Tool Monitors Google's Datacenters

[Garrett]

If you're an algoholic who can't stop watching Google's algorithm, then there's a good chance you watch their datacenters closely (http://www.webpronews.com/insiderreports/searchinsider/wpn-49-20040127HowtoMonitorGoogleDatacenters.html). Here's a program that will let you monitor them from your desktop so you can quit searching the datacenters individually to see if there's an update coming.

From SEO optimization firm xseo comes Dancer, a datacenter monitor that will keep you notified of any changes. "It compares each server with the first; if different it changes the dot from red to another colour."

You can set it to monitor the datacenters for any term as well as a site and the program will let you know the ranking every 10 minutes (do you think you can wait that long?).

According to the site, "a low competition Search Term results in the servers' aligning more quickly, using a high competition Search Term gives a more sensitive "dance" detector."

Read about the download (http://www.xseo.com/download.htm) here.

[emi_b]

I downloaded the tool, but what do all the colors mean.?

[Garrett]

From http://www.xseo.com/download.htm:


The Dancer monitors the various Google servers, so that you can see at a glance whether the servers are different or the same. It compares each server with the first; if different it changes the dot from red to another colour. It then compares the next server; if the same as the first then it'll be the same colour as the first; if the same as the second then it'll be the same as the second; if different again it'll show a completely different colour, and so on.

[emi_b]

Then I am assuming that there is re-ndexing going on. My whole thing looks technicolor.

[jemshaw]

We've recently started using XSEO's RankMonitor to check and report on the search engine positioning of our clients. It's a great tool, and we partiucularly like the usage feature. It's only since using RankMonitor that we've really started to appreciate the importance of Dancer. If you submit a ranking report to a client while Google's dancing, your client checks your results and comes back to call you a liar (believe me, I know!). So now we check using Dancer to see what Google's up to before we submit the report.

Just going back to XSEO (www.xseo.com)to get the Pro version...

[globalhostinggroup]

Wow this is cool I always have a separate system providing me with info so this is a great addition to my info system.

[JohnF]

Anyone besides me have any trouble with XSEO software? Just curious, I loaded pagerank and it took me three hours to get my pc back.

JF

[JohnF]

Again the question. Has anyone had any trouble with Xeos software? I did and am really angry about it.

They've either unintentionally let java outside the box or have done so maliciously. Either way, the little fellow showing up and touting "I'm gonna upgrade" needs to explain why his software hammers your system.
JF

[sfowler]

They probably worked for HP earlier. Their "upgrade" to the printer software turned out to be 168 MB and then not initialise when started! My connection only has 1 GB per month before they start bleeding me dry, so I don't really appreciate the idea of downloading 168 MB a second time "just to see if it works" as their support people suggested!

[JohnF]

I sent them an email asking if they simply have buggy software or if they are intentionally distrubiting malicious progams. So far I haven't received a reply.

I'm going to keep this thread alive until I determine which is the case. In a day or two my next move is to ask Macafee and Micro Trend to analyze their software as a potential threat and see what happens.

JF

[JohnF]

Just a note. Another day has passed and I still haven't received a reply from them regarding the intentions of their software. I'm going to send another email later tonite and inform them that if I don't receive a reply that I will assume that their intent is malicious and that I will pursue it further.

JF

[JohnF]

Update. I sent Xeos another email about their buggy software. I received an email today saying that they had sent me a bogus registration key and they were going to extend my trial period 5 days. I guess the last 5 days didn't do enough damage for them.

There was no mention of my two prior emails so I guess they just don't care about complaints. But I answered the email anyway and complained about losing my entire hard drive to them.

JF

[Matt P]

I’ve just been alerted to this news thread, and am deeply concerned to read its content. First, let’s be absolutely clear: we do not produce, condone or otherwise propagate any form of malicious software. I would hope that it it’s clear from looking at our Website that we take an ethical approach to everything we do. I find the suggestion that we would operate otherwise somewhat offensive, given that it seems to be made on the basis of nothing more than “the software didn’t work”. We haven’t “let Java out of the box”. RankMonitor and DancerPro were written using Macromedia Director, a tried, tested and trusted program that we’ve been using for the last ten years.



While it is true that we have had some problems with the software registration system – which I will discuss in a moment – I’m also disturbed by the suggestion that we don’t care about our users. John F has been voluble about our lack of response. Below is the content of the e-mail received from him on 7 August:



From: <REMOVED TO PROTECT SENDER’S PRIVACY>
Sent: 07 August 2004 19:55
To: info@lemonpod.com
Subject: RankMonitor



I loaded rankmonitor. It wouldn't run. When I tried to remove it, it overwrote my system settings and I lost my entire hard drive. There is something seriously wrong with your software.



John Forester



This was after working hours (UK) on Friday, and so we didn’t respond until Monday morning. As you’ll see there’s no suggestion that we’re distributing malicious software. We expressed serious concern regarding the problem as our installation program doesn’t have the capability to overwrite the system. That doesn’t mean we don’t believe him; it simply means that we don’t understand how our software could be responsible for the trouble he’s experienced. To find out more, we asked for full details of the problem, including any error or system messages. He didn’t respond. John, no doubt you’ll see this post, so please make contact. As far as I’m aware we’ve responded to every mail you’ve sent us; if you don’t see it that way then let’s talk in person. You’re welcome to call me on 44 1785 245134. Alternatively, given the cost of the call from the US, e-mail me your phone number and I’ll call you.



I also note the comment of Simon Fowler. Our “update to printer software” has me baffled on two accounts: first, the fact that DancerPro is less than three megabytes, and second that we don’t do printer software. Could you be confusing us with someone else? If not, then again let me know your experience so that we can find out where things have gone wrong.



To turn to the registration problem…



We’ve endeavoured to protect our software by using a fingerprint system to restrict unauthorized copying. The fingerprint is made up of elements such as the processor ID, and is intended to detect if the program is running on a machine different from the one on which it was previously run. We understand that users might legitimately want to change machines, or possibly run the software on a machine in their office by day and at home by night. To allow this to happen, our system allows two machine changes per 24 hour period. It follows, therefore, that both RankMonitor and DancerPro pass this fingerprint to our server when the program runs. Our server receives the fingerprint in the form of an encrypted string of numbers, which we do not – in fact cannot – decrypt back to tell us ANYTHING about your machine. All we can tell is if it changes. If you care to download a “sniffer” program (there are hundreds available, mostly free), you can see exactly what information is being passed.



We are aware, though, that the registration keys are failing on some machines. Obviously, we’re eager to fix the problem, and would welcome a dialogue with anyone who is experiencing it. We suspect some sort of firewall intervention, but we’ve not been able to duplicate the circumstance on our test machines.



I apologize for the length of this post, but I felt that a detailed public response was required. If we’re screwing up, then we deserve to be taken to task. But please don’t turn this into a witch hunt by making us out to be bad people; we’re not. We take what we do seriously and we try our damnedest to do it well.



Thank you.



Matt Paines

Managing Director

XSEO Limited