Net Xpert

Yahoo makes its Google search advertising agreement public( Microsoft is mad)

2008-08-09T10:23:00.000-07:00

So Yahoo and Google are finally closing the deal(soon) to start running Google's Ads on Yahoo's Sites. Basically they released the terms of the agreement and the Department of Justice is looking them over to make sure that there aren't any antitrust issues. Meanwhile Microsoft is screaming to high heaven that " the deal is anti-competitive in that it pushes two of the top three players in the Internet search advertising market together."

I wonder who the other of the top three players weren't in on the deal? That's right... Microsoft. Microsoft is just unhappy because their slice of the pie just got smaller instead of bigger.

Under the agreement, Yahoo will serve up Google's advertisements alongside its own search results. Yahoo has previously said it does not believe its open-ended deal is anti-competitive, citing it is under no obligation to run a certain number of Google's ads, or give its competitor's ads favorable placement on its search results pages.
- cnet

For one, being an advertiser, I feel this will help us get more bang for our buck. Google is great and all but I also like to run my ads in other locations to get more exposure to the customers I'm trying to target. So with this agreement, it just became easier for me to manage all my accounts and to deal with all the finical ends of things. Which isn't a bad thing.

Meanwhile Microsoft still tries to buy Yahoo....

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Study: Firefox Excels at Guarding the Henhouse

2008-08-09T09:35:00.000-07:00

One of the most effective ways to ensure security is to keep your Web browser updated to the most recent version, which will contain patches for the latest known vulnerabilities. By that measure, Firefox is a highly secure browser, since it updates frequently and automatically, according to a recent study. http://www.technewsworld.com/story/63724.html

The chart shows the adoption rate of new versions by users. The standard for measuring how secure a browser actually is, is just that, weather users have adopted its latest version or not. Firefox has over 83.3 percent of its users on the newest version. Also since FireFox updates regularly its becomes the most secure in that aspect also.

I myself am A Firefox man. Firefox for me got me away from the extremely vulnerable browser we call Internet Explorer. Back when I first converted to Firefox I didn't have many options. I could stick with Internet Explorer(IE), which was infected with more adware programs than you could shake a stick at, go with NetScape, which was not the most user friendly browser and looked horrible and didn't accept half the code that IE would display normally, or go with Firefox. Firefox was getting all kinds of rave reviews as being the most user-friendly piece of software that had no virus loop holes and smelled like mommas home cookn! Of course some of the hype was right but it was talked up so much just for the sheer fact that it was a GOOD alternative to IE and it didn't require you to rethink how you surfed the Internet. Of course it wasn't perfect, as no browser is or ever will be, it had its fare share of problems just like IE, but Firefox didn't have the mass attention of the hacker community at first which gave it a head start towards getting the image that they didn't have such problems. Now-adays Firefox is updated fairly regularly which helps to keep new loop holes and vulnerabilities at bay. Of course updating your browser is only one step in the right direction and having good antivirus and or spyware removal software(which also attempts to make your system immune to spyware) are other great steps towards being secure while surfing the net.

To get firefox goto: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
To get spyware removal/protection goto: Max Spyware Detector

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Comic actor Bernie Mac dies

2008-08-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

A break from the usual for a moment to remember one of the great comedians of our time. The Article is here http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/09/obit.bernie.mac.ap/index.html

DNS Exploits

2008-08-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

A new article over at Tech News ( http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Where-Are-All-the-Dangerous-DNS-Exploits-Nowhere-and-Everywhere-64085.html ) tells how Dan Kaminsky, a security researcher, has many experts patching and looking for solutions to stop DNS Exploits.

For those of you who aren't in on what DNS actually is, I will explain.
Domain Name System (DNS) is how all of our domain names are sent out to us and in the end give us a web page to look at. DNS Servers capture the URL www.blogger.com that you type into your favorite browser and then it sends you to the appropriate webserver where the information for that website is located. Its pretty simple, but at its current state, experts like Dan Kaminsky are warning that its very vulnerable to web attacks. He tells how DNS Servers are constantly under attack and there is little to be done because most DNS Servers are running on older machines due to the fact that they have lower server loads than the actual host site.

The attacks happen when hackers decide to attempt and take over a DNS Server and then reroute all traffic to spoof websites that look similar and then steal those users information once they input it into the website. The other problem is that DNS Servers do not log any of the information that would help us to protect users who have been fooled.

Say, for example, that a customer went into a grocery store and used cash to buy tomatoes that had been tainted with salmonella. The grocery store could eventually learn that it had sold some bad veggies, but it couldn't necessarily figure out which customers actually bought them.

This is very disappointing if you ask me. The fact that we as users have invested our time and money into making these sites and leasing these domain names from providers and they have done little to nothing to nothing to update security. I for one am glad that it has come to light that we have been blind and ignorant for so long. I can only hope that our providers for these services get on the ball and start heading in the right direction. I would encourage you all to complain to your online banking companies and companies like ebay or paypal to light a fire under their DNS Server's to get security holes fixed. Something like this could happen to anyone.. I just hope its not me.

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Products Net Xpert Supports:
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FCC: Comcast violated Web access policy

2008-08-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

An article that I just read from the AP ( http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/biztech/08/01/fcc.comcast.ap/index.html) has Comcast and other Internet Providers reeling. The FCC's ruling was that Comcast had indeed violated federal policy by blocking Internet file sharing over networks like bit torrent.

Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said in a prepared statement that the company was "disappointed in the commission's divided conclusion because we believe that our network management choices were reasonable...."
-AP Article

Id have to take the FCC's side in this ruling, I think its mainly because I myself from time to time do user torrents for various items, and it is in the least very annoying to have your download cut-off midstream by some geek sitting in a comcast HQ center who decided that you were doing something naughty. I'm very pleased to see that the FCC has decided that ISP's cannot dictate what we can and what we cannot download/view on the Internet. The day they do, I will be extremely sad. This is definitely a step in the right direction.

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'Oversharing' conerns with new Web Gadgets

2008-08-07T23:29:00.000-07:00

According to a recent article on cnn.com ( http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/08/07/hacking.google.ap/index.html ) companies like
Google are becoming increasingly concerned about the new web 2.0 gadgets that everyone is using. If you are not familiar with what they mean, its basically a device that you download from your site of choice that will supply up to the second articles that are being posted, images, and weather updates right on your desktop. These which can be seen in the image on the right a becoming increasingly popular. The fear is that people are too trusting of sites like Google, who allow any developer to load their new web gadgets to their site. Once on the site anyone is available to download their gadget, which may or may not contain harmful code that could compromise your computer. I would have to agree that most people are too trusting of people on the Internet, especially from sites they regullarly visit. I would have to say that its more ignorance than anything eles and your best defense is knowledge.

Before you download gadgets like these you should do your research on the company/developer who made it. You dont have to do a full background check, but a simple google search on the companies name should pull up some hot topics. Most of the time if a product is a scam or if the software is harmful you will find it on the first page of a google search. This however does not guarantee anything, im just trying to get the point across that a little knowledge goes a long way. Also, by arming yourself with spyware removal tools and anti-virus software is another step in the right direction. I do sponsor the below product for spyware removal if you are interested... and as always if you have any questions feel free to post!

Have a great day!

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Welcome to Net Xpert

2008-08-07T18:26:00.000-07:00

The following will be a series of blogs about internet technologies and what its all about. I myself am a Internet novice in the grand scheme of things and I personally believe that anyone who says they are truly an overall expert probably has an angle and trying to sell you something. But for the sake of all things I will be going by Net Xpert on this blog. My real name is Noah Johnson and im from Peoria, IL. Nothing much in Peoria but for the internet and that's where I truly reside. I'm not a English major and I wont pretend to be, so forgive me my grammar sins now. For those of you looking for Information on certain topics I encourage you to post and give me a shout about what you would like me to dig into for you. I'm more than willing to look into new products for you and let you know if its a scam or if it is even worth it.

For now, this is Noah... erm I mean Net Xpert signing off.

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