Hello,

Over the past few weeks we have seen an increasingly distributed number of distributed attacks against wordpress sites, using wp-login.php .These attacks come from such a distributed source that almost 400 different IP’s try to attack the login file, and the purpose isn’t to actually gain access to your WP admin, but to attack the server, causing it to shut down, or become non responsive.

After a bit of researching, it’s highly recommended that all clients with wordpress sites install the Botnet Attack Blocker plugin, and use the following settings in your wp-admin/settings/botnet blocker:

Block after 1 failed login
Except from your ip addresses (whitelist). You can add multiple IP’s with a coma . If you need to find out what your ip is, you can always ask google

This will not only provide a more secure environment for your WP-admin, it will help us in mitigating these attacks, as these failed logins will be blocked from your install.

As always, if you need help installing this, or have questions, feel free to open up a support ticket and we’ll assist you as much as we can 🙂

Source : http://www.seomoz.org/blog/5-warning-signs-of-a-bad-seo-client

I just walked away from a lot of money.

After two months of research, proposals, and negotiations I turned down a deal that would have brought my freelance income to a new level. But I would have been miserable.

My prospective client had no shortage of funds. There was nothing shady about their business. I just didn’t want to deal with them.

I used to say “yes” to everything. I took on any client that would sign on the dotted line. In my zealousness to build a business, I neglected to find the “right” clients and settled for anyone who would cut a check. This led to sleepless nights, wasted time, and poor results. In my opinion, a successful business deal isn’t just getting paid. Success is when both parties (client and consultant) can agree on realistic goals; once those goals are met, both are satisfied with the results.

You are the professional. You know what will work and what won’t work. If you give the client whatever they ask for, it’s not going to help their business in the end. Learn how to balance input from the client about their industry and business goals with a reasonable plan of action that you produce.

Value your time…and the client’s. In my recent experience, I made the mistake of conducting keyword research and competitive analysis for free. I did this as an act of good faith, since there was a lot of business on the table. But without any skin in the game, the prospective client was indecisive and nit-picky over just about everything.

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On March 15, 1985, a Massachusetts computer systems firm registered the first .com Internet domain name.

Although Symbolics.com didn’t spark an instant gold rush, the event planted the first seed of a transformation that has changed the world into a Web-fueled digital river of news, commerce and social interaction.

Exactly 25 years later, life B.C – Before .Com – is already a distant memory, especially in the tech-centric Bay Area.

“Can you remember what it was like before the Internet, before .com?” said Mark McLaughlin, president and chief executive officer of VeriSign Inc. of Mountain View. “What about the next 25 years? Who can imagine that?”

VeriSign, the Internet security vendor that administers the .com registry, is hosting an event in Washington on Tuesday celebrating the milestone, with former President Bill Clinton scheduled to deliver a keynote address. And on May 26 in San Francisco City Hall, VeriSign will honor Internet innovators at a “25 Years of .com Gala” hosted by comedian Dana Carvey.

In a relatively short time, the dot-com revolution has “woven itself into every nook and cranny of the commercial world,” said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, a Washington think tank that studies the social impacts of the Internet. “It usually takes technologies a lot longer to insinuate themselves into the basic rhythms of people’s lives.”

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Selling over the internet these days is big business and all e-commerce entrepreneurs need to have an attractive and serviceable webpage that is not only easy on the eye but functional and easy for customers to use, plus a good web hosting company to ensure that the webpage runs smoothly.

A good webpage is all about sound navigation, so the layout of a web page is all important. First and foremost decide what the key elements to your web page are. A web page does not need to be cluttered with superfluous detail and should be as simple as possible. Only use two fonts; one for headings and the other for text. Use spaces on the webpage sensibly to allow customers to take in information quickly and logically. Be careful when deciding on your colour palette, and choose ones that don’t clash. Make sure the text you want your customers to read is clear and don’t place it over background images where it can’t be read easily. Finally, be careful of the layout and make sure it is balanced and fills the page well.

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.NZ Promotion – Coming Soon!

Following the launch of the .NZ ccTLD and the overwhelming response we received, we are giving you the chance to effectively market this promising ccTLD with over a 60% drop in Pricing!

From the 3rd of February 2010, all .NZ domains (.CO.NZ, .NET.NZ and .ORG.NZ) will be available at an extremely competitive price !

We hope that you take advantage of this special promotion !
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Update on Domain Theft Protection
From 3rd February 2010, the Customer Lock feature will be deprecated and replaced by advanced Domain Theft Protection management.

Henceforth, all Customers will be able to disable Domain Theft Protection on their Domains, even if you or your Sub-Resellers have enabled it. By default, this feature will be enabled during the purchase process for all new Domains in the interests of greater control.

Domain Theft Protection links will be visible on the Domain Management console in the Control Panel as well as the Order Details page.