We have released updated versions of Domain Punch Professional and Watch My Domains (ISP and Pro).
Here are some of the additions…
- Added support for generating alerts when a ping or home page check fails or when the IP address corresponding to the domain (from DNS check) is changed.
- Added built-in support for BE domains. Of course, you can also manually configure our domain name software products for any TLD or ccTLD that has a valid port 43 whois server. Please see whois server setup.
- Added an option to enable UTF-8 conversion for web-script POST data. If you are using Internationalized Domain Names (IDN), the non-ASCII letters in IDNS will be lost unless you convert the POST data to UTF-8.
- Added Unicode support for the domain log file. Without this the domain log file will not display the non-ASCII letters in IDNs.
- Added a check box for enabling Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) to the "Add Names" dialog. Some customers requested this because the support for IDNs was not immediately visible from within the software interface.
- Added support for extracting the organization name.
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We are getting ready to release the next major version of Good Keywords. The Initial beta version will be available before the end of September 2008.
Here are some advance details…
- Good Keywords v3 will be free for personal and startup uses. Business users will be requested to pay a small fee to register the software or buy a suitable version of the new Stratnik software suite (see below).
- We will also release a new software suite for strategic Internet business development called Stratnik.
- Stratnik will replace the existing IM Toolpad software suite. There will be different editions of the software for home/small office users and business / corporate users. Existing IM Toolpad customers will receive a free upgrade to the corresponding Stratnik edition.
What is new in Good Keywords v3?
- The most important tool in Good Keywords v3 is a keyword database helper that will allow you to organize the keyword data obtained from the Google keyword tool. The keyword helper uses a database to manage the keywords and you will be able to use powerful SQL queries to obtain data from your own local keyword database. Please note that the software will not make any kind of automated queries to the Google keyword tool. It is simply an incredibly powerful software to organize and query the data from your own Google keyword research.
- Updated versions of existing tools like Misspelled Words, Keyword Phrase Builder, Power Words, Site and Link Pop Meter, etc.
- Integrated Keyword Pad
- Integrated Keyword Explorer
- Large collection of articles, tips and application notes that will be updated weekly.
Please monitor this blog if you want to be notified when the new versions become available. You may also sign up for our blog alert.
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The recent incident involving Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s Yahoo! e-mail account highlights how easy it is for some one to exploit the weakest link in the security chain. You could use the most random set of alphabets, digits and symbols as your password and still get hacked!
I just tried to access my own, infrequently used, Yahoo account without the password. What I discovered was that any one with the following information about me could easily reset the password and gain full access in a few minutes.
- The yahoo account name (this is the part before the @ in the Yahoo email-id)
- The country of residence
- birthday
- Postal code
- The answer to where I first met my spouse
If you use Yahoo email, immediately check how vulnerable you are to some one resetting your password. If you think your account is vulnerable, change your security question and answer.
How do you change the security question of your yahoo account?
The strange part is that changing the security question and answer is much more complicated! It can’t be done even if you are logged into your Yahoo account! Apparently you have to send an email to a Yahoo support account to get this done. Check this Yahoo answer for more details.
When you pick an answer for the security question, don’t answer it truthfully. Instead, make up an answer only you will know.
What about Hotmail, Google?
Unlike Yahoo, Google seems to have a more secure procedure for resetting the password. I am not sure about Hotmail because I don’t use it. If you have a Hotmail account, try the "forgotten" password link and check the procedure involved.
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Google has incorporated some enhancements to the way the quality scores are displayed in Adwords accounts. While this was announced a while ago, the changes have taken effect (for all advertisers) very recently.
So, what are the changes?
1. The quality scores are now dynamically updated
Every time a search is made, the quality score is evaluated. The quality score is evaluated based on the quality of the landing page and click through rate (CTR). The Google Adwords blog states that the landing page quality is evaluated less frequently even though the over all quality score is evaluated at the time of the search.
2. "Minimum bids" are now replaced with "first page bid estimates"
The first page bid estimate is the approximate CPC bid required so that your advertisement shows up in the first page of Google search results. This is displayed as "Estimated bid to show on the first page".
If you are already bidding more than the first page bid estimate, the value will be displayed only on the Keyword Analysis page. This is accessible from Details and recommendations link (see the screen shot).
3. All keywords are active
This is more of a cosmetic change. There will not be any "inactive for search" status for your keywords. This doesn’t mean that there will be impressions for all keywords.
Read more about the changes at the official Google Adwords blog – Quality Score improvements to go live in coming days
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Verisign publishes a domain name industry brief every quarter. The latest one is an interesting read.
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As of September 2008, there are approximately 168 million top level domain name registrations (including ccTLDs).
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There are about 65 million country specific (ccTLD) domain name registrations,
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As every one knows, the maximum domain name registrations are for .com
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There are more .de (Germany) and .cn (China) registrations than .net
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47% of all ccTLD registrations occur for DE, UK and CN domains.
Download the The VeriSign Domain Report – September 2008 (Current state of the domain name industry, including up-to-date trends in new registrations, renewals, and growth opportunities)
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We have released versions of Domain Punch Pro and Watch My Domains ISP that support Internationalized domain names such as പാഠശാല.com, Bücher.com, 핸드폰.com.
You can find available internationalized domain names or manage your existing domain name portfolio that includes internationalized domain names using Domain Punch Pro and or Watch My Domains ISP.
Most top level registries had started accepting registrations for IDNs in 2004-2005. You could always use our domain management software for managing IDNs but it required converting the native language domain name into Punycode and then entering the converted ASCII domain names into the software. This is no longer required if you use the new versions of Domain Punch Pro or Watch My Domains ISP.
You will need to enable the IDN support in the software from the "Config > App Settings" dialog. Please see the screen shot.
Please make sure that you get IDNs verified by a native language speaker before registering them.
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