Archive for the ‘SEO Blackhat’ Category
24th January 2008
For Internext, we started our tradition of not bothering at all with show badges. The show room floor is for sales agents and the last thing I need is to sit through another panel of people who don’t really know what the hell they’re talking about trying to sell me some of their bullshit.
Let’s face it, all the meetings you want to take are at the bar, private dinners, private parties, or (as was the highlight of this Internext) something like the TGP / MGP VIP dinner. Getting upgraded to the Entourage Suite was cool, as were the parties in the Playboy suite and in that one suite with a bowling alley. The Porn Poker Tour had cool show schwag but that VIP Dinner was certainly the highlight event.
Call me a snob, but I like it when parties, dinners or events are exclusive. At this one, they did a good job of keeping out the riffraff. The sponsor presidents were around talking about their programs and the TGP owners were there for trades. The food was great and so was the company.
At one point I looked around the room and thought about the immense collective reach of the people present. It must have been in the hundreds of millions daily.
A couple of the more interesting conversations centered around the recent Penthouse Acquisition of Adult Friend Finder for $500 million. I asked “Legendary Lars” about the buyout for 5X earnings, and he said he wouldn’t have gone through with it if Penthouse Going Public. It’s interesting that most of the adult industry can’t privately sell for more than 5X earnings (and usually less than that) but a public company like Playboy is currently trading for 29 times earnings. Lars is a soft-spoken, highly intelligent guy who’s a shining example of some of the good peeps in our industry.
Then I met and spoke with Marc Bell who’s the CEO of Penthouse. His background is not in the adult space but rather in taking companies from late stage to going public. When I asked where Penthouse got the money to buy Adult Friend Finder, he said he used his own money. He does run a private equity fund. It sounds like an exciting position to be in; taking companies public and providing the bridge financing yourself.
Later, the guys from Penthouse hooked us up at their strip club in Vegas with free drinks, VIP tables and stripper bucks – which are like Toys ‘R Us Gift Certificates only they’re for lap dances.
Anyway, look for Penthouse to be a publicly traded company inside of 2 years.
24th January 2008
If you remember learning about the Appendix in Biology, you’ll probably also remember that no one had any idea why it exists. It’s been stumping scientists for years. That is, until just recently . . .
In September of 2007, Biochemist and immunologist William Parker came up with a theory and explanation for the appendix:
The human vermiform (“worm-like”) appendix is a 5–10 cm long and 0.5–1 cm wide pouch that extends from the cecum of the large bowel. The architecture of the human appendix is unique among mammals, and few mammals other than humans have an appendix at all.
The function of the human appendix has long been a matter of debate, with the structure often considered to be a vestige of evolutionary development despite evidence to the contrary based on comparative primate anatomy. The appendix is thought to have some immune function based on its association with substantial lymphatic tissue, although the specific nature of that putative function is unknown.
Based (a) on a recently acquired understanding of immune-mediated biofilm formation by commensal bacteria in the mammalian gut, (b) on biofilm distribution in the large bowel, (c) the association of lymphoid tissue with the appendix, (d) the potential for biofilms to protect and support colonization by commensal bacteria, and (e) on the architecture of the human bowel, we propose that the human appendix is well suited as a “safe house” for commensal bacteria, providing support for bacterial growth and potentially facilitating re-inoculation of the colon in the event that the contents of the intestinal tract are purged following exposure to a pathogen.
So, in Tech Geek Terms, the Appendix is like a USB Flash Drive that stores healthy, protective bacteria that can be used as a backup to reboot the intestine after a bacteria-depleting diarrhea illness like cholera. Parker noted that, “if you don’t have something like the appendix to harbor safe bacteria, you have less of a survival advantage.” In other words: ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR MISSION CRITICAL DATA.
Jeff Random came up with the Flash Backup Drive analogy and we discussed it on the Car ride from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.
24th January 2008
According to these Russians, They cracked the Yahoo Captcha and are giving away how they did it here.
24th January 2008
Here’s a very nice XSS find by Klaus:
“Most domain registrars (have yet to find one that does) will not filter what you put on your REGISTRANT CONTACT INFO and WILL allow the script tag! ”
Considering how many sites scrape or use Whois info, I’d say that a hole like that is pretty massive for hackers.
24th January 2008
and what a long, strange trip it’s been. Vegas is like Disney Land for adults. It’s a place you truly must visit during your brief time here. An 11 day trip, however, is probably too long for most people to endure.
Now, I’m in Los Angeles. I had planned to blog while in Vegas but it just didn’t happen. I know if i was one of those twitterers, my microblog would have looked something like this:
“I’m eating at an amazing [steak, sushi, french] restaurant.”
“I’m throwing bones at the dice table - they are telling me I can’t use My N95 at the craps table.”
“We’re at the [Insert top name] Show”
“I’m getting a lap dance at the [one of 5] strip club”
As soon as I sort out these notes I’ll give you a breakdown on most of the interesting stories. But as always, some of what happened in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
