E-Musings Mon Immorata

Opera 8 Beta 2 'n Firefox 1.0.1 include IDF Spoof Fix New beta updates include improved anti-Phishing protection, updates on Thunderbird inline spell check, and about Copernic Desktop Search 1.5 The Opera 8 Beta 2 includes an all-important fix that protect users against IDN spoofing. A built-in whitelist of safe TLDs (top-level domains -- .no,. jp, .de, .se, .kr, .tw, .cn, .at, .d, .ah, .hi) can be updated remotely by Opera Software via the browser's version check (Help > Check for new release) feature. TLD registrars may submit their domains to Opera for verification before they can be added to the root TLD list. Other anti-Phishing improvements include making the padlock icon always visible for HTTPS servers with the certificate owner's name displayed in the URL field. Opera 8 Beta 2 also supports Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) that permits real-time certificate status requests. Read the Opera 8 Beta 2 changelog for a list of all the security updates, as well as other enhancements to the user interface, display and scripting, messaging and news feeds and voice add-in features. . Firefox 1.0.1 includes an IDN patch that no longer requires that this feature be disabled via the about:config preferences interface. IDN has been re-enabled using Punycode (bridge enabling Unicode support for the Internet DNS). IDN domains will now be correctly displayed in the address bar. There's a complete list of resolved Firefox security updates available. As is an unofficial Firefox 1.0.1 changelog. There's also a Thunderbird upgrade in the making but as with all upgrades it tends to "break" many extension. Included in the new Nightlies is Integrated Spell Checking. However the March 1 build still has display issues with this feature on Windows. Download and use at your own risk. If you don't feel the upgrade is worth it until the critical bugs are resolved. You might want to consider the Thunderbird inline spell check extension. This adds a wavy red underline to mis-spelled words (much like Microsoft Word does). Right-clicking the word displays a list of suggested spelling. However to make this extension work you need to add a list of auto-correct terms. There's a sample on the developer's site to which you can add your own. I would have liked this extension to work with the open-source Aspell dictionaries. If you are looking for an all-in-one Desktop search utility, you might want to try out Copernic Desktop Search 1.5. This upgrade supports up to 20 different file types. Includes Thunderbird email search with indexing email, their attachments and contacts. It also supports smart indexing of network drives where after the first index run, only new or changed files are added to the indices. CDS can also search within JPEG picture comments (using EXIF meta data), search iTunes by artist, album, year and genre. It highlights search terms. And includes an embedded audio and video player. Read the complete list of features. Maxthon users rejoice. There's an incremental Version 1.1.120 update includes an RSS Reader side bar. This supports Feed categories and OPML import. There's also an RSS feed auto-detect notification. And feed-enabled sites display a globe icon in the status bar. I'm going to suggest to the developer that Maxthon use a text icon similar to Firefox but better stylized (Firefox's RSS status bar icon looks like ASS!) However you can't change a feed's category as this RSS Reader add-in is a convenience. Nothing more. And to avoid bloat that's what it will remain. If you want more control over managing categories, display and update I recommend using a dedicated application like Bradsoft's Feed Demon, Synop SauceReader, or the open-source FeedReader, RSSOwl, RSS Bandit and SharpReader. Virus writers seem to be getting cute again. The Sober.K strain of the Sober worm hides within a (purported) notice from the (US) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informing the recipient that they have visited an "illegal Web site" and being monitored by the agency's Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC). Recipients are then instructed to complete a questionnaire which contains the viral payload. The FBI suggest that recipients file a complaint about messages received with the real IFCC. That's it for this week. More later. Stay Safe! Click Here to Email Me