Goodies to Go ™
March 29, 2004–Newsletter #278
This newsletter is part of the internet.com network.
http://www.internet.com
Featured this week:
* Goodies Thoughts – The Name of
Notoriety?
* Q & A Goodies
* News Goodies
* Goodies Peer Reviews
* Feedback Goodies
* Windows Tech Goodies
* And Remember This…
Goodies Announcement
The new Beyond HTML Goodies book
is now available!
Go beyond the basics
and learn how the pros add and use dynamic HTML features and advanced
JavaScript techniques. Beyond HTML Goodies demonstrates dozens of new and
different features readers can add to their existing Web pages using HTML and
JavaScript. The book starts with simple text and image tips, such as adding a
clock to a Web page or causing text to appear when the mouse moves over an
image. It gradually builds to more complex tricks, including manipulating forms
or working with cookies behind the scenes. Throughout the book, readers enjoy
Joe’s snappy style and “to the point” discussion of each “goody” in the book.
http://books.internet.com/books/0789727803
Goodies Thoughts – The Name of Notoriety?
Do you recognize the name Kevin Mitnick? What if I was to use it
in the same sentence as the words "computer hacker"? Now you know, huh?!! Kevin
Mitnick was the "world’s most notorious hacker" until he was caught by the FBI
back in 1995 for illegally copying the source code to some proprietary software
at Digital Equipment Corporation and for cheating MCI out of long distance
charges.
His notoriety grew dramatically as the government explained their take on his
capabilities and the press diligently reported it. The "notorious hacker" might
have added to his eventual plight by successfully illuding the FBI for about
five years – that never seems to tickle their funny bones! A prosecutor,
presenting his case for Mitnick being denied bail claimed that he might be able
to start a nuclear war by whistling into a telephone. The Judge, denying him
bail, described him as a danger to the community when he’s "armed" with a
keyboard.
The truth of Kevin’s story is fascinating reading. I encourage you to do a
little research on the Internet (his name alone pops up about 75,000 Google
hits!) and read the story for yourself. It raises many interesting points about
both society and the legal system in the United States.
Kevin was at the Infosec World Conference last week, and was interviewed in
front of a large audience by a former prosecutor, now Information Security
consultant, who had worked on the case against Kevin. Kevin is a very
personable, charming man with a good sense of humor. As a result, the interview
was both highly entertaining and informative, though at one point the former
prosecutor did get a little excited in describing Kevin’s past antics!
There were a couple of points raised that I thought you might be interested in.
The first was that we tend to trust certain types of technology that we really
shouldn’t. To demonstrate an example he called the cell phone of an audience
member and asked them what number they would like to see being displayed on
their caller ID as the calling number. The number they gave is the number that
showed up. Thus, a call could be made by anybody, but come up on your phone as a
familiar number. Trust some other identification, not just the number on your
caller ID!!!
The other point was the descriptions Kevin gave of methods he used to obtain
access to the computer systems at DEC (and other types of information access.)
He employed a methodology he calls "Social Engineering". He illustrates the
method with little stories, which, when you hear them in the context of hacking,
are truly eye-opening. Studying these methods will make you far more aware of
situations you could find yourself in, which could in turn lead you into loss.
Kevin has published a book entitled "The Art of Deception". It is a very
entertaining read and truly educational. I highly recommend that everybody who
uses a computer read this book. That’s all of you – and probably just about
everybody!
Thanks for Reading!
– Vince Barnes
Q & A Goodies
Questions are taken from submissions to our Community Mentors. You can ask a Mentor a question by going to
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/mentors.
Q. I am trying to find a way to make it so that a drop down menu can be
displayed on all my web pages. I wish to have the main code at one page so that
if I make a change on the main page it will show on all the other pages
containing the drop down menu. Please refer to my website for an exampleof the
drop down menu I am refering too!
A. If you are referring to your "Store Categories" menu, you can use a js
file.
1. In your text or html editor, create a new file and save it with a .js
extension such as filename.js
2. Insert the following (you can change variablename to whatever you want) into
the js file:
var variablename=" "document.write(variablename);
3. Cut and paste your complete form code, including the form tags, into the
space between the double quotation marks – " in item 2.
4. Replace all the double quotation marks in your form code with single
quotation marks – ‘ ( Note that the double quotes in item 2 must remain as
double quotes)
5. Remove all carriage returns from the js file so that if you disable word
wrapping, you will see one long line of code.
6. In your page’s code, replace the form code, including the form tags, with the
following:
<script language="JavaScript" src="filename.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
You can insert this script into any page where you want the menu to appear.
To make changes, you need only edit the js file.
You can read more on this topic in the HTMLGoodies web site tutorial "So, You
Want An External JavaScript, Huh?" at
http://htmlgoodies.earthweb.com/beyond/extjs.html
Q. I am trying to put a list of data in a table format so that it will take up
less of the page length. The code looks like this:
<TABLE>
<TR>
<UL>
<TD> <LI>Armors and Weapons </TD>
<TD> <LI>Art, Poetry and Music </TD>
<TD> <LI>Castles </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD> <LI>Cathedrals and Monasteries</TD>
<TD> <LI>Coats of Arms (Heraldry)</TD>
<TD> <LI>Dragons and Beasts </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD> <LI>Heroes and Legends </TD>
<TD> <LI>Illuminated Manuscripts </TD>
<TD> <LI>Knights</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD> <LI>Mages and Wizards</TD>
<TD> <LI>Medieval History </TD>
<TD> <LI>Medieval Life </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD> <LI>Sites for Kids </TD>
<TD> <LI>Medieval School Projects </TD>
<TD> <LI>Illuminated Manuscripts </TD>
</TR>
</UL>
</TABLE>
It did a great job of putting the list into three bulleted columns, but for some
reason, in doing so, the font size shrunk. The rest of the page is font
size="3". I tried changing the height, putting a font size command in the TD
brackets, and a few other places, but I just can’t seem to get it to work. I
searched the HTML Goodies site but couldn’t find an answer. How do I change the
look of the writing within a table?
A. You should be using a style sheet to control your font sizes. This way
you can designate the size once, in the style sheet and everything on the page
will stay consistant.
For instance, if you wanted all of your lists to be VERDANA and size 11px you
wouls place this code in the between <HEAD> tags of your HTML:
<style type=text/css>
<!–
li { font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px }
–>
</style>
Now take a look at all of your lists.
Read the tutorial on the HTMLGoodies site that can be found here:
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/design/css-html-text-color/
Q. Hello, how can I use a jpeg picture of my own as
<BODY BGCOLOR="C:WINDOWSDesktopHTMLorange.jpg"> ?
A. The first problem is your code instructs the browser where to find the
file on your PC, so it will work only on your PC. You need to use a relative
URL, so you can upload your site to your server and it will still work.
Typically images are in a directory called "images" which is a subdirectory of
the directory which holds your HTML files, so you should create such a directory
and code the background like so:
<body background="images/orange.jpg">.
Also note the the attribute for a background image is "background." "bgcolor" is
for a background color.
Q. I am having trouble lacing an apostrophe on my web site. How do I make
the apostrophe?
A. You can use the ASCII code equivilent which is ' and it will make
the apostrophe display. Code it like so:
<p>'</p>
for just a plain apostrophe or
<p>Karen's</p>
To get a name with an apostrophe before the letter s.
Q. I have link that is targeted to open in a new browser window. I want
to force the behaviour of the new window but cannot find out how to do so. The
behaviour I want to force is as follows:
The browser window has no nav bar, address bar etc.; the size of the browser
window is dictated by me.
A. This script opens a new window:
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="javascript">
<!–
window.open (‘titlepage.html’, ‘newwindow’, config=’height=100,
width=400, toolbar=no, menubar=no, scrollbars=no, resizable=no,
location=no, directories=no, status=no’)
–>
</SCRIPT>
The first parameter is the file that opens in the new window, the second is the
name of the window, the third is the configuration of the window like size,
toolbars and such. "No" keeps them off, and "yes" includes them.
Q. I downloaded the following script and I am somewhat at my wit’s end in
trying to figure out how to modify it to suit my needs:
<script language="JavaScript"><!–
function addDays(myDate,days) {
return new Date(myDate.getTime() + days*24*60*60*1000);
}
document.write(addDays(new Date(),10));
//–></script>
The script outputs the date and time x-number of days in advance of the current
date and time. I would like to alter it so that it only outputs the date and not
the time. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? I’ve been trying to figure this
thing out for about three hours on my own.
A. Here is a slight modification of the script that will write out the
date only in mm/dd/yyyy format.
<html>
<head>
<title>Date and Time Print</title>
</head>
<body>
<script language="JavaScript"><!–
function addDays(myDate,days) {
return new Date(myDate.getTime() + days*24*60*60*1000);
}
new_date=addDays(new Date(),10)
year=new_date.getFullYear()
month=new_date.getMonth()
day=new_date.getDate()
document.write(month+"/"+day+"/"+year);
//–></script>
</body>
</html>
Q. How is SHTML related to HTML?
A. The .shtml extension means that server side includes (SSI) code is
being used with the html code. Here is a link describing it:
http://htmlgoodies.earthweb.com/beyond/ssi.html
News Goodies
Google Makeover Gets ‘Personal’
[March 29, 2004] The Froogle comparison shopping tool lands
on the front page alongside a new personalized search service.
Click
here to read the article
Macromedia ‘Flexes’ Its Flash Muscles
[March 29, 2004] Programmer rebuilds its Flash authoring tools from the
ground up to make Web application development standards-based and
programmer-friendly.
Click here to read the article
A Sneak Peek at the Next Windows CE
[March 29, 2004] Microsoft hands out a preview kit for version 5.0 of its
operating environment it hopes will give non-PC devices a desktop-like
experience.
Click here to read the article
Plumtree, Yahoo Team for Enterprise IM Tools
[March 29, 2004] Yahoo Messenger looks for more enterprise homes via
Plumtree’s Enterprise Web Suite.
Click
here to read the article
Adaptec Appliance Backs Up PC and Laptop Data
[March 29, 2004] The company unveils a storage appliance that
provides real-time backup and protection of PC and laptop
information.
Click here to read the article
Gates Weighs In On Spyware Issue
[March 26, 2004] Microsoft’s chairman says ‘parasitic’
software is turning the Internet into a billboard.
Click here to read the article
Patent Suit Targets Dell, Intel
[March 26, 2004] MicroUnity claims ownership on seven multimedia
technologies found in PCs, including Hyper-Threading and Streaming SIMD
Extensions.
Click here to read the article
It’s a (Real) Buffer Overflow Problem
[March 26, 2004] RealNetworks confirms a potential root exploit flaw in
multiple Helix Universal Server products.
Click here to read the article
HP Sues Gateway Over Patents
[March 26, 2004] UPDATED: Lawyers for the manufacturer say they terminated
its license with eMachines, recently aquired by Gateway.
Click here to read the article
IT Execs Say Added Linux Support = Peace of Mind
[March 25, 2004] Expanded support from HP and IBM will make Linux an easier
sell in the enterprise, attendees of Novell’s BrainShare Conference said.
Click here to read the article
Every week a site is selected for review. Each week,
reviews of the previous week’s selected site are chosen for
publication on the HTML Goodies website.
The current week’s selected site is published in Goodies To
Go and in the Peer Reviews section of the website.
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Ploof! It now is!
If you would like to comment on the newsletter or expand/improve on something
you have seen in here, you can now send your input to:
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those relating specifically to this newsletter from all the rest. When you send
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newsletter, to be shared with your fellow readers.
Please don’t send your questions to this address.
They should be sent to our mentors: see
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/mentors/
For those who are missing Peer reviews: we are once again
revising the Peer review program in the hopes of creating a
workable solution. The current plan is to move the new Peer
Review pages into place in the new year. All those who have
been selected for reviews in the past will be featured in
the new pages. The new method will make it much easier for
your peers to provide feedback and much easier for us to
handle the publication side of things. "Watch this space!"
It’s coming soon!!
Thanks again for all your feedback!
Top
Windows Tech Goodie of the Week:
Intellectual Property Protection and Code Obfuscation
http://www.15seconds.com/issue/040310.htm
Learn about the execution process of CLR-based programs and
how to protect your applications from being easily
disassembled back into source code.
*** And ***
Database Search ASP.NET Sample Code
http://www.asp101.com/samples/db_search_aspx.asp
This sample code takes user input from a form and searches
for matches in a database table. Need I say more?
Top
And Remember This . . .
On this day in…
1974 Mariner 10 Visited Mercury
Launched in 1973, the Mariner 10 unmanned space probe became the
first craft to visit Mercury, the first planet. Eight weeks earlier
it whipped around Venus to use its gravity as a slingshot to send it
on its way to Mercury. Mercury is a difficult planet to observe
because it is so close to the sun. Between 1974 and 1975 Mariner
made three fly-bys of the planet and sent back detailed images of
about a third of the planet’s cratered surface. Mercury is the
second smallest planet. Its year (one orbit of the sun) is 88 earth
days. Its day (one rotation on its own axis) is very long, however,
because it rotates so slowly. It takes 58 earth days to complete one
rotation, making it very inhospitable. During the "day" (on the side
of the planet facing the sun) the temperature climbs to 800 degrees
F (427: C), while a night it drops to -280:F (-173:C). No spacecraft
has yet been back to visit Mercury.
Today was also the day that in: 1795 Ludwig van Beethoven at
the age of 24, made his debut as a pianist in Vienna; 1827
Ludwig van Beethoven was buried in Vienna; 1848 ice stopped
the flow of water over Niagara Falls for thirty hours; 1871
Queen Victoria opened the Royal Albert Hall in London; 1882
the Knights of Columbus was chartered for Catholic men; 1929
Henry Segrave became the first to exceed 200mph at Daytona speedway,
setting the record at 203.79 mph in his Sunbeam; 1932 Jack
Benny made his debut on radio; 1951 "The King and I" opened
in New York City with the first of 1,246 performances; 1961
Nelson Mandela was acquitted of treason charges following a four and
a half year long trial; 1964 Radio Caroline went on the air
as the first Pirate Radio station, operating from outside England’s
territorial waters; 1973 the last US troops left Vietnam;
1986 Beatles records officially went on sale in Russia; 1989
Junk bond king Michael Milken was indicted in New York; 1990
the "Zodiac Killer" in New York killed his second victim – Germaine
Montenesdro; 1994 Cease fire agreement between Serbs and
Croats ended the war in Croatia;
Born today were: in 1888 United Parcel Service founder James
E Casey; 1905 Italian orchestra leaader Annunzio Mantovani;
1908 actor Arthur O’Connell; 1908 actor Dennis
O’Keefe; 1913 Irish actor Niall MacGinnis; 1913
comedian/actor Phil Foster (Frank De Fazio – Laverne & Shirley);
1918 singer Pearl Bailey; 1918 billionaire retailer Sam Walton;
1931 English banker Evelyn de Rothschild; 1939 Chinese
actress (Hong Kong) Nancy Kwan; 1943 English comedian/actor
Eric Idle; 1943 former British Prime Minister John Major;
1943 Greek musician Evangelos Papathanassiou (Vangelis); 1945
English actress Julie Goodyear (Corronation Street); 1956
singer LaToya Jackson; 1959 English actress Marina Sirtis;
1964 Australian supermodel Elle McPherson;
Thanks for reading Goodies to Go!