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Old 03-18-2008, 07:08 AM   #1
ktinkel
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Default New Safari, security issues plus

Apple has released an update to Safari 3.1, addressing multiple security issues.

According to the write-up in MacWorld, this update also "adds support for the new video and audio tags in HTML 5 and now supports CSS Animations. Apple says Safari is the first browser to support these features. Safari also supports CSS Web Fonts.” [I believe that is through the downloadable WebKit beta.]

The article also says that Apple claims several speed advantages over MSIE 7 and Firefox 2.

I thought the utility of Web Fonts was still being debated, but guess not. As for animation, better not surprise me with that; I hate moving stuff on the screen.

Oh, well.

   
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Old 03-20-2008, 04:39 AM   #2
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Apple has released an update to Safari 3.1, addressing multiple security issues.
...
Windows update is also available for 3.1.
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Old 03-20-2008, 05:23 AM   #3
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Windows update is also available for 3.1.
Right — sorry, I forgot to say. In fact, the Windows version has more security issues even than the Mac.

The scary bit about using Web Fonts applies to both platforms, I do believe.

   
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Old 03-20-2008, 06:10 AM   #4
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Right — sorry, I forgot to say. In fact, the Windows version has more security issues even than the Mac.

The scary bit about using Web Fonts applies to both platforms, I do believe.
Web Fonts are a scary bit? Please explain how that works, or doesn't work.
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Old 03-20-2008, 10:51 AM   #5
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Web Fonts are a scary bit? Please explain how that works, or doesn't work.
It allows web developers to use CSS code (@font-face) that calls for download of a font to be used on a page. An article by Hakon Lie at A List Apart discusses it, taking an optimistic view.

It won’t work with commercial fonts (from Adobe, Linotype, Emigre, et al). But some independent font makers do permit it, including Ray Larabie, Dieter Steffmann, and a few others.

It gets scary in many ways. Type designers and foundries are afraid that some people could make commercial fonts available for download. They would probably need to take steps to prevent that from happening, a la music sharing a few years ago.

But people reading a site that called for a perfectly legal font download might object for dozens of reasons. I do not like having stuff downloaded to my system (if that is what’s happening — I am not clear on that). The odds of these fonts being decorative or surprising-looking are pretty good (most free fonts are display fonts, not text). One of the blessings of having only a handful of cross-platform “web” fonts is that we are seldom shocked.

Fonts are not huge, but this practice will make heavier page downloads; not sure most hosts will appreciate that.

Others can raise the other objections that I have overlooked, or you can search for them on the web.

How would you like having @font-face? (Anyway, guess you can, now, with Safari.

   
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Old 03-20-2008, 11:49 AM   #6
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Sigh.

So now we need browsers that have settings not only to block images, or image animation, we need settings to stop font downloads (some have those already because of the previous downloadable fonts flash-in-the pan) and CSS animations as well.

And the downloadable fonts might turn into yet another vector for malware... don't forget that a font is essentially executable code - we've had malware via WMF and PNG files, if that's possible, fonts might be used a a vector as well. If downloadabel fonts become fashionable, I predict it's just a matter of time.

And then you have to set your virus scanner to scan all downloaded fonts before allowing the browser to use them. That will speed up page rendering even more.

Anyway, as long as browsers don't have settings to stop fonts downloading and CSS animation, having a browser that don't support the new features would actually become an advantage.

   
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Old 03-20-2008, 02:07 PM   #7
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Sigh.

So now we need browsers that have settings not only to block images, or image animation, we need settings to stop font downloads (some have those already because of the previous downloadable fonts flash-in-the pan) and CSS animations as well.

And the downloadable fonts might turn into yet another vector for malware... don't forget that a font is essentially executable code - we've had malware via WMF and PNG files, if that's possible, fonts might be used a a vector as well. If downloadabel fonts become fashionable, I predict it's just a matter of time.

And then you have to set your virus scanner to scan all downloaded fonts before allowing the browser to use them. That will speed up page rendering even more.

Anyway, as long as browsers don't have settings to stop fonts downloading and CSS animation, having a browser that don't support the new features would actually become an advantage.
Right now we need to install and use the WebKit thingie, so we are safe.

But I do think it is time to drum up public opposition to this scheme; or at the very least make all font downloading a simple Preferences setting so it is easy to avoid.

   
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Old 03-20-2008, 04:13 PM   #8
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It allows web developers to use CSS code (@font-face) that calls for download of a font to be used on a page. An article by Hakon Lie at A List Apart discusses it, taking an optimistic view.

...

How would you like having @font-face? (Anyway, guess you can, now, with Safari.
I suspected that I wouldn't care, and I don't. Thanks for the explanation, but it does raise questions.

What happens when there is a @font-face in the CSS, but the browser doesn't recognize it? Is there a default font?

It seems reasonable to expect the primary reason to use it would be to have a fancy or otherwise unusual display font displayed, just as the web developer would like the page to appear. Fine, but if most browsers don't support it, there isn't much of a point.

I don't know how I would oppose this concept, but I might do so. New ideas are not always good ideas.
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Old 03-20-2008, 06:16 PM   #9
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I suspected that I wouldn't care, and I don't. Thanks for the explanation, but it does raise questions.

What happens when there is a @font-face in the CSS, but the browser doesn't recognize it? Is there a default font?
Sure. Your default font.
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I don't know how I would oppose this concept, but I might do so. New ideas are not always good ideas.
Amen!

   
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