November 11th, 2008 SkyHorse 
Ever wondered how your web site looks like under Epiphany 2.22 running on FreeBSD 7.0? Ok a bit too obscure, how about on FireFox 3.0.3 under the now ubiquitous Ubuntu 8.04 without installing neither of them? Browsershots.org can help.
This free service produces screen shots of any web site URL as it is rendered using a multitude of operating systems and browser combinations, from the common Windows IE7 to the Dillo 0.8 on FreeBSD which only one nerd in a bunker knows about.
Check it out at http://www.browsershots.org
Tags:
Web DesignRelated posts:
Posted in Programming, Web Design | No Comments »
November 11th, 2008 SkyHorse 
Very neat trick I found out recently is that if you omit the protocol from an HTML src tag it will use the same protocol as the current URL, which is ideal if you need to have one universal HTML tag that works with both HTTP and HTTPS without having to use JavaScript tricks to detect the protocol.
This is great to use with ad server tracking pixels for example, or any other images:
Standard HTML code:
<img src="http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en_uk/images/logo.gif">
Relative protocol version:
<img src="//www.google.co.uk/intl/en_uk/images/logo.gif">
A few important details:
- The browser will use the same protocol for the image call as the base URL where the tag is on, akin to a relative-path URL. This means e-mail clients and the sorts (like file explorers) will not be able to use this (as there is no base URL)
- Tested on IE6 + 7, FF2 + 3 and Safari 2 + 3.
- Syntax is part of the HTML spec since 1995, just not widely used (don’t know why)
Tags:
online-advertising,
Web DesignRelated posts:
Posted in Computing, online media | 1 Comment »
September 11th, 2008 SkyHorse 
The v-moda vibe duo
It happened again, of course. The Ferrari of the headphones predictably crashed after 5 weeks of regular use, a new record even for them. This being the 3rd pair of v-moda headphones that stopped working I wrote a polite little message along with my request for warranty forms saying I did not want another pair but a full refund.
The reply was both expected (“no we do not give refunds”) and surprising, as they accepted there was a design flaw in the vibe DUO model and actually re-engineered the jack area in a 45 degree angle (it was straight originally) and since then they had to problems with them.
Here’s their original reply:
Unfortunatley our refund policy only covers headphones that are purchased directly from our website within 30 days. Due to a large number of defective DUOS, we re-designed the plug near the jack and have not had problems since. Here is some more info:
As we take our customers’ feedback very seriously, we wanted to let you know about new features that will improve the durability of our earphones.
We recently identified the plug of our Vibe Duo headphones as a point that has caused a higher-than-acceptable return rate by V-MODA’s strict quality control standards. In light of this discovery we have completely reengineered our plug to a sleek, durable design that has proven to withstand the rigorous wear presented by daily use. Using a 45-degree flexible design, the reengineered plug allows an optimal range of motion while maintaining a sturdy metallic core fused to a 24-carat gold-plated plug.
This new plug will be incorporated into all VIBE and VIBE Duo products and will be available soon at shop.V-MODA.com. The updated products will remain compatible with the Apple iPhone, the iPod, an array of smartphones and all other portable music players.
We firmly stand behind V-MODA’s One-Year Premier Warranty on all of our products. If you are experiencing problems with a V-MODA product, please consult our warranty page for detailed instructions on our warranty program. Should you need to contact us, please visit our contact page or email us at support@v-moda.com. Our customer service team is here to promptly serve you with any questions you have regarding our products.
Thanks for being a part of the V-MODA culture.
Rock on,
I guess I will give them *one* last chance and will be posting my broken set this week… another £5 and 4 weeks wait…
Tags:
apple,
headphones,
iphone,
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Posted in Hardware | 3 Comments »
July 8th, 2008 SkyHorse Conspiracy fans unite: the worlds major Internet vendors sent their engineers out for secret meetings at the microsoft campus for the past few months to tackle the biggest flaw on the internet’s architecture since it began.
The issue resides on the obiquituous DNS system responsible for directing applications to the right servers when they request a URL. Although there is yet no evidence of this flaw being exploited, it will not take long for black hat hackers to use it to direct you to their own servers when you try to open your online banking or check your emails.
All major vendors will be releasing fixes to their systems at the same time, as to minimise the chances of such rogue practicies happening, something unheard of which clearly shows the gravity of the situation.
More detail at http://securosis.com/2008/07/08/dan-kaminsky-discovers-fundamental-issue-in-dns-massive-multivendor-patch-released/
Dan’s website where you can check for the vulnerability: http://www.doxpara.com
Tags:
DNS,
hacking,
SecurityRelated posts:
Posted in Computing | No Comments »
June 30th, 2008 SkyHorse Just as my previous post reviewing the v-moda headphones for the iPhone started to get some hits I discover early in the morning that they stopped working, again.
They behaved exactly as I predicted by breaking down 2 months after I got them. This time it cost £5.10 to send them back with international “Signed for”.
The stats:
Number of times sent back: 2
Number of days with a working pair: 151
Number of days without a working pair: 56
TCO so far: £80.20 and they’re worth every penny.
Tags:
headphones,
iphone,
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Posted in Hardware | 1 Comment »
