technozid » Internet

Google Apps and Google Alerts

Michael Keukert — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:58:56 +0000

Some months ago I moved my mail-domain to Google Apps Standard Edition, which provided a neat way to manage my email boxes “in the cloud”. Soon it showed that while Google Apps indeed provided some great service, the integration into the regular Google account system was not really there. I still needed a “normal” Google Account for services like Google Reader or for certain widgets in the iGoogle start page.

So I was rather pleased to see that behind the scenes Google-Apps accounts and regular Google accounts seem to grow together. I don’t know for how long this has been the case, but today I noticed that Google Alerts now offers to manage both on the same page:

What I initially hoped for was that the Google Apps Account would fully replace the need for a regular Google account, however with a compromise like above I could very well live. Right now I need to do quite some handstands and juggle between Apps and regular account to get the full functionality. It would be nice if that would not be necessary for much longer.

I will write more about the move to Apps in a future post.

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

Major blogroll cleanup

Michael Keukert — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:13:19 +0000

I’m sorry for the ones that dropped out (except for those whose last update was in January or even December), congratulations for those who stayed in. Soem of the dropouts I deleted, a few were sent to purgatory (invisibility) with the chance of resurrection. The otherrs: keep up the good work!

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

Paris I: WiFi wonderland – or is it?

Michael Keukert — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 08:06:36 +0000

Business trip to Paris. Ethernet-bound internet access in the hotel came at a “bargain” price of 23€/day (alternatively 5€/hour). Since I was in a highrise I hoped to connect to a FON hotspot 2 blocks away, but I didn’t even get its signal. However I got 34 other signals. Unfortunately, none offered open access.

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

I'm not blogging about the iPhone

Michael Keukert — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 09:27:48 +0000

What a hype! Congratulations to my marketing colleagues at Apple ~~Computer~~ Inc.

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

Joomla! Security – the never ending story

Michael Keukert — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 20:57:31 +0000

Version 1.0.12 of the Joomla content management system eliminates about 140 errors and various security holes in the basic system.

(heise.de)

The Joomla! core is safe

(anonymous Wikipedia editor)

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

I'm a FONero – finally

Michael Keukert — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 11:27:02 +0000

Well, that was quite difficult. Timeline of events:

June 2006: In an article on heise.de I heard about FON for the first time. The concept was interesting, but since I didn’t plan to use WLAN at home I dismissed it.

July 2006: A co-worker started to use FON and made me reconsider the idea. As a matter of fact I had issues connecting my Laptop to the internet with my PC as router, so the idea of using FON’s Linksys router seemed a good one.

August 1, 2006: I signed up with FON, and ordered the Linksys router.

August 6, 2006: The Linksys arrived. I spent several hours to set it up, but it never worked. The documentation was “sparse” at best, and in the end I gave up. I asked my co-worker the next day, since we share the same ISP. He told me that there was a bug in the PPPoE part of the firmware, and that I have to get in touch with FON support to get a beta version of the firmware – just as he had.

August 10, 2006: I received the beta firmware, which had exactly the same version number as the regular release. I installed the firmware, and ISP logs show that it has actually connected. Still it was not possible for me to connect either with the Laptop or the PC with the internet. I emailed support again, who began asking the very same questions as before.

August 14, 2006: Again I got the beta firmware sent. Again it had the same version number. I installed it nevertheless (not trusting serial numbers anymore), but again nothing worked.

August 16, 2006: My co-worker gave me the personal email address of a FON support employee, who was told to be very helpful in similar situations. He replied a few days later, asking for specifics. Again a few days later I got the beta firmware again (same version number).

August 29, 2006: After countless emails, I gave up.

September 6, 2006: The FON support employee emailed me that the new official firmware was available on the FON website. I went there, only to find that it was still the same version number. Needless to say it didn’t work either.

September 19, 2006: FON announces the new WLAN access point “LaFonera”. In Germany, you can order it completely free (not even shipping costs). I ordered one.

October 2006: My co-worker told me his LaFonera arrived.

November 2006: Anticipating the arrival of my LaFonera, I downloaded the OpenWRT firmware for my FON-Linksys and flashed it. Configuration took less than 5 minutes, and after that the Linksys did exactly what it was designed for without anymore hassle. Finally, after 3 months, I was able to use the unit to access the internet via WLAN.

November 20, 2006: My LaFonera arrives – obviously from the second batch of units who got delivered.

November 25, 2006: I found time to install the LaFonera. Again I ran into trouble since it used the internal network 192.168.10.x – but this was the same network the OpenWRT-Linksys used. Since LaFonera downloads its configuration from FON’s webpage upon boot, it took me a bit to set it to a different network (I needed to remove the internet connection for that), but finally I managed. But finally I could connect to the internet AND offer FON service.

Bottom line: 3 months, 17.40 EUR, countless emails, frustration and two devices instead of one – but finally it works. Given the fact that I am running a (admittedly small) part of the FON infrastructure, some more dedication in firmware development and a more responsive and skilled support would have made a whole lot of a difference.

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

30 million vulnerable WordPress sites

Michael Keukert — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 11:45:45 +0000

I had a lengthy email conversation with Brian Layman a few months ago about security issues in WordPress, and the need to motivate WordPress users (who more often than not are laymen [no pun intended] themselves) to upgrade. Brian is a bit desillusioned how security issues are handled by the WordPress core team. He compiled his research and his thoughts into a rather long post, which is a must-read for all WordPress users.

If you have not updated your WordPress, do so, and do it now! Brian has a very helpful script, that allows you to update WordPress in 35 seconds. What are you waiting for?

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

Orkut went out of beta and nobody cared

Michael Keukert — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 20:59:57 +0000

The most recent issue of the Google Friends newsletter contained an explosive piece of information:

Finally, orkut no longer requires an invite — anyone can sign up for an account.

Sorry, Google, but nobody cares anymore. Orkut was in elitist beta for too long. Now social networks like MySpace have taken the lead. Better luck next time.

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

OpenBC dresses up for the wedding

Michael Keukert — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 19:39:09 +0000

The social networking platform formerly known as OpenBC (read: Open Business Club) has renamed itself, and in the process dropped the old layout and dressed itself in a supposedly stylish Web 2.0 design. Its founders plan to go public next year, and I would be pretty surprised if we would NOT see LinkedIn buying the majority of shares, and a merger later that year. I personally don’t like LinkedIn – they are too restrictive and elitist for my tastes. OpenBC has a much more open philosophy. I hope when the merger comes the openness of OpenBC will survive.

Well, even though OpenBC dresses in a Web 2.0 suit, it’s far from being Web 2.0. Yes, there are tags. Yes, there are RSS feeds. And probably there’s even some AJAX used somewhere. But an aggregation of buzzword-technology doesn’t make an application Web 2.0. What’s missing is actually the possibility to mashup. To take things apart and put them together in new ways. And I personally would have opted for less wasting of real estate on the screen. Probably time to start having a look into user-side stylesheets.

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

"Alles wird gut!" (Everything will turn out OK)

Michael Keukert — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:40:28 +0000

Today I received Internet Explorer 7 as part of the Windows update. For a professional webmaster this is a significant date, because it means that the majority of visitors (43% for this blog, ~60/65% for the corporate pages under my control) is now in the process of switching from IE6 to IE7. This should make a lot of things easier, but requires some legwork to go and check all sites if they work correctly.
Unfortunately, there are still people out there who continue to use IE6 or even have IE5.5 or older installed. The good news is that there are some smart folks out there who created monolithic, standalone archives of older IE versions which you can install parallel to your IE7. Check those links:

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.