Virus Transmission: Test Drive of WriteToMyBlog

This post represents a couple of mail-related security tips that I gleaned from a Microsoft publication (perhaps a Mactopia Newsletter), and mailed to myself as a reminder in August 2004. I'm posting it now to: a) purge mail archives, and b) test drive WriteToMyBlog (TM). [WriteTo... is a web-based word-processing application that appears to have been superseded or supplemented by SourcedFrom (WriteTo... Blog, 2008.11.07).]

* To prevent virus transmission when attaching documents:
o Save & send Word documents as rich text format (rtf) files.
o Save & send Excel documents as comma separated values (csv) files.

* To prevent automatically opening messages which may contain web-based graphics or executable virus files:
o Disable Outlook preview panes in the view menu after selecting each folder (Deleted items, Drafts, Inbox).

(Microsoft, n.p., c. August 2004)

__________

Notes:

The dialog that opens when you click "Publish" in WriteToMyBlog includes the following warning:
Warning! This website has not registered with Google to establish a secure connection for authorization requests. We recommend that you continue the process only if you trust the following destination: http://writetomyblog.com/action/blogs_publish.cgi

The tags you apply get converted to Technorati tags.

...

The layout got buggy after I'd opened and closed the Publish interface; the entire text of the draft post replicated itself in the word processing window.

When I went back to the publishing routine, after closing it once, and reviewing the explanation of Tags, the WriteToMyBlog interface recognized the fact that I was logged in to my Blogger account, but kept returning "500 Internal Server Error" messages:

Error Code: 564-5
Your Google session token may have expired, click back then [logout] and try again.

/////
I've captured what remained in the WriteTo... word processing window (Mozilla Firefox 3.0.8), and continued in NeoOffice.

Did that, but after logging back in to Google via the WriteTo... interface, no blogs or categories showed up A retry, after logging out again, generated the following garbage characters, but still no blogs or categories to select.

è��v ڻ͋rEÐïŒÕ@³##Öå?˜;±Ž¼«ÿ~��ï]ˆ0æÏóºê#$€VâtQõœ#–#x’Nø'#K7¿r áÆŸ#&€+Òàñš {å¾!æU¹5É_@ûÌÙ#§™z#ÿÇ.ÉWH¼¸�î5��?´¢û©ÔÔ†ÁŸ˜‡�EEKú�^��!�ï¿#Ú¹:\Oš÷è4W„ë-zÐ]ˆ0æÏóºê#åžØ•`2Û]ˆ0æÏóºê‰V
‡£½r’âe_ã�¸<ÿ]ˆ0æÏóºêb#Š2(0#­pdŠn¾¹îïÈlaÆû\@æç7…Mña" />

/////
Gut nut: WriteTo... is definitely a non-starter in Firefox! I'm going back to Flock.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Aren't Otters Extraordinarily Cute?

Though I missed it by a week, last week was "the [20th] anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill" (personal correspondence, 2009.03.24).

A family member and friend sent me that picture of two small victims probably no longer inhabiting our planet. Though otters' life-spans may reach 20 years, that wouldn't be the case for those unlucky ones, not even ten years later (Most Exxon Valdez otters sent to zoos are dead, Juneau Empire, 1999.03.30). Otter aren't the only ill-fortuned ones.

Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, pockets of oil — an estimated 16,000 gallons — remain buried in small portions of the intertidal zone. ... As the 20th anniversary of the spill arrives, hopes are fading for a natural recovery of herring.

(Hal Bernton, Exxon Valdez oil-spill recovery still is work in progress, 20 years later, The Seattle Times, 2009.03.24)

On behalf of her otter buddies, my friend asked me to do "one thing out of the ordinary ... that eliminates the use of oil and gas ... on the planet." If you're reading this post, I'm asking you to do more of the same.


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