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<< Friday, June 13, 2003 >> |
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The universal client
The game of Web services is played by passing around XML documents. Office 2003 will be the superior technology for writing/editing (InfoPath) and analyzing (Excel) such documents, but in many cases users will be searching, viewing, tweaking, approving, and routing. It's a huge win if we can use Web standards to do these things in a lightweight, cross-browser, cross-platform way. We've waited so long for this moment to come. AOL, please don't screw it up. If you don't get why this matters, turn Mozilla over to an organization that does. [Full story at InfoWorld.com]
a different kind of universal client |
I posted this item in an odd way. As the screenshot shows, I'm running the Windows version of Radio UserLand on Mac OS X, by way of Connectix Microsoft Virtual PC. I don't enjoy these hall-of-mirrors effects for their own sake anymore. There's actually a reason for this crazy setup. I discovered a while ago that my standard procedure for cloning Radio from my desktop to my ThinkPad -- xcopy t:radio. c:radio. /s -- wasn't going to work for Mac OS X. There are scads of hardcoded paths scattered throughout the various .root files. (Phil Windley's generalization of my retitling script barely scratches the surface, as it turns out.) If there's a reliable fixup script, I'd like to hear about it. Meanwhile, it's a chance to put Virtual PC to the test. When it comes to universal clients, There's More Than One Way To Do It. Well, here goes...
...heh, I'll be damned (sorry, SurfControl) darned, it worked. Sure does suck drain the battery, though.
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Mozilla search plugins
Mozilla search plugins
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Don Box notices a cool IE feature. The view-source: protocol is supported. I tried it and it worked. Even cooler, I wasn't in IE at the time, I was in Firebird. I guess we should call it a browser feature :-)
Speaking of cool features, I've been meaning to mention Mycroft, a collection of search plugins for the Mozilla toolbar. These plugins work like Huevos, and a bunch of other doodads, so there's really nothing new here, but it's handy to be able to extend the browsers integrated search toolbar.
The screenshot shows Firebird with the standard set of plugins -- for Google, Google News, Amazon, and dmoz.org (Open Directory) -- plus a handful I've added. They're easy to make. As with Huevos and other tools, you just need to describe your search URL and parameterize the search term. For Mozilla, you also supply a 16x16 image to differentiate each plugin in the dropdown list. A simple description goes like this:
<search name="Jon's Radio" version="1.0" method="GET" action="http://search.atomz.com/search/">
<input name="sp-q" user>
<input name="sp-a" value="sp10022a3d">
</search>
Here are the files for the plugins shown in the screenshot:
Google MS: src, img, install to Mozilla InfoWorld: src, img, install to Mozilla Jon's Radio: src, img, install to Mozilla Safari Books Online: src, img, install to Mozilla Switchboard: src, img, install to Mozilla
You put them into a searchplugins directory whose location is platform-dependant. Here on Mac OS X, with Firebird, it's /Applications/Mozilla Firebird.app/Contents/MacOS/searchplugins.
The Switchboard example is slightly gratuitous. You can't find anybody in Switchboard with a single search term, so just winds up being a quick way to launch Switchboard with the person's last name already filled in.
Nothing earthshattering, but certainly handy. Here's the Mycroft directory of search plugins.
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Censored!
weblog.infoworld.com considered harmful
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A reader wrote to point out that weblog.infoworld.com is categorized by SurfControl as "Usenet News" and is, therefore, being blocked for people in organizations that deploy SurfControl's server-based filter.
Curious, I downloaded a copy of their software to check it out. Before I got a chance to look at it, I got a sales call from the SurfControl folks. Whom I proceeded to grill on their procedures. Is all "Usenet News" blocked by default? Yes. Can users override the block? Yes, either per-category or per-site. Does each such override require a transaction with the local SurfControl administrator? Yes. Will a subsequent recategorization by SurfControl take precedence over a locally-administered override? No. Does the operator of a categorized site receive any notification of the status assigned to it? No, it's up to you to check for yourself.
And then, of course, the burning question: how did my site get assigned to an objectionable category that's blocked unless users request an override?
SurfControl: We have a worldwide team of expert researchers who evaluate sites 24x7.
Jon: Hmm. Well it seems there's been an error. Can you please correct it?
SC: Give me the URL and I'll review your site.
JU: Look, just type "j-o-n" into Google and follow the first link.
(OK, that was bit was harsh, but geez, give me a break...)
I guess there's a good chance this will be fixed in a few days. Not that it matters much to readers of this blog, since few of you -- I suspect -- work in SurfControlled organizations. Still, the experience has opened a window onto a world I'm glad I don't live in.
Update: Jenny points out that maybe I do, or soon will, live in that world:
Imagine for a moment that you don't have internet access at home, school is closed for the day, or you're just at the public library doing your homework. In the near future, Congress may finally get its wish to force libraries to install filtering software like SurfControl on all of their internet terminals. They claim it's to protect the kids, but in reality it censors adults and kids alike. States are trying to do this, too, rather than leaving it up to you and your local community. [The Shifted Librarian]
I also note that although Scripting News may often be blocked, SurfControl has www.scripting.com in the presumably non-objectionable Computing & Internet category.
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