• Follow them (http://www.twitter.com/cdrees)
• Retweet the following – “Just entered to win an 8GB iPod Nano.  Just follow @cdrees and retweet http://bit.ly/win-nano”

They’ll pick a winner the first week in December.

Ridiculously easy to enter, go over and check it out on their blog!

Palaestra Training just released a new training series for the Windows Server 2008 70-642 (Network Infrastructure Configuration) exam.  This MCTS exam counts as credit toward the MCITP: Server Administrator and MCITP: Enterprise Administrator certifications.

This in-depth training covers everything you’ll need to know to become proficient configuring your Windows 2008 network, as well the information necessary to pass the 70-642 exam.  The trainer, Michael Shannon, is an expert trainer who has helped thousands of students around the world get certified and improve their IT careers.

The training also comes with the award-winning MeasureUp exam prep software for the 70-642 exam.

Check them out at www.PalaestraTraining.com for more information.

Palaestra Training creates high-quality computer based training videos for Microsoft, Cisco and CompTIA technologies.

Daughtry’s cover of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” is excellent, and worth a watch. Check it out here.

I happened to come across their website a few months ago, and I was really impressed by the quality of their music.  Exceptionally tight, and they sound just like Billy Joel.

On their site they make mention that someone called Billy Joel on the phone and played their music to him over the phone…  and he thought he was listening to himself.  After you see their video of their performances, you’ll understand why.

If you’re into Billy Joel music but haven’t had a chance to see him live, these guys are about as close as you’re going to get to the real thing.

Check out their video from their website, showcasing some of their performances to see what I mean. 

If you live close to the Long Island area, definitely worth checking out.

When I was creating the download page for my Internet Safety for Parents ebook and video training series, I ran into some trouble trying to secure my thank you page.  If you are a parent and want to a comprehensive training package (book and video series) teaching you how to protect your children from online dangers including hackers, scam artists, cyber-bullies, identity theft, online predators and more, check out the training.

PHP Protection Script

ClickBank’s site offers some basic scripts to protect your thank you page, but unfortunately for modern PHP sites, the use of global variables often doesn’t work.  Here is the script they offer on their site (that I couldn’t get to work):

function cbValid()
{ $key='YOUR SECRET KEY';
  $rcpt=$_REQUEST['cbreceipt'];
  $time=$_REQUEST['time'];
  $item=$_REQUEST['item'];
  $cbpop=$_REQUEST['cbpop'];

  $xxpop=sha1("$key|$rcpt|$time|$item");
  $xxpop=strtoupper(substr($xxpop,0,8));

  if ($cbpop==$xxpop) return 1;
  else return 0;
}
   

I couldn’t get that script to work, and from what I was able to figure out, it’s because they are assuming global variables are turned on, which in most later versions of PHP, that is disabled by default.  By specifying the variables in the code, I was able to get it to work.  So this basically checks to make sure the person visiting the thank you page is coming from clickbank’s site after making a purchase.  If they aren’t you redirect them to another page.  Place this code in the very beginning of your thank you page, before any html.

<?php // thankyou.php
function cbValid($rcpt, $time, $item, $cbpop){
$key=’ABCDE’;
$xxpop=sha1(“$key|$rcpt|$time|$item”);
$xxpop=strtoupper(substr($xxpop,0,8));
if ($cbpop==$xxpop){
return 1;
} else {
return 0;
}
}
// ===== Sanitize the input (only allow GET for security) =====
$rcpt = trim(addslashes($_GET['cbreceipt']));
$time = trim(addslashes($_GET['time']));
$item = trim(addslashes($_GET['item']));
$cbpop = trim(addslashes($_GET['cbpop']));
// ===== Redirect if invalid and exit =====
if (!cbValid($rcpt, $time, $item, $cbpop)) {
// redirect
header (“Location: http://www.SendThemSomewhere.com/“);
exit;
}
// no need to do an ELSE because the exit will terminate further processing
// if a valid transaction is not confirmed
// now have the thank you page html
?>

Full Protection Application

I suppose that still doesn’t stop someone from copying the full URL from a valid purchase and posting that out there somewhere, but you could add some additional variables to make it time out after a certain period of time.

If you need further protection or a full featured ClickBank protection application that provides WAY more than just protecting your Thank You page, check out DLGuard.  It’s definitely a full-featured software application and allows you easily add products, completely secure them, add customers to your mailing lists, etc.  Check out DL Guard here.

In this video, he’s taken up in a helicopter over the City of Rome and given a 45-minute aerial tour of the city.  He spends the next three days drawing the entire city-scape, down the cars on the streets and the correct number of windows in the buildings – in amazing detail and exacting scale.

Truly an amazing talent and a gift the world.  The fact he is autistic makes in even more amazing.   Check out the video and see his website at http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/