Google searches based on information on different pages?

Today I was looking for occurances of my real name on the internet using the Google search engine.
At first the results weren't very surprising. I noticed some differences with previous searches, mainly the order of the different pages in the search result differed. No big deal, things change through time, even on the internet.
But I was surprised to find my blog in the search results. Nowhere on my blog have I used my real name, and it is not mentioned in my profile. And my E-mail address, which contains my real name, isn't visible on my blog either.
There are pages on the internet that link my blog and/or nickname to my real name, so now I'm wondering if the search engine of Google combines information on different pages on the internet to create a search result?
If this is the case, it makes Google even more a superior search engine.

BTW: I repeated the same search with some other search engines, but none of them related my blog with my real name.

Google reader

I just found out Google has updated its reader application. It has a new layout, which resembles more what a desktop RSS reader would look like. On the left is a list of feeds and on the right the posts of the selected feed. And a feature to mark all posts as read. It's a lot easier to use than the previous version.

Until now I only used a feedreader on one computer because it is nearly impossible to synchronize feedreaders on different computers: Which post have I read on which computer? Did I read this post already?

For this reason I started looking for an online feedreader, but none seemed to have the same features as a desktop version, the most important one being able to keep track of read/unread posts. When I discovered Google reader, I was happy to find out it could remember which posts I had read already. But it had some flaws (and bugs), so I decided to keep using my desktop feedreader.
Until now. With the new version of the online feedreader, I can abandon the desktop version and use the online one.

Now I can check the feeds I'm subscribed to anywhere and anytime, on any computer or device. I don't have to be at home to do so.

WPA2: securing my wireless network at home

A few weeks ago I bought a new laptop and soon after that I replaced my old router with a new device with wireless capability.
First I set the device up using WPA, but I only managed to get it working when the laptop was running Windows. In linux, only WEP - an older but much less secure way of encrypting the data which is transmitted between the accesspoint and the laptop - was supported by the tool I was using.
Last weekend I started looking for ways of configuring my laptop to use the WPA2 standard, both in Windows and linux.
After searching some forums I stumbled upon a topic about a tool called knetworkmanager (a frontend for networkmanager). I installed it using apt-get and it worked. I could connect to my wireless accesspoint using WPA in linux.
Then I changed the settings of the accesspoint to use WPA2 and I could still connect using linux.
After I booted in Windows I noticed I couldn't connect to my wireless network. After searching the microsoft knowledge base, I found out that WPA2 isn't supported on a standard Windows XP + SP2 installation. Fortunately a link to an update was provided, which made WPA2 possible.
After installing and rebooting I changed the settings of my wireless connection to WPA2 and I got connected to my wireless accesspoint.
So now all communication between my laptop and the accesspoint is secured and encrypted using WPA2, the safest protocol for home use available at the moment.

electronic scholarship

Today I applied for a scholarship to study at the university. That's not very special, as a lot of people do this every year, but starting from this year it is possible to do it via the internet.
Over the last few years, my government is putting a lot of effort into administrative simplification and e-government. A lot of government departments are starting to process forms and information digitally, using computer and internet. This means that a lot of information is available through digital databases. Because of this, less forms are needed and the forms that still exist are shorter. You don't have to provide the same information over and over again, as part of it is already available to the administration.
Part of this e-gov wave is the possibility to fill out the tax-form using the internet, for the past 4 years now. Starting this year, applying for a scholarship is also possible using the internet.

I don't have to leave home to submit my application for a scholarship. Using my digital account on the government website I can fill out the digital form and send it electronically through the internet.
The best part is that a lot of information is already filled in, like my postal address and social security number.
In the past I had to prove I could get a scholarship, providing documents of my university, the tax-departement, etc. But due to the e-gov thing, the scholarship department can access this information directly from my university and the tax-database. I don't need to provide this information anymore, which makes it much easier to apply for a scholarship.

Sore throat

I'm feeling ill and I have a sore throat. Or the other way around, but I can't be bothered about what came first or which is causing which.
It started saturday after I woke up. Previous times when I had this it lasted about 5 days before I was healthy again. So this probably means I can pick up everyday activities starting wednesday or thursday.
Until then I'll have to fill my days with sleeping, taking some rest and doing nothing. Maybe I can watch some television or read a book.

Migrated mailbox

Yesterday, when I opened my mailbox, I noticed that it seemed to be corrupted. All folders I use to organise the vast flow of mails I receive every day had disappeared. After checking the university helpdesk, I learned the IT-department had started migrating the current student's mailboxes to the new server that evening. After further investigation of my 'corrupted' mailbox I found a mail (with no subject) which stated that my mailbox was migrated and provided the new settings to be used in my E-mail application.
I was a little relieved when I changed the settings and after connecting to the new server, I noticed that my folders appeared again. But not all. Two of them where still missing. When trying to create the folders in the new mailbox, I found out why they where missing: the folders contained a '@' in the foldername, and apparently this character was refused for foldernames in the new mailbox. This explains why these two folders weren't copied when my mailbox was migrated.
But one of those folders contained over a hundred E-mails I still needed. After copying the original mailfolder, which wasn't yet deleted from the old server, using another server I managed to restore them.

So now I have a new mailbox on a new server, which has a lot of advantages. The old server was getting slow, as it is quite some years of age and has to serve the mailboxes of over 27,000 students at my university. During last semester one had to be very patient when checking E-mail arround lunchtime.
Checking E-mails should be much faster now with the new server.
My mailbox is a lot bigger too and doesn't consume space in my networkdrive.

I'm very pleased to already have been migrated to the new server. But I'm wondering what criteria where used to select which student's accounts where to be migrated first.

Phishing IQ

Phishing (in Dutch) is a technique used by fraudsters, to obtain personal information like addresses, usernames, passwords, credit card information, bank details, social security numbers and the like.
You probably have received several of this type of messages by E-mail, asking you to provide some personal information. A typical phishing E-mail pretends to originate from your bank or credit card supplier, but is not. With clever tricks these kind of mails fool the recipient to believe it is a genuine mail.

Today I came across a phishing IQ test which presents you some real mails, some of which are scams and some are legitimate. You have to decide which are fraudulent and which are not. In the end you get a score on how well you did. If you got something wrong you can look at the explanation why some mail was legitimate or fraudulent.
Doing this test lets you check how good you are at recognising phishing scams. And hopefully you can learn how to see when a mail is genuine or not.