In This Episode: Scrutinizing the security of submit buttons, what Europe is doing about charging, and Win10 installs are getting as easy as Apple.
This week the TEH Podcast is hosted by Leo Notenboom, the “Chief Question Answerer” at Ask Leo!, and Gary Rosenzweig, the host and producer of MacMost, and mobile game developer at Clever Media.
(You’ll find longer Bios on the Hosts page.)
Show Notes & Links
- “Ask Gary” Is there a way to tell if a “Submit” button goes to an https secure connection before you click it?
- Gary: The EU’s decision to force phone makers to use the same “charger.” How this affects Apple users.
- EU Charging Standard proposals – Article on MacRumors.
- Leo’s workaround – a multi-cord.
- Leo: Installing Windows 10 is easier than ever, and getting easier. Are they catching up with Mac?
Possibly Off Topic, But Cool
- Gary: Fighting with microphones and different sounds when recording.
- Leo: shares the Rode Wireless Go
BSP: Blatant Self-Promotion
- Leo: Results of a year long laptop experiment – And getting a new machine.
- Gary: Mastering Your Mac’s Word Processing App – New Course. Use the coupon code ernest
Almost all phones and tablets I’ve bought in the past few years don’t come with a charger. All devices can use the same charger but I have to have three different types of cables USB-C, USB 3 (Micro), and Lightning which all plug into the same charger. There may be a little E-waste with those cables but I hang on to those cables until they die.
Hi guys,
This is in the “Why I love Firefox (and don’t even acknowledge the existence of Chrome)” Department.
I’m just now (3/4/2020, around noon) listening to this episode and had to stop in the middle to comment on this. While I wouldn’t claim that Firefox is absolutely bulletproof, I have never had a problem of any sort. With regard to the topic raised here on seeing if you’re going to go to a non-https URL, if one mouses over any highlighted link or “Submit” button or any other spot where the cursor turns into a pointed finger, Firefox will display the destination URL, including the http or https prefx, of the link in the lower left of the window just above the task bar (on the PC; I don’t know about Macs and I’m not familiar with other browsers). It’s not necessary to go to displaying the element to see the code. I rely on this feature a lot.
Regarding the charger conundrum, I have a wallwart (a very old one, I admit) that has an integrated sliding selector to choose the output voltage. Combine this with a multi-port squid and Bob’s your uncle. (Sorry. I’ve been watching too many British mystery programmes.)
I love this podcast. It provides an excellent excuse for procrastination, especially of I let two or three episodes go by before listening. Hope you can keep it up forever, or at least another decade or three. Randy and Kevin, I miss your input here. Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks for the kind words! As for Firefox & hover: yep, I agree that’s how all should work, but beware: a malicious web page could actually spoof that causing the hover to display something other than the true destination. ALSO note that not all forms need a Submit button (the Enter key will do), so there’s not always something to hover over.
Hi Leo. Thanks for responding so quickly.
You’re right on that count, but so far (he says guardedly) every spam I’ve received, including web pages with links to elsewhere and emails that look disarmingly legit, have displayed the actual phony URLs. And I am powerfully skeptical about this stuff. “Why?”, you might ask. Remember the Klez virus? (1985 or so). It got me, but I was quick enough to react when Word started acting funny and fortunately didn’t lose anything. And Norton (when it was Peter Norton) had the tool to kill it. Since then, I’ve been lucky, and I listen to my gut.
I must admit, I’ve never run across a form that didn’t have some sort of “Submit” action, and you had to click on it, or it had to be highlighted (with an outline, or changed color) for the Enter key to activate it. But based on your heads-up, I’ll be on the lookout for that as well.
This is why I listen to this stuff. Always interesting and entertaining. Always some gem that could be useful.
Keep on the sunny side.
One quick example: the search bar across the top of Ask Leo! (askleo.com) is a form without a submit button.
Thanks, Chuck. I *am* getting things done in my newly “free” time, including getting another This is True book out the door just minutes ago. I should have printed copies in a couple of weeks, and it’ll be available as an ebook in the next couple of days. But I’ll be back on TEH now and then, too.