I just converted a clients blog from a MyST Blogsite hosted solution to WordPress. There were 950 posts in 6 categories and there were a number of tags and URL & in the posts that didn’t validate W3C for the XHTML 1.0 strict doctype.
So I had one of my coders code up a plugin that changes “&” to “&” and changes other tags so the posts are all W3C compliant.
Here is the Post W3C Complier Wordpress Plugin download.
A coder named Matt Wilson aka shadda on EFnet with a PayPal account company of Codus Web Design ripped me off for $80 so I though I would post this warning just in case you are considering doing business with him. The PayPal account is using shadda@gmail.com as an email.
Feel free to tell Matt Wilson via email shadda@gmail.com about this post and suggest he contact me and clear this up.
PayPal Payment Button for Matt Wilson
Back in 3-28-2006 I chatted with this coder from the EFnet network on #php. I was very impressed with his coding ability and he give me some free help. He asked me for a loan until money from his next job came and and I sent him $80 via PayPal and we did up a transaction on PayPal for the following.
Colorgraphic Xentera GT 4 Quad PCI Video Card with DVI cables in working condition. Must be shipped with in 2 weeks or payment refunded. Shipping must be with insurance, and tracking.
I never did get the hardware and I let it go past the 45 days so I had no recourse via PayPal. I have had a few lame coders rip me off so I thought I would post pages on them and ranking it #1 for their name. If you want this to come down Matt Wilson just pay me back what you owe me.
6-14-06: Talked to my PayPal rep today and he told me that “the disputed transaction remains on Matt’s account as unresolved”.
6-12-06: I sent a copy of this page to another coder who is not preforming very well and is way behind on a project that I have spend over $4k on and asked him if he would like a page Matt’s for life ranked #1 for his name. It has an effect.
6-13-06: I hit #31 for the keyword “Matt Wilson” today and #18 for Matt’s handle “shadda”. I will point a link or two every week at it till it hits #1.
Matt Wilson I would suggest you take time to pay me and I will take this page down. It’s going to be ranking #1 for your name shortly.
PayPal Payment Button for Matt Wilson
Here is the original transaction that Matt Wilson and I did.
Here is where I sent it to resolution and Matt Wilson didn’t even respond.
As you can see the dispute was closed and there was no refund do to the fact I let it go more than 45 days.
Well thats my story and this page will stay up until Matt Wilson pays. I wish Matt Wilson all the best but I feel like it is best that he be held accountable for ripping me off.
Well I guess this is WordPress Plugin day. I noted the other day in in my Long URLs Break Layout post that long URLs break tabled layout. The Tabled layout I was having problems with wasn’t was in WordPress so you will see in the Long URLs Break Layout post I had to change the font to a large font to make my point.
Well that is because I had Jim Wigginton’s Force Word Wrapping plugin installed. AsyoucanseeJimspluginwhichpreventslongsentancesconstructedlikethisfrom horizontallystretchingthepage. But the forced word wrap is calculated for the default font size.
As soon as you increase the font size lines don’t word wrap correctly. See the below example.
As noted in my Long URLs Break Layout post you then apply an “overflow: hidden;” style to the line to hide the overflow. Like the following line.
Here is the download for Jim’s Force Word Wrapping WordPress plugin.
While setting up a site to display a news RSS feed and I found that Tables don’t handle extra long URLs very well. They stretch the TD cell and break your design. So much for doing markup with tables.
With your markup in CSS you can handle it a bit better.
Here is a long URL that overflows into the right column.
Here is the same long URL with “overflow: hidden;” applied to the link.
Even if you layout is using fixed width tables for markup this long URL would cause the TD cell to expand it and it would break your page.
Google Inc. has just announced the released its newest mobile client - Gmail for mobile devices. It is fast and free, with features and an interface designed specifically for handheld devices.
The application brings not just the usual email messages but a whole other suite of features that used to be just available on the desktop version - search functions for data and images, conversation view, and automatic synchronization.
It automatically pre-fetches the messages making email retrieval faster; file and photo attachments are viewable and resized for the user’s phone. User experience is enhanced with reduced clicks, scrolls, and keystrokes.
Here is a list of the phones Gmail for moblie application works on.
Google commits in helping people stay connected and realizes the mobile phone’s big part in “balancing online and offline worlds”. This new client, compatible with all J2ME-enabled phones, is set on providing quick access to information when and where needed.
ChaCha is the first ever human powered search engine which is currently going through its Alpha experimental testing. It is different than all other traditional search engines because it lets a ‘human’ guide to perform the search for you.
ChaCha is currently powered by almost 15,000 knowledgeable humans. When search queries are entered into the search field, the system instantaniously finds the best available guide to deliver targeted and specific results for users’ searches. Moreover, ChaCha users can choose to either “search with a guide” or get instant search results by tapping into ChaCha’s rapidly growing index of human-generated result sets. With ChaCha, its likely that your search result will be relevant to your search terms as the result set will be picked by your online guide, who is most likely an expert in your particular field of search.
The Web Interface of ChaCha is pretty similar to any other search engine. However they do have an extra panel on the left hand side which allows the user to ask for help from the ChaCha guides. At one time you will be given one guide to accompany you during your search. So basically all you have to do is, tell the guide what you are looking for. Then just sit back and relax! The guide will automatically perform the search for you and will add the relevant sites in the left hand result panel. At the end of the search, you will have the opportunity to rate the guide, in terms of his efficiency and friendliness.
All the guides are individuals working from home with some good information seeking knowledge. They are paid about $5 to maximum $10 USD per hour for their time & effort. Their payment also depends on the rating they receive from the fellow users. Currently ChaCha is only accepting guides based on US. To become a guide, you can apply using their sign up form.
ChaCha has taken the information searching to the next level. It has also opened new opportunity for individuals to work from home and broaden their knowledge at the same time.
If you want to check to see if some one is copying your content from your WeBsite you can use Copyscape. The same company also offers Copysentry a product that will detect the plagiarism automatically and email you. This service is $4.95/mon for 10 pages and $0.25/mon per extra page for weekly checks. If you want daily checks the price is $19.95/mon for 10 page with the extra pages $1.00/mon.
When you find a Website that is displaying your copyrighted material there are a number of ways you can deal with it. You can contact the Website that has your material on their site and ask them to kindly take it down. You can contact the hosting company that is hosting the site and ask them to such the side down. I have found the latter to work the best.
Listen to Googles Audio Copyright Claims Procedure or view the Writen Copyright Claims Procedure to have the copyrighted material removed from their index.
For Google to investigate claims of alleged copyright infringement, the copyright owner must provide the following information in a signed letter on company stationery:
1. Identify in sufficient detail the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed. For example, ‘The copyrighted work at issue is the text that appears on www.google.com/ads.’
2. Identify the material that you claim is infringing the copyrighted work listed in item #1 above. This requires you to provide the search query that you used and the URL for each allegedly infringing ad.
3. Provide information reasonably sufficient to permit Google to contact you (email address is preferred.)
4. Provide information, if possible, sufficient to permit Google to notify the owner or administrator of the web page that allegedly contains infringing material (email address is also preferred.)
5. Include the following statement: ‘I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above on the allegedly infringing web pages is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.’
6. Include the following statement: ‘I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
7. Your signature.
If some one incorrectly reports your content as a copyright infringement and Google removes your content from their index there is a process where you can sent Google a Counter Notification requesting the material in questions be reinstated.
The administrator of an affected site may make a counter notification. When we receive a counter notification, we will reinstate the material in question. To file a counter notification with us, you must provide a written communication that sets forth the items specified below.
1. Identify the specific URLs of material that Google has removed or to which Google has disabled access. For Google Groups, identify the sender, date, newsgroup, and subject matter of all the material in question.
2. Provide your name, address, telephone number, email address, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located (or Santa Clara County, California if your address is outside of the United States), and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification under subsection (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person.
3. Provide information reasonably sufficient to permit Google to contact you (email address is preferred.)
4. Provide information, if possible sufficient to permit Google to notify the owner or administrator of the web page that allegedly contains infringing material (email address is preferred.)
5. Include the following statement: “I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that each search result or message identified above was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled.”
6. Your signature.
Copyright compaints and counter norifications can be sent by post mail or by fax. See the below address and fax numbers.
Address:
Google, Inc.
Attn: Google AdWords, Copyright Complaints
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
USA
Fax:
+1-650-618-1499
Attn: Google Copyright Complaints
Eric Ward is publishing a monthly how-to report on the art of link building and publicity for web content. The first issue is free and after that the price is $149 a year for 12 issues. You can sign up for the Free Trial and you will get a taste from what can be had for $12.50 a month. For Webmasters and SEO/M types this is one of the best deals I’ve seen. Well… next to Aaron Walls eBook on SEO.
Here is the contents of the free report.
Considering that Eric bills out for $500/hr I would have to say this is a super deal. This is like having Eric spending an hour with you ever month giving you his top tips for $12.50/hr ($149 / 12 months) — I am feeling guilty already.