Blackmoor Vituperative

There are few webpages listing free font resources that are free in the sense of the Free Software Foundation. Free software is similar to (but slightly different than) open source software, and includes such software projects as GNU and Linux. This webpage focuses on free font resources primarily for European Latin-based scripts, and secondarily for Greek and Cyrillic-based scripts. I don’t know anything about other scripts, but I think it would be great if there were a similar page for other scripts.

(from Free Font Resources for Free Open Source Operating Systems)

“Firefox 1.5.0.5 is a security update that is part of our ongoing program to provide a safe Internet experience for our customers,” Mozilla said on its Web site. “We recommend that all users upgrade to this latest version.”

Wise business IT executives should start considering SLED 10 for their main desktop operating system as well. Vista continues to be troublesome, and it’s looking more and more like Vista may not ship in January. XP remains a bad security joke and an operating system all in one.

If you’re considering a business desktop alternative, SLED 10 should be at the top of your shopping list.

(from DesktopLinux.com, A first look at SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10)

WGA nabs 60 million Windows cheaters?

According to a Microsoft manager, 60 million people have failed the Windows Genuine Advantage validation test. But according to Ed Bott, the numbers don’t add up.

See also: That deceptive, misleading WGA installation

For reasons yet to be articulated by the authorities, the government has directed local Internet service providers to block access to a handful of Web sites that are hosts to blogs, including the popular blogspot.com, according to government officials and some of the providers.

(from Deseret News, India directs Internet providers to block access to blogs)

Microsoft Office is a hacker’s playground: First Word, then Excel, now PowerPoint. For the third time in two months, a zero-day vulnerability in a widely used Microsoft Office software application is being used in targeted hacker attacks. Avoid the Microsoft Office security hole by switching to OpenOffice.

Microsoft Confirms PowerPoint Zero-Day Attack

How often have you browsed to a Web site, only to encounter a blank page in your browser? This happens to me all the time. Other times, the Web page is missing entire sections — typically navigational elements — and I can’t browse around at all. And sometimes, though not always, the Web page notifies me that I need to install or enable a plug-in or change my browser’s settings in order to view and navigate the Web page properly.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a typical user, but by no means am I the only person who experiences these problems either — particularly since users are much more aware of Web browsing security concerns than they used to be. Depending on my mood and the Web site in question, I may spend some time attempting to adjust my Web browser settings.

But more often, when I encounter an improperly displaying Web site — especially those that require JavaScript, ActiveX controls, Java, or Macromedia Flash in order to work at all — I question whether it’s worth my time. And if a Web site “locks” me in, due to JavaScript code redirects, pop-up windows, or some other method to keep me from going back, I won’t even bother trying to make it work.

(from Tech Republic, Why interactive Web site features often conflict with security best practices)

I agree completely.

OpenOffice.org 2.0.3: Open For Business

OpenOffice.org 2.0.3 is recommended for all. Enhancements include:

• performance improvements: for example, a 23 percent improvement in certain Calc benchmarks
• further improvements to file format compatibility with Microsoft Office files
• new email integration features for users wanting to send emails in Microsoft file formats
• more control over how exported PDF documents will display when opened in a PDF reader
• support for more languages and improvements in hyphenation and thesaurus
• support for Intel architecture for Mac OS X plus improved Mac OS X System integration
• built-in check for updated versions

We also recommend OpenOffice.org 2.0.3 because it includes important security fixes. These have not been exploited but all users of any prior version of OpenOffice.org are urged to download 2.0.3. A standalone patch will be available soon.

File under “yet another reason to switch to OpenOffice”.

New PowerPoint hole used in cyberattacks | Tech News on ZDNet

Sometimes the best communication is visual. This is true even when you are trying to communicate the structure of an XML document. Using the power of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a programmer can create a graphic representation of any XML document. This download shows you how it works and provides several code examples to get you started on the right path.

(from TechRepublic, Create a graphic representation of any XML document using SVG)