Linked List: October 12, 2009

Monday, 12 October 2009

Brian Krebs on Safe Online Banking ★

Brian Krebs:

An investigative series I’ve been writing about organized cyber crime gangs stealing millions of dollars from small to mid-sized businesses has generated more than a few responses from business owners who were concerned about how best to protect themselves from this type of fraud.

The simplest, most cost-effective answer I know of? Don’t use Microsoft Windows when accessing your bank account online.

The Two App Stores ★

Marco Arment divides the store in two: attempted quick hits and works of lasting craftsmanship. There’s certainly some overlap between the two groups, but on the surface this rings true.

Arthur Levinson Resigns From Google’s Board of Directors ★

Fuel to the fire of growing tensions between Google and Apple (where Levinson remains a board member).

Harry McCracken Revisits the Reviews of Vista ★

Copiously researched claim chowder. Good way to put reviews of Windows 7 in context.

(There seems to be widespread consensus that Windows 7 has to be a hit because Microsoft needs it to be a hit. I wonder how much this assumption has colored the reviews.)

WebKit, Mobile, and Progress ★

Nice response from Alex Russell to PPK’s aforelinked piece on compatbility across mobile WebKit implementations:

The important takeaway for web developers in all of this is that WebKit is winning and that that is a good thing. The dynamics of the marketplace have thus far ensured that we don’t get “stuck” the way we did on the desktop. That is real progress.

Restoring Spring to iPhone Springboard ★

Tog has run out of space for his iPhone apps, so he’s made a concept design for an upgraded version of Springboard that could handle more apps and offer a greater amount of organization.

I don’t agree with his proposed design (way too fiddly and fussy), but as always with Tog, it’s an interesting read and a thoughtful proposal. And he’s addressing a genuine problem — even with the nice improvements in iPhone OS 3 and iTunes 9, dealing with dozens still seems ungraceful, to say the least.

QuirksBlog: There Is No WebKit on Mobile ★

Typically copious comparison testing from Peter-Paul Koch, examining the differences between various mobile WebKit implementations.