Backlink as SEO Trick For an Article

BACKLINK AS SEO TRICK

1. Backlinks, a fundamental aspect of Search Engine Optimization (SEO),

act as digital endorsements, influencing a webpage's visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs). In essence, a backlink is a hyperlink that connects one webpage to another, serving as a reference. The impact of backlinks on SEO is profound, with search engines viewing them as indicators of a page's credibility and relevance. Think of it as a vote of confidence – when reputable websites link to a particular article, search engines interpret it as a sign of trustworthiness and quality.

2. The quality of backlinks is paramount. 

Not all links are created equal; links from authoritative and contextually relevant sources carry more weight in the eyes of search engines. Context is crucial; a backlink from a reputable source within the same industry or niche is more valuable than a generic link. This is why a nuanced and strategic approach to backlinking is essential. It's not just about accumulating links; it's about cultivating relationships and ensuring that the links are from sources that enhance the overall authority and relevance of the content.

3. Acquiring backlinks involves overcoming challenges. 

Practices like link farming or purchasing links can lead to penalties from search engines. Therefore, the emphasis should be on organic link building. Creating high-quality content that naturally attracts links is a sustainable strategy. Additionally, outreach efforts and relationship-building with other websites can lead to valuable backlinks. Understanding the nuances of backlinking is crucial for a successful SEO strategy. It's not merely a numbers game; it's about the quality, relevance, and organic growth of links that contribute to the long-term success of a webpage.

4. Despite its importance, backlinking is not a one-size-fits-all solution. 

Different industries and niches may require different approaches. Conducting a thorough analysis of competitors' backlink strategies and staying updated on search engine algorithms is crucial. SEO is a dynamic field, and what works today might not be as effective tomorrow. Therefore, an adaptive and informed approach to backlinking is essential for sustained success.

5. The diversity of anchor text is another critical aspect of effective backlinking. 

Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink, and having a variety of anchor texts that reflect the content's nature is beneficial. It not only provides more context to search engines but also avoids the appearance of manipulation. Striking the right balance between anchor text variation and relevance is an art that seasoned SEO practitioner’s master.

6. It's essential to monitor and evaluate the performance of backlinks regularly. 

Tools like Google Analytics and various SEO software can provide insights into which backlinks are driving traffic and positively impacting rankings. This data can inform future strategies and help in refining the approach to backlinking. In the ever-evolving landscape of SEO, staying informed and adaptive is key to maintaining and improving search engine rankings.

7. In conclusion, backlinks are not just about quantity;

 they're about quality, relevance, and organic growth. A well-thought-out backlink strategy can significantly enhance the visibility, credibility, and SEO performance of a webpage. It's a nuanced process that requires ongoing effort and adaptation to the evolving dynamics of search engine algorithms.

The Truth Beneath Making Money With Blogging

Making Money With Blogging

It's a hobby, a diversion, a fad that'll come and go. Sure, you can start a blog, but don't count on it to make you any money. That's just silly.

If you really want to improve your life, you should get an advanced degree, write a book, or even start your own business, not hang all your hopes and dreams on some stupid little blog. Nobody can make money blogging.

Well, I'll tell you. Not because I want to brag (well, maybe a little), but because most of the advice out there about monetizing your blog is complete crap.




The most conventional (and least profitable) method is selling advertising, where you allow companies to promote their products and services to your audience in exchange for a fee. You can also form partnerships with other companies, promoting their products and services as an affiliate and earning a commission each time one of your readers purchases.

The moment you decide to use your blog to make money, you're no longer just a blogger. At that moment, you also become an entrepreneur, and your blog becomes a small business.

In other words, if your goal is to make money, your blog is a lead generation mechanism. It also nurtures those leads until they are ready to purchase.

Sure, that's why many people are attracted to entrepreneurship. If you start and grow a successful business, you can make millions or even billions of dollars.

For every entrepreneur who makes millions, there are dozens who invest years of their life into companies that ultimately fail, sometimes bankrupting them in the process. It's a high risk/high reward lifestyle, and it requires more skill, smarts, and good old-fashioned work than most people can fathom.

You've seen a sales funnel, right? A company entices you with a freebie, then they offer you something cheap but irresistible, and then they gradually sweet talk you into buying more and more expensive stuff. It's a tried and true marketing tactic, and you should absolutely build a sales funnel for your blog.

A lot of bloggers launch a cheap e-book as their first product, and then they get frustrated when they don't make much money. Here's why: the real profit is at the end of the funnel, not the beginning.

Selling e-books is fine and dandy if you have half a dozen more expensive products to offer your customer afterwards, but it's downright silly if you don't. You're much better off creating and selling the expensive product first, and then gradually building cheaper and cheaper products.

You can do the same thing, even if your list is much smaller. If you have 100 subscribers, chances are two of them might be willing to buy premium products or services from you, and those two will often pay you more money than the other 98 combined.

It's not because they were stupid. They didn't get one of my emails and say, “Oh, look honey, this is a fabulous opportunity to throw our money away. Let's give this good-looking fellow $10,000 just for the hell of it.”

If you want to charge high prices, you absolutely can, but you must make big promises. Similarly, if you want to charge low prices, you absolutely can, but you must make small promises. In either case though, the value of the promise should be at least 10X the price.

No, in all seriousness, I learned all of these lessons the hard way. If you're wondering how to price your product or service, you'd be wise to heed my words.

If you're not making any money from your blog, it's hard to stay motivated to continue. The opposite is also true. For instance, how do you think I feel when I see this number pop up on my dashboard every day?.

It will also give you the funds you need to build a team around you. You can hire an assistant, a tech person, a billing person. The faster you get rid of stuff you suck at doing, the faster you will grow.



Now, a caveat: don't turn your blog into a gigantic sales pitch. You should, however, be offering something your audience wants and needs. Don't push them on it, but do make it available, and do remind them from time to time that they can purchase it.

In the end, that's what I love most about blogging: every article we publish, every course we create, every coaching call we do can change somebody's life. Maybe not always in a big way, but we touch thousands upon thousands of people, and we make their lives just a little bit better. We inform them, we inspire them, and we give them the roadmap for achieving their dreams.

Make Money With Photoshop

How To Make Money With Photoshop

Learning Photoshop, however, is not slight. The software is expensive and the learning twist is a quite steep. You actually indigence to dedicate yourself to learning the ins and outs of the software. More than technical proficiency, you need to be creative if you want to excel with Photoshop.

Nonetheless, erudition to tackling the dominion of Photoshop can be very rewarding. Mastering the visual graphics domain of Photoshop can provide you with a livable revenue. Strong editing and creative skills in Photoshop can uncovered race possibilities for you, whether you want to do it on a full-time basis or as a part-delay transaction.

Start a photo editing service. One possible calling you can start is to offer digital delineate conduct and likeness optimization services. You basically take the buyer’s less than perfect digital photo and alter it into a masterwork. As a “photo doctor,” you can remove unwanted people and objects from a photograph, insert someone or something into a photo, repair over- or under-exposed photos, convert Negro photos to Cimmerian and happy (and defect versa), or do something as fundamental as removing red notice from photos. You can also do color repair, background veer, comparison adaptation, and size knot. The key is to threaten high-peculiarity work at suitable prices.

Create a tutorial situation and earn through ad. You can also create your own blog or website where you publish the tutorials you indistinctly and monetize the site through advert. You can use contextual advertising grounds such as Google Adsense, use a banner ad network such as BurstMedia, or a combination of diverse advertising models and networks.

Start a photo restoration service. You can also alarm an conception restoration service to improve the peculiarity or return damaged/ancient images, comprehend faded, stained, torn, missing pieces, bad disguise, water-tainted photos. Historical societies, museums and even families with old patronymic pictures and photographic heirlooms can use this typify of office. You can rectify color, remove setting images, or removal other folks in the image. Other services can include copying old daguerreotype, even those that do not need to be repaired.

Start a entangle design business. You can create professional entangle design and photographic patter. As the Photoshop expert, you can provide the layout and everywhere graphical theme of the situation. There are also opportunities in customizing blog themes such as those second-hand WordPress patter, embody backgrounds and familiarity header designs. You can then abound up with a web programmer or programmer to digest the web design you have make.

Start a T-shirt design trade second-hand your Photoshopped semblance. Another selection is to sally a t-shirt project business from conception you create second-hand Photoshop. Using Photoshop, you can cause cool artwork that will work very well for t-shift and other apparel. T-shirts are one of the globe’s most epidemic raiment products and your creativity, creativity and skill in worn Photoshop can allow you to create unique project for your t-shirt business.

Start a greeting game concern. The images you produce via Photoshop can also be used to create greeting cards. You can create specialty cards with a contemporary vibe; composed abstract and graphical images, and nacelle that usefulness special typical sketch. You can cheat your creations to established salutation card companies, or startle your own line of greeting cards. Read the Starting a Greeting Card Business for details on how to start your own greeting cage business.

Start an duplicity design office. With your proficiency in Photoshop, you can art design for CDs, magazines, postcards, and billboards. You can also create packet and e-book covers. Other possibilities end extend packaging design, flick posters, and even online advertisements.

The above are just some ideas on how you can necessity Photoshop to long money. Let us know of other ways you, or someone you knee, have employment Photoshop to dislocate a business and earn a ignited.

If you are a fresher and serviceable at Graphics Designing in Photoshop, you should design few Graphic plan preference Logos, Brochures, Business Cards and Vector Characters etc. and after having few commendable designs , test to do freelancing on freelancing platforms and elaborate your skills to clients by showing them the designs you have made, If they resembling your aptitude then they will definitely hire you and content you agreeably.

Have you ever thought about adding a contemptible bit more than regular your articles? I mean, what you say is precious and all. However think of if you added some great photos or video clips to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics and video clips, this situation could certainly be one of the best in its field.

well, that’s a immense way to tell helter-skelter it. Don’t judge each Time by the hay you obtain, but by the seeds you engender.

Yeah, ok… some of them are commendable ideas, but for others I think you also need some wisdom on Graphic Design. Otherwise there’s a lot of kindred studying for nothing.

TOP 10 TIPS FOR BETTER SOCIAL

TOP 10 TIPS FOR BETTER SOCIAL

1. ACTIVE LISTENING:

Listen actively to others by giving them your full attention and refraining from interrupting. Demonstrating genuine interest in their words fosters rapport and mutual understanding. This practice establishes a connection and promotes effective communication. By avoiding interruptions, you create a conducive environment for meaningful dialogue. Embracing these habits enhances the quality of your interactions and relationships.

2. POSITIVE BODY LANGUAGE:

Engage others with open and inviting body language by maintaining eye contact and offering a warm smile. Avoid crossing your arms, as this can be perceived as defensive or closed-off. Open body language signals approachability and encourages positive communication. By consciously adopting these nonverbal cues, you create an environment that promotes connection and friendliness. Enhancing your body language positively influences how others perceive and respond to you.

3. EMPATHY:

Develop empathy by putting yourself in others' shoes, actively seeking to understand their perspective. Acknowledge their feelings and experiences with genuine interest and concern. Effective communication involves not just expressing yourself but also listening and connecting emotionally with others. By demonstrating empathy, you foster a deeper understanding and connection in your social interactions. This practice contributes to building meaningful relationships based on mutual respect and understanding.

4. BE PRESENT:

Stay present in the moment during interactions by minimizing distractions, such as avoiding phone use. This demonstrates that you value and prioritize the person you're engaging with. Actively listen to their words and non-verbal cues, showing genuine interest. Being fully present fosters meaningful connections and enhances the quality of your social interactions. It also helps create a positive and attentive atmosphere, contributing to better communication.

5. USE HUMOR:

Injecting humor into conversations can enhance social interactions by lightening the mood and making them more enjoyable. However, it's crucial to be mindful of the context and the other person's sensibilities. Tailor your humor to the situation, avoiding offensive or sensitive topics. A well-timed and appropriate joke can create a positive atmosphere and strengthen connections. Consider the preferences and comfort level of those around you to ensure your humor resonates positively.

6. EXPRESS GRATITUDE:

Expressing gratitude and showing appreciation for others is a powerful way to strengthen relationships. A simple "thank you" or acknowledgment of someone's efforts can go a long way in making them feel valued and recognized. Be specific about what you appreciate, whether it's their assistance, a thoughtful gesture, or their presence. Regularly expressing gratitude fosters a positive and appreciative atmosphere in your social interactions. It also encourages a cycle of positivity, as people are more likely to reciprocate kindness when it's acknowledged and appreciated.

7. BE GENUINE:

Authenticity is the cornerstone of meaningful connections. Be true to yourself and let others see the real you, vulnerabilities and all. People appreciate sincerity, and by being authentic, you create a space for genuine connections to flourish. Embrace your uniqueness, share your thoughts openly, and don't be afraid to show your true colors. When others sense your authenticity, it fosters trust and strengthens the bonds of your social interactions.

8. RESPECT BOUNDARIES:

Be mindful of personal space and respect others' boundaries. Avoid prying into sensitive topics unless the other person is comfortable discussing them.

9. INITIATE CONVERSATION:

Initiate conversations to demonstrate your approachability and genuine interest in connecting with others. Be proactive in starting discussions, whether by asking about their day or sharing something interesting. This initiative signals openness and sets a positive tone for interactions. Encourage others to express themselves, and actively listen to what they have to say. By taking the lead in initiating conversations, you create an environment where meaningful exchanges can thrive.

10. REMEMBER NAME:

Effortfully remember people's names to add a personal touch to your interactions. Using someone's name in conversation conveys attentiveness and fosters a sense of connection. When you make the effort to recall and use names, it reflects your commitment to building meaningful relationships. Personalizing your communication in this way makes others feel valued and respected. By remembering names, you create a positive impression and contribute to a more memorable and enjoyable social experience.

Remember, building strong social connections is an ongoing process. By incorporating these tips into your interactions, you can contribute to creating positive and meaningful relationships.

SEO BLOGGING TRICK

Seo Blogging Tricks

We already had enough behavior nearly BlogSpot or WordPress and for one reason I don't like BlogSpot much is because the confinement of optimizing it for the seek engine. There are many BlogSpot SEO regulator that you will find on The Internet, and many of them are related to template editing and all, but in WordPress, plugins make it easier to optimise your blog.

Anyhow, I'm not here to frustrate my BlogSpot favorer. Instead, I will be sharing some cool BlogSpot SEO gift which will help you to get better ranking. Blog-Spot being a free Blogging platform, it's always a preferred dais to start Blogging and study the basics.

Google Blogger is free and easy to employment texture announce tool. Many bloggers initially use Blogger and then Migrate to WordPress murmuring about the need of official patter, suborned SEO friendliness, plugins, etc., We have already discussed this in our previous post with the little effort we can make Blogger posts SEO friendly and an effectual communicative medium for online profession. So here I have collected some examine engine optimization (SEO) top for Blogspot blogs arranged in no order.

When we talk about SEO, very first deed which you poverty to keep in mind is: We can rule on site and off place SEO. On Page SEO is covered by you which includes covenant rank, how well it's enhance for Keyword and other value for that distinct. No need, to observe furious or lost with above SEO toponymy, as below mentioned guide will sustain you to teach every basic and occasion your Blogger blog more examine torture friendly.

While writing a blog set, you have the alternative to edit the permalink. Simply use it to conduct your permalink and remove the delay term. A good idea is honest to use Keywords in your permalink. (Don't make it look spammy). While writing the blog postman, you get the alternative in your right frontispiece to keep it automatic permalink or autographic permalink. Simply opt handbook permalink and edit it according to your wish. Check this screenshot for illustrate:.

Keyword density is an necessary aspect for better exuberant. Too less will Saturn to less ranking and wadding your Keyword will direction to over optimization. I usually allege a proportion of 2%/post. Though, you can pick keyword density for your Blogpost SEO, account to one which embroidery for you. Publish covenant in relevance to post title and include necessary keywords in the express. Never stuff keywords to manipulate search engines. But after completion writing, you can dissect the whole debt to find out becoming locations where the keywords can be safely interstratified without distracting readers.

Label mention to the keyword compactness of the pillar. Labels should be widened rather than putting them into the single pinching class.I will explain this detail by an example. Consider a case when you are posting about Google Chrome and putting them into label Windows software’s or browser. Here you will Mademoiselle keywords probable Chrome browser, Google chromium, etc. which would otherwise add to the keyword compactness of the whole postman. Labels also affect related set widgets in Blogger.And if there are so many posts cue with like labels, it would affect the arrangement of moment in related suborned.

We have already shared a full article on Image optimization for SEO and basis of optimization your copy on BlogSpot is by annex alt follow and entitle tags in every image. In WordPress, this could be easily achieved by using plugins but in BlogSpot, this needs to be done manually. You should introduce them manually after uploading each image. Here is ShoutMeLoud inferior regulator on Image optimization for SEO.

Meta tags are generated HTML follow used by probe engines to identify the title, recital, and other details of a URL. They Mr.'t have much reputation on search as they were before, but would make a slight impact on targeted keywords.

The title, footer, and representation plays an important party in search engine optimization of every blog. If you are targeting, some keywords constrain stable that you confined those keywords in the above-mentioned locations.

Blogspot is Google's baby blogging dais, and if you do it direct probably, you will be doing great regarding traffic. Always get your basic right.

It's constituting to do excellent SEO these days. Good SEO, however, is not cheaply because it involves a lot of manual work. If you are paying for cheap SEO, probability are high it's swart or hoary hat.

Whether you're a profitable occupation person or a newbie, Joshua Grasmick book (The SEO Key) will sustain you ford through the distracting elements soup that is SEO. In a wide, manageable-to-read style, he explains how anyone can efficaciously make a website more profitable by second-hand germane keywords, sizing up the competition, utilizing tools such as Google Panda and sociable media, and much more. Readers will respectable a emend knowledge of how the whole process product, and begin immediately to improve their online visibility. As a premium, there are register of location to go for further help. A must-declare for any entrepreneur.

Blogging can be one of the most profitable online business opportunities but is no easy pretty. It can take months, even ages, before stuff start cursive smoother and you start earning. Once you respectable believe and influence from both try engines and users, your chance of earning a proper ad gain from blogging is pretty much warranted.

Reference

9 Killer Blogspot SEO Tips For bloggers. (2017). Retrieved on June 23, 2017, from https://www.shoutmeloud.com/9-killer-blogspot-seo-tips-for-bloggers.html.
How to Steal the Best SEO Tips and Tricks in 2017 (Free Spreadsheet). (2017). Retrieved on June 23, 2017, from http://iwannabeablogger.com/seo-tricks-from-experts/.

Helplogger. (2017). How To SEO Optimize Your Blogger Blog Titles For Higher Search .... Retrieved on June 23, 2017, from http://helplogger.blogspot.com/2012/03/how-to-seo-optimize-your-blogger-blog.html.

Shopping Safety Tips

Without fail, there are always a fistful of populate wandering the lots alone, looking for where they parked their carriage or digging through handfuls of shopping bags searching for their lost automobile keys.To normal, law-abiding people, all of this propitious of cheerful hoopla and pressure is regular part of the joyous mood of the seasoning. People are often in a rush purchase gifts, decorating their homes, visiting boyfriend or traveling. At this time of year, con-artists may try uncertain methods of distracting you, including practical in teams, with the intention of taking your coinage or personal effects. Darkened homes lodge between border with front bailey bursting with holiday lights will derive their regard. Many stores spread hours slow into the darkness. They can pickpocket and shoplift and when their victims clear that they have been robbed, they will have no impression who did it. In most communities, the cops/coppers work additional hours during November and December. Police often have to change their regular routines and adieu the nightly guard through neighborhoods to correspond emergency calls.

It is anxious to have clear visibility and franchises of movement if you are approached.Beware of strangers approaching you for any consideration. They are kept busy the advance of trade accidents, home bake, bar fights and family disputes. Police often have to change their regular routines and allowance the nightly watchman through neighborhoods to answer emergency designate.Thieves Feed on Opportunities Thieves save that the police are overloaded during the festal mature and they take full mastery it.

The play day season is a time when people can befit careless and vulnerable to theft and other joyous crimes. Consider cause a security travel pouch in lieu of.Always contain your driver's license or identification along with necessary cash, checks and/or a credit card you expect to use.

They spend their time walking neighborhoods, appearance for houses that appear that the homeowners are away. Amazingly, then the mall parking lots empty out in record measure and within minutes become alone. They thrive on the act that the police and plenty' loss stoppage personnel have their hands full with Corinthian steamy who are drag to jail for trying to steal from the electronics departments or waiting for the begetter of before-teens who pot the lath video game.In the meantime, the professional thieves are careful breaking into colloquial in the parking plot to steal boon, plastic phones and electronics, or go and robbing or deception the community who are alone. They can dipper and shoplift and when their victims realize that they have been robbed, they will have no idea who did it. . They pass their time walking neighborhoods, looking for hotel that appear that the homeowners are around. There is a big wax in the amount of people that are out and approximately shopping at the malls and grocery provision, packing the parking fate, grabbing ordinance, filling up the seats on dallies conveyance and waiting in lines at ATM machines. And all the gaiety, unfortunately, also tends to cause ledge to let their innate understanding of caution temporarily fall by the roadside.Why Thieves Love the Holiday Season. All the jostle and stir current on over the vacation gives thieves what they want, almost as much as an undo bank vault, and that is the space to befit invisible. Amazingly, then the maul parking lots empty out in record opportunity and within critical befit alone. The holiday while is a time when people can become careless and vulnerable to larceny and other holiday crimes.





There is a gross increase in the amount of people that are out and touching shopping at the malls and grocery stores, packing the parking lots, grabbing taxis, stuffing up the seats on sharp conveyance and waiting in lines at ATM shape. People head to the accumulation after toil, then at closure time, you see them emerging with the slaphappy observation of sleepwalkers. They often decide a home and then hang out to see when the homeowners Levy each Time. They are kept busy the extend of trade accidents, home fires, bar fights and genealogy discuss. Late Nights, many stores extend hours lately into the obscurity. In the meantime, the professional steamy are diligent breaking into motorcar in the parking lots to thieve present, vacuole phones and electronics, or stalking and robbing or scamming the people who are alone. Don't assume that you mislay it and will find it later.Keep a register of all of your credit game numbers in a safe place at house.Be extra careful if you do capture a wallet or purse. They are the original slice of criminals in full shopping areas, terminals, bus stops, on coach and other salute transit.Avoid overflight yourself with packet. To normal, law-abiding community, all of this kind of holiday hoopla and pressure is orderly part of the festive mood of the ripen. Also, during the month of December, more nation depart of natural causes than any other time of the year. People head to the stores after work, then at shutdown era, you see them emerging with the dazed eyes of sleepwalkers. Some steamy prefer burglarizing homes.

And all the gaiety, unfortunately, also tends to reason people to let their inbred sense of heed temporarily fall by the wayside. By being as nondescript as possible, they can move through big overcrowd of rushed and distracted nation without anyone noticing them. Without fail, there are always a fistful of folks wandering the lots alone, glance for where they parked their automobile or digging through handfuls of shopping tote searching for their lost cart keyboard. Some thieves prefer burglarizing homes. Darkened homes cuddle between neighbors with front branch spurt with holiday lights will draw their attention.Having the kiddie off from teach is another concern because of the number of unsupervised teens hanging around without anything to do. People are often in a rush buying gifts, grace their tenement, visiting boyfriend or traveling. Also, during the month of December, more people decease of regular purpose than any other measure of the year. Homes within neighborhoods are humbled in more set by young wicked teens that last in or closely the vicing. They might be so brazen and ring the buzzer, then pretend to try to sell something if anyone correspond.How to Keep From Becoming a Holiday Crime Victim. The following tips can befriend you be more careful, adapted and apprised during the feral inure.Try to shop during the day, but if you do warehouse at night, do not do it alone.Dress casually and comfortably.Avoid wearing expensive jewelry.Do not carry a purse or knapsack, if likely. Recognize when you are rushed, unsettled and weight out, and remain alert to what is childbearing on around you.Avoid carrying large amounts of money.Pay for procure with a tally or credit card when possible.Keep cash in your front pouch.If you espy that a belief card is missing, notify the honor cage party as soon as possible. By being as undistinguished as possible, they can move through major league throng of rushed and confused companions without anyone noticing them.

A Novice's Guide To Hacking

A Novice's Guide To Hacking

This file is an addendum to "A Novice's Guide To Hacking" written by "The

Mentor".  The word "hacking" is here used the way the non-hacking public

thinks it is used, to mean breaking into somebody else's computer.  Its

purpose is to expand and clarify the information about the TOPS-20 operating

system, which runs on DECsystem-20 mainframes.  The Mentor basically lumped

this system in with TOPS-10 and didn't note important differences between the

two.  I will here reproduce in full what The Mentor had to say about TOPS-10

and about VMS, which are the parent and the offspring of TOPS-20.

VMS-       The VAX computer is made by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC),

           and runs the VMS (Virtual Memory System) operating system.

           VMS is characterized by the 'Username:' prompt.  It will not tell

           you if you've entered a valid username or not, and will disconnect

           you after three bad login attempts.  It also keeps track of all

           failed login attempts and informs the owner of the account next time

           s/he logs in how many bad login attempts were made on the account.

           It is one of the most secure operating systems around from the

           outside, but once you're in there are many things that you can do

           to circumvent system security.  The VAX also has the best set of

           help files in the world.  Just type HELP and read to your heart's

           content.

           Common Accounts/Defaults:  [username: password [[,password]] ]

           SYSTEM:     OPERATOR or MANAGER or SYSTEM or SYSLIB

           OPERATOR:   OPERATOR

           SYSTEST:    UETP

           SYSMAINT:   SYSMAINT or SERVICE or DIGITAL

           FIELD:      FIELD or SERVICE

           GUEST:      GUEST or unpassworded

           DEMO:       DEMO  or unpassworded

           DECNET:     DECNET

DEC-10-    An earlier line of DEC computer equipment, running the TOPS-10

           operating system.  These machines are recognized by their

           '.' prompt.  The DEC-10/20 series are remarkably hacker-friendly,

           allowing you to enter several important commands without ever

           logging into the system.  Accounts are in the format [xxx,yyy] where

           xxx and yyy are integers.  You can get a listing of the accounts and

           the process names of everyone on the system before logging in with

           the command .systat (for SYstem STATus).  If you seen an account

           that reads [234,1001]   BOB JONES, it might be wise to try BOB or

           JONES or both for a password on this account.  To login, you type

           .login xxx,yyy  and then type the password when prompted for it.

           The system will allow you unlimited tries at an account, and does

           not keep records of bad login attempts.  It will also inform you

           if the UIC you're trying (UIC = User Identification Code, 1,2 for

           example) is bad.

           Common Accounts/Defaults:

           1,2:        SYSLIB or OPERATOR or MANAGER

           2,7:        MAINTAIN

           5,30:       GAMES

**** note:  I'm remembering this stuff from several years ago, and in some

cases my memory may be foggy or stuff may be outdated.

TOPS-20, once you are inside, resembles VMS much more than it resembles  

TOPS-10, as far as I know (I'm not really familiar with VMS).  From the

outside, it's more like TOPS-10, except that the prompt is a @ instead of a

period.  You can enter many commands without logging in, including SYSTAT and

probably FINGER.  (Sometimes you can even use the mail program without

logging in.)  It is very helpful.  Not only does the command HELP lead to

lots of useful information, but anywhere in typing a command you can press ?

and it will tell you what the format of the command expects.  For instance,

if you type ? by itself, it will tell you all the words that a command can

begin with.  If you type S?, it will tell you all the commands that start

with the letter S.  If you type SYSTAT ?, it will tell you the options

available on the systat command.  You can use this at any point in any

command.  Furthermore, if there is only one possibility (you have typed a

unique abbreviation), you can press Escape and it will finish the word for

you.  I'm not sure, but I think TOPS-20 was the system that first introduced

filename completion as well --turning a uniquely abbreviated filename into a

complete name when you press escape, beeping if the abbreviation is not

unique.  With command keywords you can leave the abbreviation un-expanded,

with filenames you have to expand it (or type it all in) for it to work.

Use the "Login" command to log in, followed by a username.  It will prompt

for a password.  Note that a password can be something like 39 characters

long, as can the username itself.  TOPS-20 does NOT use numbers like 317,043

for user IDs.  (Note that these numbers in TOPS-10 are octal, not decimal.) 

Furthermore, the password can contain spaces.  So, if somebody wants to make

his password difficult to guess, he can easily do so.

(But sometimes they might get overconfident.  I remember a story from

Stanford...  Someone asked the large cheese if he would let him know what the

operator password was, and he said "The operator password is currently

unavailable."  So the guy tried "currently unavailable" as a password, and

got in.  (Which reminds me of the time they got a real bug in the system

there...  a head crash caused by an ant on the disk platter.))

In general, TOPS-20 does not limit the number of login attempts, nor does it

keep a record of bad tries.  However, it is not difficult for the local

management to add such measures, or others such as a delay of several seconds

after each attempt.  And unlike Unix, it is difficult to evade these even

once you're in.  Without heavy in-depth knowledge, you can't test a username-

password combination except through a system call, which will enforce delays

and limited failures and such against password-trying programs.

So, TOPS-20 is easy to defend against the "database hack", in which you try

many different common passwords with many different usernames.  (Unix is

much more vulnerable to this.)  But any particular system, especially a lax

one like a college machine (DEC is always popular in academia), might have

little defense here.  But you might not know how much defense until too late.

Do try the GUEST username.

But TOPS-20 can be very vulnerable to trojan horses.  See, there's this thing

called the Wheel bit.  A username that has the Wheel property can do anything

the system operator can do, such as ignore file protection masks, edit the

disks at the track/sector level, change any area of memory...  On Unix, only

one user, the superuser, can read and write protected files.  On TOPS-20, any

user can do these things from any terminal, if the Wheel attribute is set in

his user data.  Some campus computers tend to accumulate excess trusted users

with wheel bits, and have to periodically prune away the unnecessary ones.

The thing is that a wheel can do these things without knowing that he has

done them.  Normally the privileged commands are deactivated.  But a program

run by a wheel can activate the privileges, do anything it wants, cover its

tracks, and deactivate them without the user ever being the wiser.  So if you

can get any wheel user to run any program you wrote, such as a game or small

utility...  there's no limit to what you can do.  In particular, you can

create a new username, and make it a wheel.  Or you can simply ask the system

outright for someone's password, if I'm not mistaken.  (All this requires

access to TOPS-20 programming manuals, but some of the necessary material

should be available on line.)  You cannot actually conceal this creation, as

far as I know...  but maybe with sophisticated enough knowledge you could

make it not immediately apparent...  Anyway, once you get that far in, you can

probably keep one step ahead of them for a while...  If they erase your new

accounts, you can use the passwords to old ones...  They can change all of

the wheel passwords, but a lot of the regular users won't change for some

time...  You could even lock the operators out of their own system by

changing all their passwords for them, if you were crazy enough, perhaps

forcing them to shut the machine down to regain control of it.  They might

even have to restore stuff from tape backup.

Even if you don't wedge your way into secret stuff, a TOPS-20 system can be

fun to explore.  It's much more novice-friendly than most systems, and much

more hacker-friendly as well.  I think the ascendency of Unix as the least-

common-denominator OS that everybody can agree on is a definite loss,

compared to TOPS-20.