June 2006 Archives
Gigalaw.com reports that a French court has ruled against Google.
The online giant's adwords program allowed competitors of Louis Vuitton to bid on keywords associated with the brand which, in the eyes of the court, infringed the brand's trademark.
via - full story
This time it's Bank of Ireland.....
Not a particularly complex phish, but usual failures of a cultural nature show up the weaknesses
I doubt if Bank of Ireland would ever "apologize" for anything unless they suddenly became American
I register a lot of domains for different purposes. Sometimes it's simply a case of checking if something works or not..
In the process I've ended up with some really odd domains.. so I was wondering, What's the weirdest or strangest domain you own?
Similar to Microsoft, Google have embraced blogs as a form of communication.
With each new service seems to come a new blog....
Adwords, Adsense and even Analytics all have blogs.
If you are "power" user of any of these services it is well worth subscribing to the RSS feeds, as you may pick up some useful tips.
The last week has seen some interesting news in the world of regional domains.
Eurid's latest statistics show that they will hit the 2 million domain mark very soon. Of course there's no easy way to see how many of them are actually valid and what's more worrying is the registry's attitude towards this.
AFNIC, the French registry, published an initial report of their "liberalisation":
The launch process, distributed from June 20th to June 23th, did not encounter any technical problems. This success is the result of several months of preparation led by the AFNIC teams and to which the .fr registrars have participated.Unlike some ccTLDs, AFNIC regularly update registrars about the exact status of their technical services and infrastructure.... Over 37 thousand new .fr domains were registered in the first week. Denic, the German registry, have passed the 10 million domain mark And the ICANN meeting in Morocco is running until Friday
Darren "Problogger" Rowse has posted a fairly comprehensive A to Z of "professional" blogging which is a really nice list of tools and services that any blogger should find useful
Krystian has finally got himself a Flickr account, so now you can find his fantastic photos directly
Microsoft are squaring off against Google and Yahoo in the contextual advertising market.
While their adcenter may not be 100% functional as yet it still has some interesting features, features that come from Redmond's obvious investment in the area.
So what is "adlabs"?
According to Microsoft it is:
a joint effort of Microsoft adCenter and Microsoft Research, is a state-of-the-art lab in Beijing with a mission to research and incubate advanced technologies for Microsoft adCenter. AdLabs is designed to provide you, the advertiser, with rich targeting capabilities and to give your customers a more relevant online experience.Some of the demos are pretty interesting, while others are amusing, but all things considered it does show that MS is very serious about this market and we can expect to see more from them in the coming months.
Want to give RoR a go? We're currently beta testing it and I thought some people would like to get something for free on a Friday, so I'm giving away a few hosting accounts and domains (not .ie!) to readers of this blog. Simply email me with the subject line "RoR" and I'll get you hooked up
More details on the BK Blog
EDIT: We've had an excellent response to this offer and more than enough people have signed up. Watch this space for more news.
For the last 3 weeks I have been unable to hoover my house. Ordinarily this wouldn't bother me too much, but when you simply cannot hoover your house due to the lack of hoover bags it's simply frustrating.
I say I hate my hoover, however, in reality, I hate shop owners who make promises that they have no intention of fulfilling.
Why is it that I can order the most obtuse bit of equipment from a supplier and get it in 48 hours, yet I cannot get a local shop to supply me with the correct bags for my hoover??
In the end I've been forced to buy the damned bags online - a task I had to use a UK site to accomplish (Don't any Irish sites sell hoover bags?)
When the phisher can't even get the path to the images right you really do have to wonder how successful they are going to be.
Today's AIB phish contained the following:
Because of unusual number of invalid login attempts on your account, we had to believe that, there might be some security problem/trespass on your account. So we have decided to put an extra verification process to ensure your identity and your account security. Please click on the link below to sign-in to your Online Banking to continue to the verification process to ensure your account security. It is all about your security.Now why do I feel that my bank didn't write that text?
The competition between adwords and MSN Adcenter is leading to some interesting knock on effects for end users.
MSN adcenter, although far from perfect, provides some features that advertisers probably wanted, such as targetting based on user demographics and the time of the day.
Google has now started implementing some of these features, which is pretty handy.
Let's see what they all bring out next :)
It seems that Google's hosting service "Google Pages" has been targetted by "malicious users" (I've always loved that expression) who have been able to upload some form of Trojan.
The online giant has been getting quite a bit of flak in security circles of late due to some of its quite dubious decisions regarding email headers and redirectors.
It probably won't have any real impact in the long run, but as it is Google it will always attract a certain level of media attention.
CD WOW are running a 24 hour sale on selected items across their range of products.
I just picked up a Chemical Brothers double CD for just over 10 euro including shipping :)
The IEDR has vanished (again!) including whois, website and backend
On a lot of bulletin boards, blogs and mailing lists you see business people and designers posting about their new websites in the hope of getting a review.
Unfortunately in many cases they really don't want a review and get quite offended when people point out the shortcomings of their website design and / or content
Ross Cooney, on the other hand, is much more gracious and it's something you have to respect.
Earlier today he posted to the open list about his new business venture
It was ripped to shreds by the contributors, but Ross took the time to reply to each and every comment and closed with :
Once again the OPEN list has out-done itself. I have quite a bit of work to do….thank you for your comments.He's just had his "baby" ripped to pieces in public and yet he has the good sense and grace to take it all on board and thank his peers for their input. I remember the first time I posted a website to the OPEN list for review. I wanted to cry! They were cruel, so terribly cruel, but looking back it was probably one of the best things that could have happened to me. Asking your peers to review your site before unveiling it to the public can be an unpleasant experience, yet it can also be highly rewarding. If you want your business to grow you need to listen to what the "outsiders" think and what they perceive You may not always like what you hear, but it's still a worthwhile exercise... I just finished reading yet another guerilla marketing book, so I guess I'm a bit susceptible to this line of thought :) Guerilla Marketing On-line Attack: 100 Low Cost, High Impact Strategies for Creating Profits on the Internet
Krystian was interviewed on Today FM's Last Word earlier this evening.
You can get the interview directly from here (wmv)
The IEDR have finally got around to publishing a newsletter for their resellers / registrars
Has the IE zone become a squatter's paradise?
Over the last few months the number of dodgy registrations has grown incrementally.
For example, this afternoon I typed in Google.ie into my brower - or at least I thought I did!
I ended up on yet another typo squat belonging to Gabor Varga & Jozsef Petho, who also own such classics as ipod.ie.
Which domains do they have?
Well if you try a few possible typos of the domain google.ie you might guess them:
gogle.ie
googel.ie
googl.ie
googol.ie
(you can generate your own ones here)
Of course the only way that their little scheme would be viable is if they are running ads on the sites that the domains are pointed to. If the ads they are running are either amazon or google ads then they are in breach of the terms of service, as both programs preclude the use of domain names that infringe their intellectuall property rights (try alexa.ie!)
For a managed registry IEDR obviously don't seem to be paying that much attention to the obvious abusers.... They will, of course, claim that the registrants were able to justify the registration through the provision of RBNs, but anyone with half a clue can see that these domains are being registered with only one thought in mind - to grab typo / type in traffic
So who is worse? IEDR or Eurid?
I like my bank (AIB), but I sometimes wonder what they are at when it comes to their usage of technology.
Their online personal banking works really well and is easy to use, but the emails they send out are so impersonal it's not even amusing:
"Dear Customer, Thank you for your application to have access to additional account information through AIB Internet Banking."They know what my name is, so why don't they use it? On a positive note I'll probably get the relevant forms tomorrow morning :)
I really like vbulletin, as I've said in the past :)
The developers are currently working on the next release, which will be version 3.6 and have unveiled some of the new features.
Looks like the software is going to get even better !
One of the things I like about my Amazon wishlist is that I cannot predict what people will buy from it. I got a nice little parcel today with a book and a DVD and it was like a mini-Christmas :)
If you are looking for a job, or simply want to get a taste of the job market, there are a plethora of Irish and international websites that allow you to search current vacancies, submit your CV and generally make the most of the "online experience".
However, if you are actually trying to recruit staff, you will be sorely disappointed.
Earlier this week we started advertising a job vacancy. Naturally we want the widest choice of candidates so that we may make the best possible choice. I would have thought that advertising job vacancies online would not be complicated.
Boy was I wrong!
The majority of the Irish jobsites do not allow you to advertise vacancies online. Yes, they will list your job vacancies BUT you have to call them or wait for them to call you back! I'm sorry, but isn't this 2006? I'm more than happy to spend money online. I'm comfortable with ecommerce. Why the hell can't I actually make use of it?
RecruitIreland.com, which is an offshoot of Thomas Crosbie Media (aka The Irish Examiner) requires you to either email them or call them.
Jobs.ie / Nixers.ie - Fill out a contact form and wait for them to respond. They'll ignore any explicit instructions you put in the contact form and insist on calling you.
IrishJobs.ie - seems to be a carbon copy of the other two.
The only site that actually allowed me to pay them - yes, part with my money, wasn't even Irish. It was a multinational. Monster.ie.
Monster.ie embraces ecommerce. You could ring them if you really wanted to, but you aren't obliged to.
Pricing of standard listings is plainly visible, as are current discounts and special offers.
You can signup online, pay your money and start making use of their vast resources in minutes.
Much as I would like to be able to support Irish online recruitment websites I have to admit they really suck.
Monster, on the other hand, rocks!
Now why on earth can't the Irish ones make life that simple?
EDIT: Our current vacancy is here
Amazon have been targetted this time:
The site it links to seems to have been taken down already though :)
(My greylisting the mail for 14 hours may have helped!)
The site it links to seems to have been taken down already though :)
(My greylisting the mail for 14 hours may have helped!)
Two teenagers have been denied access to state exams because of their haircut.
It's 2006 for Christ's sake! The students want to sit their exams and some ultra-conservative school rule is blocking them access.
Shouldn't we be encouraging children to embrace education?
Shouldn't we be happy that they want to sit exams?
If they had been drinking underage would they have been denied access?
I'm playing around with the wordpress theme again, so some things are missing and other things are broken. I am aware of some issues, but if you come across anything odd do let me know.
The Spanish NIC is still using a dodgy SSL, yet they have a banner on their main page advertising a special offer on SSL certs!
Barclays is being targetted by yet another phishing scam. This one takes you to site in Korea!
Unlike Irish banks Barclays DO provide a mechanism for reporting phishers. Now hard can that be?
Screenshot of the email below:
The mail came courtesy of Comcast, while the site is in Korea.. Nothing special on the site itself. Just your usual collection of crazy questions
The mail came courtesy of Comcast, while the site is in Korea.. Nothing special on the site itself. Just your usual collection of crazy questions
We're looking for staff to join us as we expand. Check out the site for full details
I like my iPod Nano. It's "cute", "dinky" etc.,
It also holds several hours of music, which is ideal when I'm travelling or even in the office when I want to isolate myself from the background noise and focus on a particular task.
However, much as I may love my iPod it is far from perfect.
In the short time that I've owned it the headphones have already started causing problems and the ear pads have fallen off (yes - they do give you spares, but that's not the point).
The case / wallet that comes with the Nano is good for keeping it from getting scratched, but it also keeps it from being used. You have to physically take the iPod out of the case to change tracks or increase the volume, so it ends up on my desk, where it is prone to being scratched or even dropped.
So what is the solution?
I thought I'd look into getting some form of case for it.
I never expected to discover an entire industry in the process.
The range of accessories available for iPods is, to say the least, overwhelming. While I started out looking for a case I quickly found myself exploring all sorts of other gizmos that compliment the nano.
However I still haven't found a case that I want.
I'm not into feminine colours and polka dots. All I want is a simple, yet robust, leather case for an iPod Nano.
Anyone know of such a thing?
Julian has had the MailScanner site revamped completely. It looks a lot more professional than before, though it may need some tweaking...
Why don't sky movies offer an RSS feed of their schedules?
It would make life a lot easier for lazy people like me to consume the schedule over RSS instead of having to navigate through their website (which I hate)
It's not like they haven't heard of the technology, as their press office is using it.
Tcal linked to this really cool Ikea flash ad. Lots of nice effects
I'm not a big fan of Dan Brown, but I am fascinated by the marketing hype surrounding the book and now the film.
Although the film was only released in the last couple of weeks I've already received marketing for the DVD!
A little mad really, but that is the power of ecommerce I guess. No sooner is the film released than the release date for the DVD is announced and the preorders start to roll in.
One of the most time-consuming chores when maintaining a web directory is ensuring that there are no dead or rotten links. I've spent the last half an hour or so weeding out the deadwood on search.ie, a task I try to conduct at least once a fortnight.
What's interesting is seeing the number of websites that haven't ceased to exist, but have a rather silly and easy to fix error for weeks on end. The number of sites that have problems with .htaccess / mod_rewrite or problems of that nature is quite worrying.
What's even more worrying is that the site owners don't get the problems fixed.
If your site is not reachable or browsable it cannot be indexed. Plain and simple.
Donncha posted a fascinating link to some photos before and after being retouched. It's quite revealing!
Donncha posted a fascinating link to some photos before and after being retouched. It's quite revealing!
Just upgraded this blog and a couple of others to the latest stable version of Wordpress. If anything appears broken please let me know
AIB personal customers are the targets of the latest Irish bank phishing attack. The attackers this time entice people to "log in" to "update" their details due to the install of new SSL:
Dear Sir/Madam, AIB Internet Banking always looks forward for the high security of our clients. Some customers have been receiving an email claiming to be from AIB Internet Banking advising them to follow a link to what appear to be a AIB Internet Banking web site, where they are prompted to enter their personal Online Banking details. AIB Internet Banking is in no way involved with this email and the web site does not belong to us. AIB Internet Banking is proud to announce about their new updated secure system. We updated our new SSL servers to give our customers a better, fast and secure online banking service. Due to the recent update of the servers, you are requested to please update your account info at the following link.Usual link in the email to a page on a remote server where you can well and truly phished..........
Dapper Drake has officially been released:
"About Ubuntu 6.06 LTS --------------------- Highlights of this release include: On the Desktop CD * A new, very fast, graphical installer based on the Live CD * Faster system startup and login * Simplified menu organization * Graphical shutdown process * Easy access to power management settings with GNOME Power Manager (Ubuntu) * Improved support for video playback * Optional NetworkManager for convenient roaming between different wireless and wired networks * OpenOffice.org 2.0.2, X.org 7.0 * Support for ongoing translation updates throughout the life of this release, for all supported desktop environments On the Server * New kernels targeted at server platforms. The server kernels are tuned differently than the desktop kernels (providing better performance for server applications). * Both low-end and "big iron" server kernels. The low-end server kernel is generic, and should work on the same equipment that the desktop kernel runs on. The high-end server kernel is geared towards systems with greater than 8 CPUs (ES7000 / Summit / BIGSMP). * Turn-key LAMP installation for this common deployment scenario * Improved support for clusters and SANs * Thin client enhancements, including faster client startup, graphical boot process, reduced memory requirements, and sound device support Localization * Automatic setup of non-Latin input methods * Menu item translations included in language packs, for faster integration of new and updated translations provided through Rosetta * Ongoing translation updates from the Rosetta web service: https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/dapper/+translations Installation and Upgrades * Ubuntu can now be installed to USB devices, such as removable hard drives and flash memory, using the text-mode installer * A new upgrade tool is available, for simple, clean and reliable upgrades from one Ubuntu release to the next, starting with Ubuntu 5.10 * The alternate installer now runs in a single stage, rebooting straight into the complete system. This makes it faster, simpler, and more reliable. "Further information here The Irish Linux Users' Group (ILUG) is organising an event to coincide with the release
