Broadband Internet Speed test

As announced on the official Firefox web site, Firefox 1.5 RC3 is available for download.
Available for Windows, MacOS and Linux, only in English as of this writing, but expect other languages soon.

Not posted on the website yet, but Release Candidate #2 of the open source web browser Firefox 1.5 is out.

Available for Linux (i686), MacOS X and Windows.

For the first time Microsoft has admitted that Firefox has sufficient market share to warrant its support.

Live.com is Microsoft’s new “Web 2.0″ service, bringing together various information sources across the net.

However, the Microsoft programmers have clearly yet to get to grips with Firefox. Microsoft admits there is a bug in search tabs, which ‘look strange but are functional’ with the promise it will be fixed soon too. Similarly, a search for Excel using Internet Explorer and Firefox will come up with different results.

Live.com blog

Internet security firm Websense is warning surfers to be on guard for a phishing e-mail that pretends to be from Google alerting recipients that they have won $400.

The e-mail directs users to a spoofed copy of Google’s site, where “winners” are prompted to click on another link to claim their prize money. The next page asks the visitor to enter their credit card number and shipping address.

Wireless Internet access is ever so convenient; no need for messy ethernet cables when sitting with your wifi-enabled laptop in the sofa relaxing. This convenience can come at a price though. Your wireless access point (WLAN access point, WAP) could probably do with some locking down, especially if you’ve never even visited the administration interface of it.

Most WLAN access points are NOT secure out of the box.
Consult your WAP manual and make sure you at least do the following:

• Enable password protection/change default password for administration interface
• Enable logging
• Disable broadcasting of SSID
• Enable WEP (Wired Equivalency Privacy).
  This encrypts data transmitted over the air. WEP has flaws which can be exploited, but it’s still better than no encryption at all.
• Use MAC access control list.
  This makes sure your access point only talks to your computers. You may find a record of your computer’s MAC address in the WAP log (you did enable logging, didn’t you?)
• Disable remote SNMP
• Turn off your wireless access point when not in use.

For additional protection:

• Turn off any file- and printer sharing on your computer.
• Install a personal firewall.
• Install anti-virus software and keep it updated.
• Make sure you have the latest patches for your operating system.
• Look into deploying some sort of VPN-solution between computers connected via WLAN and your gateway.