MJR's slef-reflections - Entries tagged softwareEntries tagged softwareFirefox 3, day 6: security flaw and banks- June 23, 2008 I didn't spot this when I wrote my last post, but it seems there's a security alert for FF3 already - hackademix.net: Firefox 3 Untimely Security Advisory - but it also affects FF2 and probably my cautious Javascript settings are enough to stop it anyway, looking at that report. I've also been sent another update to the page on Online Banking with GNULinux, Firefox-based browsers or Free Software (first direct plus using ActiveX) - I wonder if any bankers will be noticeably slow to allow FF3.http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Firefox_3__day_6__security_flaw_and_banks.htm... Firefox 3, day 3: first impressions- June 20, 2008 Previously, I wrote: Seriously: the browser looks like a big improvement from Firefox 2, but there are so many niggles with this download day idea... In reply to Open Sesame Did you download Firefox 3, I answer "Yes". It was a major upgrade for me, requiring new versions of Cairo and GTK+2, and installation of DBus-GLib on my GoboLinux computer, which brought in new versions of Xorg and so required a recompile of my GNUstep desktop applications. Once that was done, Firefox compiled...http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Firefox_3__day_3__first_impressions.html 7 Reasons Why Firefox 3 Download Day Sucks- June 18, 2008 It's every where on TV and in print, even in Esperanto, which doesn't even have an official translation - only a third-party add-on Esperanto language pack. It was late even for the US and after most of Europe finished work AFAIK. There's no official bittorrent. There's no link to the source code from the main download page as far as I can tell. It may be mostly free software, but it feels like MozCorp don't want pesky users changing things. It brings more changes for webmasters (which is...http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/7_Reasons_Why_Firefox_3_Download_Day_Sucks.ht... Warning for Webmasters: Friday 13th ahoy!- June 12, 2008 Personally, I like Friday 13th. It's usually been pretty good for me. But for this one, I won't be surprised if computer abusers are planning some big attack tomorrow. I've just spent a big chunk of my day upgrading and securing some of the websites that our free software cooperative supports for a customer. The number of attacks in the access logs is surprising - and I've been fixing other people's cracked servers for over a decade. It makes me wonder if someone is finding and recruiting...http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Warning_for_Webmasters__Friday_13th_ahoy_.htm... Online shopping- June 10, 2008 I maintain a number of web shops for our webmaster cooperative and one of our main challenges is to encourage people who put things into their basketcart to actually buy them. How to avoid shopping cart abandonment by Graham Jones makes some points that I've identified as possible reasons for people not buying in the past: comparisons, robots and not trusting the site enough to give payment details. There's not much we can do about robots or people comparison-shopping at a technical level,...http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Online_shopping.html Fixing things the wrong way- June 9, 2008 For some reason (maybe related to upgrading openssl recently), my Jabber client became unstable. Instead of fixing it the right way, I simply upgraded to Emacs 22.2 (which also got me the emacsclient --eval option mentioned on this blog previously). It still wouldn't make SSL connections at first, but a quick application of jabber.el Anybody using emacs-jabber with Emacs 22.2 fixed it. That's the wrong way to fix that bug, but it's not quite as wrong as misusing computers to try to fix...http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Fixing_things_the_wrong_way.html Bridgwater College Computing Advisory Panel- June 7, 2008 Probably due to some mistake or just an excess of randomness in the world, our webmaster cooperative has been invited to Bridgwater College's Computing Advisory Panel meeting next week and it looks like I'm going. The interesting agenda items are:- 5. Current Curriculum offer 6. Computing and ICT Sector Developments - Education and Training - ICT Diplomas - Distance Learning - Specialist training apprenticeships 7. Meeting Employer Needs I've asked some nearby cooperatives and social...http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Bridgwater_College_Computing_Advisory_Panel.h... Hosting Blogs on Multiple Servers- June 4, 2008 (Is this a network) Terry Lane asked: "Do you know of any reason why someone would suggest we consider placing blogs on more than one server I think his main concern would be related to SEO and - I'm assuming here - Google." There are some small reasons, mainly about various sorts of reliability: what if the server catches fire, what if someone filters out adverts from the server, what if the server gets labelled as a spammer or splogger, and so on... but I believe they're outweighed by...http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Hosting_Blogs_on_Multiple_Servers.html |