Outdated Browsers

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RebelRockets
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Outdated Browsers

Post by RebelRockets »

Visiting this site I am now greeted with
"Did you know that your browser is out of date?"
and
"There is no excuse to use a 8 years old outdated web browser."

Really? Someone has to make excuses for the software they choose to use on their own computer? This older "outdated" browser (IE6) still displays text, photos and video, and plays sound when necessary just as well as it did when it was considered the latest high tech. Anything else beyond that it can't do can be upgraded for or can be lived without. Before anyone says it, I am not some fossil that is afraid of new technology. This room here is full of electronic gadgets that I just had to have for some reason when I bought them.

I have run into this same type of thing on other major web sites. They insist that you change your software to meet their demands or be forced off of their web sites entirely. It seems that some big companies, like Yahoo! for one example, want to bombard you with the latest news, sports, weather, stock reports, entertainment, horoscopes, herbal remedies, sex tips, pet care, music, videos, games, scrolling messages, gadgets, widgets, etc. as well as dozens of advertising pop-ups that you DO NOT want to see or hear all simultaneously while you search for the ONE piece of information that you do want. That is precisely why I choose to use an older browser whenever I can so as to avoid all this other stuff being forced onto my screen. Obviously this web site is nowhere near that extreme.

For people with very limited funds who must use an older computer and operating system with dial-up internet, this may limit the browsers available. There may be brand new browsers that operate on much older hardware, I haven't researched them myself. If someone creates a web site that requires only the latest software / hardware to access it, that tells me that the author doesn't care if part of the potential audience is excluded. Ever hear of K.I.S.S.? I used to be able to quickly scan this web site with my Sony PSP handheld and its very limited built-in browser. Then it was doable, now it is almost impossible. I imagine that is common among other handheld devices.

Since the color combinations that now displayed on my "outdated" browser made it very difficult to view some of the text here, I decided to install and try an additional upgraded browser. Everything looks very sharp and high tech now. It is still now formatted too wide to fit within my screen without scrolling sideways. I suppose I will now be chastised to purchase a new wide screen LCD monitor. After all, I'm still using an antiquated CRT tube style monitor that was delivered by horse and buggy.
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Tim Chen
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Re: Outdated Browsers

Post by Tim Chen »

I use an older laptop I was given by my Uncle and it only goes up to 1024x768 resolution and I had trouble because the screen didn't fit the new website. I emailed the admin and they were more than happy to make adjustments to the forum so I could see the whole page on my screen.
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Re: Outdated Browsers

Post by WRA2 »

RebelRockets wrote:Visiting this site I am now greeted with
"Did you know that your browser is out of date?"
and
"There is no excuse to use a 8 years old outdated web browser."

Really? Someone has to make excuses for the software they choose to use on their own computer? This older "outdated" browser (IE6) still displays text, photos and video, and plays sound when necessary just as well as it did when it was considered the latest high tech. Anything else beyond that it can't do can be upgraded for or can be lived without. Before anyone says it, I am not some fossil that is afraid of new technology. This room here is full of electronic gadgets that I just had to have for some reason when I bought them.

I have run into this same type of thing on other major web sites. They insist that you change your software to meet their demands or be forced off of their web sites entirely. It seems that some big companies, like Yahoo! for one example, want to bombard you with the latest news, sports, weather, stock reports, entertainment, horoscopes, herbal remedies, sex tips, pet care, music, videos, games, scrolling messages, gadgets, widgets, etc. as well as dozens of advertising pop-ups that you DO NOT want to see or hear all simultaneously while you search for the ONE piece of information that you do want. That is precisely why I choose to use an older browser whenever I can so as to avoid all this other stuff being forced onto my screen. Obviously this web site is nowhere near that extreme.

For people with very limited funds who must use an older computer and operating system with dial-up internet, this may limit the browsers available. There may be brand new browsers that operate on much older hardware, I haven't researched them myself. If someone creates a web site that requires only the latest software / hardware to access it, that tells me that the author doesn't care if part of the potential audience is excluded. Ever hear of K.I.S.S.? I used to be able to quickly scan this web site with my Sony PSP handheld and its very limited built-in browser. Then it was doable, now it is almost impossible. I imagine that is common among other handheld devices.

Since the color combinations that now displayed on my "outdated" browser made it very difficult to view some of the text here, I decided to install and try an additional upgraded browser. Everything looks very sharp and high tech now. It is still now formatted too wide to fit within my screen without scrolling sideways. I suppose I will now be chastised to purchase a new wide screen LCD monitor. After all, I'm still using an antiquated CRT tube style monitor that was delivered by horse and buggy.
We are sorry that the upgrade caused you inconvenience. We received as few complaints about the screen width and changes were being made while you were posting this. The width will now auto adjust to accommodate screen widths all the way down to 1024. A good browser to use if you are wanting to block advertisements is IE7 PRO or firefox with the "adblock plus" plugin. As the base software we use is constantly being updated to increase both features and security we are forced to keep up. As with any software update there are bound to be bugs so please bear with us.

The screen width was operational for 1024px shortly after this post was made. We tested it using a CRT monitor at 1024.
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The Mooseheads
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Re: Outdated Browsers

Post by The Mooseheads »

Hi guys,

If you're having trouble with the new forum then you can all blame my because I'm the guy who did the testing. I didn't realize that people were still using IE6 because so many websites don't support it any longer.

The forum is in the same boat as the rest of you because in order to get the latest security and bug fixes for the forum software, we must be running the latest version of the forum code. At some point in the new release the forum software depricated the default support for older browsers. I missed that when testing.

Anyone having toruble with the new site please send us an email or a PM and we'll be sure and get it working for you.
Rick C.
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U.S. Water Rockets1
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Re: Outdated Browsers

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

Hi Rick,

Thanks for all the hard work you put in on the upgrades. You guys have really outdone yourselves with the new software. There's still a lot of new features to explore so it will take some getting accustomed to, but the new look and feel is gorgeous! It's like going from Windows95 to Windows7!

We just wanted to let you know the work you folks have done is much appreciated.
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Re: Outdated Browsers

Post by The Mooseheads »

Just a note to inform everyone that keeping your broswer up-to-date is important:

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/01/ ... vigilance/

Google Hack Leaked to Internet; Security Experts Urge Vigilance

The code that was used to hack Gmail accounts in China is now publicly available on the Internet, and security experts are urging computer users throughout the world to be highly vigilant until a patch can be developed.

The hack involves Internet Explorer 6, the browser that came with the Windows XP operating system that, while outdated, still powers millions of businesses and home computers and is now dangerously compromised.

On Thursday, the code that was used to hack Gmail accounts in China and led Google to threaten to close shop there was posted to malware-analysis Web site Wepawet. By Friday, security site Metasploit had posted a demonstration of just how easily the exploit can be used to gain complete control over a computer.

Metasploit is intended to let security professionals test out security threats.

"Normally these frameworks are designed for the good guys for our assessment. The problem is, it's open source and available to anyone," said Michael Gregg, head of Superior Solutions Inc., a Houston-based cybersecurity consultancy.

"And the scary thing about Metasploit is, anybody can pull this stuff down and anybody can launch it. It's not the skilled hacker working for the government, it's the kid next door."

George Kurtz, CTO of the security firm McAfee, agrees. "The public release of the exploit code increases the possibility of widespread attacks using the Internet Explorer vulnerability," he wrote late week. "This attack is especially deadly on older systems that are running XP and Internet Explorer 6."

Hacks based on this security flaw led Google to threaten to drop its http://www.google.cn Web site and leave China last week. The Internet behemoth believes these security intrusions are a quest not just for political knowledge but also for intellectual property. Experts warn that as many as 30 other companies have been hacked, ranging from software firms like Adobe and Juniper Networks to Northrop Grumman -- a major U.S. defense contractor and manufacturer of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and the Global Hawk unmanned drone.

Microsoft has yet to patch the hole in IE 6, a flaw so serious it's prompted the German government to suggest citizens avoid IE. Microsoft has posted a security advisory detailing the problem, and urging users to upgrade to newer browsers.

Microsoft's next scheduled security update is Feb. 9 -- so unless the company expedites an "out of cycle" security patch, more than three weeks will elapse before this vulnerability is fixed. Without a patch in sight, security experts urge vigilance, and not just for government agencies and huge businesses like Google.

"This is something that affects businesses in the U.S. as well as individuals. The Internet knows no borders," Gregg warned.

Gregg said that years ago, software companies had months to solve a security flaw after it was uncovered. Today, it's hours. Protecting yourself and your business is substantially harder today than it was in years past, too, due both to the accelerated pace of these exploits and also to hackers' reliance on social engineering, where an individual is tricked into providing confidential information.

Gregg calls it spearphishing: "They target the user with an e-mail that would appeal to them, one that leads to a site that launches malicious code onto your system." And the IE 6 exploit makes it particularly easy to slip that code on your computer.

Staying on top of current security patches, using firewalls, updating Web browsers and running intrusion detection software is the first part of staying safe. But since most attacks rely upon spearphishing or some similar end-user exploit, Gregg suggests a training program that would warn users that if an e-mail link looks too good to be true, it probably is -- don't click on it.
Rick C.
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