Category Archives: General

Jun 17

Block unwanted web tracking via Ghostery

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Do you know when you visit a web site, you behavior might be monitored and tracked? If I tell you that there are six sites will be monitoring you when you visit MSNBC web site (www.msnbc.com), will you believe it?

Thanks to a nice browser plugin called Ghostery, you can find all those hidden sites that are tracking you. I highly recommend everyone to download and install it, and the plugin is available for Internet Explorer, FireFox, Google Chrome, and Safari.

Note: lots of web sites are using Google Analytics to track web site visits, so if you use Ghostery and enable tracking block, you need to remember to uncheck Google Analytics from the the blocking list.

Here is a screen shot displaying all web sites that are tracking you on MSNBC web site.

GhosteryFireFox

Jun 15

Send a laughter via ETrade BabyMail

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I bet lot of people are familiar with E*Trade’s famous talking baby commercials, but do you know that last week E*Trade launched a fun, free web site allowing user to create and send personalized and animated talking E*Trade Baby message to anyone? You can use the built-in E*Trade Baby images or upload your own images, then type or record a brief message, or choose from one of the built-in messages, then you are ready to send it to anyone you would like via using email, blog, Facebook, or mobile. It can be used for any occasions, I guess, but as Father’s Day is around the corner, it would be a wonderful idea to send your dad a laughter via E*Trade BabyMail.

Here is the web site: http://www.etradebabymail.com

Here is my E*Trade BabyMail: http://www.etradebabymail.com/?mId=40132417.3

Have fun!

Apr 22

DropBox on fire

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DropBox has been in the spotlight since they silently changed their terms of service (TOS). The updated TOS basically says, to be compliant with the US law, they would give customer’s file (after decrypting it) to the government when requested legally. This change seems to be very reasonable, because companies like Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, etc. would do the same thing, but the real problem lies in the boldest claim they have on their web site: “Dropbox employees aren’t able to access user files, and when troubleshooting an account they only have access to file metadata (filenames, file sizes, etc., not the file contents)”. It clearly contradicts to the updated TOS. So DropBox employees do have access to user files, but why they still made that claim on their web site? No matter a lie or a misunderstanding, they definitely shot themselves in the foot.

DropBoxBoldClaim

I started using DropBox about a year ago, and honestly, I was attracted by this claim and totally trusted DropBox by putting many files there. Now I don’t trust them any more and removed many sensitive files of mine from DropBox. I will still use DropBox service for storing some regular files, but for those sensitive files, I use Windows Live Mesh.  Of course, Windows Live Mesh would also give customer’s files to government when requested legally, but at least Windows Live Mesh didn’t lie and said no one else is able to access your file.

Another reason I moved my files to Windows Live Mesh is that it turned out that DropBox is not as secure as they claimed to be, check this post, and it has a detailed explanation on the insecure authentication method that DropBox uses.

If you are a DropBox user, make sure to encrypt your file yourself (use TrueCrypt), don’t rely on DropBox to protect your data, at least at this moment, until they change their authentication method.

Apr 05

US map with hotspot for each state

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I was working on a project last week and I needed a US map with hotspot for each state, when user clicks on a state in the map, the web displays information related to the selected state. I searched the Internet but could not find anything, so I decided to create my own US map with hotspot for each state.

Things needed:

  1. A US map picture with state names
  2. Macromedia Dreamweaver MX (I only have the old version, but it is enough)
  3. Patience, a lot.

Steps:

It is very easy, but very tedious to create hotspots on a map with Dreamweaver.

  1. Create a new HTML page
  2. Insert the US map picture
  3. In the <img> properties window, give a name for the Map field, say “usMap”
  4. Click “Polygon Hotspot Tool”, then mark spots through the border of a state until you come back to the first spot
  5. Dreamweaver will calculate the coordinates for each spot you marked.
  6. Repeat step 4 until you finished all the states of US.

To save your time and eyes, I am providing my work here free of charge. I have done two versions, one is for a 1000 X 618 US map, the other is 800X494, and it took me two full days to finish them. I hope it will help you.

Version 1

Map size: 1000 X 618

Here is the map picture (if you change the size, then you will have to recalculate the coordinates, so you should use the same picture):

us_map

Here is the HTML code for the map above:

<img src="images/us_map.png" width="1000" height="618" border="0" usemap="#usMap"> 

<map name="usMap">

  <area shape="poly" coords="61,29,59,39,61,55,63,62,58,75,70,84,71,94,81,99,89,99,99,102,111,104,127,104,161,110,175,46,93,25,94,38,94,48,88,43,82,41,74,38,61,29" href="#WA" alt="Washington">

  <area shape="poly" coords="66,82,57,81,42,121,29,146,24,164,92,188,140,196,153,152,148,147,160,132,166,120,162,110,141,106,131,105,112,105,90,100,75,98,66,83" href="#OR" alt="Oregon">

  <area shape="poly" coords="27,168,24,186,14,200,19,219,16,233,22,251,22,260,28,266,26,278,32,289,28,298,44,334,41,346,60,354,69,367,76,371,75,378,81,378,91,391,92,404,139,413,143,408,139,406,141,397,146,385,154,381,148,362,77,252,91,189,32,169" href="#CA" alt="California">

  <area shape="poly" coords="134,413,200,452,236,458,253,335,207,327,167,320,161,340,154,337,148,362,153,379,147,386,135,413,138" href="#AZ" alt="Arizona">

  <area shape="poly" coords="237,459,250,461,254,453,285,454,350,457,361,346,321,342,255,335,238,459" href="#NM" alt="New Mexico">

  <area shape="poly" coords="360,356,412,359,412,402,424,408,437,414,444,413,449,418,461,423,464,417,477,423,488,419,494,420,501,419,519,425,522,462,530,478,529,491,527,511,511,519,487,537,461,553,456,567,454,577,457,596,444,593,432,588,420,582,415,560,404,545,397,536,394,523,386,515,380,508,371,507,365,504,352,509,345,522,334,516,319,506,317,492,312,483,288,453,350,458,361,356" href="#TX" alt="Texas">

  <area shape="poly" coords="175,46,163,109,166,119,150,147,154,153,140,197,236,218,245,162,240,156,236,158,223,157,217,159,215,150,209,141,206,130,197,128,203,107,197,97,186,85,187,78,184,73,188,50,175,46" href="#ID" alt="Idaho">

  <area shape="poly" coords="189,51,278,66,365,78,357,164,248,151,245,161,240,156,228,157,219,157,212,142,209,130,198,128,203,108,188,87,189,77,185,74,190,51" href="#MT" alt="Montana">

  <area shape="poly" coords="248,152,233,237,350,253,356,165,247,152" href="#WY" alt="Wyoming">

  <area shape="poly" coords="91,188,77,253,148,360,155,339,161,341,188,209,91,189" href="#NV" alt="Nevada">

  <area shape="poly" coords="189,210,167,321,253,336,268,243,234,239,236,218,190,210" href="#UT" alt="Utah">

  <area shape="poly" coords="268,244,255,334,328,342,377,344,382,257,315,251,269,244" href="#CO" alt="Colorado">

  <area shape="poly" coords="366,78,360,143,475,148,474,139,472,136,471,113,467,104,467,82,367,77" href="#ND" alt="North Dakota">

  <area shape="poly" coords="360,144,356,164,354,209,439,213,450,218,459,217,476,224,477,214,475,205,477,163,471,157,473,149,360,144" href="#SD" alt="South Dakota">

  <area shape="poly" coords="354,210,350,254,382,258,382,280,495,282,489,270,478,225,460,219,449,219,440,215,417,214,354,210" href="#NE" alt="Nebraska">

  <area shape="poly" coords="381,280,378,345,444,350,507,349,509,306,502,293,502,286,496,283,382,280" href="#KS" alt="Kansas">

  <area shape="poly" coords="363,345,361,357,413,360,412,402,437,414,445,414,460,420,465,419,476,422,493,420,497,418,512,422,510,365,508,350,432,351,364,345" href="#OK" alt="Oklahoma">

  <area shape="poly" coords="468,81,468,106,471,113,472,124,473,137,476,146,473,155,477,164,476,203,561,201,560,193,552,183,545,177,538,173,535,166,537,159,534,153,542,145,542,131,554,120,560,111,578,100,574,98,562,96,554,99,544,95,528,89,522,91,505,86,500,73,497,80,469,80" href="#MN" alt="Minnesota">

  <area shape="poly" coords="477,204,478,222,490,268,556,266,561,270,568,257,566,249,577,244,579,233,571,221,564,217,561,201,561,203,477,203" href="#IA" alt="Iowa">

  <area shape="poly" coords="489,268,495,282,503,287,503,294,510,307,508,350,510,360,588,358,589,363,587,368,595,367,599,358,604,353,605,345,600,342,601,333,583,320,586,306,575,304,575,300,563,284,562,271,558,267,489,268" href="#MO" alt="Missouri">

  <area shape="poly" coords="511,360,514,423,520,428,522,440,574,436,575,419,591,390,590,383,596,367,588,367,587,360,513,360" href="#AR" alt="Arkansas">

  <area shape="poly" coords="522,440,522,461,532,481,527,510,537,511,557,515,562,510,569,514,579,517,578,522,588,525,596,519,604,518,617,524,618,518,608,514,612,508,610,504,604,504,608,498,601,490,602,482,569,483,567,474,577,453,573,437,522,440" href="#LA" alt="Louisiana">

  <area shape="poly" coords="543,132,541,146,535,152,538,161,536,168,551,182,560,194,565,218,571,222,618,218,617,211,614,206,617,196,616,185,619,175,626,159,614,173,613,161,612,149,608,144,576,136,569,131,562,132,562,124,543,131" href="#WI" alt="Wisconsin">

  <area shape="poly" coords="574,223,578,234,577,245,568,250,569,257,563,269,563,283,576,301,586,307,584,320,602,334,603,343,608,341,618,343,617,334,621,331,623,322,629,304,628,294,625,240,617,220,573,223" href="#IL" alt="Illinois">

  <area shape="poly" coords="73,471,82,498,73,499,73,491,60,494,60,503,64,510,74,514,81,514,77,523,69,526,60,523,51,533,51,543,54,554,61,552,59,564,81,570,75,582,59,590,36,595,49,596,66,592,86,584,100,574,97,572,105,564,113,556,107,566,119,567,127,566,125,560,132,559,144,567,160,572,179,584,190,600,199,612,205,612,206,606,212,611,214,604,204,599,190,580,185,574,176,577,166,570,157,563,156,480,152,477,143,476,134,472,127,470,122,466,116,462,110,459,99,462,90,464,74,471" href="#AK" alt="Alaska">

  <area shape="poly" coords="623,238,629,287,628,299,628,306,623,324,635,322,644,319,648,322,652,318,657,317,667,305,665,300,675,297,674,292,669,231,638,234" href="#IN" alt="Indiana">

  <area shape="poly" coords="624,324,621,332,616,337,616,343,610,342,605,344,602,356,624,356,626,353,697,345,704,341,728,321,719,311,717,303,712,301,710,297,703,298,693,298,687,295,680,291,676,294,668,300,659,316,649,320,625,324" href="#KY" alt="Kentucky">

  <area shape="poly" coords="645,211,637,194,640,163,649,163,652,153,657,150,654,148,660,143,678,148,685,161,685,169,679,183,682,188,695,175,703,198,700,209,695,214,695,222,691,229,670,231,635,236,642,225" href="#MI" alt="Michigan">

  <area shape="poly" coords="600,356,622,357,628,353,693,346,736,341,731,351,722,354,718,360,704,369,696,375,696,381,651,386,592,389,591,384,600,357" href="#TN" alt="Tennessee">

  <area shape="poly" coords="592,390,575,420,575,432,574,440,577,452,568,476,571,484,602,483,601,490,607,496,620,491,631,490,626,443,626,388,592,391" href="#MS" alt="Mississippi">

  <area shape="poly" coords="626,389,674,385,690,441,691,449,693,463,694,473,646,478,649,485,650,491,644,494,638,486,634,493,632,491,626,440" href="#AL" alt="Alabama">

  <area shape="poly" coords="671,232,675,295,680,291,695,297,709,297,717,302,723,289,728,288,729,278,741,272,744,245,738,217,719,231,705,233,693,230,671,233" href="#OH" alt="Ohio">

  <area shape="poly" coords="738,218,748,265,824,252,826,249,831,249,842,237,832,229,831,220,835,211,824,200,738,218" href="#PA" alt="Pennsylvania">

  <area shape="poly" coords="758,184,761,192,749,209,750,215,823,200,835,212,850,217,851,224,867,220,879,209,867,213,856,214,853,197,852,172,851,161,846,158,845,146,838,127,814,133,799,154,800,164,797,171,789,178,773,178,759,183" href="#NY" alt="New York">

  <area shape="poly" coords="329,610,327,599,322,594,325,586,307,572,278,560,255,550,241,543,248,539,254,538,279,549,300,561,315,565,322,571,326,582,336,587,345,597" href="#HI" alt="Hawaii">

  <area shape="poly" coords="674,385,691,442,696,476,746,474,750,477,751,470,761,469,763,457,763,450,766,439,757,430,755,425,750,418,743,410,734,402,727,394,714,387,719,380,697,381,675,385" href="#GA" alt="Georgia">

  <area shape="poly" coords="647,478,650,490,668,488,680,492,691,499,700,498,710,490,721,495,734,505,744,513,747,532,756,536,752,545,764,564,775,576,783,579,790,590,801,586,800,579,804,571,801,550,786,523,788,516,780,508,770,493,762,470,754,470,752,478,746,475,697,477,696,473,647,478" href="#FL" alt="Florida">

  <area shape="poly" coords="719,379,737,371,754,369,760,376,778,373,803,390,797,396,795,406,766,439,754,423,745,412,734,403,729,395,714,389,719,380" href="#SC" alt="South Carolina">

  <area shape="poly" coords="696,382,696,375,717,362,722,355,730,352,736,342,779,334,837,321,847,335,839,348,832,349,836,355,833,360,840,362,829,368,820,373,814,385,803,391,776,374,761,378,754,370,738,373,722,377,713,380,696,382" href="#NC" alt="North Carolina">

  <area shape="poly" coords="703,345,740,341,838,324,837,315,829,316,828,310,827,293,815,290,809,288,811,278,796,268,795,274,787,268,775,281,774,291,767,289,761,307,759,314,745,324,736,326,731,324,727,322,702,345" href="#VA" alt="Virginia">

  <area shape="poly" coords="744,254,742,272,731,279,729,290,722,292,719,304,721,315,727,320,733,325,738,326,745,324,750,322,756,319,759,315,761,307,763,298,766,295,767,291,773,292,773,285,778,278,781,274,782,270,785,269,792,274,796,271,794,267,789,265,785,265,778,264,774,270,768,273,766,264,749,266,744,256" href="#WV" alt="West Virginia">

  <area shape="poly" coords="839,128,864,120,869,130,864,136,862,150,863,172,853,174,852,163,847,159,845,144,839,128" href="#VT" alt="Vermont">

  <area shape="poly" coords="863,172,884,169,889,161,884,154,871,112,867,118,868,132,863,140,863,172" href="#NH" alt="New Hampshire">

  <area shape="poly" coords="871,113,880,136,890,159,882,152,894,144,898,137,907,131,908,121,914,122,920,116,922,119,935,104,932,99,927,99,926,91,920,91,910,60,902,54,895,62,886,58,880,78,879,89,881,96,871,113" href="#ME" alt="Maine">

  <area shape="poly" coords="853,192,878,187,881,200,865,205,857,214,854,193" href="#CT" alt="Connecticut">

  <area shape="poly" coords="853,176,853,193,877,187,883,183,892,192,900,187,909,186,909,181,903,183,898,181,896,178,889,176,891,167,888,165,880,172,854,175" href="#MA" alt="Massachusetts">

  <area shape="poly" coords="879,189,883,185,893,194,883,198,879,189" href="#RI" alt="Rhode Island">

  <area shape="poly" coords="835,213,832,227,842,238,833,248,837,260,845,260,854,247,852,232,847,230,851,223,849,217,837,212" href="#NJ" alt="New Jersey">

  <area shape="poly" coords="827,251,833,278,843,278,842,273,838,269,829,251" href="#DE" alt="Delaware">

  <area shape="poly" coords="765,264,827,251,833,278,844,279,838,306,835,304,838,288,825,284,823,277,825,272,824,264,820,263,817,267,819,277,820,286,814,286,811,281,804,274,798,269,792,262,783,264,772,273,765,264" href="#MD" alt="Maryland">

  <area shape="rect" coords="884,334,995,350" href="#DC" alt="Washington, D.C.">

</map>

 

 

I made each hotspot link to an anchor on the same page, if you need to link to a different page, just change the “href” part.

Also, make sure the image source points to the correct path in your file structure.

 

Version 2

Map size: 800 X 494

Here is the map picture:

us_map800

Here is the HTML code for the map above:

<img src="images/us_map800.png" width="800" height="494" border="0" usemap="#usMap"> 

<map name="usMap">

  <area shape="poly" coords="48,23,47,31,48,44,50,49,46,60,56,67,56,75,64,79,71,79,79,81,88,83,101,83,128,88,140,36,74,20,75,30,75,38,70,34,65,32,59,30,48,23" href="#WA" alt="Washington">

  <area shape="poly" coords="52,65,45,64,33,96,23,116,19,131,73,150,112,156,122,121,118,117,128,105,132,96,129,88,112,84,104,84,89,84,72,80,60,78,52,66" href="#OR" alt="Oregon">

  <area shape="poly" coords="21,134,19,148,11,160,15,175,12,186,17,200,17,208,22,212,20,222,25,231,22,238,35,267,32,276,48,283,55,293,60,296,60,302,64,302,72,312,73,323,111,330,114,326,111,324,112,317,116,308,123,304,118,289,61,201,72,151,25,135" href="#CA" alt="California">

  <area shape="poly" coords="107,330,160,361,188,366,202,268,165,261,133,256,128,272,123,269,118,289,122,303,117,308,108,330,110" href="#AZ" alt="Arizona">

  <area shape="poly" coords="189,367,200,368,203,362,228,363,280,365,288,276,256,273,204,268,190,367" href="#NM" alt="New Mexico">

  <area shape="poly" coords="288,284,329,287,329,321,339,326,349,331,355,330,359,334,368,338,371,333,381,338,390,335,395,336,400,335,415,340,417,369,424,382,423,392,421,408,408,415,389,429,368,442,364,453,363,461,365,476,355,474,345,470,336,465,332,448,323,436,317,428,315,418,308,412,304,406,296,405,292,403,281,407,276,417,267,412,255,404,253,393,249,386,230,362,280,366,288,284" href="#TX" alt="Texas">

  <area shape="poly" coords="140,36,130,87,132,95,120,117,123,122,112,157,188,174,196,129,192,124,188,126,178,125,173,127,172,120,167,112,164,104,157,102,162,85,157,77,148,68,149,62,147,58,150,40,140,36" href="#ID" alt="Idaho">

  <area shape="poly" coords="151,40,222,52,292,62,285,131,198,120,196,128,192,124,182,125,175,125,169,113,167,104,158,102,162,86,150,69,151,61,148,59,152,40" href="#MT" alt="Montana">

  <area shape="poly" coords="198,121,186,189,280,202,284,132,197,121" href="#WY" alt="Wyoming">

  <area shape="poly" coords="72,150,61,202,118,288,124,271,128,272,150,167,72,151" href="#NV" alt="Nevada">

  <area shape="poly" coords="151,168,133,256,202,268,214,194,187,191,188,174,152,168" href="#UT" alt="Utah">

  <area shape="poly" coords="214,195,204,267,262,273,301,275,305,205,252,200,215,195" href="#CO" alt="Colorado">

  <area shape="poly" coords="292,62,288,114,380,118,379,111,377,108,376,90,373,83,373,65,293,61" href="#ND" alt="North Dakota">

  <area shape="poly" coords="288,115,284,131,283,167,351,170,360,174,367,173,380,179,381,171,380,164,381,130,376,125,378,119,288,115" href="#SD" alt="South Dakota">

  <area shape="poly" coords="283,168,280,203,305,206,305,224,396,225,391,216,382,180,368,175,359,175,352,172,333,171,283,168" href="#NE" alt="Nebraska">

  <area shape="poly" coords="304,224,302,276,355,280,405,279,407,244,401,234,401,228,396,226,305,224" href="#KS" alt="Kansas">

  <area shape="poly" coords="290,276,288,285,330,288,329,321,349,331,356,331,368,336,372,335,380,337,394,336,397,334,409,337,408,292,406,280,345,280,291,276" href="#OK" alt="Oklahoma">

  <area shape="poly" coords="374,64,374,84,376,90,377,99,378,109,380,116,378,124,381,131,380,162,448,160,448,154,441,146,436,141,430,138,428,132,429,127,427,122,433,116,433,104,443,96,448,88,462,80,459,78,449,76,443,79,435,76,422,71,417,72,404,68,400,58,397,64,375,64" href="#MN" alt="Minnesota">

  <area shape="poly" coords="381,163,382,177,392,214,444,212,448,216,454,205,452,199,461,195,463,186,456,176,451,173,448,160,448,162,381,162" href="#IA" alt="Iowa">

  <area shape="poly" coords="391,214,396,225,402,229,402,235,408,245,406,280,408,288,470,286,471,290,469,294,476,293,479,286,483,282,484,276,480,273,480,266,466,256,468,244,460,243,460,240,450,227,449,216,446,213,391,214" href="#MO" alt="Missouri">

  <area shape="poly" coords="408,288,411,338,416,342,417,352,459,348,460,335,472,312,472,306,476,293,470,293,469,288,410,288" href="#AR" alt="Arkansas">

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  <area shape="poly" coords="459,178,462,187,461,196,454,200,455,205,450,215,450,226,460,240,468,245,467,256,481,267,482,274,486,272,494,274,493,267,496,264,498,257,503,243,502,235,500,192,493,176,458,178" href="#IL" alt="Illinois">

  <area shape="poly" coords="58,376,65,398,58,399,58,392,48,395,48,402,51,408,59,411,64,411,61,418,55,420,48,418,40,426,40,434,43,443,48,441,47,451,64,456,60,465,47,472,28,476,39,476,52,473,68,467,80,459,77,457,84,451,90,444,85,452,95,453,101,452,100,448,105,447,115,453,128,457,143,467,152,480,159,489,164,489,164,484,169,488,171,483,163,479,152,464,148,459,140,461,132,456,125,450,124,384,121,381,114,380,107,377,101,376,97,372,92,369,88,367,79,369,72,371,59,376" href="#AK" alt="Alaska">

  <area shape="poly" coords="498,190,503,229,502,239,502,244,498,259,508,257,515,255,518,257,521,254,525,253,533,244,532,240,540,237,539,233,535,184,510,187" href="#IN" alt="Indiana">

  <area shape="poly" coords="499,259,496,265,492,269,492,274,488,273,484,275,481,284,499,284,500,282,557,276,563,272,582,256,575,248,573,242,569,240,568,237,562,238,554,238,549,236,544,232,540,235,534,240,527,252,519,256,500,259" href="#KY" alt="Kentucky">

  <area shape="poly" coords="516,168,509,155,512,130,519,130,521,122,525,120,523,118,528,114,542,118,548,128,548,135,543,146,545,150,556,140,562,158,560,167,556,171,556,177,552,183,536,184,508,188,513,180" href="#MI" alt="Michigan">

  <area shape="poly" coords="480,284,497,285,502,282,554,276,588,272,584,280,577,283,574,288,563,295,556,300,556,304,520,308,473,311,472,307,480,285" href="#TN" alt="Tennessee">

  <area shape="poly" coords="473,312,460,336,460,345,459,352,461,361,454,380,456,387,481,386,480,392,485,396,496,392,504,392,500,354,500,310,473,312" href="#MS" alt="Mississippi">

  <area shape="poly" coords="500,311,539,308,552,352,552,359,554,370,555,378,516,382,519,388,520,392,515,395,510,388,507,394,505,392,500,352" href="#AL" alt="Alabama">

  <area shape="poly" coords="536,185,540,236,544,232,556,237,567,237,573,241,578,231,582,230,583,222,592,217,595,196,590,173,575,184,564,186,554,184,536,186" href="#OH" alt="Ohio">

  <area shape="poly" coords="590,174,598,212,659,201,660,199,664,199,673,189,665,183,664,176,668,168,659,160,590,174" href="#PA" alt="Pennsylvania">

  <area shape="poly" coords="606,147,608,153,599,167,600,172,658,160,668,169,680,173,680,179,693,176,703,167,693,170,684,171,682,157,681,137,680,128,676,126,676,116,670,101,651,106,639,123,640,131,637,136,631,142,618,142,607,146" href="#NY" alt="New York">

  <area shape="poly" coords="263,488,261,479,257,475,260,468,245,457,222,448,204,440,192,434,198,431,203,430,223,439,240,448,252,452,257,456,260,465,268,469,276,477" href="#HI" alt="Hawaii">

  <area shape="poly" coords="539,308,552,353,556,380,596,379,600,381,600,376,608,375,610,365,610,360,612,351,605,344,604,340,600,334,594,328,587,321,581,315,571,309,575,304,557,304,540,308" href="#GA" alt="Georgia">

  <area shape="poly" coords="517,382,520,392,534,390,544,393,552,399,560,398,568,392,576,396,587,404,595,410,597,425,604,428,601,436,611,451,620,460,626,463,632,472,640,468,640,463,643,456,640,440,628,418,630,412,624,406,616,394,609,376,603,376,601,382,596,380,557,381,556,378,517,382" href="#FL" alt="Florida">

  <area shape="poly" coords="575,303,589,296,603,295,608,300,622,298,642,312,637,316,636,324,612,351,603,338,596,329,587,322,583,316,571,311,575,304" href="#SC" alt="South Carolina">

  <area shape="poly" coords="556,305,556,300,573,289,577,284,584,281,588,273,623,267,669,256,677,268,671,278,665,279,668,284,666,288,672,289,663,294,656,298,651,308,642,312,620,299,608,302,603,296,590,298,577,301,570,304,556,305" href="#NC" alt="North Carolina">

  <area shape="poly" coords="562,276,592,272,670,259,669,252,663,252,662,248,661,234,652,232,647,230,648,222,636,214,636,219,629,214,620,224,619,232,613,231,608,245,607,251,596,259,588,260,584,259,581,257,561,276" href="#VA" alt="Virginia">

  <area shape="poly" coords="595,203,593,217,584,223,583,232,577,233,575,243,576,252,581,256,586,260,590,260,596,259,600,257,604,255,607,252,608,245,610,238,612,236,613,232,618,233,618,228,622,222,624,219,625,216,628,215,633,219,636,216,635,213,631,212,628,212,622,211,619,216,614,218,612,211,599,212,595,204" href="#WV" alt="West Virginia">

  <area shape="poly" coords="671,102,691,96,695,104,691,108,689,120,690,137,682,139,681,130,677,127,676,115,671,102" href="#VT" alt="Vermont">

  <area shape="poly" coords="690,137,707,135,711,128,707,123,696,89,693,94,694,105,690,112,690,137" href="#NH" alt="New Hampshire">

  <area shape="poly" coords="696,90,704,108,712,127,705,121,715,115,718,109,725,104,726,96,731,97,736,92,737,95,748,83,745,79,741,79,740,72,736,72,728,48,721,43,716,49,708,46,704,62,703,71,704,76,696,90" href="#ME" alt="Maine">

  <area shape="poly" coords="682,153,702,149,704,160,692,164,685,171,683,154" href="#CT" alt="Connecticut">

  <area shape="poly" coords="682,140,682,154,701,149,706,146,713,153,720,149,727,148,727,144,722,146,718,144,716,142,711,140,712,133,710,132,704,137,683,140" href="#MA" alt="Massachusetts">

  <area shape="poly" coords="703,151,706,148,714,155,706,158,703,151" href="#RI" alt="Rhode Island">

  <area shape="poly" coords="668,170,665,181,673,190,666,198,669,208,676,208,683,197,681,185,677,184,680,178,679,173,669,169" href="#NJ" alt="New Jersey">

  <area shape="poly" coords="661,200,666,222,674,222,673,218,670,215,663,200" href="#DE" alt="Delaware">

  <area shape="poly" coords="612,211,661,200,666,222,675,223,670,244,668,243,670,230,660,227,658,221,660,217,659,211,656,210,653,213,655,221,656,228,651,228,648,224,643,219,638,215,633,209,626,211,617,218,612,211" href="#MD" alt="Maryland">

  <area shape="rect" coords="707,267,796,280" href="#DC" alt="Washington, D.C.">

</map>

 

 

If you use any of my work and find it helpful, I hope you can buy me a cup of coffee by making a small donation.

donate

Mar 17

Some features I like in IE 9

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1. Speed and Performance

With its own JavaScript engine Chakra, Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 released this week has better SunSpider JavaScript test score than any other web browsers, such as Google Chrome 10, FireFox 3.6 (and FireFox 4.0 RC), Safari 5.0, and Opera 11.

SunSpiderResultsPPB9RTW

The new JavaScript engine is also able to access the computer’s graphics card processor to speed up the performance, especially for 3D graphic and video (this is so called hardware acceleration feature in IE 9). It explains why you will have a better experience when visiting the IE’s marketing sites (IE Test Drive and Beauty of the Web) with IE 9 than with other web browsers, such as Chrome and FireFox.

For example, FishIE Tank demo with 20 fish, IE 9 displays 60 FPS, while Chome 10 and FireFox 3.6 only about 30 FPS and 20 FPS, respectively.

FishIE Tank with 10 fish in IE 9

FishIE Tank with 10 fish in IE 9

FishIE Tank with 10 fish in Chrome 10

FishIE Tank with 10 fish in Chrome 10

BeautyOfTheWeb_FireFox3.6

FishIE Tank with 10 fish in FireFox 3.6

When the number of fish increases to 100, the speed drops to 56 FPS for IE 9, 21 FPS for Chrome, and only 6 FPS for FireFox, and FireFox becomes slow to respond. While it comes to 1000 fish, the speed drops to 29 FPS for IE 9, 2 FPS for Chrome, and 2 FPS for FireFox, and FireFox becomes non-responsive and Chrome becomes slow to respond.

Also, the Task Manager of my pc shows that while running the FishIE Tank demo, IE 9 uses about 15% of the CPU, Chrome uses 25%, and FireFox uses 25%. So the hardware acceleration feature in IE 9 is able to reduce CPU burden by using the graphics card power, and as the result, the performance and speed is greatly improved. Of course, there are some other factors credited for the performance and speed of IE 9, you can read them here.

2. Tab Arrangement

By default, IE 9 has a short address bar and all tabs are right after the address bar. This tab layout gives you a little bit more space. But if you want to go back to the old and familiar layout, having the address bar and tabs on separate rows, you can easily do it by right-clicking the top of the IE window and choose “Show tabs on a separate row”.

IE 9 finally caught up with Chrome and FirFox on converting a tab window to a separate window, and vice versa. So you can now in IE 9 drag a tab out of all tab windows to make it a separate window, or you can drag a separate window and drop it to any location among tabs.

3. Pinned Site

When you drag a tab window to Windows 7 task bar, you will be able to pin the window to the task bar. It is a very handy feature that allows you to have your favorite web sites in just one-click away.

4. Integration of Information Bar and Download Manager

In IE 9, the information bar is moved to the bottom of the screen, and is integrated with the new download manager. Prior to IE 9, the information is displayed in an inconsistent way, for instance, when a popup window is blocked, the information is displayed in the information bar; when a file is being downloaded, the file download dialog is displayed; when a mixed web site (secure and non-secure content) is visited, a security warning window is prompted:

IESecurityPrompt

In IE 9, all those are integrated into a single information bar to give a consistent user experience.

IE9 Information Bar

IE9DownloadInformationBar

How do you think about the new IE 9? What is your favorite feature of IE 9?

Mar 14

IE 9 final version available today

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Internet Explorer 9 will be available for download today starting at 9pm PST.

IE 9 Available on March 14, 2011

According to the report of NSS Labs, Internet Explorer outperformed other web browsers in protecting user from the socially-engineered malware attack, where IE 9 (beta) blocked 90% of the live threats and IE 8 blocked 80% of the live threats.

10SEM_Graph

 

Although those numbers are very impressive, I found this report is pro-IE.

Firstly, the report tested IE 9 beta version, but it didn’t test any beta version of the other browsers,why?

Secondly, those web browsers use different security models to protect their users, right? A threat to a browser is not necessarily a threat to another browser.

I would like to hear your opinion on the IE 9 and the said security report.

Mar 07

Microsoft finally joined to get rid of Internet Explorer 6

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Microsoft finally decided to join the world to get rid of the 10-year-old Internet Browser 6, but only this time it launched its own campaign site called The Internet Explorer 6 Countdown (www.ie6countdown.com), and the purpose is to reduce the market share of IE6 from the current 12% (as in Feb 2011) to 1%.

I happily joined the campaign. If you visit my blog with IE6, then you will see this image at the top of my site:

 

If you want to join the campaign as well, click here to see how to add the banner code in your site.

Mar 04

What is content farm web site?

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Started last week, I noticed that the traffic to my site suddenly increased,  and at the same time, the number of spam comments increased as well. At first, I didn’t pay much attention to this increase and thought it may just be a intermittent thing, until when I came across to some articles(this one and this one) from www.digitaltrends.com and realized that Google just updated their search algorithm to weed out those content farm web sites, which might be the reason of the increased traffic to my site. But what is content farm web site? This is my first time to hear this term, so I started reading Google’s official blog and learned a lot of useful information.

Content farm web sites basically are those whose contents are copied from other authoritative web sites, or contents are pure spam, for instance, clicking a link will open an irrelevant webpage, etc. Google calls them “shallow or low-quality” web sites and launched a big algorithm update targeting on reducing the rankings for those content farm web sites so that those high-quality and original web sites will get a better ranking. So if you noticed the traffic to your site has dropped, or your Google search ranking has reduced, then you should double-check your web site to make sure it is complaint to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If your site’s traffic has increased as mine has since Google’s algorithm improvement, then enjoy the good news and keep up your good work.