All About PHP

PHP stands for a recursive acronym 'PHP Hypertext PreProcessor'. Created in 1995 by Rasmus Lerdorf, it soon caught up with mainstream scripting languages. While initially it was written to build Dynamic Webpages, it is now used in 75% of web servers for server side programming.

With leading web content management systems using PHP - including Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, PHP has become one of the most popular and reliable languages to build web applications. There are several reasons for this, some of the more important one's are as follows:

1. PHP is an open source language, there is a huge pool of PHP programmers who work on improving it, and has a wide support base for new and old developers alike. It is also much cheaper to code in PHP.

2. Like C++, SmallTalk, it is object oriented with several libraries for various functions.

3. You can build large applications with much less code compared to other languages. PHP is also simpler and easier to learn.

4. It is not browser specific, thus developers need not work around any hardcoded browser specific coding. Same with different platforms and Operating Systems (OS). Code written in PHP can be very easily ported from one platform or OS to the other.

5. PHP has built-in Zend scripting engine that enables it to run scripts faster in comparison to other languages.

6. It is designed to build dynamic web applications.

7. Easy integration to back end Database like MySQL, PostgreSQL etc.

8. Easy embedding of HTML code in PHP pages, to make them more user friendly, with better formatting.

Apart from full-fledged applications written in PHP, there are also hugely popular websites like Facebook, Wikipedia, and Digg that use PHP for coding the user interface.

Ultimately, the decision to build web applications in PHP is more or less driven by the cost incurred and the ease of development and maintenance.

It is always safer to look at other choices and issues involved to make an informed decision, especially if something goes awry after the PHP web development process, and you are answerable to the management about choosing PHP.

For example, if security is very important to you, there are well known holes in PHP. If a user passes unexpected content to a PHP script intentionally or unintentionally, it can cause havoc to your system. Thus, user input validation is very important in the development stage. As long as you ensure your developers are aware of loopholes and workarounds using PHP, you can be sure of a smooth sailing.

All About Search Engines

Do you really know how these search companies like Google and Yahoo really operate? If you are like millions of people you probably type in into the search box of Google and Yahoo what you are looking for and take what it gives you. Most people will click on the one of the links in the top 10 searches and let the other thousand search suggestions fall to the wayside. Let's explore at how things pop into the top 10 of search results and let's look at why the large search engines pick these items to be in the top 10.

Before we go any farther lets put the myth that search engines are bias. All web based search companies even the giants like Google, Bing, and Yahoo are not biased; they keep a very competitive edge and for the most part offer high quality search results for the customers. If they were bias then they would lose in ranking because the public would look elsewhere for their searches.

Search engines come in three different forms. The first is powered by web crawlers, spiders, robots.This is one form of searches are done. The websites are crawled over like a spider weaving a web and search for special key words and Meta tags and links. The information is gathered and brought back to the web site file for indexing the information. Periodically the robot crawlers go back to the site looking for new information to put in the file for the web site. By updating the site helps keep the crawlers active and finding information to help rank your web site.

Human based search engines operate by humans when information is submitted manually and then the information is catalogued and indexed for all the search providers that the individual submitted them too. No web based crawlers are used in this case.

The third is a combination of both worlds. These are human based and robot/spider based.

The base idea of a search engine is to emulate the user (you). Just keep in mind that all search engines are different and it depends on what the person has submitted to what search engine and what the spiders have found depends on what your search turns up.

One key aspect to search engine searches is what is called search engine Algorithms. You ask what the heck an Algorithm is. "The algorithm is what the search engines use to determine the relevance of the information in the index to what the user is searching for". Here is a list of types of search algorithms;

   1. Uniformed search

   2. Informed search

   3. SQL search

   4. Tree search

   5. Graph search

   6. List search

Spam-dexing has been hitting the larger search engines for the past few years so these search engines have been updating their technology in an attempt to discourage this type of practice. What happens in spam-dexing is that the developer stuffs the web site with keywords in order to drive up the ranking of the site. Meta tags and key words drive up the traffic to a site because they drive the site up the scale for ranking but now with this technology these search companies are now looking at other forms to such as link indexing to increase the ranking of the site.

Algorithms are one of the most highly kept secrets in the world of web design and social networking. No one really knows the ins and outs of this tool that the search engines uses. In order to rank your web site it is best for you to find someone that understand and know Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is a whole language in its own and it takes someone with years of experience to truly understand this information.

Find a Quality Cannon Printer

When you go out to seek Canon printers, remember that they must suit your specifications and the magnitude of your work. Make sure you scout on your own; ask around for opinions and gather information from professional experts available to you or through the internet. Gather enough information before the purchase striving to ensure that you do not rely on secondary information but your own opinion.

Canon Printers right now are the most common type in the market. They are used on a world wide scale, their efficiency and reliability well documented. They are manufactured by a company called Canon, a leading manufacturer of cameras as well. Their accessories are also easily available and easy to use. Therefore, it would be a good decision to consider this brand because should they need any kind of repair, it will not be too difficult to get it.

Depending on the type of work you intend to do, there are different arrays of such machines on offer. They serve to satisfy customers at all possible levels so whether you are engaging in printing for your business or for leisure, there are Canon printers that will suit your specifications. With their level of technological advancements, finding the most appropriate machine will not be a back-breaking task.

They offer multi-function types that are suitable for use in the office as well as home. They are compact and easy to understand. It includes a copier and a scanner for efficient printing through modern computers. They offer a sharper resolution and have an impressive print speed. They also have slots for media support to ensure flexibility in using it. This is a suitable first-time choice.

They have laser printers which are reputable for being user friendly. These easy to use machines offer high printing speeds with excellent clarity and crisp imaging. They are unique to most others because they require far less maintenance hence can be very convenient at home or in an office. There are also the color-lasers which are suitable for work-group printing and colored documents. They use separate single-color cartridges to ensure maximum efficiency in bringing out the color.

Then they have the impressive portable ones which can print from virtually anywhere. You can carry them on business trips to ensure that you get what you need without having to rely on time-consuming and expensive faxes. These are particularly convenient because they have USB slots as well as in-built wireless connectivity. This enables a user to do his work from anywhere he is and it can save lots of time for you.

Lastly, they produce state of the art inkjet printers which are user friendly with a variety of features. They provide clear, quality work and can be used for photos as well. Some of them come with wireless connectivity hence enabling you to print conveniently and hassle free.

Therefore, when you find the best Canon printers, it is important to give them frequent maintenance. Clean them on a regular basis and use quality printing paper to ensure the job you do is perfect.

Some Useful Google Searching Tricks

Find some useful Google Searching tips:

Search using tilde symbol:

Google search box allows you to search a phrase to obtain relevant results. An example would be "Las Vegas hotels". Let's say though that you are on a budget. Well you could add the word "affordable" to the search but Google may have better choices with another word such as "budget" or "cheap". Rather than to enter all the possibilities, take advantage of the "~" symbol located on your keyboard. This is called the tilde symbol and instructs Google to search for similar words and to expand the search results. To see it in use in this case, enter "Las Vegas hotels"~affordable.

Search using minus sign:

Google also allows you to exclude search results by adding the minus sign. Using the same example above, let's say that you want to exclude affordable hotels (you're in Vegas to spend mega bucks!), just enter "Las Vegas hotels"-affordable.

Search using number ranges:

You're looking to buy a laptop online but you have a budget. Search using number ranges. For example, enter "laptop"$500...$999. This will narrow the selection to your budget!

Search a particular site:

Oftentimes I find myself on a website that has its own search box but that website probably doesn't have a search capability as sophisticated as Google. Google has its own proprietary algorithms that produce the most relevant results to the users. However, we can still use Google to search that website. Let's say that the website is azcentral.com and we want to search things to do this weekend. We can enter in the Google search: "things to do"site:azcentral.

Search for a typical file type:

This is a cool trick that very few people know about but could be very useful. I find myself looking for a template online that I can use for my business. Let's say that I want to track my business expenses. Surely there must be a nice template out there that I can use? And there is, just enter for example, "business expense spreadsheet"filetype:xls. This will find an excel spreadsheet that I can use right away.

Search your desktop:

Google can also search the entire contents of your computer using the free Google Desktop utility (desktop.google.com)

Gmail features that you may not use but might want to:

Google e-mail is probably one of the better e-mail services as it operates on a "cloud" which means that it's a one stop shop for all of your information. It provides instant messaging, text messaging and video chat in addition to your e-mail. You can even consolidate multiple e-mail accounts into one Gmail account.

Some people argue that you do not need folders anymore to organize your data. Use the "labels" feature which attached keywords to your e-mail. The neat thing is that you can use multiple keywords. Let's say that an e-mail relates to your real estate business and it is known to you as Property #1. Then associate the label "real estate" and "property 1" to the e-mail. In the future when you search for this e-mail, you can use either label. The "real estate" label will probably bring up all of your properties whereas the "property 1" label will bring up all the e-mails relating to that one property.

Filters apply rules as e-mails come in such as all e-mails from your broker will have the "real estate" label attached to it.

Adding relevant keywords can be really useful for organizing your e-mails by taking advantage of the search feature which I'm sure you'll agree is more versatile than the folders feature of most e-mail applications.

Try these cool features of Google and see how they can make your work and life more manageable. Google has a lot of other applications not covered here including Google Reader, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and more.

How to Enjoy Secure Net Browsing

You might have heard about Aladdin’s Magic Lamp. Internet could be termed as the magic lamp of 21st century. Whatever you want, be it air ticket booking or accessing your bank account, you can do it by sitting on your favorite couch with just a few click. But there are disadvantages too. Criminals are now exploiting the advantages of technology and they lurk on the Internet in search of easy victims. These cyber criminals are known as hackers, spammers, etc. To enjoy safe browsing, you need to stop them. And due to this reason internet safety is important.

Let's take a closer look at what these cyber criminals could do. First of all, they access your computer without your permission. Known as unauthorized access this is one of the major threats in terms of Internet safety. If the hacker could access to your computer then they may get complete control over all your transactions. Even they can also misuse your personal details for illegal or objectionable purposes.
How to ensure Internet safety? Firstly, there should be a strong firewall protection for your network. There are some important things like anti-virus software, anti-spyware software installed on your PC. This is a must for the home computer users. You can consult an expert for PC security support.

If you are having a medium sized business, you would need a strong firewall. For large businesses, apart from a strong firewall, stronger Internet security software as well as security fencing is required. It is also recommended not to upload your pictures and videos on unreliable social networking sites.

Social networking is very popular these days. While exploring these sites, you should refrain from giving out your address, telephone number as well as credit card number, social security number, passwords or even your complete name. It is also recommended not to allow strangers to access to your web camera at the time of chatting with strangers via instant messenger, or such services.

Shopping on the Internet has now become widely popular. You should make sure that you select a reliable website. Refrain from shopping on websites that are not popular. These websites can have spyware and other malware which may result identity theft. You should avoid using the Internet café for performing important transactions over the Internet. Even if you are compelled to do that, you should check whether any spy software is installed on the computer or not.

Remember, to enjoy a safe Internet browsing experience, it is a must to be equipped with filtering software, anti-virus and anti-spyware software as well as firewall detector and a pop-up blocker. If all these are installed on your computer then only you can enjoy safe internet browsing.

Keep Your PC Malware Free

Having to deal with pop up messages is just something we have to do every day when we are online. Normally, these messages are annoying at best, but if the site you are visiting has been compromised then that pop up could be something more. But you won't know it until you run into it and even then they are designed to be very deceptive, pretending to be other things in an attempt to get on your computer. MS removal tool is malware that is a perfect example of what I am talking about.

When you visit the web site that has been compromised by the MS removal tool you will be told via pop up that looks just like it comes from your operating system that there has been an unknown Trojan detected on your computer and a full scan should be run.

Even the scan itself, while it looks convincing enough is just another part of the trap. Once the scan finishes you will be told that there is malware on your computer and that the only way for you to clean it up before it causes any permanent damage to your PC is to download and install the full version of this malware. To stop all this you need to get rid of the MS removal tool. Once downloaded and installed your system will automatically reboot to finish installing the malware on your computer.


You will see following warnings:

MS removal tool warning.

Your PC is infected with viruses. Activate your antivirus now to prevent data loss theft of your credit card details.

Security monitor.

Your system detected a TrojanSPM/LX on your computer. Your private information and PC safety are at risk.

Your computer is infected

Windows has detected spyware

MS removal tool. Malware that compromise your system have been detected on your PC.

Worst of all, normal operation of your computer will not be allowed. Every time you try and open a program you will be given a warning message saying that the "current action cannot be completed due to an infected file.

At this point you will be prompted to purchase a copy of the software when really you need to get rid of the MS removal tool.


Here is how to remove it:

1. Start task manager by pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL AND stop the following process. oGcMaMjAlJj07003.exe The name may be slightly different. If it will not stop you need to start your computer in safe mode to stop it.

2. To start your computer in safe mode restart your computer and then press F8 before windows starts. You might have to do this several times. When you see a menu appear select safe mode with networking.

3. Find and delete the following files.
AC555.exe
oGcMaMjAlJj07003.exe

4. Start the registry editor and delete the following entries.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\oGcMaMjAlJj07003
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run " junk file name.exe"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\junk file name.
Where junk file name is a name made up of random characters.

5. Once you have done this restart your computer and you should be rid of the MS removal tool. If it is still there or you are unsure of how to remove it follow the easier automated method.


Automated method to get rid of the MS removal tool:

1. Start your computer in safe mode using the steps outlined above.
 
2. Download a system scanner that will scan for malware and get rid of it quickly running the same steps as above but done for you automatically. If your computer is infected with malware and the manual removal method fails run a system scan and get rid of it fast.