Nick Bradbury

ANN: FeedDemon 1.11 - Security Update

I've been watching the recent slew of Internet Explorer exploits with some concern since these vulnerabilities could affect FeedDemon users while browsing with IE. Even though Microsoft has attempted to address these problems by explaining how to increase your browser safety, I decided I needed to resolve them directly in FeedDemon to make sure my customers are protected.

To make a long story short, earlier today I uploaded FeedDemon 1.11. Starting with this release, FeedDemon no longer allows browsing URLs that use the ms-its, ms-itss, its, mk or mhtml protocols (here's why this is necessary). In addition, I've improved the security of FeedDemon's newspapers by removing all potentially unsafe HTML elements and attributes before displaying the contents of any feed.

• Download FeedDemon 1.11
• Release notes

Just install this release directly on top of version 1.0 or version 1.10 and your settings will be retained. Note that because this is a security-related update which I want all FeedDemon customers to use, I decided to reset the expiration date for users of the trial version - so if your trial version is set to expire soon, you get to start over with 20 more days of usage.

PS: If you want to stop using IE altogether, see this blog entry about using Mozilla inside FeedDemon.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR THOSE USING SOFTWARE FIREWALLS: If after upgrading to version 1.11 you discover that FeedDemon no longer updates any feeds, it is almost certainly because your firewall is blocking the new version. If you experience this problem, you need to configure your firewall to allow the newer version of FeedDemon to access the Internet.

Shareware Business Blunders

NetCaptor's Adam Stiles just announced his new eBook, Shareware Business Blunders...and How to Avoid Them. Adam contacted 38 shareware authors - including myself - and asked them to talk about their mistakes, then compiled their answers into a 124-page PDF eBook.

If you're a shareware author or you're interested in becoming one, this book is certainly worth the $47 Adam is asking for it.

Mozilla Foundation, Apple, Macromedia, Opera and Sun to Improve Browser Plugins

MozillaZine is reporting that the Mozilla Foundation has formed an alliance with Apple, Macromedia, Opera and Sun to improve the Netscape plugin model.

Firefox problem with FeedDemon? Here's the fix.

If like me you're using Firefox as your default browser, you may have run into a problem recently when using it with FeedDemon. Several FeedDemon users (and users of other tools that rely on Firefox) have reported that every time they try to use Firefox as an external browser, they get a message that Windows cannot find the URL.

Luckily, a FeedDemon customer posted the solution in the FeedDemon support forum:

1. Open Explorer
2. Select Tools and then Folder Options
3. Select the File Types tab
4. Select Extension: (NONE), File Type: HyperText Transfer Protocol
5. Click Advanced toward the bottom of the window
6. In the Edit File Type window, select open and click Edit
7. Clear the DDE message box (which should contain "%1")
8. Click OK, Click OK
9. Repeat for File Type: HyperText Transfer Protocol with Privacy

Macromedia Product RSS Feeds

Macromedia has a set of product-specific RSS feeds. I was actually surprised to see a HomeSite feed - I'm wondering how often this will be updated (thanks to Jeff Wilkinson for the link).

Color Schemer Studio - Save 20%

TopStyle's color picker is something I'm proud of - it packs a ton of functionality into a small, easy-to-use dialog, and it's a tool many TopStyle customers have told me they really appreciate. Despite this, though, I realize that TopStyle's color picker may not have everything you need - especially if you're a graphic artist.

So, if you're looking for a really powerful tool for selecting color schemes for your site, check out Color Schemer Studio from Color Schemer. I've been playing with the latest version of Color Schemer, and I'm really impressed with how it helps match colors and find harmonies, and also with how it teaches color theory to neophytes such as myself.

I recently shared email with Aaron Epstein, the developer of Color Schemer, and he agreed that our products compliment each other nicely. As a result, Aaron is now offering a 20% discount on Color Schemer Studio to anyone who reads this blog. [ More Info ]

Progress on TopStyle Pro 3.11

Even though I'm posting more about FeedDemon lately, most of my work these days has been with the upcoming TopStyle Pro 3.11. Version 3.11 will focus on bug fixes rather than new features, and will be a free upgrade for existing 3.10 customers. I don't have an expected release date at the moment, but it shouldn't be more than a few weeks before a beta is available.

BTW, among the problems fixed already are these two bugs, which have been the most commonly reported ones:

• The file panel paints a "ghost" image when the screen resolution is above 1024x768 (only occurs on certain graphics cards)
• Access violation on Windows 98 when viewing files that have a corrupt (or missing) creation date

Download.com: "How to read RSS feeds"

I mentioned this in the FeedDemon Tips blog already, but thought I'd also mention it here: Download.com added a "How To" guide to reading RSS feeds, and they've used FeedDemon for their examples. The article is actually a nice introduction to FeedDemon, so if you're new to FeedDemon, you might want to check it out [link].

Syndication and Aggregation

Five years ago today, Dave Winer wrote about syndication and aggregation. Dave, thanks for all you efforts to promote weblogs and syndication - you've helped open a lot of possibilities for a lot of people.

Speaking at Gnomedex

When I attended Gnomedex last year, I have to confess that I went with muted expectations. As it turned out, though, I had a great time, and rank it among the best conferences I've visited.

This year, not only am I attending the conference but I'm scheduled to speak on one of the panels. Along with blogging gurus Robert Scoble, Henry Copeland and Ross Rader, I'll be discussing how to maximize your blogging strategies. I'm glad I have a couple of months to figure out what to say, because I'm not an experienced public speaker :)

Among the other confirmed speakers are Steve Wozniak, Wil Wheaton and Dan Gillmor.

The conference isn't until September 30 so I'll talk more about it closer to the time, but if you want to attend I recommend registering now. Unlike last year's Iowa-based Gnomedex, this year it's being held in Lake Tahoe - so I expect even more people to be there.