14 Powerful Tips for Searching With Google

Searching Google has become part of the daily routine. You might have been asked to look up stock quotes, your friend wants you to take a look at a book or maybe you’re interested in taking a round the world trip. Here are some powerful tips to get the most out of Google.

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6 Really Handy Online Backup Services

Backing up your data has always been a smart practice. Hardware failures, user accidents, and malicious software can all very quickly erase important documents, sentimental photos, or carefully organized media collections. The old methods for backing up your data, like buying an external hard drive or setting up multiple computers, is still effective, but costly and time consuming.

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How to Transfer Web Hosting of a Pligg Website

Pligg is an open source script by which you can make Digg like websites on which people can register and vote and submit stories that they like. This is one of the most popular social bookmarking website creation software platform available on the internet. In this article I will discuss a good enough method by which you can transfer the hosting of a pligg website, that is transfer a pligg database from one host to another.

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10 Tools to Check For Plagiarism

There are many programs which can detect the unauthorized use of articles and images. Here are ten popular applications which can be used to check plagiarism.

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Reasons why Hostgator is the Best Web Hosting Company

I have been a webmaster for the past 6+ years and in this journey I have changed my webhost multiple times. Some were slow and unprofessional; others had some other issues like poor communication or customer service. Over all, after all these years, if I had to select the best web host, I would certainly go for Hostgator. And am not just saying, tech nascent is proudly hosted on Hostgator. So, if you are looking for a webhost then Hostgator should be your first choice. Here is a discount code for Hostgator – technascent works on any hosting package you buy at Hostgator and give you a $9.94 off your purchase.

So, here are 9 super reasons why Hostgator rocks!

• Recently a lot of webhosts got hacked; several blogs and other PHP bases sites hosted on godaddy and other hosting were affected by a junk JavaScript code. Some of my blogs hosted elsewhere got hacked too, but this one as it is on Hostgator did not get hacked. Am afraid though, not boasting at all, I fear hackers and I know they can get into anything, but still it’s a fact that Hostgator did not got affected by this.

• Support solves itself rather explaining how to do it. Yes, and it is a very big thing. On other hosts whenever I emailed them they came up with a full page instruction on how to do it, they are helpful but still we have to do it ourselves. But here on Hostgator, you just tell them the problem and they solve it. Cool. Here is a small chat conversation that I had with a hostgator staff; this clearly explains that they solve our problems themselves rather asking to do it ourselves.

(8:53:08 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: has entered the chat.

(8:53:10 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Hello, welcome to HostGator Live Chat.

(8:53:10 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: How may I assist you today?

(8:53:48 AM) Uttoran Sen: hi

(8:54:05 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Hello.

(8:54:24 AM) Uttoran Sen: am trying to host http://domain.com/ with hostgator, i have a hosting account here on hostgator

(8:54:42 AM) Uttoran Sen: http://primarydomain.com/ this is the primary domain

(8:54:56 AM) Uttoran Sen: and i have setup the addon domain’s content here – http://primarydomain.com/addondomain

(8:55:34 AM) Uttoran Sen: i have changed the name servers of domain.com the domain is registered at godaddy

(8:56:24 AM) Uttoran Sen: but as you can see – http://domain.com/ is still not opening, i have added it as a addon domain, but still its not opening…

(8:56:52 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Please wait while I check. Thank you for your patience.

(8:57:00 AM) Uttoran Sen: yep, sure,

(8:59:58 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: I apologize for the delay. Please allow me a few more minutes to get the answers you need. I appreciate your patience.

(9:00:26 AM) Uttoran Sen: yep, no problem,

(9:00:29 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: When I go to domain.com I get The page isn’t redirecting properly

(9:01:10 AM) Uttoran Sen: yep, i get the same error

(9:01:35 AM) Uttoran Sen: i have hosted another domain on the same primarydomain.com/anotheraddondomain and its working properly…

(9:01:53 AM) Uttoran Sen: can’t understand what am doing wrong now…

(9:01:56 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Is http://domain.com/ a wordpress?

(9:02:06 AM) Uttoran Sen: yes

(9:02:28 AM) Uttoran Sen: you can see it here – http://primarydomain.com/addondomain/

(9:02:31 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: One moment.

(9:02:36 AM) Uttoran Sen: yes,

(9:04:00 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Fixed.

(9:04:22 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Wait, maybe not.

(9:05:03 AM) Uttoran Sen: yep, maybe not

(9:05:44 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Weird.

(9:06:38 AM)Hostgatorlivesupport: Do you have any custom redirects in cpanel?

(9:06:46 AM) Uttoran Sen: any ideas why its happening… the target page is all right here – http://primarydomain.com/addondomain/

(9:06:53 AM) Uttoran Sen: no, as far as i know

(9:07:03 AM) Uttoran Sen: there is no custom redirects…

(9:07:18 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Okay thank you.

(9:07:36 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Check it now?

(9:08:45 AM) Uttoran Sen: yep, wow its live

(9:08:51 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Its a plugin.

(9:08:52 AM) Uttoran Sen: what was the problem?

(9:09:01 AM)Hostgatorlivesupport: I renamed your entire plugins directory.

(9:09:02 AM) Uttoran Sen: which one?

(9:09:38 AM) Uttoran Sen: ohh, ok i will start checking the plugins one by one

(9:09:43 AM) Uttoran Sen: thanks

(9:09:47 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: redirection

(9:09:58 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: I renamed the folder for redirection to redirection-bak

(9:10:23 AM) Uttoran Sen: ohh, ok, i think the re-direction import must have messed it up… i will fix it, thanks

(9:11:06 AM) Uttoran Sen: bye,

(9:11:17 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Okay, take care and have a great day!

Note: i changed the domain names to domain.com etc. also changed the support guy’s name to “Hostgatorlivesupport” for privacy issues and will do so for the rest of the chat details too.

• Digg proof hosting. Yes, Hostgator shared hosting is digg proof. Though, you can never predict how much traffic you can get from a digg front page and it’s never the same every time so this point cannot be guaranteed. But yes, in general, Hostgator shared hosting can handle a digg frontpage exposure. Here is a chat dialog to prove it.

(1:07:49 PM) Hostgatorlivesupport: has entered the chat.

(1:07:50 PM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Hello, welcome to HostGator Live Chat.

(1:07:54 PM) Uttoran Sen: hi

(1:07:55 PM) Hostgatorlivesupport: How may I assist you today with your hosting question?

(1:08:39 PM) Uttoran Sen: i have a shaired hosting on hostgator, i want to know if it can support a digg front page effect, the site hosted is a wordpress blog…

(1:09:29 PM) Hostgatorlivesupport: You would need to install a WordPress plug that handles Cache. Like Super Cache Plugin.

(1:09:40 PM) Hostgatorlivesupport: This way it does not spike the server load and cause issues.

(1:09:58 PM) Uttoran Sen: yes, i have the super cache plugin, so it should handle it

(1:10:40 PM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Yep, you got it down, then.

(1:10:42 PM) Hostgatorlivesupport: You’re all set.

(1:11:11 PM) Uttoran Sen: thanks, bye then,

(1:12:14 PM) Hostgatorlivesupport: You are most welcome.

(1:12:15 PM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Was there anything else I could help you with today?

(1:12:30 PM) Uttoran Sen: no, thanks

Note: i will try to personally test this, and once am done, i will post a follow up on this.

• It is fast – Technascent and other sites that I have hosted on Hostgator, I see a rise in site loading speed. Yes, Hostgator webhosting is faster than many others that I have tested in the past.

• More server resource – Hostgator shared webhosting provides 25% of CPU usage. This way you will find less “internal 500 errors”. Actually, on my last web host I was getting quite a few such errors and the CPU usage was always at a high. I have transferred my sites to Hostgator and since then the CPU usage has never been an issue.

• It’s cheap – some webhosts are cheaper than this, but if you use the coupon code – “technascent” and buy for more than 1 or 2 or even 3 years, you will get further discount. The coupon code will give you a $9.94 off on your final price. And if you buy for more than 3 years, the cost will be $4.95 a month, which makes it the cheapest web host around.

• Host unlimited sites – the second plan of Hostgator shared webhosting, named as “Baby Plan” has the feature of hosting unlimited sites. The bandwidth and diskspace is already set to unlimited and as I posted above, the resource usage is good too, so you can host plenty of sites under your single hosting plan. Cheap, and it all stays in a single place, so its convenient as well.

• Easy upgrade – Hostgator VPS hosting at level 3 comes at $50 with cpanel. If you buy this, then all your website transfer and management will be done by Hostgator staff. As I was saying, I really love Hostgator support So, if you are using a shared hosting account at Hostgator and you feel the need to expand your business, Hostgator has plenty of options to interest you.

• Live support – Do I need to say more, especially after all these live support chat dialogs. I have to confess one thing though, Hostgator has really spoiled me. Now, I find it really disturbing when I have to wait for 3 to 7 hours, and sometimes upto 24 hours for support from other webhosts for customer support answers. Live support saves time, here is a chat dialog that solved a simple thing in minutes that would have taken a day at the least on email…

(2:05:40 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: has entered the chat.

(2:05:42 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Hello, and welcome to Hostgator.com live chat. My name is Hostgatorlivesupport and I will be glad to assist you with your inquiry.

(2:06:07 AM) Uttoran Sen: hi, i can’t login with the cpanel details into the ftp

(2:06:31 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Well, what is the host name you are entering?

(2:06:36 AM) Uttoran Sen: i bought this hosting for domain.us yesterday, i can login into the cpanel, but can’t login into ftp with the same details

(2:06:53 AM) Uttoran Sen: ftp.domain.us

(2:07:08 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: The reason you cannot is because domain.us is not pointing to our servers. Currently it is pointing to: Name Server: nameserverdetails Name Server: nameserverdetails

(2:07:31 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: You may use the IP for your account to connect. (This is located inside the cpanel on the left hand side near the bottom)

(2:08:10 AM) Uttoran Sen: yep, it worked

(2:08:10 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: If you are trying to connect to your cpanel via domain.com/cpanel, it will not work either because your domain is not pointing to us so you will need to view your welcome email to grab the IP, Uttoran.

(2:08:36 AM) Uttoran Sen: thanks, got it,

Ohh, and here is another reason that i was almost forgetting. Hostgator is honest too, they put it as it is, even if its a pre-sale question. Here is another chat dialog which proves that hostgator is honest and does not makes it look like everything is good, while it may not be.

(6:57:19 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: has entered the chat.

(6:57:20 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Hello, welcome to HostGator Live Chat.

(6:57:21 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: How may I assist you today?

(6:57:27 AM) Uttoran Sen: hi, i wanted to know that how much better will the vps hosting of hostgator at level 1 will be, in comparison to the hostgator shared hosting that i already have,

(6:58:33 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: With a vps level one you would need to install everything such as apache, mysql, php, etc..

(7:00:04 AM) Uttoran Sen: and i got no idea about it, i mean what is an apache? am using a shared hosting here and i have a wordpress blog, i can install wordpress from cpanel… looks like vps is a bit technical…

(7:01:19 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Yes a VPS is a bit more technical and a vps 1 could get quite complicated if you are not an experienced linux user. I would suggest getting a level 3 with cpanel.

(7:02:51 AM) Uttoran Sen: level 3 with cpanel will be the same as the shared hosting in terms of technical requirements… i won’t have to learn mysql/apache?

(7:03:04 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Thats right.

(7:03:22 AM) Uttoran Sen: can i upgrade/downgrade levels?

(7:03:29 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Yes.

(7:03:53 AM) Uttoran Sen: so if i upgrade to level 3 and get everything setup and downgrade to level 1 later… will that be fine?

(7:04:12 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: unfortunately not, if you downgrade below level 3 cpanel would be uninstalled.

(7:04:56 AM) Uttoran Sen: once i have my wordpress blog installed and running, will i still need the cpanel?

(7:06:03 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Yes as everything is configured through cpanel. You could look at cpanel as an all in one with apache (what displays your website on the web) mysql (databases) php (wordpress coding) etc..

(7:07:15 AM) Uttoran Sen: also, at level 1, from the server resource point of view, how much is it better than the shared hosting?

(7:09:07 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Its hard to say exactly, the VPS level 1 does have less resources than our shared servers although you would not be sharing with other customers than can cause issues on the server. With one wordpress blog it should be very smooth in load time.

(7:11:32 AM) Uttoran Sen: ok, let me think about it, also i had another question, i have a site hosted at godaddy, i wanted to bring it to hostgator, so if i buy another shared linux plan, will the hostgator import my site here…

(7:12:22 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Only on a vps level 3 can we transfer your website and set it up on your VPS.

(7:12:59 AM) Uttoran Sen: on vps 3 is there any amount of sites that you can import only just one

(7:13:53 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: We can transfer as many sites as you would like.

(7:15:51 AM) Uttoran Sen: just to clarify, if i buy one vps 3 plan, you can import all my sites and blogs (i guess some 10+ in total) and they will all be under the same vps account where i won’t have to know about the technical requirements…. right?

(7:17:34 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: We can transfer all of your sites although if some require extra installations on the serve you will need to let us know if you want us to install them for you.

(7:18:31 AM) Uttoran Sen: and i can jump from level 3 to 4, up and down based on the requirements… i just have to pay and you people will manage it all… right?

(7:19:43 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Yes you can upgrade/downgrade at anytime and we are here 24/7 to assist you with your server although we do not actively monitor your server to maintain uptime on it. We only watch the VPS server itself.

(7:20:31 AM) Uttoran Sen: ok, thanks for the information, let me think about it

(7:20:37 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: You’re welcome.

(7:20:38 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Is there anything else I can help you with today?

(7:20:48 AM) Uttoran Sen: no, thanks,

(7:20:52 AM) Hostgatorlivesupport: Okay, take care and have a great day!

Hostgator rocks! Go here and get Hostgator webhosting account

Summers are on – Where is Uttoran Sen?

I remember a similar kind of article I wrote a year or so back. Looks like am developing a habit of taking a summer vacation Firstly, am sorry for not updating this blog for so long and I must add a thank you to James for keeping this blog active with his articles. He has written two guest articles in the past weeks, “10 Google Search Tips & Tricks” and “10 Practical Steps You Need to Take to Keep Your Blog’s Data Safe”. On that note, I would like to announce that tech nascent is accepting guest blog posts, so if anyone wants to write blog post for tech nascent, please check out the guest post page.

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10 Google Search Tips & Tricks

Google isn’t the number one site on the internet for no reason. These days, Google has it’s hand in everything from smart phones, to television, to global politics. But it didn’t become a $23 Billion company because it knows how to take on China. Google is primarily about search, and it does search very well. So well in fact, that it came out of nowhere to dominate every other search engine on the planet, including Yahoo!, MSN, and Lycos.

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10 Practical Steps You Need to Take to Keep Your Blog's Data Safe

With more and more blogs being created these days, there’s also an increasing number of hackers who want to exploit them. But this doesn’t have to happen to your blog! Here are ten easy steps you can take to help secure your WordPress blog.

1. Keep up-to-date with the latest version of WordPress

Staying current is essential, as releases are often made to address specific bugs or security holes. If you are several versions out-of-date, your blog may be wide open to needless attacks.

2. Create your own username

Since all hackers know that the default WordPress user is “admin”, why make their job easier? If you create your own user and delete this default one, the hackers will have to guess both your username AND your password. Here are the steps:

1. Log in to WordPress, navigate to “Users” and select “Add New”.
2. Choose a username that is unique and not readily obvious. Do not use your name, your e-mail address, or the name of your blog. If you are having trouble selecting a username, try a combination of your middle and last names, or a nickname you had growing up.
3. Important: Give your new user the “Administrator” role.
4. Log out from the “admin” user and log in with the new user account you just created.
5. Navigate to “Users” and delete the default “admin” user. Be sure to select the option for transferring old posts to the new user so you do not loose any content.

3. Select a nickname

Creating a custom username will do you no good if that name is displayed on every post you write. Thankfully, WordPress includes a feature for setting a nickname—a name that will display publicly instead of your username. To set your nickname, navigate to the “Users” menu and select “Your Profile”. Enter your desired nickname in the “Display name publicly as” field.

4. Use a strong password

When it comes to passwords, a good rule of thumb is this: The longer and stronger, the better. After all, short, simple passwords are easy to guess; long, unusual ones are not. Security experts recommend selecting a passphrase—a combination of several words—that includes letters, numbers, and punctuation. Here are some examples:

• MyGrandmaIsNumber1!
• Three*Four=12
• $tartBlogging4Money2day

NOTE: For obvious reasons, do not use any of these examples as your own password!

5. Use the WP Security Scan plugin

While not offering a be-all, end-all solution, this plugin does provide a measure of protection against basic attacks. You can find it here.

6. Use the Bad Behavior plugin

This is a nifty little plugin that checks the IP address of visitors to your blog. It compares their IP with a list of known spammers. If there’s a match, Bad Behavior can block that IP address from visiting your blog.

7. Use the Login LockDown plugin

What if a new hacker has not made it onto the list of known bad IP addresses yet? Here’s where Login LockDown comes in handy. Rather than comparing IP addresses to a list of known hackers, this plugin records the date, time, and IP address of each failed login attempt. After a certain number of failed login attempts from the same IP address range within a short time, that IP address ranch is blocked from logging in.

8. Prevent guest registrations

Unless you have a membership blog, do not allow people to register for a guest account. You can make sure this is switched off by navigating to the “Settings” menu and looking at the “Anyone can register” option. It should not be checked.

9. Backup your database

Although no one wants their site to be hacked, it’s good to be prepared should the unthinkable happen. The last thing you want is to find out that your blog has been hacked and you have no backup to recover from. The WordPress Database Backup plugin is simple and easy-to-use. Just activate it and schedule automatic backups. These can be sent as an attachment in an e-mail to your inbox. You can find this plugin here: http://www.ilfilosofo.com/blog/wp-db-backup/

10. Keep your plugins up-to-date

If you use the above-mentioned plugins or others, be sure they are kept current. Keeping your plugins up-to-date is just as important as keeping WordPress current, and for the same reasons. If any of your plugins are out-of-date, you will be notified on the plugins admin page.

This is a Guest Post was written by Tom Walker, a blogger and designer who works with an online store offering printer ink for homes and businesses in the UK. You can read more of his posts on the CreativeCloud, where he posts about advertising, art and design.

Tags: backup, blog data, blog security, hackers, safe blogging

How to add Stumble upon Vote it Button on your Blog

February 24, 2010 by uttoransen  
Filed under Social Media

22 Comments

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If you are active in the social media world then you must have come across the popular social portal named stumble upon. Stumble upon was one of those site that used to send me huge traffic back in 2006, though the traffic hardly converts in anything much as far as monetizing is concerned, but it can do a lot good in further promoting your blog or increasing your rss subscribers, twitter followers and at the least, you get a unique visitor all the same.

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Tags: social buttons, social media button, stumble upon, stumbleupon button, vote it button

Google Down

February 16, 2010 by uttoransen  
Filed under Tech News

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Wow, Google is completely down at the moment, can you believe it? the big G down, i don’t even remember when was the last time Google was down, its really quite a big thing. I was checking my emails some time back and when i checked my Gmail tab again to reply the email, i was down. refreshed a few time but it still was down.

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Tags: big g down, google domain down, google down, google downtimes, google services down

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