WyzGuys Tech Talk

I am moving this blog from Live Spaces to BlogSpot.  Nothing wrong with Live Spaces, and the LiveWriter application will be missed, but I am doing so much with Google (Adwods, Analytics, Google Groups, etc), that it just makes sense to centralize a little more of my on-line life with them. 

Find me at http://wyzguys.blogspot.com or www.bobwyzguy.com

I received information of a massive 'phishing' scam that is taking place on the Internet today. This attack is not on WyzHost's network, services or your account with us, but we feel it is significant enough to help protect you through awareness. The attack description is below:

An e-mail will show up appearing as if it is from support@networksolutions.com. It will indicate that your domain name has already expired. The e-mail asks the user to click on a link, which will take the user to a fraudulent site designed to look like Network Solutions website and attempt to gain the users information on a page on that website.

Our Recommendation: As with any phishing scam, there is one major flaw they cannot get past. The domain name is not the actual domain name you are familiar with. You can visually see they are different. If you look up in the address bar, you will always see a variation of the domain name made to 'look' like the real one. An example would be networksolutions.com.scamdomain.com

If you are using Internet Explorer 7, it will help detect fraudulent websites for you and visibly warn you if you are visiting one.

If you ever have a question about your domain name, services or are suspicious of any e-mail you receive, we are always here and welcome your questions to support@wyzhost.com anytime!

Sorry to put a financial/economic article in my blog but we need to know this.

The insane are running this country!  We are now insuring deposits up to 250,000 but this expires on 12/31/09 the end of THIS YEAR! - Info comes straight out of the FDIC information sent to the bank's!

Basic Coverage for all depositors:
1.Until December 31, 2009: Under 12 C.F.R. 330.1(n)-Standard maximum deposit
Insurance amount, referred to as "the SMDIA" hereafter, means $250,000 adjusted pursuant
to subparagraph (F) of section 11(a)(1) of the FDI Act (12 U.S.C. 1821(a)(1)(F)).
Under the new law, as of January 1, 2010 the SMDIA returns to $100,000.
Up to $250,000 per depositor including principal and accrued interest. This increase is
effective immediately, but expires on December 31, 2009. The category “Certain
Retirement Accounts”remains at $250,000 after the expiration of the law on
December 31, 2009.
Important! Therefore, please remember the December 31, 2009 “expiration date”when
opening time deposits. Based on the current law, time deposits with a maturity date
after December 31, 2009 will revert back to the old rules of $100,000 per depositor after
December 31, 2009.

This is a rant.  This really bugs me!  I can not for the life of me figure out why anyone sending business e-mail is doing it from an account on AOL, Hotmail, gmail, Comcast, ATT.net, or any other ISP.  This goes double for those of you (and you ought to know who you are) that have a perfectly valid registered domain name that your web site is hanging out on.

Well, I do know the reason.  It's something like "I've been using this e-mail account since the invention of fire" or "everyone already has this e-mail address" or some other version of "it's too hard to change or I don't know how to set one up."

If you have your own business domain name, let's say MyBusiness.com, you should be using an e-mail account like MyName@MyBusiness.com NOT MyBusiness472@AOL.com!!!

When you place your Yellow Page ad, are you kind enough to put an AOL logo in the corner, with something like "E-mail proudly provided by AOL?"   

Those of you running truck fleets, do you get the painter to put a Comcast logo on your truck? NO?

Then please, please, please set up an e-mail address on your domain name and use it for your business correspondence.  If you don't know how, get someone who does to help you do it.

Thank you!

Chris Hanscom, aka Veign, a Microsoft MVP and frequent contributor to the Microsoft Expression Web Group, recently posted some links to further information about using the .htaccess file to customize some web site functions, like setting password protected areas or generating custom error (404) pages

If you are on a Linux server then you can use an htaccess file.

htaccess:
http://www.veign.com/blog/2007/01/on-linux-server-then-see-what-htacc...

htaccess Generator: http://cooletips.de/htaccess/
.HTACCESS files useful tips and tricks: http://www.garnetchaney.com/htaccess_tips_and_tricks.shtml
Using the .htaccess File: http://www.wise-women.org/tutorials/htaccess/

Even more fun with htaccess:
http://www.veign.com/blog/2007/02/even-more-fun-with-htaccess.html

htpasswd Creator:
http://www.veign.com/tools/htpasswd-creator/

Resource Center: http://www.veign.com/development-center.php
Veign's Blog: http://www.veign.com/blog
Web Development Help: http://www.veign.com/development-center-web.php