The Web Traveler

Ever found that really cool video, but once you linked to it, it disappeared? No more!!! Firefox has the ultimate plugin to solve all “missing video” problems.
You could spend weeks looking through the cool plugins for Firefox. This has got to be the world’s best browser – and getting better all the time! One of my favorites is Download Helper.

Download helper lets you download any video’s or media to your own computer. Why would you want to do this? Well… in my case, there were certain educational videos I wanted to use, but they kept changing the address so it was tough to link to them. Since YouTube is free, I use download helper to get all of the videos I want and upload them to my YouTube channel. That way, I know my links will never be broken. Also, you can capture all the images from galleries. It can even download in your preferred format.

It’s super easy. When you go to a page that has videos, the little balloons will light up and you can click them to download the videos. See below:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006/

See it in action:

You can even convert videos. FLV to AVI, MPEG or MP4. See what Download Helper says about it:

DownloadHelper’s primary job is to retrieve to your disk the videos that are playing in Web pages, in their original format.

Unfortunately, the native format (generally FLV) is often not very convenient when it comes to playing back the videos, on either your home computer or a hand held device, burning them to a DVD or reworking the movie.

With the new DownloadHelper’s Video Conversion feature, you can very easily select one or more videos that lie on your disk and choose a pre-defined output format. The program will process the movies in background.

Even better: you can setup the extension to automatically convert the videos as soon as they are saved by DownloadHelper. You can even specify conversion rules (which site, which original media format) to be processed with a given set of parameters.

Here is the link to all of the firefox plugins:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:7

~Web Traveler

stock.xchng – a leading free stock photography website has almost 400,000 photos to choose from. This works by creating a free account and downloading either free photos, or purchasing credits to buy photos. I’ve been using this site for several years and have not been disappointed. Of course I use other stock photography websites, but not many have a free option for photos. Now, keep in mind that it may take a lot of extra time to go through all of the free photos and you must try lots of different searches, but the free jewels you can find will be worth the wait. Here are a couple of samples I just downloaded.

Here’s the link: http://www.sxc.hu/

Have fun!

~Web Traveler

Security is probably the biggest problem for Websites of all types and sizes. The following checklist is not all inclusive, but is a good start to ensuring your data is protected. Here is a good checklist from techrepublic.com

• Login pages should be encrypted: The number of times I have seen Web sites that only use SSL (with https: URL schemes) after user authentication is accomplished is really dismaying. Encrypting the session after login may be useful — like locking the barn door so the horses don’t get out — but failing to encrypt logins is a bit like leaving the key in the lock when you’re done locking the barn door. Even if your login form POSTs to an encrypted resource, in many cases this can be circumvented by a malicious security cracker who crafts his own login form to access the same resource and give him access to sensitive data.
• Data validation should be done server-side: Many Web forms include some JavaScript data validation. If this validation includes anything meant to provide improved security, that validation means almost nothing. A malicious security cracker can craft a form of his own that accesses the resource at the other end of the Web page’s form action that doesn’t include any validation at all. Worse yet, many cases of JavaScript form validation can be circumvented simply by deactivating JavaScript in the browser or using a Web browser that doesn’t support JavaScript at all. In some cases, I’ve even seen login pages where the password validation is done client-side — which either exposes the passwords to the end user via the ability to view page source or, at best, allows the end user to alter the form so that it always reports successful validation. Don’t let your Web site security be a victim of client-side data validation. Server-side validation does not fall prey to the shortcomings of client-side validation because a malicious security cracker must already have gained access to the server to be able to compromise it.
• Manage your Web site via encrypted connections: Using unencrypted connections (or even connections using only weak encryption), such as unencrypted FTP or HTTP for Web site or Web server management, opens you up to man-in-the-middle attacks and login/password sniffing. Always use encrypted protocols such as SSH to access secure resources, using verifiably secure tools such as OpenSSH. Once someone has intercepted your login and password information, that person can do anything you could have done.
• Use strong, cross-platform compatible encryption: Believe it or not, SSL is not the top-of-the-line technology for Web site encryption any longer. Look into TLS, which stands for Transport Layer Security — the successor to Secure Socket Layer encryption. Make sure any encryption solution you choose doesn’t unnecessarily limit your user base, the way proprietary platform-specific technologies might, as this can lead to resistance to use of secure encryption for Web site access. The same principles also apply to back-end management, where cross-platform-compatible strong encryption such as SSH is usually preferable to platform-specific, weaker encryption tools such as Windows Remote Desktop.
• Connect from a secured network: Avoid connecting from networks with unknown or uncertain security characteristics or from those with known poor security such as open wireless access points in coffee shops. This is especially important whenever you must log in to the server or Web site for administrative purposes or otherwise access secure resources. If you must access the Web site or Web server when connected to an unsecured network, use a secure proxy so that your connection to the secure resource comes from a proxy on a secured network. In previous articles, I have addressed how to set up a quick and easy secure proxy using either an OpenSSH secure proxy or a PuTTY secure proxy.
• Don’t share login credentials: Shared login credentials can cause a number of problems for security. This applies not only to you, the Webmaster or Web server administrator, but to people with login credentials for the Web site as well — clients should not share login credentials either. The more login credentials are shared, the more they tend to get shared openly, even with people who shouldn’t have access to the system. The more they are shared, the more difficult it is to establish an audit trail to help track down the source of a problem. The more they are shared, the greater the number of people affected when logins need to be changed due to a security breach or threat.
• Prefer key-based authentication over password authentication: Password authentication is more easily cracked than cryptographic key-based authentication. The purpose of a password is to make it easier to remember the login credentials needed to access a secure resource — but if you use key-based authentication and only copy the key to predefined, authorized systems (or better yet, to separate media kept apart from the authorized system until it’s needed), you will use a stronger authentication credential that’s more difficult to crack.
• Maintain a secure workstation: If you connect to a secure resource from a client system that you can’t guarantee with complete confidence is secure, you cannot guarantee someone isn’t “listening in” on everything you’re doing. Keyloggers, compromised network encryption clients, and other tricks of the malicious security cracker’s trade can all allow someone unauthorized access to sensitive data regardless of all the secured networks, encrypted communications, and other networking protections you employ. Integrity auditing may be the only way to be sure, with any certainty, that your workstation has not been compromised.
• Use redundancy to protect the Web site: Backups and server failover can help maintain maximum uptime. While failover systems can reduce outages due to server crashes (perhaps because of DDoS attacks) and server shutdowns (perhaps because the server was hijacked by a malicious security cracker) to mere hiccups in service, that isn’t the only value to redundancy. The duplicate servers used in failover plans also maintain an up-to-date duplication of server configuration so you don’t have to rebuild your server from scratch in case of disaster. Backups ensure that client data isn’t lost — and that you won’t hesitate to wipe out sensitive data on a compromised system if you fear that data may fall into the wrong hands. Of course, failover and backup solutions must be secured as well, and they should be tested regularly to ensure that if and when they are needed, they won’t let you down.
• Make sure you implement strong security measures that apply to all systems — not just those specific to Web security: For more detail, check out 10 security tips for all general-purpose OSes. It might be worth a read.

United Kingdom’s beatboxers performing live in London at Google offices.

Could one of these guys possibly be the next American idol? Note all the beer at the “Google offices”…interesting

~Web Traveler

Combine everything you love about your TV and the Web. Many companies have been trying to accomplish this, but have never succeeded. Well, Google does have the manpower and of course the money to pull this off.

Hey, this is great! I would love to stop paying for horrible cable and satellite TV. Nothing is ever on and every channel I think I’m interested of course says “for ordering information, please call…”. Arggg!

Seems to me that all that is needed is Internet access and the rest would be history. Hmmm. with the Google Internet project, maybe we will all have free high speed Internet too!

Check out Google’s video about Google TV

Here’s some of what Google is saying about it – plus some of the folks they are teaming up with:

Because Google TV is built on open platforms like Android and Google Chrome, these features are just a fraction of what Google TV can do. In our announcement today at Google I/O, we challenged web developers to start coming up with the next great web and Android apps designed specifically for the TV experience. Developers can start optimizing their websites for Google TV today. Soon after launch, we’ll release the Google TV SDK and web APIs for TV so that developers can build even richer applications and distribute them through Android Market. We’ve already started building strategic alliances with a number of companies — like Jinni.com and Rovi — at the leading edge of innovation in TV technology. Jinni.com is a next-generation TV application working to provide semantic search, personalized recommendation and social features for Google TV across all sources of premium content available to the user. Rovi is one of the world’s leading guide applications. We’re looking forward to seeing all of the ways developers will use this new platform.

We’re working together with Sony and Logitech to put Google TV inside of televisions, Blu-ray players and companion boxes. These devices will go on sale this fall, and will be available at Best Buy stores nationwide. You can sign up here to get updates on Google TV availability.

This is so exciting!

~Web Traveler

What is a Favicon?

They are those little images or “icons” in the address bar of your web browser. They show up in Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and just about all other web browsers. Sometimes they are next to the items in your RSS feeds.

They are fun and just about every website nowadays has one. Favicon – get it – “favorite icon”.

So, here’s how to make one. You will need

• access to your websites files and the ability to upload them – probably via FTP
• a text editor or other editor to open and modify your website files
• a graphics editor like Photoshop, Paint, etc.
• a digital image you want to use as your Favicon

Here are the steps:

1. Open the image you want to use as your Favicon in your favorite graphics editor. You can also create an image. You will need to make sure your image is also square so you may need to crop it a bit. Here we will use a logo for the Favicon.
   

   Keep in mind that you should keep your image simple with no text – unless it is like one capital letter. Favicons are very small and details will not likely show up very well in browsers.

2. From your menus, change the image size to 16 x 16 pixels.
   
   
3. Then save the file as favicon.png

   

4. Web browsers usually accept the file name with extension – favicon.ico by default for the image file so you will need to change the extension. Rename the file to favicon.ico and select the “Use .ico” option when prompted as below:

   

5. Now your favicon is ready to be uploaded to your server. Using an FTP client (free one is filezilla), upload your favicon to your root directory. This will usually be the directory your index.html file is.

   

6. Finally, all you need to do is add the HTML code to your webpages. Make sure you put the code on all pages in your website. The code is:
   <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico">The code should be placed between the head tags like so:
   <head>
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico">
<title>Your Website Title</title>
...might have other stuff...
</head>
7. You are finished! See a favicon in action at http://www.ngagedesign.com

   

Electroneuro what!!! That’s right! Electroneurodiagnostic Technology! So what is it?

Electroneurodiagnostic [END] technology is the allied health care profession that analyzes and monitors nervous system function to promote the effective treatment of neuropathological conditions. Technologists record electrical activity arising from the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, somatosensory or motor nerve systems using a variety of techniques and instruments.

~The American Society of Electroneurodiagnostic Technology

To become an END Technologist, one can attend one of several END schools. Technologists can also earn a professional registry in the END field by passing comprehensive exams. To be eligible to take these exams, a common pathway is to complete an accredited END program. This is where the CoA-END comes into play. The CoA-END or Committee on Accreditation for Education in Electroneurodiagnostic Technology’s primary function is to

review and evaluate educational programs in END to determine compliance with established Standards and Guidelines

The CoA-END contacted nGage Design Group to help them create a new look for their Website. The new look includes a photo collage of students from actual END programs and provides a new way to display their sponsors logos. The new site also has search functionality and special login areas for committee members as well as a forum or discussion board for educators to discuss best educational practices. There is an admin panel too so the executive director can update the text and change or upload new PDF documents and other files. Check out their new Website at http://www.coa-end.org

Oh, nGage even designed a new logo for the CoA-END! It represents some of the data the technologists collect. It’s great!

~Web Traveler

Need content for your website like photos, videos, content, or just want ideas? Creative Commons is the place! Plus, learn all about copyright too.

We work to increase the amount of creativity (cultural, educational, and scientific content) in “the commons” — the body of work that is available to the public for free and legal sharing, use, repurposing, and remixing.

Our tools give everyone from individual creators to large companies and institutions a simple, standardized way to grant copyright permissions to their creative work. The Creative Commons licenses enable people to easily change their copyright terms from the default of “all rights reserved” to “some rights reserved.”

Check out these videos!

Located in San Francisco California and serving the Bay Area, The GMAT Guru provides an exceptional professional tutoring service for the GMAT. Crowan Roberts, AKA the GMAT Guru, already had a Website, but wanted a new look with easy navigation for his clients. He contracted with nGage Design Group to create a redesign of the current website, that was not only fresh with a clean design, but that had the ultimate in flexibility – an admin panel. Admin panels are great for the savvy business owner who wants control over updating their website, plus it saves them money too!

Check out the GMAT Guru’s Website at www.790gmat.com

~Web Traveler