Archive for the ‘blogging’ Category

Can I Get Some Help With AdSense and WordPress?

Posted November 4, 2011
Filed under: blogging | Tags: , , , ,
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OK.  I need some help.  I signed up for a Google AdSense account, and I want to post the ads on WiFiJedi.com   I can seem to generate the proper code within AdSense, but it doesn’t seem to “take”, when I paste it into WordPress.   It  pastes into the text box, but then when I click publish (or save), it seems to “disappear”.

This happens when I paste it into either the “Visual” or “HTML” boxes. It also happens when I try to paste the AdSense code into either a text box along the side column of my main blog page, as well as when I try to enter the code at the bottom of one of my posts.

I should also mention that Word Press is hosting my blog.  I simply paid Word Press for the domain name and DNS redirect.  It’s *not* hosted by another hosting company such as Blue Host or Hosting Gator.  I think that limits my use of plug-ins.

Has anyone else experienced this before?  If so, what is the work around?

Calling All Bloggers

Posted October 5, 2010
Filed under: blogging, Poll Questions, Social Media | Tags: , , ,
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WiFiJedi: This is an email that I received late last week asking for bloggers to fill out a survey for a “State of the Blogosphere” report by Technorati.  It took me 10-15 minutes to fill out, and was actually pretty fun/interesting.  If you are a fellow blogger, I personally would appreciate you taking a few minutes of your time to help out the community by answering the survey questions.  FYI — I have nothing vested in Technorati or the report, but want to get the best possible data to the public.

From: Technorati [mailto:noreply@technorati.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2010 9:51 AM
Subject: State of the Blogosphere Survey 2010

2010 State of the Blogosphere Survey – please give us 15 minutes.

Since 2004, Technorati has been tracking the Blogosphere through our State of the Blogosphere study. The goal of the study is to create a complete snapshot of the activities and interactions that make up the Blogosphere by asking you, the bloggers, to share some information about your habits. The survey includes questions like how, when and why you blog. Is this a side business, full time job or something you do for fun?

Please feel free to send this link to other bloggers you know. And be sure to check back on Technorati.com in November for a summary of the results.

The 2010 State of the Blogosphere Survey: http://research.opinionguru.com/mrIWeb/mrIWeb.dll?I.Project=A17275

WiFiJedi: As a personal side note, those who know me well understand I am  a *huge* NHL Hockey fan.  After completing the survey, I did see this “Five Things To Look Forward to This NHL Season” post on Technorati.  #incaseyouareinterested

I’m Giving Away a FREE Copy of the CWTS Study Guide!

Posted August 10, 2010
Filed under: blogging, Contests | Tags: , , , , , ,
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Perhaps you want to gain an entry level certification in wireless networking & security?  Maybe you want a better understanding of the “bits and bytes” of wireless. Or maybe you’d like to read case studies of wireless site surveys, installations, and troubleshooting in different industries.

All of that information (and more) is contained in the CWTS (Certified Wireless Technology Specialist) Official Study Guide by Robert Bartz and published by Sybex.

Here’s the best part — I am giving away a copy for FREE. Shipped right to your door if you are anywhere in the US.

Last week I announced a contest to win this book by submitting the most insightful/valuable wireless blog (or news source).  So far, there have been *no* entries, so at this point, I’d say you have a pretty good chance of winning…

However, the contest closes tomorrow, Wednesday, August 11th. Submit your entry by leaving a comment on this blog post (there is a link at the top of the post near the category information and tags).  Alternatively, you can leave a comment on the original post, “What’s Your Favorite Wireless Blog or News Source”.

For more information on the Certified Wireless Technology Specialist exam, visit exam site at CWNP.com

What’s Your Favoirte Wireless Blog or News Source?

Posted August 4, 2010
Filed under: 802.11e - Quality of Service, blogging, General | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
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I recently read an article entitled “Why employees don’t want to blog“.  The article stated that less than 1% of Internet users have an active blog.

Personally, I have a rather hard time finding blogs about Enterprise Wi-Fi networking & security. That being said, there’s a real need for this type of information.

As Nigel Fenwick points out in the video interview below, there is a much bigger value to this online content than one might think due to the high number of people that are engaged as critics, conversationalists, or spectators.

One such person is Andrew VonNagy, who participated in one of my contests offering a “Free Copy of Wireless Hacking Exposed” in exchange for the best wireless pen testing tip.

The funny thing is, by entering the contest, I stumbled onto Andrew’s blog — Revolution Wi-Fi — and realized that Andrew is a wonderful content creator.   For example, over the last several days, Andrew published a great series of posts about Wireless Quality of Service.

This “discovery” motivated me to start another contest. Tell me about a new wireless blog (or news source).  Some of my favorites are already listed along the bottom, left-hand side of WiFiJedi.com Whoever submits the most compelling content will win a free copy of the Certified Wireless Technology Specialist Official Study Guide.

I’ll choose the winner on the next #WirelessWednesday (Aug. 11th)

http://revolutionwifi.blogspot.com/

Just a Reminder….

Posted June 30, 2010
Filed under: blogging, Security, WIDS / WIPS, Wireless Security | Tags: , , , ,
* Comments (2)

I am giving away a FREE copy of “Wireless Hacking Exposed”.  All you have to do is submit a comment to the post about the book stating your favorite wireless pen testing tip or trick.  Technical or non-technical.

I am going to choose the best comment at the close of business tomorrow (July 1st).  There are only two submissions right now, so if you enter with less than 24 hours left, I’d say that you have a decent chance of winning.  🙂

Here are even a few ideas to get you started:

  • What’s your favorite wireless card for pen testing?  Why?
  • What’s the best application / piece of software for wireless pen testing?  Why?
  • What a common myth about wireless security that you can dispel through pen testing?
  • Tell me about your favorite pen testing experience.  (Mine is below….)

Personally, my favorite part of wireless pen testing is social engineering.  For example, one time I was assigned to do a security assessment for an oil & gas company.  I targeted the IT department of the company, figuring the report would hit home if it contained *their* passwords, sensitive data, etc.

The IT department of this company was on the 5th and 6th floors of a multistory building.  Part of the social engineering I utilized was implemented when I checked into my hotel for the project.  You see, the hotel I checked into was in a building adjacent to my customer / target.  When I checked in, I specifically requested a room on the side of the building closest to “ABC Company”, that had a balcony, and was on either the 5th or 6th floor.  Do you think the hotel clerk hesitated one second before they fulfilled my request?  Of course not.

On top of that, when I checked into my room, I set up 2 different computers, each with multiple wireless cards, spectrum analyzers, and external antenna connected to them.  Even to the point where I had a tripod mounted -13.5 dB Yagi antenna with a laser pointer on the balcony pointed at my customer / target company.  The maids came in and out of my room, and if anyone ever said anything, it certainly wasn’t filtered back to me.

Could I still have done the pen test without this?  Yes.  But did having this location make it more convenient to collect packets, circumvent authentication & encryption, redirect/attack wireless clients, etc.?  Of course it did.

Subscribe to WiFiJedi.com Today!

Posted June 14, 2010
Filed under: blogging, General | Tags: , , ,
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Can’t get enough information about wireless networking & security?  Instead of searching for the right information, how would you like it to come to you?

I recently added a new widget to my blog site that allows you to subscribe by e-mail, which means that new posts would automatically show up in your inbox.  How cool is that?

Simply type your email addy into the box along the left hand side of the page.  As an example, I highlighted the applicable section with a red box in the graphic associated with this post.

Alternatively, if you like to follow lots of blogs, you can subscribe to WiFiJedi.com through RSS.    RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, which places a “feed” of updates from a particular website into your RSS reader.

802.11 Heaven

Posted December 3, 2009
Filed under: blogging, General, Social Media | Tags: , , , , , ,
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I recently wrote on my Computerworld Blog about wireless resources on Twitter.  The goal of the post was to share ways for those passionate about wireless networking and security could find one another.   One of the comments to that post was from Jamey Kistner (@jameyk1stner).  Jamey recommended another such community, this time on Ning.

The Ning community is called “802.11 Heaven” and is accessible at http://80211heaven.ning.com/ The website’s subtitle is “The place to chat, argue, debate and understand all things 802.11”.  The site was founded by Tom Carpenter (@carpentertom), who is a CWNA and CWSP author.

To be honest, the 802.11 Heaven community is extremely small at this point, but it definitely has some of the best minds in Wi-Fi including Joel Barrett (@joelbarrett) and Keith Parsons (@keithparsons).  Let’s get the word out as the value of the community is strengthened with each new member!

My thanks goes out to Jamey for highlighting this resource.  Speaking of resources, you might also want to check out Jamey’s blog “Wireless Journeys”, which is available here: http://wirelessaficionado.wordpress.com/

SMX Advanced – Day 1 Recap

Posted June 3, 2009
Filed under: blogging, Industry Events, Professional Development, Security, Social Media | Tags: , , , , , ,
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I was lucky enough to be up in Seattle yesterday to sit in on the sessions at SMX Advanced.   SMX stands for Search Marketing Expo and SMX Advanced is one in a series of a half dozen conferences run around the world each year.  Each of these conferences is dedicated to Search Marketing. 

My favorite session of the morning was “Twitter Tactics and Search Marketing”. There were several presenters, including Michael Gray, President, Atlas Web Service and Joanna Lord, Co-Founder & CMO, TheOnlineBeat.  

Michael was my favorite presenter of the show.  His presentation was fast paced and insightful – very difficult to put into words. He started his presentation with “There is no right or wrong way to use Twitter.  You need to determine what works for you”, which set a very down-to-Earth tone. Michael listed off what seemed like a thousand tools and tactics for twitter, but my favorite soundbite of his presentation is that “the re-tweet is Twitter gold“.  He suggested that you RT (re-tweet) the most self-serving tweets of people you want to notice you.  

Although Michael was a hard act to follow, Joanna definitely held her own.  She offered great advice with regards to Twitter use and security. She suggested the following: 

  • RESEARCH an application/tool BEFORE giving them your PASSWORD 
  • Read.The.Link.Before.You.Push!!! (reference to the use of URL shorteners and re-tweeting links)

My favorite afternoon session talked about Search Engine Rank Factors (SERFs) in 2009 and had heavyweight presenters Rand Fishkin, CEO of SEOmoz, Laura Lippay, Dir. Technical Marketing at Yahoo, and Marty Weintraub, President of aimClear. What I took away from the session was that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is more than meta tags, inbound links, keyword density, etc.  It is about being viral, creating buzz, and creating a great product. Laura suggested asking yourself “What is it going to take to outrank our top competitor?”  Simple, yet profound.  I don’t think many people ask themselves this question. I think fewer people are disciplined enough to follow through with the actions needed to become #1.    

Besides the great educational sessions, there was an excellent vendor in conjunction with the conference.  All the large players were there such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and SEOmoz.  Microsoft had the most interesting booth promoting their new “Bing” search engine. I particularly liked that you could use an XBox 360 controller to control maps provided by Bing.  The best swag was provided by SEOmoz, who gave away cans of “Link Juice”.  The LinkJuice reminded me of the case of Brawndo that I bought off the Internet before Christmas (a reference to the movie Idiocracy, if you haven’t seen it). 

Unfortunately, I had to leave the conference before the evening keynote on Day 1 due to client commitments.  It looked like there were some great Day 2 sessions as well as vendor sponsored parties.  I am definitely going to keep Search Marketing Expo events on my radar over the coming year.

The Importance of Tagging

Posted May 25, 2009
Filed under: blogging, Social Media | Tags: , , , , ,
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While at INTEROP last week, I met several journalists, analysts, etc. Several of them visited WiFiJedi.com and gave me feedback.  

One piece of constructive criticism was that while the content was good, there was no real good way to find past material.  This individual suggested that I have a tag cloud widget on my blog cross-referencing posts on a given topic.  

Therefore, I have taken this suggestion and placed a tag cloud on the side bar of my blog. I have always had the drop down category box and the search field that appear below the tag cloud.  At the bottom of every post, I have also tried to link to other applicable WiFiJedi.com material.  Have you used these features? Do you like the tag cloud? Please let me know what you think in the comments section.

At any rate, the tag cloud coversation reminded me of one of the sessions I attended at INTEROP titled “Next Generation Search: Social Bookmarking and Tagging” by Thomas Vander Wal.  Here is an oversimplified graphic from the presentation:

Interest –> Culture 

Vocabulary –> Terminology 

Mr. Vander Wal suggested that bookmarking and tagging turn individual interest into a shared culture and how they also turn an individual vocabulary into shared terminology.  

Coincidently enough, that same day I found a Twitter service called Twittersheep that generates a tag cloud of all the terms used in the biographies of your followers.  Here is what it generated from my followers:

What really jumped out at me was how much of a reflection of my background and interests are mirrored by my Twitter followers.  I guess we are attracted to people who persue similar activities.  Go ahead and try it and let me know if you come to a similar conclusion! 

Related Posts: 

INTEROP Preview

Posted May 18, 2009
Filed under: blogging, Industry Events, Interviews, Professional Development |
* Comments (1)

I made it to Syn-City.  Whoops!  That’s the geek in me.  You know… the three way handshake… Syn, Syn-Ack, Ack  (I guess its not a good joke if you have to explain it).   

This week, I will be attending both INTEROP and Forrester’s IT Forum.  Due to the lack of sleep this city usually affords me, I will be concentrating my efforts on my Computerworld blog, and plan to have a post everyday, starting this evening and running through Thursday.  

It’s going to be a busy week for me.  Besides blogging, my employer (Xirrus) is exhibiting at the show as well as providing the WiFi for all exhibitors and attendees.  (Translation: I will be pulling booth duty.  Stop on by and say hello!)

I also have a number of meetings set up with some real movers and shakers in the wireless industry.  Today, I had lunch with Craig Mathias, who is the conference chair of the wireless track at INTEROP.  Craig and I had a great discussion.  We discussed

  • What looks to be the most exciting part of the upcoming wireless track at INTEROP 
  • If wireless is a capable replacement to Ethernet switching to the desktop 
  • The general decline in interest in wireless security

I plan on transcribing our Q&A in my Computerworld blog post later this evening.  Over the next few days, I will have Q&A with other journalists, analysts, etc. so reach out and let me know in the comments section what I should ask them!

I also have several other “extra-curricular activities” while I am in Vegas.  No, it’s not what you’re thinking…  One such event that I am particularly excited about it tonight’s “Beer & Bloggers” event down at Palazzo.  If you are in Vegas, come on by!  The logistical information is below:

Las Vegas Tweetup – 2009
Monday May 18, 2009 from 6:00pm – 8:30pm
Dos Caminos
 inside the Palazzo Hotel/Casino
3325 Las Vegas Blvd.
South Las Vegas, Nevada 89109

http://lasvegas.beerandblog.com/2009/05/02/forresters-las-vegas-tweetup-2009/

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