literally there's a whole department almost that takes care of it," he said.
Ballmer was in Singapore for the company's Government Leader's forum, which ends Friday
SOURCE: Associated Press
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Wednesday, November 17, 2004
TurnkeyWebPros Offers Free Syndication for Web Site Owners
Starting from now, Turnkey websites provider, TurnkeyWebPros offers any web site owners the chance to syndicate the blog Turnkey Online Success on their web sites. If you need free, fresh content and news for your website, just grab the code below, insert it somewhere on your web pages, where you want the news and articles to appear, and you are done. To enlarge or reduce the width of the table, just use a bigger or a smaller number in the place of the number "251" into the first table width.
CLICK HERE TO RETREIVE THE CODE TO PUT ON YOUR SITE
This is a great opportunity for offering your visitors fresh and original content, with news, articles and announcements about small business web promotion and SEO by the Pros. In the next few days, our editorial staff will start adding new material HOURLY.
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CLICK HERE TO RETREIVE THE CODE TO PUT ON YOUR SITE
This is a great opportunity for offering your visitors fresh and original content, with news, articles and announcements about small business web promotion and SEO by the Pros. In the next few days, our editorial staff will start adding new material HOURLY.
###
Entireweb Launches SpeedyAds, a Unique System Where You May Advertise For Free
Entireweb has announced today the launch of its SpeedyAds advertising system, a unique system where webmaters may advertise for FREE by showing ads on their own web pages!
SpeedyAds is a Pay-Per-Click advertising solution, which means a user can create ads and then place bids on keywords that are related to these ads. The ads are shown on Entireweb.com and WindSeek.com.
However, SpeedyAds has the unique feature that the users can finance their ad campaign by displaying highly relevant ads from Entireweb system on their own web pages. The system automatically detects keywords on their pages, which means the ads that are displayed are the most relevant to the content of their pages.
Every time someone clicks an ad that is displayed on their page, the users are given a commision based on what the owner of the ad has bid for his placement. Users earnings will be transferred to their own advertising campaign, which means they have the option of advertising for FREE.
If users do not wish to display Entireweb ads on their web page, they also have the option to transfer funds to their account by PayPal. For more information, please visit http://www.entireweb.com/speedyads/
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SpeedyAds is a Pay-Per-Click advertising solution, which means a user can create ads and then place bids on keywords that are related to these ads. The ads are shown on Entireweb.com and WindSeek.com.
However, SpeedyAds has the unique feature that the users can finance their ad campaign by displaying highly relevant ads from Entireweb system on their own web pages. The system automatically detects keywords on their pages, which means the ads that are displayed are the most relevant to the content of their pages.
Every time someone clicks an ad that is displayed on their page, the users are given a commision based on what the owner of the ad has bid for his placement. Users earnings will be transferred to their own advertising campaign, which means they have the option of advertising for FREE.
If users do not wish to display Entireweb ads on their web page, they also have the option to transfer funds to their account by PayPal. For more information, please visit http://www.entireweb.com/speedyads/
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