February 2008

Greetings WOW Members and Web professionals everywhere. Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW and the WOW Technology Minute. It?’s web news Monday and here?’s what shaping our Web world this week.

A special public meeting of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission meets at Harvard Law School today.

The Associated press reports that he Internet Forum is headed for Boston this week with an agenda to weigh whether users should be free to surf when and where they want and download what they please vs. the potential rights of the networks that make up the Internet.   As you know, recent events involving Comcast Corp. and Verizon Wireless have raised questions about network owners interfering with customer traffic flow.

To review the entire article visit:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j6yyNoLav
VPBjHwb3lUUcN1XaZeAD8V075TO0

In other news, Goolag Tool is available that lets Google Aid Hackers
The Washington Post is reporting that the hacking group Cult of the Dead Cow has released a tool that should make Google hacking a little easier for novices. Called Goolag, the open-source software lets hackers use the Google search engine to scan Web sites for vulnerabilities. Goolag comes with an easy-to-use graphical interface. It is based on techniques developed by Computer Sciences Corp. researcher Johnny Long, a well-known computer hacker who has spent years documenting the way that Google’s search engine can be used to uncover security vulnerabilities in the Web sites it indexes.
To review the entire article visit:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/23/AR2008022301481.html

Speaking of security, the New York Times is reporting that a group led by a Princeton University computer security researcher has developed a simple method to steal encrypted information stored on computer hard disks.
The technique, which could undermine security software protecting critical data on computers, is as easy as chilling a computer memory chip with a blast of frigid air from a can of dust remover. Encryption software is widely used by companies and government agencies, notably in portable computers that are especially susceptible to theft.

To review the entire article visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/technology/22chip.html?em&ex=1203915600&en=13d01f43eefefaeb&ei=5087%0A
 
In other news, I read a thoughtful editorial from Sitepoint?’s, Kevin Yank regarding Microsoft?’s effort to purchase Yahoo.  In short, Kevin writes that “Yahoo! Design Patterns Library has set the gold standard for well-documented, reusable JavaScript and user interface design resources. And these resources are just two prominent examples of all the good work Yahoo! has been doing (and giving away) at the Yahoo! Developer Network.”

He adds that “Yahoo! is the only big web company in business today that I?’d trust with the future of the Web. Their continuing efforts to make life better for web developers, their willingness to provide open APIs for getting data into and out of their applications, and their recent investments in open initiatives like OpenID all point to a company that understands the potential of the Web if it is developed openly.”“In sharp contrast, he writes that Google won?’t even bother to serve a proper DOCTYPE declaration on its main search form (the most-visited page on the Web without a DOCTYPE declaration?).”

And finally he didn?’t have anything great to say about Microsoft as well.

To review the entire article visit:
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/02/19/yahoo-for-sale-will-developers-be-left-behind/

For further details and the links to these stories check out today?’s WOW Technology Minute at www.webprominute.org

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Greetings WOW members and Web professionals everywhere!

Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters and the WOW Technology Minute.  It?’s Web News Monday and here?’s what shaping your Web world this week. 
Most likely, you?’ve already heard that Microsoft has placed a hostile bid for Yahoo. If you?’ve been in the field for awhile then this probably doesn?’t come as a surprise to you since this has been rumored for a long time.

Since Web professionals and the customers we serve are most likely to be financially impacted by this announcement, I?’ve been monitoring the press coverage and the blogs to determine if this is a good thing for WOW members.

Here are the high level of the points to think about:

According to reports, Yahoo will reject the bid today. The NY Times reports that one person involved in Yahoo?’s deliberations suggested that “the sum of the parts are worth more than the whole,” arguing that its various pieces like Yahoo Finance, for example, could be sold to a company like the News Corporation for a huge premium while Yahoo Sports could be sold to a company like ESPN.

Tim O’Reilly is the founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, Inc., says that it’s really the first of many more consolidation steps for the computer industry. Every new industry starts with a few crazy innovators, who are followed by thousands of entrepreneurs engaged in a fierce Darwinian competition. Some of those entrepreneurs build large companies, but as the new industry that has been created matured, few of them make it to the finish line.

The New York Times, also quotes Google, seeing the potential deal as a direct attack, went much further. Its chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, placed a call to Yahoo?’s chief, Jerry Yang, offering the company?’s help in fending off Microsoft, possibly in the form of a partnership between the companies, people briefed on the call said.

The New York Times also reports that “Google?’s lobbyists in Washington have also begun plotting how it might present a case against the transaction to lawmakers, people Executives at rival companies were less optimistic about such a breakup strategy. “No one can get to a $44 billion price,” one executive at a major media company said, “even if you split it into a dozen pieces.”

In other news, the Associated Press reports that “some analyst wonder if its worth the while citing investor doubts whether the benefits outweigh the potential management distractions, sagging employee morale and other headaches. The investor backlash has reduced the Microsoft?’s market value by more than the 40 billion a sum roughly equal to the current value of the Yahoo bid. “

To listen to the entire podcast visit: www.webprominute.org

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Greetings WOW members and Web professionals everywhere!

Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters and the WOW Technology Minute.  

If you?’ve been following this podcast then you already know that last month we conducted a number of interviews regarding designing with Best Practices in mind.  Although we?’ve moved to another topic for February, I wanted to share with you an e-mail response to my question of what the topics means to you from Roger Johansson of www.456bereastreet.com

Roger is a Swedish web professional specializing in web standards, accessibility, and usability. Here is` what he had to say:

Designing with best practices is what I think all designers and developers should always be doing, of course. But to be more specific, it means adhering to web standards and keeping usability and accessibility in mind throughout the entire design and development process.

Another couple of things that are really important but often overlooked are making sure you understand your client’s needs and create a well thought-through interaction design before even thinking about what the end result will look like or writing any code.

Designing with best practices also means avoiding to get locked in or overly constrained by the tools you are using. Probably the most common example of that is using a content management system that does not let you take full control of the final output sent to the visitors’ web browsers, making it much harder or even impossible to create a fully accessible and interoperable site. I know that many people are stuck using systems like that and it’s not always possible to avoid, but if at all possible you want to avoid a CMS that does not let you use web standards properly.

And finally, I’d say it is best practice to keep up with best practices in your particular field, since both web design and web development constantly evolve.

Roger

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