In This Issue:
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Quote for the Month
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"The winds of grace blow all the time. All we need to do is set our sails.
"
- Ramakrishna.
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1. Introduction - What's New
2. Easy Ways to a More Secure Website
3. Featured Article - A Friend Of Mine
4. Job Search: Road Back To Employment Can Be Long
5. Free eBooks to Download
1. Introduction
Welcome to the May edition of e-Work-Zone's e-Work-News. If it seems like it's been a while since the last issue, that's because it has been!
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2. Easy Ways to a More Secure Website
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By K. Laskowski
If you are new to web building, or even if you've been doing it for a while,
you might be doing (or not doing) things which make your site more
vulnerable to hackers.
At a minimum - here are some things you need to do, and anyone no matter the skill level can do them:
-> Make sure every directory in your site has a file called index.html or index.htm -- if
you don't, all the files in that directory could be listed in your visitor's
browser (pretty easy pickins).
-> Use the robots meta tag on sensitive web pages to keep robots from indexing
the pages you want kept OUT of search engine listings. You might have to think about which pages these are...
-> Learn how to create a robots.txt file, and create one for your site. This is another
way to keep search engine robots under control.
-> Keep your email address unreadable on your site. You need to have contact information there,
don't get me wrong -- but you have to keep 'email harvesters' from being able to read
your email address as they scan your site.
-> And, be sure the CGI scripts your use on your site are written securely.
Even some of the most popular scripts have been found to be vulnerable.
Free is good, but in the script arena, sometimes you get what you pay for.
There is more you could do, but this is a good start to avoid the most common
and easily fixed problems in basic website security.
About the author:
Kathy Laskowski is a software and CGI script programmer, and the owner/webmaster of numerous websites.
For more information on securing your website,
visit:
Secure Your Website
and sign up for the free report.
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What's New
Well, the survey results are in. If you are a new subscriber (or an 'old' subscriber who needs a reminder),
we ran a survey in place of the last regular issue, asking your opinion on direction of this newsletter.
Since the split was 50/50 on HTML email versus text email with a link to the online HTML version,
my plan is to continue to send e-Work-News in HTML, with a link at the top to the online version.
There was definitely interest in a non-email delivery system, so stay tuned...
On the content, seems like many would like to see more tips and how-to's, so this month's article
'Easy Ways To Secure Your Site' is the first of more how-to articles to come.
There was one vote for fewer articles :( -- I'll have to think some more about about that one...
Thanks to all who participated!
Question of the Month
Q: What are 'Smart Pages'?
A:
The term 'smart pages' was coined in the Steven Pierce ebook Under Oath.
Let me tell you my 'smart page' story to explain the idea...
Around a year ago, in order to fix the Clickbank link hijacking problem, I came up with
a way to 'hide' the Clickbank links for my e-Book-Zone site. This solution worked great for affiliate
links (not just Clickbank's), and the more I played with it, the more 'uses' I found for this solution.
It also hid download links, I didn't need to mess with 'onmouseovers' anymore, and on and on...
Probably three months after I added the first of these 'wrapped' affiliate pages, I noticed
an amazing thing while looking through my website logs -- Google searches were 'GETing' my
'wrapped' pages directly, not the page the link was on - the search was actually retrieving the 'wrapped'
affiliate page. Lo and behold,
these wrapped pages were getting indexed without any 'work' on my part.
This is the idea behind 'smart pages'. There has been considerable controversy surounding the
'Steven Pierce' version of smart pages since they involve Javascript, and what is considered by some
'deception' and therefore possible banning by Google of sites using them.
The version I've been using is completely 'W3C' compliant with no Javascript, and as such there is no possibility
of problems with any search engines -- they're working great for me. It's like anything else,
there is a legit way to achieve the results you want if you just take the trouble to find it.
Now, if only I had marketed Affiliate Link Wrapper
as a Smart Page generator...
..............................
I'm planning to continue with the 'question/answer of the month' section of the Newletter which started in the December issue, so
if you have a question, click here and ask it. It just might appear in a future issue - right here in this spot.
As always, I hope you enjoy reading this month's e-Work-News.
Some people have
dream jobs!
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3. A Friend Sent This To Me
Author Unknown
A friend of mine sent this to me:
It is important for men to remember that as women grow older it becomes
harder for them to maintain the same quality of housekeeping they did
when they were younger. When men notice this, they should try not to
yell.
Let me relate how I handle the situation. When I chucked my job
and took early retirement a year ago, it became necessary for Nancy to
get a full-time job both for extra income and for health insurance
benefits that we need. She was a trained lab tech when we met thirty
some years ago and was fortunate to land a job at the local medical
center. It was shortly after she started working at this job that I
noticed that she was beginning to show her age.
I usually get home from fishing or hunting about the same time she gets
home from work. Although she knows how hungry I am, she almost always
says that she has to rest for half an hour or so before she starts supper.
I try not to yell at her when this happens. Instead, I tell her to take her time.
I understand that she is not as young as she used to be. I just tell her
to wake me when she finally does get supper on the table.
continued below............
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Site Pick of the Month |
If you're building a website, anything that can save you time is a real plus.
Starting with a template is that kind of timesaver, and this month's site pick has the best
template selection I've seen.
Basic Templates will get you started
in style (sheets, that is).
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4. Job Search: Road Back To Employment Can Be Long
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By Information Week
With the overall U.S. unemployment rate at 5.8% in March, business-technology professionals haven't been left out of the slump. And many looking for jobs are finding they need to take a pay cut--sometimes a substantial one--to get back to work.
Dianne Mines has worked in IT for more than 30 years but hasn't landed a full-time IT job since being laid off three years ago as a consultant providing customized application development for clients of her employer, a process-manufacturing software vendor. Since the layoff, Mines has been doing some part-time work, including teaching as an adjunct professor at a university as she attends classes for a master's degree in IS. "I went from earning $70,000 to $80,000 annually to making just $10,000," Mines says. She recently lost out as one of two final candidates for a part-time database job paying $15 an hour.
Of the 522 unemployed professionals who responded to InformationWeek Research's 2003 National IT Salary Survey, Mines' experience is familiar. Just over half say the biggest challenge to finding work is that the salaries for new jobs are too low, while around 40% cite the need to take a more junior position, learn new skills, or relocate. The median base salary of the respondents before being laid off was $90,000 for management and $58,000 for staff. Of these, 17% have been out of work since the beginning of this year, but 30% have been out for more than a year.
For those who are working, the vast majority--more than 80%--of managers and staffers feel secure at their jobs, according to more than 15,000 working professionals who responded to the InformationWeek Research survey. In fact, one-third of staff and 40% of managers feel highly secure, compared with 18% of staff and 15% of managers who feel insecure. Michael Meder has been in IT for 32 years, including about 10 years at his current employer, a large insurance company that has been through major IT layoffs, such as cutting two-thirds of its systems programmers. But Meder, an MVS systems programmer and disaster-recovery specialist, is looking to work another 17 years at the same company, until he's ready to retire. "I've been doing systems recovery since 1999," he says, "but ever since that terrible day, Sept. 11, my work is even more interesting and important."
By InformationWeek
Apr 28, 2003 (12:00)
www.informationweek.com
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She used to
wash and dry the dishes as soon as we finished eating. It is now not
unusual for them to sit on the table for several hours after supper. I
do what I can by reminding her several times each evening that they
aren't cleaning themselves. I know she appreciates this, as it does
seem to help her get them done before she goes to bed.
Our washer and dryer are in the basement. When she was younger, Nancy
used to be able to go up and down the stairs all day and not get tired. Now
that she is older she seems to get tired so much more quickly. Sometimes
she says she just can't make another trip down those steps. I don't make a
big issue of this. As long as she finishes up the laundry the next evening
I am willing to overlook it. Not only that, but unless I need something
ironed to wear to the Monday's lodge meeting or to Wednesday's or
Saturday's poker club or to Tuesday's or Thursday's bowling or something
like that, I will tell her to wait until the next evening to do the
ironing. This gives her a little more time to do some of those odds and
ends, things like shampooing the dog, vacuuming, or dusting. Also, if I
have had a really good day fishing, this allows her to gut and scale the
fish at a more leisurely pace.
Nancy is starting to complain a little occasionally. Not often, mind you,
but just enough for me to notice. For example, she will say that it is
difficult for her to find time to pay the monthly bills during her lunch hour.
In spite of her complaining, I continue to try to offer encouragement. I tell
her to stretch it out over two or even three days, that way she won't have
to rush so much. I also remind her that missing lunch completely now and
then wouldn't hurt her any, if you know what I mean.
When doing simple jobs she seems to think she needs more rest periods than
she used to have to take. A couple of weeks ago she said she had to take a
break when she was only half finished mowing the yard. I overlook comments
like these because I realize it's just age talking. In fact, I try to not embarrass
her when she needs these little extra rest breaks. I tell her to fix herself a
nice, big, cold glass of freshly squeezed lemonade and just sit for a
while. I tell her that as long as she is making one for herself, she
may as well make one for me and take her break by the hammock so she can
talk with me until I fall asleep.
I could go on and on, but I think you know where I'm coming from. I know
that I probably look like a saint in the way I support Nancy on a daily basis.
I'm not saying that the ability to show this much consideration is easy. Many
men will find it difficult. Some will find it impossible. No one knows better than I do
how frustrating women can become as they get older. My purpose in
writing this is simply to suggest that you make the effort. I realize
that achieving the exemplary level of showing consideration I have
attained is out of reach for the average man.
However guys, even if you just yell at your wife a little less often
because of this article, I will consider that writing it was worthwhile.
[Note: This article was found next to the author's body. The cause of
death is still under investigation]
About the author:
Author Unkown -- or maybe deceased...
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How to get thousands of sites to link to YOU.
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To contact us (we always appreciate any comments or feedback on e-Work-News),
click here.
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