Bisaya Bloggers

For months now, this blog has been freed from comment spam I used to experience before because I found out the most effective ways to avoid WordPress spam.

1. Deactivating Akismet. Previously, I was getting at least 200 spam comments per day. I had to scan them one-by-one because some comments were filtered as spam by Akismet. Out of frustration, I deactivated the plugin with thoughts of completely avoiding these spam messages. True enough, I have not received spam comments since then.

Note: Do not delete Akismet from the plugins directory because you’re blog may experience another spam flood.

2. Install a spam blocking plugin. Currently I am using Matriphe Keycode, one of the best anti spam plugins I’ve ever used.
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Get-Paid-To (GPT) sites (e.g. paid surveys, get paid to click, get paid to read e-mails, get paid to surf, get paid to post, get paid to complete offers, get paid to blog, get paid to socialize, etc.) are the most attractive money-making opportunities to internet users, especially to starters. I, too, had several experiences with paid-to programs when I was just learning that the internet promises real money through these programs. Even now, I am a member of some GPT programs.

Paid-to programs are appealing because most of these do not require payment for registration and you can spend any amount of time at your convenience. With numerous paid-to sites coming out, you can hardly distinguish which are worth trying (and is really paying) and which are plain scams.

Most of these programs require you to pay a certain amount to be a premium members. Being a premium member entitles you to earn more with your account. Who wouldn’t want to earn more, right? So you pay for the premium package. During the first days, you were elated because you see your earnings getting bigger and bigger. Then suddenly, you wake up one day losing everything. You were scammed! There is an increasing number of users who succumb to this kind of easy money but wake up one day getting scammed because they forgot the most important step before joining and putting money in these programs - they failed to investigate
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BerryBlitz asked how to get back his PR2 (his blog now has PR0). Apparently, he is one of the millions affected by the PR backlash as punishment by Google on paid links.

Well, here’s a tip for those who were affected by PR drop:
I was Stumbling a while ago when I found this timely and interesting post from Yaro Starak of Entrepreneurs Journey, one of the successful netrepreneurs and probloggers, on how he has managed to get his page rank back to 6. When the big sweep happened, his blog went down to 3 from his original PR6.

Good for him he has now managed to get back his page rank. He added no follow to all paid links in his blog, then submitted a review request with Google at their Webmaster Tools then patiently waited for Google to give him his original PR. According to him, “Google simply doesn’t tell you whether you have successfully adhered to their requests or you still need to do more to have the penalty removed.”
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I just noticed that an allegedly Zango Support personnel posted a comment on one of my published posts in BlogEngage where I was talking about how the Zango software posed as a threat. Just to give them the benefit of the doubt, I would like to post his comment:

Zango Support says:

In the above post Zango is listed as a threat.

We would like to correct this listing.

Zango is a safe and secure program which will not harm users’ computer.

We are certainly aware of the ever-growing number of harmful applications that have surfaced on the Web.

Please be assured that Zango, unlike such applications, will always make the user’s privacy our top priority. Zango is a safe and secure program which installs itself only upon user’s download and does nothing without the user’s consent.
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Short tip: I receive over 50 Entrecard drops per day and I want to return those drops as gratitude but I couldn’t find a way to view them all. Good thing I found the usefulness of Google Reader in this matter.

For those who don’t know about this technique yet, right click on the feed icon of your Entrecard inbox, then add it to your favorite feed reader. In my case I am using a Google Reader.

Know the Top 10 Free Windows RSS Feed Readers/News Aggregators and Top 10 Mac RSS News Feed Readers/News Aggregators that you could use.

Tags:Blogging, Entrecard, Google, Internet, Online Tips, Tips

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Especially if contains an attachment. Most likely, it contains a virus.

Just few minutes ago, I received e-mails from an unknown wlifer007 containing attachments. Out of curiosity (and of stupidity because I was already suspecting it contained viruses), I opened the e-mails, tried to download the attachments. Good thing Yahoo! Mail has built-in Norton Anti-virus, which has effectively detected the e-mail worm, named W32.Blackmal.E@mm!enc.

I tried to look for the worm definitions and here are what I found out:

W32.Blackmal.E@mm is a mass-mailing worm that attempts to spread through network shares and lower security settings. On the third day of every month it attempts to rewrite files with certain extensions with custom text.

The e-mails I have received contained this files: eBook.Uu, Video_part.mim, and Attachments00.HQX.
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Entrecard credits these days should be dubbed as the “virtual money” of the blogosphere. It is now possible to do online transactions without the need to spend real money, using Entrecard credits. With this possibility, users are also exploring new ways on how to earn more credits.

If you visit the Entrecard Shop, you’ll find great ways to spend your ecs:

• For Advertising: You can buy an ad space or text, a blog review, and directory submission.
• Buy Products and Services: Buy an e-book, pay and buy a web space, a blog installation, graphic design, CDs and DVDs, comments for your blog (yeah, even this), search engine optimization, etc.

Of course we know that we can buy ad space on different blogs through browsing the directory. To buy all these products, you have to have enough credits. We already know the conventional ways to earn credits: by dropping and receiving drop cards from others, every time someone advertises in our widgets and receiving donations from others.
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Recently, Tim of BeThumbed PayPal account was hacked because of filling up a fake form which was purportedly sent by a Paypal staff. I’ve also received a similar e-mail, but I just ignored it. Good thing I was busy blogging at that time that I totally forgot about the e-mail. I also logged in directly to their website to read if similar announcement appeared in their “What’s New” section.

Paypal had been particular in securing their merchants’ accounts. They provided tips on how to protect your account.

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I found this good news from Hezron Mariano’s blog while blog hopping through Pinoy Entrecards.

Remember Pandora? A friend of mind recommended it to me and I got to listen to some songs before it was restricted to US residents only. Pandora radio is the personalized internet radio service that helps you find new music based on your old and current favorites under the Music Genome Project.

Well, here’s the good alternative to all non-US residents. The box is open! You can now listen to your favorite songs through GlobalPandora.

Note: After about 30 minutes of free music listening, you are still required to open your account and sadly it’s still exclusive for US residents.

But here’s what I did to make a free account:
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I was writing an e-mail using my Yahoo Mail account when a drop down arrow and an “Add Mail Account” link beside my e-mail address caught my attention. I clicked on the link and I was surprised because it is now possible to add additional e-mail to my existing account. Or if it has been there for a long time, I didn’t notice.

Most of us have multiple e-mail accounts for different purposes: as business account, Paypal address, even for spam e-mails, etc. Before, to be able to sign in using a different account, you have to sign out from the current e-mail you are using. With the new Yahoo! Mail feature, you can retrieve your messages from your external e-mail account to your permanent Yahoo! Mailbox.
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Internet users, especially the teens, nowadays are vulnerable to malicious acts in the web such as online frauds and scams, pornographic sites and others.

Here are some of seven web safety tips from Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan for teens for a friendly internet environment:

1. Never post personal information online.

2. Don’t put strangers on your buddy list.

3. Don’t post potentially embarrassing images of yourself online.

4. Remember that anyone can read blogs.

5. Communicate only with friends and family.
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Researchers found out that downloading Google Toolbar may be unsafe because it has been a vector of recent malicious activities.

Google Toolbar allows spoofing the information presented in the dialog which is being displayed when adding a new Google Toolbar button. This can allow an attacker to convince the users that his button comes from a trusted domain. This button can then be used to download malicious files or conduct phishing attacks (e.g. show a login form of a bank).

Affected versions

* Google Toolbar 5 beta for Internet Explorer
* Google Toolbar 4 for Internet Explorer
* Google Toolbar 4 for Firefox (partially)

A full detail on how hackers and malicious software distributors do it is shown on Aviv Raff on .NET.

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Yesterday, I posted about Download Direct, which can be another helpful way to avoid the Rapidshare download limit and waiting time you encounter as a free user.

Here are more tips to bypass these limitations:

1. Tech-Recipes teaches us some “Hacks to Beat Rapidshare Download Limits and Waiting Time“. The hacks provide tips on how to bypass the waiting time by altering your IP address and using a proxy service.

2. Use Rapidshare tools. Tools provide some additional features like managing the downloads, changing proxies, simultanious downloads by using more than one proxy and much more.
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A new scam e-mail purportedly coming from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas raises alarm.

The e-mail is designed like the previous Nigerian, Western Union scam e-mails in which personal information and bank accounts are gathered that can be used for fraudulent acts and crimes.

“Please beware as this comes from a syndicate using the name of our central bank and our governor to gain information that could be used possibly for fraudulent activities. We request you therefore to disregard this spurious message and to warn your family and friends against this scam,” the BSP said in a statement.

“For the record, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is not in the business of safekeeping money or gold or other valuables for private individuals,” it added.

The BSP through the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has solicited the help of several international agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States to track down, stop and possibly prosecute its perpetrators.

The BSP said recipients of the fake e-mail should report it to the bank at tel no. 523-4832, fax no. 523-6210 or to the AMLC at 523-4421 or 536-7358. ABS-CBNNews.com

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How to recognize phishing scams and fraudulent e-mails?

Sender: “Mark James”

Subject: WESTERN UNION PAYMENT UPDATE

Message:

Dear Sir/Madam, There is an issue with the WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER in the amount of $500,000.00 USD directed in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03, at the owner of this email address. The International Monetary Fund contacted us for your compensation a couple of hours ago due to your allocated security code. They said that they choose to send it to an email address instead of a name. We are unable to complete a transfer directed at an email address,so we require some more information in order to complete this transfer. FULL NAME: FULL CONTACT ADDRESS: MOBILE PHONE NUMBER: OCCUPATION: MARITAL STATUS AND AGE: In order to resolve this problem,please email us immediately. As soon as this information is received,and you have complied with the requirements of payment of the western union charges, payment will be made to your nominated bank account or at the counter directly from The Western Union Transfering Bank. When emailing,please use reference number 250-147 for our mutual convenience. THE MANAGEMENT OF WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER,OFFICE NIGERIA BRANCH. Sincerely, Mr Mark James. Western Union Payments Direct Email : markjamesx@ubbi.com

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For several days, this blog was off line; all because of my carelessness. I tried to upgrade my WordPress installation to 2.2.1 through Fantastico, without trying it first with my test blog. The upgrade ruined everything. The pages suddenly were not accessible. I was desperately looking for ways to make this blog work again but I always failed. Fortunately, through exploring my cPanel and using several articles and help topics available on the web, I was able to find the solution to my problem. But of course, I had some lessons learned, I want to share so you can also avoid careless mistakes:

1. Never use Fantastico in upgrading your WordPress installation. Chances are, there might be bugs or changes in the server you might be unaware of that may cause problems in the upgrade process. A manual upgrade is highly recommended.

Although Fantastico is the most convenient way to upgrade your installation through its one-click install feature, you are not assured that the installed version is working properly. To avoid this, you can create a test blog to work all your changes before applying them to your blog.

3. Do not forget to back up your currently working database before upgrading. I am re-emphasizing it because it seems that many users forget this very important step. I take myself as a very good example.
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The other day I received an e-mail alert from Auction.ph about their new adjacent site named AdAuction.

Auction.ph, the Philippines leading on-line market service where businesses and consumers can sell and buy goods and services, either through auction or outright purchases announces their new adjacent site AdAuction specifically designed for bloggers and site owners.

How it works: Simply display theirr pre-formatted ads on your page and earn a commission for every successful transaction resulting from the ad on your page. All you need is a blog or website, an AdAuction account, a little time and patience and you’ll be on your way to earning easy cash! No minimum page view requirements.
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Tags:Blogging, Google, Google Adsense, Making Money Online, Online Tips, Webmasters Tools

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