Open Source Web Developer

The best way to keep a spammer from getting your email address is to not put your email address on your website.  So best case scenario --- use a contact form.  And use one that doesn't require you to put your email address in a hidden input field.  And even more important, make sure it has protection from email header injection.

If you absolutely must use mailto: addresses, here's a little trick;  write it out to the page using Javascript.  I wrote a Perl script a few years back which will do just that.  Type in your email address and it will spit out a few lines of document.write which will obfuscate your address.  You can then place this into an external .js file and reference it anywhere on the page that you want your mailto: to appear.  It isn't fancy, but it does the trick.

http://projects.ajmconsulting.net/mailto/

I just stumbled upon this today ... free open source disk encryption software that supports virtual disk encryption, partition or storage device encryption, and even drive encryption.

In short, you can setup an encrypted virtual drive, you can encrypt a USB flash drive, or you can encrypt your entire system drive.

Supported operating systems: include Windows Vista/XP/2000, Mac OSX and Linux. 

Encryption algorithms include AES-256, Serpent and Twofish.

http://www.truecrypt.org/

This is a small collection of antivirus, spyware, firewall and security software that I have used with great success. Some include paid versions with additional features that you may find useful, but all have free versions which are fully functional and extremely useful.

AVG Anti-Virus
This is one of the best free anti-virus programs I have found. It has kept all the PC's in my home virus-free for years. The paid version is reasonably priced and includes anti-spyware, root exploit protection, a firewall, and more.

Zone Alarm
The best free PC firewall program I have used. It will block any and all programs from accessing the internet until you explicitly allow/deny them otherwise. It will also block unwanting incoming traffic. Again, the paid version includes additional features. However the free version is sufficient for most users and is extremely useful.

Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware
These two programs are made by two completely different companies. They both detect and remove spyware from your computer and are free. The reason that I mention them together is they complement each other quite well. While they both detect most of the same thing, they each detect some spyware that the other does not. I highly recommend using them both.

SpywareBlaster
This is a handy program which helps to prevent spyware from installing in the first place.

OpenDNS
OpenDNS is a web based service which allows you to use their DNS servers as a replacement for your own ISP's. You can create an account with them and control various aspects, including restricting certain sites which computers on your home network can access. This includes known phishing sites, adult sites, illegal sites, even custom lists. Or you can not block any content and just enjoy the increased speed of your connection as the time it takes to lookup a domain name decreases dramatically.

PeerGuardian 2
This is simply an IP blocker for Windows.  Unlike a full fledged firewall, it allows you to block specific IP's or ranges of IP's from accessing your computer.  It supports multiple lists, list editing, automatic updates, and blocking all of IPv4 (TCP, UDP, ICMP, etc), making it the safest and easiest way to protect your privacy on P2P.  If you run peruse torrent sites for programs such as OpenOffice, it is a very good idea to use this program.

 http://www.aprilwinchell.com/2008/11/05/tuesday/

I finally jumped on the bandwagon and created a Flickr account.  I take a lot of photos, so I guess it makes sense.

After playing around a bit with the Flickr API, I now have a live feed of some of the most recent photos added to the account.  See link at very top of this page.  You can sort the photos by newest first, or in random fashion.

API's are cool.

Yesterday there was a knock on the door in the middle of the afternoon.  When I opened it, I was greeted by a gentleman with a noticeable Australian accent.  He told me how he was campaigning for Obama, going door to door to ensure everyone knew where their local voting locations are. We chatted for a few minutes, during which time he said that this is his 3rd visit to the United States.  He enjoys spending his vacation time here --- Seattle, Chicago, and now Iowa. 

This is pretty powerful --- a man hops on a 20+ hour flight to come to Iowa on his vacation and spend it campaining.  He isn't even American.

If that doesn't say something about how the rest of the world sees our current state of affairs and place in the world, I don't know what does.

I finally had a weekend off and decided it was time to upgrade the site.

First up -- new backend. I had been tossing around the idea of writing a blog application from scratch and I figured this was a good opportunity. Wordpress and the like are great, but more than I needed. Give me FCKeditor, a MySQL database and PHP5, and I am perfectly happy.

Second up -- new features on the front side. I am toying with the idea of full user accounts instead of just allowing the general public to post comments. This may depend on the amount of spam I get. And/or the amount of ridiculous posts left by inhebriated friends and family. (guess I could always turn moderation on.)

Third up --- categories, tags, some more ajax integration and who knows what else, I am making this up as I go along. I do know that I would like to share code snippets, rants, random thoughts and just wanton gibberish on this site. But I have none to share at the moment because my eyes are heavy and I have cat claws in my thigh. I think that is my cue to head to bed.

I found the following code to use at Adobe's website the other day.  Using it saved over $100 on a purchase for their site just the other day.  It saves 10% off your entire purchase.

DESIGNQ108

Enjoy!

-Andrew

I use Go Daddy exclusively for domain name registrations.  Since I register and maintain a good number of domains, I am always on the lookout for ways to save money (who isn't?), so I was pleased to find the following promotional codes.  Just apply them at checkout.  I used the 1st one today (Feb 5th) and it worked like a charm.

Enjoy!

-Andrew

• OYH3 - $3 off any $9.99 .COM (renewals too)
• OYH1 - 10% off whatever
• BTPS7 - 20% any order of $50 or more
• BTPS4 - 10% off anything
• OYH2 - $5 off a $30 purchase