I don't particularly like picking on the security of Government websites. I do it a lot - but I always feel guilty about besmirching the good name of the many talented people who work in the Civil Service. Today's flaw, however, is a particularly basic mistake which simply shouldn't be allowed to happen by any competent site owner. What Is An Open Redirect? A redirector is a small web service which takes the user to a new web page. It's a simple enough concept - if you visit:…
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I've just read an interesting article by M.G. Siegler entitled - "What you’re working on sucks, just give up now, they said." It can be summed up thus: Commentators said our startup wouldn't work. Our startup did, in fact, suceed. ∴ All commentators are wrong about whether startups will work. This exhibits one of my favourite logical fallacies - survivorship bias. If you only look at the winners, the world looks very different from reality. It's why we think that products made in the past w…
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WordPress has a built in media player. Chuck in an .MP3 or other sound file, and it will play directly in the browser. Nifty! The only problem is that is looks a bit... dull. 🔊 Celeste🎤 Alex Fitch 💾 Download this audio file. (From Alex Fitch's Eola) It works, but it's not exactly what you'd call gorgeous, is it? Wouldn't it be nice if we could have something like this? Well, the player is from MediaElement.js - it's just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. <div class="m…
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I have a childhood memory of my father having a blazing row with a census-taker. It must have been around the 1991 census, the person collecting (or perhaps dropping off) the forms was determined to find out my father's name. "But you must have a Christian name!" He cried. "And I tell you that I don't!" Said my father, stubbornly. "Of course you do, everyone does! You have to tell me for the census." "No - I do not have a Christian name," responded Dad. "How?! How is that possible!?" …
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