Decoding a website URL

It is easy to get caught out by phishing scams if you don't know how website addresses work. The URL of a web page has several components and understanding them is important to your security. It's easy to spot fake ones and to avoid phishing if you know how to decode them.

URLs like http://paypal.verification-processing.com/index.htm look complicated, but it isn't. Chop off the http:// because that is unimportant, at least to us reading the URL. (To a computer it actually specifies the communication protocol.)

This leaves paypal.verification-processing.com/index.htm. Now chop off everything after the first forward slash. That refers to a page or program on the website.

We are now left with paypal.verification-processing.com from the original URL. Now read from right to left. The item on the right in this case is .com, but it could be .org, .gov, or any one of a number of two or three letter country codes. Let's skip this for a minute.

What remains is paypal.verification-processing and the right-most item is the important bit. In this case it is verification-processing and that is the website we would visit if we typed in the original URL or clicked a link with the URL. So what looked like a PayPal website URL at first glance is actually a website called verification-processing. This is obviously not PayPal. It's a fake website that is designed to look like it and to steal your login details.

This recent news story tells of a new Twitter scam that steals your login username and password. The URL that you are sent to is http://videos.twitter.secure-logins01.com/ and it's an obvious fake. Strip out the unnecessary bits and you get the name of the site, secure-logins01, and it's clearly not Twitter, so don't enter your login details!

Going back to the .com that we skipped earlier, it's worth noting that not all companies register all possible URLs. For example, www.apple.com is the Apple website where you'll find Macs, but www.apple.co.uk is The Apple Agency, which is a completely different company that deals with artwork and illustrations. In theory it would be possible to create a look-alike website with a different top level domain name, such as www.paypal.ru so it pays to know what it should be - .com in this case.

One final point, it is easy to disguise URLs. Click http://www.google.com/ and you'll get Bing and not Google.

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Call me, even when I'm out

For anyone that has a website, blog or some other online page that your friends, work colleagues or customers visit, you need to think about how they can get in touch with you. One way is to use Skype, the free PC-to-PC internet telephone. The best part is that you can include a Call me! button on your website or blog that enables people to call you through Skype without having to load the program, find you among their contacts and then call you. One click and they are chatting with you.

There's a useful Call me! button generator at the Skype website and you enter your Skype username and then select one of four different styles. The code to paste into your web page is shown at the bottom of the page.

Click the cursor inside the box then press Ctrl+A to select all the code and then Ctrl+C to copy it to the clipboard. Now you need to go to your web page editor or blog editor. Place the cursor where you want the button to appear and look among the menus and tools for an option to insert some HTML code (don't paste it in wysiwyg mode or it won't work). When you've switched to HTML code view, press Ctrl+V to paste in the button code.

The Call me! button can be inserted into emails too and it's great to include it with your signature at the end of a message. Once again you need to paste it into code view and not the normal view. In Outlook Express, for example, choose Source Edit on the Edit menu and then select the Source tab at the bottom of the New Message window before pasting in the code.

What if you are out when someone calls? With a normal call you would have an answerphone that enables the caller to leave a voice message. Skype doesn't have any built in facilities to record calls, but Pamela can. Pamela is a great utility and there are four versions. The free Basic one is good enough for home use. Download it and install it. When you run it with Skype, Skype will ask if you want to allow Pamela access to its features and you must say yes. Now whenever you make a call a window will pop up asking if you want to record the conversation. There are also facilities for automatically answering calls when you aren't around. Of course, you'll need to leave your PC switched on and connected to the internet with a broadband connection, but that's OK.

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Windows vs Snow Leopard

The latest version of Apple's operating system, Snow Leopard, OS X version 10.6, has just been released. There is no shortage of reviews and articles on the web praising it or criticising it. Apple users say it is the world's best operating system and that it is much better than Windows 7. They call Windows 7 just a Vista Service Pack that Microsoft has quickly thrown together to try and make up for the disasterous current operating system. Snow Leopard is the ultimate operating system, of course.

You will also find reviews of Windows 7 on the web that praise Microsoft's next operating system and they say that it is the best yet. It is full of brand new features and Windows has been completely redesigned. Windows fans also occasionally criticise Apple's Snow Leopard, although not as much as the other way around, claiming that it offers very little that is new and that it is merely a service pack. After all, it's just a 0.1 version number increase and it's still called Leopard.

Each operating system is very different and each one has its fans. Snow Leopard has some good features, but also some drawbacks and the same is true of Windows 7. Some people will prefer one while others will prefer the other. Can't we respect each other's preferences?

There isn't a winner in this contest. In fact, there isn't even a contest. In October when Windows 7 goes on sale you will be able to buy it and install it on your PC, but you won't be able to buy Snow Leopard and install it on your PC because it only works on a Mac. Windows 7 and Linux are direct competitors because you can choose to put either of them on your PC, but you can't choose to put Snow Leopard on it. This means that Apple and Microsoft aren't true competitors because Microsoft sells operating systems and Apple sells computers. Apple competes with the likes of Dell, HP and Acer - when buying a new PC you have a choice, but when it comes to upgrading the OS, there's no choice at all.

If you have a Windows PC then you'll love Windows 7, but if you have a Mac then Snow Leopard is a great upgrade.

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New slimmer PlayStation 3

Sony has reworked its popular PlayStation and the new version looks a treat. It is 32% smaller than the old one that it replaces and it is 36% lighter. It uses 34% less power consumption too, so that means we can claim we're helping to save the planet when we're playing games!

The updated machine will feature a 120Gb hard disk drive and this is in response to demand for more space and more downloadable content from current users. System Software version 3.00 is said to be an improvement over the old version and it has been optimised for access to websites providing TV content, such as the BBC iPlayer (other countries will follow). There are dynamic wallpapers, better navigation, and a shortcut to the PlayStation Store from Game. There is a What's New section that shows shortcuts to the previous three games you played.

Network Video Store for PS3 and PSP (coming November) will offer lots of Hollywood blockbuster movies and also local content for rent or purchase. Standard or High Definition formats will be available. A Digital Reader service will be available in December and at launch it will include digital comics like marvel's SpiderMan, X-Men, and Fantastic Four, plus other titles. With a wireless connection you'll be able to access the store to download the digital reader. No need for credit cards - you'll be able to purchase PlayStation Network Cards with £20 or £50 credit on them.

The new PlayStation 3 will be available from the first week in September and you can pre-order it from Amazon. The recommended retail price is £249. See the photos here.

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Google Chrome races ahead in Windows, lags behind on Mac and Linux

Google introduced its Chrome web browser around a year ago, so it's worth taking a quick look at what is happening with the browser. It hasn't been as successful as Google probably hoped and its share of the web browser market has only just risen above 2% according to sources like Wikipedia. The logs for this web site actually put it slightly under 2%, but the figures are so small it's hardly worth arguing about. It's pretty poor for such a giant of a company with the resources that Google has.

Chrome was very fast at executing JavaScript, which is important these days because it's so frequently used, but otherwise had a poor feature set when it was launched. It is steadily improving though and maybe this time next year it will be an OK web browser. It certainly needs more features and not just extra speed.

The latest beta version was released on 5th August and it is claimed to be 30% faster than the current stable release. Fortunately, the improvements aren't all about the speed and some new features have been added and old ones tweaked too. It's not worth listing them all here, but to find out what's new in the latest beta of Chrome you should read the Google Chrome Blog.

So development of the Windows version of Chrome is racing ahead, but the linux and Apple Mac versions haven't even been released yet. It seems like development is taking place at a snail's pace. Why? Is it really so difficult to write software for the Mac and linux?

For those that are interested though, you can get betas of the linux and Apple Mac OS X versions here. (Most Google stuff is beta, but these are even more unfinished/unstable than usual.)

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Sign up for special offers

We are all struggling financially in the current economic climate and we have to watch our money and spend it wisely. That doesn't mean that you have to cut back on your puchases though. You can easily get software at half price or even up to 90% off the RRP. How? Just sign up for email notifications.

Many shareware programs and trial versions of commercial software either prompt you to enter your email address before you can download the software or when you install it. It's not always compulsory and sometimes it is optional. You might decline to enter your email address because you're afraid of getting junk mail, but actually this rarely happens. What you do get though are cut price offers in your inbox.

What you do is download and install a shareware program or trial version. Make sure you register for newsletters and update notifications either at the website or in the software. The program will work for 30 days and then will time out and stop working. Not long after this you will get an email offering the software at a substantial discount, saving you lots of money. Sometimes it pays not to respond to the first offer and if you ognore it you might get a second one with even lower prices!

This doesn't always work and it does take time to get the offers in. Sometimes you want or need a program right now and can't afford to wait, but if you can, you'll get some fantastic discounts, like £30 programs for £10 or even £3 and so on.

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Apple tablet and netbook speculation

The web is awash with rumours and speculation about something Apple may or may not be working on - a netbook/tablet/multimedia gadget. This device is said to have a 10in touch screen, will sync with iTunes, have Wi-Fi and will enable you to play music and movies.

Rumours about what Apple will do next or often completely wrong and it sometimes doesn't launch products that were expected. It certainly hasn't come up with anything radically new for some time and most new products are just enhancements and tweaks of existing ones, like the recent iPhone 3G S.

What should Apple do next? Well, if it was up to me I would produce an iPod Touch with a 10in screen. Just think about it. An iPod Touch/iPhone is actually a powerful computer that has a zillion apps for it, can play music and movies, has Wi-Fi, web browsing, email, and more. A 10in iPod would make a unique and radically different netbook. By using the same OS as the iPod Touch/iPhone, it would be backwardly compatible with all existing apps in the iTunes app store, and the larger screen would enable a new generation of more powerful and feature-rich applications to be created.

An iPod/iPhone turns on instantly, so there's no waiting for your netbook to start its operating system before you can check your emails. It's exactly what netbook owners want. A keyboard isn't necessary because the iPod/iPhone's onscreen keyboard works just fine, and with a 10in screen it'll be even easier to use. You'll be able to view full web pages because a 10in screen will give you at least an 800 x 600 resolution or better. It makes a lot of sense.

Anyone remember the UMPC? The Ultra Mobile PC concept was created by Microsoft (see Origami) and Intel and it fell flat on its face. Hardware manufacturers were unable to come up with a workable design that anyone wanted and Windows was an unsuitable operating system for a small hand-held device. An iPod with a 10in screen is exactly what a UMPC should be - small, portable, internet enabled, touch sensitive screen, able to access your email and the web, play music, movies, games, and run cool apps.

Apple could create a whole new market with the device and there aren't any competitors. After all, no-one wants a UMPC.

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