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Mozilla Firefox 1.0.5 has been released to the public. This is basically a security fix release that addresses some known vulnerabilities that has been affecting the previous version. From the What’s New section of the page:

Firefox 1.0.5 is a security update that is part of our ongoing program to provide a safe Internet experience for our customers. We recommend that all users upgrade to this latest version.

Here’s what’s new in Firefox 1.0.5:

• Several security fixes.
• Improvements to stability.

More news on Blogs for Firefox, but before that: Download Firefox 1.0.5 now.

New PHP packages are available for Slackware 8.1, 9.0, 9.1, 10.0, 10.1, and -current to fix a security issue with the PEAR XML_RPC class that allows a remote attacker to run arbitrary PHP code. Sites that make use of this PHP library should upgrade to the new PHP package right away, or may instead upgrade the XML_RPC PEAR class with the following command:

pear upgrade XML_RPC

More details about this issue may be found in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database:

http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CAN-2005-1921

Details from the Slackware-current changelog:

+————————–+
php-4.4.0-i486-1.tgz: Upgraded to php-4.4.0.
This new PHP package fixes a PEAR XML_RPC vulnerability. Sites that use this PEAR class should upgrade to the new PHP package, or as a minimal fix may instead upgrade the XML_RPC PEAR class with the following command:
pear upgrade XML_RPC
(* Security fix *)
+————————–+

Update: There’s been a mistake in the build for 8.1, 9.0 and 9.1. Details are as follows:

Sorry folks, I mistakenly used a build template that was too new to build the first round of PHP packages for Slackware 8.1, 9.0, and 9.1, which tried to place the module in /usr/libexec/apache (older versions of Slackware use /usr/libexec instead), and tried to link to incorrect libraries and features. These packages have been replaced with working ones. The packages for 10.0, 10.1, and -current were OK.

This is unbelievable, I’ve heard lots of things being blamed on drugs, but surely this one will take the cake. Here’s an excerpt from the Telegraph News article:

One patient lost £110,000 in six months after being put on the treatment. The 11 affected patients in the study were all receiving dopamine agonist drugs such as pramipexole and ropinirole, used to control movement problems caused by Parkinson’s disease.

Six of them developed other problems along with the gambling, including compulsive eating, increased alcohol consumption, increased spending and “hypersexuality”. This involved increased interest in pornography, extramarital affairs “or increased sex drive bothersome to the spouse”.

Let’s see… that’s gluttony, lust and greed. Not bad, just one drug can give you a SDSCR of 3:7… and this thing is supposed to treat Parkinson’s Disease *shiver*

I’ve just updated some files on my home box which runs Slackware-current when I noticed the following new file:

New: pkgtools-10.2.0-i486-1 (179 kB) - Installed: pkgtools-10.1.0-i486-4

Usually, the pkgtools package version numbering is consistent with the Slackware version it ships with. I guess when /etc/slackware-version file is updated, which by the way, is in the aaa_base package, then we’ll definitely know that things are cooking.

For now, all us Slackers can do is just wait patiently for more news

Currently, one of the most profitable online revenue tools for webmasters would be Google’s AdSense programme. Google has managed to combine semantic keyword rankings and on the fly advertisement generation into an amazing science in itself. Before you proceed reading this article, you might want to get a brief overview of Google’s acquisition of Applied Semantics as well as an overview of the AdSense programme itself. This is not compulsory, but it will definitely help you understand AdSense better, and thus use this knowledge to maximize your revenue.

Read the rest of Making Sense of AdSense »