Apple’s new iPhone six could be a real game changing device in Apple’s brand history.

With the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, which were simple updates to previous models, there’s a lot of pressure placed on the birth of the iPhone 6.

As per the norm, the internet is filled with rumor, speculation and some might say lies over this next-generation handset, which is why we spent our time reading through each nugget of information, debating its merits and curating it into this easy-to-read article for the technical land of iPhone 6.

According to a survey of 4132 US consumers, the iPhone 6 is the most anticipated Apple smartphone in the company’s history, with interest easily outstripping that of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5.

Let’s peak at what Apple may have in store for us on the iPhone 6, thanks to the announcement of iOS 8 at WWDC.

From a bigger screen and camera to health monitoring and more storage capacity.

•What iOS 8 tells us about the iPhone 6

Some of you might have been expecting the iPhone 6 to have debuted in 2013, but given the iPhone’s past history, from the 3G onwards, there’s always been a half-step S model before the next numbered iPhone.  We were never going to receive the iPhone 6 until 2014. In fact, it will actually be the iPhone 8 when the new product finally launches. But, who’s counting iPhones these days?

One thing is for sure, with the Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Xperia Z2 and HTC One M8 now out, Apple needs to be on its game with the new iPhone – and many believe a bigger screen is simply a must have.

Let’s cut to the heart of the matter

•What is it? A major revision of the iPhone including entire design

•When is it out? September 2014 seems most probable

•What will it cost? Expect luxury pricing for a premium smartphone

Latest update: Taiwanese driving and movie star Jimmy Lin has posted some images to social network Weibo apparently showing off the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 alongside the iPhone 5S

IPhone 6 release date

The iPhone 6 release date will be in 2014 and it’s looking increasingly likely that we’ll see it in September, which would fit in nicely with the rollout of the newly announced iOS 8.

Apple has launched the last several iPhones at a special event in September, so the smart money has always been on September 2014 for the iPhone 6’s birth.

Not to mention the fact that according to ifun.de, Apple is restricting holidays during September for employees at German Apple Stores, which strongly suggests a new hardware launch just might take place

What does all of this mean to an information technology professional?

The iPhone six will create the need for countless new applications.  New hardware always opens the door for programmers to create those killer applications. The article mentioned health monitoring; do you have a new idea? If you are reading this article and have a strong desire to learn computer programming, you could be a future talented person who will design the next block buster application for the iPhone 6.

For more information on developing application for the iPhone 6 phone visit us online @ ABCO Technology

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Certified Ethical Hacker Course information for Los Angeles

In our last article posted on May 19, we discussed the major threat to United States companies created by foreign hacking.  Our narrative described the DOJ’s indictment of five Chinese officials and some suggestions regarding information technology certifications, which are now in high demand.  Combating this threat is going to require the talents and services of highly qualified and trained professionals.  In this article we will outline the curriculum for the Certified Ethical Hacker certification.  The course curriculum will be posted to provide our readers with an idea of the types of skills, which are needed to do the job of security.

Course Description for Certified Ethical Hacker

The Certified Ethical Hacker Program certifies individuals in the specific network security discipline of Ethical Hacking from a vendor-neutral perspective. A Certified Ethical Hacker is a skilled professional who understands and knows how to look for the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in target systems and uses the same knowledge and tools as a malicious hacker.

Course Duration

40 hours

Target Student:  The Certified Ethical Hacker certification will fortify the application knowledge of security officers, auditors, security professionals, site administrators, and anyone who is concerned about the integrity of the network infrastructure.

Delivery Method:  Instructor-led, group-paced, classroom-delivery learning model with structured minds-on and hands-on activities.

Benefits:  This class will immerse the student into an interactive environment where they will be shown how to scan, test, and secure their own systems. The lab-intensive environment gives each student in-depth knowledge and practical experience with the current essential security systems.  Students will begin by understanding how perimeter defenses work and then be led into scanning and attacking their own networks. Students then learn how intruders escalate privileges and what steps can be taken to secure a system. Students will also learn about intrusion detection, policy creation, social engineering, open source intelligence, incident handling, and log interpretation.

What’s Next:  The CEH Program certifies individuals in the specific network security discipline of Ethical Hacking from a vendor-neutral perspective. The Certified Ethical Hacker certification will significantly benefit security officers, auditors, security professionals, site administrators, and anyone who is concerned about the integrity of the network infrastructure.

Course Objectives:

•              Developing the hacker’s mind.

•              Network surveying.

•              Port scanning.

•              System identification/OS fingerprinting.

•              Vulnerability research and verification.

•              Service identification.

•              Internet application testing.

•              Document grinding.

•              Recognizing security issues within an organization.

•              Performing legal assessments on remote/foreign networks.

•              Examining an organization for weaknesses as through the eyes of an industrial spy or a competitor.

•              Implementing the right tools for each task of the Methodology

•              Competitive Intelligence.

•              Exploiting vulnerabilities remotely.

•              Examining appropriate countermeasures to thwart malicious hacking.

 

Course Outline:

Class 1: Introduction to Ethical Hacking

•              Explaining the Certification

•              Introducing Security

•              Introducing Hacking

•              Introduction to Ethical Hacking

Class 2: Foot printing

•              Defining Foot printing

•              Information Gathering Methodology

•              Locate the Network Range

•              Hacking Tools

Class 3: Scanning

•              Definition of Scanning.

•              Types of scanning

•              Objectives of Scanning

•              Scanning Methodology

•              Classification of Scanning

•              Hacking Tools

•              Countermeasures

Class 4: Enumeration

•              What is Enumeration?

•              NetBios Null Sessions

•              Hacking Tools

•              Enumerating User Accounts

•              Active Directory Enumeration and Countermeasures

Class 5: System Hacking

•              Administrator Password Guessing

•              Manual Password Cracking Algorithm

•              Automated Password Cracking

•              Password Types

•              Types of Password Attacks

•              Hacking Tools

Class 6: Trojans and Backdoors

•              Effect on Business

•              What is a Trojan?

•              Overt and Covert Channels

•              Indications of a Trojan Attack

•              Reverse Engineering Trojans

•              Backdoor Countermeasures

Class 7: Sniffers

•              Definition of sniffing

•              How a Sniffer works?

•              Passive Sniffing

•              Active Sniffing

•              Hacking Tools

•              Sniffing Countermeasures

Class 8: Denial of Service

•              What is Denial of Service?

•              Goal of DoS (Denial of Service)

•              Impact and Modes of Attack

•              DoS Attack Classification

•              Hacking Tools

•              Countermeasures for Reflected DoS

•              Tools for Detecting DDOS Attacks

Class 9: Social Engineering

•              What is Social Engineering?

•              Art of Manipulation

•              Human Weakness

•              Common Types of Social Engineering

•              Human Based Impersonation

Class 10: Session Hijacking

•              Understanding Session Hijacking

•              Spoofing vs Hijacking

•              Steps in Session Hijacking

•              Types of Session Hijacking

•              Hacking Tools

•              Protection against Session Hijacking

•              Countermeasures: IP Security

Class 11: Hacking Web Servers

•              Popular Web Servers and Common Security Threats

•              Apache Vulnerability

•              Attack against IIS Console

•              Hacking Tools

•              Countermeasures

•              Increasing Web Server Security

Class 12: Web Application Vulnerabilities

•              Web Application Hacking

•              Anatomy of an Attack

•              Web Application Threats

•              Carnivore

•              Google Hacking

•              Countermeasures

Class 13: Web Based Password Cracking Techniques

•              Authentication- Definition

•              Authentication Mechanisms

•              Password Guessing

•              Query String

•              Cookies

•              Password Crackers Available

•              Hacking Tools

•              Countermeasures

Class 14: SQL Injection

•              Attacking SQL Servers

•              SQL Server Resolution Service (SSRS)

•              Osql-L Probing

•              Port Scanning

•              SQL Server Talks

•              Preventive Measures

Class 15: Hacking Wireless Networks

•              Wireless Basics

•              Components of Wireless Network

•              Access Point Positioning

•              Rogue Access Points

•              Tools to Generate Rogue Access Points

•              Scanning Tools

•              Sniffing Tools

•              Securing Wireless Networks

Class 16: Worms and Viruses

•              Virus Characteristics

•              Symptoms of ‘virus-like’ attack

•              Indications of a Virus Attack

•              Virus / Worms found in the wild

•              Virus writing tools

•              Virus Checkers

•              Virus Analyzers

Class 17: Physical Security

•              Understanding Physical Security

•              Factors Affecting Physical Security

•              Wiretapping

•              Lock Picking Techniques

•              Spying Technologies

Class 18: Linux Hacking

•              Linux Basics

•              Linux Vulnerabilities

•              Scanning Networks

•              Scanning Tools

•              Linux Security Tools

•              Advanced Intrusion Detection System

•              Linux Security Auditing Tool

•              Linux Security Countermeasures

Class 19: Evading Firewalls, IDS and Honeypots

•              Intrusion Detection Systems

•              Ways to Detect Intrusion

•              Types of Intrusion Detection System

•              Intrusion Detection Tools

•              Honeypot Project

•              Tools to Detect Honeypot

Class 20: Buffer Overflows

•              Buffer Overflows

•              How a Buffer Overflow Occurs

•              Shellcode

•              NOPS

•              Countermeasures

Class 21: Cryptography

•              Public-key Cryptography

•              Working of Encryption

•              Digital Signature

•              Digital Certificate

•              RSA (Rivest Shamir Adleman)

•              RSA Attacks

Class 22: Penetration Testing

•              Penetration Test vs. Vulnerability Test

•              Reliance on Checklists and Templates

•              Phases of Penetration Testing

•              Risk Analysis

•              Types of Penetration Testing

•              Types of Ethical Hacking

•              SANS Institute Top 20 Security Vulnerabilities

•              Penetration Testing Deliverable Templates

•              Active Reconnaissance

Fore more information visit us online @ ABCO Technology

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Benefits of Computer Programming Classes in Los Angeles

June 2, 2014 marks the beginning of Apples World Wide Developers conference Held in San Francisco, California.  Apple will have on display the latest applications for the IPhone, tablets and their latest desktop operating system.

Developers from all over the world have submitted applications.  Only the top software applications have been accepted for display at this conference.

We’re but a few hours away from Apple’s WWDC-opening keynote where Tim Cook and company will reveal the latest updates and upgrades to their products. Potentially preempting one of those announcements, however, is a set of images depicting a number of novelties that will apparently be introduced in OS X 10.10. The pictures come from a now-deleted Reedit account, however Macromeres has done some digging behind the scenes and says that “the evidence we have seen privately is enough for us to consider it a distinct possibility” that these images are genuine.

Spotlight search looks set for an overdue revamp

What they show are revamps to the Notification Center, Dock, and Spotlight search, the addition of an iOS-like Control Center, and a subtly different Safari browser. None of it is necessarily revolutionary, though the overhaul of Spotlight seems to closely resemble our favorite productivity app on the Mac, Alfred.

Apple has already put up the banners teasing iOS 8 and the new OS X. The trajectory of its recent upgrades has been to continually bring the two closer together and today’s news seems likely to keep that momentum going.

You could be one of the developers writing applications for Apple.  Your path begins by learning computer programming.  If you can program in languages including C++, PHP, Java and other key languages, your future as a programmer will be bright.  The computer languages are the tools and your talent is your future.

Fore more information visit us online @ ABCO Technology

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10 strategies for promoting your content

Content is king, but in 2014 content marketing has received the attention it deserves from professional marketing organizations with budgets allocated to creating traffic building content. In the past two years, we have witnessed several new software platforms in the market, which are designed to help companies create dynamic content.

Many students have told me that it’s very easy to go out and spend money on creating content or marketing campaigns with a goal of driving traffic to a website. Alternatively, I’ve observed that many companies have access to lots of content, which is generated in-house, but for a number of reasons they are not publishing or using their internal resources efficiently to create new content that will help them with their web traffic marketing efforts.

Content creation is a significant undertaking. We will focus on 10 strategies to create good content for your site or company.

1. Keyword Volume
This is a popular method of creating content where you can use your favorite keyword tool and type in the key phrase you want to target. For our example, we will use the free key word discovery free keyword tool and use “Google Panda” as our sample keyword:
Most content creators are tempted to optimize for the first keyword since that phrase has the most query volume. This is not a recommended strategy as competition will be high on this keyword and it may take time for your site to rank well. Instead, start with keywords that have low traffic volume and are more long-tail like in this example we see “What is Google Panda” and “Google Panda Updates” as two excellent keyword choices.
When using a key word tool select narrow matches so you get the phrase you want to target.

2. Search As You Type Tools
This can be quick hit way to conduct keyword research on the fly.

Google Auto complete can be a gold mine for looking up keywords – and when combined with detailed keyword research, it can really help shore up your content creation process.

Soovle is another engine that can be really helpful for doing keyword research on the fly. Simply type in the keyword and it will show suggested keywords from across many engines. This can be really helpful as your starting step in creating keyword based content from scratch.
3. Social Media Listening Platforms
Mining social media conversations can be a great source to find new ideas for creating content. Each day you will find users conversing on Twitter, sharing links on Facebook, complaining on blogs and forums, and so on. These conversations can be a perfect starting point for creating your content. After all, this is what people are talking about so you can be sure they’ll be querying it on search engines too.

If you don’t have access to social media monitoring platforms then Socialmention.com can be a great place to get started. Simply enter any keyword and it will show you the conversations across the web, along with sentiment analysis, and related keywords.

4. Internal Site Search & Web Analytics
Mining your web analytics referral keyword report to see what keywords people are using to visit your site, and then what keywords visitors are using once on your site (through your site search) can be a gold mine. These keywords would end up as the most targeted keywords and can help a great deal in improving your site bounce rates as well.

Mining your internal site search keyword reports can also help close content gaps on your site. Bringing visitors into your site through SEO and then those visitors not finding what they are looking for can be a huge loss for any business. Look at internal site search keyword reports and create content to convert those site visitors. Every SEO should have access to these reports at least weekly.

5. Live Blogging at Events
Live blogging at an event can be an excellent way to generate new content. SES conferences are a great place for this and we regularly see live bloggers from companies including to prank Marketing, aim Clear, Bruce Clay and many others across the country. Find out where relevant live events are for your industry and start live blogging at some sessions try a few to get started.

6. Expert Interviews
Every industry has its own thought leaders and experts. Interviewing those experts can be another great way to generate content. There are many ways to do this, for example more companies are using Google+ Hangouts and Skype to conduct expert interviews. When conducting an interview be sure to write up a text version of your discussion. It will optimize well with search engines.
7. Twitter
On Twitter, there are so many conversations happening daily in any industry. Focus on your industry and create content out of those tweets on the fly. For example, recently a big brand was called out for buying links in this post by Josh Davis which then had a follow-up by Danny Sullivan. In between, quite a few tweets were exchanged by Matt Cutts and others. Pulling these recent tweets and creating your own analysis on this topic could be a great way to generate content.

I have also seen content being created and then using tweets to further back your content or assertion on a given topic. You can find documentation on Twitter Developer site on how to embed a tweet on your site.

8. Customer Testimonials
Testimonials, if done creatively, can be used to generate good content on your site. Testimonials can be used, for example, to support a specific topic like showing exemplary customer service your company provides.

In many organizations, customers write glowing testimonials for companies but they hardly get published, except in internal newsletters. Find a way to publish these testimonials on your site or on your blog.

A few years back Discover Financial Services found a creative way to publish their card member stories testimonials on a blog and was named Cashback Connection which is a collection of card member testimonials. So instead of letting your customer stories be stored in some email folder, why not go ahead and publish them!

9. Customer Questions
Your customers have questions. There are many ways to convert customer questions into meaningful content for your site. You can take customer questions and make it into a video series or create a question and answers site like Yahoo Answers.

This content can be of high value and can also aid in new product development or enhancing your products. All in all customer questions can be highly targeted content and can be a great source of SEO referral traffic.

10. Industry Trends
No matter what industry you’re in, chances are there must be some hot new topics and new trends. Looking for new trends in your industry and creating content on them can be a great way to capitalize on existing search demand.

Going with this approach fulfills an existing demand based on industry hot trends. The content you create based on these trends can be temporal in nature, but again can be a good source of traffic if created at the right time. Some of the most popular places to look at current trends are: Google Trends, technorati, Twitter trends, and icerocket.

Summary
Creating content can be resource intensive but more than that it also involves lots of creative thinking to come up with new content day in and day out. The above ideas are just a small sampling of how to come up with great content. Have any other ideas worked well for you? Please leave a comment below.

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10 Dynamic Fast Loading WordPress Templates you can use for your Website Now!!

2014 WordPress Template Race

 

One of the most frequent questions I’ve received after our search engine classes is “Where can my company find a Fast Loading WordPress Template to work with?  That’s a damn good question as speed hasn’t been on the radar of WordPress Theme developers yet, but that is already changing.

Just like the need for responsive design was answered, fast loading sites are really in demand and the market is already scrambling to make them available. However, we know that, “We’re working on it…” isn’t the answer you’re looking for, so we spent some time looking for fast loading themes that you can use Today.

Theme Comparison Factors

One of the most difficult tasks we could think of for a responsive Web site to tackle is mobile load time, which is required for your Web site to shine. We tested over 50 different themes during this loading race and all of these designs scored quite fast comparatively. However, on the flip side there were some popular themes that took as much as 50 seconds to load! That’s a huge difference compared to the speed demons we’ve listed below that were fast enough to make the cut.

Disclaimer: There is some variation in our testing due to server speed, which was beyond our control. There is also quite a variation in the theme designs themselves, which we attempted to minimize by testing a simple page on each theme – not the home page as it often includes huge slider images.

The important factors used in this test:

• Mobile Load Time – The primary factor was the 1st pass mobile load time tested within Webpagetest.org with a Mobile 3G Fast connection and using the Chrome browser.
• A Simple, Comparable Web Page – We used Pricing or Full Width page examples to minimize graphic impact during testing.
• Gzip Compression – All test sites used this as it has a big impact on 1st pass load time. Sites not using Gzip were not included as it threw the test scores off a lot.
• All themes tested are fully responsive.
• Pingdom and Google Page Speed test values – recorded for additional comparison.
• Google Page Speed Score – All of these themes could be improved upon in some way. How much speed improvement is possible is indicated by the Google Page Speed scores.

#1. 320 Press Bootstrap – 2.623s

Source: 320press.com/themes/wp-bootstrap/

The fastest template of the group was 320press.com’s WordPress BootStrap which loaded in 2.623 seconds despite a time to first byte (TTFB) of .911 seconds which is a bit slow. That means this template would likely load in around 2.2 to 2.3 seconds on an average server, further distancing it from the rest of the field. Of course the simplistic design was a deciding advantage with only 12 requests made during load time and a lack of “bloat” that occurs with fancier looking templates.

The Bootstrap foundation is an excellent base for further customization to generate the look and feel of your new site, however it will most likely require far more development time to arrive at what you’re looking for. The theme will slow down with additional customization in most cases unless the developer is careful with what changes and how they are made. It’s not really suitable for a site owner wanting an easy theme to upload and run but it is FAST. If you’re comfortable with tweaking CSS and some of the PHP files in the template, WordPress Bootstrap is a clear winner.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
97	11	.812	.099	79	92	2.623	.911	2400

#2. 320 Press Foundation – 3.028s

Source: 320press.com/themes/wp-foundation/

Another fast theme from the folks at 320press.com, the Zurb.com 3.0 Foundation WordPress port is also quite fast despite requiring more resources to load than the Twitter Bootstrap version. Also in this test the 320press.com server was slow to respond with a 1.33 second time to first byte.

Like the Bootstrap theme, Foundation will require further work should you want to get more advanced with the styling this theme provides. The Foundation framework used for this theme is version 3.0, however the current version of Foundation is at version 5.0, so this port is a bit behind with no information on if or when 320Press.com will update their theme to the latest revision of Foundation.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
67	20	1.180	.599	76	89	3.028	1.330	2394

#3. GoodWork – 3.252s

Source: GoodWork – Responsive Multi-Purpose WordPress Theme

The Goodwork Template from Krown Themes Designer Ruben Bristian was the fastest full featured template we found, again despite a somewhat slow responding server. This template is WooCommerce capable and features 6 Home Page variations, advanced Page Builder features and plenty of theme customization options. It also carries a 4.43 buyer rating at Themeforest which is a strong endorsement as well.

Our only complaint about this theme is the mobile version of the menu, it’s not “Fat Finger Friendly”, but that is not a big deal. There are lots of Responsive WordPress Menu Plugins you can use to improve that functionality.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
88	39	.755	.318	78	91	3.252	.610	2815

#4. Fable – 3.255s

Source: Fable – Responsive Blog Theme

Fable from Elegant Themes was designed primarily as a blogging theme, and it’s very fast with a 3.255 second Mobile load time. While not as versatile as GoodWork, it’s a variation that may suit some projects better. Performance on this theme could be improved by getting rid of the Google Fonts used heavily throughout the theme and combining the 10 style sheets used.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
80	53	1.17	.513	76	91	3.255	.558	2315

#5. Lucid – 3.303s

Source: Lucid – Responsive Blog Theme

Elegant Themes Lucid also scored highly in our test with a mobile load time of 3.303 making it a very fast, and clean, Blog theme. Lucid has an improved mobile menu which is FFF (Fat Finger Friendly) however built in social icons are not FFF. The theme adapts well between Mobile, Tablet and Desktop but does not give you a lot of capability for design changes for background and system colors.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
85	35	.386	.196	76	84	3.303	.558	2580

#6. Pravda – 3.601s

Source: Pravda – Retina Ready Responsive Blog / Magazine Theme

Packed with features such as WooCommerce and Retina Ready graphics capability, Pravda is a solid performer for a Magazine style Blog that loads in 3.601 seconds on a 3g smartphone despite a slow server which dampened its TTFB time. The theme carries a 4.67 rating at Themeforest.com and interestingly enough, it has a very solid 98 performance grade via Pingdom, one of two themes tested that hit 98.

It gets a thumbs down for an anti-FFF mobile menu, but as we mentioned previously, there are lots of Responsive WordPress Menu Plugins you can use to improve that functionality.

This theme certainly gets some extra bonus points for including Schema.org Microdata, a Bootstrap base and Retina-Ready graphics capability.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
98	42	.682	..331	75	93	3.601	.700	2904

#7. Enfold – 3.722s

Source: Enfold – Retina Ready Business Theme

Enfold is another full featured, fully responsive theme which scores quite well across the board. It features a very comprehensive layout builder making it easy to create just about any kind of page layout you desire, without having to remember shortcodes to make it work.

The mobile menu is FFF, which is a plus in our book, and it looks outstanding on a tablet and smartphone as well. Inside the designers give you a lot of ability to easily change the skin and includes 18 different variations within the admin panel.

Enfold carries a high 4.78 rating at Themeforest, so we’re not the only ones that like this theme!

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
89	36	1.06	.345	76	90	3.722	.704	3504

#8. Meteor – 4.808s

Source: Meteor – Retina Ready Business Theme

Retina graphics ready and fully responsive Meteor is a feature packed theme that has a reasonable load time. It features a comprehensive layout editor giving you a lot of ability to arrange your pages as you want, 5 different sliders to choose from, plus a handful of custom widgets such as a Twitter Feed.

Meteor has a horrible looking mobile menu, thank goodness there are lots of Responsive WordPress Menu Plugins you can use to fix it – and this one does need fixing. While it’s totally usable as it triggers tablet and smartphone popup menus, it just doesn’t seem to match the rest of the design (and we don’t like popup menus).

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
79	60	1.26	.739	72	86	4.808	.951	2896

#9. Lynx – 5.161s

Source: Lynx – 3 in 1 Business Theme

Lynx features 3 different main layout functions that let you use it as a Blog, Magazine, or a Shop with built in WooCommerce. It also has the ability to use custom backgrounds and is built on Bootstrap 3 which is a big plus. Personally, we didn’t really care for the design, probably because of so much white space used up by the built in banner at the top of the page, but it may appeal to some. You can also certainly shut the banner off if you wish, which we feel would make it more attractive.

With a 98 Performance score from Pingdom, this is an optimized theme which certainly helps its 5.161 load time on 3g Mobile and it scores well on Google Page Speed, however the number of server requests drag down its mobile performance. Lynx utilizes a pop-up menu for mobile and tablets, not our favorite design choice as it just feels so “retro” compared to the newer mobile menu designs available.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
98	64	1.23	.542	79	92	5.161	.587	2272

#10. 3Clicks – 6.601s

Source: 3Clicks Business Theme

We really liked the fresh, colorful looks and versatility of the 3 Clicks theme, unfortunately a slow server TTFB hurt its load time substantially pushing it to the #10 position in our test. With a faster server and further optimization work it can certainly be as fast as many of the themes we tested in this shootout, so don’t ignore it just because it’s a bit slower.

3Clicks has 9 different skins to choose from along with unlimited color choices, many different menu choices including a new “Metro” style which is very tablet friendly. The Mobile menu lacks the ability to display multiple levels, which is a drawback but it’s one of the few we have found with this theme. It’s very likely the developer might be able to update that feature in the future as the theme support and enhancements appear to be good.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
89	48	1.86	.388	76	92	6.601	1.088	5365

Final Notes

Be aware that most of the top performing themes in this review have been optimized to a certain extent, they have minified CSS & Javascript, the servers are using Gzip compression, some go so far as to move the style sheets into the head section which really helps on mobile. Last but not least, we did test demo pages that were light on graphics to make the tests as even as possible, which of course helped the load times.

When you install one you’ll want to make use of a plugin such as W3 Total Cache plus utilize progressive, compressed images when possible. Also keep in mind adding additional plugins typically will slow response time down significantly, especially social plugins that make many external requests.

If you don’t find a design you like within the above themes be sure to test any theme you decide on using resources such as Pingdom, Google PageSpeed Insights and WebPageTest.org to see how it compares. The themes chosen for our review are certainly some of the fastest we could find, but developers have already started focusing on page speed requirements, so keep your eyes open for new designs.

2014 will be a busy, exciting time for Web site designers, managers and search engine marketing professionals as all this new technology and ranking requirements forces us to improve user experiences — we hope this review gets you started down that road!

 

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10 dynamic Fast Loading WordPress Templates you can use for your website Now!!

2014 WordPress Template Race— 

 

One of the most frequent questions I’ve received after our search engine classes is “Where can my company find a Fast Loading WordPress Template to work with?  That’s a damn good question as speed hasn’t been on the radar of WordPress Theme developers yet, but that is already changing.

Just like the need for responsive design was answered, fast loading sites are really in demand and the market is already scrambling to make them available. However, we know that, “We’re working on it…” isn’t the answer you’re looking for, so we spent some time looking for fast loading themes that you can use Today.

Theme Comparison Factors

One of the most difficult tasks we could think of for a responsive Web site to tackle is mobile load time, which is required for your Web site to shine. We tested over 50 different themes during this loading race and all of these designs scored quite fast comparatively. However, on the flip side there were some popular themes that took as much as 50 seconds to load! That’s a huge difference compared to the speed demons we’ve listed below that were fast enough to make the cut.

Disclaimer: There is some variation in our testing due to server speed, which was beyond our control. There is also quite a variation in the theme designs themselves, which we attempted to minimize by testing a simple page on each theme – not the home page as it often includes huge slider images.

The important factors used in this test:

• Mobile Load Time – The primary factor was the 1st pass mobile load time tested within Webpagetest.org with a Mobile 3G Fast connection and using the Chrome browser.
• A Simple, Comparable Web Page – We used Pricing or Full Width page examples to minimize graphic impact during testing.
• Gzip Compression – All test sites used this as it has a big impact on 1st pass load time. Sites not using Gzip were not included as it threw the test scores off a lot.
• All themes tested are fully responsive.
• Pingdom and Google Page Speed test values – recorded for additional comparison.
• Google Page Speed Score – All of these themes could be improved upon in some way. How much speed improvement is possible is indicated by the Google Page Speed scores.

#1. 320 Press Bootstrap – 2.623s

Source: 320press.com/themes/wp-bootstrap/

The fastest template of the group was 320press.com’s WordPress BootStrap which loaded in 2.623 seconds despite a time to first byte (TTFB) of .911 seconds which is a bit slow. That means this template would likely load in around 2.2 to 2.3 seconds on an average server, further distancing it from the rest of the field. Of course the simplistic design was a deciding advantage with only 12 requests made during load time and a lack of “bloat” that occurs with fancier looking templates.

The Bootstrap foundation is an excellent base for further customization to generate the look and feel of your new site, however it will most likely require far more development time to arrive at what you’re looking for. The theme will slow down with additional customization in most cases unless the developer is careful with what changes and how they are made. It’s not really suitable for a site owner wanting an easy theme to upload and run but it is FAST. If you’re comfortable with tweaking CSS and some of the PHP files in the template, WordPress Bootstrap is a clear winner.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
97	11	.812	.099	79	92	2.623	.911	2400

#2. 320 Press Foundation – 3.028s

Source: 320press.com/themes/wp-foundation/

Another fast theme from the folks at 320press.com, the Zurb.com 3.0 Foundation WordPress port is also quite fast despite requiring more resources to load than the Twitter Bootstrap version. Also in this test the 320press.com server was slow to respond with a 1.33 second time to first byte.

Like the Bootstrap theme, Foundation will require further work should you want to get more advanced with the styling this theme provides. The Foundation framework used for this theme is version 3.0, however the current version of Foundation is at version 5.0, so this port is a bit behind with no information on if or when 320Press.com will update their theme to the latest revision of Foundation.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
67	20	1.180	.599	76	89	3.028	1.330	2394

#3. GoodWork – 3.252s

Source: GoodWork – Responsive Multi-Purpose WordPress Theme

The Goodwork Template from Krown Themes Designer Ruben Bristian was the fastest full featured template we found, again despite a somewhat slow responding server. This template is WooCommerce capable and features 6 Home Page variations, advanced Page Builder features and plenty of theme customization options. It also carries a 4.43 buyer rating at Themeforest which is a strong endorsement as well.

Our only complaint about this theme is the mobile version of the menu, it’s not “Fat Finger Friendly”, but that is not a big deal. There are lots of Responsive WordPress Menu Plugins you can use to improve that functionality.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
88	39	.755	.318	78	91	3.252	.610	2815

#4. Fable – 3.255s

Source: Fable – Responsive Blog Theme

Fable from Elegant Themes was designed primarily as a blogging theme, and it’s very fast with a 3.255 second Mobile load time. While not as versatile as GoodWork, it’s a variation that may suit some projects better. Performance on this theme could be improved by getting rid of the Google Fonts used heavily throughout the theme and combining the 10 style sheets used.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
80	53	1.17	.513	76	91	3.255	.558	2315

#5. Lucid – 3.303s

Source: Lucid – Responsive Blog Theme

Elegant Themes Lucid also scored highly in our test with a mobile load time of 3.303 making it a very fast, and clean, Blog theme. Lucid has an improved mobile menu which is FFF (Fat Finger Friendly) however built in social icons are not FFF. The theme adapts well between Mobile, Tablet and Desktop but does not give you a lot of capability for design changes for background and system colors.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
85	35	.386	.196	76	84	3.303	.558	2580

#6. Pravda – 3.601s

Source: Pravda – Retina Ready Responsive Blog / Magazine Theme

Packed with features such as WooCommerce and Retina Ready graphics capability, Pravda is a solid performer for a Magazine style Blog that loads in 3.601 seconds on a 3g smartphone despite a slow server which dampened its TTFB time. The theme carries a 4.67 rating at Themeforest.com and interestingly enough, it has a very solid 98 performance grade via Pingdom, one of two themes tested that hit 98.

It gets a thumbs down for an anti-FFF mobile menu, but as we mentioned previously, there are lots of Responsive WordPress Menu Plugins you can use to improve that functionality.

This theme certainly gets some extra bonus points for including Schema.org Microdata, a Bootstrap base and Retina-Ready graphics capability.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
98	42	.682	..331	75	93	3.601	.700	2904

#7. Enfold – 3.722s

Source: Enfold – Retina Ready Business Theme

Enfold is another full featured, fully responsive theme which scores quite well across the board. It features a very comprehensive layout builder making it easy to create just about any kind of page layout you desire, without having to remember shortcodes to make it work.

The mobile menu is FFF, which is a plus in our book, and it looks outstanding on a tablet and smartphone as well. Inside the designers give you a lot of ability to easily change the skin and includes 18 different variations within the admin panel.

Enfold carries a high 4.78 rating at Themeforest, so we’re not the only ones that like this theme!

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
89	36	1.06	.345	76	90	3.722	.704	3504

#8. Meteor – 4.808s

Source: Meteor – Retina Ready Business Theme

Retina graphics ready and fully responsive Meteor is a feature packed theme that has a reasonable load time. It features a comprehensive layout editor giving you a lot of ability to arrange your pages as you want, 5 different sliders to choose from, plus a handful of custom widgets such as a Twitter Feed.

Meteor has a horrible looking mobile menu, thank goodness there are lots of Responsive WordPress Menu Plugins you can use to fix it – and this one does need fixing. While it’s totally usable as it triggers tablet and smartphone popup menus, it just doesn’t seem to match the rest of the design (and we don’t like popup menus).

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
79	60	1.26	.739	72	86	4.808	.951	2896

#9. Lynx – 5.161s

Source: Lynx – 3 in 1 Business Theme

Lynx features 3 different main layout functions that let you use it as a Blog, Magazine, or a Shop with built in WooCommerce. It also has the ability to use custom backgrounds and is built on Bootstrap 3 which is a big plus. Personally, we didn’t really care for the design, probably because of so much white space used up by the built in banner at the top of the page, but it may appeal to some. You can also certainly shut the banner off if you wish, which we feel would make it more attractive.

With a 98 Performance score from Pingdom, this is an optimized theme which certainly helps its 5.161 load time on 3g Mobile and it scores well on Google Page Speed, however the number of server requests drag down its mobile performance. Lynx utilizes a pop-up menu for mobile and tablets, not our favorite design choice as it just feels so “retro” compared to the newer mobile menu designs available.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
98	64	1.23	.542	79	92	5.161	.587	2272

#10. 3Clicks – 6.601s

Source: 3Clicks Business Theme

We really liked the fresh, colorful looks and versatility of the 3 Clicks theme, unfortunately a slow server TTFB hurt its load time substantially pushing it to the #10 position in our test. With a faster server and further optimization work it can certainly be as fast as many of the themes we tested in this shootout, so don’t ignore it just because it’s a bit slower.

3Clicks has 9 different skins to choose from along with unlimited color choices, many different menu choices including a new “Metro” style which is very tablet friendly. The Mobile menu lacks the ability to display multiple levels, which is a drawback but it’s one of the few we have found with this theme. It’s very likely the developer might be able to update that feature in the future as the theme support and enhancements appear to be good.

Pingdom				Google Page Speed		WebPageTest.org
Grade	Requests	Load Time	Size Mb	Mobile	Desktop	Load Time	TTFB	Speed Ind
89	48	1.86	.388	76	92	6.601	1.088	5365

Final Notes

Be aware that most of the top performing themes in this review have been optimized to a certain extent, they have minified CSS & Javascript, the servers are using Gzip compression, some go so far as to move the style sheets into the head section which really helps on mobile. Last but not least, we did test demo pages that were light on graphics to make the tests as even as possible, which of course helped the load times.

When you install one you’ll want to make use of a plugin such as W3 Total Cache plus utilize progressive, compressed images when possible. Also keep in mind adding additional plugins typically will slow response time down significantly, especially social plugins that make many external requests.

If you don’t find a design you like within the above themes be sure to test any theme you decide on using resources such as Pingdom, Google PageSpeed Insights and WebPageTest.org to see how it compares. The themes chosen for our review are certainly some of the fastest we could find, but developers have already started focusing on page speed requirements, so keep your eyes open for new designs.

2014 will be a busy, exciting time for Web site designers, managers and search engine marketing professionals as all this new technology and ranking requirements forces us to improve user experiences — we hope this review gets you started down that road!

For more information on website development visit us online @ ABCO Technology

Check out our reviews

Crunch Base

Better Business Bureau 

City Search

 

 

 

8 valuable Tips for Wireless Home Network Security

Many users setting up wireless home networks rush through the job to get their Internet connectivity working as rapidly as possible. That’s totally understandable. It’s quite risky as numerous security problems can result from haste. Today’s Wi-Fi networking products don’t always help your situation as configuring their security features can be time-consuming and non-intuitive. The recommendations below summarize the steps you should take to improve the security of your home wireless network.

1. Change Default Administrator Passwords (and Usernames)

At the heart of most Wi-Fi home networks is an access point or router. To set up these pieces of equipment, manufacturers provide Web pages that allow owners to enter their network address and account information. These Web tools are protected with a login screen (username and password) so that only the rightful owner can do this. However, for any given piece of equipment, the logins provided are simple and very well-known to hackers on the Internet. Change these settings immediately.

2. Turn on (Compatible) WPA / WEP Encryption

All Wi-Fi equipment supports some form of encryption. Encryption technology scrambles messages sent over wireless networks so that they cannot be easily read by humans. Several encryption technologies exist for Wi-Fi today. Naturally you will want to pick the strongest form of encryption that works with your wireless network. However, the way these technologies work, all Wi-Fi devices on your network must share the same  encryption settings. Therefore you may need to find a “lowest common compatible setting.

3. Change the Default SSID

Access points and routers all use a network name called the SSID. Manufacturers normally ship their products with the same SSID set. For example, the SSID for Linksys devices is normally “linksys.” True, knowing the SSID does not by itself allow your neighbors to break into your network, but it is a start. More importantly, when someone finds a default SSID, they see it is a poorly configured network and are much more likely to attack it. Change the default SSID immediately when configuring wireless security on your network.

4. Enable MAC Address Filtering

Each piece of Wi-Fi gear possesses a unique identifier called the physical address or MAC address. Access points and routers keep track of the MAC addresses of all devices that connect to them. Many such products offer the owner an option to key in the MAC addresses of their home equipment that restricts the network to only allow connections from those devices. Do this, but also know that the feature is not as powerful as it may seem. Hackers and their software programs can fake MAC addresses easily.

5. Disable SSID Broadcast

In Wi-Fi networking, the wireless access point or router typically broadcasts the network name (SSID) over the air at regular intervals. This feature was designed for businesses and mobile hotspots where Wi-Fi clients may roam in and out of range. In the home, this roaming feature is unnecessary, and it increases the likelihood someone will try to log in to your home network. Fortunately, most Wi-Fi access points allow the SSID broadcast feature to be disabled by the network administrator.

6. Do Not Auto-Connect to Open Wi-Fi Networks

Connecting to an open Wi-Fi network such as a free wireless hotspot or your neighbor’s router exposes your computer to security risks. Although not normally enabled, most computers have a setting available allowing these connections to happen automatically without notifying you (the user). This setting should not be enabled except in temporary situations.

7. Assign Static IP Addresses to Devices

Most home networkers gravitate toward using dynamic IP addresses. DHCP technology is indeed easy to set up. Unfortunately, this convenience also works to the advantage of network attackers, who can easily obtain valid IP addresses from your network’s DHCP pool. Turn off DHCP on the router or access point, set a fixed IP address range instead, and then configure each connected device to match. Use a private IP address range (like 10.0.0.x) to prevent computers from being directly reached from the Internet.

8. Enable Firewalls on Each Computer and the Router

Modern network routers contain built-in firewall capability, but the option also exists to disable them. Ensure that your router’s firewall is turned on. For extra protection, consider installing and running personal firewall software on each computer connected to the router.

Fore more information visit us online @ ABCO Technology

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4 Tips for Web Visibility in Los Angeles

Business people would you like to help search engines find your business, product or service?  If so read on!

Search engines know where your business is located.  The Internet has been divided into GPS coordinates.  A user in zip code 90045 will view slightly different results than a user accessing the Internet from zip code 9004.  The reason for this is because search engines are making a large percentage of their revenue producing local search results to help users find what they need within the confines of a given area.  The key question is how you as a merchant can use this information to promote your products or services.

This article will provide a list of four suggestions, which you can implement to help your website.

1 All of your webpages have title and Meta description tags, but few merchants use them properly. The title tag should express in 65 characters or less what your business does.  For example, if you type Chinese food in Culver City into the title tag the search engines will index your business as Chinese food in Culver City because that is what your business does.   A common mistake made by most internet users is they place the name of their business inside the title tag.  A wrong title tag would be Wong’s Chinese food.  So if a user was looking for Chinese food in Culver City, Wong’s would not be visible because the user asked for Chinese food in Culver City.  If the user asked for Wong’s Chinese food the website provided it was functioning properly, would appear in the first position of the search results.  By placing your business name into the title tag, you eliminate the possibility of a user who doesn’t know about your business finding you online.  Placing your business name into the title tag is a real sales killer.

The Meta Description is a larger tag, which can hold up to 125 characters.  Inside this tag a merchant might put affordable Chinese food and even list a dish such as Orange Chicken.  The use of these tags applies to all pages on your website.

2 Did you know there is a free listing service, which will help you list your business in key directories, which are regularly searched for by search engine programs?  A web site called www.getlisted.org is your key to local listings.  This site will score your website and let you know where you should list your local business.  Simply enter your domain name without the WWW and enter your zip code.  Get listed.org will automatically score your website and tell you the directories where you should list your business.

3 If you have hours of operation, days open and driving directions to your business, write them in HTML.  Search engines can’t see graphics.  Using HTML will help the search engine programs index your website.

4 Join some local organizations such as your chamber of commerce.  Search engines use organizations including the Better Business Bureau and Chamber of Commerce as critical trust signals in scoring your website.

 

For more information on how to gain web visibility visit us online for more information on courses @ ABCO Technology

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