Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Google Verified Malware Free
I don't officially speak for Google, but as far as I know there is no such thing as a "Google Verified Malware Free" site (and you'd think that I would know). So it is surprising to see an official-looking logo on Evony's website. Or, maybe it isn't surprising, since is has been suggested that Evony is "the most despised game on the web" and has a murky history including suing those who talk about it.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Nexus One in Canada
I've been lucky enough to be using a Google Nexus One for the past few weeks (thanks to my employer). The setup steps are basically the same as I posted for the G1 - as are the limitations.
First, you'll need a Nexus One. Apparently Google's online store realizes you're in Canada and won't sell you one - but the resourceful will get one. I'm sure Google will eventually release the Nexus One to Canada - probably when the limitations below are resolved.
As with the original G1, the Nexus One will work on the Rogers/Fido network, but not at 3G speeds. You'll only get EDGE speed. For most things this is perfectly fine - but watching a YouTube video is painful. If you can live with that limitation, read on.
You'll also need a Rogers (or Fido) SIM card. Make sure you have a data plan (not a Blackberry plan). But, do NOT insert the SIM yet. Doing the initial setup over wifi will be easier - the Android setup doesn't let you configure APN info during setup (which is silly) and your SIM card may not set it correctly.
So, make sure you're in a wifi area. Put the battery in, but do not put in the SIM card. Turn on the phone and go through the setup. You'll be able to configure the wifi connection and setup the phone with your Google account.
Once the phone is setup, turn it off and put the SIM card in. Turn it back on. You should have phone access and data may work depending on the SIM card (turn off the wifi to check). If data does not work, you'll need to configure the APN info. See my previous post for details.
Enjoy! It's a great phone (but, yes, I'm sure it's not perfect... yet).
Update: Corrected the mention of Bell/Telus. Because of the way they've built their 3G networks (as an overlay on their CDMA network) they don't have fallback capabilities that the Nexus One will support.
First, you'll need a Nexus One. Apparently Google's online store realizes you're in Canada and won't sell you one - but the resourceful will get one. I'm sure Google will eventually release the Nexus One to Canada - probably when the limitations below are resolved.
As with the original G1, the Nexus One will work on the Rogers/Fido network, but not at 3G speeds. You'll only get EDGE speed. For most things this is perfectly fine - but watching a YouTube video is painful. If you can live with that limitation, read on.
You'll also need a Rogers (or Fido) SIM card. Make sure you have a data plan (not a Blackberry plan). But, do NOT insert the SIM yet. Doing the initial setup over wifi will be easier - the Android setup doesn't let you configure APN info during setup (which is silly) and your SIM card may not set it correctly.
So, make sure you're in a wifi area. Put the battery in, but do not put in the SIM card. Turn on the phone and go through the setup. You'll be able to configure the wifi connection and setup the phone with your Google account.
Once the phone is setup, turn it off and put the SIM card in. Turn it back on. You should have phone access and data may work depending on the SIM card (turn off the wifi to check). If data does not work, you'll need to configure the APN info. See my previous post for details.
Enjoy! It's a great phone (but, yes, I'm sure it's not perfect... yet).
Update: Corrected the mention of Bell/Telus. Because of the way they've built their 3G networks (as an overlay on their CDMA network) they don't have fallback capabilities that the Nexus One will support.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Google Online Security Blog
If you're a reader of this blog, you're probably already a reader of the Google Online Security blog. I just posted there: http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/2009/10/do-machines-dream-of-electric-malware.html
Sadly, I'm told by a user in China that all of blogspot.com has been blocked by the Great Firewall of China so no one there can (easily) see it. Instead, they'll get the error below. Of course, they also won't see this post...
Sadly, I'm told by a user in China that all of blogspot.com has been blocked by the Great Firewall of China so no one there can (easily) see it. Instead, they'll get the error below. Of course, they also won't see this post...
Friday, September 11, 2009
Toronto Internation Film Festival
Once again this year, Kristi and I are off to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). We won't be hanging with any of the stars, but we will be watching a lot of films. Here's our schedule.
We've got tickets to 17 films right now and the 1st and 2nd choice calendars are things we'll be aiming to get tickets to. So far I'm most excited about:
We've got tickets to 17 films right now and the 1st and 2nd choice calendars are things we'll be aiming to get tickets to. So far I'm most excited about:
- Accident (Yi Ngoi) - hopefully an awesome Hong Kong crime drama
- Whip It! - Drew Barrymore's directorial debut with Ellen Page staring as a misfit who turns to roller derby. This can't possibly be bad!
- A Serious Man - the Coen brothers go back to Minnesota in 1967 and hilarity ensues. We don't have tickets yet, but hopefully we'll snag some at the last minute.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Diagnosing the Diagnostics: Domain Summary
This is the second part of a series about Google's Safebrowsing Diagnostics page.
The first section of the diagnostics page (What is the current listing status for my site?) displays a summary of the status of the domain. It indicates whether the domain is currently listed in Google's Safebrowsing malware list. It may also list the number of times in the recent past that the domain has been added to and removed from the malware list.
Both these simple facts can be somewhat surprising...
A user or webmaster may see a malware warning in their browser when visiting a page. But the diagnostic page for that site may state that the domain is not currently on the malware list. This is usually a Cross-Site Warning. The domain is almost certainly infected with malware because users' browsers blocked requests to other malicious domains.
Webmasters may also find that their site has been added to the malware list numerous times. This may be an indication that the webmaster is cleaning up the infection on the server without closing all vulnerabilities. When Google's scanners process the malware review, the site is temporarily clean, so it is removed from the malware list. But because the server is still vulnerable, malicious content may be re-injected within hours. Google's malware scanners will quickly detect this and put the site back on the malware list.
Finally, for very new infections, the diagnostics page may be temporarily out of date. Google immediately flags sites found to be malicious and sends email to the webmasters. An alert webmaster who quickly notices that their site has been flagged may find that the diagnostics page lists their site as clean or even completely unscanned. The diagnostics page will update shortly - usually within a couple of hours.
The next post will deal with the most important section of Google's Safebrowsing Diagnostics page: What happened when Google visited this site?
The first section of the diagnostics page (What is the current listing status for my site?) displays a summary of the status of the domain. It indicates whether the domain is currently listed in Google's Safebrowsing malware list. It may also list the number of times in the recent past that the domain has been added to and removed from the malware list.
Both these simple facts can be somewhat surprising...
A user or webmaster may see a malware warning in their browser when visiting a page. But the diagnostic page for that site may state that the domain is not currently on the malware list. This is usually a Cross-Site Warning. The domain is almost certainly infected with malware because users' browsers blocked requests to other malicious domains.
Webmasters may also find that their site has been added to the malware list numerous times. This may be an indication that the webmaster is cleaning up the infection on the server without closing all vulnerabilities. When Google's scanners process the malware review, the site is temporarily clean, so it is removed from the malware list. But because the server is still vulnerable, malicious content may be re-injected within hours. Google's malware scanners will quickly detect this and put the site back on the malware list.
Finally, for very new infections, the diagnostics page may be temporarily out of date. Google immediately flags sites found to be malicious and sends email to the webmasters. An alert webmaster who quickly notices that their site has been flagged may find that the diagnostics page lists their site as clean or even completely unscanned. The diagnostics page will update shortly - usually within a couple of hours.
The next post will deal with the most important section of Google's Safebrowsing Diagnostics page: What happened when Google visited this site?
Diagnosing the Diagnostics series:
- Background
- Domain Summary
- More to come...
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