Tuesday, August 14, 2012 9:02:38 PM
You know what I hate? I hate when you go to the supermarket one week, and you can shop quickly because you know where everything is, and then they next week, you go back and the store has rearranged everything. I know why supermarkets do it. They want you to find new products while you're hunting for your regular ones.
I don't know why Google would do that, though. Favicons are part of brand recognition. Ever picked up something with new packaging and it say something like "Same thing - new package". Well, that's just fine, you now know to look for the new package when you're at the grocery store, of course, after they moved everything again. Favicons oh the other hand, are in your browser's tab bar, or in the bookmark/favorites list. They're small, and they don't have anything that says, "same thing - new package". It's confusing for users.
Here's Google's old image
And here's the new one
I like the old one better because it's more colorful, and easier to see. The new one just looks like a little blob of blue.
Friday, August 10, 2012 1:06:44 AM
I would appreciate it if you would share what I am writing here. Have you ever heard of a DDOS attack - it's a Distributed Denial Of Service. Basically, thousands of computer send simultaneous requests to a single server, and there are so many requests that the server is unable to respond, and has to shut down until the attack stops.
How does this happen? Computers that are infected with zombie bots that have been programmed to attack when instructed by the programmer. These programs often call home to get instructions, or act like a Trojan Horse and have a date and victim embedded in their programming.
I would hope that most people already have good virus protection, and malware protection, that should hopefully be able to spot these bots and kill them before they can do any harm. However, if you don't have virus protection (a lot of Mac owners are under the false impression that they are impregnable), or your virus definitions are out of date, or you are using high speed Internet without a hardware firewall or a software firewall, your computer could be a host for one of these bots. I would also recommend a software firewall that will alert you to any programs trying to make outgoing requests that are not on an allowed list.
Why am I posting this? I am posting this because a server where two of my domains are hosted is under attack. This is the second DDOS attack within the past month. It's too late for poor server 45, but, it's not too late to make sure your computer is not hosting zombie bots.
In 2007, Estonia was the victim of a DDOS attack that brought the country to its knees. That's an entire COUNTRY, not just a server. That's what I worry about. Although conventional warfare is nasty, a large scale DDOS attack on this country would severely cripple us - imagine not being able to get your email, surf the web, watch Netflix, text your friends and co-workers, and all the other things we now find essential. Making sure that your computer is secure, with the latest patches for all your software is a step in keeping our country safe.
Please share this with your friends, family, co-workers and neighbors.
My Opera
