In addition, vb 3.7.3 will be released on August 26th.

The patch doesn’t require a complete reinstall, thankfully - just download the patch and upload to your vbulletin forum install, and it should be reasonably simple.

Meanwhile, public plans for vbulletin 3.7.3 are limited so far, but it seems prevention of usernames being used as passwords has been mentioned as a key security feature.

In addition, plans for vb 3.8 have been announced for release later this year, which intends to brush up and polish the social user experience introduced in the 3.7 release. This is expected to be the last 3.x release before vb 4.0.

vbulletin 4.0? Yep - according to Jelsoft, vbulletin 4.0 is already in advanced development, and has a focus on the following areas:

- extensive rewrite of vbulletin code
- more intuitive interface for users and admins
- MVC (model-view-controller) object oriented principles, allowing far greater capabilities in code re-use and extendability, as well as improved caching
- semantic XHTML templates, whose layout can be restyled and edited with CSS

For vbulletin owners out there, it’s always a chore to patch up your forum, but having recently had an old install on a development project compromised, I can certainly attest to the importance of doing so.

Meanwhile, it’s nice to see Jelsoft looking to consolidate on the social features - sure, not always used - but on larger sites definitely a selling point.

And I can only look forward to see what happens with vbulletin 4.0. Maybe they’ll finally get rid of those rounded buttons and have something a little better looking in place. :)

Well, here’s a sad thread from the DigitalPoint forums - starts out with an attractive offer for services, that sounds reasonably cheap but comprehensive.

Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent that the service being charged for isn’t even being delivered.

Still, at least the people in that thread only lost their money.

It could have been much worse - they could have been banned from Google, seriously crippling their online presence.

As I’ve also made a point of before, SEO is simply a specialist marketing channel - and that means the price for good services should be seen as an investment and not a cost.

If you view marketing as a cost first, you need to ask yourself twice as to why. And if you view marketing as an investment, also ask whether buying on price, not quality, is really the best approach.

According to the BBC coverage, these laptops comes with a standard 10 hour battery life, which can be extended to 19 hours if required.

Additionally, they come equipped with fingerprint readers and encrypted vaults for data storage.

Sounds pretty cool, and certainly sounds like Dell have hit upon a real need here.

Certainly low battery life can be seriously frustrating if you need to use a public wif-fi space where there are no accessible plugs.

Plus the security interest seems absolutely necessary. I know I’ve left my laptop on a train before - a couple of years ago I got off at Aberdeen airport, but my laptop carried on to Aberdeen without me - though luckily I got it back safe later.

I’m already looking at encrypting my normal home PC harddrive, but a laptop seems to be screaming for this.

Anyone gets one of the new Dell LAtitude, feel free to post feedback here on it.

When I realise this happening, I make a point of thanking them for their great work on an individual basis.

Sometimes I find it hard to say - it takes extra effort to communicate what you are already thinking, and you presume the other person should know, and there doesn’t always appear to be a best time to say it.

So pushing it into a moment can seem like effort - but it’s an important effort to make.

We are social apes - we are programmed with a need for group validation, and while work isn’t necessarily an activity most would regard as a social event, the rules of social play remain at large - and group appreciation of the individual remains a need.

As someone managing others, this is always important to remember.

I’m writing this because I just received a major validation from a corporate client - it’s one of the big joys of the job, actually.

I was taken on board a couple of months ago, and then a month later a more senior executive basically asked why my own work had been contracted, and raised uncertainty as to whether the contract would be renewed.

Today I just got sent an internal sales memo that states “July’s internet sales figures are outstanding”. Sales for the month broke all targets by double or triple percentage points, and one product area broke all time records.

I’m working as part of a larger SEO team, and the corporation had most success where on-page and off-page elements came together in proper synergy.

There’s nothing blackhat going on - like many corporations, they’ve suffered from having IT people run internet sales, without a wider awareness of the importance of search friendliness and engaging the social web.

I’m happy to work as part of the team correcting that.

What makes me even happier, though, is being thanked for that.

BBC: Slump delays ‘Cheesegrater’ plans

The firm blamed weak demand for office space and rising construction costs.

British Land said the building would be completed in 2012 when letting prospects should have improved.

Well, London already has a Gherkin, the cheesegrater is coming. What’s next? The London Fork? The Thames Whisk? Or perhaps the London Jamie Oliver? ;)