Tip Trick Here: 11/06/13

06 November 2013

New Screen Sharing Apps Do Not Require Plugins

The next generation of screen sharing apps work directly inside the web browser, thanks to WebRTC, and require no separate plugins or proprietary codecs.

This story, New Screen Sharing Apps Do Not Require Plugins, was originally published at Digital Inspiration on 06/11/2013 under Screen Sharing, Software

Google Drops Support for IE9

The Google Apps blog announced that Google will drop support for Internet Explorer 9, now that Internet Explorer 11 is available. "We support the latest version of Google Chrome (which automatically updates whenever it detects that a new version of the browser is available) as well as the current and prior major release of Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari on a rolling basis. Each time a new version of one of these browsers is released, we begin supporting the update and stop supporting the third-oldest version."

This policy is great for Chrome and Firefox, which automatically update to the latest version of the browser. This way, most users run the latest version of Chrome and Firefox, they get the latest features and security updates. The policy is not useful for Internet Explorer, which doesn't update automatically and has limited OS support. Starting from 2011, Microsoft updated Internet Explorer every year and each new release added support for more web technologies and made the browser faster. IE9 was released in 2011, IE10 was released in 2012 with Windows 8 and IE11 was released last month with Windows 8.1.

IE11 is only officially available for Windows 8.1. There's a release preview for Windows 7, but that's mostly for developers. Windows 7 and Windows XP are still the most popular Windows versions, so IE11's market share is pretty low.

According to StatCounter, IE10 is the most popular IE version (12.42%), followed by IE8 (9.45%) and IE9 (5.88%). They're low percentages, but this means that Google's apps only support one of the top 3 IE versions and less than half of the IE users will be able to use Google's services without issues.

"Google's test plans have been adjusted to now stop all testing and engineering work related to Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), as Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) was released on 17 October 2013. End users who access Gmail and other Google Apps services from an unsupported browser will be notified within the next few weeks through an in-product notification message or an interstitial pages with information about modern browsers and how to upgrade to them."

Supporting old browsers is a lot of work. Instead of spending time testing sites in old browsers and fixing bugs, you could add new features. Still, Google's policy seems to target IE's fragmentation and force users to switch to other browsers that are updated more frequently (Chrome and Firefox).

Android has a much bigger fragmentation problem than Internet Explorer. Supporting only the latest 2 Android releases (4.3 and 4.4) would mean targeting less than 3% of the Android devices. The most popular Android release is always 3 or 4 versions behind.

Build Your Own Ebay-Style Auction Site With WordPress

There’s no doubt about it: eBay is a great site. You can easily buy & sell items, sometimes for a fraction of their retail price. The site’s been so successful there are swathes of auctioneers actually making a career out of eBay and its auctioning tools. But what if you’re sick of eBay cutting into your hard earned cash by way of commission fees? Well, why not host your own auction site? It’s simpler than you might think. Why Would I Want My Own Auction Site? Maybe you won’t, maybe you’re happy with eBay and the way that site works....

Read the full article: Build Your Own Ebay-Style Auction Site With WordPress

Technophilia 88 Live From MakeUseOf

This week: Bill Gates argues that giving the entire world Internet access won’t magically cure poverty. That jerk! Reddit’s “Politics” community is blocking entire sites, leaving them only asking why. And why South Korea, with Internet speeds that dwarf the USA, still mostly uses the web’s worst browser: Internet Explorer. As always, the headlines Bill Gates: The Internet is not going to save the world. That takes a lot of people working hard to solve problems. Adblock Plus now blocks more than ads, including Facebook “like buttons”. What it’s like when r/politics blocks your entire site. We were wrong: badBIOS...

Read the full article: Technophilia 88 Live From MakeUseOf

Google Operating System, Again a Phishing Site?

Back in September, I wrote about Netcraft, who incorrectly flagged this blog as phishing. Many applications use the Netcraft backlist, so Opera, Kaspersky and probably other apps prevent users from visiting this site. I reported this issue to Netcraft, who solved it, but the site was added again to the blacklist a few days later. A Netcraft employee promised to flag the site as safe.

The issue is that Netcraft only flagged googlesystem.blogspot.com. Blogger redirects to domains like blogspot.co.uk, blogspot.ro, depending on your country. Now Netcraft flags as phishing all googlesystem.blogspot.* URLs, except for googlesystem.blogspot.com.

Google Safe Browsing also shows a phishing warning for googlesystem.blogspot.ro, googlesystem.blogspot.com.br and probably other similar URLs. "Reported Phishing Website Ahead! Google Chrome has blocked access to googlesystem.blogspot.com.br. This website has been reported as a phishing website. Phishing websites are designed to trick you into disclosing your login, password or other sensitive information by disguising themselves as other websites you may trust."

I reported this issue to Netcraft and Google, so hopefully it will be solved. I just don't understand what triggered these phishing warnings and why they're no longer limited to Netcraft.

{ Thanks, Manuel Janeiro. }

Google Helpouts, Everpix Neverpix, Wii Mini, Gmail Sucks [Tech News Digest]

Tech News Digest… Breaking news into bite-sized chunks. Today, Google Helpouts goes live, Everpix dies, Nintendo announces the Wii Mini is coming to the U.S., Chrome gains a malware-busting update, Apple drapes itself in the American flag (for a change), Google’s augmented reality game becomes available to all, Microsoft goes after Google, and we’re told that video games are good for us after all. The Big Story Of The Day Helpouts Is Live Help from experts in their field is everywhere online if you know where to look. And most of it, like our own MakeUseOf Answers, is offered completely...

Read the full article: Google Helpouts, Everpix Neverpix, Wii Mini, Gmail Sucks [Tech News Digest]

Google Helpouts, Everpix Neverpix, Wii Mini, Gmail Sucks [Tech News Digest]

Read the full article: Google Helpouts, Everpix Neverpix, Wii Mini, Gmail Sucks [Tech News Digest]

Download TeamViewer 9 Beta Now

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TeamViewer, the popular screen sharing, file-sharing, and remote support software has been updated to version 9 with new features and improvements, and the first beta version of TeamViewer 9 is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. Ability to open multiple connections in different tabs, wake-on-LAN to wake up your Windows, Mac, or […]

Moborobo: The all-in-one PC Manager for your Android or iPhone

Moborobo is an all-in-one PC manager using which you can manage your Android or iPhone right from your Desktop. If you are looking forward for some application that can sync your Android apps on your desktop this is one of the highly recommended program. This program also gives you a file manager, the ability to install or delete apps, make ringtones, and install various wallpapers.

The 500 Internal Server Error is the most unhelpful and nondescript bane of web developers everywhere. It’s a catch-all error message that can literally mean anything. Sometimes, your WordPress site gives no error at all and just shows a blank page. How on earth are you supposed to figure out what’s wrong? It happens to the best of us, but no need to panic. Here’s my own debug process, in order of likelihood and with solutions. Plugins If you’ve just installed a new plugin or if your site is showing 500 errors after a core WordPress upgrade, the most likely...

Read the full article: The Ultimate Guide to Solving 500 Internal Server Errors and Blank White Pages in WordPress