August 05, 2009

Dear Valued Mozilla Customer:

It has been brought to our attention that the Mozilla Store www.store.mozilla.org has had a security breach. We take all security breaches very seriously, and are working hard to determine the extent of the violation. In the meantime, the site has been taken down as a protective measure.

At this time we do not believe any credit card information has been compromised. However, some Mozilla Store customers’ user names and passwords have been exposed. It is our strong recommendation that all Mozilla Store customers proactively change their user name and passwords for their Mozilla Store account and all other accounts that use the same information. We will not bring the site back up until we are confident that we have addressed all security issues. A notification will be sent to you when the site goes back up.

GatewayCDI apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. We value our customers and their online security is a top priority to our organization.

Sincerely,

Conrad Franey
Chief Marketing Officer
GatewayCDI

There are 3 major things I’d like to discuss about this. The first is the obvious, if they had used safe storage techniques; the probability of their password list being compromised would have been practically eliminated. I cannot stress that enough, if a password is in the database as plain text, it will be compromised, I know that means you can’t just send a user their password when they forget, but that’s ok… it’s not a huge hassle to change a password. The second topic is users that “use the same information”. Granted, most of us are guilty of this at some point or another. We all have favorite passwords that we like to use. I personally try to make classifications of passwords for different types of sites, but sometimes I find myself using a “default” password out of habit. Please, people, one of the best ways you can protect yourself on the internet is to use different passwords. If not for everything, don’t use the same password for sites like facebook, myspace, or twitter that you would use for your bank or email account. The third MAJOR topic that I feel needs to be discussed is in regard to that first sentence that’s highlighted in red. “At this time we do not believe any credit card information has been compromised.” This should not even be a fear. Under no circumstances should you store your credit card on any sites database, and under no circumstance should any site store it without your asking. After a transaction is completed, the only thing that should remain is the authorization number, order number, and the last 4 digits of the card. That is all the bank and the company should EVER need to look up a transaction. Verifying identity using a credit card number is a terrible thing, and any company that does so should be avoided. I am hoping that the reason they do not believe any credit card #s were stolen is because they don’t store them… but only time will tell.

Ok, enough ranting and raving from me. I have spoken my mind on this topic, now I will shut up and let you all get back to your days. Just remember, sites do not always practice safe storage procedures, so the best protection from identity theft is still your common sense, so use it!

We just launched a new “just for fun” blog.  Don’t worry, we’ll still be posting our regular tutorials and free stuff here, but we just needed this.

So why doncha stop by and see what we like other than pixel patterns, actionscript, and sql queries.  Leave us a comment when you come by.  Or else…

]]> http://www.clickpopmedia.com/2008/04/28/our-new-blog-we-are-clickpopmedia/feed/ 2 http://www.clickpopmedia.com/2008/04/21/box2dflash-v200-released/ http://www.clickpopmedia.com/2008/04/21/box2dflash-v200-released/#comments Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:30:33 +0000 Paul http://www.clickpopmedia.com/?p=264 Box2DFlash v2.0.0 was finally released on the 17th of this month (April). Box2DFlash is the Flash AS3 port of Erin Catto’s C++ physics engine Box2D. Erin Catto is a physics programmer at Blizzard Entertainment (WarCraaaft!). I’ve been looking forward to this release since I found out about it while making a tutorial for the previous release (v1.4.3) about a month ago.

Some of the major changes/additions to this version are:

- Continuous physics.
Continuous physics means that the physics is now independent of the frame rate. This prevents bodies from passing through each other at higher speeds. This feature can potentially make this version slower then previous versions, but it also makes it MUCH more accurate.
- Shape create/destroy.

You can destroy a shape on the parent body easily. You may do this to model a breakable object.

In the past you couldn’t add or remove shapes from a body object that was already in the world object.
- Joints defined in local coordinates.

Box2D requires [joint anchor] points to be specified in local coordinates. This way the joint can be specified even when the current body transforms violate the joint constraint — a common ocurrence when a game is saved and reloaded.

- Moveable center of mass.
This is great because you can now have a hammer that’s center of mass is in the head, not the middle of the handle.
- Sensors.

Some times game logic needs to know when two shapes overlap yet there should be no collision response. This is done by using sensors. A sensor is a shape that detects collision but does not produce a response…

- Contact listener callback.
- Contact filter callback.
These callbacks are essentially events. It is now much easier to do something or other on collisions. Say, cause damage to your spaceship when a meteor strikes it.
- Revised manual.
Sure. Having an up to date manual is a good thing. Currently the manual is only for the C++ version, but all the concepts are the same for the flash version and it will help a lot for understanding the example projects.
- Doxygen documents.
- Eliminated deferred destruction.
This was a feature in previous versions of Box2D that was only needed because there was no contact callbacks. It’s gone now so I’m not going to bother explaining what it was.
- Improved testbed with more examples.
Check it out! It’s really just the example project/code that they give you to learn some of the features.

With this release I will be getting back to making some tutorials on how to use this awesome resource. So, keep checking back to see what’s new and I will hopefully not disappoint you.

In the beginning of my search to find just the right video, I had no idea that a one of this caliber was out there. In it, you’ll see the technicality of graffiti, all the while getting the Truth (his name is Jesus…). Check it out, and pay special attention to how the writers paint over and re-use sections that were previously painted. It’s solid. And props to the GG Crew for their impressive and blessed work.

Be sure to check out the full blog: Gospel Graffiti – Billy Graham Video

“The Lord bless you and keep you…” -Numbers 6:24

-Weese

Attention: Our Relief vector pack is up on a really awesome vector image site called Vecteezy. We’re pretty happy to be in the company of the other designers that are featured there. Head on over and vote for us if you appreciate what we do.

GodBless:VQ

Today we launch our new blog lineup. In honor of this august occasion, we’re also releasing a little megaphone vector. We’ve been giving you these free resources for quite some time, and now we’re asking for something in return (with great power comes great responsibility you know). We’re asking you to do a composition using the ClickPop vectors themed around “ClickPopHello.” Sorry, there’s no prize for this one other than the warm, fuzzy feeling you will get knowing that you made us smile. Head on over to the ClickPopMedia Flickr group and join in.

Download the Shout! vector pack (Adobe Illustrator)

Back to our new lineup:

• Paul is going to take Mondays and be blogging about actionscript, things, and stuff.
• Sean will write on Tuesdays about programming, robots, and DIY.
• Weese has Wednesdays, and he’ll be writing about graffiti, painting, and the like.
• VQ is on Thursdays. He’s writing about illustration, and giving out vectors, brushes, and things. Just like Santa Claus.
• Friday we have a special treat. Ricky Spaniel will be doing a video blog especially for us.
• We have some cool stuff planned for Saturday and Sunday, but you’ll have to wait a little for that. Remember, patience is a virtue.

Update:

One of our friends from DeviantArt sent us a pretty funny comment:

“Of course, you will know when I use one of your vectors By the way, I’ve watched your video and I laughed a lot when the guy goes crazy “

GodBless:ClickPopMedia