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JimWorld Gazette Issue #40 02/06/1998
Gazette - Issue #40 - February 6, 1998
CONTENTS
-- Some Old Business - The Forums-- Update On eCommerce Fraud
-- Tips From The Hitman - Part XXIII
-- Snippets
-- Writing For The Web - Part I
-- This Week's Gazeteer Message
-- How Big Is Yours?
Link to this issue of the Gazette as http://gazetteworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=g40
(Third Notice - this notice will stay here until everybody has stuffed the ballot box!)
Time for the Gazeteers to saddle up and ride to victory once again!
The annual Surfers Choice Site of The Year voting is going on right now and JimWorld needs every vote it can get. We appear to be neck-and-neck with a very nice sports news site that has a web camera showing that they have a room full of employees. Sure be nice to beat them, but I need your vote. Voting is taking place at <http://surferschoice.trigger.net/vote.htm> and we don't have enough votes yet to insure victory. Time is running out, so please take a moment and vote!
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I would like to wrap up the survey of webmaster attitudes towards being paid for advertising results only. I still need another 500 of you to take five minutes and fill in the survey. I need response from webmasters and site managers of all sizes of sites. <http://jimworld.com/survey2.html> PLEASE. I'm gonna nag you until you do your part and fill out the survey.
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The voting for the new Helpware look is going well, but many more of you need to take the 5 minutes required to make your choice known by voting. The voting is only open until the 15th of February, so vote now!
SOME OLD BUSINESS - THE FORUMS
The Search Engine Forums have really taken off this week. Several thousand of you have stopped in to read the growing list of tips and information posts that are already in the Forums.There are some tips in the Forums that will solve some of your biggest search engine problems. Especially if you are having any trouble getting listed on Yahoo!
I have had to prune a couple of message threads. Personal attacks and flames will not be tolerated. If anyone insists on flaming in the Forums, they will find that their access to the Forums has been revoked. So play nice and have a good time.
It is obvious that we need several more Forums available to satisfy the many different subjects that you obviously want to discuss. They are coming soon.
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It came to my attention this week that the publishers of NetMailer, the program that I used for several months to send out the Gazette and have given very high marks to, have raised the price of the software from $49.95 to $399.95.
Guess they know what they're doing, but I gotta tell you that at $400 there are a lot of really great programs out there that do a lot more then NetMailer.
UPDATE ON E-COMMERCE FRAUD
by T.J. WalkerJim asked me to do an update on the series of articles I wrote on online credit card fraud committed against e-commerce merchants. I received many responses indicating how the methods of fraud prevention I previously outlined have worked so well. Since the readership of the Gazette has doubled since my original series, I think a little review would be beneficially before covering new ground.
There has been a dramatic increase in the use of stolen credit card information and software produced fraudulent credit card numbers used for online purchases. Software vendors, service providers, membership and subscription sites are the primary targets. However, it certainly is not limited to these. Companies selling soft-goods (not a physical product) are being hard hit with this type of fraud. Before my company implemented the measures I will summarize below, we were receiving over a dozen such orders a week.
How do these criminals get the credit card information they use to defraud you? We received numerous orders containing more current information on the cardholder than the issuing banks of the card possessed. In many cases, the real cardholder still had their credit card in their possession. I don't want to speculate on how their information was stolen, but one common denominator we found was almost all these victims, at one time, conducted online banking. Regardless, these orders appeared totally legitimate because all the data was valid. I am also aware of the existence of seeral underground newsgroups used by street criminals to post credit card information within minutes of a purse snatching or mugging - sort of a world-wide pick-pockets co-op.
Finally, there are several underground software programs available that produce an unlimited number of bogus credit card numbers based on the Mod-10 algorithm that is used to produce all legitimate card numbers. This means these bogus numbers will receive an authorization from most credit card processing terminals although the account doesn't exist. The bottom line from all the above is that you, as a merchant, will be the one who loses.
So what can be done? There are several simple techniques you can implement that will reduce this type of fraud by 90%. I won't cover them in great detail here as I'm sure my previous articles are archived somewhere on the JimWorld web site.
- With only a couple of recent exceptions, every single case of this type of fraud came from one of the hundreds of free, or web-based, or email forwarding services. We no longer accept any order from any of these domains. We have placed a statement on all our order forms to this effect and that statement is linked to a page listing all such domains. You can view this page at <http://antifraud.com/redflag.htm>. You can also save this page to use on your own sites if desired. We update this page often as these types of email addresses are cropping up like weeds.
- Our staff does not have time to check every order against a list of almost 700 such email domains. To expedite the process and to discover new such domains as they come online, we simple go to a browser and put a "www." in front of the email domain. For instance, for an order from "scumbag@cyberdude.com," you would type "www.cyberdude.com" into your browser's address line. This example, by the way, will bring you to the "iname" site that offers hundreds of such free or email forwarding addresses. This method is not fool-proof, but it sure helps. All we are looking for is if the domain belongs to a real web site or ISP - someone who can positively identify the user of one of their email addresses.
- On any suspicious order we always call the phone number listed to verify the data provided. In many cases this is how we discover someone has stolen an innocent cardholder's data.
- We use the HTTP_USER_AGENT and REMOTE_ADDR lines in our order forms. These lines work with most common form handler CGI scripts. They provide us with information about the sender of an order including the IP address they were using at the time. We can then trace this IP address to its owner in one easy step <http://antifraud.com/ipcheck.htm>. We then contact the owner of the IP address and inform them of the illegal activity being perpetrated by one of their customers. It doesn't help me get my product back, but most ISPs will cancel the perpetrators account - a small degree of satisfaction.
Now, on to new ground. We have seen an increase of fraud in two areas that are harder to detect and prevent. The first is orders coming from foreign countries, especially email addresses originating from European colleges and universities. Universities are full of "computer geeks" who make child's play out of breaking into the school's email system and using other students email box to commit fraud. Personally, I would double check all orders coming from such addresses. The first thing we do is to call our credit card processing center and ask for the issuing bank of the card presented. If we receive an order from Hungary and the card is issued by "The First National Bank of Chicago," we get a little suspicious. Talk to the Fraud or Security department of the issuing bank and have them contact the real cardholder to verify the order. We are now double -checking all orders from the smaller European, post-USSR countries. We try the " www." method and then check the IP address to see if it's an ISP from the supposed country of origin.
Secondly, due to the proliferation of the credit card number generator software mentioned above, many inexperienced, would-be thieves are attempting online fraud without even trying to hide behind a free, web-based email address. We have had two cases of this recently from AOL email addresses. A quick check of the IP addresses used showed they were indeed AOL users. Very dumb move. I have a contact at AOL's security division who jumps all over these situations. The point is, we now have to look very carefully at all orders, even ones from the large ISPs. These new cases are probably kids. Not knowledgeable enough to know they can be traced. Knowledgeable or not, if we had processed and shipped those orders, we would have been out the product and the money when the charge back came in!
I will continue to keep you updated on any new methods and techniques these criminals are using as I become aware of them.
Article written by:
T.J. Walker
support@softwaresolutions.net>
Software Solutions <http://softwaresolutions.net>
The best in Web Software and Services!
TIPS FROM THE HITMAN - PART XXIII
Even though I did not contribute last week, I of course read the Gazette from top to bottom. I still have to wonder when Jim apologizes for the Gazette being short. I would be very worried if he started by saying the Gazette was going to be exceptionally long!One of the pieces last week caught my attention. It was Jim's announcement about Link-O-Matic. I have used the Free for All's to augment site promotion for years, and I have included FFA lists on Submit URL and at The Web Hitman for customers to use for a very long time.
I agree with Jim that the FFA's are a good way to boost site traffic. They are one of the best ways to get a quick boost in hits when the old log starts to lag.
I have to agree with Jim that doing a list of 400 or 500 FFAs by hand is a real pain in the posterior. That is not half the battle. The biggest problem with FFAs has always been finding a good list. Of all the types of sites on the Net that accept page information submissions, the Free For All's have the biggest turnover of sites coming and going. To understand why this is. Running a FFA page requires only that you set one up and try to maintain it. If you wish a FFA to be of any use, you will be required to do some weeding. Regardless of what you say on the page, be it no adult sites or submit to appropriate category, there are always those who cannot and will not follow any directions. So, good FFAs have a mean maintenance curve. They become a mess if left alone and are more work than many care to be involved with.
I have tried for years to keep my lists current, but with 400 for example, by the time you go through the list and edit out dead or non working sites, more of them will have gone bad. In 400 you might see a turnover of 25 a week at the worst and that many a month at the best!
This makes a service such as Link-O-Matic very useful. The price is right and you only pay for what you get.
Results on a FFA sites can be quite good. You need to think before you submit. The standard FFA is just a Script available from Matt's free script archive. It is a Perl program that is reasonably easy to install if you have any experience with cgi-bin use and know how to chmod the files for appropriate access. Chmod is a method of stipulating the degree of access to a file on a server. More or less, it can give a file read only access, read and write by the person with password access, or read and write access to a web page such as a FFA page. If you are interested in playing around with a Free for All Page, you can find them at <http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts/> along with many other free scripts that are very useful.
The standard FFA just asks for the page name and the URL and a category. How you handle your entry can make all the difference in how well the FFAs will work for you.
First and foremost in importance is what you do with the Title line for the FFA.
Let's take a look at a typical FFA such as Myanmar, one of the oldest in continuous operation at <http://www.myanmar.com/links/links.html> Take a look at the list. What you see at the top of the page is the Business category, and loads of listings disappearing off the screen with more data still loading as you scroll down the page. Look carefully. What catches your eye? Is it something like "Online Gallery" or did a link title like this get your attention:
"SECRETS CREDITORS DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW"
This is lesson one at the FFA. You have got to make your title a one line ad that catches the attention of someone who has a list of 30 links in plain view at any given time.
Lesson number two may get some protests but I will make the reason for it painfully clear. If you can justify it, select Business as your category. It is the default first category on the page and the newest entry to this category appears as the first link on the page. If you are still on Myanmar, try to use the directory links at the top to get to the Computer or Misc. links on the page. If you are not on a cable modem or a T1 connection, a page the size of Myanmar will take over 5 minutes to load enough data for you to even scroll down to these sections of the listing. So, until they have loaded, the directory links do not work and just return you to the top of the page. So if your page can in any way shape or form be considered a business, put it in the Business category. Otherwise, it may not be seen by more that a handful of people.
Most of the time when a link is followed off of a FFA page, it is a link that was near the top and caught the eye of someone who was posting their own link. Your job is to make your link title so enticing that it will distract someone who is busy trying to promote his or her own site!
Well, those are my tips for using the Free for All's. For those of you who do not have enough in your budget to have the job done for you, I have several lists of them at Submit URL <http://www.webthemes.com/submit.html> in the "Name Droppers" section.
Next week I will highlight another of the Search Engines, perhaps Lycos. We shall see.
Hayden Mitchell
Web Themes http://www.webthemes.com
SNIPPETS
If you are looking for ways to generate a buck or two from your site, there is a nice list of opportunities listed at Associate Programs Guide <http://www.aia.net.au/success/associates.html>. Each opportunity has a nice write up, so you get an idea of what the offer is all about.As with any type of 'pay for results' check with the advertiser's existing advertising partners before you get involved. Find out how much is really being earned, and make sure that people are really getting paid when they have earned money.
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If your site is of interest to the world's singles, submit it at the Single's STOP <http://www.singlesstop.com>. A beautifully done site with lots of traffic. You really want to be listed here.
If you just need some company for when your internet connection is down, try a free classified at <http://www.singlesstop.com/personals/> When placing an ad, please be honest and let prospective companions know that, as a webmaster, you have no other life and won't have much time for them.
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The Design and Publishing Center at <http://www.graphic-design.com/> has an excellent article on Search Engine Spam at <http://www.graphic-design.com/Web/Rip-Off/search/Default.html>
Overall, this is a site you will want to spend some serious time exploring. It has a lot of information about good design techniques and site construction. Give it a try.
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If your site sells something, then it's time again for me to mention my favorite
shopping site directory. Cool Shopping is cool. It's also at <http://www.coolshopping.com/>. Submit your
site and get some serious traffic.
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toptenlinks.com is a beautifully put together directory of site broken down into lots of categories. Each category only contains 10 links to sites and there is a bit of a twist. Your ranking is determined by the votes cast by visitors to the toptenlinks.com directory.
You really should submit your site, as I think this one could make it big. Start by visiting the Promotion category, where JimWorld is listed #1 (as it should be). While you are there, of course you will want to vote for JimWorld. <http://www.toptenlinks.com/internet/promotion.vote>
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Edwin Hayward, our 'absent without leave' Gazette reporter has launched a new Free Website Promotion Course : Learn to promote your site simply, effectively and progressively...
Sign up NOW at <http://www.pr2.com/>
Knowing Edwin, it is bound to be worth the time to study.
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If you've got a spare $795 to invest in some of the best graphics software available, stop in at <http://www.crystalgraphics.com/weblink.kaleidoscope.html >
The package you get contains:
- Avid's Elastic Reality (version 3.0, just released!), the only choice for professional-quality morphing and special effects. Elastic Reality was used to create the unbelievable effects in Terminator 2, Forrest Gump, Robocop and Interview With The Vampire.
- Fractal Design Painter (version 5, just released!), the Natural-Media paint and image editing software
- Kai's Power Tools (version 3, latest release), the standard for creating gradients, textures, fractals and filters.
- Crystal 3D IMPACT! Pro (version 1, just released and a new addition to this suite!), the world's easiest way to enhance web pages, banner ads, e-mail messages, videos and presentations with extraordinary animated 3D graphics.
- Crystal TOPAS Professional (version 5.1, latest release), the "Professionals' Choice Award" winner "for 3D animation software costing less than $2,000." TOPAS is a professional-level tool for creating sophisticated broadcast-quality 3D animations.
- Leadview (version 3.0, latest release), the award-winning program for managing and converting all your image files.
- A wide assortment of texture maps and background images on 3 CDs from Artbeats, Imagetects and CrystalGraphics.
- The Crystal 3D CD, (co-developed by Acuris and CrystalGraphics), a new and valuable collection of highly detailed and usable 3D models that will enhance your video and web productions.
- All this PLUS a coupon from ViewPoint Animation Engineering worth up to $500 towards the purchase of any model in their huge library of 3D models.
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Another very good article by Bill Dunlap on the state of the Internet in Europe at <http://www.euromktg.com/eng/ed/art/rep-eur6.html>
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There's a new search engine that indexes sites with biochemistry-related content. So far, their index is primarily limited to pages from college and university biology departments, but they would like to include any pages with quality, on-topic content. The site is located at <http://www.worthington-biochem.com:8080> and the submit page is <http://www.worthington-biochem.com:8080/suggest.html>
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From Search Engine Watch comes this tidbit. If you haven't subscribed yet, go to <http://searchenginewatch.com/list/list.htm> and get on Danny's list. It is the other 'required' site for web promoters. If you already get Danny's free newsletter, you should see all of the additional info you get by subscribing to the membership fee supported area of his site.
WebCrawler Drops Meta Support Temporarily
WebCrawler is no longer indexing meta tag information, as a result of its conversion to Excite's searching technology. However, meta tag support will return sometime in the future. Excite is also considering adding it to the Excite search engine.
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FallCreekTech accepts submissions from business sites at <http://www.fallcreektech.com/urlsrch.html>
They also have a threaded discussion forum of e-commerce issues.
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AWARD SITES! from FOCUS Associates at <http://www.focusa.com/search/award_sites.htm> will hit 255 awards listed in their directory of awards by the end of next week. That is a lot of awards you can go submit for.
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Jim,
Thanks for all the help you've presented on your pages and in the Gazette. Wonderful resources.
As with most people, we've been trying for over 7 months to get listed in Yahoo! Based on suggestions from the Gazette and the new (Search Engine Forum) bulletin boards, last week we submitted to the Miami Yahoo! and got an acceptance e-mail back in 22 hours!!! And I just verified that we are up and running on the main Yahoo! and easily findable under all our main keywords.
Thanks!
WRITING FOR THE WEB - PART I
By: Wendy BouldingWhen you're writing for the Internet, pretend you're giving your readers a Twinkie--keep your offering short and sweet, and symmetric.
"There are people who will gauge your intelligence by your script and we wouldn't want to mislead them, would we?" someone named Andrew once pointed out within a scathing e-mail sent to me after he had found a spelling mistake and a typo on one of my web pages.
Andrew is right. When people come to your web site they will decide instantly just how seriously they should take you. They will make this decision almost completely based on your writing skills and how you choose to present your content. Let your thoughts and ideas be as unique as you are, but make sure your writing capabilities are meticulous.
Give them something pleasing to the mind and pleasing to the eye.
I WANT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING...
Your words may reach millions of people. Chances are each one of them will appreciate being addressed as though what they are reading has been written especially for them. Write in the same way you would speak to a good friend. Be casual. Be direct. Be captivating.
-Try and be as descriptive as possible. Paint a clear picture up front for your readers so they know immediately what you are presenting to them.
-Refer directly to your readers. For example, "You've seen the headlines. You know what's going on." is much more attention-grabbing and personable than "Recent headlines have shown that society should be more aware of the problem."
-Get to the point. Impatience seems to be heightened while on the Internet. Your reader does not want to scroll through screen after screen to get the important information they are expecting. Know what you have to say and don't let it get buried under useless detail.
HORS D'OEUVRES ANYONE???
Haven't you noticed that you spend more time skimming than reading while you are on the Web? Your readers are no different. Offer your words in bite-sized morsels that will haunt your readers even after they leave your site.
-The shorter the better. I recommend trying to keep sentences less than 25 words when possible. Keep paragraphs short as well. Nothing longer than six-eight sentences should sustain your readers attention. When you're taking a knife to text, don't change your original message, but do use the least amount of words possible.
-Organize well. After you've done the writing do some creative rearranging. Divide your information into logical clusters with each grouping of notes focusing on one specific topic. Be kind to your readers and let them decide what they want to read and what they want to skip over.
-Give the ending away first. Put the most important data at the beginning of your writing. Follow that by the details that clarify your original point. Take advantage of knowing that your reader will concentrate on the first three sentences of your writing. Make an impact right off the top.
HEADLINES
Readers may come to your site looking for something specific. They will glance over the text looking for keywords, sentences, and paragraphs they are most interested in. They may also ignore the other messages you have are presenting. Headlines are beneficial to everyone. With a headline you can direct a reader to the information they are looking for. While at the same time, you can use creative headlines to draw them into passages of information they may have otherwise passed by.
-Use keywords. Keywords will not only lure the reader to the text, they will also give a definite insight into what is about to follow. Keywords can also be riveting words that will make your reader stop. Isn't "Explosive New Software Package Will Change Your Life" more powerful than "New Software Package Is Great"?
-Be imaginative. Being clever and witty is just as effective as being precise. Pique your reader's curiosity by teasing them and gently convincing them to spend more time reading your words.
FINISHING TOUCHES
You've written your text. You've arranged the information in order of importance. You've come up with amazing headlines to catch your reader's eye. Now, before you put it into HTML format, you have to check, check, and re-check for mistakes.
-You don't have to be a Nobel-prize winning author. You do have to be aware. Do a spell check first. Then do a read through for any grammar mistakes or use the grammar-helper function within your word processor. I recommend putting your writing aside for awhile then go back and do another read-through. This time be on the look out for any grammar mistakes missed and any typos you didn't see before. Spell check won't point out when "us" is really suppose to be "is".
If you need any help with writing or editing visit these sites:
- Online English Grammar: <http://www.edunet.com/english/grammar/index.html>
- The World Of Writing: <http://www.bloorstreet.com/300block/3author.htm>
- Elements Of Style: <http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/strunk/>
In Part Two I will give you some tips on presenting your text in ways your readers will appreciate. Between now and then, check out WORD <http://www.word.com>. Learn by their example and get some excellent ideas on how you can make text more visually exciting.
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About Wendy:
I've been have been a freelance writer for the past eight years I've written about everything from home decorating, to country superstar Shania Twain, to alleged unfair labor practices by Nike. I write also write a bi-weekly newsletter called MIND-MAGIC; an e-zine with over 2000 subscribers, devoted to helping its readers find their personal power. My e-mail address is: < mailto:wjb@planet.eon.net>. My URL is <http://www.mind-magic.com>
THIS WEEK'S GAZETEER MESSAGE
Jim,I want to thank you for putting me in the direction Walter Thames at Revnet. I am starting with MailKing and fully intend to work my way up to Groupmaster!
Also, I want to make a comment here--one that you may use as you see fit--
As an entrepreneur and a "furniture" person-there's not too much I can't tell you about furniture (being from NC, I grew up in it, also)-- and luckily when I decided to start my on-line catalog, I wrote a business plan and took it to my bank, which a big "furniture" bank.
However, as I am learning each day, that neither my bank nor myself had a genuine CLUE to how much this venture involved. I was somewhat under the impression that "if you build it, they will come...". Boy, was I wrong!
Getting to the point, here--I try to use JimWorld in some way everyday--the Gazette, the new Forums, you name it--this is the MOST EDUCATING group of people I think I have ever run across, and everyone is very kind to share their knowledge.
I read about the price of a subscription to the Gazette, and I think the most helpful thing I can do is recommend your site AT LEAST ONCE A DAY, in other forums and discussion groups, as well as to individuals I communicate with.
Once again, thanks so much.
Kim Stuart
KDS Designs
HOW BIG IS YOURS?
Hi JimI know today is Feb 7 but I just read issue #39 of the gazette. I just want to make a comment about something that really irritates me.
That is web sites that are content rich and have great graphics but they run off my 14 inch monitor which is set at 640 x 480.
Your web site doesn't (run off) of course.
I don't know if you have mentioned it in the Gazette before or not but I feel you should. In designing a web site, consider us guys with the 14 inch monitor set at 640 x 480. I know it can be done because about 98% of the web sites I visit are just fine.
Ray Childs
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Thanks for bringing this up Ray.
Designing sites for anything bigger than 640x480 is a really bad idea. The vast majority of web surfers have 14 inch monitors which are set to 640x480.
These people get really irritated at having to scroll to the right to see the rest of a page. Usually, they just move on.
One of the most common comments about JimWorld is the control over the right margin. It fits the 14 inch monitor and doesn't spread out when someone surfs in with a bigger monitor. Learn to use tables and take control of your site layout.
You can start by stealing some table code from JimWorld.
Ray, I would gladly give your web site a plug for sending in this great comment, but unfortunately you don't have a sig at the end of your email messages so I don't have your URL. Shame-shame.
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