There are millions of Web users out there with iPads, iPhones, iPod Touches, et al, all of whom cannot access Flash websites (me included) when using these devices. Yet there are still web development companies producing exclusively Flash content for websites which stops this very large and growing user base from the services offered by the website (for example restaurants, clubs, car showrooms, etc, etc).

The issue isn’t going to go away – more mobile users are coming online every day with no mechanism to view Flash websites. While it is true that older websites are very unlikely to ever be updated (some companies just don’t like spending money on the Web, which is another debate for another day), websites built today need to offer alternative, accessible content – even if it is just a map and contact details (these are the most commonly looked for items by mobile users, after all). There are even laws about it!

To remedy this, I thought I would share some quick code I put in place for a client recently who had an exclusively 100% Flash website (which we didn’t build by the way) and needed a “quick fix” when their owner got an iPhone and suddenly couldn’t see his website Flash was important to this client, so the flow of the code detects if Flash is available and shows that content by default, otherwise it flips over to the static HTML for people without Flash – which includes the ubiquitous iPhone.

My solution was to take the published Abode Flash Detection Kit and modify it slightly to avoid breaking the existing Flash Application which was wrapped with SWFaddress (which provides deep linking capabilities for Flash & AJAX, so making each “page” in the Flash a separate URL and also better enabling SEO).

If you’re not familiar with Adobe’s Flash Detection Kit (or many similar alternatives), the code relies on JavaScript to detect if Flash is installed and then either displays the Flash content or alternative HTML content. The Adobe kit does this in-line by calling further JavaScript to either build the Flash object (a good mechanism which avoids other browser issues, notably for IE), or display the HTML content.

Here are the steps I took to wrap the existing Flash website with the detection system to prevent breaking the existing application:

1. Created a new home page containing some static content (in this case, a small HTML website was produced and the home page was an introduction with contact details). This was named “index.php” (LAMP server) and uploaded next to the original index.html homepage which wrapped the Flash.
2. Included the Adobe Flash Detection Kit and wrapped it with some logic (used by step 5 below):

   <?php
     $noflash = ( isset( $_GET['noflash'] ) ) ? $_GET['noflash'] : 0 ;
     if ( $noflash <> 1 )
     {
   ?>
   <script src="/flash-detect/AC_OETags.js" language="javascript"></script>
   <script src="/flash-detect/detection.js" language="javascript"></script>
   <?php
     }
   ?>
   

3. Modified the detection.js code to provide a simple switch for Flash. This meant that if Flash was detected it simply redirected the browser to the Flash application wrapped in the existing index.html file:

   // -----------------------------------
   // Globals
   // Major version of Flash required
   var requiredMajorVersion = 8;
   // Minor version of Flash required
   var requiredMinorVersion = 0;
   // Minor version of Flash required
   var requiredRevision = 0;
   //-----------------------------------
   
   // Version check based upon the values entered above in "Globals"
   var hasReqestedVersion = DetectFlashVer(requiredMajorVersion, requiredMinorVersion, requiredRevision);
   
   // Check to see if the version meets the requirements for playback
   if (hasReqestedVersion) {
       // if we've detected an acceptable version
       // embed the Flash Content SWF when all tests are passed
       location.href = 'index.html' ;
   }

4. Added a line to the .htaccess file which redefined the home page of the website to look for index.php first:

   DirectoryIndex index.php index.html index.htm default.htm index.php3 index.phtml mwindex.phtml

5. I also modified the index.html file to make the Flash an embedded object (making it a proper layer instead of floating to the top which happens with OBJECT tags; thank you PS3 website!), and added a layer allowing visitors to click through to the HTML if preferred (the noflash=1 flag ensures that when the index.php home page is called from the HTML that it doesn’t run the Flash detection and flip the visitor back to the Flash content!):

   <body>
     <div id="flash_content">
       <embed id="mainFlashObj" width="100%" height="100%" wmode="transparent" quality="high" bgcolor="#000000" name="mainFlashObj" src="website.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>
     </div>
     <div id='footer'>
       <a href="/index.php?noflash=1">Non-Flash Version of the Website</a>
     </div>
   </body>

6. Added some CSS to position the ‘footer’ layer over the Flash (since the Flash was set to 100% of the viewport):

   #footer {
       text-align: center;
       top: 0px;
       z-index: 10;
       position: absolute;
       padding: 5px 0 0 0;
       overflow: hidden;
       width: 100%;
       height: 25px;
   }

One benefit of this approach is also to make the static HTML content immediately visible to search engines. By changing the default home page of the website via the .htaccess file, we point search engines to this new content. Also, since search engines fail the Flash detection test, they are not redirected to the Flash content and only get the static HTML. A link is provided within the HTML site to the Flash content so that the content is still accessible by visitors and search engines alike.

The end result is a seamless experience which, while prioritising Flash (at the client’s request), presents a complete website without the need to introduce a splash page asking the user to choose Flash or HTML, which is a lazy choice in my book and not a good user experience.

I hope you find this approach useful to wrapping Flash sites with alternative content.

However, initial reports said that trying to manage Office activities was difficult if not impractical. This is due to the iPad not offering any traditional style of filestore (like folders) which means you can’t easily drop something onto the iPad, work on it and then export it back to where it came from. True, there is some local storage embedded within iWork, but you need to connect the iPad to a computer to be able to really sync these documents – and if you’re going to do that why not just work on the computer!

The challenge for me comes from the choice of mediums I use, principally Jungledisk in the Cloud. Both my laptop and my base PC connect to a virtual drive located within Jungledisk on Cloud servers over at Rackspace. My PC backs up daily to this cloud also, and other computers we have in the office also back up to this cloud storage. This provides a perfect central repository which we can access from anywhere. For example, I was in a meeting at our accountant’s office recently and needed a file – I logged in to Jungledisk via the web access, downloaded the spreadsheet, opened it on the local machine and completed the work there and then. I did not need to go back to the office and email the file – I could just access it.

For the iPad to be effective for me, I would need to be able to do the same. Aside from the times when I am programming or designing, I don’t need a laptop – I could easily write this blog post on an iPad as it is written in a browser-based interface. I use email on the iPhone regularly (more than the laptop) and it would be great if the iPad could access those cloud-based files.

I held off buying an iPad because of the reports about the (MS) Office issues. I have looked for other applications that could solve the issue, but none really come up to the job – even the virtual/web-based office solutions aren’t great as they require me to change the way I work in order to use them; ie move my files out of my store and into “their” store. This creates complexity as my work files are split into two or more locations.

One thing I did discover was that I could browse my Jungledisk from the iPad and import documents into iWork Papers from there, edit them and save them locally. BUT, I couldn’t get them back to Jungledisk – I could only email them or send them to iWork.com. And I didn’t have any control over fonts (which is a pain when you’re using brand guidelines) or layout because Papers interpreted the tabs from MS Word differently.

The same issue is true of Microsoft Office on the Web. The web versions are suitable replacements for Office (sort of), but you have to move your files into Sky Drive in order to access them effectively (Microsoft’s version of iWork.com). Google Docs is much the same – you have to have your files in Google’s repository.

So, dear Curated Computing provider (Apple, Google & Microsoft, et al), please provide me with an Office application that allows me to keep my documents and all other files (Photoshop, PHP, images, etc, etc) in one place in *my* virtual office cloud and edit/save them from there. Life would be so much simpler. And mobile.

Of course – if any of you reading this know of such a solution that can be used from an iPad (and other computers), please leave a message in the comments below. Thanks.

To: <undisclosed recipients>

Subject: Louis Reoderer Crystal Champagne Order

Hello ,

We are interested in ordering 24 bottles of Louis Reoderer Crystal Champagne 2002 vintage (In Gift Boxes if available) for an event On MAY 25th but we need them on hand before then .Let us know how soon you can get them . we will get back to you with the Credit Card number as soon as we get the total cost for the cases and we will arrange for the pick up at your location as soon as payment is clear

Looking forward to your kind reply

Thank You

James Miller

Why is this obviously fake?

Firstly, it’s not addressed specifically to your company. Instead it has been sent to a hidden list of recipients. Next, there are numerous typographic errors (especially in the name of the champagne). And finally, I have had about 4 of them now, all from different people with the same text for “an event” in approximately 2 weeks time. Oh, and we don’t sell Cristal.

Or maybe you could arrange for the police to be there when they do come to pick them up? Though it wouldn’t surprise me if they used a random stranger to do the pick up to cover their tracks as does happen.

Unless you have been living under a rock recently, you will have noticed the fervent debate and campaigning over the Digital Economy Bill which was made law today. A quick Q&A was published on the BBC site today and you can read it here.

One of the important issues is how this new law affects operators of public Wi Fi hotspots (like we have at Meejana). Here’s an excerpt from the BBC Q&A:

There are also concerns about how the file-sharing measures could affect public wi-fi services. Specifically, people are concerned that the owner of a connection could be held liable even if they are not personally responsible for downloading pirated material.

So, for instance, if someone used wireless connectivity in a cafe to download free content, the cafe owner would be held responsible. Universities and libraries are also concerned about this aspect.

However, back in Q1 2009, the EU Data Retention Directive became law in the UK (more on this here). Under this directive the following is required for “business purpose” Wi-Fi: That a business securely capture, protect and retain traffic data for up to two years including:

• details of connections made to the Internet;
• details, but not the content, of internet e-mail and internet telephony services;
• name, address of the source and destination of the communication (IP & Mac addresses as opposed to physical ones);
• analyse traffic and location data related to fixed and mobile telephony initially with Internet access, e-mail and telephony later;
• segregate data for compliant investigation rather than for business use;
• extract pertinent records for law enforcement enquiries “without undue delay”

Any self-configured Wi-Fi service provided to the public (customers) is considered illegal under the EU Data Retention Directive (DRD) and will be penalised.

IANAL (I am not a lawyer) and I am sure there will be further clarification on the subject over time. However, having spoken to free-hotspot.com(our hotspot infrastructure provider at the restaurant) they have stated that the EU DRD mitigates the new UK law. The reason is that by recording the traffic over the network, the business operator is able to provide mitigating proof that they themselves are not responsible for the copyright infringement. The information provided by the operator under the EU directive provides the accusing party (copyright holder) with information to pursue the actual culprit.

Free-hotspot.com provide the infrastructure to meet the EU DRD. Furthermore, when a user of the hotspot connects to the Internet they are required to agree to a legally binding set of terms which clearly state that the user of the hotspot is liable for their own activities and not the operator (the cafe or restaurant).

It will be interesting to see if the cynic in me will be proven right or wrong over time, or if the EU DRD holds up and mitigates the liability should that letter drop through the door from a copyright holder who believes their copyright has been infringed.

What are your thoughts? Are you a lawyer? Do you know how these two laws (the digital economy bill and the EU DRD) will play out against each other and if the operator of a public Wi Fi hotspot will actually be held accountable despite the EU DRD?

Last week I bought a small app for my iPhone called Net Status (app store link). The premise is simple – you enter one or more websites that you want to check are running and it scans them and reports back. (Aside: It’s great as a quick check on the road when a client calls and says “my website is down” and gives you a quick way to prove or disprove this. Even when you have other tools that monitor and report uptime, plus a client can use the tool to check themselves).

The interesting thing that the tool does is scan the common ports for the website you enter and then provides a list of ports you want to monitor. You can deselect some, but it showed some very interesting differences between websites hosted on virtual servers, dedicated servers and cloud hosting. Here’s a quick table (based on a LAMP – Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP – setup), but please read the notes following it!

Port	Cloud	Virtual	Dedicated
Ping
http
https
ftp	-
mysql	-
dns	-
telnet	-	-	-
ssh	-
smtp	-
smtps	-	-
pop	-
pops	-	-
imap	-
imaps	-	-
afp	-	-	-
smb	-	-	-
vnc	-	-	-
rdp	-	-	-
lpr	-	-	-
ipp	-	-	-
postressql	-	-	-

The in the table show the ports that can be scanned from the Internet, and so represent easiest routes for a hacker to attempt to exploit the server and your website. Out of the box, a dedicated server has many more possible attack vectors which a sysadmin needs to lock down or manage the security for.

The reason that there are so few attack vectors in the cloud is that the website, the database, email, and often FTP are all separated through different channels (IP routes). This is the nature of the Cloud and one which brings a greater default level of security obfuscation “out of the box”.

However, to provide a balanced view, ports and IP addresses for things such as the database server, the email server, etc, are actually shared between many different sites in the Public Cloud and you may inadvertently be exposed in other ways. For more information on this latter discussion see “When the Clouds break; Risks in the Public Cloud“

Fortunately, on the RackSpace Cloud, the solution to this problem is simple – simply increase the maximum memory allocated to the site so that there is sufficient available during the auto-upgrade process.

Is all you need to do is add the following line to your .htaccess file in the root of your web site and the auto-upgrade will then work.

php_value memory_limit 64M

You can change the 64M value – theoretically 32M should work, but sometimes doesn’t. 64M worked for us, or you can increase in 16M chunks to find a value that works for you. Try to be sensitive to the operation of the Cloud and not hog lots of memory though!

I have not read the book, but there are some points that RWW highlights and I am responding to these.

About Web 2.0 – It’s actually an era

I’d first like to start out by clarifying that the label Web 2.0 is really a label for an era in the Web’s evolution. It is like the Pleiocene, or Palaeocene. It’s a period of time rather than a specific set of technologies. It’s like saying we didn’t like the Renaissance, or the Industrial Revolution.

About Wikipedia – Crowdsourced Knowledge

Lanier claims, Wikipedia stifles individual expression. According to Lanier, Wikipedia is “intellectual mob rule” and “seeks to erase point of view entirely.” He goes so far as to call the individual voice “the opposite of wikiness.”

In the latter sentence, Lanier is correct – and while his argument against Web 2.0 could be restated as his dislike for certain generic platforms which have evolved during this period in history (like Twitter, Wikipedia, Facebook, WordPress, etc). It might be more accurate to state that he dislikes collaboration tools as the platforms he seems to have most angst for are those which are designed for group collaboration rather than individual publishing. The Internet and our connectivity to it has allowed us to develop these tools now, and that’s a good thing.

Some of these “generic Web 2.0″ platforms actually encourage a greater sharing of the individual voice by lowering the barrier of entry to the “common man” as opposed to allowing only the technically savvy or intellectual elite who can figure out how to build the tools to enable them to broadcast their individual voice, or pay somebody to do it for them.

You can set up a WordPress site (or Posterous, or one of many blogging tools) quickly and even for free, and while it is a templated system, you have a platform for your own voice. Twitter – another generic platform – allows millions to express their individual feelings. Had it not been for Twitter I would not have been able to connect to some very influential and thought-provoking individuals that I now listen to and converse with on occasion.

About Humanity

Some of the issues that Lanier takes umbrage at include the posting of anonymous comments on blogs. If a person is unable or unwilling to identify themselves, then this is their choice and not the fault of the tool they are using. The availability and ubiquity of publishing platforms in the current era of the Web, and the importance of the social aspect of sharing and commenting simply provides more exposure of this flaw/fear in our human nature. It has been there all along, but not so visible as it is today via the Web.

Instead of criticising the technology, maybe we should look at ways we can improve ourselves?