WordPress has become a victim of its own popularity. The blogging-based content management system powers a huge amount of websites, and has become a target for hackers. Site hacks have been around for a long time, but recently they seem to have evolved.

In the past hackers would gain control of a site just to prove that could, then typically post a quasi-incoherent message on the site to prove their hacking prowess and illiteracy. Now hackers have become more advanced, and hacking has become financially motivated. Hacks include embedding links (some hidden, some not) for the purposes of gaming search engines, and instead of crowing about their conquest, hackers are now trying to hide and cover their tracks as much as possible.

This means that site owners are losing their confidence that their sites have not been compromised. With recent highly publicized exploits that allowed hackers to take control of out-of-date WordPress installations, it became even more important to make sure your site is clean.

If you're running a WordPress site on your own server, one step you can take to make sure that it is clean is to install and run the WordPress Exploit Scanner plugin. Beware, the exploit scanner is very thorough, and it will likely report a lot (and I mean a LOT) of false positives. It essentially reports any hiding behavior, which some of the plugins on your site might be doing for very normal reasons.

Even with the false-positives, the WordPress Exploit Scanner is a useful tool in any blogger's toolbox.

ThinkFree has launched a few different ways for people to startup their own little applications and mashups.

We covered the company last year when it returned from the dead and began offering a web based application suite. ThinkFree now has a plugin available that was released yesterday that gives Wordpress bloggers the ability to drop in MS Office documents, spreadsheets and presentations that can be viewable even if the end viewer does not have the associated Office or Acrobat applications installed. This opens up the ability for bloggers to drop in a powerpoint presentation into their blog posts, or embed excel spreadsheets of information.

The company has also announced their Viewer API which gives people the opportunity to create mashups and applications using the Viewer utility. ThinkFree wants to get the ball rolling with web service companies who they hope will create mashups and applications using the utility. With the API, designers can integrate Viewer files, doc's, xls, or ppt files directly into an online application, giving end users, regardless of Operating systems or plugins, the ability to view files.

ThinkFree is also working on a document exchange product called ThinkFree Docs that has been described as a Flickr for Office files. Through this new location ThinkFree will enable content creators to read, share, get feedback, and source office documents. There is a demo up online now, but the actual site will be up with a redesign in the near future.

Not one, not two, but a bunch of 'em! Download Squad is proud to welcome several new additions to our roster. While we have retired a few of our smaller blogs, their loss is our gain. We're also welcoming a couple of new members to the Weblogs family. You may have noticed a few posts from them already, in fact. Here's the new lineup:

• Russell Shaw, formerly lead blogger at BBHub, will be joining us with coverage of BlackBerry, Palm and Symbian.
• Brian Liloia, from DV Guru, will be bringing a media and producer angle to things, among other online and offline tools.
• Sheila Ward, also from DV Guru, adds her image and video expertise to the mix.
• Grant Robertson, former Digital Music Weblog blogger has already been bringing his fresh perspective to all things media, consumable and creative.
• Ryan Sullivan we found lurking around, leaving excellent comments and generally being clever with the Firefox knowledge. He'll be bringing the Firefox tips and add-ons here, plus anything else he can think of.
• Emily Price was pulled out of the interwebs to bring her mad blogging skillz to bear on our little piece-o-the-web, and I see she's already been kickin' it old-school.

As you can see from the list on the right, this brings the crew to almost 20. We hope you enjoy the show! Please join me in welcoming our new blogging buddies, we wish them well.

Do you love software and computing? I mean really love it? Do you love to use it, tweak it, master it, complain about it, fix it, and most importantly, talk about it? If your neck is sore from nodding in the affirmative through the previous sentence, we want you!

Download Squad is now seeking talented writers and hardcore computer users to join its staff. Here's what we're looking for: Bloggers who are up on the latest tech news, have a keen spider-sense about the latest and greatest downloads and web apps, know how to push programs and operating systems to their limits for fun and profit, and have RSS readers and del.icio.us accounts littered with feeds and links that put Best Buy's Geek Squad to shame. In particular, we're looking for writers who demonstrate an ability to quickly and consistently produce high-quality long-form original content, like tutorials, reviews, top 20 lists, screencasts, and the like. In addition, proficiency with basic HTML and image editing is a big plus.

To apply, send the following stuff to the email address you'll find at the bottom of this post:

It was almost a year ago when Yahoo! began including blogs as a subset of it's Y! News search results pages. Tonight I have notice that they are missing. There was a struggle as whether to include them within the News Search results or segregate them as was finally decided. I wonder if the battle with this decision is continuing.

No clues anywhere about not including them in search results anymore. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?


Updated 8/27/06 - I received information that this move was the result of the rampant splog problem and only a trickle of click-through traffic. Thus the overhead to operate it wasn't justified.

Second update 8/27/06: Greg Jarboe blogs: Brian Nelson, a Yahoo spokesperson, called me back to say the Blogs beta had been "temporarily taken offline to retool the offering."

So it depends on whether you believe internal communications or the PR group.

Download Squad is looking for some new blood to add to our team. If you have a passion for software and web services, enjoy installing new apps on a daily basis, go to great lengths to get the most out of your computing experience, and have impeccable grammar and spelling, you might be what we're looking for.

To apply, send an e-mail with "DLSQ" and your full name in the subject line to jordan.running@weblogsinc.com containing all of the following:

• Your areas of interest and expertise. Be specific!

• Your blogging experience and blog URL(s). If you don't have blogging experience, be prepared to demonstrate significant writing ability and background.

• A bit about yourself, why you think you'd make the best addition to our team, and how much time, energy, and dedication you're willing to contribute to Download Squad.

• And last, but far from least, three original writing samples. We want to see what you'd write your first day on the job. Content and length is up to you, but it'd be smart to take your cues from what you've seen on Download Squad, and variety in your submissions is desirable. We like writers who are smart, concise, opinionated-but-open-minded, and independent. Surprise and impress us.

Blogging for Download Squad is a paid position. Incomplete applications will not be considered, and due to the potential volume of applications we cannot respond to every applicant.