More Google Chrome Security Problems
Posted 2:34 PM

1. Chrome doesn't allow you to add a security exceptions. This makes developing web sites and working behind firewalls and proxies difficult, annoying, and unsafe. Google allows exceptions, but not permanent ones, and doesn't allow one-time exceptions, only session level ones. The result of this, in some cases, will be people getting used to "constantly clicking" on exceptions until they learn to ignore ALL security warnings. IMO, that is a major security flaw.


2. Chrome, by default, allows all third party cookies as permanent. This is bizarre and is not a behavior most users would want (go ahead spy on me!). In both IE and Firefox, third party cookies are forced to be "not permanent" by default. In IE, third party sites have to publish privacy policies to get even short-term cookies to work. Chrome, by shipping with lax security here is showing it's colors. Google is probably sick of people trying to block it's Urchin analytics program. "I have an idea, lets get them to download our browser, which, by default, allows unlimited tracking of user behavior". It's an embarrassing day to be a Google employee.

3. If you use Chrome, fix your options by clicking the wrench icon, then Options, then Under the Hood, then "Restrict how third party cookies can be used". If this breaks some sites...good! Chrome should have a way of deescalating third party cookies. Deescalation should be the default.
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Stubborn Auto Giants Lose Out to Foreign Rivals
Posted 5:23 AM

It looks like the first 2 affordable, electric, highway-legal sedans won't be made by Ford, GM or Chrysler, even though they have *more than enough money and resources* to trump their competitors. They've even robbed my tax dollars with the very lobbying our President said he wouldn't abide by.

The first will be the Think City, a 120-mile range, 70mph electric from a Norwegian Company (Think Global). The next one looks like a Chinese car by BYD, with an 80 mile range and 80pmh top speed. Why is it necessary for us to import this stuff?

It's a bit depressing to watch our economy go to crap specifically because of a failure of innovation and creativity. Especially when there were millions of people *paying* GM both *investment* and *tax* dollars to put electrics back on the road.

What's even sadder, is that apparently BYD got investment money from Warren Buffet. I mean, if he's given up on American automakers... it's just time to give up.
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Facebook's facelift
Posted 1:12 PM

Users of facebook are voting overwhelmingly against the new look. It's a classic case of fixing something that was far from broken. It was actually one of their big selling points (uncluttered, clean look).

If I was the owner of Facebook, I'd be concentrating on new features, like specialized Facebook pages for businesses that have business features, can sell stuff, etc. Or how about the ability to create alternate relationships with people besides "friend", like "business associate", and "family". They could be *competing* with Geni and Linkedin, instead of losing mindshare to them.
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Flash Element TD
Posted 1:42 PM

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Using Google to Analyze English Word Usage
Posted 10:15 AM

On Wikipedia, I came across the sentence

'Hash' is the most common name for the mark (#) used in the English-speaking world outside North America. ^{[citation needed]}

I thought... sheesh... you really need a citation for that? I mean... it seems like common sense for anyone who's been to both places. I wouldn't be surprised to see "Wearing a sweater will keep you warm ^{[citation needed]}".

So I decided to use Google to analyze the use of the words "hash" and "number sign". Of course the problem is there's no way to know if people are talking about the "#" on the page.

Fortunately, the word "octothorp" means the same thing in all english speaking countries and can be used to constrain the search.

Among people using the word "octothorp" on a web page, authors in the UK top level domain were more likely to also use the word "hash" (65%), whereas authors
in the US top level domain were about equally likely (48%) (full analysis below). Australian users were also more likely to use the word hash (60%).

So, hypotheses proved? According to Wikipedia, this is original research and is not not acceptable unless I am shown to be an "Expert in the field". What field is that exactly? Word frequency analysis? Wasting time? I've got credentials in both.


"hash" site:.uk octothorpe = 389
"hash" site:.uk octothorp = 155
total:544 63%

"number sign" site:.uk octothorpe = 119
"number sign" site:.uk octothorp = 194
total:313 37%

"hash" site:.us octothorpe = 154
"hash" site:.us octothorp = 44
total:198 48%

"number sign" site:.us octothorpe = 108
"number sign" site:.us octothorp = 116
total:214 52%

"hash" site:.au octothorpe = 87
"hash" site:.au octothorp = 26
total:113 60%

"number sign" site:.au octothorpe = 33
"number sign" site:.au octothorp = 41
total:74 40%

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Nokia N-Series + Offline Google Calendar
Posted 8:39 AM

Nokia's tablets (N810, N800) are fun. They can make free phone calls, browse the web, and don't require any sort of monthly contracts. But one feature that's lacking is a good combination online/offline calendar.

Google Calendar has support for offline mode via a project called "Google Gears". Google Gears works on the Nokia tablets, but it has some bugs which I would very much like them to help fix.

Google Code has a system for keeping track of what projects and issues are important.

If you have an N-Series tablet, and would like to use Google Calendar even when you're offline, click here and star this issue. With a little bit of prodding, I'm hoping they'll get it out of alpha.
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Obama's Annoying me a LOT
Posted 9:21 PM

If he was really for change, he would be

- Giving money to Tesla & Miles electric instead of to GM
- Promoting HSAs, instead of HMOs
- Helping Federal Credit Unions instead of Citigroup

He's been throwing good money after bad. And we're paying a huge price ... is there money and political will left for the good ideas that are out there?
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Affordable Healthcare Exists, But is Ignored
Posted 12:18 PM

HSA plans offer affordable health insurance for all Americans. This is not some sort of joke. Anyone can go out and by a plan for under a $100/month today.

I have an HSA with BCBS and it covers my whole family for $180 a month. I've never had any problems with it and my out-of-pockets have been consistently lower than I expected. Indeed I pay less now with my HSA than I paid with my employer-sponsored insurance!

For a single working person, an HSA plan would cost about $85/month. And most plans cover well visits, prescriptions, etc. They also have affordable dental options.

I don't understand why people think this doesn't exist. All you hear about on the news is how it costs "thousands" a month to get health insurance. No. That's how much it costs to get a "health maintenance plan"... not insurance.

Americans don't need "managed care". What we need is insurance against catastrophic illness. And it's available for a reasonable fee.
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Why I like SMX/Perl better than Tomcat or Rails
Posted 7:07 AM

I figured out *why* i like SMX for web development and Perl for backend/script development. And *why* I don't like "framework" systems. I don't even like my *own* frameworks. Any time I wrote some "generic way to edit a database table", I regret it later as a waste of time. Thus Rails and Tomcat are colossal wastes of time.

1. Functional programs read like a story. First do this, then that, etc. Framework programs read like a "declaration of purpose". But it can be hard to figure out how that declaration translates to a sequence of actions.

2. Over-encapsulation. "Framework" systems encapsulate everything to the point where a huge part of your time as a developer is spent editing framework configuration files. Thus they tend to be *extremely* path, system and configuration dependent. So, when you update your Tomcat version or confiuration .... everything breaks ungracefully, and it's very difficult to determine what's needed to get it running again. Again, it's a declarative system, without any clear sequence leading from "code to html".

3. When it comes down to "How to I just get it to put the letter X on the screen at point Y"...the framework guy says "you have to override the class by defining it in "/framework/templates/local/hard-to-determine-path.class". And there's no way, by looking at the web page, to see that's what needs to be done. You need to look at framework documentation and configuration to determine *where* everything is declared, and what's needed.

4. The SMX developer says, "look for point Y in the code that outputs the html, and put an X right there". The Perl developer who refuses to "over-object-orient" can usually say the same thing (although perl *allows* you to mess this up). The locations of things are clear because SMX is a *context oriented* language, not *object-oriented*. SMX is constraining to the point where you *have* to write code such that it's possible to "backtrack" to the origin of any given output string. Bascially... you can't obfuscate things unless you're doing it on purpose.
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