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How Charity Newcomers are Revolutionizing the Non-Profit Sector
November 13, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Social cause is not just about writing a check and mailing it to your favorite charity every year. No, not for the newest wave of non-profits. This up-and-coming generation of charities is developing innovative financial structures, embracing the power new social technologies to engage audiences, taking big risks and changing the face of entrepreneurship and social cause in the process.
“At first, we had all of these naysayers.” says Matt Flannery, founder of Kiva — a microlending non-profit. “Experts said, ‘That’s an interesting idea for advertising, but that can’t scale. How can thousands of people from Uganda, Cambodia and Tanzania–random places where the Internet doesn’t work so well–post their pictures and get people to lend to them?’ The idea did seem crazy,” Flannery noted. “But we weren’t thinking it was going to be a multimillion-dollar business.” Flannery’s entrepreneurial spirit and fresh perspective defines the next generation of non-profits impacting change.
Kiva (founded in 2005), Charity Water (2006), To Write Love on Her Arms (2006), One Campaign (2004) are leading this new generation of charities. From micro-lending to Twestivals to web applications, these charities are changing the game and in the process, revolutionizing the non-profit sector.
These neophytes are facing many of the challenges freshly minted college students face: little experience, but have an innovative, driven spirit to change the world. This new generation is getting their foot in the door by embracing social media and other web 2.0 technologies. Accordingly, they are the most socially influential non-profits based on our findings in the Digital Influence in Social Cause Report.
Placing #3 among over 50 charities, Kiva is the greenhorn superstar — surpassing YMCA, The Salvation Army, Greenpeace and many other well-known organizations. Though Kiva is alone at the top of the list, the one shared element among all new entrants is social influence — meaning Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and links pointing to their .org site.
Kiva is a digital leader not only among non-profits but the web as a whole. This year, Kiva.org was named one of the 50 Best Websites of 2009 by TIME magazine. The microfinancing organization has created an API for web developers, developed blog badges and easily embedded banner ads in addition to Kiva donation groups and even an iPhone App. Forbes has called the microlending site “a cross between Google and Bono.”
To create transparency and develop a community-rich environment around entrepreneurship and micro-lending, Kiva embraces many social media tools. This dedication to social media and blogging paid off when the Daily Kos picked up Kiva. Then, Opra came knocking and the rest is history.
Kiva is not the only innovative web-based non-profit. Charity Water launched Twestivals — where Twitter users Tweet, meet and give. In Feb. 2009, the Twestival reportedly raised $250,000. “We came together at tweetups, we raised money, and together we funded 55 water projects. This means 17,000 people now have access to…
To read more about charity newcomers, go to Sparxoo, a digital marketing, branding and business development blog.
Twitter API: Up and Running: Learn How to Build Applications with the Twitter API
November 9, 2009 by IBI · 3 Comments
Amazon.com Review
The purpose of Twitter API: Up and Running is to provide an introduction to using the Twitter API–the means to get at the rich Twitter data–to build web applications. This book has three main parts: an overview of the Twitter ecosystem and culture; background information on the languages and environment you need to create your applications; and working code for a suite of sample applications meant to get you started on your programming adventure. As Twitter lowers barriers to publication through its simplicity, so this book will provide easy access to the skills and resources you’ll need to build web applications for its API.
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From Author Kevin Makice
One of the strengths of Twitter is its flexibility. Every information stream is unique and can be customized in the way that best fits the individual at that moment. Are you getting too much information? Unfollow some people. Do you not have time to tweet? Don’t. Want to chat with your two best buds for an hour and chase away all your other followers? Feel free. Because of this versatility, there are no universal rules for how to behave on Twitter; each user can control his own experience.
Meet the Sample Apps
This small suite of sample web applications is offered to you as a way to illustrate use of the Twitter API, the collection of web service methods that bring Twitter data into third-party programming. These applications explore some common reasons to access the API:
Administration Tool
A master account is needed to do things like send direct messages and conduct data mining on the backend. Unlike most of the user-driven tools, the master account must be available even when the account holder (you) isn’t around to log in. This simple tool allows the master account’s password to be saved to the database in a safe way. Only you will use this tool. In fact, without knowing the password attached to the master Twitter account, others shouldn’t be able to do anything with this application.
Tweet Publisher
This application is a straightforward status updater. To publish to your own timeline, enter your Twitter account information and a short 140-character message. After doing so, you will see a link to the new tweet.
Auto Tweet
Each member account can be associated with a single RSS or Atom feed, from which a new tweet will be automatically generated. There is an automated task associated with this application that checks each registered feed for new content in six-hour cycles and posts the most recent article.
Tweet Broadcast
This is an aggregation tool, where you can collect daily tweets from a handful of other Twitter members into a single RSS item. An RSS feed is generated that contains information for up to 20 days of activity, collected by an automated task that checks for new tweets once a day. Each member account can have one aggregation feed.
Tweet Alert
Tracking tweets based on keywords is made easy with the Twitter search API. Each member can list a few keywords in Tweet Alert and receive a notification when any of those terms appears in a public tweet. The content scans are performed every 15 minutes. If a match is found—and the member is following your master Twitter account—a direct message is sent to that member with a link to the search results.
Network Viewer
Probably the most useful among the suite of tools, this web application allows Twitter members to see the profile images of all the people they’re following. Private accounts are outlined in red, and (in most modern browsers) mousing over each picture reveals additional detail about that member.
Product Description
This groundbreaking book provides you with the skills and resources necessary to build web applications for Twitter. Perfect for new and casual programmers intrigued by the world of microblogging, Twitter API: Up and Running carefully explains how each part of Twitter’s API works, with detailed examples that show you how to assemble those building blocks into practical and fun web applications. You’ll also get a complete look at Twitter culture and learn how it has inspired programmers to build hundreds of tools and applications. With this book, you will:
- Explore every component of a Twitter application and learn how the API responds
- Get the PHP and MySQL code necessary to build your own applications, with explanations of how these ingredients work
- Learn from real-world Twitter applications created just for this book
- Discover the most interesting and useful Twitter programs–and get ideas for creating your own–with the book’s Twitter application directory.
Twitter offers a new way to connect with people on the Internet, and Twitter API: Up and Running takes you right to the heart of this technology.
“Twitter API: Up and Running is a friendly, accessible introduction to the Twitter API. Even beginning web developers can have a working Twitter project before they know it. Sit down with this for a weekend and you’re on your way to Twitter API mastery.”
–Alex Payne, Twitter API Lead
“Twitter API: Up and Running is a very comprehensive and useful resource–any developer will feel the urge to code a Twitter-related application right after finishing the book!”
–The Lollicode team, creators of Twitscoop
Buy Twitter API: Up and Running: Learn How to Build Applications with the Twitter API at Amazon
7 Ways To Establish Your Personal Brand For Online Business Success
November 8, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Whether you are a freelancer, internet marketer, offline business owner, or a recent college graduate who is looking for a job, you need to create a strong and professional online presence to succeed in today’s business world. How do you create an online profile that is recognizable and trustworthy? Follow the steps in this article and within a couple of months you will establish a polished online personal brand for yourself.
1. Get a domain. A top level domain, preferably a dot com domain, is a must for your personal brand. It can be a your name, your business name or some other assumed name that you want to associate yourself with. If you already own an offline business you can start with your business name.
Finding a short domain name is almost impossible these days. In most cases, you will be able to find a three words domain name easily. If your own name is somewhat unique, you can be that lucky one whose name is not already taken by domain squatters.
Use DomainBot to do your domain research. When you enter one or more keywords in the DomainBot search box, the website will suggest a large number of available domains that are different variations of your keywords. If you like a domain, you can directly register the domain with one of the domain registrars like godaddy or 1and1.
2. Get a website. After you register a domain, you need to get a web host to host your website. If you are absolutely not going to spend any money for web hosting, sign up for Google’s Blogger platform to start a blog. It is free. Use your own registered domain, instead of the default sub domain that Google offers for Blogger platform.
If you are ready to spend $25 a month, you can sign up for a reseller account at Hostgator. With a reseller account, you can create unlimited websites. Hostgator offers a commercial script library called Fantastico that automates installation of web applications in your sites. Start with installing a Word Press blog.
3. Get your globally recognized avatars. A globally recognized avatars or gravatar is a picture that follows you from site to site appearing next to your name when you do things like commenting in a blog, posting in web forums.
You can use your own picture or a professionally designed graphic image for your gravatar. If you are using a graphic picture, make it unique and get it done professionally. If it is your own picture, take the picture in a lighted area showing your face clearly.
4. Start a blog. Pick a few topics that you are interested in. One of them should be your chosen profession or business niche. Also pick topics related to your hobby or something that you want to learn more about.
Create an about page in your blog, put your avatars and tell your story in short 300-600 words. Make it interesting, intriguing, or humorous.
Go to Technorati, a blog directory, and search your topics to find blogs related to your interests. Subscribe to a dozen high quality, popular blogs using Google reader. Make a habit of reading a few interesting articles in your niche every day.
Now start writing your own articles for your blog regularly. If you like writing, you can write couple of times a week. If you have hard time coming up with topics to write about, start with a few articles a month and slowly work towards one article per week.
5. Visit blogs and forums related to your topic of interest. Leave insight full comments in other blogs and create interesting posts in forums. Create a forum signature with your gravatar in every forum you join.
Use a back link to your blog in your signature. When you create a post in a forum, your signature will be appended to your post. When you post a comment in a blog, use the URL of your blog and your gravatar name. You will be instantly recognized.
6. Create Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin Profiles. Facebook and twitter are two popular social media sites with millions of users. Facebook is mainly used for networking with like minded persons and Twitter is for sharing short timely messages about news, industry trends, interesting articles, and if you are doing any interesting thing. Linkedin is for exchanging information, ideas, and opportunities with professionals in your field.
Update Facebook status and post twitter messages every day. You can start with sharing interesting articles that you have read, productivity tips, interesting pictures, etc. You will soon find people start following you in Twitter if you are posting interesting things every day. Using Facebook’s friend suggestion tool, you can request friendship with others in the Facebook network.
7. Learn and use search engine optimization. It is a very valuable instrument at your disposal to propel you websites and social media profile pages for higher search engine rankings. You don’t have to be a professional in search optimization, just learn the basics and apply them whenever you create contents.
You don’t need to buy any expensive books or sign up for extensive training program. Use free information available online. You can start with SEOBook site and download some free ebooks on search engine optimization.
Post free classifieds and free ads for all your free online marketing needs. Build links and traffic using free social media link building tool created by Dr. Deepak Dutta
Security Tips for PHP Developers
November 3, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
PHP is arguably the most powerful of all open-source programming languages. No longer used solely for web pages, it is becoming an increasingly popular tool for stand-alone programs and corporate applications. Despite all its power and flexibility, the PHP framework is far from secure. The countless number of successful hacks on popular web applications such as Drupal, Joomla and Wordpress serve as solid evidence. In this article, we will go over some of the most significant security issues to help strengthen your shared, VPS or dedicated hosting environment
Dangerous PHP Functions
All potentially dangerous PHP functions should be disabled and never used unless absolutely necessary. Three that pose the biggest threats to security are “passthru”, “EVAL” and “shell_ exec.” These functions can be disabled by editing the “disable_functions” value in the “php.ini” file. EVAL is perhaps the most vulnerable of all because it enables the execution of remote PHP code. If used in conjunction with an insecure global value, this particular function can result in a potentially catastrophic security breach. Because applications such as ImageMagick require shell_exec, you should perform some research to find out which functions are required before disabling them.
Remote URL Injection
When enabled on a server, the “allow_url_fopen” option permits file functions like “file_get_contents()”, which could allow data to be retrieved from locations such as a remote website or FTP connection. Since a standard PHP configuration has this function enabled by default, it is highly recommended that it be manually disabled to prevent potentially dangerous code exploits. allow_url_fopen is very rarely used, thus, you should be able to disable it and still enjoy the full functionality of your website.
Insecure Code
There are many aspects that make PHP one of the most flexible platforms for web development. However, it is this very flexibility that often results in security gaps that can lead to a compromised server or website. This is especially true with the widely used web programs coded in the PHP language. Some of today’s most popular content management systems have bugs and security holes in the supported plugins and even the core code itself. For this reason, you should make it a priority to run the most recent and secure versions of PHP scripts and remain weary of plugins and modules. In fact, unless their functionality is truly needed, you should try to keep your web application platforms simple with as few extensions as possible.
Conclusion
Programmers these days are faced with significant challenges due to the fact that the list of potential PHP security issues is rather extensive. Even worse, the list continues to expand with the release of each new version. That is why it is a developer’s job to take the necessary steps to ensure their code is secure as possible. This can be done by smart coding, only using necessary functions and using updated PHP scripts. In addition, better protection can be assured by doing business with a hosting firm who makes security a priority. In order to give you secure environment for PHP projects, their hosting platform must be properly configured. The combination of an inadequate PHP/web server is one of the major causes of successful security breaches.
You can get the best webhosting at Bluehost web hosting and joomla web hosting
Three Simple Tips for Protecting Your Site
November 3, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
These days, it is more important than ever to keep your website current with the latest security measures. Why so much emphasis on security? Because hackers are always looking for ways to penetrate servers and websites to thieve sensitive information. There are is a lot you can do to ensure better website security and the tips in this article should taken very seriously.
1.) Update Your Applications and Scripts
Running outdated web applications and code on your site is liking giving hackers an open invite. So if you have older versions of WordPress or Joomla installed, it is advisable that you immediately check for and perform the necessary updates. This goes for any application or programming languages used for your site. For a knowledgeable hacker, compromising Joomla 1.0 is as easy as uploading a shell script to an insecure form. If successful, they could end up with complete control of your account.
2.) Create Strong Passwords
A password can be a simple but effective security mechanism. However, this is only the case when following a strict set of rules. When securing login sessions and other areas of your site, never apply a password that can be easily guessed by others or is used for other accounts. If someone knows just one of your passwords, they can keep trying it for each of your accounts until they are successful. This could not only lead them to the control panel login of your hosting account, but also the financial institution you do your online banking with.
3.) Mask Your Folders
It is always wise to cloak your website files and folders that are stored on the server. Many security experts suggest keeping a blank index.html file in each of the folders stored in your public directory. Doing this will ensure that the contents cannot easily be viewed by internet users. This process is made simple with the cPanel control panel and its Index Manager function. You can take this one step further by password protecting the administrator folder that contains the scripts you are running. This is highly recommended as it provides an added layer of security that will make an intruder have to work that much harder.
What If I Still Get Hacked?
As we eluded to earlier, there is a possibility that even after adhering to all of these tips and more, your website can still be compromised by a hacker. Should your site be successfully exploited, there are a couple of things you should do right away to minimize the damage. The first step that needs to be taken involves changing all of the passwords associated with your website. This goes from your control panel and administrative areas to everything else in between. Next, go through your hosting account to find and update all old applications and plugins as they could easily be the culprits that led to exposure. Any website can be compromised and if it happens to you, your sensitive information can be used for criminal gain in one way or another. Prevention is the key so employ all the measures you can to ensure you are protected against the existing and emerging threats.
You can get the best webhosting services at bestemailhosting and bestecommercehosting
Install Wordpress in 30 Seconds or Less with WordPress Auto Install
October 29, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
WordPress is the perfect platform for your new website or blog, and WordPress auto install makes it simple and easy to install WordPress and get your new site set up in about 30 seconds. In this brief article, I’ll share the 3 simple steps you can take to get up and running before you know it. At the end of the article, I’ll also tell you where you can watch a short video that will walk you through the WordPress install process.
Step 1: Get a Web Host that Offers WordPress Auto Install (Also Known as WordPress 1-Click Install)
There are several web hosting companies who currently offer 1-click auto-install for various programs, such as WordPress. If you’re not sure whether your host offers this feature or not, simply contact their tech support folks to see if they do. My previous web host did not offer this service, and it would take me about 30 minutes to install WordPress (and I’m a web developer by trade). Naturally, I was happy to switch to a new web host that does offer the WordPress auto install service.
Step 2: Login to Your Web Hosting Account, Find and Click the Link for Fantastico
Fantastico is a program that automates the installation of various other web applications on a web server. Said another way, this is the tool your web host uses to allow you to install WordPress (and other programs) quickly and easily.
Step 3: On the Fantastico Control Panel, Select WordPress, and Follow the Simple Instructions Provided
Once you get to the Fantastico control panel, you will likely see several different programs that you could install. Obviously, you’ll want to select WordPress, and you want to click the link that says “New Installation.” After that, you simply fill in a few fields (Fantastico will offer you instructions), and click the “Install WordPress” button. Fantastico will work it’s magic in about 5 seconds, and you’re all done.
To view a short, 5-minute video on how to Install WordPress with WordPress auto install, visit my website at http://www.michaeldpollock.com/install-wordpress-auto-install/.
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