Author Archives: David Megginson

Above par

Posted on September 21, 2007 by David Megginson

Today, around 12:30 pm EDT, the Canadian loonie was worth more than the US greenback for the first time in 31 years (CBC story). By contrast, the Canadian dollar hit a low of somewhere around US $0.63 in the late … Continue reading →

Tagged | 2 Comments

Ubuntu gutsy is about to mess up

Posted on September 17, 2007 by David Megginson

Ubuntu — my favorite distro of my favorite OS — is about to mess up. The next official release, Gutsy Gibbon, is scheduled for release in a month. In an attempt to out-cool Vista and OSX, they’re switching over to … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 7 Comments

Overwhelming response to XML 2007

Posted on September 4, 2007 by David Megginson

Thank you to everyone who submitted a proposal for XML 2007 — the last-minute response was overwhelming, and we ended up with nearly four proposals for each available speaking slot. Our volunteer reviewers are now at work reading and grading … Continue reading →

Tagged | Comments Off on Overwhelming response to XML 2007

XML 2007 overview schedule available

Posted on August 30, 2007 by David Megginson

Reminder: the XML 2007 Call for Participation deadline is tomorrow. Thanks to the many people who have already sent in proposals. While we haven’t chosen the actual presentations yet, there is now an overview schedule of the XML 2007 conference … Continue reading →

Tagged | Comments Off on XML 2007 overview schedule available

Two problems with Google Maps for aviation

Posted on August 29, 2007 by David Megginson

I love Google Maps and their API, and am using it extensively in my new web site OurAirports. However, there are two problems that keep coming up for using Google Maps with an aviation application: Google Maps uses a Mercator … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Only 11 days to XML 2007 deadline

Posted on August 20, 2007 by David Megginson

The deadline for paper proposals for XML 2007 is only 11 days away, on 31 August 2007. Last year, we had a lot of good submissions come in late, and had to turn most of them down for lack of … Continue reading →

Tagged | Comments Off on Only 11 days to XML 2007 deadline

[not] Protecting web sites and services from DNS rebinding attacks

Posted on August 1, 2007 by David Megginson

Update: Nope, my solution won’t work. As Christian Matthies points out in the comments, it is possible to spoof the HTTP Host header as well (his link in the comment is broken because of an extra comma, but this one … Continue reading →

Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Three simple tips for LAMP web site developers

Posted on July 21, 2007 by David Megginson

You’ve learned to write some basic HTML, CSS, PHP/Python/Perl and SQL, found a hosting service, and are ready to create your first LAMP web application. You’ve already read a bit about security (you know always to escape user-supplied parameters, etc.). … Continue reading →

Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A Victorian British artilleryman blogs

Posted on June 29, 2007 by David Megginson

Gunner William Henry Ranson (born 1843) has started a blog about his life in the ranks of Royal Artillery and as a civilian in Canada right after Confederation: http://whranson.blogspot.com/ Gunner Ranson was my great-great-grandfather. After serving in the Royal Artillery … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Coding lessons from university

Posted on June 27, 2007 by David Megginson

Dare Obasanjo, smart code guy and occasional punching bag for the anti-Microsoft people, is collecting lists of Three Things I Learned About Software In College. I posted mine in a comment on his blog, but decided to reproduce them here. … Continue reading →

Tagged , | Comments Off on Coding lessons from university