Category Archives: Internet

World Wide Web

Internet, Travel

Working Remotely from the Hills in India

With advent of newer technologies and practise of better work culture, the way we approach work is slowly but surely changing. While it’s true of most new age startups, the experimental HR executives of technology behemoths are not too shy in letting their employees work form home or a location of their choice. The caveat: As long as work is done, and on time, it’s a win-win for all!

Advent of newer technologies and adoption of better work / personal life balance is slowly changing the way we approach work.

Standard
Google_thats_all_we_know_error
Internet

Google “That’s all we know” Errors

Ever tried adding an event invitation sent to your Gmail?

Gmail add to calendar error

It fires a *very* long URI, which, of course is too much to handle for Google Calendar. It humbly yields an innocent:

414. That’s an error.

The requested URL /… is too large to process. That’s all we know.

Yes, this one precisely:

414. That’s an error

It appears to be a known issue and people have already forked it on places like Github. There is a workaround, but no permanent fix I suppose.

However, today my main point of contention is Google’s approach towards handling such errors. “That’s all we know.” — The (in)famous Google Blah page. Com’on Google, you’re not trying to be funny like us new age start-ups, having a fancy and sometimes kitschy 404 pages to impress people. Especially if Google fires up a 404 upon a search query, with no hints for users for the next step, it defeats the purpose of having an advanced algorithm and so much machine learning which Google prides itself over. TechCrunch did a piece over it when Google introduced them last year, a practice which we all thought was temporary, still persists.

Maybe just another hint from Google, of the boundaries between AI and human intelligence — Google’s 404 Fail Robot. With broken springs and parts.

EDIT: Am I being too skeptical here? Focusing more on such trivial errors, rather than on the solutions. I should fix my 404 pages first. :)

Standard
Internet, Web Development

Filter your own traffic on Google Analytics

Put this code in your browser address bar and hit enter:

javascript:void(function(w){try{_gaq._getAsyncTracker()._setVar(w)}catch(e){try{__utmSetVar(w)}catch(e){pageTracker._setVar(w)}}alert(w)}('your_keyword'));void(0);

Don’t forget to set the your_keyword as your unique word in Google Analytics filter settings (Cookie method of course).

…and to test if the cookie is set in the browser:

javascript:alert((/__utmv=.+?.(.*?)(;|$)/.test(''+document.cookie))?RegExp.$1:'No unique word');void(0);

Note: Modern browsers will strip-off the javascript part, please use Inspect element on Google Chrome or Developer Mode in Firefox.

Still won’t work? It does for me, at least, so far. Post here, I’m working to find a full-proof method, especially after GA updated with new set of codes.

Standard
Generally, Internet

Paypal Issue in India

New Update on Paypal Blog

New Bank Withdrawal Instructions for Our Customers in India

In wake of recent issues Paypal users in India have been facing over last month for remittances of personal credits into their Indian bank accounts, Paypal today morning apparently has sent this e-mail to “affected” users:

PayPal

Dear Romil Javed,

We have been diligently working with the RBI and our business
partners to resume Indian bank withdrawals for the thousands
of Indian businesses who depend on PayPal to sell their goods
or services in the global marketplace.

Today, we are happy to announce that the RBI has allowed us
to continue local bank withdrawals for settlements for exports
of goods and services.  We are currently making changes to
comply with Indian regulations for settlements for exports of
goods and services, and we anticipate that, as of Wednesday,
March 3rd, customers will be able to use our
bank withdrawal service.

As part of the changes, you will be required to fill out a
new field entitled 'Export Code' when you request a withdrawal.
This information is required under the current laws of India in
order to identify the nature of cross-border merchant transactions.

On Monday, March 1st, we will be back in touch with specific
instructions on how you can move your money into your bank account.

Moving forward, the RBI has told us that PayPal needs specific
approvals to allow personal remittances to India, which we
currently do not have.  Until we get these approvals, personal
payments into India will remain suspended.  However, if you are
an exporter, you will continue to be able to use the PayPal
service for payments of goods and services.  In fact, with the
changes we are making to our system, PayPal is now set to be a
more powerful engine for exporters in India.  With purpose codes
for export transactions and FIRCs (Foreign Inward Remittance
Certificates), you should now be able to get the export
related benefits you seek.

You can check the PayPal blog for additional updates.

www.thepaypalblog.com

We thank you for your business and for your patience during
the past few weeks.

Sincerely,

PayPal

Now, it remains to be seen if RBI levies certain charges on us “exporters” who have been doing our little bit in accumulating foreign exchequer for India.

The previous updates can be found here:

  1. Paypal India Block Leaves IT Guys High & Dry – Need For An Indian Paypal?
  2. The Paypal Blog

Will post more on this as soon as I know more on this issue.

New Update on Paypal Blog

New Bank Withdrawal Instructions for Our Customers in India

Standard
Security

How to choose a safe password

My friends often ask me how to secure their accounts from increasing security vulnerabilities.  Also, some of them who are too busy to ask, I notice, use self-styled security measures as far as choosing a smart password goes.

What they don’t realize is the fact that, if one of their accounts is compromised, it may lead to security lapse of their entire online activity, from social networking tools, work or home e-mail to banking accounts as well. Situation can really be scary. The recent twitter attack has highlighted this issue once again. Before its too little too late, here are some good advice I found on the Gmail Blog the other day:

Creating a new password is often one of the first recommendations you hear when trouble occurs. Even a great password can’t keep you from being scammed, but setting one that’s memorable for you and that’s hard for others to guess is a smart security practice since weak passwords can be easily guessed. Below are a few common problems we’ve seen in the past and suggestions for making your passwords stronger.

Problem 1: Re-using passwords across websites

With a constantly growing list of services that require a password (email, online banking, social networking, and shopping websites — just to name a few), it’s no wonder that many people simply use the same password across a variety of accounts. This is risky: if someone figures out your password for one service, that person could potentially gain access to your private email, address information, and even your money.

Solution: Use unique passwords
It’s a good idea to use unique passwords for your accounts, expecially important accounts like email and online banking. When you create a password for a site, you might think of a phrase you associate with the site and use an abbreviation or variation of that phrase as your password — just don’t use the actual words of the site. If it’s a long phrase, you can take the first letter of each word. To make this word or phrase more secure, try making some letters uppercase, and swap out some letters with numbers or symbols. As an example, the phrase for your banking website could be “How much money do I have?” and the password could be “#m$d1H4ve?” (Note: since we’re using them here, please don’t adopt any of the example passwords in this post for yourself.)

Problem 2: Using common passwords or words found in the dictionary

Common passwords include simple words or phrases like “password” or “letmein,” keyboard patterns such as “qwerty” or “qazwsx,” or sequential patterns such as “abcd1234.” Using a simple password or any word you can find in the dictionary makes it easier for a would-be hijacker to gain access to your personal information.

Solution: Use a password with a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols
There are only 26^8 possible permutations for an 8-character password that uses just lowercase letters, while there are 94^8 possible permutations for an 8-character password that uses a combination of mixed-case letters, numbers, and symbols. That’s over 6 quadrillion more possible variations for a mixed password, which makes it that much harder for anyone to guess or crack.

Problem 3: Using passwords based on personal data

We all share information about ourselves with our friends and coworkers. The names of your spouse, children, or pets aren’t usually all that secret, so it doesn’t make sense to use them as your passwords. You should also stay away from birth dates, phone numbers, or addresses.

Solution: Create a password that’s hard for others to guess
Choose a combination of letters, numbers, or symbols to create a unique password that’s unrelated to your personal information. Or, select a random word or phrase, and insert letters and numbers into the beginning, middle, and end to make it extra difficult to guess (such as “sPo0kyh@ll0w3En”).

Problem 4: Writing down your password and storing it in an unsecured place

Some of us have enough online accounts that we may need to write our passwords down somewhere, at least until we’ve learned them well.

Solution: Keep your password reminders in a secret place that isn’t easily visible
Don’t leave notes with your passwords to various sites on your computer or desk. People who walk by can easily steal this information and use it to compromise your account. Also, if you decide to save your passwords in a file on your computer, create a unique name for the file so people don’t know what’s inside. Avoid naming the file “my passwords” or something else obvious.

Problem 5: Recalling your password

When choosing smart passwords like these, it can often be more difficult to remember your password when you try to sign in to a site you haven’t visited in a while. To get around this problem, many websites will offer you the option to either send a password-reset link to your email address or answer a security question.

Solution: Make sure your password recovery options are up-to-date and secure
You should always make sure you have an up-to-date email address on file for each account you have, so that if you need to send a password reset email it goes to the right place.

Many websites will ask you to choose a question to verify your identity if you ever forget your password. If you’re able to create your own question, try to come up with a question that has an answer only you would know. The answer shouldn’t be something that someone can guess by scanning information you’ve posted online in social networking profiles, blogs, and other places.

If you’re asked to choose a question from a list of options, such as the city where you were born, you should be aware that these questions are likely to be less secure. Try to find a way to make your answer unique — you can do this by using some of the tips above, or by creating a convention where you always add a symbol after the 2nd character in the answer (e.g. in@dianapolis) — so that even if someone guesses the answer, they won’t know how to enter it properly.

Solution 4: Keep your password reminders in a secret place that isn’t easily visible
Don’t leave notes with your passwords to various sites on your computer or desk. People who walk by can easily steal this information and use it to compromise your account. Also, if you decide to save your passwords in a file on your computer, create a unique name for the file so people don’t know what’s inside. Avoid naming the file “my passwords” or something else obvious.

Problem 5: Recalling your password
When choosing smart passwords like these, it can often be more difficult to remember your password when you try to sign in to a site you haven’t visited in a while. To get around this problem, many websites will offer you the option to either send a password-reset link to your email address or answer a security question.

Solution 5: Make sure your password recovery options are up-to-date and secure
You should always make sure you have an up-to-date email address on file for each account you have, so that if you need to send a password reset email it goes to the right place.

Many websites will ask you to choose a question to verify your identity if you ever forget your password. If you’re able to create your own question, try to come up with a question that has an answer only you would know. The answer shouldn’t be something that someone can guess by scanning information you’ve posted online in social networking profiles, blogs, and other places.

If you’re asked to choose a question from a list of options, such as the city where you were born, you should be aware that these questions are likely to be less secure. Try to find a way to make your answer unique — you can do this by using some of the tips above, or by creating a convention where you always add a symbol after the 2nd character in the answer (e.g. in@dianapolis) — so that even if someone guesses the answer, they won’t know how to enter it properly.

Permalink

Labels:

Standard
Joomla

Joomla and Magento Integration

There is this talented young guy from Thailand called Anh Nguyen, from the class of  GSoC 2009 which Joomla! team has quite timely picked keeping in view the future of this great open source CMS.

So, Anh is working on J! Mint and I have been closely following the development through various sources, like this Webinar and the Magento Forums.

Some of the factors do look challenging in these two vastly different open source leading softwares. However, Anh’s work is nothing but promising there is little competition from a developer in Holland. Well, looks like we gonna be benfitting end of the day.

Looking forward to more updates on all the fronts, maybe a BETA release for us to test. :)

Standard
Web Development

Free URL Redirection Services

Attention: This forum post was first “researched” and published in May 2004, so reliability or for that matter even existence of certain websites described here under is questionable. I just post it here, as I felt little nostalgic one evening about good old days. :)

Hey all Webmaster types!

While deciding for my new Hospitality based site, I “googled” a bit and reviewed some of the cool URL redirection sites. I rated them too, and for your ease posted them with the URL (for lazy kidz) and a short description.

Here they’re @ your service Sir/Madam:
___________________________________

DotTK (http://www.dot.tk) *****
you.tk
My Choice! Isn’t it feels great to have your domain name without any strings. However, the pop-up AD is a downsider.
___________________________________

1Place4All (http://www.atmypage.com) ***
name.atmypage.com
This service offers redirection of the form name.atmypage.com, supported by a user-selectable choice of ad options including a pop-up ad, an ad shown on an intermediate screen or a banner ad on the destination page. Note that banner ads shown at the top of your page are eligible to participate in this site’s banner exchange scheme.
___________________________________

Arrive (http://www.arrive.com/Free_Web_Names/) ****
arrive.at, arrive.to, directme.to, surfin.to, tunnel.to, home.gs, mouse.to and over 40 other domain names.
Free URL redirection service that desperately wants to pretend to be something else (see their FAQ!). Offers a choice of over 50 domain names, as well as a free email address and various other goodies. You can pick up upto 5 free Arrive addresses for your site.
___________________________________

Beam.to (http://www.beam.to/) ***
beam.to
Offers free URL forwarding of the form beam.to/sitename. You must place a small (88×31 pixel) button on your page in exchange for using the service.
___________________________________

CJB.net (http://www.cjb.net/) **
Free URL redirection of the form domain.cjb.net. Popup ads are shown.
___________________________________

Click-on.to (http://www.click-on.to/) ****
click-on.to/user
This simple redirection service offers a single choice of domain name. A small advert is shown in a popup window.
___________________________________

DomainRedirect (http://www.domainredirect.com/domredirection.htm) ***
yourdomain.com
This service will let you point an existing domain name at any URL you like (even Geocities, Tripod etc.) You can also register a domain name via this site to use for redirection.
___________________________________

FindHere (http://www.findhere.com/) ***
yoursubdomain.findhere.com
Free URL forwarding service of the form http://yoursubdomain.findhere.com/ which also gives you free email forwarding
___________________________________

From.lv (http://www.from.lv/) *
address.from.lv
This free redirection service seems targeted at Latvian sites (although the signup site itself is in English) Participating sites must place special codes on their page to prove that the page is “live”
___________________________________

Has.it (http://www.has.it/) *****
has.it, does.it, knows.it, shows.it, makes.it, owns.it, rules.it, says.it, rocks.it
Free URL redirection service that provides a subdomain of the form yourname.domain.it, plus a matching yourname@domain.it email account with 6MB of storage. The service supports the inclusion of META tags for search engine positioning, and also offers URL cloaking. Best part is that there are no ads!
___________________________________

HomePad (http://www.homepad.com/) ***
Choice of approximately two dozen domain names, including homepad.com, pagehub.com, singlespad.com
Free URL redirection service that lets you choose the subdomain of the domain name of your choice. For instance, domain.homepad.com. A popup ad window will be displayed as each visitor is redirected. You can pay to remove these ads should you wish to do so. Note that this site seems to be going through some growing pains, since a note that tracking is “temporarily” disabled has been displayed for more than 3 months so far.
___________________________________

HotRedirect (http://www.hotredirect.com/) ****
hothere.com, coolhere.com, homepagehere.com, mustbehere.com, onlyhere.net, pagehere.com, surfhere.net, zonehere.com
This service offers free URL redirection of the form user.domain and also domain/user. It lso offers various statistics on usage of a given redirect link.)
___________________________________

IsCool.net (http://iscool.net/) **
@yoursubdomain.iscool.net
Free URL forwarding. For a fee you can remove the banner ads.
___________________________________

Just.As (http://www.just.as/) *****
sayhi.to, anyone.to, goin.to, then.to, introduce.to, amuse.to, good.to, visitme.to, fancy.to, amaze.to and many other domains
This free redirection service offers two types of url: yourdomain.domain and domain/yourdomain, as well as free email of the form yourdomain@domain
___________________________________

MyDomain.com (http://www.mydomain.com/) ****
This incredible service allows you to take full control over domain names that you own, free of charge. You can specify the URL to which you want the domain name to forward, choose from “stealth” redirection (where the destination URL is hidden) or normal redirection, point the domain to an IP address and set up one or more email forwarding accounts. You can also specify advanced domain name properties such as MX records and mail servers. Best of all, this service is very fast and entirely ad-free!
___________________________________

NE1 (http://ne1.net/) ***
ne1.net, r8.org
Free subdomain-based URL redirection service (yourname.ne1.net or yourname.r8.org) with both cloaked and direct URL forwarding options. With the cloaked option, you’re able to specify the metatags to be included at the top of the page. The service is ad-free.
___________________________________

OnTheWeb (http://www.ontheweb.nu/) ****
ontheweb.nu, kwik.to, isthebe.st, rr.nu, byinter.net
You get lots of choice with this free redirection service: you can choose from 2 different addressing schemes and 4 different ways of displaying your new URL. You can choose yourname.domain or domain/yourname, and how you want ads to appear on your site.
___________________________________

Rename.com (http://www.rename.com/) *****
download.at, stop.at, dine.at, play.at, stop.at, laugh.at and over a dozen other domain names
Rename.com offers free URL forwarding of the form domain/username. Their service is ad-supported, by a single 230×30 pixel banner. They have a good selection of domain names.
___________________________________

SeeJack (http://www.seejack.com/) ***
onebiz.org, girlsassy.com, godsit.com, nerdpages.com, funfirm.com, dopelink.com and many other domain names
SeeJack offers a free URL redirection service with URLs that can either be yoursite.domain.com or domain.com/yoursite. Users can choose between a thin advertising “bar” and a popup ad; these can be removed for a small monthly fee.
___________________________________

Shim.net (http://www.shim.net/) **
shim.net
Free URL redirection service that includes URL cloaking (the target URL is hidden), forwarding to dynamic IP addresses, support for search engine META tags and more. There is also a matching free email service.
___________________________________

ShortURL (http://www.shorturl.com/) ****
shorturl.com, vze.com, filetap.com, mirrorz.com, alturl.com, spyw.com, funurl.com, mp3update.com
This service offers free URL redirection of the form user.domain, and all you have to do in return is place an 88×31 button on your site. The service itself doesn’t include advertising, but does include URL cloaking, statistics, support for META tags and more…
___________________________________

TSX (http://www.tsx.org/) *
TSX (the Technosite Exchange) offers free URL redirection of the form subdomain.tsx.org as well as various options, such as their SiteHide service that conceals the real URL of your website so that only your TSX URL is visible to site visitors. You can choose between banner or popup advertising.
___________________________________

ULimit (http://www.ulimit.com/en/) ***
com.bi, fr.st, ca.tc, unixlover.com and several other domain names
ULimit offers free URL forwarding of the form www.yourchoice.domain as well as email forwarding and free electronic business cards to notify people of your new web address.
___________________________________

UNI.CC (http://www.uni.cc/) ****
uni.cc
Free URL forwarding service that includes statistical information about the visitors coming through your link. Also offers a service to turn your home computer into a temporary web server.
___________________________________

V3 (http://www.v3.com/) ****
come.to, fly.to, listen.to, move.to, start.at, surf.to, travel.to, welcome.to
Offers free URL forwarding to domain.to/sitename. You must place an advertising banner on the front page of your site in return for using this service, or choose from various other advertising options.
___________________________________

VDirect (http://www.vdirect.com/) ****
vdirect.com, vdirect.net, webrally.net, snapto.net, getto.net, emailme.net, netbounce.com, netbounce.net, oneaddress.net
VDirect offers two types of service: either choose a domain name from the list and get http://username.domain and http://www.username.domain (along with a username@domain free email address) or else register a domain name with them and get full www.domain.com redirection! (the latter option is also open to you if you already own a domain name). VDirect also offers statistics on the number of people visiting your site through the redirection link. All this is free and ad-supported, though you can choose to remove the ads for an annual fee. Sadly, the range of “standard” domain names is fairly limited.
___________________________________

Warping.to (http://warping.to/) *
warping.to
Free URL redirection service in the form http://warping.to/yourname. Note that you have to add an 88×31 pixel banner to your site in order to get this service for free, and that a sponsor’s banner will also be added to the foot of your site automatically. To sign up a second site for redirection will cost you $8 a year; you can pay the same amount to remove the advertising from your free service.
___________________________________

WebAlias (http://www.webalias.com/) ****
sail.to, up.to, way.to, got.to, escape.to, and several more
WebAlias offers a free URL redirection service with both subdomain (NAME.domain.to) and subdirectory (domain.to/NAME) style addresses. The service also provides detailed traffic stats on visitors using the redirection URL.
___________________________________

WebJump.ru (http://webjump.ru/) **
webjump.ru, 8m.ru, tk.ru, ploschad.com, ytka.com
___________________________________

WebMask (http://www.webmask.com/) ***
name.webmask.com and webmask.com/name
This service offers two types of URL redirection, and no banner ads.
___________________________________

ZDos (http://www.zdos.com/) ****
web-page.net, mainpage.net, tourguide.net etc. (15 domain names to choose from)
This site offers free URL forwarding to your own subdomain such as http://yourchoice.selecteddomain
___________________________________

Zooming.to (http://www.zooming.to/) ***
zooming.to
Free URL redirection service in the form http://zooming.to/you.
___________________________________

Quote:
Legend: Ratings
Considertion: The Subdomain, Ads, URL cloaking, DNS configuration, User stas, e-mail forwarding, META tags support and above all reliability

***** Excellent
**** Good (if the URL suits you)
*** Well, okay
** Could have been better (again if the Subdomain fits the bill)
* Avoidable

Guys, please add more links and feel free to rate yourselves…

Thanks for reading!

( phew! looks like my “first” long and useful post..)

Standard