How To Connect To Your Server Using SSH

Setup using an SSH tunnel machine

SSH is about as cool as sliced bread, if maybe not a little bit more so. Seriously, it’s a great way to get at your server’s terminal shell, which—as we all know—is the hotbed of power. From there you can change just about any aspect of the server, not to mention seriously screw things up if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Regardless of your skill level or knowledgeability, if you’re going to do any serious web mastering with your server, you’ll need to access the server shell at some point. To do this, you’ll need to tunnel commands server-side via SSH. There are several ways to accomplish this, but each operating system treats the process slightly differently. Lucky for you, we’ve got a common way to get at your server via SSH for all three major operating systems. No need to thank us, though: This is by no means a comprehensive methods list, but rather just a quick guide to dipping your toe in the water. For more complex entry methods, hit up the Big-G and google it.

In the meantime, though, check below for our ways of getting to your server via SSH!

SSH Access For Windows:
Windows is complicated, and because of that, we’ll get it out of the way quick. Windows, unlike Linux or Macintosh (which we’ll look at in just a second) is not based on UNIX, and does not come stock with any kind of SSH client. However, there are plenty of utilities out there that will get the job done. Without sending you to a search engine, though, you can use our favorite in the meantime: PuTTY.

This handy application provides a pleasant enough graphical interface from which to get at your server. Just enter the name of the host, then choose SSH as your connection type. If you’d like, you can save the information for further use. Then enter your username and password, and PuTTY should do the rest.

For Linux:
Linux, by nature of its internal coding, is much less of a pain in the derriere. All you have to do is locate your local terminal application (this varies from distro to distro, so look carefully) and then type the following string:

ssh -l your-username yourserver-or-ip.com

For Macintosh:
For Mac users, enter the same command as above, only use the native Terminal application, which can be found in your Utilities folder. Easy as pie, right?

WebHostingGeeks.comEstablished in 2004, WebHostingGeeks.com is an independent web hosting review site that provides real customer reviews of the most popular web hosting services like HostGator, GoDaddy, WebHostingPad, and many others. If you are looking for reliable hosting company, we will help you find the best web host for your website that suits your needs and budget.

Read More

Comparing Popular Bulletin Board Software Packages

Bulletin board systems these days don’t get as much attentions as other genres of software.  These tend to be more associated with not-for-profit sites of various kinds, and non-business related genres often plays second fiddle.


Regardless, adding a discussion board to your web site is a great way to generate community interest in whatever your site is centred around.  The difference between a good and bad forum site can be like night and day, though.  Here are some of the most popular BBS’s out there, and their perceived advantages and disadvantages.

phpBB

This is one category in which there is a clear leader.  phpBB is far-and-away the most popular BBS.  Even with a few features lacking one web site summarized its review of the latest version, phpBB3, by declaring it “the perfect forum software.”

Is it?  Looking over it we could fill this entire article up with a list of its features.  It comes with support for 42 languages, including both American and British English.  It’s compatible with 7 different PC browsers and six different SmartPhones.  It can run on six different data storage systems.  It has more than 400 available plugins and more than 500 available themes.

Honestly, we have an easier time listing what it can’t do.  About the only features it lacks that you might have serious use for are threaded discussions, a calendar system and the ability to have a paid-customer only section.  It is described as possibly a little tricky to fine tune, but otherwise easy to install and work with.  There were complaints in recent versions about security weakness, but they seem to have been cleared up.

vBulletin

Comparing them side-by-side you may wonder exactly why phpBB is so much more popular than a package like vBulletin.  Their feature lists are close to being carbon copies of one another.

The primary reason is probably the fact that phpBB is free and open source, vBulletin is paid software, and is not cheap.  This appears to be the only reason, though, and we should temper this with one addendum.  The entire Publishing Suite version of the software package includes content management and community blog software designed to work with your forums.  Given the high marks that the forum software receives, this may make it a preferred choice for someone who needs a more professional looking site.

Simple Machines Forum (SMF)

SMF doesn’t seem to have nearly the level of usage on the web as these other two packages.  Like vBulletin, though, it doesn’t seem to be because the software itself is lacking.  In fact, it arguably has the most features of all three, and one site listing its positives and negatives couldn’t even come up with any of the latter.  It is only at version 2.0, but five years worth of development went in between that and version 1.5.

Bulletin board software packages appear to be one of the more complete areas of web development.  If you want to add a discussion board to your site, you have lots of solid packages to choose from.

Read More

Burglars target victims through Facebook, Twitter

A majority of burglars in Britain use social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter to target their victims, a survey has revealed

As many users post updates on social networking sites, thieves not only get information about recent high-value purchases, but also the dates and times when they are out.

Other websites, such as Google Street View, show photographs of individual houses from which the would-be burglars can gauge security and ease of access by looking for alarms and side entrances, the Telegraph reports.

The study was based on the answers of offenders who were convicted of burglary this year.

Four out of five of the criminals said burglars were using social media websites. But they also said that a simple home alarm would have deterred them from targeting the property in the first place.

One of the convicted burglars interviewed said that 'people are now taking advantage of social media to access information about would-be victims.'

"We're living in the age of the digital criminal and people are taking advantage of social media to access information about would-be victims," Taylor said.

"We'll tell them even when we're going away on holidays. We will let them know that we're not in. We're inviting them round to our house," he added.

The survey also revealed that a thief steals an average of 487 pounds from a home on a single visit.

Read More

Lots of hacking attempts on S.Korea military in year

South Korea's military has seen more than 2,700 attempts to hack into its websites over the past year, a lawmaker said Wednesday, amid growing concern over North Korea's cyber warfare capability.

File photo shows South Korean soldiers using computers in Seoul. South Korea's military has seen more than 2,700 attempts to hack into its websites over the past year, a lawmaker said Wednesday, amid growing concern over North Korea's cyber warfare capability.

Kim Ok-Lee of the ruling Grand National Party said the military's websites had seen 2,772 hacking attempts from July 2010 to last month, according to data from the defence ministry.

The monthly average number of attacks has grown from some 170 last year to more than 200 in 2011, the ministry said in a report submitted to Kim.

The origins of the attacks were unknown since hackers could easily disguise Internet Protocol addresses, it added.

"All attempts were blocked and there was no damage...there was no hacking or cyber terror on our defence intranet that is operated separately (from the websites)," the ministry said.

The South's military said in July it would expand its cyber warfare unit, launched in January last year, to better combat growing Internet attacks from the communist North.

North Korea reportedly maintains elite hacker units.

Seoul accused Pyongyang of staging cyber attacks on websites of major South Korean government agencies and financial institutions in March this year and in July 2009.

It also blamed Pyongyang for a cyber attack that paralysed operations at one of its largest banks for more than a week in May.

Pyongyang rejected those allegations, accusing Seoul of inventing the charges to raise tensions.

Read More

Facebook investor Accel shelves larger India fund

Marquee silicon valley venture capitalist Accel Partners, best known for its early investment in Facebook, has scrapped plans to raise $400 million India-focused fund due poor market conditions and increased competition among private equity investors in the country. Accel's proposed fund would have invested larger tranches of growth capital in mature business, unlike early stage venture funding it does in India currently. Accel Partners had roped in prominent fund managers from biggies like DE Shaw, Apax Partners and Goldman Sachs to lead the India growth fund. A senior Accel Partners official confirmed rolling back plans for a larger fund in India. Accel, however, will continue making early stage investments in "category defining" start-up firms in the country. Accel has invested in multiple e-commerce start-ups riding the second wave of India's consumer Internet story. Accel's start-up funding has been in areas of technology, internet, education and biotech. Former India head of Apax Partners Neeraj Bharadwaj, Prateek Dhawan, who spearheaded private equity investments of Goldman Sachs, and Vineet Sachdeva from DE Shaw had boarded Accel Partners for its larger fund operations. Sources said Bharadwaj and Dhawan would continue with Accel for the time being at least. Sequoia Capital, another Valley investor and a peer of Accel, has a bigger play managing $1.4 billion fund in the country. There has been a jostling among private equity firms to invest in one of the few growth economies, which in turn has distorted valuations of emerging businesses in India. This combined with prevailing poor market conditions have prompted may investors into private equity industry turn cautious. Many private equity professionals had quit their jobs to raise a fund of their own adding to a crowded market which has about 400 funds. Some have found the going tough and have withdrawn their fund raising plans. A few Indian corporates like Jubilant Group, which had looked at sponsoring funds, too have shelved their moves. Accel, a pedigree early stage investor, has raised large private equity funds in recent years and operated a joint venture with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co to acquire middle rung technology and IT services firms. The proposed India fund wanted to strike investment deals of up to $50 million in growth businesses in contrast to venture investing that is usually below $10 million.

Read More

Netflix, Facebook -- Did You Forget About Your Consumer?

Why do tech companies hate their customers all of a sudden? It's a question worth asking after a wild week for two of the most valuable and important internet businesses. Netflix, already in the doghouse after announcing a price hike back in July, only made things worse by announcing its DVD rental business would be severed from its streaming video offering and shoved into a new company with a terrible name, Qwikster. Then Facebook rolled out critical changes to the social network's interface before users had a chance to get used to the last round. Netflix disc At first blush, these moves don't seem to have a lot in common, but look deeper and you'll see that what unites them is a tin ear for what their consumers want. Netflix subscribers don't want higher prices for essentially the same service, and they certainly don't want any complications, real or imagined, from having to deal with a separate company. They also didn't want an apologetic and misguided letter from CEO Reed Hastings that communicated the business strategy behind the move without explaining the consumer benefit. (Possibly because there isn't any.) What Facebook users don't want is constant flux on a platform that's become an important habit for many. What they want, more than anything else, is stasis-an end to or, at least, a slowing of the fast-running stream of tweaks and overhauls that forces them to study up on how their personal information is shared and spend hours tweaking their profiles so they can avoid having their own, private social-media crisis. These are obviously massive generalizations, but it's not hard to miss the annoyance targeted at the companies. As New Yorker writer Susan Orlean tweeted to her 185,000 followers, "I think the people running Facebook and Netflix went to a how-to-irritate-your-customers seminar together." Each company had reasons to know they were courting backlash. Netflix already saw the negative reaction to its announced price hikes, enough of a misstep that a lot of subscribers initially assumed that Mr. Hastings' letter was going to be a rollback of the price increases. Instead it ended up being a tactical misstep that only helped to erode what's left of goodwill for the company. Meanwhile, Facebook itself is an always-on referendum on a lot of things, including Facebook, and there's an intense amount of whinging that comes with each new version. It's easy to dismiss this when your user base and valuation continues to grow no matter what you do, but that continued growth is by no means guaranteed, especially when you introduce changes like this recent one that, on a foundational level, alters what Facebook is. Its new Timeline feature will transform your profile from a momentary snapshot of what you're doing to something more like a digital biography, possibly making old news-photos of your kegstands, ex-girlfriends-new again. The risk to Facebook, as it constantly dances around privacy issues, is that it will cause consumers more problems than it's worth. Why change a good thing? Facebook, we're told, needs to constantly innovate in order to avoid the fates of dead and near-dead social networks like Friendster and MySpace. But that translates it into an if-we-build-it-they-will-come(-or-stay) attitude that often comes off as arrogant. Underlying all this is a disregard for listening to customers that we see all too often from tech companies and, to no small degree, we can blame Apple for it. Steve Jobs, famously distrustful of market research, instilled in his company a product design-led ethos validated by a decade of nothing but hits. Facebook feels a lot like Apple in this regard, led by engineering and a cultural insight that people want to share more and that should be enabled at all cost. They both barrel forth as fast as their innovation cycles will carry them. The difference, of course, is that I can choose not to buy a new Apple product while still remaining a loyal customer and part of their ecosystem. With Facebook, there's more of a feeling that you're all in, whether you want to be or not. Netflix, on the other hand, is rather easy to opt out of altogether. You could simply turn to Amazon or Walmart or Redbox or even Blockbuster, now set to launch its own streaming service. Or you can ask yourself whether you really need a monthly bill for a limited selection of on-demand videos and maybe even save yourself a few bucks. In any event Netflix is sure to feel the pain. Videonuze estimates that about 6.5 million customers will leave Netflix this quarter, a record amount of churn for the company. And while it's a long shot, now that Google+ is on the block, Facebook might find that its own disgruntled users, those who've wailed about leaving the service during previous redesigns, may finally have a place to run to.

Read More

Could Facebook Changes Lead to a Google+ Boom?

Could changes on Facebook become a crucial business opportunity for Google+? The storyline seems familiar: People at first rant about the new changes to the site, but then eventually accept it, thus allowing Facebook to continue its growth. With previous site changes, users did not have as many well-known options to fight the company's decisions. MySpace was dying out, which meant people either accepted the changes or left the social-media scene (more chose the former). But now, Google may have the answer to some people's prayers. On message boards, blogs and even Facebook profiles, those upset with Facebook's new changes have said they are off to Google+. With over 750 million accounts, Facebook has dominated the social media scene for years. Robert Drew, a professor of communication at Saginaw Valley State University, told the Midland Daily News that Facebook's dominance may make it difficult for a company such as Google to compete. Like us on Facebook "It'll be a tough go for Google because Facebook's user group is so large and entrenched by now," Drew said. "It's not like the days of MySpace, or before that, Friendster, when there was a great deal less loyalty and force of habit among consumers." Jason Swackhamer, director of Web communications at the same university, told the paper he doesn't envision a mass exodus away from Facebook given that it has become so ingrained in so many people's lives. However, he notes that Google is trying to capitalize on privacy concerns with Facebook, which could begin to eat away at time spent on the social network. "I think the most frustrating thing for social media users is that there isn't one pre-eminent social media product, therefore they all maintain their place at the table. Each one has unique, appealing features," Swackhamer said. "Facebook must pay attention and respond because the Google Empire has proven to be successful." Google +, launched in the summer, saw quick growth at its start, although its estimated 25 million users is merely a small fraction of Facebook's community. The service was originally by invitation only; however, Google announced last week that it is now open to the Internet public. Furthermore, Google announced features such as its "Hangouts," a video-chat feature to allow mobile use and broadcasting. In the meantime, Facebook has recently received substantial criticism for the new changes it just launched -- which include the Ticker and Timeline applications, along with the apps. The International Business Times reported Saturday that in a survey of over 1,000 people conducted by social-voting-based site Sodahead, about 86 percent of the Facebook audience said they disapproved of the changes of Facebook. That number included 91 percent of teenagers, 89 percent of women and 78 percent of young adults. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, at the recent F8 Developers conference in San Francisco, said he was aware of the dissent and that user opinions were always welcome. However, he told reporters that the site had been tested by those inside and outside of the company and they had no plans at the time to change.

Read More