Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The safest web browser? Part III

Accuvant Labs has a new study out on browser security. The report (commissioned by Google) says Chrome is the most secure browser, because it has a well-implemented sandbox. Well, maybe.
But the report also contains data on browser vulnerability statistics, along with some very sensible caveats on using these to make any claims about security:
Given all this information, we can conclude that the browsers are different. Development methodologies, corporate structure and patch release infrastructure all play a role in making dissimilar graphs. However, none of these pieces of information can be used to draw a security related conclusion.
 They seem to be saying, "please don't use our vulnerability graphs to imply that one browser is more secure than another".

Unfortunately, actually reading the report seemed to be too much trouble for ZDNet.
[A]ccording to the report Mozilla’s Firefox has the highest vulnerability count compared to Google’s Chrome and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.  Would you switch browsers over the results from a comparative review such as this one commissioned by Google?
 Either they didn't read the report, or they couldn't resist a bit of sensational journalism. Either way, they are doing a gross disservice to their readers.

As usual, the partisans pick up the FUD and start spreading it around:
Firefox fails miserably.
Avast! forum.

I don't know which is more depressing: that a news source can so casually misrepresent a report they are writing a story about, or that there are so many gullible idiots around that will lap up the misrepresentation.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Gnome extensions site

Gnome how have a web site where users can install shell extensions, just like Firefox users can install add-ons at the Mozilla site. What I really want to see there is an extension that will allow me to get the functionality of Alt Tab with a mouse click on the panel, maybe next to Activities.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Gnome users are revolting less

Or should that be less revolting?

Seems that Gnome 3 isn't that bad after all
Hey, with gnome-tweak-tool and the dock extension, gnome-3.2 is starting to look almost usable.
InternetNews.com

I'm trying to check out the dock extension now. Seems to be in the Fedora repository, but how to enable it is another questions.

Update: OK, you have to install gnome-tweak to activate the dock. Which is a turd.  There may be some things Gnome 3 could do better, but this is like nailing a lump of wood onto the side of a new car to help you find the door handle more easily.

Alt Tab in Gnome 3

Alt Tab is a very useful keyboard shortcut in Gnome 3. But why isn't it available with a mouse click? Using the the 'Activities' button or hotspot is just too busy when switching between applications.
I've been using Windows 7 a bit recently and I quite like the way Windows does application switching: application icons appear in the bottom panel and hovering over the icon brings up images of open documents.
Gnome is more minimalist, and doesn't show running applications in the panel. But why not have a button in the panel for application switching, with the same function as Alt Tab for us mouse-bound users?