Ever wonder how to see when a website was last modified? In the past, it was a BIG thing to put a little script in your page so people could know when it was last updated. But as people and businesses went on and let their content get stale, they stopped putting in that info (who wants to read content that was last checked on in 1999?) I've often found the need to see when a page was last modified, for one reason or another. I know how to do it, but the need to do so is usually few and far between, and by the time I need it again, I always forget. It's a nice ...

I know you've heard the term before, maybe even "over" heard it (meaning hearing it all the time, over and over again). I never really put any meaning to it, but someone passed along a link to this video, and it put the term in a new light for me. Especially towards the end: "When we post and then tag pictures, we are teaching the Machine. Each time we forge a link, we teach it an idea. Think of the 100 billion times per day humans click on a web page. Teaching the Machine. The Machine is us." Wow. Excellent video. [youtube 6gmP4nk0EOE]

So an interesting question came up on one of the lists I belong to. There's a discussion about email addresses, and how effective obfuscation is against spambot collection. For those of you that may not know, "obfuscation" is a way of hiding things - in plain sight, in this case. Usually, spammers will troll through sites with an automated program, and look for the "mailto:" and "@" within part of your pages' code, like in anchor links and hidden input fields in forms. When it finds these tasty treats, they will "harvest" the email address and add them to their lists, and quite soon, you're receiving all kinds of spammy goodness in your inbox. I had looked into this, myself, a few months ago and came across an interesting article about the effectiveness of email obfuscation. It was an interesting article, and there was a nice test that was performed. The end result was that email obfuscation does, indeed, work. It's a simple and effective method to use, as well. Unfortunately, I cannot find the article. I've tried, and I am ashamed that I didn't bookmark it when I had the chance. So, I've decided to put it to the test myself.