I’ve been writing about the Mark-of-the-Web (MotW) security primitive in Windows for decades now, with 2016’s Downloads and MoTW being one of my longer posts that I’ve updated intermittently over the last few years. If you haven’t read that post already, you should start there. Advice for Implementers At this point, MotW is old enoughContinue reading “Mark-of-the-Web: Additional Guidance”
Author Archives: ericlaw
Q4 Races
I finished the first section of Tommy Rivers’ half-marathon training series (in Bolivia) and have moved on to the second section (Japan). I ran two Austin races in November, notching some real-world running experience in preparation for the 3M Half Marathon that I’ll be running at the end of January. Run for the Water OnContinue reading “Q4 Races”
Driving Electric
While my 2013 CX-5 is reasonably fuel-efficient (~28mpg in real world driving), this summer I watched in dismay as gas prices spiked. Even when my tank was almost full, watching prices tick up every time I drove past a gas station left me unsettled. I’d been idly considering getting an electric car for years, butContinue reading “Driving Electric”
Thoughts on Twitter
When some of the hipper PMs on the Internet Explorer team started using a new “microblogging” service called Twitter in the spring of 2007, I just didn’t “get it.” Twitter mostly seemed to be a way to broadcast what you’d had for lunch, and with just 140 characters, you couldn’t even fit much more. AsContinue reading “Thoughts on Twitter”
“Not Secure” Warning for IE Mode
A customer recently wrote to ask whether there was any way to suppress the red “/!\ Not Secure” warning shown in the omnibox when IE Mode loads a HTTPS site containing non-secure images: Notably, this warning isn’t seen when the page is loaded in modern Edge mode or in Chrome, because all non-secure “optionally-blockable” resourceContinue reading ““Not Secure” Warning for IE Mode”
Microsoft Employee’s Guide to Maximizing Donations
Perhaps the most impactful perk for employees of Microsoft is that the company will match charitable donations up to a pretty high annual limit ($15K/year), and will also match volunteering time with a donation at a solid hourly rate up to that same cap. Years ago, I volunteered at a food bank in Seattle, butContinue reading “Microsoft Employee’s Guide to Maximizing Donations”
Q: Why do tabs sometimes show an orange dot?
Sometimes, you’ll notice that a background tab has an orange dot on it in Edge (or a blue dot in Chrome). If you click on the tab, the dot disappears. Why? The dot indicates that the tab wants “attention” — more specifically, that there’s a dialog in the tab asking for your attention. This mightContinue reading “Q: Why do tabs sometimes show an orange dot?”
Capturing Logs for Debugging SmartScreen
The Microsoft Edge browser makes use of a service called Microsoft Defender SmartScreen to help protect users from phishing websites and malicious downloads. The SmartScreen service integrates with a Microsoft threat intelligence service running in the cloud to quickly block discovered threats. As I explained last year, the SmartScreen service also helps reduce spurious securityContinue reading “Capturing Logs for Debugging SmartScreen”
Cruising Alaska (Alaskan Brews Cruise)
I lived in the Seattle area for nearly 12 years, and one of my regrets is that I never took advantage of any of the Alaskan cruises that conveniently leave from Pier 91 a few miles out of downtown. Getting to Alaska from Austin is more of a hassle, but I figured I’d pair itContinue reading “Cruising Alaska (Alaskan Brews Cruise)”
HTTPS Goofs: Forgetting the Bare Domain
As I mentioned, the top failure of HTTPS is failing to use it, and that’s particularly common in in-bound links sent via email, in newsletters, and the like. Unfortunately, there’s another common case, whereby the user simply types your bare domain name (example.com) in the browser’s address bar without specifying https:// first. For decades, manyContinue reading “HTTPS Goofs: Forgetting the Bare Domain”
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