ComputerSecure Blog

This blog got about 30 spam comments in the last day or two.

So, I have just installed Yawasp - “Yet Another WordPress Anti-spam Plugin”.

If it is working properly, readers and people commenting on the blog will never even know it’s there.

If it not workng properly, then if you post a comment you may be falsely identified as a spam bot. Please don’t take personally if that happens - it’s just something wrong at this end.

I tried Google’s new browser, ‘Chrome’, a few week ago.

It seemed to be very fast and has some interesting features.

Click for bigger image in separate window.

I normally use a Linux system: as of today Chrome is not available for Linux, but it will be some time soon. I tried it on a Windows machine just because I’m curious.

What is the Chrome Browser?

I won’t use much space here for a full description of Chrome and what it is aiming to do.
You can read all about that at Google, in comic book format
That’s a detailed description, 38 pages.

The short version: main points:

These days web users access a lot of web applications rather than static web pages, so it would be good to have a browser optimized for that kind of usage.

Some of the things Chrome developers want to achieve:

(Pop-up pages will be confined to the tab they originated from.)

Processes run with restricted rights - they cannot just read and write anywhere on your hard drive. Also Chrome will know a blacklist of bad websites so it can warn about potential threats.

In this mode Chrome does not record any of your browsing history or keep the cookies

_____________________________________

I see on the internet that people have a lot of questions and opinions about Chrome and what Google is doing.
For example:
What exactly is Google planning by way of a business strategy, and future applications?
Why do they really want to develop a browser?
Should Google even be getting into browsers?
How much control of the web does Google want?
Will there be another browser war?

Well, I can’t answer those questions.

What I have here are some notes and impressions about what it was like for an ordinary user to download, install, and give Chrome a quick trial.
_________________________________

Downloading and Installing Chrome

First, just a niggle: I didn’t like the look of the terms and conditions: there was something about keeping Google up-to-date with my personal details. But it’s not really any different from many other license agreements.

But there is something that this should remind us about: using the internet is increasingly a matter of connecting with other people. The biggest money and traffic on the web is at the social sites - the social web. This means places like Yahoo Groups, Gmail, FaceBook and so on. Places where people can become known, share their thoughts, preferences, bookmarks, pictures, news. If, like me, you are concerned about privacy and security on the web, then let’s face it - we belong to a different age. Privacy is not the default setting any more.

Also in the Google terms and conditions there was a suggestion that I might want to print the terms for later reference. Does anybody actually do that?

When I continued to download and install Chrome it did not ask for my details anyway. I suppose that would come if or when I actually want to “access services” that they mentioned.

The installer offered to import bookmarks, passwords (!!) and other settings from Firefox.
No Thanks.
I do not like keeping passwords in any browser’s password utility.
Here’s why: Page about password security at ComputerSecure.net.

So, in summary:
Installation: Fast and easy. Pretty much a one-click download, one-click installation.
Start-up of Chrome browser: Fast.

__________________________________

Configuration Options

Let’s check the options.

Click for bigger image in separate window.

Options in the ‘Under the Hood’ department.

• A place for a proxy setting.
• Option for DNS pre-fetching for fast browsing.
• Phishing and Malware protection.
• SSL settings.
• Cookie Settings.
• Something about “Gears”.

(more…)

Just a note to explain…

If you are reading this site this week…

I am working on the design and layout at present. It’s possible that the appearance of the site may change suddenly before your very eyes.

It’s just because I am trying out different WordPress themes and settings.

At present I am quite keen on the Simplicity theme made by Lai Zit Seng.

Why? Well, for one thing, it’s simple.

And for another: a couple of us WordPress theme users/browsers pointed out some problems with the layout (about cross-browser compatibility), and Zit Seng had them fixed overnight.

What is Simplicity good for?

(These notes are for WordPress theme users…)

Simplicity is good for users who need a quick way to get a fluid or fixed-width layout with simple css.

The css is not cluttered with unwanted stuff: this is a tremendous advantage if you are not good at second-guessing a comprehensive style sheet made by another person.

I have been there: it’s not nice.

Some of us bloggers just want a basic theme with the layout we need. We can enhance it - with borders, fonts, colors etc. - later.

This would be the first blog post here at ComputerSecure.net.

I just installed WordPress 2.6 tonight.

I’m tempted to stay up for the rest of the night working on the WordPress templates - to make this blog fit in and look nice with the rest of the site. But we have to stop somewhere.

Playing with WordPress templates is just too diverting.