Lior.Net

Inbound Links to your website is one of the most important factors that affect your site rank in search engines.

In the following post I will review how to get Inbound Links to your website.

How to get inbound links ?

Directory Listing

Listing your site in directories and professional website in your field is an important step to increase the number of inbound links.

Before you list your site in the relevant sites please think of the

following issues:

1. My customers are from my country or International – If they are from my country it’s important to list your website in local directories websites.

2. What are the relevant sites that my client might look for my products – find these sites and make sure that you are registered there.

Reciprocal Link request

Send email to website owner and offer mutual links. This technique is not recommended to use due to the fact that it require a lot of work and might affect your page rank badly sometimes (If you have a link in your site to a banned site).

Post a link to your website in Forums, Blogs

Many websites enable their visitors to add a message. In the message add a link to your website. It’s important to post your message only in Forum \ Blogs that has a connection to your website theme.

Writing & Posting Articles

Writing an article in your field and publish it with a link to your website and post it in different websites or write an article and post it in share content websites is a good way to increase the inbound links.

Examples to share content websites: http://digg.com/, http://www.reddit.com/

Buying Links

Buying a link from a well established website might affect dramatically on your site position. It’s important you will check the Page rank of the site that you buy the link from. In order to do so you can use the following site to check the PR of this site : http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php

 I had to create a program that counts words in a string. The program need to count all words in the string except:

1. Html Code

2. Dividers

3. Extra spaces + new lines 

I used regular expression to filter the strings. For this purpose I created two functions:

RemoveExtraSpaces - Remove extra spaces from string. The function allow only one space between each word.

CountWords - The function return number of words in a string. It use the function RemoveExtraSpaces and use regular expression to remove HTML Code , New Lines and Dividers.

///

/// This function remove Extra spaces , the Regular expression is  

    looking for white spaces that appears 2 times and more

///

/// This is the string that we want to check

/// Fixed String

private string RemoveExtraSpaces(string s)

{

            Regex FindExtraSpace = new Regex(“\\s{2,}”);

            return FindExtraSpace.Replace(s, ” “);

}

///

/// This function return the number of words in a string that are

/// separated by space

///

/// The text that we want to check

/// number of words

public int CountWords(string strText)

{

    string exp = “#;#”;

   // The expression look for Html and new lines and the divider that  

   // we define before

   Regex Match = new Regex(“<[^>]+>|” + exp + “|\r\n|\n”);

   // Replace the tags with an empty string so they are not

   // considered in count

   strText = Match.Replace(strText, “”);

   // Remove the extra Spaces

   strText = RemoveExtraSpaces(strText);

   // Count the words in the string by splitting them wherever a

   // space is found

   return strText.Split(‘ ‘).Length;

 }

In the following post I will explain what is regular expression, what we can do with it and the special characters that we can use in order to find the specific pattern.

The regular expression provide means to identify strings of text of interest. In other word the regular expression let us search a specific pattern in a text

What we can do with Regular Expression ?

1. Search easily specific pattern

2. Validate a string for example : credit card number, Id number and ect..

3. Find the specific pattern and do some action like replace characters

Example of regular expression in C#:

Private void regExample()

{       string str = “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father prepare to die.”;

string exp = @”\binigo\b”;

Regex ex1 = new Regex(exp,RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);

// /b in the end and in the begining means that the word is Inigo and not part as other words like Inigojbkbj

// Moreover the option IgnoreCase mean that there is no meaning to the letters case.

Console.WriteLine(ex1.IsMatch(str));

// Match can give you more data where this string is located

Match match = ex1.Match(str);

Console.WriteLine(“Found string ‘” + match.Captures[0].Value + “‘ in:” + match.Captures[0].Index);

Console.WriteLine(ex1.Replace(str, “David”));

// Let’s find Inigo and afterward somewhere in the string should appear the word father

Regex ex2 = new Regex(@”\bInigo\b.*\bfather\b”);

match = ex2.Match(str);

foreach (Capture c in match.Captures)

{

  Console.WriteLine(“Found the pattern in:” + c.Value + ” in Index: “ + c.Index);

}

}

Special Characters that can help us search a pattern:

 

Character	Description	Example
/b	Matches at the position between a word character	/blior/b mean that the search will look for the word lior
|	Causes the regex engine to match either the part on the left side, or the part on the right side	Abc | def – check for abc or def
.	Match any single character	Ab. à can be ab or abc , and and so on..
^	Matches at the start of the string	^ab – the string need to start with ab
[^]	Accept any character expect the characters in bracket	[^d-f] – expect all charcters d or e or f
$	Verify the end of the string	Def$ - check if the string end with def
*	Repeats the previous item zero or more times	a* - a,aa,aaa,aaaa,aaaaaaa
+	Repeat the previous item one or more times	a+ - aa,aaaa,aaaaaa
?	Zero or one of the preceding item	Dogs? -> dog, dogs
{n}	{n} where n is an integer >= 1	B{2} = bb
{n,m}	{n,m} where n >= 0 and m >= n	B{2,4} = bb,bbb,bbbb
{n,}	Repeat the previous item at least n times	D{2} = dd, dddd and so on.
/d	Any number	0-9
/w	Any number or letter	1,2,3,a,b,d,g and so on.
/s	Match any whitespace character

Matching between the candidate and the job

As stated, in an HR interview the interviewer is trying to learn about the personality and abilities of the candidate and to decide if it matches the job. Based on what the candidate says, his behavior and the impression he forms, the interviewer is suggesting different hypothesis about the candidate and examine it during the interview. This work is very similar to the work of a police investigator trying to find clues about the crime. In an interview the interviewer is asking the questions in 2 main aspects:

The “why” level- what are the motives imprinted in the candidate personality, what are his aspirations and desires? What is interesting and satisfying for him?

Questions for example: what do you find interesting in the designated job? What can disappoint you in the designated job? What parts of your current job do you like the most? If you had no constraints what profession or field of occupation would you choose?  Why did you leave your last job? Describe your ideal boss? et cetera

The “how” level- how is the employee functioning in practice?

Questions for example: tell me about your current job? How would you characterize your management style? Tell me about a dilemma that encountered you at work and how did you solve it? Describe a conflict with your boss/ colleague/ customer. How did you solve it? If you could change something in your character what would you change?

We have to remember that interviewers aren’t looking for the “right” answer, and for the best candidate for the job, but, they are looking for the suitable man for the specific job. For example: the emphasis of how much I’m good at working in a team (that is a characteristic that most people find positive) could even harm the chances for the candidate to get accepted if the designated job requires a great deal of independence and the ability to work alone.

Of course the matching will never be absolutely perfect but the interviewer asks himself: will the candidate performance will be satisfactory? If he has disadvantages, maybe the organization helps him in some way to forgo it.

 

The best way to prepare for an HR interview in high-tech companies

1.      collect data about the company and the designated job (via the Internet, people who work there and so on)

2.      By analyzing the data you have gathered try to deduce about the characteristics of the job and the organization (for instance: is it requires team work or is it soloist? What are the objectives of the job? What is the output?)

3.      From the characteristics as follows one should derive the personality characteristics that match and probably needed for the job.

4.      Then, you should see what of those you have and what of those you haven’t got.

5.      You have to remember that the interview is actually a chance for the candidate to “sell” himself to the interviewer. Thus, he should highlight the matching attribute and disguise his less fitting qualities.

6.       The last step is to think about examples for your advantages that you want to promote in the interview (it’s important to prepare, while at the same time in the interview you should keep a certain natural flow, and not to stick entirely to your plan).

 

The following is a table of examples of matching between the personality of the candidate and common functions in high-tech companies:

The title of the job	An example of a fitting motivation (the “why” level)	An example of a fitting abilities (the “how” level)
QA	The need to maintain a high quality work. The need to deepen and to research	Systematically thinking, thoroughness, pay attention to the little details, ability to work as a part of a team, persistence even in routine job
Software Programmer/Developer/Engineer	The aspiration to be significant via the creation of a product in the outside world, to build an innovative product that reflect myself and my creation	creativity, thinking “out of the box”, coping with ambiguousness, flexible mind, practical thinking, the ability to solve problems
Team Leader	Management motives: being important and in the center of things via the influence of people/outcomes	The ability to motive other people, persuading abilities, assertiveness, long term thinking and planning.
Help-Desk/Technical Support	The need to accept positive feedback via helping other people and help then solve problems in a practical way	Interpersonal ability, patience, mental strength, ability to solve problems in a practical effective way

Many companies are working with resource files (.resx or .resource) in order to support multi-lingual Application \ Website. In the following Article I will demonstrate how to work with each kind.

According to the user culture, we can easily show our App \ Website in the proper language.

For Example:

// The following function return value of a key according to specific culture

Private string GetKeyValue(string filename, string resourcePath,string key,string culture)

{

ResourceManager rm = ResourceManager.CreateFileBasedResourceManager(resourceFile, filePath, null); Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), null);

// retrieve the value of the specified key

String value = rm.GetString(key, CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture(culture));

if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(value))

return value;

else

return null;

Resource Files

Read Resource File

private void ReadResourceFile(string filename)

{

// Read Entire File

IResourceReader reader = new ResourceReader(filename);

// Iterate through the resources and so some action

foreach (DictionaryEntry d in reader)

{

// Do Action

}

}

Write Resource File

private void WriteResourceFile(string filename)

{

IResourceWriter writer = new ResourceWriter(filename);

// Add Resources “Identifier” , value

writer.AddResource(”Identifier”, “value”);

writer.AddResource(”Identifier”, “value”);

// Close the file

writer.Close();

writer.Dispose();

Resx Files

Read Resx File
private void ReadResFile(string FileName)

{

ResXResourceReader rsxr = new ResXResourceReader(FileName);

// Iterate through the resources and do some action

foreach (DictionaryEntry d in rsxr)

{

// Do Action

}

}

Write Resx File

private void WriteResFile(string FileName)

{

ResXResourceWriter rsxr = new ResXResourceWriter(FileName);

// Add Resources

rsxr.AddResource(”Identifier”, “value”);

rsxr.AddResource(”Identifier”, “value”);

// Close the file

rsxr.Close();

rsxr.Dispose();

}

Apple released the new IPhone just several days ago. The first IPhone released in June 2007 and become a big success. The combination between a portal media player and a phone cause a lot of people to buy it.

The new IPhone has some new great features like: - 3G-capable. 2.8 times faster than EDGE. - GPS built-in - Thinner - Better battery life

Today users are looking for one device that has it all: Music, Video, GPS and a phone. Users don’t want to carry several devices for these features and they want one device that delivers these features in good quality. The new IPhone give this answer and this is why there are so many people from all over the world waited for IPhone II.

It’s seems like Apple hears what users really want and make sure it’s implemented for example: 3G, GPS, support in Microsoft Exchange (Will be available in Firmware 2.0) and ect.

In my opinion the success of the IPhone II is assured and in the following year the IPhone market is going to increase dramatically.

In our contemporary ever changing post-modernistic world, the temporal dimension has become more and more important. This is particularly correct in the high-tech industry, because of expending global competition and increased demands for immediate availability of innovative products and services. Also, the speed with which global communication now takes place has substantially altered our temporal and spatial horizons. Thus, we all experience the increased pace of life shown in doing things faster, contracting time expenditure (e.g. sleep less, eat faster) and compressing actions (making a phone call while having lunch). Therefore, it is essential that we will know how to manage time effectively. This is extremely important for the organization as well as for the individual. From the organizational perspective, the effective use of time via forceful scheduling, coordination between employees and business processes are critical elements equally to the profitability and the growth of the organization. This issue is extremely critical that in many organizations there are special functions dealing with time management such as project managers. From the individual perspective, the more effectively we handle time, the more we have a sense of well-being, job satisfaction, and less feelings of strain and exhaustion related to work. Managing time is important at all levels of the high-tech organization, even for software developers.

Time was considered for a long time an objective variable only. Therefore the term “time management” is misleading. That’s because time cannot be managed- it is an inaccessible factor. Only the way a person deals with time can be influenced. However, we can’t forget that time has more than one subjective dimension. This is called “psychological time”. One example of this is that when we enjoy ourselves we sense that “time flies”, and the opposite is true when we do not.

What is time management?

Time management refers to various behaviors that aim at achieving an effective use of time while performing certain goal directed activities. This definition includes three kinds of behaviors:

Time assessment behaviors Planning behaviors Monitoring behaviors

There is no clarity regarding the question: is time management a skill that one can learn or is it a part of one’s personality? One way or the other, Mangers have training programs to help them learn the skills of time management. Those programs believed to influence performance under time constrains through the perception of control of time.

How to manage time effectively?

• Organize that desk. While many people think “organized chaos” characterizes their desks, this is seldom the case. Some even say they know where to find everything. The critical issue is whether one has what one need and acts on it. On average, it has been suggested that one hour a day is spent looking for papers. If papers are handled, acted on, and then filed, forwarded to the appropriate person, or thrown away, there is less additional clutter on desk tops. The famous pile method should be avoided. Papers that are not immediately needed should be properly filed. Then once the desk is organized, it must be kept organized.
• Keep a “things-to-do” list. While: this may seem to be “low tech” in a “high tech” world, it is extremely effective in keeping people on track and focused on what has to be accomplished. The actual method of recording these tasks is not as important as the actual tracking of the list itself. So the high tech fans can use their technology and the low- tech fans can use paper and pencil.
• Set priorities before you leave the office at the end of the day. Even if you are worn out, behind schedule, or frazzled by the events of the day, go through your tasks and projects and outline the next business day. This way when you arrive at work that morning, you already know what to start on. Over the course of the previous night, your brain may even have worked out solutions to some unfinished business rather than pondering what it had to keep track of.
• Highlight important e-mails -and sort the others for later. Flag or colorize e-mails in your inbox. Many people use multiple folders to keep e-mails. Keep e-mails on screen if some action is required. “Out of sight is out of mind”.
• Set aside blocks of time for you. If you need time to get your own work done (which may include updating your project list or reviewing e-mail or voicemail), schedule time for yourself. That way no one else will schedule a meeting with you and you’ll be able to get your work done.
• Know where the time goes. Most people do not really know where their time goes and how some time may be wasted. There are usually some time wasters in everyone’s schedule. But until a time utilization study (even informally) is conducted, these are not identified. A simple tracking of time by half-hour increments can often help determine where time is wasted or used less productively. This provides an opportunity to evaluate how tasks can be re-arranged to maximize productivity. Examples may include clustering all meetings for vendors on the south side of town for one day rather than wasting precious time driving to the south side on three separate days.
• Delegate some of your tasks. In looking at your list(s) of projects, perfect candidates for delegation include:
  • Anything that could/would be a learning opportunity for someone else.
  • Something you could do in your sleep if you had time, but that you can’t do personally.
  • A task you can explain quickly and easily
  • A project for which you know the timetable(s) involved.
• Use that waiting time wisely. All those short tasks on the things-to-do list can be addressed during those waiting times. That reading file can be brought along to more effectively use that time spent waiting. People don’t always realize how much time is spent waiting- on hold on the telephone, in meetings waiting for others to arrive, or in lines. Planning for that waiting time can mean accomplishing more tasks - rather than complaining about the wait. If there is a file ready to be picked up for just such times, the wait seems to go faster and more is accomplished.
• Remember that small amounts of time add up. Too often, people think that a few minutes saved aren’t any big deal. The key is the additive effect. If just five minutes a day are saved, the effect at year’s end can be significant.

There are 3 common techniques how to hack wireless device. In this article I will review these techniques and advise how to protect your wireless device from such hack.

Bluesnarfing

is the unauthorized access of information from a wireless device through a Bluetooth connection, often between phones, desktops, laptops, and PDAs. This hack allow you to access the device calendar, email, text message ,contact , steal videos and images and even calling someone from your phone.

Most of the program that we exist today must allow connection and to be ‘paired’ to another phone to steal content however there are some program that don’t ask the wireless device if they can connect too and they can steal the information without letting the owner knows. The latter application are not common and not spread.

Bluejacking

sending of unsolicited messages over Bluetooth to Bluetooth-enabled devices such as PDA’s, mobile phones and laptops or computers.

Bluejacking is usually harmless because no one can steal something from your phones or making a call but there is no doubt they it scare people.

Bluebugging

Allow hacker to "take control" of the victim’s phone. Not only can they make calls, they can send messages, essentially do anything the phone can do. This is a different technique than the Bluesnarfing and work only on old phones.

What are Phone Manufacturers Doing to Solve These Problems?

Most of the cell phone manufactures developed software patches that eliminate these techniques however  Bluesnarfing is still exists and from time to time there is a new Bluesnarfing software come out.

How can I Protect my Privacy ?

1. If you have an old phone, contact your manufacture and ask for a patch.

2. Turn your Bluetooth connection to be "Hidden"

3. Don’t Allow connection via Bluetooth from people that you are not familiar with.

Continuous Integration is a software development practice where members of a team integrate their work frequently. Each integration is verified by an automated build which detect integration errors and test errors as quickly as possible.

This solution helps team discover the problem not in the final phase but during the development.

Usually the continues Integration software monitor the source control software and for each check-in (Someone enter new code to the source control) run the automated build and verify that no one caused the application not to compile or ruined other components (by test).

By running the automated build each developer can get immediate input about the new code that was entered. The information can be:

• Files that were entered and by who
• Did it cause the application not to be compiled
• Did it passed the application test
• Which components changed during the last build

When developer getting such immediate input , he can fix easily the problem that may occur easily because he still remember what he did.

Continues Integration Software

CruiseControl , CruiseControl.NET,Apache Continuum, CABIE, Build Forge and Parabuild

Advantages of Using Continues Integration

• Reduce Risk - Find the problem during development time and not afterward.
• Reduce Bugs - If you system run automated build that contains test , you will be able to reduce dramatically your bugs.
• Reduce the Integration time - The Integration time is done all the time due to the fact that everyone check in all the time and we make sure the system is stable
• Reduce software Development phase - Due to the fact that there are less bugs and the integration time is shorter, companies that use this technique are able to deliver version much more quickly.

In most of the High-tech companies, as a part of the selection process, it is acceptable to carry out a number of interviews. Those interviews are one of two kinds: Professional interviews conducted by professional managers, and HR interviews conducted by human resource members. While the Professional interview is structured and it is very clear how to succeed in it- this is due to the fact that it contains a knowledge test and/or logic test which have an unambiguous objective answers- the HR interview is fuzzy and unclear with no correct/wrong answers. For this reason, when we are applying for a job in a high-tech company, it will be useful to know how to be successful in this kind of interviews.

What are the HR interviewers looking for when they are interviewing for a job? (And I should know as a candidate)

Beyond the known elements of impression formation (for more details see: www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Appsbodylang or http://jobsearch.about.com/od/interviewsnetworking/a/interviewimpres.htm), The interviewer is searching for a matching between the characteristics of the candidate and the properties of the organization, and between the personality and the abilities of the candidate and the quality of the designated job. To find out about the personality of the candidate, the interviewer is using the curriculum vitae (C.V) and a different set of questions as a part of a depth interview.

Matching between the candidate and the organization

The interviewer is trying to find out how the candidate will be integrated into the organizational surroundings: the organizational culture, the atmosphere of the appointed team, the character of the supervisor et cetera. For instance, if we are applying for a job in a small startup company, which has frequent changes, we should emphasize the ability to cope with those changes and even to want the challenge and excitement. On the other hand, if we are trying to be accepted into a large established organization, we should emphasize the aspiration for a job security and our ability to cope with the routine. As a candidate you probably don’t know much about these subjects, but try to do your best in achieving this information (for example: via the company web site or via acquaintance who work there). But more than likely, you would have some information and influence on the job characteristics (because it is easy to guess). Thus, the next article will explore the matching between the candidate and the job characteristics.

The writer is an organizational psychologist working at a large selection agency in Israel