Facebook

OK, so I'm late for the Facebook party but, in the words of Monty Python, I'm 37 ... I'm not old! ;-)

Most amusing thing so far (other than: where do people find the time?) is the following found on the YOU KNOW YOU'VE BEEN IN UNIVERSITY TOO LONG WHEN... group:

BEFORE I CAME TO UNIVERSITY, I WISH I HAD KNOWN...

That Psychology is really Biology, that Biology is really Chemistry, that Chemistry is really Physics and that Physics is really Maths.

;-) how true: A-levels don't prepare you for that!

MySQL configuration for security

fuþark started an interesting discussion on the possibilities of a MySQL worm ... not wanting to get embroiled in the technicalities I was struck by the sense of his suggestions for administrators securing their installations and so I've reproduced them here for future reference:

1. It's obvious but probably still has to be stressed again: Disable all default accounts on any installation immediately (yes, even if those default accounts wouldn't allow for a remote connection) and follow the next rules even if you just set up a test account (yes, even if your server is currently not connected to the Internet). You never know what your server might be used for in the future and what you then might to forget to adjust.
2. Use strong passwords for any account.
3. Preferably also use stronger user names for your administrative accounts, root and admin are probably the first ones to be tried.
4. Disable network access to MySQL completely if you don't need it (add skip-networking to your my.cnf file).
5. Use the host feature of the MySQL GRANTs system to restrict any account to the source addresses it really needs.
6. Never allow an administrative account (with the SUPER privilege or write access to the mysql system database) to be connected to from any remote host (%).
7. If your MySQL port has to be open to the Internet, always use a firewall that restricts access to it by source addresses.

(http://www.futhark.ch/mysql/150.html)

Climate of fear?

The BBC's report of a "bat box" being investigated by bomb squad was not a case of mistaken identity (it looked like a bomb!) but fear-induced over-sensitivity (terrorists want to blow-up the UK ... it might be a bomb!)

Oddly, something similar's happening where I work: several people have commented to me recently (post-Virginia Tech. and UK knife attacks) that it's only a matter of time before a member of staff is seriously injured. Is that an exaggerated concern? We have seen an apparent rise in aggressive behaviour by students but will it escalate to the point where weapons are involved or permanent harm is done? I hope not — we have administrative staff in vulnerable positions (evidence: most student-facing office redesigns incorporate mechanisms to keep students physically separate from staff. How long 'til we have glass screens and speakerphones?) and lecturers in solo offices (like me) seem most vulnerable to attack.

Personally I don't feel under threat,. Perhaps I'm just naïve, but I can't envisage one of our students pre-meditatedly attacking me over a failing grade or harsh feedback. However maybe we do need better/more/some! training in dealing with stressful situations: impulse attacks are less to be feared if you can defuse the situation.

I hope we don't end up with metal-detectors: whilst you might feel safe being assured that students aren't carrying weapons, a person who might have been willing to pull a knife in a difficult situation is just as likely to grab a stapler, letter-opener, etc ... blimey, a pen can be an effective weapon and we want students to have them!

MySQL and Flickr

...an excellent example of using MySQL and a distributed DB strategy (not a DDBMS) by Flickr ... wish I'd seen it a month ago!

Web design profession survey

A list apart has produced a survey asking questions of "our" profession (I count myself as an educator of web professionals and, by association, one of 'em!) ... fill it in and await the results ;-)

Minutes to Midnight

Eagerly-anticipated (by me, anyway!) new album from Linkin Park ... a bit concerned about the fact that (according to their press) the album takes a more melodic and progressive direction than its predecessors, with the band utilising new instruments and recording techniques ... nu-prog-metal? say it ain't so! ;-)

The IQ speed bump

From a friend observing a chat session:

Some people should not be allowed on the internet! Observe:

dftpnkezln:

For all of you reporting a score more than 100 as you iq lol @ you. How can you possibly score more than 100%?

dftpnkezln:

I'm very happy with my score of 89.

LOL

From http://xkcd.com/c221.html -- made me genuinely LOL:
:-D

Ripoff software Unicode support

We're currently upgrading from v3 to v4 of a well-known application for authoring, scheduling, delivering and reporting online assessments, namely Perception.

v4 supports Unicode.

Yay! :-)

v4 has 2 licenses, one supporting less than one-tenth of one percent of the Unicode gamut, and the other supporting all of it.

Boo! :-(

This seems a little strange because if you support ASCII and your browser supports Unicode then you can do Unicode for free with ASCII by using HTML entities!

OK, you might think: I'll just use ASCII and HTML entities and at least I can see what the additional expense gets me -- built-in Unicode, so I'm happy to struggle along with entities until such time as it becomes worth the expense. (So for instance, I wanted an em-dash "—", which is — in any modern browser.)

Enter the ripoff: Their software's editor permits you to enter HTML entities directly (yay!) but as soon as you exit "raw HTML mode" it parses them into Unicode characters (vaguely sensible if you support Unicode, I suppose.) However the kicker is that you cannot then publish an assessment item containing the character that started life as an ASCII-encoded HTML entity unless you buy the expensive Unicode-complete license! ARGH! ... and my bet is that the difference in cost between licenses is not trivial :-(

(Disclaimer: This is just my opinion, does not reflect the opinion of my employer and could easily have been written by terrifying space monkeys ... YMMV!)

Comments & criticism: Woo-hoo! or Uh-oh?

I've just noticed a comment on a post I made about accessibility where I criticised a web site for its mark-up (<span> and <div> galore; no meaningful HTML elements except <a>) and I was sooo excited & responded straightaway...

Now I'm nervous: The commenter identified himself as "Steve Bailey" and a quick Google for "steve bailey hyfinity" highlights a potential link -- is the person posting the comment "chief e-business architect" at the company whose web site I was critical of?

So perhaps now is a good time to give a caveat: Anything appearing on this blog is my opinion and is in no way associated with my employer!

I'm not retracting anything -- what I said in Feb. 2005 was correct then & it's correct now: Building a page out of meaningless span and div elements with meaningful class names is not the right way to do it! Screen readers, mobile browser (who may lose CSS), anyone in text mode or not getting the visual emphasis derived from such classitis can't see information conveyed visually by lists, paragraphs and headings unless they're marked-up as such with the correct HTML elements.