Jun - 14th
Rackspace Hacked Clients, Check Your Databases: Wordpress “wp_optimize” Backdoor In wp_options Table
Posted at 8:16 pm | Filed Under Wordpress, blogthropology, coding, how-to, nerdiness
Just finished cleaning up a hacked client whose website is hosted on Rackspace Cloud hosting. It is the second one within the past few weeks, although the first one was actually hosting on Laughing Squid, which happens to use Rackspace Cloud. I had discovered that there were a large number of people all on the [...]
May - 31st
My Mom Needed Me To Let The Plumber In While She Was At Work (True Story)
Posted at 9:54 pm | Filed Under On The Ball-ness, blogthropology, how-to, lackofmeds
I work from my house and keep odd hours, so when a family member needs some sort of worker let into their house during the day I am often asked if I am available to do it. I don’t mind, we all live fairly close together, and it’s not that much of a hassle [...]
Mar - 13th
Stray Leftover Hacked Wordpress Database Entry: rzf.php
Posted at 11:27 am | Filed Under Wordpress, coding, how-to
I never use my uploads directory or Wordpress’s built in media management here on Smackdown, instead preferring to upload and manually insert the html for images myself in my posts (I know, I am weird that way), but my friend Donna has when she has guest blogged here in the past. I therefore knew that [...]
Dec - 18th
Facebook / Twitter / Myspace Hacking: How To Keep It From Happening To You
Posted at 4:08 pm | Filed Under Social Media, how-to, nerdiness, scams
Over the past few weeks I have noticed a sharp increase of scammers trying to get my Facebook password, and not too long ago a few people I know actually fell prey to it. Recently there was an outbreak of of similar activity on Twitter, where the attempts were being spread through direct messages, and [...]
Jul - 17th
Amazon Confirms: Shortened URL’s *Are* Allowed On Facebook and Twitter
Posted at 4:10 pm | Filed Under Social Media, customer service, how-to
Last week there was some commotion over the fact that it was being reported that Amazon.com was refusing to pay affiliates if they used url shortening services to post affiliate links on social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter. This actually makes no sense from a business perspective, since it would discourage people from [...]
Jan - 12th
How To Find The Best Free Image/Photo/Graphics Downloads For Your Blog Posts
Posted at 8:39 am | Filed Under Google, SEO, apprentice, blogthropology, coding, how-to, tutorial, web design
Adding images to your blog posts can make them much more visually appealing to your readers. This in turn can increase the likelihood that someone will link to that post or subscribe to your feed, which will of course in the long run help to improve your rankings and traffic. The internet is chock [...]
Jun - 24th
How To Completely Clean Your Hacked WordPress Installation
Posted at 10:11 am | Filed Under On The Ball-ness, SEO, blogthropology, coding, how-to, web design
Getting hacked sucks, plain and simple. It can affect your rankings, cause your readership to be exposed to virus and trojan attacks, make you an unwilling promoter to subject material you may not actually endorse, and in many cases cause the loss of valuable content. However, once it happens it is usually best to [...]
Jun - 18th
EasyWP WordPress Installer – Cause There Ain’t No Such Thing As “Too Easy”
Posted at 8:30 am | Filed Under Social Media, blogthropology, coding, how-to, nerdiness
Let’s face it… generally speaking, installing WordPress is not exactly an arduous task. It’s designed to be relatively easy, allowing pretty much anyone to set up a blog of their own, regardless of their technical expertise. For the most part, WordPress succeeds at this. However,
Apr - 25th
Introducing: PuzzCAPTCHA Advanced Comment Form Protection, LinkMyPics – The Hotlink Advantage Maximizer… Oh, and Evan Rachel Wood, Topless [NFSW]
Posted at 3:42 pm | Filed Under Google, SEO, Social Media, blogthropology, coding, how-to, web design
No, my blog wasn’t hacked by porno webmasters, and no, I’m not converting Smackdown to an adult website (although, to be honest, kids or sensitive people should always approach my blog with caution). I wanted to test some of the various image search algos, and as it just so happens the search [Evan Rachel [...]
