Previous versions would just show a “Get Firefox” link. But the new version ups the ante with the following link:

The “Browse Happy” campaign says

Internet Explorer can make your computer unsafe. Why not switch to a browser that’s more secure?

It goes on to recommend Firefox, Mozilla, Opera or Safari as browsers that will keep you “Online. Worry free.”

Alright, I like FireFox. And I would be quite happy to admit that in many ways it is better than Internet Explorer. But I’m afraid it is just plain wrong to say that Firefox is so safe that you can browse without worry.

The fact is that FireFox used to be safer. When it was a new player in the browser world, hackers weren’t going to waste time trying to find it’s vulnerabilities. But now that it’s a popular browser, the hackers are targeting it too. There have been many FireFox vulnerabilities exposed recently - some of them very dangerous; allowing hackers to take control of your computer.

Fact: if you are using a popular browser you are at risk and you should always make sure you keep it up to date.

Fact: the number of Firefox vulnerabilities and exploits is only going to increase as it takes more share of the browser market.

So, sure, you can evangelise about alternative browsers being nicer to use, or more standards compliant. But, it is irresponsible to lull users into a false sense of security by telling them that, if they use Firefox, they needn’t worry about online security.

Report/rumour 1:
07/07/2005 13:17 “apparently news 24 has said that a suicide bomber has been shot in Docklands”

Report/rumour 2:
07/07/2005 13:50:40 “apparently police shot a suicide bomber running into a building in canary wharf ”

Seems like the authorities are keeping quiet about these things - trying to avert hysteria.

I slept in a bit this morning because a drank a bit too much wine last night. When I finally got up there was no Northern line tube between Morden and Stockwell, so I decided to work from home.
Then the bombs started.

One of the bombs was at Moorgate station (UPDATE: it was actually between Liverpool Street and Aldgate, which is near Moorgate) - that’s my station where I get off every morning - right next to my office!! If I hadn’t had so much wine last night I might have woken up earlier and actually been there!! Just shows…wine is good for you!

I’ve just been watching the images on TV…a man covered in blood being given CPR…people covered in sheets…I’m so upset.

You gotta wonder how long it will be before the jokes start….”had a blast in London”, etc.

My heart goes out to the rest of London today.

The killing was, without doubt, a distinctly naughty thing to do and I hope the guilty party rots in jail. That much is not really contentious.

What I do find incredible is that people are umm’ing and ar’ing about whether the law should cover “virtual property”. I personally believe that the sword was his property and should have been protected by the law.

But a lawyer for one Shanghai-based internet game company told a Chinese newspaper that the weapons were in fact just data created by games providers and therefore not the property of gamers.

Obviously, this is a grey area in the law, but I think the time has come to make it black and white. In this day and age, where so much of our lives is virtual, can we really say that something is not property because it is “just data”? Is this my blog?

Come on Mr. Shanghai Lawyer! Get real! Or, rather, get virtual!

I have a friend whose particular field of interest is intellectual property rights. I’m interested to hear what she thinks about this.

Or not.

It is common practice for phishermen to show hyperlinks that display URL’s to the legitmate site but whose actual links point to something like “http://www.secure-trustworthy.com”. But the best phishermen know that the bait has got to look real. In this example the actual link is to http://awcgi-ebay.com/?eBayISAPI.dll”. That looks remarkably similar to the real thing. There are several tricks here:

1. Obviously, a domain name with “ebay” in it.
2. A domain name with “awcgi” in it - something that is often part of real eBay links.
3. The use of a dash to separate “ebay” from “awcgi”.
4. Dropping of the “www” prefix so that the “awcgi” looks like a subdomain of ebay.com

I’m sure many people will swallow this one. However, awareness campaigns are working: my wife, Holly, pointed out “But that ‘http’ thing doesn’t have an ’s’ on it”. So at least people know that without the use of SSL anybody could intercept your details en route to the phisherman.

Most people know not to follow links from service providers asking you to supply personal details. As we become more streetwise, phishing yields will start to slow down, and criminals will be forced to use the more technically-challenging but very effective art of pharming.

The premise of this report is that:

• Over the last 200 years modern civilization has evolved to become completely dependent on oil.
• The more oil we pump out of the Earth, the more oil energy it takes to get it out of the ground.
• When we get to the “half-way point” of our oil deposits, oil extraction will become unviable.
• At this point demand will out-strip supply, resulting in a crisis known as Peak Oil.
• Our dependence on oil is such that the effects of this crisis will lead to the collapse of civilization as we know it.

Read it now.

Sites of interest include Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas and Life After the Oil Crash.

It is such a common phenomenon that there just has to be a word for it. But in all my years of searching I have never found one. How can there be a word for the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth (Arachibutyrophobia), but not a word for this social menace?

Hello world!

Hmmm…no answer.