Realmadrid.com
Real Madrid C.F and U.C Sampdoria have completed a deal to transfer Antonio Cassano to the Italian side. The player who signed for Real Madrid in 2005/06 was on loan to the Genoa-based team last season.
Cassano scored ten goals in 2007/08 and was recalled by Roberto Donadoni to participate in Euro 2008. Real Madrid wish Antonio Cassano all the best in future endeavors.
Source: www.realmadrid.com
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Posted by Paul Mutton at 28 March 2008
Amazon has made a significant and much bolder step into the web hosting arena, extending its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) service by introducing Elastic IP Addresses and Availability Zones.
The Elastic IP Addresses allow Amazon Web Services users to set up static IP addresses, making it easy to host websites, web services and other online applications using Amazon EC2. Users can programmatically map the static IP addresses to any of their instances, making it easy to recover from instance failures.
By default, users are limited to a total of 5 Elastic IP Addresses, although additional IP addresses can be requested from Amazon. To ensure customers use the Elastic IP Addresses associated with their account, a $0.01 per hour charge is applied when each IP is not mapped to an instance.
The Availability Zones feature makes it easy and relatively inexpensive to operate a highly available internet application. Availability Zones are designed to be protected from failures in other Availability Zones, so by spreading an application across several zones, it can be better protected against power failures or network downtime.
This is not Amazon’s first foray into web hosting – a number of high profile sites have been working with Amazon’s Enterprise Solutions group for a few years, including Marks and Spencer, which signed a deal with Amazon in 2005. Amazon were to provide the technology behind the Marks and Spencer website as well as systems for customer service and ordering.
Other companies that are hosted by Amazon include Timex, Sears Canada and Benefit Cosmetics.
While the complexities of web hosting with Amazon’s EC2 platform may appear rather daunting to the majority of web site owners, the service will no doubt appeal to existing owners of dedicated servers who want further scalability or wish to make their sites highly available at a reasonable cost.
Amazon’s pricing for the EC2 service depends on a variety of factors. A single default “small” instance, with 1.7GB of memory and 160GB of storage, costs $0.10 per hour to run, with additional charges for data transfer and unused Elastic IP Addresses. An extra large instance costs $0.80 per hour and features 15GB of memory, 1690GB of storage and 4 virtual cores.
Internet data transfer costs depend upon the direction of the data. All data transfered in is charged at $0.10 per GB, while outwards transfers are $0.18 per GB for the first 10TB of data each month, reducing to $0.13 per GB if 50TB is exceeded.
With EC2’s bandwidth costs significantly undercutting many hosting companies, Amazon’s latest move will be sending shock waves throughout the conventional hosting industry. It will be interesting to see how the use of Elastic IP Addresses grows, as high bandwidth websites – or even entire hosting companies – are tempted to migrate to a cheaper alternative.
Source: www.netcraft.com
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Not too long ago, JavaScript made it possible to add nice effects to a page. And with the emergence of libraries, robust applications are emerging built on top of Prototype, Dojo, YUI, and other toolkits. Unfortunately, the people that pay the price for these so-called ‘thin clients’ are the end users. Every JavaScript file that needs to be loaded is a new connection to the server, and every connection to the server means more data; all this occurs before the end user even gets to interact with the page. Thankfully, there is a better way to do this—loading pieces of your web application as the user wants them.
The important things to address are page weight and load time. Both of these factors have a negative impact on the user, and we should be working towards minimizing it. Gaia Online and Zimbra have both talked recently about their lazy loading experiences. When the switch to lazy loading was made, both companies reduced their page weight by about 200KB and took at least two seconds off their load and initialization time.
Of course, lazy loading isn’t necessarily for everyone. If all of your site pages need all of your JavaScript before the page completes loading, then a lazy load won’t accomplish much. But if you’re working on a complex site or Web 2.0 application, read on!
In conventional computer science, the lazy load pattern is a practical implementation of the Proxy Design Pattern. The goal is to avoid loading an object until it is absolutely needed—only then do we invest the resources in loading it. In the case of JavaScript, our application has a common set of function calls used by the web page. Our goal is to implement all of those functions with none of the “real” code. We’ll retrieve the real code later, when we need it. To a developer using our object, though, we want something that will look, act, and behave just like the original object. This specific implementation of the Proxy Design Pattern is called a Ghost.
In the Ghost pattern, we will provide an object that contains all of the public methods of our original object, but they will just be empty stubs with calls to our lazy load operation. When the object is actually used, we’ll load the real object, replacing our shell with the real one. We can then call the same method again, referencing the object we just loaded. Subsequent calls will hit the real object, as the shell no longer exists.
For this article, I’ll be using what is probably the most over-complicated Hello World object in the, um, world:
var HelloWorld = {
sayIt: function() {
alert('Hello, I came from script loaded on the fly!');
}
};Our application has one public method—sayIt()—which provides an alert to the screen.
As an alternative to XHR-style includes of JavaScript files, some libraries such as YUI offer the creation of dynamic script nodes for including files. What these tools gain in cross-domain functionality and multiple asynchronous connections, they lose in ease of use. Additionally, since the call doesn’t wait to complete, some form of validation is needed before running our callback.
YUI’s Loader Utility has a few things it needs in order to work properly. We need to add the module’s information to the loader; tell the loader we require it; and then assign the callback to the loader’s onSuccess handler. In YUI, calling loader.insert() starts the loader, creating script nodes for all required modules and then calling the onSuccess callback when those nodes have completed:
var HelloWorld = {
is_loaded: false,
lazyLoad: function(callback) {
var loader = new YAHOO.util.YUILoader();
loader.addModule({
name: "helloworld",
type: "js",
fullpath: "yui_ex/helloworld.js"
});
loader.require("helloworld");
if (callback) {
loader.onSuccess = callback;
}
loader.insert();
},
sayIt: function() {
var args = arguments;
HelloWorld.lazyLoad(function() { HelloWorld.sayIt.apply(HelloWorld, args); });
}
};Similar to YUI’s Loader, the JIT Loader also uses dynamic script nodes but instead of managing packages, it instead manages loaded script URLs. The only other major difference is the addition of a verifier function, which tests our object to ensure it has finished loading before performing the callback. In our case, we’ll look at the HelloWorld.is_loaded property (bet you were wondering what that was for!) and wait until it changes to true, indicating our real object has been lazy loaded:
var HelloWorld = { isLoaded: false, lazyLoad: function(callback) { JIT.loadOnce('jit_ex/helloworld.js', function() { return HelloWorld.is_loaded; }, callback ); }, sayIt: function() { var args = arguments; HelloWorld.lazyLoad(function() { HelloWorld.sayIt.apply(HelloWorld, args); }); } };Source: www.digital-web.com
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By Álvaro Velasco / Translation by Matthew Goltz
Real Madrid set several team records this year, but it wouldn’t have happened had several individuals not led the charts in various statistical categories. Iker Casillas wasn’t just the keeper who conceded the fewest goals in 2007/08, but also the one to make the most saves and interventions. Guti, meanwhile, provided the most goal assists, while Raúl was the fourth highest scorer and the second highest from Spain.
Casillas
After many years of Primera Division football, Iker Casillas finally finished a season as the goalkeeper to concede the fewest goals. The Madrid native allowed just 32 in 36 matches, for an average of 0.89 per match. He’s the only La Liga keeper to average less than one per encounter.
Iker also made more saves (139) than any other keeper this year and was followed by César of Zaragoza and Sorrentino of Recreativo Huelva. He also led in interventions with a total of 292, followed again by César.
Guti
In what very easily could have been his best season ever, Gutiérrez was the top assist-man of the league. Fourteen of his passes wound up in the back of the net. Ibagaza ended the year with 14 as well, but with a worse average per minute than the Madridista, who also finished fourth in the most completed passes category with 1,725. Sergio Ramos was eighth with 1,482.
Also among the top 20 goal-assist men are Robinho, who finished seventh with eight, and Wesley Sneijder and Ruud van Nistelrooy, who each had six.
Raúl
The captain had a spectacular season and finished with 18 goals to his name (plus another five in Champions League play). Raúl was the fourth top scorer in La Liga, only bested by Kun Agüero (19), Luis Fabiano (24), and Pichichi winner Dani Güiza (27). Of number ‘7’s’ 18 goals, three were headers, three came from the penalty spot, and one was a direct free kick. Raúl was Real Madrid’s top scorer in 2007/09.
Source: www.realmadrid.com
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By Chris Burton Last updated: 19th May 2008
Bernd Schuster has revealed that he has no intention of launching a summer raid for Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Real Madrid boss insists that he would rather spend his time chasing more realistic transfer targets, as he admits that there is little chance of luring the Portuguese ace away from Manchester United.
Real have been strongly linked with the Red Devils winger in the past, and were even believed to be weighing up the possibility of making a record-breaking �100million move during the close season.
However, with Ronaldo tied into a five-year contract at Old Trafford, and Sir Alex Ferguson unlikely to listen to any offers for his prized asset, Schuster accepts his Primera Division champions will be forced to look elsewhere for new faces.
Bernd Schuster has revealed that he has no intention of launching a summer raid for Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Real Madrid boss insists that he would rather spend his time chasing more realistic transfer targets, as he admits that there is little chance of luring the Portuguese ace away from Manchester United.
Real have been strongly linked with the Red Devils winger in the past, and were even believed to be weighing up the possibility of making a record-breaking �100million move during the close season.
However, with Ronaldo tied into a five-year contract at Old Trafford, and Sir Alex Ferguson unlikely to listen to any offers for his prized asset, Schuster accepts his Primera Division champions will be forced to look elsewhere for new faces.
Source: www.skysports.com
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Posted by Paul Mutton at 16 May 2008
A security researcher in Finland has discovered a cross-site scripting vulnerability on paypal.com that would allow hackers to carry out highly plausible attacks, adding their own content to the site and stealing credentials from users.
The vulnerability is made worse by the fact that the affected page uses an Extended Validation SSL certificate, which causes the browser’s address bar to turn green, assuring visitors that the site – and its content – belongs to PayPal. Two years ago, a similar vulnerability was discovered on a different page of the PayPal site, which also used an SSL certificate.
“Is it safe?” – a message injected on the PayPal website todayHarry Sintonen discovered the vulnerability and announced it to other web application security specialists in an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel today. Sintonen told Netcraft that the issue was critical, adding that, “you could easily steal credentials,” and, “PayPal says you can trust the URL if it begins with https://www.paypal.com,” which is not true in this case.
While SSL certificates do indeed provide a higher level of assurance when it comes to site ownership, they cannot guarantee that a site is free from other security problems – including cross-site scripting. There are concerns that hackers may exploit misunderstandings in the significance of the green address bar for their own benefit, piggybacking off the trust that is instilled by EV certificates. Users need to be aware that a green address bar does not guarantee the origin of a page’s contents if there is a cross-site scripting vulnerability on that page.
The vulnerability comes to light only a month after PayPal published a practical approach to managing phishing on their blog, which extols the use of Extended Validation certificates in preventing phishing. The document describes browsers that do not support EV certificates as “unsafe” and announces the company’s plans to block customers from accessing their website from the most unsafe browsers.
PayPal was one of the first companies to adopt EV certificates and the company says it has seen noticeably lower abandonment rates on signup flows for Internet Explorer 7 users versus other browsers. According to the document, PayPal believe this correlates closely to user interface changes triggered by their use of EV certificates.
Source: www.netcraft.com
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tribalfootball.com – May 11, 2008
Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain has dismissed talk of a move away in the summer.The Argentine has been linked with Juventus, but says: “When a club buys you, it is important to give your best and repay the confidence that they have shown in you.
“I’ve been fortunate to score goals, to win the Liga and therefore I am delighted to continue here.”
Source: www.real-madrid-news.newslib.com
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NaviSite is the most reliable hosting company site for April 2008.
NaviSite was incorporated in 1998 and provides application solutions and hosting services using its web infrastructure platforms in 18 data centers. The company recently announced an alliance with Intel Corporation to offer a suite of managed services through Intel’s value added reseller community.
NaviSite’s performance is followed by DataPipe, which made 11 appearances in the top ten last year. Last month’s most reliable hosting company site, INetU, appears in third place this month.
Three of April’s top ten hosting companies, including NaviSite, run Linux on their main sites, while another three use FreeBSD. One company uses Windows Server 2003.
Netcraft measures and makes available the response times of fifty leading hosting providers’ sites. The performance measurements are made at fifteen minute intervals from separate points around the internet, and averages are calculated over the immediately preceding 24 hour period.
From a customer’s point of view, the percentage of failed requests is more pertinent than outages on hosting companies’ own sites, as this gives a pointer to reliability of routing, and this is why we choose to rank our table by fewest failed requests, rather than shortest periods of outage.
Source: www.netcraft.com
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Real Madrid win their 31st La Liga title in Pamplona
By Laura Navas / Translation by Matthew Goltz
It wasn’t easy. It took 35 long matchdays and more than 3,000 minutes of playing time. Twenty-five victories and 73 goals later, Madridismo can celebrate a league which it dominated from start to finish. Little did the final result of Villarreal’s match matter. The Whites landed in Pamplona with the lone objective of winning. A well-balanced team, a closely-knit squad, and an exemplary fan base couldn’t have provided a different ending. Robben’s goal restored hope and Higuaín’s provoked absolute bedlam. The victory and three points were all that were needed for Madridismo to celebrate in Cibeles and for Real Madrid to conquer back-to-back titles for the first time in 18 years. Congratulations Champions.
Few changes to Sunday’s starting eleven, including the same defensive line which held its ground in the Camp Nou and saw Robinho concede his position on the left flank to Robben. Ruud van Nistelrooy would have to wait and watch from the bench. Osasuna didn’t present many changes either. Loyal to his game plan, Cuco Ziganda handed the reins to former Madridista Javier Portillo, while Javier Flaño took position along the right wing which Azpilicueta abandoned for a spot in the midfield
High intensity with few scoring opportunities
On the right, a team seeking a league title; on the left, one which hoped to claw out of the relegation zone. Both sides came to play and both immediately sought the ball hoping to draw first blood. Real Madrid had the first golden opportunity when Robben crossed into Saviola, but the Osasuna defense swarmed to the ball (1’). Azpilicueta countered for the hosts and hung a ball into the box which Vela was unable to meet (8’).
Los Rojillos tried their luck on both flanks but were stopped dead in their tracks by Casillas, who time and again demonstrated why he is the league’s top Zamora candidate. On the opposite third, Diarra’s long strike was cleared to corner by Ricardo (24’). Vela answered with a crossed shot which Casillas trapped with little difficulty (25’).
The pace slowed near the half-hour mark, upon which Portillo had a go from Iker’s right which forced the Madridista keeper into a double take save (26’). Before the first half drew to a close, Saviola’s brilliant centre was met by Sneijder, who headered straight into Ricardo’s hands (36’).
The league unfolds in two minutes
Cannavaro was booked for the second time only seconds into the second half, leaving Schuster’s side with ten men with over 40 minutes to play. The German tabbed Torres to replace Saviola, forcing Ramos into the centre of the back line with Pepe. Despite being a man down, Real Madrid turned on the jets. Sneijder watched as his lob struck of the crossbar and later off Raú’s back (56’). The Dutchman then saw his free kick cleard by Ricardo (61’).
The Whites needed a goal to clinch the league. Schuster subbed Higuaín in for Raúl. Cuco Ziganda followed suit by replacing Portillo and Javier Flaño with Pandiani and Sola. Madrid gained ground on Osasuna and had little difficulty reaching their opponent’s box. Robben, Higuaín, and Sneijder had numerous chances to seal the deal but lacked accuracy on the final touch.
It looked like the title would have to wait another week, and on one of their rare opportunities of the second half, Osasuna practically confirmed it with the first goal of the evening. Sola’s cross was punched clear by Casillas and deflected of Heinze’s hand, and Puñal smoothly converted the ensuing penalty (83’). But this championship has had one name written all over for an entire season, and destiny wanted the Madridistas to be the first to win a title in Pamplona.
Nothing short of a spectacular comeback by a team that wanted its 31st league title no matter where it was won. With three minutes left in regulation, Higuaín’s free kick found Robben who headered into the back of the net. Two minutes later, when the Madridista dream appeared all but postponed, Higuaín just happened to bring another league title back to Madrid. The Argentine received a pass from Ramos and nearly broke the back of the net with an unstoppable strike. Congratulations Champions!!!
Source: www.realmadrid.com
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Posted by Paul Mutton at 21 April 2008
A security weakness in Barack Obama’s website has been exploited to redirect visitors to Hillary Clinton’s website. Visitors who viewed the Community Blogs section of the site were instead presented with Clinton’s website as a result of a cross-site scripting vulnerability.
Barack Obama’s visitors were redirected to this site.
A user named Mox, from Liverpool, IL, posted an apparent confession in the Community Blogs section on the Barack Obama website yesterday. The subject of the post was, “I am the one who “hacked” Obamas site.“
Mox plays down the matter by saying that all he did was exploit some poorly written HTML code before suggesting that it was a cross-site scripting vulnerability that had been exploited. By allowing users to enter characters such as > and ” into their blog URLs, JavaScript could be injected into pages in the Community Blogs section and would be executed by subsequent visitors.
A YouTube clip from zennie62 demonstrates the attack. The clip shows a user clicking on the Community Blogs section of the Barack Obama site, which subsequently causes the browser to redirect to hillaryclinton.com. The author speculates that “Senator Clinton’s staffers possibly hired someone to hack into the Barack Obama website system.” No evidence is offered to back up this statement.
Another vulnerability found on the Barack Obama site.
While Mox states that the original issue has now been fixed, a number of similar vulnerabilities have since been identified and remain unfixed, and are documented on xssed.com, which notes that such vulnerabilities open up opportunities to infect Obama’s supporters and site visitors with malware, adware and spyware.
Source: www.netcraft.com
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