Source: XKCD

Let me start out this post by saying, I’m a Mac AND I’m a PC. I use both on a daily basis. So this is not a Mac-hating diatribe. It’s a general commentary on the mentality of many Mac users, and not on the platform itself.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had Mac users insist they were safe just because they were using a Mac over a PC. Many won’t bother installing AntiVirus software on their Mac because they simply don’t believe Macs are vulnerable to the same sort of attacks and security vulnerabilities as a Windows-based machine. As a developer, I recognize that security vulnerabilities can happen to even the best software packages and companies. Why? Because it’s often difficult or perhaps even impossible to account for every single possible scenario in many cases. This is why Microsoft, Apple, WordPress, Drupal, or any other software developer you can think of periodically provide security patches; to fix errors that arise as they get discovered over time. Apple is included in that list.

The Flashback Trojan Infects 600,000 Macs

Flashback Trojan infections by location. Source: Dr. Web

So it was no surprise to me when I read an article on CNET this morning entitled More than 600,000 Macs infected with Flashback botnet. Why? Because no software package is immune to security vulnerabilities, especially when you throw third-parties into the mix. The Flashback Trojan took advantage of vulnerabilities discovered in Flash and Java. These weren’t even issues with Mac OS itself, but Mac users ultimately became susceptible to this threat.

Sure this is just one incident compared to the numerous incidents Windows has had over the years, but in many ways I think this may be worse. Why? Because many Mac users have a false sense of security. Many think they are safe from viruses just because they use a Mac. Now, we could get into a semantical debate on how this is technically a trojan not a virus, but that argument misses the point. The point is that you still risk infection if you don’t more properly manage your web-browsing behavior.

Most PC users are trained to expect this kind of thing by now and often take preventive measures to protect themselves [their successfulness at this is an entirely separate matter]. I would like to see the same measures taken in the Mac community. Mac is still better from a security standpoint than Windows at this point in time, but it is not impenetrable as Flashback proves. As the Mac platform continues to grow it’s user-base, I predict we will see a lot more attacks targeted towards the naive Mac user. So any Mac users out there, if you haven’t already. Go get some AntiVirus software (which scans for more than just viruses by the way).

ClamXav is a great place to start.

1. Mozilla Firefox
2. GreaseMonkey addon for Firefox.
3. Keep Wiki White Script.

For the inquiring minds, here are the contents of the script:

// ==UserScript==
// @name           WikiWhite
// @namespace      WikiWhite
// @description    Keeps Wiki White
// @include        http://en.wikipedia.org/*
// @require        http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3/jquery.min.js
// ==/UserScript==

$.noConflict();

jQuery(window).load(function() {
	jQuery("#content").show();
	jQuery("#mw-head").show();
	jQuery("#mw-head-base").show();
	jQuery("#mw-page-base").show();
	jQuery("#mw-panel").show();
	jQuery("#footer").show();
	jQuery("#mw-sopaOverlay").hide();
});

I didn’t want to limit myself to working as a contractor, but and have decided to officially launch a company. Since I have been using the “Widgets and Burritos” name for my blog for so long, it only seemed natural that would become the name of the company. On 12/9/11 I sent out the necessary paperwork to file for an LLC and today have received my Certificate of Formation in the mail.

Eventually this site will be re-branded and developed to reflect the nature of the company, but for now I’ll just make the official announcement and celebrate this new milestone:

Widgets and Burritos, LLC

So why did I, a freelance web developer, attend the SearchLove SEO conference put on by the SEO Agency Distilled these past few days?

Because Web Developers Suck at SEO

Web Developers have to deal with a lot of variables when working on projects, specifically when most design agencies don’t follow any sort of Software Engineering development model and projects are often just thrown together. Unclear and constantly changing project requirements result in a lot of code being rushed, rewritten and removed. In addition, developers have to deal with every possible condition in every possible circumstance to make sure the user’s experience is satisfactory and the site’s security isn’t easily compromised.

On top of all of that, we’re generally not marketing experts… We’re code monkeys.

We don’t necessarily focus on that which is most profitable, or strategic. We focus on making things work. While this is very necessary, a lot of times SEO suffers as a result. Over the past year, I’ve been doing a lot of work with a San Antonio SEO company. They have handed me quite a few projects developed by other companies (who in many cases claimed to do SEO but obviously weren’t very good at it) that needed very basic on-site SEO changes. Some of these hand-me-down projects were not at all conducive to SEO and required a bit of restructuring.

From what I’ve seen, generally speaking, web developers seem to suck at SEO.

*** Shameless self promotion: I covered this subject in more detail in Why You Should Choose a Web Developer that Understands Search Engine Optimization (SEO). ***

Just because it seems web developers (myself included) suck at SEO, doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. I attended SearchLove with the intention of learning what good SEOs already know. I wanted to know how I could build sites in a more SEO-friendly manner. By seeing what SEOs are looking for with their end-product, it helps me to select platforms and plugins that work best in an SEO environment. It also helps me develop custom solutions to make the SEO process better.

Spoiler Alert: SEOs Suck At Development

But here’s the big secret I will put out there for the world to see. SEOs need developers.If I learned anything at SearchLove, it’s that while most developers suck at SEO, most SEOs also suck at development. But don’t take that as a criticism from me. Take that from their own words. Here is what some of the speakers answered when asked “Can You Program?”

• Will Critchlow (Cofounder at Distilled) – “Yes. Badly. I used to crash the PCs at college with poorly-written C programs that would free memory they hadn’t malloc’d. These days I hack things together in Python and Django.”
• Rand Fishkin (CEO at seomoz) – “I can not. I used to write a few lines of PHP/MySQL, but the last time I did so was 8 years ago, and other than a quick jaunt on Codeacademy.com last weekend, it’s unlikely to happen again soon. ”
• David Minchala (SEO Manager at Yodle) – “I dabble – what I know helps me troubleshoot and quickly accomplish tasks rather than build something cool from scratch.”
• Rob Millard (SEO Consultant at Distilled) – “I’ve dabbled in PHP for the past few years. I’ll never be great at it, but it’s definitely useful for tweaking wordpress, hacking together quick tools, and general web japery.”
• Noah Kagan (Chief Sumo at AppSumo.com) – “Yes, this has been extremely helpful in working in online start-ups. I do admit that I suck at programming but I’ve been able to make changes I want and understand better how long projects should take. I’d highly encourage any biz guy to do them.”
• Tom Critchlow (VP Operations NY at Distilled) – “No! but I can still hack together basic webapps. People need to stop thinking about being able to program or not being able to program. Learning a little python or ruby is the same as knowing a little excel. It’s an essential skill in this day and age.”
• Rob Ousbey (VP Operations at Distilled) – “I like to try. With a modest knowledge of HTML and Python, it’s possible for someone with no programming background to create usable websites or webapps in a few hours. www.linkstant.com was my first site created on the App Engine platform, and it’s been useful so far.”

I’m not suggesting all developers become SEOs or all SEOs become developers. I just suggest we learn a bit more about what each other does to be mutually benefit the other community.

Additionally, I’d like to challenge developers to fill up next year’s SearchLove conference so they’re forced to run two separate tracks: One for SEOs and one for developers.

Agree? Disagree? Wish I would shut up already? Leave your comments below.