What’s A Faster Way To Get A Virus Than Browsing Porn? That’s Right: The New Facebook

Quit staring, it is just a thumb.
Quit staring, it’s just a thumb.

Facebook has never been known for it’s safety. It is a site designed so that the least Internet savvy people out there can sign up and network with millions of other people, both those they know and those they don’t, with only a minimal amount of technical know-how required (ie. how to sign up, and how to browse). It is a giant playground filled with games and people to talk to from all over the world, luring in droves of people who, when they come, know nothing about “scareware”, or “phishing scams”, or even how to clean a virus from their machine if they get one. Sure, they’ve been told that if they visit porn sites they could very well get a virus, but hey, this is Facebook, everyone is on Facebook… it must be safe. The result is a gigantic community of

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*Proof* That The New SEOmoz Tool Is At Least Half Accurate

There has been quite of bit of controversy over the past few days arising from the new LDA based tool recently released by SEOmoz. While there may have been some very well thought out, compelling arguments against giving this tool any credit whatsoever, I have to tell you that in my opinion no argument, no matter how well worded, is going to win over a good old fashioned demonstration.

I am a big one for testing, and test this tool I did. Now, I know, I may have voiced some opinions in the past as to my doubt of the sincerity of Rand Fishkin and the folks who run things over at SEOmoz, but regardless of what I said before, for me seeing is definitely believing. I plugged both the url for the post introducing the tool itself, along with the phrase

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WordPress Hacking, Matt Mullenweg, And Some Screwed Up Priorities

I clean WordPress installations for people who have been hacked. I can help fix non-Wordpress sites as well, but since often times the way people find me is through the guide I wrote on how to fix WordPress after you’ve been hacked it turns out that’s what they need me to do for them a fair bit of the time. I have a process that I go through, and a specific set of things that I look for on every WordPress installation that I work on to make sure that it is indeed hacked, and to determine how bad the damage is. Different intrusions can leave various symptoms and clues as to how the hacker got in, and knowing this can be helpful in diagnosing the situation.

One of the hacks that has been around for a few years

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Google Fails 5th Grade Math Test

Calculator says... idk, 7? So, I think I finally discovered the cause of global warming. No, for reals. From what I can tell, miss Mother Nature started using Google Calculator in helping her figure out what kind of weather she should serve up to us. Now, if she were trying to bake a cake, or perhaps get driving directions, I am sure Google would have worked just fine. But for doing math involving temperatures…? Not so much.

I was playing around with the functions on Google Calculator last week, when I noticed some of the calculations weren’t quite right. Maybe Michael Bolton from Office Space was involved

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Video Games Requiring Physical Action Burn Calories – Duh

I don’t normally get all worked up and sarcastic about research. In fact, I love reading about real, truly beneficial scientific research. So while I appreciate the whole scientific process, sometimes I just have to say, “Well, Duh!” I suppose it’s important to test theories just to be SURE that a hypothesis is correct, but really, was it necessary to test the hypothesis that a video game that requires physical action – such as Nintendo’s Wii Boxing – would actually burn more calories in kids than watching TV would? Well, apparently someone felt the need to see if moving around might expend more energy than not moving around would, and lucky for us, the answer is Yes!

According to Science Daily’s summary of the research done by the University of Oklahoma,

Wii bowling and beginner level DDR elicited a 2-fold increase in energy expenditure compared to television watching. Overall, the energy expenditure during active video game play was comparable to moderate-intensity walking. Thus, for children who spend considerable time playing electronic screen games for entertainment, OU researchers found that substituting that time with physically active games can be a safe, fun and valuable means of promoting energy expenditure.

Let me give you a little of my own research.

Test 1: Sit on my derriere for 10 minutes watching TV. Am I tired? Nope. Not even a little.

Test 2: Play a Wii game like bowling or boxing or even yoga for 10 minutes. Am I tired? Nope. I’m EXHAUSTED.

Still not convinced? Would pictures make a difference?

Research Test 1:

dont burn calories

Research Test 2:

burn calories

I’m not sure what kind of research our universities are conducting these days, but I’m pretty sure this is the kind that does NOT need to be undertaken.

Go get your kids a Wii, let them play some physically active games, and know in your inner soul that they are expending energy. Really, you don’t need any scientific research to tell you that. It’s a Duh moment.