I wonder....

Sometimes, when I plow through  development technical papers, it plays around in my head:

Do we have this feeling that helping a community or a country is so damn hard - because the information and to-do list is damn hard to understand? 

I've nothing against "intelligent" sentences and blabla blublu.  I know we have to sound formal to be respectable, but...

Maybe, just maybe, especially for development work, if we can communicate simply and direct to the point,

• Maybe people will understand the country's problems better.
• When they understand, maybe it's easier to feel hope that a lot can be done. 
• When people feel hope, maybe it will be easier to band people together and they will work better together towards common goals.  
• Maybe it's easier to commit to helping out your community when you feel connected to what you read or saw.

Most of the time, I marvel at how the seemingly impossible ways for a country to progress can still happen. But then, what if more can be done?  What if it was just a matter of how you share information, problems and solutions to common folk?




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Want to Stalk Santa as he Works this Christmas? Use Google Earth!

The coolest christmas guy - Col. Harry Shoup

A misprinted Call-Santa number in 1955 somehow prompted this guy's surveillance org to watch Santa's whereabouts.

Watch Santa on the 24th as he zooms through the globe to deliver gifts for the kiddies all over the world, using Google Earth of course.

Tracking starts 3 hours from now (I am GMT+8), so download your free Google Earth plug-in now. As in now, so you're good to stalk immediately as Santa takes off.

This christmas stalky business is brought to us by NORAD . Norad uses 4 hi-tech systems to track Santa - radar, sastellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets.  Read more on how they track Santa. and why.  Thanks, Norad!

Happy Christmas to all who like this holiday :-))


Christmas geeko tip I picked up from Renz of http://seonotesfromanewbie.blogspot.com/ .


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Geek fix - Tron 1982

Having my geek fix since the boys are out.

Am watching Tron, the 1982 version from Youtube.  Yeah, I wanna be ready just in case I decide to watch the 2010 version.



The musical scoring is weird, weirder than any 1980's movie.  The others elements of the movie, like crappy story and okay backlighting effects, I don't mind so much since the movie is old anyways.  I guess it was great  25 yrs ago.

Now I'm moving on to my nerd fix.  Have this book about the life of Stephen Hawking.  Great read.  I don't pretend to know so much about these things.  I just want to try and learn a bit, looks pretty interesting.   Will tell you about it next time if you like.  (Leave a comment to remind me.)

*End of line.* 


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Conversation between mom and web-savvy 10 year old

Mom:  Hey, let's enrol in a web design course in the summer!
10 yr old : (unsure)
Mom:  We can be classmates!
10 yr old : (unsure)
Mom :  You can do my homework! 
10 yr old:     >.<


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Security Issue with Google Website Optimizer

Whut???  Google website optimizer has a bug, according to an email sent by GWO.

For those who are testing their pages and did not receive the notice, I'm copy-pasting the letter below.

Also:  It's my 100th post!  Though I would've wanted the 100th post on a happier note, first things first.


- - -

Dear Website Optimizer user,


We are writing to inform you of a potential security issue with Website Optimizer. By exploiting a vulnerability in the Website Optimizer Control Script, an attacker might be able to execute malicious code on your site using a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attack. This attack can only take place if a website or browser has already been compromised by a separate attack. While the immediate probability of this attack is low, we urge you to take action to protect your site.

We have fixed the bug, and all new experiments are not susceptible. However, any experiments you are currently running need to be updated to fix the bug on your site. Additionally, if you have any Website Optimizer scripts from paused or stopped experiments created before December 3, 2010, you will need to remove or update that code as well.

There are two ways to update your code. You can either stop current experiments, remove the old scripts, and create a new experiment, or you can update the code on your site directly. We strongly recommend creating a new experiment as it is the simpler method.

Creating a New Experiment

Stop any currently running Website Optimizer experiments

Remove all the Website Optimizer scripts from your site

Create a new experiment as normal. New experiments are not vulnerable.

Updating the Website Optimizer Control Script Directly



Locate the Control Script on your site. It looks like this:

A/B Test Control Script







Multivariate Test Control Script







Locate the following in the Control Script: return c.substring(...

Modify the following line as shown:

BEFORE: return c.substring(i+n.length+1,j<0?c.length:j)

FIXED: return escape(c.substring(i+n.length+1,j<0?c.length:j))

Make sure to include the final closing parenthesis “)”

Fixed A/B Control Script







Fixed Multivariate Control Script







Note that the k=XXXXXXXXX line in the above Control Script examples is a placeholder.

Your experiment will continue as normal after you’ve made this update. There’s no need to pause or restart the experiment.

We’re committed to keeping Website Optimizer secure, and we’re deeply sorry for this issue. We will continue to work hard to prevent future vulnerabilities.



Sincerely,

Trevor
Google Website Optimizer Team


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Christmas Decor for Geeks

We are a geeky family.  My boys and I love anything webby, nerdy culture icon-y, etc.  One of our favorite shows is the Big Bang Theory.

As the christmas season neared we watched this christmas episode from Big Bang Theory where Sheldon wanted a mini-bust of Newton to decorate the christmas tree because Newton's birthday is December 25 whereas Jesus was born in the summer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqiiCOFR0Y8
(no embedding allowed, boo.)  I particularly liked the Leibniz should go at the top of the tree joke.

And my boys wanted Newton on the christmas tree too.

Being a geeko supporter of the sciences, I had to give in to their request.  And since it seems I wouldn't find a Newton mini-bust,  I improvised by decoupage-ing a christmas ball with a newton pic.  And here it is:

And yes, he went up the top of the tree.  Although I respect Leibniz as the first dude to do the calculus, my son said putting other respected people up the tree when Dec. 25 isn't their birthday is just wrong.

Hope everyone's having fun this season.

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On Internet Service Providers - What ISP do you use?

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) breathe life into the career (maybe even the personal life) of the online worker.  Without an internet connection, you just can't work.  No contacts, no communications, no spadework (for us who enter websites from across the globes).  Without a proper ISP, we  cannot earn a living.

When I started online work,  I decided to subscribe, not to the basic plan, but to the faster plan, even if it was more expensive and I wasn't earning  yet.  Since it was going to be for work, might as well be equipped for it.  Not to mention I have the patience of a 2 yr old for loading over the net, I might end up chucking out my PC out the window even if it was the net that was quite slow.

That was in 2007.  We got the 1.2Mbps plan from a Quezon City ISP. Services were fine and uneventful then.  Now in 2010, when the little broadband dongles say they deliver up to 3Mbps, I still had the 1.2Mbps until October 2010 (and still paying double the basic plan).  It was only this November that the ISP called and said they were upgrading my speed to 1.5 Mbps and subtracting PhP200 from the subscription cost.

I noticed though, that :

• Around June this year, my connection always dies around 2PM and stays that way for 2-3 hours.  You can imagine how distraught I can get because I don't get to do any work, and had to extend to the work hours until beyond midnight.
• I noticed this September?  October? upto now (this very moment) the lights in my modem always has the hiccups and dies and resurrects every so often, sometimes every 5 minutes, every 15 minutes, etc.
• And yes, the phone included in the service is ALWAYS dead.  Causing another inconvenience to call cellphones instead of the land line service.  Hmp.  (Yes, my phone is dead right now.)

I have learned to ignore this since it's happening frequently, and I thought maybe it's just my area, etc.  Now I find out an online contact with the same ISP has the same net and phone problem.  My son's classmate also told him they have the same situation at home.  

What is happening?  

I have shared this concern with the counter person while paying bills, she just told me to file a complaint to services so that line men can come over.  Oh, what she told me exactly was TO CALL and file a complaint.  I find that funny because I just said the line was dead.  Yes, I can call using the cell but it's still funny to make me call.

I can always change ISPs, but my sons agree this damn blasted service is still the most reliable for their gaming needs compared to other ISPs. So yes, I am a hostage of my own ISP.  Boo.


How about you? What ISP do you use and is it reliable and quick for surfing, gaming and web maintenance?


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