The Playground

The image on the left is a system-wide snapshot from October 25, followed by a snapshot from today. Obviously the spammers are loving my sites more and more, because the default on all my blogs is to delete the spam after 14 days. There's definitely been an increase in the number of times I've been hit.

TypePad Anti-Spam is doing the best job of all the anti-spam tools I've used on Movable Type over the last 4 years, and I've used quite a few different approaches over those years, sometimes relying on MT but most often relying on plugins or a combination of plugins, including comment challenges. I posted how pleased I am with TypePad Anti-Spam very recently, and have written numerous posts on the virtues of other plugins over time, but I can't stress enough just how good this latest Movable Type product is. I've had no spam comments, but plenty of trackback spam, and TypePad Anti-Spam hasn't missed a beat marking the nasty ones.

Posted to Movable Type | Plugins at 6:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

If your internet connection seems slow or you're just curious about your download or upload speeds, it's quick and easy to test and compare your results.

Speedtest.net is a broadband connection analysis tool with a huge selection of geographically dispersed testing servers. Speedtest.net measures the performance of your broadband connection. At the end of each test, you are presented with the download (the speed of data from the server to your computer) and upload (the speed of sending data from your computer to the server) bandwidth speeds. The tests are performed completely within your web browser over HTTP (just like normal web browsing).

Out of curiosity, I took the broadband speed test tonight and was impressed with my results. The interface is graphic, so you can click anywhere in the world to check your speeds. My first test was close to home and fairly quick. I was surprised with the second test, being half-way across the world and the download speed was quicker. After checking the result summary page, however, I was disappointed to see that my connection speed is only half as fast as other users who have the same ISP, and only one-third as fast compared to an Australia-wide comparison.

Posted to Internet Stuff at 10:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

If you're like me, then you have a mile-long list of programs that start when your Window PC boots. You can delay some non-essential programs so they don't run until later, making your Windows boot a whole lot faster.

Startup Delayer allows a user to place a delay on each of their startup programs, so that they each have time to launch before another begins making demands on the disk and CPU. It is very simple to use, just drag a program from the listing to the white bar below. A line will appear indicating how long it will be from startup before this program begins. Drag another program to a different spot, and there is a second line. Drag the lines around to lengthen or shorten the gaps. You can also choose to autospace each application. Any program not explicitly delayed by you starts up normally.

Posted to Windows at 10:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

If you're a Twitter user and you want to know who's talking about you or your site, then TweetBeep is for you.

TweetBeeps will send you an email when a tweet matches your keywords. This sounds like a great idea for tracking lots of discussions. It will even search for a mention of your site if the link has been shortened with sites like tinyurl or urlshrinker.

You can add alerts for your name, your nickname, your website, your product, your company, even your passion.

Signing up is quick and easy. You can base your alerts on a domain, or on keywords, and add as many as you like.

Posted to Internet Stuff at 5:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

I've had lots of problems with spammers over the years and have tried a number of different products and plugins trying to fight them off. Typepad Anti-Spam is doing a fantastic job, as you can see from the number of blocked comments and trackbacks. There's 8 blogs on this system and so far nothing has passed through that shouldn't have. Sometimes I've had to "unspam" a comment or two, but that's rare.

TypePad AntiSpam engine learns from your behaviour and gets smarter every time you report spam. If an unwanted comment ever does slip through, click the "Report Spam" button in the Comments screen and it will adapt to ever-changing spam techniques.

TypePad AntiSpam is available as a free plugin for bloggers on other platforms, including TypePad, Movable Type and WordPress. Just download the free plugin and get configure it with a free API key.

Posted to Movable Type at 10:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

Browsing the web and downloading files is normal use for all Internet users. Make sure you are protected with good anti-virus, anti-spyware and a firewall. Surprisingly, some people have none of these security tools in place.

1. Be wary of files that you execute as they may contain a malicious application. This method of infection is commonly used by hackers.

2. Disable file/printer sharing whilst not in use as this may provide an opening for hackers to gain entry to your PC.

3. If in use, secure your File/Printer sharing with permission accounts and passwords to make unlawful entry more difficult.

4. Do not run unnecessary applications that require an internet/network connection. Leaving them running in the background is like leaving your front door open.

5. Get a Firewall. Firewalls are a useful tool for blocking attacks and preventing illegal entry into your PC as they monitor and inform what comes and goes from your computer.

Posted to Internet Stuff at 7:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

Today Google released its first Web browser, called Chrome. An online comic book published on Monday gives a run-down on why Google thought users were ready for a new browser.

Features

The address serves all your browsing needs: web search, web history, address bar and gives suggestions as you type.

Every time you open a new tab, you'll see thumbnails of your most visited sites, most used search engines, and recently bookmarked pages and closed tabs.

Drag tabs out of the browser to create new windows, gather multiple tabs into one window or arrange your tabs how you want.

Every tab you're using is run independently in the browser, so if one app crashes it won't take anything else down.

Incognito mode for private browsing.

Google Chrome warns you if you're about to visit a suspected phishing, malware or otherwise unsafe website.

Just click the star icon at the left edge of the address bar and you've bookmarked the page.

Import settings from your existing Web browser: bookmarks, passwords and browsing history are all brought over.

Hover over a link and information appears in the status bar. It only appears when needed.

And best of all, it's fast.

Drawbacks

If you're a Firefox user like myself you have an arsenal of add-ons that you've come to rely on, and already I'm missing a couple of these. Since Chrome was only released today, there's none available yet.

The browser history is not as extensive as other browsers so bookmarks will bloat.

Conclusion

I'm sure there'll be other disappointments but so far I'm impressed. I like the clean, uncluttered look, the fast page loads and the new tab feature. Blog posts about Chrome are popping up all over the Web since this is a Beta release, we can only expect more improvements to follow.

Posted to Google at 7:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |