Formula One websites do battle once more during the Hungarian Grand Prix
Last week web performance specialist Keynote monitored and compared 11 Formula One constructor team web pages during the German Grand Prix to see how they fared under pressure. The results made for interesting reading.
The Hungarian Grand Prix, staged a couple of days ago, was a classic race, packed with excitement, and topped with a surprise win by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Keynote monitored the same F1 websites again to see how they did second time around, and as you might expect changing race fortunes did have a noticeable impact on site performance.
Fake Googlebots used to drive DDoS and other attacks
Googlebots are essential to the smooth running of the search engine, ceaselessly probing websites to ensure that Google stays up to date with the latest developments and site changes.
But for every 25 genuine Googlebots that visit your site you'll also be visited by a fake Googlebot -- more than 23 percent of which are used for DDoS attacks, hacking, scraping and spamming. This is among the findings of security company Incapsula's 2014 Search Engine Study.
Ferrari beats Mercedes at the German Grand Prix -- in the battle of the F1 team websites at least
Sports fans are increasingly demanding a multi-channel experience, wanting all the news and all the facts on multiple devices. Website owners can’t afford to ignore this, as creating a superior user experience to that offered by rivals can mean a competitive advantage in terms of user happiness and, ultimately, website traffic.
Mobile, cloud and web performance specialist Keynote believes that not enough sites consider online performance during high-profile sporting events, and so decided to monitor and compare the performance of 11 popular Formula One constructor team web pages -- including Caterham, Ferrari, Force India, Lotus, Marussia, McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, Sauber, STR and Williams -- during the German Grand Prix (19-20 July). The results make for interesting reading.
.uk domain registrations exceed 50,000 on opening day
.uk has become the fastest selling new general top level domain [gTLD] after seeing registrations surpass 50,000 in opening 24 hours following its launch.
Nominet, the UK domain name registry, reports that the likes of Sainsbury’s, Bentley and Burberry have all already snapped up .uk domain names and it represents just a small proportion of the 10 million that are expected to register.
Less than a third of attackers account for 80 percent of comment spam
You don't need to spend very much time on popular websites and forums to encounter the curse of comment spam, adverts or links embedded in fields intended for reader interaction.
Comment spammers are most often motivated by search engine optimization, using a busy site's comment fields and guest books to get views for advertisements and malware distribution. A new report by enterprise security specialist Imperva takes a close look at comment spam and looks at ways that companies can combat it.
Healthcare.gov: How Washington's IT project Leviathan failed us, and here's how we fix a broken system
Government IT projects have a tendency to fall on their rear ends more often than not. After the miserable debacle that was Healthcare.gov last October, I made the case for why the larger than life public face of Obamacare had zero chance of succeeding in original form. Fast forward six months, and after some contractor firings and a public about face consisting of a "tech surge", the website is finally working at nominal levels.
That's not to say no one didn't take the fall for the mess of this bungled IT project gone haywire. The former head honcho of the US HHS, Kathleen Sebelius, had no choice but to step down and take the hushed blame for the mess that unraveled under her command. Publicly, the story goes that she stepped down on her own will. Behind the scenes, I highly doubt this was the entire story.
Looking for love online? Here are the most open-minded cities for dating
All people need love, regardless of size, shape or personality type. Unfortunately, some people are either too busy or socially awkward to meet someone in person. There is nothing wrong with that. Quite frankly, it is refreshing to see online services use science to match people rather than random meetings in a bar.
Many people come with baggage, like former spouses, children, bad habits -- typical things that happen during the course of a life. Also, some people practice unique religions, are of a certain age, or have a handicap. However, it turns out, the location of the person you are interested in may affect how they perceive your baggage or differences. In a new study by online dating site Zoosk, some cities are more open-minded than others.
Twitter introduces web notifications
Using social media services such as Twitter, Google+ and Facebook can be a dizzying affair. The more people that you follow or become friends with, the more "noisy" the experience. Quite frankly, it can become an impossibility to keep track of all the friend-requests and notifications.
Twitter can be particularly difficult for me, as I must keep the list of who I follow rather small, or else I cannot keep up. Luckily, the blue bird-logo company is aiming to make things more manageable for us web users with web notifications.
Turkish ISPs intercept Google Public DNS
Freedom of speech is not free and it is not a right in every country. The blocking of Twitter and YouTube in Turkey is well-documented, but the question of right and wrong is more up in the air. After all, not all countries have to follow the lead of the USA, although it is hard to argue with giving citizens the right to express themselves. However, that is an argument and a fight of which the Turkish people must take ownership.
With that said, blocking is one thing, but intercepting is another thing altogether. Today, Google announces that Turkish ISPs have been intercepting the search-giant's Public DNS service. That is super uncool.
DDoS traffic soars and the bots get cleverer
New research by website security specialist Incapsula looks at the impact of DDoS traffic on the internet with data collected over a five month period looking at over 154 million DDoS bot sessions.
It reveals some startling statistics, the main one being that at the application level DDoS bot traffic is up by 240 percent. More than 25 percent of all botnets are located in India, China and Iran, whilst the US ranks fifth in the top ten attacking countries.
Happy 25th Birthday to the World Wide Web -- inventor wants to keep it free and open
You are reading this article thanks to the World Wide Web ("the web"). Also responsible is the Internet. No, the Internet and the web are not the same thing. In basic terms, the Internet is the entire network of servers and computers -- the infrastructure. The web is a way of accessing those networks -- by using a web browser.
Both are equally important, but today marks the 25th birthday of the web. Yes, this means we are all getting old. To celebrate the occasion, the inventor of the web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has shared a blog post with Google.
Europe calls for less US influence over the internet
The US is used to being a dominating force in the world -- this is true in sport, politics, economics, and many other areas -- but the European Commission thinks there should be less US influence over the internet. There are concerns about the level of control the United States has over the technologies and protocols that underpin the internet. One area for concern is ICANN which operates on behalf of the US government yet exerts control over procedures that have global effects.
There is also concern that Europe does not currently have enough sway over the internet. Neelie Kroes, commissioner in charge of telecommunications policy, said: "Europe must contribute to a credible way forward for global internet governance. Europe must play a strong role in defining what the net of the future looks like."
The top 10 domain sales of 2013
Domain names aren't exactly sexy. However, they are extremely important in daily internet life. After all, without domain names, you would instead be entering the IP addresses of the websites that you wanted to visit -- that would suck.
If you want to buy your own domain, it can be very affordable. A certain website which is advertised using a certain Indy and Nascar-lady, has low prices; if the domain you desire isn't already claimed. If it is already taken, and you still want it, expect to pay hundreds, thousands or beyond to achieve it. Today, Sedo announces the top 10 domain sales of 2013.
Why the Obamacare website Healthcare.gov had zero chance of success
If you wanted to build a case study in the perfect recipe for IT project disaster, you wouldn't have to look any further than the new official Obamacare website, Healthcare.gov. The site, which was supposed to be the official gateway for Americans to purchase cheap (now clearly up for debate) health insurance, has become an overnight poster child for just how bad the government can fumble a well-to-do technology implementation. The common symptoms are all present: budget overruns, too little time to test, poor design & planning, and you can take it from there.
So when the President came out for an impromptu press conference about the disaster this past Monday, it struck me a little odd at how he addressed the situation. He went on to describe the numerous problems plaguing the website, and then turned course to let us know that the feds were calling in the "best and brightest" in the tech industry to help solve the woes. Verizon was publicly mentioned -- which I'm not sure why that namedrop really mattered, since I didn't know Verizon's mobility expertise really had much of anything to do with a large federal website catastrophe.
Panabee sets sights on Go Daddy
As the Internet gets bigger and more crowded it can be increasingly difficult to find a catchy domain name. Startup company Panabee aims to provide a simple tool for individuals and businesses to find great domain names and it has just reached the milestone of 10 million monthly searches -- up 50 percent from 2012.
Given the scarcity of available names, Panabee offers a new interface for brainstorming alternatives besides dot-coms. As consumers become more Internet savvy, it allows businesses to embrace different domain endings like .co.uk, .biz, .net and more.
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