TOOLS: Firefox v1.0.1

Firefox v1.0.1New version 1.0.1 of Firefox available! Install this one, it includes several security fixes.

Latest changes:

  • Improved stability
  • International Domain Names are now displayed as punycode
  • Several security fixes
  • Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) homograph spoofing
  • Unsafe /tmp/plugtmp directory exploitable to erase user’s files
  • Plugins can be used to load privileged content
  • Cross-site scripting by dropping javascript: link on tab
  • Image drag and drop executable spoofing
  • HTTP auth prompt tab spoofing
  • Download dialog source spoofing
  • Download dialog spoofing using Content-Disposition header
  • Overwrite arbitrary files downloading .lnk twice
  • XSLT can include stylesheets from arbitrary hosts
  • Autocomplete data leak
  • Memory overwrite in string library
  • Install source spoofing with user:pass@host
  • Spoofing download and security dialogs with overlapping windows
  • Heap overflow possible in UTF8 to Unicode conversion
  • SSL “secure site” indicator spoofing
  • Window Injection Spoofing

PICTURES: Mimas, satellite of Saturn

[via NASA Planetary Photojournal]

A beautiful picture of Mimas, a satellite of Saturn (mission Cassini-Huygens).

Mimas drifts along in its orbit against the azure backdrop of Saturn’s northern latitudes in this true color view. The long, dark lines on the atmosphere are shadows cast by the planet’s rings.

Saturn’s northern hemisphere is presently relatively cloud-free, and rays of sunlight take a long path through the atmosphere. This results in sunlight being scattered at shorter (bluer) wavelengths, thus giving the northernmost latitudes their bluish appearance at visible wavelengths.

At the bottom, craters on icy Mimas (398 kilometers, or 247 miles across) give the moon a dimpled appearance.[…]

The images were obtained using the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Jan. 18, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.4 million kilometers (870,000 miles) from Saturn. Resolution in the image is 8.5 kilometers (5.3 miles) per pixel on Saturn and 7.5 kilometers (4.7 miles) per pixel on Mimas. The image has been contrast-enhanced to aid visibility.

Mimas

PICTURES: Impressive Golf place

[via Heiko via SonnyRadio]

The following are pictures of Tiger Woods practicing off the heli-deck of the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, UAE. They were taken when Tiger was in Dubai for the Desert Classic, March 2, 2004. $1 million appearance fee, and he gets to hit shag balls from the tallest hotel in the world.

Yes, Tiger is paid $1 million each year just to play in the Dubai Desert Classic, regardless of how he plays. But hitting golf balls off the top of this “hotel” is really neat. Bet you’ve never seen golf balls hit like this, or a hotel like this.

For best effect, view pictures in the order shown below. The last picture really puts it in perspective. Extraordinary!!!

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods

MUSIC: On heavy rotation

LedZep No QuarterI received a “thank-you” gift for a while from a friend of mine, who had the very good idea to give me the DVD No Quarter – Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded.

This DVD is pure happiness, really a-m-a-z-i-n-g :-)

Originally released on CD in 1994 and then in a remastered version simultaneously with this DVD, the 115-minute program (including bonus footage) was recorded on a London soundstage, in the hills of Snowdonia, Wales, and outdoors in Marrakech, Morocco. It finds guitarist Page, vocalist Plant, and an array of other musicians performing some new material, but for the most part, the repertoire focuses on their Led Zep legacy–not a surprise, considering that what they did together in that group was better than anything they’ve done separately, including some pretty good Plant solo efforts and Page’s regrettable stint as a member of the Firm. Yet instead of simply parroting their Zeppelin period (and relying on tired warhorses like “Stairway to Heaven” and “Whole Lotta Love”), they’ve given the music new life, adding exotic instruments like the bodhran (an Irish drum) and the hurdy-gurdy (played by cranking a rosined wheel against a set of strings) to less familiar fare like “The Battle of Evermore” and “Gallow’s Pole.” Add to that three brilliant new songs performed with a quartet of Moroccan players, a full complement of strings from the London Metropolitan Orchestra (on “Since I’ve Been Loving You” and others), and a host of Egyptian percussion and strings on an epic version of “Kashmir” (also from the London session), and you’ve got a world music blend that is at times genuinely thrilling–especially for those with 5.1 Surround Sound capability.

BUSINESS: about job-finding / person-finding

Seth publlished 3 posts (1, 2 and 3) about job-finding / person-finding. I really like what he says and totally agree with his position.

Consider a few facts:
1. The traditional way to get a job is to send a boring resume in response to as many posted jobs as you can afford. Your resume will be scanned, culled and if it doesn’t stand out too much, a person might look at it.

Then you go for a job interview and try to be coglike in your malleability and desire to fit in. If random acts are working in your favor, you get the job.

2. Then, the big Fortune 1000 company that hired you complains that all their people act like cogs, don’t care enough, aren’t creative in solving problems and don’t push the status quo.

3. Then, the big Fortune 1000 company realizes that as long as they’ve got interchangeable cogs, they ought to just move jobs offshore, cause that’s cheaper.

Let’s start with one assumption that has changed in just a generation:

It turns out that 100% of all job growth is now coming from small (under 500 person) companies. In fact, the big companies are shedding jobs, not adding them.

That wasn’t true for our parents. It’s true for us.

Also true: more likely than not, the best jobs, the most interesting jobs and the most secure jobs happen in small organizations.

BLOG: new version of Blogkomm installed

I’ve installed a commenting tool as a complement of Blogger called blogKomm developped by Holger Kreis, since March 28 2004. At this time, Blogger didn’t integrate any commenting functionnality. This incredible lack was first filled in April 2004. I didn’t move to Blogger because the comments are hosted by Blogger and I don’t like that. I want to have my data under control and to be able to have a full access on the raw logs for the statistics. Without a dedicated hosting – as far as I known – it is impossible to know exactly how many visitors and pageviews you have on your blog because of the access on your RSS feed which are only visible in these raw logs. My blog and website are hosted by OVH, my web hosting provider.

I made the step this morning and I installed the version 2.1 (beta) of blogKomm. Holger integrated some very interesting functionalities and the protection possibilities against comment spam is really better than in the version 1.7 I used before. This is perhaps the only positive effect of spam: it forced me to take the time to install the new version ;-) Which was quite easy.

blogKomm features

blogkomm integrates the reader’s comments into your blog without any pop-ups. Besides this you have different features coming along with that, like

* different notification services
* preview feature
* user remember feature
* quick-Editing admin-tool
* recent comment-list
* multilingual interface
* a setup and configuration tool

BUSINESS: The best Seth Godin posts of 2004

If you are a bit lazy, or of you do not have enough time (problem to prioritize correctly? ;-), Seth Godin published a kind of “Best of – 2004” of his posts. As usual, a bunch of ideas and interesting inputs. I would like to know how Seth did the choice ;-)

The Best Seth Godin Posts of the Year (2004)

Easier than checking the archives! More efficient than wading through inane banter.

If you’re only going to read 2 of my posts a month (that’s 24 for those of you without a calculator) then this is where I’d have you start