These are my old links. I now keep them with pinboard (see my pinboard bookmarks) and archive them on this site (see the Links page).
This page contains links to useful computing resources. See the science and technology links on the Interesting Links page for other interesting reading that relates to computing.
Categories
- Unclassified
- Programming
- Linux
- Windows
- Networking
- Web Design and Development
- Media
- Sandbox - Links I've not read yet but look potentially good.
Unclassified | Go to top
- Implementing Encrypted Home Directories – How to encrypt your home directory.
- Filesystems HOWTO – Information about most filesystems.
- ProgrammableWeb – The latest on mashups and the new Web 2.0 APIs.
- Web Creme – Showcase of beautifully designed web sites.
- WebMail extension – The WebMail extension lets you access your web-based email (e.g. Hotmail) using Thunderbird.
- Web2.0 Logo Creator – Parody of "web 2" logos.
- Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing – Everyware is an attempt to describe the form computing will take in the next few years. Specifically, it’s about a vision of processing power so distributed throughout the environment that computers per se effectively disappear.
- Free On-Line Dictionary Of Computing – A dictionary of computing terms.
- CSS Beauty – Examples of sites with beautiful css-based design. Also articles, news, etc.
- css Zen Garden – Showcase of css design. The site uses the same markup for every design, the only thing that's changed is the css.
- Textile – Convert text to html.
- OldVersion.com – An archive of old versions of programs.
- XML well-formedness checker and validator – Check an XML document for well-formedness and (optionally) validity.
- FILExt – Database of file extensions.
- RUWF? are you well formed? – XML syntax checker. This online validator check your well formedness, not whether the XML validates against it's doctype. I had some problems with using the text box, which is why I've linked to another checker.
- IE z-index bug – How Internet Explorer handles the z-index property. Badly.
- Styling even more form controls – Extensive examples of all possible ways you can style forms controls in all browsers.
- Web Standards Awards – An award, that ran for 2 years and has now ended, which recognised web sites that use quality, standards-based design and coding.
- Horrible CSS Zen Garden style – If you're a fan of CSS Zen Garden you'll love this. Proof that a standard's complient site doesn't have to be accessible, nor tasteful for that matter.
- Firefox keyboard shortcuts – Firefox keyboard shortcuts, tabulated alongside those from other Internet Explorer and Opera.
- Internet Copyright Confusion – Information about how copyright applies to the internet.
- The Society For Computers and Law – UK organisation for the encouragement and development of law-related IT and IT-related law. They've some interesting articles.
- Levitated – A showcase of work by Levitated Design & Code, they have some beautiful work involving emergent behaviour.
- FutureMe.org – A free service that allows you to create an email to be sent in the future.
- The HTML Coded Character Set – HTML character codes.
- Best Practices for Software Development Projects – From IBM.
- Guide to Running Software Development Projects – From IBM.
- RainbowCrack-Online.com – Free online dictionary cracker for NTLM, MD5, MD4, MySQL 323, MySQL SHA1, SHA1, Cisco PIX.
- More on Sony: Dangerous Decloaking Patch, EULAs and Phoning Home – Follow up post on Mark's Sysinternals Blog that shows how Sony have completely ignored critisism and gone so far as to insult with the release of their piss poor DRM software unistaller.
- Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far – The post on Mark's Sysinternals Blog that kicked off the outrage about Sony's hidden DRM software.
- Grub Error Collection – A collection of solutions to common problems with grub, the boot loader.
- Case Mod - The Ultimate Collection – A large collection of mods.
- tech.memorandum – Technology news.
- OmniHead – Vstone's programmable & autonomous humanoid robot "Robovie-M" can play soccer.
- Paj's Home – One of the best (most useful) personal sites I've seen. Very well written and contains some great info and code, particularly on cryptography.
- Worm blog – A blog about computer worms. Worms are an interesting breed of computer program. I'm particularly interested in the idea of good worms (Nematodes).
- Password Recovery Speeds – Tables giving the approximate amount of time required for a computer or a cluster of computers to guess various passwords.
- 7 steps to better handheld browsing – 7 tips for designing web pages for viewing on mobile devices (e.g. mobile phones).
- Finding URLs in text -- the COMPLETE way – A ridiculously long substitution expression that matches URLs and turns them into HTML links.
- evolt.org – A world community for web developers, promoting the mutual free exchange of ideas, skills and experiences.
- Online and Electronic Payment Solutions – Information about how to accept electronic payment, including online payments.
- Google – Google. Search engine.
- The Scrutinizer – Submit a web page to a number of online tests, for validation, accessibility, search engine optimisation, browser testing, cached copies, etc etc.
Programming | Go to top
- Javascript reference material – The javascript page on wikipedia, which has some great reference material (i.e. APIs for the different versions of javascript),
- Regular Expression Library – Searchable library of regular expressions (regexp).
- Waterfall 2006 – After years of being disparaged by some in the software development community, the waterfall process is back with a vengeance.
- Graphical vi/vim Cheat Sheet and Tutorial – Brilliant colour coded graphical cheat sheet for vim.
- TextSnippets – A public source code repository with lots of useful code snippets, mainly scripts.
- RegEx: online regular expression testing – Regular expression test page that allows you to test a regexp against up to 10 test strings at once.
- Regular Expression Reference – Regular expression (regexp) resource reference.
- PHP Pocket Reference – PHP Pocket Reference book
- W3Schools Online Web Tutorials – Web-building tutorials, from basic HTML and XHTML to advanced XML, Multimedia and WAP.
- AJAX with J2EE – Asynchronous JavaScript Technology and XML (AJAX) With Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition.
Java
- JavaScript MD4, MD5, SHA-1 – JavaScript implementation of the MD4, MD5 and SHA-1 hashing algorithms, from Paj's Home.
- Code Style – A collection of articles on web technologies with a focus on standards, compatibility and accessibility.
- TheServerSide.com – Enterprise Java Community. News, articles and forums.
- JavaRanch – Java docs, forums and certification study material.
- Java mock exam applet – Mock exam for Java certification.
- levteck.com – Study tips and mock exams for the Java Certification exam.
- DHTML and CSS Advanced – Code examples from book that show how to implement lots of nifty CSS and Javascript effects/functionality.
- JavaWorld.com – A great source of introductory Java related tutorials.
- Java Technology – Sun's Java Technology site.
- AJAX with J2EE – Asynchronous JavaScript Technology and XML (AJAX) With Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition.
- The BileBlog – Blog about all the bad things in software, mainly Java.
MySQL
- Adding New User Accounts to MySQL – Section 5.9.2. Adding New User Accounts to MySQL from the MySQL 5.0 Reference Manual.
- Securing the Initial MySQL Accounts – Section 2.9.3. Securing the Initial MySQL Accounts from the MySQL 5.0 Reference Manual.
Linux | Go to top
Also see my Gentoo Links.
- ImageMagick – A list of useful ImageMagick commands. e.g. How to rotate an image from the command line.
- How do I configure Gaim for Google Talk? – You can connect to your Google Talk account using Gaim. Great! I respect Google for giving out this information and not trying to force people onto their web site.
- The Vim commands cheat sheet – List of vim commands.
- Introduction to Linux Capabilities and ACL's – An article about the Linux capabilities system and POSIX access control lists, which are responsible for controlling access to restricted functionality, normally available only to superusers,
- OpenSSL Command-Line HOWTO – Examples of openssl commands to achieve a variety of things, e.g. encrypt/decrypt a file.
- Create GUI dialogs for GNOME and KDE – How to create gnome (gtk, gtk+) and kde popup dialogs from the command line in Linux. Very useful if you're writing a script to alert you to something.
- Overview of the Directory Tree – Chapter 3 of the Linux System Administrators Guide, which outlines the Linux directory tree structure.
- TrueCrypt – Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows XP/2000/2003 and Linux.
- Terminal / Shell / Console Keyboard Shortcuts – Terminal / Shell / Console Keyboard Shortcuts from the Gentoo Wiki.
- How to edit and understand /etc/fstab – Introduction to /etc/fstab, the Linux file system table.
- SystemRescueCd – A linux system on a bootable cdrom for repairing your system and your data after a crash. VERY useful.
- How to clone a Linux box using netcat – How to clone a Linux box using netcat
- Nessus – A free remote security scanner, for Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X.
- TextSnippets – A public source code repository with lots of useful code snippets, mainly scripts.
- Fluxbox documentation – Fluxbox window manager documentation.
- Xwrits – Xwrits reminds you to take wrist breaks, which will hopefully help you prevent repetitive stress injury.
Windows | Go to top
- LyX for Windows – Lyx is a WYSIWYM (What You See Is What You Mean) text editor, meaning that the writer doesn't have to worry about formatting and just leave it to the app to take care of. A great timesaver. Originally for Linux, there is now a Windows port.
- TrueCrypt – Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows XP/2000/2003 and Linux.
Networking | Go to top
- Sneaky User – Free anonymous proxy internet browsing.
- VisualRoute – An online Java-based graphical traceroute and ping test.
- F-Secure World Map – Map of virus activity. Updated daily.
- Darknet – Hacking, cracking and computer security blog.
- Nessus – A free remote security scanner, for Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X.
- Free Ports & Network Services Information Database – Search for port number or service name.
- All Net Tools - Toolbox – Network tools for gathering information about the internet and your connection to it. The SmartWhois knew my name, which was a surprise to say the least!
- BrowserSpy – See what information can be gathered about you when you visit a site.
- mod_auth_kerb – Apache module mod_auth_kerb home site.
- Using mod_auth_kerb and Windows 2000/2003 as KDC – A guide that I followed to successfully authenticate Apache on Linux against Active Directory on Windows 2003 Server.
- Apache HTTP Server Documentation – Apache HTTP Server Documentation
- Kerberos for the Quick – A good introductory article about Kerberos, it's function and relationship with other authentication methods.
Web Design and Development | Go to top
Also see my MODx Links.
- IE7 – A script that makes Internet Explorer standards compatible, dubbed "IE7". The only problem is that you will need JavaScript enabled to use it, so the site must be designed with this in mind, to gracefully degrade when JavaScript is disabled.
- A List Apart – "A List Apart Magazine (ISSN: 1534-0295) explores the design, development, and meaning of web content, with a special focus on techniques and benefits of designing with web standards."
- Code Style – A collection of articles on web technologies with a focus on standards, compatibility and accessibility.
- MIME Media Types – Allowed MIME media types, from the IANA.
- IANA – The body responsible for assigning Internet-related numbers, e.g. IP addresses, mime types, port numbers, language tables, etc.
- W3Schools Online Web Tutorials – Web-building tutorials, from basic HTML and XHTML to advanced XML, Multimedia and WAP.
- AJAX with J2EE – Asynchronous JavaScript Technology and XML (AJAX) With Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition.
Why use web standards (e.g. CSS instead of tables)?
- The Business Value of Web Standards – Why the adoption of web standards have considerable benefits to your business.
- A Web Standards Primer – Introductory article about web standards which focuses on introducing the core concepts.
- The benefits of Web Standards to your visitors, your clients and you! – A clear, to the point presentation on the benefits of web standards.
- Design Rant – Article about css based design, which rightly suggests you focus on content before building up the richness of your design from basics.
- To Hell With Bad Browsers – Why you should push for css-based design.
- whatever for? – An article about why you should switch to css layouts, with a slant on the history of browser design hacks and an emphasis on your responsibilities as a designer.
- Why tables for layout is stupid – A good introductory presentation about why you shouldn't use tables for layout.
Accessibility
- To Hell with WCAG 2 – A criticism of version 2 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by Joe Clark.
- Overview of WCAG 2.0 Documents – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines latest incarnation, version 2, which is in "Last Call" status, meaning it's pretty much ready for release (despite criticism...).
- Inaccessible Content – Proof that you can produce an inaccessible web page and still pass the automated validators.
- Web Accessibility Tools – A useful list of links to on-line (and off-line) tools for accessibility testing.
- OCAWA accessibility validator – Online tool to perform an accessibility audit. Problems are clearly shown by highlighting the offending source code.
- WAVE 3.5 Accessibility Tool – A website accessibility test that raises issues using icons displayed on the original source page.
- HiSoftware® Cynthia Says™ Portal – A web content accessibility validation solution, designed to identify errors in your content related to Section 508 standards and/or the WCAG guidelines.
- Watchfire WebXACT – A free online service that lets you test single pages of web content for quality, accessibility, and privacy issues.
- ItrainOnline: Web Site Usability and Accessibility – Some good links to accessibility and usability resources on the web.
- IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center – Guidelines from IBM to help developers and content providers understand why and what they need to do to make their technology and information accessible to people with disabilities.
- Code Style – A collection of articles on web technologies with a focus on standards, compatibility and accessibility.
- RNIB - Web Access Centre – The Royal National Institute for the Blind's online information for web designers, developers, content authors and website managers for advice on how to plan, build and test accessible websites.
- AbilityNet – Non-profit organisation that provides advice, factsheets, assessments, training and assistive technology.
- UPA - Usability Professionals' Association – Promoting usability concepts and techniques worldwide.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Usability: Accessibility Resources – American accessibility resource, including information about Section 508.
- EDeAN - European Design for All e-Accessibility Network – A network of 158 organisations (at the time of writing 2006-03-17) which aims to raise the profile of Design for All (DfA) and emphasize its importance in achieving greater accessibility to the Information Society.
- European Internet Accessibility Observatory – The project aims to establish a technical basis for assessing the accessibility of European websites and make the assessment data available online.
- Support EAM – A project of the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission, tasked with creating an e-Accessibility Quality Mark for web services.
- EuroAccessibility Consortium – Consortium of 23 European organisations working together to harmonise accessibility initiatives across Europe.
- EU - Information Society - eInclusion & eAccessibility – European guidelines.
- eAccessibility of public sector services in the European Union – From the Cabinet Office e-Government Unit.
- Web guidelines – From the Cabinet Office e-Government Unit.
- PAS 78 Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible Websites – Outlines good practice in commissioning websites that are accessible to and usable by disabled people. From the BSI (British Standards Institution).
- Accessibility Task Force - The Web Standards Project – The Accessibility Task Force works with accessibility organizations, technology vendors and others to help promote Web accessibility.
- WebAIM – A non-profit organization within the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University, one of the leading providers of Web accessibility expertise internationally.
- Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) – Strategies, guidelines, resources to make the Web accessible to people with disabilities. Also see their international Policies Relating to Web Accessibility.
Micro$oft Internet Explorer
- IE7 – A script that makes Internet Explorer standards compatible, dubbed "IE7". The only problem is that you will need JavaScript enabled to use it, so the site must be designed with this in mind, to gracefully degrade when JavaScript is disabled.
- Introduction to the Diagrams of UML 2.0 – The thirteen diagrams of UML 2.x.
- ieHTTPHeaders – An Explorer Bar for Microsoft Internet Explorer that will display the HTTP Headers sent and received.
- MIME Type Detection in Internet Explorer – MIME type detection in Internet Explorer, which, as you can expect from Micro$oft, does not abide by the standards.
- Explorer Exposed! – Internet Explorer CSS bugs.
Joomla/Mambo
- Joomla forums – Forums for the Joomla content management system.
- DocMan – Document manager component for Mambo/Joomla.
Media | Go to top
- ImageMagick – A list of useful ImageMagick commands. e.g. How to rotate an image from the command line.
- Pixelgirl Desktop Images – Some nice background images, from a Mac site, hence stylish ;-)
- Color Wheel - ver 2.0.1 – Spin the wheel for a 3 tone colour scheme.
- TEXT-IMAGE.com – Tools to generate text-images (HTML, ASCII, Matrix) from an uploaded picture.
Sandbox | Go to top
Links I've not read yet but look potentially good.
- Why Recovering a Deleted Ext3 File Is Difficult – Potential methods for recovering data on an ext3 filesystem after file deletion.
- Disk cryptography with dm-crypt – How to encrypt the swap and tmp partitions using the device mapper and cryptographic options built into the kernel, alongside the cryptsetup package.
- HOWTO: Use the new baselayout for filesystem-encryption – A simple method using the encryption capabilities built into Gentoo - device mapping and encryption built into the kernel alongside the cryptsetup package.
- Protecting Files at Home Using Encrypted Containers – How to encrypt your home directory using dm_crypt.
- Implementing Encrypted Home Directories – How to encrypt your home directory.
- Hadoop – A a framework for running applications on large clusters of commodity hardware.
- igrep – A search engine designed for technology queries, that sources pages from the extensive Developer Shed Network.
- HOWTO Encrypt Your Home Directory Using CFS – Article about how to encrypt your home directory. Although the article is from the Gentoo Wiki it should work for most distributions.
- Linux Encryption HOWTO: Encrypting Disks - Making an Encrypted Folder – How to encrypt a file in Linux.
- light on dark – A showcase of well designed & coded web sites with light text on a dark background.
- Before & After magazine – Graphic design magazine.
- Ruby: HtmlTemplates – A comparison of available html templating systems for Ruby:
- JSON – JavaScript Object Notation, a lightweight data-interchange format.
- Search Tools Product Listings – A comprehensive list of search engines, for adding search functionality to a web site. In alphabetical order.
- dmidecode: What's it good for? – dmidecode is a BIOS reporting tool - it tells you what the BIOD is telling your OS.
- Vitamin – "...a resource for web designers, developers and entrepreneurs"
- To Hell with WCAG 2 – Criticism of the latest version (2, in draft) of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
- Comparison of virtual machines – Comparison of virtual machines from Wikipedia.
- Considering Ajax, Part 1: Cut through the hype – Article from IBM reviewing Ajax.
- thefreecountry.com – Free Programmers' Resources.
- URLs and Cookies – How to handle cookies in Java.
- Developer Dot Star – An independent resource devoted to topics of interest to software development professionals of all types.
- The Guild of Accessible Web Designers – A world-wide association of organisations and accessible web designers and developers - designed to both promote and protect accessible web design standards.
- Lightbox JS – Lightbox JS is a simple, unobtrusive script used to overlay images on the current page.
- Take Your Tomcat on the Road – How to package up tomcat to run it as a stand alone app on Window$.
- Python and the Programmer – Interview with well known computing author Bruce Eckel about why Python is now his language of choice.
- EMA Study Executive Summary – Why Linux Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is actually lower than Windows.
- GettingStartedWithRails – How to set up and get started with Ruby on Rails.
- GnomeFiles – GTK+ software repository.
- Forcing attachments to always download – How to force attachments to always download, rather than open in a program, using Java.
- Spring Framework – The leading full-stack Java/J2EE application framework.
