Monthly Archives: July 2006

OpenDNS

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When you type a website into your browser, it’s the Domain Name System (DNS) that looks up the name and resolves it to an IP address. For example, Yahoo.com resolves (at least for me, today) to the IP address 216.109.112.135. People use the name, but computers need the number. DNS is the “phone book” in between.

(On a side note, wouldn’t it be nice if you could call me at “richardkmiller” on your phone? If the name resolved to my phone number, you wouldn’t have to remember the number and if I changed it I wouldn’t lose anybody.)

A new project called OpenDNS is providing a better DNS service. It catches typos and protects you from known phishing scams. For example, if you type “Yahoo.cmo” into your browser, OpenDNS automatically corrects it to Yahoo.com. If you visit a phishing site, OpenDNS blocks it. If you type in just a word or phrase like “Seinfeld”, it does a search, which you may or may not like.

This service is free and doesn’t require installing anything. You simply change the DNS settings on your computer or your router. I chose the second option so this service is automatically available to everyone in the house. I like it so far, and hopefully my roommates will also find it convenient. I’ll report back if I see anything different.

I’d like to see a service like this that filters porn sites for those that want it.

Via: Matt Mullenweg

Will .mobi get any traction?

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Domains with the extension .mobi will be available soon. The so-called “land rush” is underway, during which companies may register .mobi domains for which they hold a trademark, and a queue is forming for the public to snatch up the rest.

Here are my 9 reasons why .mobi is a bad idea:

  1. You can already serve mobile content from any subdomain or folder, like mobi.example.com or example.com/mobi
  2. You can already use content negotiation. If the browser says “Accept: text/vnd.wap.wml”, then return mobile content.
  3. You can already use the “handheld” media type in your CSS.
  4. You can already create light-weight, semantic HTML that can be viewed on multiple devices.
  5. Since “mobi” isn’t a word, it’s not likely to be in the predictive text dictionary on most phones. A good domain for phones would employ a real word. (Actually .com works.)
  6. Without predictive text, typing “mobi” on a phone means pressing 6, then waiting, then 6-2-4. A good domain for phones would not use two adjacent letters on the same key.
  7. Phones with QWERTY keyboards are likely to have full-fledged browsers that can view .com websites anyway.
  8. Dot-mobi domains are expensive.
  9. Browsers like Opera can rerender existing web sites to make them viewable on movable devices.

If you see value in .mobi that I’m not seeing, let me know, but I think it will be a failure. We should as soon introduce a .BestViewedWithInternetExplorerAt800by600 domain so we can keep track of all those web pages from the 90′s.

John Taber on frameworks

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John Taber, traffic engineer and PHP developer, has a great post comparing the various MVC frameworks available for PHP, as well as Ruby on Rails.

We really don’t care what the language is or what the plumbing looks like, just so long as we can get the program to do what we want, is super maintainable, and is fast to market. The last thing we want to do is CRUD stuff. Actually, a framework concept should be ideal for us. Which is why I looked so hard at all the choices…. These are strictly our opinions and of course, YMMV.

John compares them with a real practical sense. On a side note, for some reason I find it funny to read a traffic engineer write “Your Mileage May Vary” (YMMV).

Jon Udell on technology in education

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I recently listened to Jon Udell’s interview with CJ Rayhill, CIO of O’Reilly. They talked about O’Reilly’s Safari U project which allows college professors to compile chapters from various books into a custom book for their own classes, available in print and online.

I’ve written before about what I wanted in a college textbook. I wish I had had Safari U in college, though I was in the business program and Safari U may not have many business texts. Being able to search textbooks would have been incredible.

They also talked more generally about technology in education, including Jon’s vision that most lectures could eventually be available online, to be viewed at the student’s own pace and schedule. Classroom time could be reserved for group projects and class discussion, never for one-way lectures.

This is actually how BYU teaches its introductory accounting class, Accounting 200. Professor Norm Nemrow’s lectures were available on CD-ROM, with video, audio, and notes all synchronized. It was great to watch these on our schedule and at our own pace. (Most students downloaded a plugin that played the video at 2x speed!) The class only met 6 times that semester, and the in-person lectures were more anecdotal and conversational.