High Tech Household

Some of the most nefarious security problems on the internet are delivered to your browser via JavaScript. Likewise for some of the biggest annoyances, like pop-up ads. But JavaScript is the heart of many recent Web innovations as well. So what is a safe surfer to do? You can’t turn JavaScript off entirely, but maybe it can be controlled a bit better.

Using today’s web browsers, there is really just one big switch controlling JavaScript: it’s either on, or it’s disabled for your entire web experience. Pop-ups are usually blocked, but otherwise, that’s a pretty blunt control. I may not want some random site to potentially exploit some issue via JavaScript, but I can’t check my webmail without it. Disabling JavaScript completely isn’t a good option.

White-listing to the rescue! By explicitly saying which websites can run JavaScript in your browser, you can reduce your risk quite a bit. Unfortunately, in researching this post, I could only find one tool for this job: the NoScript add-on for Mozilla Firefox. I use it, but I expected to find similar offerings for the other web browsers.

So, here’s a new twist here at HTH. We’d like to know what our readers use for JavaScript control, if anything. Lots of folks also just block pop-ups (which is the default behavior in most recent browsers), or Flash, or plugins in general.

What do you use for JavaScript control, if anything?

Ars Technica posted a quick write-up about an Internet Explorer add-on aimed at helping children be safer while online. It sounds like it’s mostly just a custom search engine and some IE Web Accelerators, but something is better than nothing.

The most important note, in my opinion, is that parents must be aware of what their children are doing online. No software package can be a fool-proof child safety-net. This could be a useful tool, but it doesn’t allow a parent to be uninvolved.

• Ars Technica: Hands-on: Microsoft launches child-friendly IE8

Google announced this week that it is going to be phasing out support for Internet Explorer version 6 from its Google Docs and Google Sites applications as of March 1.  If you are a user of IE version 6, now may be the time to consider an upgrade or a new browser.  To see what version you have, click on the “Help” menu, and then click on “About.”  This will give you a version number, something like 6.0.1234 or something similar.  It’s the first number that you care about.  If it is version 7 or version 8, you’re OK.  If you are version 6 or lower, you should really consider using another browser, as Internet Explorer 6 is becoming increasingly obsolete.

It is important to note that if you are using FireFox, this doesn’t apply as Google is only dropping support for FireFox versions 3.0 or lower.  Since Firefox prompts the user to upgrade, most Firefox users are up-to-date.  Google is also planning to stop support forr Chrome 4.0 or lower and Safari 3.0 or lower.  For more information on the different web browsers and where to download newer versions, see our primer on web browsers.

In part 1 of this series, we looked at the phenomenon that is social networking, and the various social networks.  In part 2, we looked at Twitter, what it is and how it works.  Here in part 3, we will explore social bookmarking, a way of aggregating the Internet and sharing content.  While the various social networking sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook can all be used to share content and bookmark, there are several sites such as Digg, del.icio.us, and Reddit that are specifically created to share good content from around the net.  Bookmarks end up being ranked based on user recommendations, and tags are added to allow for the indexing and searching of resources. Read more…

In part 1 of this series, we looked at the major social networking sites and their uses.  In this part II of the series “An Introduction to Social Networking” we will try to answer the question “What is Twitter.”  Created in 2006, Twitter has become an international phenomenon especially within the last year.  It was used heavily in the last Presidential election, it has become a favorite communications medium for many celebrities, and in its most prominent role, it played a key part in getting news out from the Iranian elections by allowing protesters to get their story out without the filter of the Iranian government.  Millions of users from around the world assisted the protesters by setting up proxy servers to get around government blocks, and protesters gave constant updates, uploaded pictures and video, and produced a groundswell of support from the worldwide community.  The most surreal moment for me came that Saturday when I was flipping through the cable news channels, and they were all reading off of Twitter live on the air to report what was happening. So what is Twitter, and how does one use it effectively?

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With the announcements this week that Verizon will be launching Android phones with Google Voice capability and AT&T will also be allowing VoIP services on its iPhone after pressure from the FCC, it appears that we are at the beginning of a revolution of how traditional phone calls are made and placed.  Today, you can make cheap or even free phone calls using Voice over IP technology (VoIP).

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Despite popular perceptions, Social Networking has been around for as long as networked computers have existed.  Early computer enthusiasts would connect their computers over phone lines through the use of modems and communicate through message boards or forums.  Online services such as Compuserv, AOL, and Prodigy gave ways for more people to interact via message boards, chat, and email.  When the Internet first came on the scene, sites such as GeoCities and Tripod gave users the ability to interact, as well as set up their own web pages.

In the last few years, social networking has exploded with sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn.  Social Networking also includes blogs and social bookmarking sites such as Digg, del.icio.us, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.  Social Media sites such as YouTube and Flickr round out the social networking platform.  This series will look briefly at all of these types of sites.  Further information and tutorials will be provided in future posts beyond the scope of this series.  Part I of this series will focus on Social Networking Sites in particular.

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Anyone who has a computer these days browses the Internet.  The web browser has become as important as the operating system in meeting a user’s personal or business computing needs.  When the World Wide Web began its life 15 years ago, the dominant web browser was Mosaic, which later became Netscape.   In 1995, Internet Explorer entered the marketplace with Windows 95, coming free with every new computer.  As Netscape and Microsoft competed in the “Browser Wars”, Netscape became a bloated piece of software and died a slow death.  However, before Netscape’s dominance ended, they created an open source group to develop a new web browser called Mozilla, which ended up providing the engine for the popular FireFox browser.  Microsoft’s dominance in the web browser has been deteriorating in recent years because of the introduction of several new, powerful, and fast web browsers.

Since the battle between Netscape and Internet Explorer ended, different web browsers have come and gone, with varying levels of success.  The Browser debate also garners a lot of passion as people get very attached to their personal choice of web browser.  While there are countless minor web browsers out there (which we will examine at some point in the future), we focus on the five major web browsers currently in use:  Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla FireFox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, and Opera.

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