her-email@whatever.com says:
hey check this.. hxxp://very.c00l-stuff.com ..brb !!

Think it’s the first time I’ve ever had spam on MSN from a contact, I assume her account has been phished.

The site is just a couple of iframes:

<frameset rows=”*,30,1″ frameborder=0>

<frame src=”hxxp://www.incentaclick.com/nclick.php?id=4568&cid=id⊂=test5″ name=”">
<frame src=”hxxp://www.cpashield.com/abuse.html” name= frameborder=no framespacing=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0></frame>
<frame src=”counter.html” name= frameborder=no framespacing=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0></frame>

</frameset>

Are Incentaclick and Cpshield the same guys? It was only yesterday I read some good reports of Incentaclick, but I haven’t used them yet.

Looking at the whois for that domain, it gives the name “TST Management, Inc”, put TST management in Google and it brings up reports of that name in the whois of domains used to collect details last month (localpics.info, skaq.info, pooop.info & others).

They are not phishing in the traditional way, seems they are stating the user needs to enter their details to see a friend’s photo or get credits (??), bet million of sheeple have happily filled those boxes, ticking the box to say they have read and agreed to this:

[quote]By filling out this form, you authorize TST Management, Inc to spread the word
about this 100% real and upcomming Messenger Community Site.
You will receive your share of the credit in helping us spread the word. This is a harmless
Community site which is offering users a platform to meet each other for free.
We do not share your private information with any third parties.
By using our service/website you hereby fully authorize TST Management, Inc to send messages
of a commercial nature via Instant Messages and E-Mails on behalf of third parties via the information
you provide us. This is not a “phishing” site that attempts to “trick” you into revealing personal
information. Everything we do with your information is disclosed here. If you are under eighteen (18),
you MUST obtain permission from a parent or guardian before using our website/service.
This page is not affiliated with or operated by Microsoft(tm) or MSN Network(tm).
ANY LIABILITY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES CAUSED OR
ALLEGEDLY CAUSED BY ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DEFECT,
DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMMUNICATIONS LINE FAILURE, SHALL BE STRICTLY LIMITED
TO THE AMOUNT PAID BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE SUBSCRIBER TO THIS SERVICE.
We may temporarily access your MSN account to do a combination
of the following:
1. Send Instant Messages to your friends promoting this site.
2. Introduce new entertaining sites to your friends via Instant Messages.
This is a free service. You will not be asked to pay at any time.
You will not be subscribed to anything asking for payment.
This service is made possible by many hours of human effort.
Messenger Profiles, Inc reserves the right to change the terms of use / privacy policy
at any time without notice. To view the latest version of this privacy policy,
simply bookmark this page for future reference.
You understand that this agreement shall prevail if there is any conflict between this
agreement and the terms of use you accepted when you signed up with MSN. You also
understand that by temporarily accessing your msn account, Messenger Profiles, Inc
is NOT agreeing to MSN’s terms of use and therefore not bound by them.
This agreement shall be construed and governed by the law of the Republic of Panama.
You expressly consent to the exclusive venue and personal
jurisdiction of the courts located in the Republic of Panama
for any actions arising from or relating to this agreement.
Copyright 2008 TST Management, Inc
[/quote]from forgedeuphoria.com

This is dodgy as fuck.

Seems they are (on paper at least) based in Panama - comments on other sites suggest that the domains are registered to a law firm there, but hosted in Hong Kong. I doubt if any of the names on the whois records are genuine.

Just found one of the sign-up/phishing pages in G’s cache (seeing as the sites are now down… it was either a mistake to let Google index them or maybe planned…?)

Not very convincing to me. If they were all like that, how can people be so fucking stupid to put their info into that page?! Maybe they deserve to have their account hijacked, it’s only bots spamming msn. Is it any worse than some of the shit with emails, AIM, etc?

I think it is. If my email gets on a list, it’s most likely my fault and it’s only me that gets the spam. With this kind of spam (spim? - that’s such a shit term!) I am being spammed just because I have the odd stupid friend. I have no say at all in whether or not I get these messages. That’s the big problem.

More should be done to educate the sheeple about online security and to not sign up to anything they haven’t read - as they generally wouldn’t if they were signing a piece of paper. But at the end of the day, if they put their email or IM details into some form and it is only used to mail them crap, They got a load of junk, at worst buy crap they don’t need, and hopefully learn something from it.

This however targets the friends of the stupid person. People who did not sign-up, opt-in or fill in some box without scrolling down to read what they were agreeing too. Sure, this had been going on with AIM for years - but like MSN most of us go with the default settings, so we are used to MSN being only allowed contacts and AIM being open - spam is the price paid for accessibility. It’s a similar story with social networking sites - MySpace, Facebook, Bebo accounts “hacked”, details phished with information intended to mislead, spam sent to the unsuspecting friends of the stupid person. That is annoying for the recipient, but still just another spam email seen when you check your inbox.

Maybe I’m just lucky, but I’ve used MSN for years and don’t remember a single other spam message coming (apparently) from a contact. Now, my friend was stupid and I’m seen as guilty by association and therefore given the choice of block my friend or receive unsolicited messages as and when they want.

What do you think? Is misleading stupid people to get their MSN login details an ethical way to market to their less-stupid contacts? Or is it wrong to target those least able to defend themselves in this way? If it was just email submits for mobile sites being promoted then it wouldn’t be much more than an annoyance, but I doubt that is the only thing the data gathered is used for.

What does it do?

Datapresser creates content by allowing you to mix data from a number of databases with your original content in the style of the Mad Libs game.

If you aren’t familiar with Mad Libs, it’s a word game for children where one player prompts another for a list of words to substitute for blanks in a story.

So for example, “The _____ ate a _____ and it tasted _____”. You could fill the blanks with “man”, “apple” and “delicious”, or you could choose “tiger”, “Google site reviewer” and “fishy”. I’m sure you get the picture, you can play around with Mad Libs on their site.

For content creation madlibs are ideal, by mixing up words and sentences you can create content that makes sense to a human reader and is not seen as duplicate content by the search engines. Eli wrote an excellent post at BlueHatSEO about this which I definitely recommend reading.

Datapresser makes creating madlib content easy. You can choose fields from a number of databases to insert and it will select a random entry, you can also add your own custom madlibs. The resulting content is available either as plain text or for integration with WordPress blogs. It either produces a backup xml file for you to import into WordPress or it will log into your blog and post at regular intervals.

The databases available cover a wide range of subjects, from XBox360 cheats to recipes to job descriptions and names and addresses and many more.

Example

The easiest way to show what Datapresser can do is by using a real example. This site, CreditSpeak, consists of interviews with people about credit and finance.

Here’s part of my input into Datapresser:

{|Randomperson|first} {|Randomperson|last}: That sounds like an {|Custom|interesting, unusual, different, challenging} {|Custom|way to earn a living, line of work, job, career, line of business}. How is the {|Custom|recession, slow down, credit crunch} affecting you?

{|AmericanIdentity|givenname} {|AmericanIdentity|surname}: It’s {|Custom|making life hard, making things difficult, affecting us in a big way, forcing us to change our lifestyle}. My partner {|ItalianIdentity|givenname}’s employer, {|Hotel|hotel_name} in {|Hotel|city} is {|Custom|suffering, losing customers, fighting to survive} and we have had to sell our {|Custom|home, apartment, holiday home, second home, condo, investment property} in {|WorldCity|city}, {|WorldCity|country}. The {|Car|mainmodel} {|Car|submodel} has been {|Custom|traded in, exchanged, swapped, ditched} for a {|Custom|smaller, more economical, more efficient, less expensive, cheaper} model and we’ve {|Custom|cut down a lot, had to cut down, reduced, cut back on} on our {|Custom|evenings, nights, dining out, meals} at {|Restaurant|Name}.

This produces:

Kristin Gonzalez: That sounds like an interesting way to earn a living. How is the slow down affecting you?

William Guerrero: It’s making things difficult. My partner, Gino’s employer, Clarion Hotel Waterfront in Indianapolis, IN is suffering and we’ve had to sell our condo in London, CA. The Toyota Corolla 3dr hatchback 1.8 T Sport Compressor has been ditched for a less expensive model and we’ve had to cut down on our meals at Alyans Restaurant.

Or:

George Josephson: That sounds like an interesting line of business. How is the credit crunch affecting you?

Richard Smith: It’s making life hard. My partner, Adelaide’s employer, Hyatt Regency Minneapolis in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN is suffering and we’ve had to sell our apartment in Claremore, US. The BMW 1 Series 5dr hatchback 118d Sport has been traded in for a more efficient model and we’ve reduced on our meals at Beijing Garden.

Or numerous other combinations.

As you can see it replaces the {|Database|field} tags with the corresponding content from the databases and the custom tags with one of the options specified.

The XML file produced by Datapresser was easily imported into WordPress, you can see the full results on CreditSpeak.com.

Conclusion

I really like Datapresser. It makes creating madlib content a breeze and the integration with WordPress works really well. The biggest problem I found was getting the creative juices flowing to create the madlib templates!

It is a new service and as such there are some things that could do with improvement. The interface isn’t the most intuitive and there’s too much copying and pasting for my liking, also there is no way to save your custom tags (so more copying and pasting). However, Rob assures me these are things that will be improved in the coming weeks along with the addition of many new features such as professionally written madlib templates.

Overall if you are looking for a quick and easy way of creating unique content with WordPress integration, Datapresser is the best solution I have came across so far. I highly recommend it.

So as not to cause server problems the number of subscribers is limited (a good move, in my opinion, it indicates that the quality of service for the members is more important than the potential earnings from taking on more subscribers), you can join the waiting list here. It is currently priced at $45 Canadian (about $44 US) monthly, which is a bargain especially as the databases cost a similar amount each.

I have not been paid for this review, nor do I receive any compensation for referring users to Datapresser. However, the link to databases for sale is an affiliate link and I currently have a complimentary Datapresser membership.

—————-
Now playing: The Stranglers - Always the Sun
via FoxyTunes

Kinda feels a bit pyramidy, but I’ve not really looked at it. Certainly seems interesting, anyone came across it?

The beta isn’t open, you need an invite - lhoffer.qassia.com

I haven’t come across anything bad about it, but I’m betting most bloggers are trying to get referrals. Although it’s a fixed referral credit, not a cut of what the user you refer earns from what I can see, it’s that credit that gives me the pyramidy impression. I might be completely wrong on that though. Guess it depends on whether they want to build a massive user-generated content site or just make cash from the ads clicked on by people referred by people referred by people referred…

Might be an easy way to get links and prob traffic if it becomes popular, depending how the credits-backlink thing works out could be an alternative to sites like ezinearticles - it seems the articles on there all have a prominent ad at the bottom for the author, they’ll also use your adsense ID for your content which can’t be a bad thing.

Any thoughts? (Someone tell me if it’s obviously crap…!)

(Yeah, this is the same as I posted on WickedFire - duplicate content is better than no content on this neglected blog!)

GoDaddy are selling .infos for 99c again, free whois privacy with 5 or more - ideal if you want some cheap “throw-away” domains!

Exclusive Commission Junction Voucher code
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Valid from: Now
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Valid with: All UK2 purchases

Valentines Days Voucher As the day of romance is fast approaching we have created a Valentines Day voucher worth £10.
Code: uk2loveday
Valid from: Now
Valid Until: 14/02/2008
Value: £10
Valid with: All UK2 purchases

Use them for single domain purchases and you are charged £0.00! (Just tried it..it works!)

Check out UK2.net

Why WarChild?

I heard about them about 10 years ago when I bought this cd (some great covers on there). They do some really good work. They are a relatively small charity but are really making a difference to children who’s lives have been fucked up through no fault of their own. There are so many charities and organisations out there doing a hell of a lot of good stuff and most would put any donation to good use but these guys help kids where needed around the world, not just in one country and aren’t politically or religiously affiliated - hopefully it’s something everyone would agree is a good cause.

Here’s a bit of info from their site:

One and a half million children have been killed in armed conflicts throughout the world over the last ten years. Four million children have been disabled in these conflicts. Many millions more, themselves traumatised, have had their communities destroyed, or have been denied the opportunity to celebrate in full their childhood and prevented from developing the livelihood skills that they will need to live fulfilling lives as they grow.

War Child’s beliefs

War Child believes that children should never be the victims of armed conflict. For those children who become victims of armed conflict, War Child believes that their security and access to quality health, education and recreational facilities and services should still be a right and that, wherever possible, they should benefit from the love and care of their families and communities.

War Child’s Mission

By harnessing the commitment to the commonly held belief that children should never be the victims of armed conflict, War Child exists to:

• provide emergency relief to children and those people they depend upon in areas of armed conflict.
• protect children who live in areas of armed conflict.
• address the on-going consequences of conflict on children.

War Child does this by:

• working with local communities, their organisations and local authorities in both conflict and post-conflict areas to support children and the people they depend upon.
• ensuring sustainable security for children.
• promoting child supportive livelihood opportunities.
• addressing the developmental needs of the most vulnerable and marginalised children.

More info: War Child

The winner can put anything they like in my signature (within WickedFire rules), up to 1000 characters, minus about 30 I want to keep to refer back to the auction thread. At the mo I’ve got just under 1600 posts - I waste too much time in that place! (Prob over 10 posts per day on average.) Most threads are indexed and ranking in Google for lots of random terms! My signature made nearly $300 last month, currently it’s going for only $40!

The auction will run until the 29th September, 7pm EST (Midnight GMT). You get my sig from 1st to 31st October.

Just post your bid on the WickedFire thread or if you prefer comment below or contact me I’ll post it for you. A credit card payment direct to WarChild would be the best method of payment (tax deductible charity donation? ) but something else could be worked out if needed.

Cheers for reading this and please bid!

—————-
Now playing: John Lennon - Mind Games
via FoxyTunes

While I have been neglecting this blog recently, I haven’t been (that) lazy - for a change! I’ve been learning php and trying to get my life organised with the help of Getting Things Done - an amazing book, I recommend it to anyone and everyone. I’ve got posts lined up on my experiences with both learning to code and GTD - they should be on here before the end of the year!

—————-
Now playing: The Stone Roses - Fools Gold (The Tall Paul Remi
via FoxyTunes

Ghost writers are quite popular on the internet, and many websites use them. In fact, chances are very good that most of the websites that you frequent use ghost writers for their content or updates.

When Si approached me about writing an article about ethical internet marketing, I knew immediately that this was the topic that I needed to tackle. I, by profession, am a copywriter, and I ghost write for many different websites.

The ethics come in to play when you consider a few different points:

1) Is content ethical if the original author doesn’t get credit?

2) Is it ethical for a website to use a ghost writer in the first place?

3) Are ghost writers capable of delivering the same kind of message as the original website owner?

When considering these points, it’s important that you look at them from an analytical point of view. Regarding the first point, I don’t see any ethical problem here. A ghost writer is well aware of the fact that they are giving up creative ownership when they submit the content as a ghost writer (hence the term).

If I kept creative ownership over all of the intellectual property that I’ve sent my clients, I’d have enough content to fill an entire library of encyclopaedias (I’ve written over 2,000 articles that average 550 words). However, I have instead chosen to accept a monetary figure (which is very fair, trust me) in exchange for giving up those rights.

I can sleep well at night knowing that I have made some money for myself as well as having provided a valuable service to my clients. If webmasters didn’t use ghost writers, there would be many websites that wouldn’t get updated regularly due to time constraints. After all, there are only twenty four hours in a day.

If a ghost writer is capable of producing quality content that is targeted and relevant towards the subject matter, why does it matter who wrote it so long as it’s good?

This brings quality in consideration. I feel that my writing is of exceptional quality, and that is why I feel comfortable charging the rates that I do. The quality of my content is just as good, if not better, as what most webmasters are capable of delivering.

For the website, this means a steady influx of fresh, exciting, and original content that will continue to draw in visitors. For the visitors to the website, it means a continual supply of relevant and useful information. In this situation, everyone wins.

So, to make a long winded topic a short one, no, I don’t feel that using ghost writers is ethically questionable. In fact, a good ghost writer can be an invaluable addition to any website, as the content that they can produce could mean the difference between new content and outdated information.

By: Cameron Martel of AffiliateWeb.org

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I agree with Cameron, I don’t see it as unethical and I’ll happily use ghost writers. Although I think on a blog like this, it is better for the readers if you state when an article is from another author. I’ve used articles from Cameron on here before, and although he didn’t ask for it, I credited it to him as a guest post. To me that seemed logical for this site as readers get to know a certain viewpoint and writing style, any unexplained difference would be noticeable. Amongst other things cameron’s writing is concise, well-structured and the right length. My posts tend to be either short and not saying much, or rambling a bit too much and going off in tangents! Here’s all of Cameron’s articles for thelazyhippy.com.

I’d like to thank Cameron for writing this article, it’s an aspect of ethical internet marketing I hadn’t even considered until I read it. I will certainly be asking Cameron for more content for this and other sites, if you are looking for quality writing I definitely recommend him. You can contact him through his site, AffiliateWeb.org.

- Si

From now on…. no more promises!

Ok, “ethical internet marketing” - what does that mean? I’m ranking high for the term now (thanks - at least in part - to SQUIRT - more on that later), but I’ve hardly mentioned it on here….. Do I even practise ethical internet marketing anyway?

Well, I am marketing products online - so that’s 2 down, but am I ethical? What are ethics anyway?
Ethics is a branch of philosophy… so this could get very deep (and I’ve not had a smoke for nearly 2 weeks now..!)

It can be defined as “a major branch of philosophy, the study of values and customs of a person or group. It covers the analysis and employment of concepts such as right and wrong, good and evil, and responsibility.” - cheers Wikipedia.

I’ll save getting into detailed descriptions (at least in part because I’m a lazy fucker hippy) , if you want some nice light reading checkout the pages on the ever-useful Wikipedia - ethics, business ethics. They haven’t got anything there on how ethics apply to internet marketing (if I was less lazy I’d write a page and get a nice link!) but as with anything else, in this game ethics are subjective - what one person sees as right or wrong, another will disagree with. So what I view as being ethical or unethical you might disagree with - if you do please let me know!

Let’s start with the easy stuff. What is unethical?

I’m not at all religious - in fact I really don’t like organised religion (spirituality is another matter entirely) - but religions have always given people guidelines about what is right and wrong, e.g. “Thou shalt not kill” - pretty obvious, even if ignored by many (step forward Messrs Bush & Blair). One of the major teachings in Christianity is: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” this is echoed across all major religions and ties in with the concept of Karma, which can be loosely defined as: “The effects of all deeds actively create past, present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one’s own life, and the pain and joy it brings to others.” - What goes around comes around.

This fits in with my personal (hippy-esque) philosophy on life: Treat other people how you would like to be treated.

How does this fit with internet marketing?

Well, back to the question of what is unethical - I don’t like to be ripped off, scammed or misled for a start. So I will not make up bullshit to sell a product - I consider that unethical. Fake testimonials and stuff like that also fit into the ‘bullshit’ category as far as I’m concerned.

One thing I consider to be a big part of being ethical (or just ‘good’ if you prefer) is helping people - simple really, but so many people in this game are so focussed on making their millions they don’t have time for anyone else and forget that they were new to it once too. I’m active on one popular internet marketing forum, WickedFire. While I’m by no means the most experienced or knowledgeable person there (by a long shot) I know more about some things than some people and when I can will offer my help and advice. If you have ever received good advice, make a point of giving some back when you can. Everyone knows more than someone else about something - everyone can help someone in some way.

I was looking for a place to discuss ethics (and admittedly to get a link as well to improve my ranking for the term “ethical internet marketing”) . I joined one forum claiming to be an “ethical marketer’s club”, only to find they were more interested in selling shitty ebooks than discussing ethics. The owner recently sent me an email promoting some product by claiming that creator was suffering from a mental illness (in a half-joking way), I contacted him suggesting is wasn’t particularly ethical to promote products in that way. He hasn’t even bothered to reply to me. Anyway, I didn’t bother with that place (and didn’t even get a link in my signature), but now I’m currently second on Google for “ethical internet marketing”, his site and forum have dropped from the first page to around 50. Karma?

Talking of ebooks - while some can be great sources of information, the ones the claim to make you millions are not. I will not promote them. I will however give you a link to get them for free - check out the free ebook thread on WickedFire!

Right, it’s getting late and I’m finding it hard to concentrate due to toothache - dentist appointment tomorrow morning (really looking forward to that!). I’ll continue this later in the week (hopefully, but remember I’m lazy! lol) when I’ll talk more about:

• The ethics of selling information products (ebooks)
• Copyright, intellectual property and file sharing
• The big big subject of ethical SEO
• Probably some more stuff too

Oh and the hat thing… well it’s half metaphor-half literal, I’ll get a pic sorted but it features in the video for the Firelead prize draw.

Another ethical thing… I’ve removed the nofollow attributes from comments - so leave a comment and get some link love!