Just got back from a test drive of Dicole MimerDesk. Its a web based groupware software project that has a nice list of useful features. It is an OSI project that I heard about on the CGI:Application list.
August 2004 Archives
Sometimes I write these posts and I am wonder if my clients understand the stuff I write about, and sometime I wonder if it hasn't just become one of those ranting (or rambling) nerd blogs even though I really try hard not to rant. And then, as if to cheer me up, Google points me to a whole other realm of nerdly wonder, namely Eric Smith's blog about all things SPAM.
spamblogging - A discussion of all things spam. Stopping, tracking, responding, and more.
I was looking for info on how to use SPF on Microsoft Exchange, and more general info about the feelings in the mail administrator community about whether the latest anti SPAM trend is going to fix things or not. I got a lot of good information and two great quotes from spamblogging.
Who's to say what's wrong and what is right? All I know is that SPF/Sender ID sure isn't going to stop spam, and it sure isn't going to make my life all that different. But if it can help cut back on spoofing and even reduce spamming only a bit - then I'm down with it.
And even though he over generalizes and calls RMS an Open Source talking head, I think this line by Eric Smith in a post titled "Big Surprise: RMS favors OSS over that of Microsoft", is rather amusing and almost certainly on target:
All in all, it is a bunch of nerd egos making cracking sounds as they butt into each other, trying to split hairs over things that don't necessarily even apply.
Nmap Hackers: Windows XP SP2: Nmap Fix and Further Information contains a useful explanation from the author and a clearly marked rant.
Fyodor has released a version of NMAP that provides a workaround for the fact that Microsoft has removed access to RAW tcp sockets in XP Service Pack 2. He's also given a critique of Microsoft's policy which has effectively broken the useful systems and network administration software he wrote, NMAP. One of the footnotes led me to a detailed explaination of the changes posted on the Microsoft site. As I read over the list of changes at Microsoft it occurs to me that the same people who have problems with their computing networks because of misconfigured host based firewalls will probably be more than a little affected by the changes to Microsoft's strategy here.
I think that well configured and maintained XP machines in small business networks will benefit from some of the features in SP2. If you support XP hosts, be prepared for problems, and plan to spend time dealing with these issues over the next few months.
The Web. Although parts of the Web had existed in practice since 1980 when Berners-Lee wrote ENQUIRE, it wasn't called the Web until he wrote a GUI and made up the name WorldWideWeb as a name for the first graphical browser. [Screenshot at W3C]
But even back in 1980, one of the things that made ENQUIRE work and made it different was the list of links that was a part of each "node".
I would tell you how to find out what the State Muffin of the Empire State is by providing a link to the official tourism site, which has the information, but I Love New Yorkwon't let me link to them, so you'll just have to guess. (Hint: Think state fruit, but I can't link you to that on the tourism site either.)
Links are important to your web site.
Well designed linkage within your site can allow your visitors to easily "dip" into your site and find what they want to find. This is important because some current thinking and research indicate that this is how people use the web. It's also important because your website should be there for the convenience of your customers.
Links to other useful Internet resources are also imporant for the convenience of your customers. Links to your site are imporant to you, because they will expose potential new customers to your products and services.
For instance, as you read this, some of you may be wondering: Where would I find information about tourism in the State of New York? Unfortunately, under the terms and conditions of use listed on the site in question on a page with the title:
Welcome from the Governor and Mrs. George E. Pataki - I LOVE NEW YORK - The Official New York State Tourism Website
... one finds a most unusual thing for a public tourism website:
Linking by third party web sites to this web site is strictly prohibited unless the Department grants express written consent. All requests to link to this site should be directed to [here they actually provide an individual's email address, which we will ommit out of courtesy]
What's so public or promotional about that?
They probably would have let us link, I have found a lot of links to the site in Google, but its a matter of principle. State Toursim information should be public and linking to it should be as free as Apple Muffins.
Or what about the State Song? Just Google it. But, remember I didn't link you to the New York State Tourism website located at I LOVE NY dot COM.
I LOVE NEW YORK (repeat 3 times) There isn't another like it. No matter where you go. And nobody can compare it. It's win and place and show. New York is special. New York is diff'rent' cause there's no place else on earth quite like New York and that's whyI LOVE NEW YORK.
(repeat 3 times)
Sender Policy Framework or SPF is a new specification that ties DNS and SMTP together to in a sense assume that "all email is SPAM until proven otherwise." I predict that all the mail servers I manage will be using this system within 6 months.
If you run a mail server, I encourage you look into this specification. What occurs is that you publish a list of mail servers that are authorized to send mail for your domain. This publication occurs via the exisiting mechanism of a DNS zone file for your Internet domain name; no new services need to be configured or added for this.
The recieving mail server will merely check to see if the message came from one of those servers. This will allow the message to be discarded if it is forged. (Ever get SPAM from yourself? Well, then you know how easy it is to forge mail envelopes.)
By discarding the messages before doing expensive SPAM checks locally and over the network, the processor cost to scan and deliver mail also decreases.
This should also help lessen the impact of phishers by giving end users some degree of confidence that messages that appear to come from your bank or brokerage actually are!
I've used Ethereal for some years now. This software was updated the other day, if you have an older copy you might want to update for new features. If you use Ethereal, you know that it is an Open Source network protocol analizer that runs under Linux, Unix and Windows.
Developers and security professionals may use a protocol analizer to capture packets on the the network and look inside the traffic to troubleshoot netowrk problems or even to look for signs of intrusions. Network Chemistry has a similar product that uses parts of Ethereal, and prvides additional functionality. Their "Packetizer" software, which makes use of the Open Source philosphy of cooperation is licensed under the GNU license, and the source code is freely available. Packetizer is a protocol anaylizer that is specifically designed to look at wireless LAN packets. The Packetizer is part of a larger suite of security products that Network Chemistry offers.
I thought the site and the product merit mention as an example of how a commercial organization can contribute to and benefit from the Open Source community.
If you're running wireless, for heavens sake, please run some kind of IDS too. If you don't know about these 2 tools you should look into them and also do penetration testing on the wireless segments of your LAN.
I was going though some blog related reading and tripped to the site SimpleBits which not only sounds a little like Advisorbits, but the topic there is also web design. The author, Dan Cederholm seems to have a similar philosophy to us too; "...a consulting firm that specializes in building simple, accessible sites with web standards."
His idea of simple may be a bit more decorative than ours; but there is something to learn there too.
He's written a cookbook, SimpleBits, with an interesting table of contents. If the TOC is any indication of the actual content it should be useful to web designers.
Jeffrey Zeldman of "The Daily Report" fame (and ALA and Happy Cog Designs) had nice things to say about it, so I thought I would point my readers over there.
In a sense I guess this post could also be known also known as the "Hey Mikey likes it" of book reviews.
My own hosting company provides OS Commerce as the intergrated ecommerce package for our customers requireing an online shop. Its easy to install and setup, and users are able to start managing their own online shop in very little time.
Today I came accross a new resource, b2services.com - OSCommerce Services for your Shop. They have a lot of templates and modules to use to customize the look of your shop.
I confess, my first PC was a MacPlus. (The original MacPlus if you're old enough to know there was more than one model year.) So I have always been in essence a drag and drop guy. Over the years I picked up a little DOS, and now I use a lot of Linux. I work on a command prompt more than almost everyone I know.
The real truth is that the GUI background has softened me and made me pretty much a poser compared to the guys who really know how to use a *NIX shell. I learn what I need because I look things up and for some unknown reason I understand man pages. (And computer software manuals, and I know how to Google.)
I was looking for some syntax examples so I could reboot rk Sobels' new book, which also just happens to have the answer to all the even number questions in the book. It even conveniently incuded an example that had everthing but the exact time I wanted.
So here's how it looks:
[root@colin root]# at 0600 tomorrow
warning: commands will be executed using (in order) a) $SHELL b) login shell c) /bin/sh
at> shutdown -r now
at>
job 1 at 2004-08-06 06:00
[root@colin root]#
If you want to see what that will setup (not for the weak of heart) you could do:
[root@colin root]# at -c 1
A note: the
The TypeKey thing is working now, so you can go over to the type key site and register to get your posts immediately approved. It's free, and it makes it easier for you to participate in the conversation here.
As I mentioned last time I will approve posts as on an approximately daily basis if you would prefer to simply supply your address and URL, but those comments are moderated. Comments with links to adult sites will not be approved.
(It's really wierd, I used to get a few spammer posts a month. I have upgarded and implimented this new policy, now I get some who try 10 times from different addresses.)
It turns out that SCO does not own UNIX (R). And according to The Open Group, who does own the registered trademark "UNIX", SCO openly says so on their products and licenses.
The Open Group holds the trademark and owns the Single UNIX Specification in trust for the whole industry. As you check out the site you will find more information and an old backgrounder on the now almost forgotten lawsuit by SCO against IBM. (SCO owns the source code for UNIX, and this IP what is at the core of the suit.)