Frankenputer

A friend of mine who’s really into gaming, came to me with a dead system a couple of weeks ago. He’s got no money/income/job and his system is not working. Well, he’s in luck, to some respect, a roommate moved out leaving him his old system. Problem was, the friends system is a hard core gaming system with a graphics card and 600w power supply (which is just what was wrong with it) that would take upwards of $40 to replace, and the old system had a 300w which would not power the graphics card.
Problem (unusable system) solved (without the graphics card) by removing the GC, replacing the PS with the 300w (powering the board & drives) and the system becomes usable with the on-board video.
My friend named it “Frankenputer”

Sippin’ Apple Pie

Sippin’ Apple Pie.
This is a secret recipe, so don’t tell ANYONE where you got it!!

2) 64 oz bottles apple juice (Use real juice for best flavor, not reconstituted)

2) 750 ml bottles blackberry brandy (Any brand)

1) 750 ml bottle spiced rum (I use Captain Morgan)

1) 750 ml bottle whiskey (I use Southern Comfort)

4-8) cloves

1/2) teaspoon cinnamon

2) 1 gal. bottles or covered crocks (I use bottles so the alcohol doesn’t evaporate away)

Mix all ingredients into the crock or jars. Refrigerate for 4-6 weeks shaking or stirring every other day. Strain through cheese-cloth into smaller bottles. Makes nearly 2 gallons.

It will cost you upwards of $50 to make this liquor (remember, it’s for sipping!!!), but I guaranty you will get lots of praise for it and everyone will want the secret to its making.

Fakers, Wannabes and Scammers

Well, if you wait long enough, you’ll discover if a person is real or if they’re just playing with you.  I was contacted to assist with development of a few websites by a person who “implied” they would compensate me with both a laptop and the latest DreamWeaver software.  After developing 3 websites from domains purchased from GoDaddy (internetlearning4u.com, marketingtaughtright.com and wearthware.com), the first two were names chosen by this person, the last was a name I decided to have included to sell my software (I’d been thinking about accruing the domain myself, but was talked out of it by this person saying, “I’ll buy it and we can share in the profits”).  After over 2 months working for this person (His name is Carl and you can IPWHOIS for the detailed info) I started asking when he would be transferring ownership of the laptop to me.  He kept putting it off until I finally decided he had to either do it or stop saying he would.  He then accused me of questioning his integrity, after which he told me that I would have to leave.

Long story short, I decided (since he hadn’t paid me as he had said he would) to take down the sites I’d built.  I removed one and was starting on the next when I discovered he’d locked me out.  I was able to get admin access to the store and defiled it to the point where he had to take that site down too.  Now we are at each others wits about the domain I created.  He says it’s his (as he paid for it) and I say it’s mine because it’s my Intellectual Property (I came up with the name).

I’m moving on and so, it seems, is he.  But, the domain remains in his name.  I’ve decided to acquire a different domain name and go forward with my software sales.  Take this as a warning to all web developers out there…if you’re going to barter your services for hard products, make sure you get the deal in writing before you start anything.  You’ll be sorry if it turns out the other person can’t be trusted (and/or has no integrity).

Easy ClickBank Security

ClickBank transactions can be difficult to keep secure, hiding your affiliate links and keeping your download directory secret.  But, with PHP (which most hosting sites provide) that can be easy.  I’m not going to discuss the securities available with the .htaccess file here.  Just a simple way to use PHP to secure your transactions.

PHP is a relatively simple programming language that has some powerful features.  The first of which is its “Server side” processing.  Server side processing means that the HTML pages that are produced by the code are created at the remote server.  This means that the code to produce the page is never seen by the end user, only what results from the process.  This intrinsic property makes PHP the perfect tool for securing your ClickBank transactions.

First, ClickBank uses an open URL affiliate link, which gives users the ability to insert their own affiliate, or a friends, ID in the link before processing.  Thereby stealing the commission that would normally go to you.  Secondly, as the provider of the product being sold, you have a vested interest in keeping your products safe from theft.  ClickBank provides an encryption based solution to validate the purchase process, but this process does not keep the download link safe from the purchaser, or anyone that makes the effort to discover your “Thank you” page…that page which allows the purchaser to obtain the product.

Now, let’s get down to brass tacks.  The first method I’ll show you is how to protect your affiliate link.  All that’s required is a one page, one line, PHP page.  As you can see below, the page contains only one line and is used in your href on the page you use to direct traffic to ClickBank for the purchase of your promotional item.

<?php header(“Location: http://affID.pubID.hop.clickbank.net”); ?>

The affID and pubID are not actual ID’s, of course.  But, the above line, used in a PHP page will provide a hidden link to your affiliate sale on ClickBank.  Used in your Promotional page, this method will effectively hide the IDs from modification prior to use.  Simply use the PHP page in the link you provide on your pages, as shown below (assuming the PHP page is called affiliate.php)

a href=”affiliate.php” target=”_blank”

That done, let’s get on to the security of the purchase process.  This will require some additional PHP coding to include all the optional methods that you may desire.  Such as, including the purchaser in your Autoresponder program or database, sending follow-up eMails or including the purchaser in a “Preferred Customer” program.  These can be included, but this example doesn’t go to that length.

First, let’s look at what ClickBank provides for its verification process.  Below, you’ll see the parameters ClickBank provides to validate the purchase process:

ClickBank receipt number (cbreceipt)
Epoch time of the order (time & seconds)
ClickBank item number (item)
ClickBank proof of purchase (cbpop)
Customer name (cname)
Customer e-mail (cemail)
Customer zip (czip)
Customer country (ccountry)
Affiliate nickname (cbaffi)
Vendor variables (up to 128 characters)

These values are passed back to your “Thank you” page, or the page you provide to receive the return transaction.  As well, the “Vendor variables” can be used to return the product name, if you are selling more than one product.  The example I show includes the ability to inject the product name according to the Item number, so it’s not necessary to pass the product name through the payment process.
The code below begins with a modified version of ClickBank’s provided validation function and is included in the PHP page, so it’s not necessary to create an “Include” page to embody it separately or to “Request” the passed values inside the function (as is the method suggested by ClickBank).

First is the cbvalid function where your transaction is verified.  Next is a segment to destroy any prior cookie values.  Then comes the code to gather and process the values provided by ClickBank in the return from the purchase.  In this segment you would include your “Secret Key” where “YOURSECRETKEY” is located.  And finally, where “YOURTHANKYOUPAGE” is located would be your PHP Thank You page.  Notice that the parameters passed in this href do not include the “cbpop” value, that is obtained from the cookie values stored previously.

=====================Begin page==================
<?php
function cbValid($skey, $rcpt, $time, $item, $cbpo)
{ $xxpop=sha1(“$skey|$rcpt|$time|$item”);
$xxpop=strtoupper(substr($xxpop,0,8));
if ($cbpo==$xxpop) return 1;
else return 0;
}

if (isset($_COOKIE['receipt'])) {setcookie(“receipt”, “”, time()-3600);};
if (isset($_COOKIE['time'])) {setcookie(“time”, “”, time()-3600);};
if (isset($_COOKIE['item'])) {setcookie(“item”, “”, time()-3600);};
if (isset($_COOKIE['proofop'])) {setcookie(“proofop”, “”, time()-3600);};
if (isset($_GET)) {
if (isset($_REQUEST['cbreceipt']) && isset($_REQUEST['time']) && isset($_REQUEST['item'])) {
$skey = “YOURSECRETKEY”;
$rcpt = $_REQUEST['cbreceipt'];
$time = $_REQUEST['time'];
$item = $_REQUEST['item'];
$cbpo = $_REQUEST['cbpop'];
$cbna = $_REQUEST['cname'];
$cbem = $_REQUEST['cemail'];
$cbzp = $_REQUEST['czip'];
$cnty = $_REQUEST['ccountry'];
$affi = $_REQUEST['cbaffi'];
$dtal = $_REQUEST['detail'];
if (!isset($dtal)) {
if ($item==’1′) {$dtal=”Product1″;};
if ($item==’2′) {$dtal=”Product2″;};
if ($item==’3′) {$dtal=”Product3″;};
if ($item==’4′) {$dtal=”Product4″;};
if ($item==’5′) {$dtal=”Product5″;};
}
if (cbValid($skey, $rcpt, $time, $item, $cbpo)==1) {
setcookie(“receipt”, $rcpt, time()+3600);
setcookie(“time”, $time, time()+3600);
setcookie(“item”, $item, time()+3600);
setcookie(“proofop”, $cbpo, time()+3600);
$cbna=str_replace(” “,”+”,$cbna);
header(‘Location: YOURTHANKYOUPAGE.php?item=’ . $item . ‘&dtal=’ . $dtal . ‘&cbna=’ . $cbna . ‘&rcpt=’ . $rcpt);
}
} else echo ‘NOPE (someone is trying to fool your system)’;
} else echo ‘NOPE, (someone is trying to fool your system)’;
exit;
?>
==================End Page=================

Next is the Thank You page.  This page may be created as you wish, and is included here only as an example of how to provide a page to allow the purchaser to click a Download button.  The important part is located in the line: “href=”DOWNLOADPAGE.php?item=$item”".  This line directs the purchaser to your download, through a hidden PHP link.  You should replace DOWNLOADPAGE with your actual page name.

=====================Begin page==================
<?php
$item=$_REQUEST['item'];
$dtal=$_REQUEST['dtal'];
$cbna=$_REQUEST['cbna'];
$rcpt=$_REQUEST['rcpt'];
?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN”>
<html xmlns=”http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml”>
<head>
<meta http-equiv=”Content-Type” content=”text/html; charset=utf-8″ />
<script>
if(self!=top) { url=self.location.href;
if(document.images) { top.location.replace(url); }
else { top.location.href=url; } }
else { self.focus(); }
</script>
<?php echo ‘<title>’ . $dtal . ‘ Sales Page</title>’ ?>
<style type=”text/css”>
<!–
body {
font: 100% Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
background: #666666;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
text-align: center;
color: #000000;
}
.oneColElsCtrHdr #container {
width: 46em
background: #FFFFFF;
margin: 0 auto
border: 1px solid #000000;
text-align: left
}
.oneColElsCtrHdr #header {
background: #FF01FF;
padding: 0 10px 0 20px
text-align: center;
}
.oneColElsCtrHdr #header h1 {
margin: 0;
padding: 10px 0;
}
.oneColElsCtrHdr #mainContent {
padding: 0 20px;
background: #FFFFFF;
}
.oneColElsCtrHdr #footer {
padding: 0 10px;
background:#FF01FF;
}
.oneColElsCtrHdr #footer p {
margin: 0
padding: 10px 0;}
–>
</style>
</head>
<body class=”oneColElsCtrHdr”>
<div id=”container”>
<div id=”header”> <?php echo ‘<h1>’ . $dtal . ‘</h1>’ ?>
<!– end #header –>
</div>
<div id=”mainContent”> <?php echo ‘<h1>Thank you ‘ . $cbna . ‘ for Purchasing ‘ . $dtal . ‘!</h1>’ ?>
<p>You’ve been directed to this page so you can download your purchase. To complete your transaction, please click the button below and your purchase will be downloaded to you from our vault. Reminder: your credit card or bank statement will show a charge by           ClickBank or CLKBANK*COM.</p>
<h2><u>Do Not</u> close this page until your Download has finished!</h2>
<p>In case the download fails, for any reason, you can restart it from here. If you close this page and the download fails, you will be required to reenter through the ClickBank system (You will not have to pay again). You will receive a ClickBank receipt for your purchase. Read it and you’ll find a link to reestablish your connection with this page so you can attempt to download the product again.</p>
<p align=”center”><a href=” DOWNLOADPAGE.php?item=$item”><img src=”_images/dl_now.gif” alt=”Download Click Here” width=”128″ height=”45″ /></a></p>
<p>If for any reason you need to contact send your eMail to us at:</p>
<?php echo ‘<p><a href=”mailto:support@yourhost.com”>support@yourhost.com</a> and please include your invoice number (‘ . $rcpt . ‘) from ClickBank as proof of purchase. Thank you again for your support.</p>’ ?>
<p></p>
<!– end #mainContent –>
</div>
<div id=”footer”>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<!– end #footer –>
</div>
<!– end #container –>
</div>
</body>
</html>
==================End Page=================

Finally, the Download PHP page.  As in the Return PHP page, this one also includes the ClickBank verification process.  This is to protect you from someone finding the Download page and using it directly to obtain unauthorized access to your products.

=====================Begin page==================
<?php
function cbValid($item) {
$skey=”YOURSECRETKEY”;
$rcpt=$_COOKIE['receipt'];
$time=$_COOKIE['time'];
$cbpo=$_COOKIE['proofop'];
$xxpop=sha1(“$skey|$rcpt|$time|$item”);
$xxpop=strtoupper(substr($xxpop,0,8));
if ($cbpo==$xxpop) return 1;
else return 0;
}

$item = $_REQUEST['item'];
if (cbValid($item)==1) {
if (isset($item)) {
if ($item==’1′) { header(“Location: http://www.yourhost.com/secretfolder/Product1.pdf”); };
if ($item==’2′) { header(“Location: http://www.yourhost.com/secretfolder/Product2.msi”); };
if ($item==’3′) { header(“Location: http://www.yourhost.com/secretfolder/Product3.wmf”); };
if ($item==’4′) { header(“Location: http://www.yourhost.com/secretfolder/Product4.zip”); };
if ($item==’5′) { header(“Location: http://www.yourhost.com/secretfolder/Product5.exe”); };
}
else {
die(“Error: Attempt To Download File Without Authorization…”);
}
}
?>
==================End Page=================

This completes the process of securing your ClickBank purchase process.  Good luck and happy returns!

Website traffic, SEO, Lists, eZines, Directories…

With the experiences I’ve had recently, in the area of web site design for internet businesses, I’ve learned a few practices that could be of use to others just starting out in the field.

First of all, if some trick you’ve heard about sounds easy it probably will not work.  The key to getting traffic to your site is “Work”.  It takes time, effort and diligence to make a site traffic friendly.

Sure enough, Search Engines are becoming smarter and smarter with the tricks that are being played.  So, don’t use them!  Take your time, put in all the page attributes ON EVERY PAGE!  Like image alts, titles, text links, and most important content.  You have to be eloquent, productive and on point with what you say.

If you have a hard time keeping your thoughts strait, think about paying someone to write your content for you.  But, get that content in there.  Without it, you’re just another small site that will rank in the double digit pages.

Shooting Competitions

Now this I can get into, except for that loud bang!

I was in a blackpowder revolver competition back in the early 90′s, but I didn’t have a revolver to shoot.  Let alone an 1850′s era black powder revolver.  So, Ex-brother-in-law says, “You can borrow mine!” (a Navy Arms Colt 45).  I’m sure he figured I’d place somewhere near the bottom of the list and have some fun in the process.

I got 5 shots of “practice” (ex-bil had been practicing for most of the year leading up to this).  I then took my 10 shots on the competition target, turned it in and figured I’d come out near the bottom amongst the 50-60 other shooters.  When it came time to give out the awards, I was shocked and pleasently surprised to hear my name called to receive the 2nd place trophy.  My ex-bil was shocked too.  He never loaned me any of his guns again, especially in competition against him. 

One of lifes pathes I regret taking…

My second marriage came with a brother-in-law that was an ex-army gung hoe died in the wool gun owner.  He led me down the path to hunting ducks and some other birds.  I was pretty good at it too.  Now I have to say, I’m ashamed to have been a part of it.  It had nothing to do with all the work either!  I’m opposed to hard physical labor (as I’ve mentioned before) and this “sport” had its labors, from building blinds to lugging decoys.  My shame comes from having taken the lives of so many wild creatures.  Living in the wild, and being able to fly even, is a desire I’ve always had.  To soar through the skys, unfettered, with wide open vistas.

I vow never to kill another of God’s creatures for as long as I live.

Hello Newbies!

Welcome to Dinotech’s (that’s me) web log.  If you’ve got anything good to say to me, please be my guest and post.  Otherwise, be breif and I’ll see if I can refrain from deleting it too fast :-þ

Optical Mousecateers

It’s the newest show on the net.  People who’ve decided to make their mark by publishing/working/blogging on-line.

I’ve helped only a few people get their place on the web.  One guy (I’m working for him now) is a real entrepreneur.  Every money making opportunity that hits the street has passed by his eyes and through his computer.  Most of the stuff he sees is worthless crap (can I say crap?) and he knows it.  But there have been a few interesting ideas that have paused on his screen.  One is this Healthy Chocolate.

It’s called Xocai and it’s suppose to be more healthy than those acai berries that have such a high antioxident level.  I’ve been eating the cookies and the power bars for the last couple of months and I’ve got to say that last time my Mom visited she said, “Shell, you look more healthy that you did a year ago”.  Last year I was diagnosed with Diabetes and I was in a slow spiral of loosing weight and was, until a couple of months ago, looking thin around the fringes.  But now, I’m sure, I’ve got more vigor and spunk (can I say spunk too?).

Well, I’ll let you know how this progresses and if I die you’ll be the first to know  :/