PhilC over at Web Workshop has written another great article. this time focusing on the Inbound Link Text..

You would think that this particular topic would be common knowledge by now.. But we constantly see people, especially those claiming to be SEOs, claim that links no longer matter, or link text has been degraded as a factor at Google.. So far no one has been able to present solid proof that this is the case.. In fact, link building is still the #1 method of driving your site up the charts.. If it weren’t there wouldn’t be so many people out there selling their services at submitting your site to a long list of directories..

As an example, some of us are pushing san diego web design up the charts without actually being a web design company.. The thread is a fun read as well..

Good job Phil on laying this subject out in a manner that everyone should be able to understand.. If you want to participate in the discussion, right now it’s just us stroking Phil’s ego - but a discussion should evolve, join us over at SEO Froum..

~Fey

I just finished reading The Art of Intrusion by everyone’s favorite hacker, Kevin Mitnick.. The book focuses mainly on ways people try to gain access to networks, buildings, and information in general.. And it does a pretty good job of telling the stories of the people involved..

If you are looking for a guide to hacking, or hoping to gain tips for your own efforts, don’t bother.. Much of the detail is intentionally left out in an effort to not encourage script kiddies to do something stupid that will set them up for a visit to a correctional facility.. But as a light read, and maybe even a primer for non technical people about the types of issues they could and will face, it shines an important light on just how unsecure so many places really are.. Story after story is told about the most basic security functions being ignored, improperly executed, or simply not being used at all..

We all have those stories, I have one local ISP here that is notorious for giving out login information if you know a name and email address.. TAoI goes into several different methods of gaining information of all sorts.. And Kevin does a good job of telling the stories in a way that makes them interesting without overloading them with technical jargon that will turn off non-technical people..

Would I recommend this book to a network security guy?? Not really, it’s filed with a lot of, I can’t believe they did that moments.. But for a casual read, or as a way to convince the ‘boss’ that he may want to take a closer look at security, it goes along way toward showing just how easy it is to gain access to just about anywhere..

Fey -