HTNet - A Notepad of Tech, Business, Science and Self Improvement

It’s WCS time again! This week, I have a few web sites to showcase, and I’ll begin with a fun one; the blogger code. Basically, you’ll have to answer a few questions relating to your blogging activities, and the site will generate your very own blogger code. Found someone’s blogger code and need a decoder? Try here. I’ve included mine in the About HTNet page.

Using Windows and feeling left out of the FOSS revolution? Don’t worry! You could familiarise yourself with quality open source software that are available on Windows too! Check out the OSSwin project, and see what open source apps are available for you to choose from. Computing is not just limited to Microsoft stuff.

I simply must link to a web design site in every WCS, this time it’s Mandarin Design. They have interesting articles on styling your web site with (what else) CSS. The write ups on boxes are especially useful, and I plan to implement some of the stuff in my new site theme.

Have you ever wanted to know what more well-knowned individuals have accomplished when they were your age? Well, now you can. I’ve learnt that at age 28:

• The Danish physicist Niels Bohr published his revolutionary theory of the atom.
• French novelist George Sand published her first novel, Indiana.
• Dr. Ludwig Zamenhof of Warsaw invented the artificial language Esperanto.
• British physician Thomas Wakley began publishing The Lancet.
• Jamaican reggae composer/performer Bob Marley recorded “I Shot the Sheriff.”
• Nuclear plant lab tech Karen Silkwood died in a car crash on her way to meet with a New York Times reporter and a union official to document her allegations about falsified quality control reports.
• French naturalist Jean B. Lamarck coined the word biology to encompass the studies of botany and zoology.

I’m not really 28 yet… but will be in one month and three days time

WordPress 1.5.1.3 is now available. Users are encouraged to upgrade to this version due to an important security issue brought to the attention of the devs. Downloads are available here.

There’s a security update for the sudo package in recent Slackware versions. This includes 8.1, 9.0, 9.1, 10.0, 10.1 and current. A race condition could allow a user with sudo privileges to run arbitrary commands. Details are as follows:

Here are the details from the Slackware 10.1 ChangeLog:
+————————–+
patches/packages/sudo-1.6.8p9-i486-1.tgz: Upgraded to sudo-1.6.8p9.
This new version of Sudo fixes a race condition in command pathname handling that could allow a user with Sudo privileges to run arbitrary commands.
For full details, see the Sudo site:
http://www.courtesan.com/sudo/alerts/path_race.html
(* Security fix *)
+————————–+

You can use the Slackware package browser to obtain an updated version of this package for your Slackware installation. Lazier and smarter people like me will use updating tools such as Swaret or slapt-get

Missed me? Heh, anyway, I just got back from KL a few hours ago… actually my time of arrival is precisely 1530 @ GMT+8. By 1730, I’m at the office and being briefed by my MD on what has been happenning for the past three days (my leave period)… ah the challenges of business in these trying times It just makes me feel alive.

Soon after that, I went to a Proton Savvy launch at a close friend’s dealership. Seems bloody obvious that Proton has its eyes focused on the compact car market which has always been dominated by local rival Perodua. BTW, Perodua launched their latest model, Myvi roughly three weeks ago.

The two not only looks, but are priced similarly too… hell, even their names are almost the same! Both companies have gone on a totally different direction with their naming schemes. Nevertheless, from my first hand view of the two, I still prefer the Myvi over Proton’s new offering. The rear passenger legroom for Myvi is still much spacious compared to Savvy. But heck, both cars look much better than their predecessors. Finally, Malaysian compact cars that look modern and stylish.

Now back to my vacation story. I went for a swimming-cum-picnic-trip at Sungai Tekala, Selangor. Nice cold water, trees everywhere. I bet you can tell that I’m not really a nature lover, heh. I took a few pics, probably will upload them here later.

As promised, I also went to Times Square… and no, I didn’t stalk Lainie, nor did I go to any blogger convention. Like I said, I had totally zero interaction with the Internet whilst I was away… so I didn’t even know that there was such a blogmeet planned. My loss, I guess.

I did have fun on the rides at the indoor theme park in Times Square. I must have been a pilot in my previous life because not a single one of the rides made me puke… But I sure as hell had some long missing, g-force induced, adrenaline rush. For those with a weak stomach, stay the hell clear of DNA Mixer! It looks innocent enough when sitting idle, but when the ride starts… it’s really scary… heck, I rode the thing a few times and every time, someone pukes right after the ride! Definitely not recommended for those with weak stomaches.

Catching up on the latest tech news, I noticed that Apple finally confirmed that they do have plans to develop OSX for Intel chips (is it also safe to assume that it’ll be x86 compatible?). Never thought the day would come… heh, not that I’m actually pining for OSX on x86 anyway. And as usual, the paranoid “Linux is now oh so dead” crowd, will have something to say about it.

On a more personal note, I’m starting to have a feeling that vacations actually stresses me out more than working. I missed the challenges of operating a business severely. Heck… maybe I’m just a bloody corporate bastard… and proud of it too

While reading Blogsforfirefox and Status Quo, I saw that both of them linked to an article on PCWorld titled The 100 Best Products of 2005. The magazine has named Mozilla Firefox as Product of the Year. Congrats to the MozFo, coders, themers and users who keep making this browser better everyday.

Browsing over to T. Longren, he has not one, not two, but three articles relating to Firefox. Really interesting read. Even learnt about this cool extension called Cute Menus from his site.