Firefox 1.0.7 fixes IDN
A full fixed version of Firefox 1.0.7 is now out. It didn’t take nearly as long as the Firefox developers seemed to indicate at first. Perhaps they came to the same conclusion as me, eventually.
κυδος! (Kudos)
2005-09-13Firefox IDN buffer overflow
I am a strong supporter of IDN (Internationalized Domain Names), for a fairly obvious reason. Support for IDN has been shaky, however, as Microsoft has failed to support it promptly. Just goes to show that Microsoft still doesn’t handle internationalization properly.
A recently discovered IDN vulnerability in Firefox prompted the developers to temporarily disable IDN support in Firefox. This is yet another delay in the deployment of IDN, and it seems that we will have to wait for a fix until the next Firefox release.
I think that the Firefox developers made a mistake here. They should fix their bug and distribute a fixed version, not just suggest that people disable a feature. Most users would upgrade to a next point release, but I fear that many will not implement the smaller fix. This leaves a large population of Firefox users vulnerable for an extended period of time. I can already see the Firefox developers scrambling to get a proper fix out when a wide-scale exploit surfaces.
Bad call, guys. You just put your reputation on the line. Here, let me get this said ahead of time: “I told you so!”
2005-09-08Guide to Minolta’s wireless flash
Gary L. Friedman has written a good article on Minolta’s wireless flash system. It’s actually pretty amazing, and something I wish I could use.
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2005-09-07The Pleasures of Minolta
I’m not the only one that has been impressed by Konica Minolta’s new digital SLRs. Mike Johnston cites his 7D’s extraordinary capacity to perform as a key reason for going digital in his July 2005 column. Anti-Shake, great control, hi ISO shooting, and superb color rendition.
It’s not (only) about the technology. It’s about getting the picture. Mike followed up with a column called The Tale Told by Two Pictures. Mike’s reasons for using his 7D are almost precisely my reasons for getting the 5D. I hope it will prove equally successful; at least the first couple of weeks have been productive and surprising in a very positive sense.
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Konica Minolta Dynax 5D
I outgrew my Canon PowerShot S30. It became painfully obvious during the last year that it was preventing me from getting some of the shots I wanted. As a compact digicam, the lens is pretty useless in the dark. When I use the flash in the dark the pictures are rarely nice to look at. The autofocus was perhaps “state-of-the-art” at some point, but in reality it is slow and often fails to focus altogether. At this point in life, I mostly shoot family pictures, quite often under low-light conditions. I need a camera that works well in existing light conditions, and that focuses quickly and reliably.
Digital SLRs have been out of my budget, and not really up to my specifications sofar. Enter the Konica Minolta Dynax 5D. Coupled with a Sigma AF 28-70mm f/2.8 EX DF zoom lens, I have a very fast digital camera. It focuses quickly and reliably. It works well under low-light conditions, up to ISO 800 the picture quality is very good. The color rendition is beautiful. When the subject is not moving rapidly, the built-in anti-shake allows me to get hand-held shots with exposures up to 1/8 of a second.
We went to Italy for a wedding. I chose to shoot jpegs, as I wanted to get many shots—I didn’t want to invest in more storage at this point. After deleting a few clear duds in-camera, I was left with 391 frames. Most were technically OK, which means that the success ratio is amazing. This includes photos without a flash both in a church and a dimly lit party hall.
From now on, I can only blame myself for bad pictures.