Detour
noun

1. a roundabout way; deviation from a direct way
2. a route used when the direct or regular route is closed to traffic
3. departure from an established ideology or party line

Yes, my dear readers, BlogDeManila is deviating from it’s mission.

BlogDeManila was established on September 2008. After 3 long years of” blogging for bloggers,” I decided to deviate from it’s original mission of “helping other people blog smartly”. It has been a journey of ups and downs, full of adventure quests.

I personally  believe (unless you will disagree with me), that I’ve been successful in the mission that I’d planned to accomplish 3 year ago. I shared my knowledge to my loyal readers and in return I’ve learned a lot from them as well.

I’ve told my wife that I want to put a personal blog. A different one from the way I’m presenting my posts here at BlogDeManila. Unfortunately, she did not agree  on my plan. She told me that I’m already managing different niches of blogs and I don’t have the time anymore to put up a personal blog. Instead, she told me to turn BlogDeManila into a personal blog. I don’t want to argue with her so I agreed on her plan. I think she’s right. All I have to do is to write more personal post here instead of putting another blog.

And so, I decided (no, my wife decided for me) to inject  more post with personal touch  here. Note that BlogDeManil is only on a detour and not a complete turn around. I’m still going to write post blog for bloggers like SEO, make money online, web hosting, affiliate marketing, adsense, wordpress and more. I also decided to put additional monetizing methods here, perhaps pay per post or Adsense. I hope you don’t mind me earning from my post,do you?

Please continue to support me in this adventure. Give me a big clap if you agree on my new route or frown if you don’t agree.

Please bear with me while blogdemanila.com is getting a facelift.  It has been ages already since this blog was given a makeover. It won’t be an extreme makeover but just simple upgrading and tweaking of the layout.

I’ve promised that I will use a custom theme for this blog, but due to unforeseen new projects that came-up, I don’t have the luxury of time to create my own theme anymore.

If you find anything unusual or awkward in this site, like broken links, missing posts and images, please be calm and patient.

If you have noticed that I seldom post here at blogdemanila.com, this is due to some offline projects that I’m doing . It doesn’t mean that I’m going to quit blogging. No, never!  It won’t happen.

In fact, I’ve already lined-up some topics that I’m going to post like basics of blogging, link building, adsense tips, seo techniques and services that blogdemanila will offer.

So, please stay calm while I’m  fine-tuning and adjusting the layout of blogdemanila.com.

I think this is a good news for all WordPress users.

Best WordPress Theme

WordPress has won the Overall Best Open Source CMS Award in the 2009 Open Source CMS Awards.

“From Blog Software to Full-Featured CMS”

Matt Mullenweg, the founding developer of WordPress,  was very excited to learn about the good news because it is the first time that WordPress have won this award.  This is no small feat because WordPress was designed to be a “blog” software and not a CMS ( Content Management System).

Tied for runners up are MODx and SilverStripe.

WordPress receives US$ 4,000 in prize money, while MODx and SilverStripe each receive US$ 2,500.

Aside from winning the  top spot in the Overall Award,  WordPress also made its way into the top five for the first time in Best Open Source PHP CMS Category.

According to the award site, WordPress outranked Drupal (Winner) by a very slight margin. I guess WordPress has the best chance to win this category by next year.

Matt , in his blog, wrote “ Every member of the WordPress community, from core developer to beginning user, should be proud to be part of this momentum: congratulations to us all!”

Best WordPress Theme

I’ve been overwhelmed with feedback and comments that I received from my previous post, Five Important Reasons Why You Need To Subscribe To Your Own RSS Feeds. I would like to continue that momentum by sharing some “secrets”  I’ve learned from some bloggers.

Building a blog for profit is not easy if you start from scratch, but there are proven techniques already out there. All you have to do is search and apply them in your blog.

Luckily for you, I’ve found them already and I’m ready to share for those who are willing to listen (or read) .

If you are looking for some ways to get more out of your blog, then you need to stop whatever you’re doing and read this article carefully.

Here’s why:

Once you finish reading these RSS tips you’re going to learn how to finally profit from your blog; yes, you’re about to get insider access to pro blogging “secrets”.

Please don’t tell to anybody that you’ve found these secrets.

Alright, I’m just joking. If you’ve found this post worthy of your time, you may share and retweet it.  Just click on the green “retweet” button on the upper right corner of this post. I’ll appreciate that.

And before we get into the nitty-gritty, here’s a quick reminder – RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” or “Rich Site Summary”

RSS is a web feed format used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video — in a standardized format [source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS]

Here Are Three Easy Steps To Blog Brofit With RSS

Step #1 – Add Feedburner On Your Blog

FeedBurner is a no-cost RSS management service owned by Google that enables you turn your RSS original feed into a feedburner standard LINK.

Once you create an account, make sure you redirect your default wordpress feed to feedBurner by logging into your control panel and changing your feed settings.

If you don’t know how to setup your feedburner, kindly get in touch with me and I’m willing to do it for you.

Step #2 – Update Your Ping Services

Whenever you publish a new post on your blog, RSS feed directories will be notified by your new post; some might index your post/link, just as Google does. It simply means that you are telling the virtual world that you have new and exciting content in your blog!

How to get the maximum out of this feature?

When you go in the “settings” – “writing” options you’ll be able to add a list with all the RSS feed links you know, or that are available out there.

Here’s a list with four such links

http://rpc.pingomatic.com/

http://api.moreover.com/RPC2

http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2

http://ping.feedburner.com

Step #3 – Publish Great Content Frequently

There’s no secret about it; top-notch content that your readers want is what will attract massive traffic to your blog over the long run.

And RSS makes it easy to send your stuff in your subscribers inbox, saving them time and providing them with solutions to their wants and needs.

If you look at the bloggers who really make a killing online from their blogs, they all focus on just one thing – building a massive subscriber list via RSS or email. – Pawan Agrawal

I challenge you to turn your RSS blog feed into cash today – click here to learn how: RSS To Email!

And by the way, If you are not yet a subscriber of BlogDeManila, you can easily subscribe by going to my special page “Getting Updates from BlogDeManila”. I’ll be happy if you do.

Update:Unannounced Tip: As of October 29, 2009 AdSense for feeds now available directly in Blogger

A client of mine is looking for a new webhost but not just any kind of  provider. It should be a Windows hosting provider. There are numerous providers out there but mostly they are offering a Linux webhost only.

My client will not just simply install a blog  but he’s developing an ASP.NET website. He’s actually a Windows guy and it’s just natural for him to look for a reliable windows hosting.

I had a long chat with Jade  of MommaWannabe last week because she was looking for a cheap hosting. While searching for the right hosting provider for her, I’ve found out about this Window hosting company called  Hosting Fest.  They are supporting the classic ASP, ASP.NET,Microsoft SQL Server and other technologies such as ASP.NET Ajax extensions. This is exactly the kind of hosting provider that my client is looking for.

If you know any Windows hosting provider that can beat the offerings of Hosting Fest, please let me know. It would be great if they have affiliates program too

Whoa, it’s exactly one month today since my last post.  So what really happened to me and BlogDeManila.com?

First, I had a problem with my webhost.

Yes, you’ve read it right.  I have other 6 other blogs/websites that I’m managing and, unfortunately, only BlogDeManila (BDM) was affected. The good news is, it’s already up and running!

Second, I survived Storm Ondoy!

I won’t bore you the details about it but I  did some rescuing on my mom-in-laws’ house, who was home alone when the storm hit. Unfortunately while doing the rescue mission, I accidentally stepped on a sharp object while crossing a raging water.  In just few hours, my right foot swelled that made me nervous. Since I can’t walk properly, my brother in-law rescued me from their house at 4AM and brought me to the hospital for the anti-tetanus shot.

By the way, my brother-in-law  lost PhP .5M  worth of equipments due to this flood. He was not home when it happened and most of his photography and office equipments submerged into the muddy water.

Recovered Photography Equipments

Third, I survived Storm Pepeng!

Kennon Road Entry - Storm Pepeng

We went to Baguio City two days before Storm Pepeng hits the Northern part of the Philippines. We were aware that a storm is coming but we don’t have any idea that it will stay for a week and will bring a catastrophic damages in the area. The weather forecast at that time was, the storm will just past hurriedly because of it’s speed. We were really surprised that it stayed and brought down all the water of Pacific ocean continuously for seven days!

Kennon Road - Storm Pepeng

After surviving all the virtual and real life drama, I’m proud to report that BlogDeManila is alive, kicking and ready to rock the Blogosphere again!

I don’t want to sound bitter against Nuffnang. This is not about the company nor the ads they are running on their network. I just want to rant about their support.

Last Thursday, September 10, 2009, I received an email from Nuffnang with a subject ” SMART is giving away Php 500,000 daily!” Within the body of the message there is this link to Smart’s website on where to get more information, but when I followed the link  I received a “404″ error. It means the page is unreachable or not existing.

I’m a bit curious ( “suspicious” is the right word) because how can Nuffnang broadcast an email to all their publishers where in fact the link to the Smart site is invalid.

I sent a message to Nuffnang using their support page on the same day  I received their email. Below was my first email.

Subject: Please confirm if it\'s true
Date: 11 Sep 2009 12:35 AM 

I received an email today regarding SMART’s BigTym Buddy Promo.
Is this true?
I'm asking this because I cannot find any news on smart.com.ph website.
I'm planning to post about this but I need the confirmation if it's true.
Thanks and God Bless!

And here’s what I received from their support the following day:

We have no projects with Smart at the moment, so we cannot answer that
 question, unfortunately.

Best Regards,
Marcelle T. Fabie

Marketing Sales
Nuffnang Philippines Inc.
http://www.nuffnang.com.ph/

I still could not believe it. How on earth they (Nuffnang) can announced a promo like this if they have no project with Smart?

I was not satisfied with their reply. I searched heaven and earth but I could not find any post on Nuffnang’s site and blog as well. The stubbornness in me was reigning that day so I sent another support email.

Since the staff  replied that they have no project with Smart, I attached an image of the email I received from them together with this message:

Hi Marcelle,

I'm just worried that perhaps somebody is using Nuffnang to send unscrupulous
 email to all bloggers.
See the attachment. This is the email that I received from noreply@nuffnang.com

I hope you can investigate this and update us ASAP.

Thanks.

Regards,
eric

On the next day, September 11, the date of the launching of the promo, I was monitoring Smart’s site if ever the page will come alive. And guess what? Smart’s website did not disappoint me. The promo was launched in the morning of September 11 as announced!

3 days after I sent my last support to Nuffnang, they replied to my “ASAP” inquiry with this:

 Subject: Re: Please confirm if it\'s true
 Date: 14 Sep 2009 03:09 PM  Posted by:  Marcelle Fabie  (Staff) 

All right. I checked, and we launched the e-mail blast on that day itself, and
 was informed about it only afterwards. Yep, it's a legitimate promo. Thanks!
Best Regards,
Marcelle T. Fabie

Marketing Sales
Nuffnang Philippines Inc.
http://www.nuffnang.com.ph/

I don’t know what is happening within Nuffnang. I like their network marketing company even if a lot of bloggers are telling me that they are not earning enough on it. This exchange of emails shows that either that particular staff doesn’t what do they have or perhaps  Nuffnang Philippines doesn’t know what are the projects of their mother company – Nuffnang (Singapore). I was just guessing that it’s Nuffnang Singapore who was able to bagged this promo from SMART and not Nuffnang Philippines.

Lastly, if anybody from Nuffnang is reading this post, kindly update the content of  your page with your current promos.

There’s a worm on the loose and it’s attacking blogs and websites powered by WordPress.

If you are using WordPress, make sure that you are using the latest version. According to some WordPress developers, this is the only way to secure your site.

Older WordPress verions have security holes that are being actively exploited by hackers to inject spam links. You either Upgrade or Die. Not really, but your site may drop-off the search engine radar.

Matt Mullenweg (main developer of WordPress) , wrote “The only thing that I can promise will keep your blog secure today and in the future is upgrading.”

Clues That Your Site Has Been Attacked :

1. Strange additions to the pretty permalink such as /category/post-title/%&(%7B$%7Beval(base64_decode($_SERVER%5BHTTP_REFERER%5D))%7D%7D|.+)&%/. Check Journeyetc.com on how to fix this.
2. A new “admin” user has been added.  Try to check your site users for “Administrator (2)”.This admin uses a javascript to hide itself. You can not even see his “presence” on your dashboard’s users page.

Steps You Need To Do

1. Backup your site. Export your posts to your local drive using WordPress export tool.
2. Upgrade! Upgrade! Upgrade!
3. Change password.
4. If your site had been attacked, read My site was hacked.
5. If you need help in upgrading, just leave a comment here and BDM might be able to help you.
6. If you are running a corporate site/blog and you need help right away, you may want to get  in touch with WordPress Help Center.

For Advance Users

If you want to make sure that there are no extra administrators registered and hiding in your blog, you can either run this SQL query directly on your MySQL client or do it from phpMyAdmin by selecting your WordPress database as suggested by Dougal Campbell.

This is not to scare you but the threat is real. I’m not here like a prophet of doom, but to warn and perhaps be able to help you in any possible way I can.

I was supposed to write a post  about “do not waste your blog traffic“, but I couldn’t resist myself not to upload the pictures that I’ve taken today.

My wife and I were on our way to a supermarket when we saw a twister being formed up in the sky.  We already entered the expressway when we chanced upon it. Some road construction workers were all looking at it and suspended their works.

It’s good thing I brought my camera with me and here’s the first and 2nd shot upon entering the expressway:

Dark Gloomy Clouds

Wet Road

I took these first two shots from the window of our car.

We decided to run away – yes, it’s a bit scary because we don’t have any idea on what will happen next. We’re not sure on what direction it’s going. I hit the gas and drove the car for a few kilometers when I told my wife that I want to take another set of pictures. I stopped the car just right after a huge billboard and a McDonald sign so it will give the shot a reference point. Here are the next 3 shots:

Tail of a twister

Two cars with opened head light

Twister about McDonald Sign

I should have called this “McDonald” Twister fries.

I took all these shots just past 10:30 AM but as you can see from the pictures, the weather is a bit strange. It’s hard to comprehend if it will rain or not. On the 2nd picture above, the road is wet but on my other shots, the weather is just fine except for that dark clouds surrounding the twister.

Luckily, I think, it didn’t hit the land. I’m not sure.

Have you seen something like this before? What did you feel?

Who would have thought that celebrities are dangerous on the internet?

McAfee on it’s third year already compiled celebrity names that produce the largest number of risky sites when searched on the Web.

I’m a bit surprised because young Hollywood starlets such as Vanessa Hudgens didn’t make it on top.

There are two Jessica on the list.  Jessica Biel is the top most dangerous celebrity to search after overtaking Brad Pitt, and another Jessica is Jessica Simpson who is on top 5 position. Surprisingly, Jessica Alba is absent for this year’s list. I guess nobody is interested in her motherhood stage anymore.

Check who are on the eight  position. Two of the most controversial actresses who both are currently called darling of the press (and paparazzi too) . Now it can be said that they have more in common than just their careers and appearance.

The Top 15 Most Dangerous Celebrities On The Web, according to McAfee include:

1. Jessica Biel – Major buzz about her figure and high-profile relationship with Justin Timberlake makes Jessica Biel an easy target for spammers and hackers. When “Jessica Biel screensavers” was searched, almost half of the sites were identified as containing malicious downloads with spyware, adware and potential viruses.
2. Beyoncé – Beyonce tops the MTV Video Music Award nominee list and McAfee’s results as the most frequent, highly-ranked celebrity. Inputting “Beyoncé ringtones” into a search engine yielded a dangerous Web site linking to a distributor of adware and spyware.
3. Jennifer Aniston – Hollywood’s favorite leading lady should be searched with caution. More than 40% of the Google search results for “Jennifer Aniston screensavers” contained nasty viruses, including one called the “FunLove virus.”
4. Tom Brady – The New England Patriot seems to attract many fans who want a free download of the athlete in action, but not the Trojan that comes with it, as identified by McAfee SiteAdvisor technology.
5. Jessica Simpson – Jessica Simpson is as dangerous to search online as she is famous. Searching for “Jessica Simpson videos” can mislead unsuspecting surfers to sites with potentially damaging downloads.
6. Gisele Bundchen – The world’s highest-paid supermodel is a popular target for cybercriminals. A search for “Gisele Bundchen photos” can direct users to red-ranked sites that breached browser security in McAfee’s tests.
7. Miley Cyrus – Cybercriminals are using Web sites related to Miley Cyrus’ image to link to other harmful sites containing spyware.
8. Megan Fox, Angelina Jolie – Both tabloid fixture Megan Fox and American icon Angelina Jolie resulted in an equal number of risky download Web sites, proving cybercriminals are in the business of capitalizing on the world’s most famous faces.
9. Ashley Tisdale – The “High School Musical” star is a popular search term when it comes to searching for screensavers. A host of screensaver Web sites contained numerous malware-laden downloads.
10. Brad Pitt – Appearing in the top spot last year, Brad Pitt fell towards the bottom of this year’s list, resulting in a few less, but just as dangerous, red and yellow-ranked Web sites.
11. Reese Witherspoon – Risky Web sites were identified when searching for “Reese Witherspoon” and “Reese Witherspoon photos” promoting free files with hidden malware.
12. Britney Spears – McAfee SiteAdvisor technology found a single site promoting free Britney Spears wallpaper that was embedded with more than 50 potentially infected downloads.
13. Rihanna – Free Rihanna ringtones are some of the most sought after, but some shady vendors mislead those who subscribe by gathering and selling their personal information.
14. Lindsay Lohan – McAfee SiteAdvisor flagged Lindsay Lohan screen saver sites as offering a combined 50+ free screen savers infected with Trojans, viruses and spyware.
15. Kim Kardashian – The biggest reality star in recent months is now susceptible to Internet lurkers too. A search for Kim Kardashian wallpaper and screen savers generated numerous downloads veiled with malware.

According to McAfee, ” Searching for the latest celebrity news and downloads can cause serious damage to one’s personal computer”.

It’s good thing I’m a bit busy with my blogging life and don’t have the time anymore to spend searching for these celebrities’ names.