Maria’s Guides

Links worth following.

Here are the links of interest to readers of my books for the week ending January 19:

• Bad Behavior 2.0.11 Wordpress Plugin Blocking Digg Submission
  Excellent article that explains why WordPress blogs can’t be submitted to Digg with Bad Behavior 2.0.11 installed. Includes instructions on how to fix the problem. On GeekTeks.com.
  (tags: wordpress troubleshooting howto digg)
• Nothing A Little Scotch Tape Can’t Fix
  Comic that pokes fun (and a little hole) in the rumored Mac laptop. On Kalbzayn’s World.
  (tags: Apple technology comics funny humor)

A problem and a fix.

This morning, while experimenting with a Digg link on my personal blog, I got an unusual message from Digg saying:

This link does not appear to be a working link. Please check the URL and try again.

Huh?

The link, of course, was fine. It was a link to the home page of my site.

Why is this a big deal? Well, being “dugg” can increase the amount of attention your Web site gets among blog readers. A well-dugg post can attract many, many hits. Some of those people might turn into regular readers.

(You can read my experiences with being dugg here and here. Although things can get a bit out of control when you end up on Digg’s home page, I lived through it without any permanent damage.)

Since I was on Digg, I decided to do a Digg search for the error message. The article I found, “Bad Behavior 2.0.11 Wordpress Plugin Blocking Digg Submission” on GeekTeks.com answered my question and provided a fix.

Apparently, when the author of Bad Behavior updated his plugin and spam site references, Digg was blocked as a legitimate site. The solution is to add Digg’s IP address to Bad Behavior’s whitelist. I just did this on all sites running Bad Behavior and the problem has gone away.

Miraz and I highly recommend Bad Behavior in our WordPress book. It not only helps prevent spam comments from being posted to your WordPress blog, but it also reduces the amount of hits to your MySQL database, thus reducing site congestion and theoretically speeding up access to your site.

Do you use Bad Behavior 2.0.11? If so, read the above-referenced article and follow its instructions to fix the problem.

Links worth following.

Here are the links of interest to readers of my books for the week ending January 12:

• Your GTD System Isn’t the Problem
  Excellent advice for people trying to implement GTD to be more productive — and not succeeding. On the Cranking Widgets blog.
  (tags: productivity Advice gtd)
• Making the Switch: Going From Partial to Full Feeds
  Good article about switching from partial to full RSS feeds. On PlagiarismToday.com.
  (tags: feed rss blogging)
• A long list of modifier key tricks
  For Mac OS X Tiger; should work in Leopard, too. On MacOSXHints.com.
  (tags: Apple Mac reference tips MacOS)
• Color Wheel Article
  Link to EXCELLENT article, in PDF format, that explains exactly how colors work together. From Before & After magazine.
  (tags: colors design tutorial reference)
• An Interface of One’s Own
  An anti-Word, pro Scrivener piece (of all things!) in the New York Times. By Virginia Heffernan. Thanks to @ev on Twitter for sharing the link.
  (tags: Word Microsoft software Times)
• Goodbye, cruel Word
  Steven Poole no longer uses Microsoft Word. Here’s why.
  (tags: Word microsoft writing journalism software productivity)
• E-book the letter
  Steven Poole lists the features an ebook reader SHOULD have. I think they sound rather familiar, don’t you?
  (tags: Amazon Kindle funny ebooks books reading)
• What to Expect at Macworld
  More rumors of what might be in store for us at Macworld Expo next week. On ReadWriteWeb.
  (tags: Apple MacworldExpo)
• 10 Ways Twitter Can Boost Your Social News Profile
  Some tips for getting more followers on Twitter, which can boost your profile on other Social Networking sites. On ReadWriteWeb.
  (tags: twitter Web2.0 socialnetworking tips)
• Author Uses Amazon Kindle to Beta Test New Book
  Interesting article about using Kindle to publish a book and entice readers to provide feedback to the author. On ReadWriteWeb.
  (tags: Kindle writing publishing ebooks Amazon)
• Twittering without access to Twitter.com
  A how-to piece with suggestions on how you can participate in Twitter when you don’t have access to the Twitter.com Web site. On Twitter Facts.
  (tags: twitter Web2.0 socialnetworking)
• Mac OS X 10.5, iChat: Unable to participate in video conference
  Workaround for problem using video chat feature of iChat with Mac OS X 10.5. On the Apple Support Web site.
  (tags: Apple MacOS Leopard iChat)
• My essential WordPress plugins
  Great post by Miraz Jordan that summarizes her must-have WordPress plugins. I’ll have to do a similar post soon. On the WordPress Visual QuickStart Guide support web site.
  (tags: WordPress plugin Webdesign)
• Why It Won’t Work
  John Scalzi’s take on why the Sony BMG plan to release non-DRM protected music won’t work. I tend to agree with him.
  (tags: DRM sony music download itunes ipod)
• Apples For The Army
  According to this story on Forbes.com, the U.S. Army is adopting Macs to help thwart hackers. Not exactly good news for Mac users — we don’t need to give hackers a reason to go after us — but good for Apple.
  (tags: Mac Macintosh military technology Apple security)
• DUM
  John Gruber’s take on the Kindle. On Daring Fireball.
  (tags: Amazon Kindle publishing ebooks books)
• Sony caves; DRM is dead, dead, dead
  Sony drops DRM. On MacUser.com. Thanks to @dmoren on Twitter for the link.
  (tags: drm music itunes sony)
• iBed
  Humorous photo of a recycled iMac. On I Can Has Cheezburger?
  (tags: funny humor photo imac)
• The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry
  Excellent article about the secret history of iPhone development. On Wired.com.
  (tags: wired Apple history iphone)
• A Savvy Approach to Copyright Messaging
  A great tip for helping to protect an image posted on a Web page from being stolen and used by others. By Derek Powazek.
  (tags: copyright Photography photos)

Links for the Week ending January 7, 2008.

In a feature I hope to include regularly on this site, I’ll be recapping the recent additions to my Del.icio.us bookmarks. I use Del.icio.us primarily to automatically post links to my main Web site, An Eclectic Mind. You can find those link entries in the This Just In category there. I’ll be echoing the links of interest to readers of my books here.

This first summary is from more than the past week. But you get the idea.

• Apple drops NBC television shows from iTunes
  Information about NBC’s pull from the iTunes store. On Apple Insider.
  (tags: apple itunes appletv television)
• Top 15 Leopard Hints
  There’s some good tips here for Mac OS X 10.5 users. I expecially liked the one that explained how to get the printer to Quit automatically after printing. If you use Leopard, check this out. On Appletell.com.
  (tags: howto tips Apple Leopard)
• The way it was supposed to be
  An interesting video showing the way Leopard’s Stacks feature was originally designed. I suspect that Apple will remove this from the Web via threat of lawsuit, so don’t be surprised if this link doesn’t work in the future. On Kuragari.com.
  (tags: Mac video Leopard Stacks Apple)
• Mac OS X 10.5: About Back to My Mac security
  Basic information about security issues with Leopard’s Back to My Mac feature.
  (tags: Apple Internet Mac Leopard security)
• Mac OS X 10.5: When to use Time Machine or .Mac Backup to back up data
  Some advice on when to use Time Machine or Backup with .Mac to back up data on your computer.
  (tags: backup Apple Mac Leopard)
• Mac OS X 10.5: Fonts list
  Information about the fonts installed as part of a Mac OS X 10.5 installation and where they are installed on your hard disk.
  (tags: Apple font Leopard Mac)
• The why and how of blogging
  Miraz gets a plug for our WordPress book in New Zealand. Article includes a lot of blogging basics. On it.gen.nz.
  (tags: WordPress book blogging)
• Podcasts Technical Specification
  On Apple’s Web site for the iTunes Music store. Lots of valuable information for podcasters, including video podcasters and people interested in creating content for AppleTV.
  (tags: Apple AppleTV podcast iPod)
• Apple sub-notebook to retail for $1500, 3G iPhone by June - report
  Details on the rumors of a Mac sub-notebook — perhaps my next computer? On Apple Insider.
  (tags: Apple MacBook iPhone news)
• In-depth review: can Amazon’s Kindle light a fire under eBooks?
  A very detailed review of the Amazon Kindle. On Apple Insider.
  (tags: Amazon ebooks technology Kindle)
• Mac OS X 10.5: Using Time Machine and troubleshooting Time Machine issues
  An Apple support article with links to more information about using and troubleshooting Leopard’s Time Machine feature.
  (tags: Apple MacOS Mac TimeMachine Leopard)
• Mac OS X 10.5: Troubleshooting printing issues
  An Apple Support article with links to other resources for adding and troubleshooting printers on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
  (tags: troubleshooting Apple MacOS Mac Leopard)
• Protecting Content by Using Static Pages
  One way to help protect Web content from scraping. Too drastic for me, but it is an option. On Plagiarism Today.
  (tags: plagiarism blogging feed)
• 15 Apps for Recording Skype Conversations
  A list of 15 windows and Mac OS applications you can use with Skype to record conversations. On VOIP-Sol.com.
  (tags: applications skype recording podcast)
• Road to Mac OS X Leopard: iCal 3.0
  Interesting article about the history of software-based calendars, leading up to iCal 3.0 in Leopard. On Apple Insider.
  (tags: history Leopard Mac software)
• Add more power to 10.5’s screen sharing
  Excellent article by Rob Griffiths with how-to info for adding functionality and ease of use features to the Screen Sharing feature in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. On Macworld.com. Thanks to Miraz at http://mactips.info for sharing the link.
  (tags: Apple howto Leopard sharing MacOS Macintosh hack)
• QuickLook Plugins List
  A web site that lists and links to QuickLook plugins for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard users.
  (tags: Leopard Mac Apple Macintosh QuickLook)
• Yet Another in the Ongoing Series Wherein I Examine a Piece of Supposedly Serious Apple Analysis…
  I could read blog posts like this all day. John Gruber tears apart the December cover story for Fast Company, revealing shoddy, hack journalism and a touch of the dramatic. On Daring Fireball.
  (tags: Apple journalism stupid humor analysis)
• Macintosh Web Browsers
  An amazingly complete list of Web browsers for Mac OS, kept up-to-date. By Darrel E. Knutson.
  (tags: Apple browser web software)
• WordPress 2.3.2 in detail
  Details about the changes in WordPress from version 2.3.1 to 2.3.2. On Westi on WordPress.
  (tags: wordpress updates)
• Broken Macs read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
  Okay, so I’m a bit late, but this is worth sharing. On Future Tense.
  (tags: apple macintosh humor)

One drawback to a WordPress plugin.

Back in November, I wrote a post about a new plugin I’d installed on my two main blog-based sites: Maria’s Guides and An Eclectic Mind. The plugin is called CommentLuv and it automatically retrieves and displays a link for the last post a commenter added to his or her blog. Here are some examples from the post I wrote about CommentLuv, where I invited people to try it out.

The idea behind CommentLuv is to encourage people to comment by automatically linking back to their blog. I think it’s a great idea — when used by people who have real content to contribute in comments.

On the surface, CommentLuv is extremely attractive to spammers who keep blogs. Not only can they include a relatively normal looking comment with a link to their blog when they enter it in the Web site field of the comment form, but they also have an automatic link to their most recent work. Two links for the time it takes to post one, right? And that second link can give readers an idea of what their blog is all about by including the title of the most recent post.

What these people don’t seem to realize is that the CommentLuv link is created with a “nofollow” attribute. So if they think they can improve search engine optimization (SEO) by adding links to their sites on the sites they comment on, they’re wasting their time. The links are not recognized by Google or any other search engine or automated tool.

But what I’ve seen lately is a number of the same people coming back, again and again, to post comments like “Great post! I’ll keep checking in.” These comments usually appear on recent posts and, with some commenters, they appear several times a week. This gets past my spam prevention software and ends up on my blog.

While most people wouldn’t mind the added comments with their apparently complementary content, this isn’t content. It’s spam. There’s nothing being contributed to the site other than two free links for the commenter. So I delete these comments regularly.

Now I’m not suggesting that you avoid CommentLuv. I still think it’s a great plugin. But I do want users to be aware of its attraction for spammers. On a popular blog, installing CommentLuv could add about 10 minutes a week to your spam maintenance routine — after all, you have to manually decide whether a comment is legitimate or posted solely to attract hits for the commenter’s blog. Adding a regular abuser to your blacklist might be a good course of action.

Want to learn more about WordPress? Check out WordPress 2: Visual QuickStart Guide by Maria Langer and Miraz Jordan, published by Peachpit Press. It’s available from Amazon.com and in all major bookstores.

WordPress update info.

WordPress server version 2.3.2 is now available. You can download it from the WordPress.org Download page and learn more about upgrading on the Upgrading WordPress page.