How to: Stop Semalt Referral Spam

Recently, a company called “Semlat” has software bots crawling websites all over the world. They state that you can remove yourself from their list, but so far I’ve not heard of anyone actually getting off the list. They claim to be an SEO company, but their practices of getting to the top are somewhat black hat.

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Even worse, they are no longer the only ones. The list of “companies” that do this has grown huge in just the past month! A partial list of these companies is:

  • buttons-for-website.com
  • 7makemoneyonline.com
  • darodar.com
  • semalt.com
  • ilovevitaly.co
  • myftpupload.com
  • econom.co
  • iskalko.ru
  • ilovevitaly.ru
  • ilovevitaly.com
  • o-o-8-o-o.ru
  • o-o-6-o-o.ru
  • cenoval.ru
  • priceg.com
  • cenokos.ru
  • seoexperimenty.ru
  • gobongo.info
  • vodkoved.ru
  • adcash.com
  • websocial.me
  • cityadspix.com
  • luxup.ru
  • ykecwqlixx.ru
  • superiends.org
  • slftsdybbg.ru
  • edakgfvwql.ru
  • socialseet.ru
  • screentoolkit.com
  • savetubevideo.com
  • There is some speculation that these bots are also looking for weaknesses on sites to exploit. Even if it’s not true, it’s still a good idea to block them because it messes up Google Analytics reports and puts an unnecessary load on your server.

    There are a number of ways to block these, or filter out their traffic. But the best two methods both involve adding fields to the .httaccess file on your server. Do this by:

    1.) Log into your host’s cPanel.
    2.) In the Files section, click on the File Manager icon. (you may have multiples)
    3.) Check the box for Document Root for and select the domain name you wish to access from the drop-down menu if there is more then one.
    4.) Click the box that says “Show Hidden Files (dot files)” – this is the critical step
    5.) Click Go.
    6.) Scroll down to .htaccess in the list of files.
    7.) Highlight and click copy at the top of the screen
    8.) Type in .httaccess.back and hit enter (this creates a backup, just in case)
    9.) Highlight .httaccess and click “edit” at the top of the screen
    10.) Paste one of the two following sections of code into the file, typically at the bottom.
    11.) Click Save
    12.) Access your site in a separate browser or browser window to make sure you can still access the website. If you can, all is good. If not, edit .httaccess again and remove that parts you just added.

    Code #1

    – this is a bit less elegant but is very direct:


    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer semalt.com spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer buttons-for-website.com spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer darodar.com spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer 7makemoneyonline.com spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer ilovevitaly.co spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer myftpupload.com spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer econom.co spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer iskalko.ru spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer ilovevitaly.ru spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer ilovevitaly.com spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer o-o-8-o-o.ru spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer o-o-6-o-o.ru spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer cenoval.ru spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer priceg.com spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer cenokos.ru spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer seoexperimenty.ru spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer gobongo.info spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer vodkoved.ru spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer adcash.com spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer websocial.me spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer cityadspix.com spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer luxup.ru spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer ykecwqlixx.ru spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer superiends.org spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer slftsdybbg.ru spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer edakgfvwql.ru spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer socialseet.ru spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer screentoolkit.com spambot=yes
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer savetubevideo.com spambot=yes
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
    Deny from env=spambot

    New SPAM bots can be added easily to this list by just cutting and pasting the domain name.

    Code #2

    – Little more elegant. This is the one I went with. It is provided by Perishable Press.


    # 5G:[WordPress]

    RedirectMatch 403 /\$\&
    RedirectMatch 403 (?i)/\&(t|title)=
    RedirectMatch 403 (?i)/\.(bash|git|hg|log|svn|swp|tar)
    RedirectMatch 403 (?i)/(1|contact|i|index1|iprober|phpinfo|phpspy|product|signup|t|test|timthumb|tz|visit|webshell|wp-signup).php
    RedirectMatch 403 (?i)/(author-panel|class|database|manage|phpMyAdmin|register|submit-articles|system|usage|webmaster)/?$
    RedirectMatch 403 (?i)/(=|_mm|cgi|cvs|dbscripts|jsp|rnd|shadow|userfiles)

    This second version should work a little better since instead of blocking the bots, it gives them an official 403 not found. That should keep the bots from hitting your site at all in the future and reduce load even more.

    Since I’ve implemented this method, I have seen Semalt (and all the others,) go away completely. I still get an occasional iffy one but it’s not as bad as the 10-15 (per a site) I was getting before.

    Do you have another solution that works better? Please comment below!

    Tony Stark’s Craigslist ad

    Tony Stark’s Craigslist ad

    Perusing Craigslist comes up with some interesting tidbits sometimes. As I was reading this I was thinking “Tony Stark’s Craigslist ad.” Originally posted Jan 16, 2014

    Hi,

    Im a 36 year old male, successful company founder who has decided to make a concerted effort to see more of the world and live life a little fuller. I have built several companies before in the US and South America and managed offices of up to 30 people. Recently my schedule has become very flexible and I want to take advantage of that.

    Here are my goals of which you would be helping.

    • Build a company with few employees and stay mobile managing contractors online.
    • Be productive improving my mind and body

    • Focus on several exciting rewarding projects including
    o making a non profit website that becomes a major media channel (I hate the mainstream news)

    o pursuing a childhood dream of building product inventions. I will take the ideas I have had for years and learn how to get them into the hands of manufacturers and distributors and work out licensing arrangements.

    • Live in cool locations and go where I want when I want. Ive already been to 30 countries so Im no stranger to traveling.

    Your job would be to help make these things happen and join me in the adventure.

    I love new york but given that its cold now Im thinking that we start with living in Miami and then when things get warmer head back to Miami. . .or maybe Spain. . .or Tokyo. . .Im not sure. But wherever we go we should be productive and it should be fun.

    I am not looking for mobile arm candy. . .nor do I want to date someone or have a girlfriend/boyfriend or want you to do anything that is against your morals.

    We should get along really well for our own sanity as we will be working closely with each other.

    iron-man-movies-robert-tony-stark-downey-jr-desktop-free-wallpaper-robert-downe</a></p>
<p>My personality is very out going, cracking jokes, doing sports and always thinking about ideas. I have plenty of creativity but do lack organization and discipline. Moving around will not help this so I am looking for a particular diligent person that is insanely organized but does not get too bothered by a somewhat instable life. </p>
<p>The candidate should have little attachments. . .ie a serious boyfriend/girlfrien, husbands or especially children would complicate things as you would get homesick and have responsibilities. This is not a position for everyone. </p>
<p>Pay will be competitive. Travel would be paid for. You will be rewarded for success of the inventions as well through some equity or incentive plan. </p>
<p>You should be<br />
•	Educated from a top university<br />
•	Very organized<br />
•	Without commitments at home (ie serious boyfriend, children, husband, sick parents, etc) and ready to relocate<br />
•	A very direct person </p>
<p>Duties will entail<br />
•	Coordinating freelancers in a variety of fields from industrial design to editing<br />
•	Keeping my schedule including finding fun and athletic things for me to do<br />
•	Keeping my finances in order<br />
•	Keeping me on task and bringing organization to a somewhat unstructured life<br />
•	Doing research and social media posting helping build the content of media related non profit<br />
•	Helping get products in the hands of companies. </p>
<p>Please send a cover letter describing:<br />
•	What relevant work you have done before<br />
•	What your current job/living situation<br />
•	Where you have<br />
•	The salary of your last job or current position.<br />
•	Do you have any product licensing or web marketing experience</p>
<p>Send your resume and cover letter in the email.</p>
<p>Also, since its so hard for me to judge people via resume if you could include a 1 minute youtube video (you can have it unlisted or password protected) that would be great. You could talk about yourself or a passion of yours. I know its not a usual request but anything you can do to help me get to know who you are will save us both time and energy. I am not looking for a great salesperson or a youtube star. . .just be yourself. And you have my promise I wont repost the link anywhere. </p>
<p>Im currently traveling but will return to New York on the 20th of January and will be looking to interview people immediately and immediately hire and move to Miami as soon as I find the right person. Please answer all questions in the posting and send cover letter. </p>

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    How To: Setup WordPress on Dreamhost plus configuration

    How To: Setup WordPress on Dreamhost plus configuration

    ***Update**** After six years with Dreamhost I’ve moved away from them. Shared hosting still has a lot of problems. I now use iWFHosting who seem to be much more WordPress friendly.

    Just about everyone has a blog now. I myself have three main ones and several smaller ones for various reasons. I’ve used Blogger, WordPress and even LiveJournal to create various blogs. But WordPress remains my favorite by far.

    The purpose of this How To is to be a step by step guide to setting up your own Blog, on your own domain, using DreamHost as your web host with WordPress as the blogging software. At the end of this you should have a fully functional blog and be on your way to writing your first post.

    Step One: Purchase a Domain Name

    I suggest going to NameCheap.com and registering your domain name. If this is going to be a professional website for yourself, perhaps to show off your work or portfolio, then something like http://www.YourName.com is a good choice. It’s a good idea to grab both the .com and .net versions of your domain name. .Org names can be good too but are not as popular for personal domains so it’s not as critical to buy it. Domain names are $9.69 each for .com, .net and .org via NameCheap. They can be much more expensive through other registrars. This is good for one year and it’s highly suggested you renew before it expires or you risk loosing the name and may have to spend a lot of money to get it back, if you even can.

    Step Two: Create a WordPress account

    If you do not already have one, create a WordPress account. This can be done via http://wordpress.com/. Note that you will not be hosting on WordPress so whatever you put for the blog name and domain name will not matter. But two of the most critical Plugins we’ll be covering relies on a WordPress account to work.

    Step Three: Sign up for a Dream Host Account

    Go to DreamHost.com and sign up for an account. Use the promotion code “LINKEDINR” (without quotes) to get 10% off a full years hosting. This comes out to just under $110.00 for a full year of hosting which is an OK deal. There are cheaper deals for web hosting but they may not be as reliable, have as good customer service, or have the options you need to install WordPress.

    Step Four: Setup Domain on Dreamhost

    Once you’ve signed up for an account login to the DreamHost web panel. On the left side will be a side bar, choose “Domains” then right under it will appear “Manage Domains”. Click on that and then on the right side, “Add New Domain/Sub-Domain”. It should have a big green plus button next to it.

    Type in the domain name, do not add the www part, but do add the .com, .net or .org part. For example type in example.com or example.net . Everything else can be left blank or to the defaults. My only suggestion might be to use Gmail to host your mail, it’s a better service then DreamHost’s default mail server.

    If you do that, you’ll need to sign up for Google Apps via http://www.google.com/a/cpanel/domain/new and use the domain name you created. Note that you only need to do for one domain.

    Repeat for each domain name you purchased. If you bought http://example.com and http://example.net it would be a good idea to choose the option towards the bottom that says, “Redirect” Make sure the .net is the domain to redirect and type in the .com . Doing this will allow people to go to either one and end up in the same place.

    Step Five: Installing WordPress on DreamHost

    On the left hand side click on “Goodies”, “One Click Installs” then “Install New Website Software – Advanced Mode”. This option is two more steps but gives more control over some of the stuff we’re going to install later, and gives keeps you from having to redo the entire blog in the future.

    Make sure “WordPress” is clicked. Scroll down to the option “Install to:” and make sure the drop down has the correct domain in it. At this point there should only be one, as long as you did the Redirect option in Step 4. Make sure “Create a Database for me automatically:” is checked then click the “Install it for me now!” button.

    You should see a screen that says it’ll take 5-10 minutes or so to install the software. The system will even automatically email you and include a link to do your first time WordPress setup. Be sure to follow this link, and write down or change the password it auto-creates. The first time setup pretty much consists of hitting next and OK.

    Step Six: Installing Plugins

    Installing Plugins is extremely easy for the most part. Using an FTP Client you simply drop the files in to the plugin directory which is on DreamHost, in the directory domainname.com/wp-content/plugins . Most plugins follow this format, but there are a tiny few that need some help.

    A large list of available plugins is available off of WordPress at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/

    Some of the most indispensable ones are:
    Twitter Feed
    Google Sitemap Generator
    WP-Stats
    Advertising Manager

    WP-Stats and Advertising Manager are must have plugins. The only other one you must have is already included, Akismet which checks for spam comments. The other two plugins listed are good for letting the world know about your site. There are hundreds of different plugins. Do not be afraid to read the description and download the ones you might like to try.

    Step Seven: Configuration

    Within your blog’s control panel which is accessed via http://Example.com/wp-admin is a plethora of options. This is the core of the blog itself, and is only accessible to you or whoever you have given the admin password too. On the left side are multiple options to configure your site.

    One of the first ones to change is under “Apperance” and called “Themes”. This option allows you to change the look of the site. Many themes are already included, but more can be added simply by uploading them to the domainname.com/wp-content/themes directory on the DreamHost server. Themes can be previewed simply by clicking on it. If you like it, then there is a button to make it the active theme. The WordPress site has a section dedicated just to themes: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/ and many more can be found with a simple Google Search.

    Under “Appearance” is another great option called “Widgets”. Most modern WordPress themes are able to use Widgets. They appear on the actual blog page, either on the left or right side of the entire page. Sometimes there are even two columns of Widgets available for maximum flexibility.

    Adding Widgets is easy, but non-intuitive at first. In the middle is a list of all the possible Widgets. There may be more or less on your list as additional Widgets can be added via Plugins. Simply left click on the Widget and drag it to the one of the places where it says “Sidebar” on the right, then click on the save button. Widgets can be reordered, the ones at the top will be shown first. I highly suggest that you start out with just Categories and Tag Cloud activated so that users of your site can find what they’re looking for quickly. Widgets can be removed from the list by simply dragging them off.

    Some Plugins may need to be updated, or activated. This is done under the “Plugins” option on the left. It’s best to deactivate plugins that you know are not needed. This helps optimize the speed of the page when people visit it. If there are any plugins that say they need to be updated, it’s a good idea to go ahead and do so. Again feel free to activate and deactivate plugins to see what they do. As long as you don’t hit the delete button nothing is going to be lost.

    Many Plugins do not need to be configured, but those that do will either tell you at the top of the wp-admin page that they need to be, or will take you automatically to the configuration page if need be. For the most part the default settings usually work fine. If you have questions about a specific option, it’s best to go to the web page of the Plugin author. Links to that site should be fairly apparent on the Plugin’s configuration page.

    Two Plugins, Askimet, and WP-Stats both need your WordPress Login and application key. When configuring them they’ll provide handy links to the exact page you need to get the application key. Cut and paste it into the correct field, and you’re good to go. These simply allows your blog to check against the WordPress for spam comments, and keep track of your site traffic and statistics. Various stats tracked include specific search terms people are looking for that brought them to your page, and which posts they viewed.

    Step Eight: Writing a post

    While the topic of your post(s) should already be apparent to you, there are several options that need to be thought about before hitting that blue “Publish” button. If you’ve already clicked on the “Posts” button and then “Add New” you might have seen a confusing screen with a lot of options.

    At the top right under the “Add New Post” title is a blank unlabled box. This is the title of your specific blog post. IE, this posts title is: “How To: Setup WordPress on Dreamhost plus configuration” which shows up at the top. That is what I typed into this box for this post.

    The next box down is where you write. It’s a basic WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) HTML text editor. Links can be added, pictures or movies can be uploaded, text can be formatted, changed, and resized. And if you know HTML code, you can use it here too!

    On the right are the important boxes. “Post Tags” is probably the most important one of all. Choose keywords from your post that are relevant and type or copy them into the box. One you have a list, separated by commas, click the “Add” button and they’ll show up below as your list of Tags. These are critical as these are the words that Google and other search engines categorize your blog post by and allow your post to be found.

    Categories are almost as important, but serve a slightly different purpose. At the bottom of the list is a “Add New Category” button. This gives the ability to add more as needed. It’s highly suggested to use at least one category and never the “Uncategorized” one. Categories should be broad and encompass many things. For instance on my Photoblog I have categories for History, Landscapes, Macro, Nature, City and several more. Clicking on one category brings up just the posts that are related to that particular one.

    When writing a post, make sure to use the “Save Draft” and “Preview” buttons often to make sure things look like you expect them to be. Also be sure to frequently spell check as nothing looses you credibility faster then poor spelling and grammar.

    Conclusion: Blogging is hard, but fun

    If this is your first blog expect there to be a bit of a learning curve in setting things up. Do not be afraid to ask questions, search the Internet for your question, or just experiment. Most everything can be redone and fixed if there are mistakes.

    Once you get into the swing of things though, Blogging becomes extremely fun and is a great creative outlet.

    How to: Use the web to check copyright

    How to: Use the web to check copyright

    With the size of the Internet a lot a files, thoughts, musings, writings, paintings, pictures, etc, get “accidently” made available for those who have not paid for them. Students copy and paste whole sections of documents for their own papers, and less scrupulous individuals copy for their own reasons. A lot of companies have gotten around this by instigating DRM protection schemes, despite protests by consumers. The worst part though is that for those of us who provide content on the web, it’s actually pretty hard to keep that information secure.

    Plagiarized text files are one of the easiest to find. Tools like Google are actually very useful here, but have the potential to come up with way too many hits. There are a lot of pay-per-use or subscription tools available on the market that will search for plagiarism, but Reprint Writers has put a great tool online that searches better then Google does. Unfortunately it only searches Yahoo so it may miss some hits.

    On the other hand there are times when one does need to publish materials online and may not be the original author, or the original author may not be readily apparent or available. The Library Copyright Digital Slider tool could be very useful. Geared towards Librarians, it is extremely useful in identifying works that may have become public domain.

    If the publication in question is a book it should be copyrighted via the Library of Congress. Some of that information is online via this link . Unfortunately, a good portion of this information is still offline, but it is being added slowly but surely. The provided link also has information about how to contribute to this project.

    More recently web photography has really taken off. A lot of people with cheap digital cameras are posting pictures left and right, and just as quickly those pictures are being pulled from services such as Flickr and used by others.

    Idee, Inc has a new tool that is in beta called Tineye. It actually goes out on the web and searches for pictures. Pictures that it’s seen before (and it’s constantly searching,) are given a unique identifier based on pixels in the graphic. Tineye scours the web for any picture that comes close, including those that were photoshopped or other wise altered.

    In this day age copyright is an important concern for everyone involved. Using the above tools will make it easier to identify such cases and take appropriate action. Doing so will also help keep the unintentional infringements from happening.

    How to: Add RSS to Blogspot

    How to: Add RSS to Blogspot

    Really Simple Syndication feeds or RSS is one of those technologies that makes sense when you think about it, but just isn’t as widely used as it should be.

    As a blogger, I too at one time went with Blogspot/Google/Blogger to do my thing. One of the things that made me move to WordPress, and an independent site, was the lack of a simple way to create RSS feeds.

    Since then, Blogspot has seen the problem and fixed it. Take the address of the site you want to use and add /atom.xml to the end of the address.

    So http://ricksawesomeblog.blogspost.com becomes http://ricksawesomeblog.blogspost.com/atom.xml

    Take the new line, insert into your RSS reader and you’re good to go!

    The feed for this humble blog is a tiny bit more complicated http://hamell.net/?feed=rss2, but readers are welcomed, and hopefully informed.