CNN iPhone app displaying Dotomi/ConversantMedia ad scripting code instead of actual ad

I was browsing through the CNN iPhone app today and noticed that I was seeing web scripting code instead of the actual ad. At first I thought it was an ad from some cool startup trying to attract programmers :). But at the end, I concluded that this was an incorrectly functioning ad module on the CNN iPhone app.

The CNN iPhone app dev team should probably update the ad module to display a generic ad image or message instead of the code in cases where the ad display fails.

Screenshot 1: Example ad code being displayed instead of the actual ad.

 


Screenshot 2: What a working ad should look like.


Ad code
Note: Looks like it was a Symantec/Norton ad which did not get displayed. Also, dotomi.com (now ConversantMedia.com) appears to be the marketing agency which delivers the ads.

var dmo = {
“trid”:”446003040531067668″,
“trmagic”:115125044,
“pid”:250,
“mediasize”:11,
“mediaWidth”:300,
“mediaHeight”:250,
“companyId”:2474,
“companyName”:”Symantec – Norton”,
“companyMagic”:”0bf727″,
“msgCampId”:52076,
“parentTemplateId”:52476,
“templateId”:52480, “objectSrc”:”http://usweb.dotomi.com/res/2474/56983/52480.js”,

Good free FTP/SFTP server for Windows – Core FTP / SFTP Server

If you would like to install a free but good FTP/SFTP server for Windows, CoreFTP secure FTP server is a good one. This is useful for transferring files between computers or to act as a standalone FTP/SFTP server.
CoreFTP secure FTP server : http://coreftp.com/server/
Tip: For faster downloads, use the CoreFTP Lite client which is also free.
I also tested freeSSHd which is open source. However, the transfer speed was very low – only about 35 kbps on an intranet. On CoreFTP however, I got around 600kbps between two computers on an intranet.

Sort your Firefox bookmarks

I love Firefox. But there are a couple of quirks about it which drive me crazy. One of them is not being able to sort your bookmarks easily, especially in the toolbar, which I use a lot.
I searched a bit and this appears to be the best option at this point:
– Install the “SortPlaces” add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9275
Note: Since this is an experimental add-on, it requires you to sign up and login to download the add-on. Also see www.andyhalford.com/sortplaces/ to learn more about this add-on.
I just tried and this works great. After installing the add-on, it appears as a “Sort Bookmarks” button under the Bookmarks tab..
There also seems to be a way to sort the bookmarks through the Bookmarks Manager. I have not tried it yet. But if you would like to try it out, check out the link below.
http://mozilla.gunnars.net/firefox_bookmarks_tutorial.html

Fax It Nice – Review

Update 2/14/2017: The www.faxitnice.com website is no longer working. I use www.ringplus.com now for occasional faxes (they can give you a $9.99 pay per use plan if you call them)

Original post (9/5/2007) below:

I had to send an urgent fax today and did not have access to a fax machine. I signed up first for eFax. Then I realized that I could not send faxes without paying a monthly subscription. I then went to this Wikipedia page and looked at the list of online fax providers. I finally decided on FaxItNice.
Fax It Nice - Visit Website
The nice part about FaxItNice is that you have the option of not paying a monthly fee. And the credits do not expire. This served me well because I do not send faxes regularly. And I do not want to pay a monthly fee for something I will not use regularly. I uploaded 2 word files and 1 excel file and there were no issues sending them. I went for their Sending Only Plan which costs 18 cents per page to send faxes to the US.
Bottomline: Definitely recommended for people who want to have the ability to send faxes online.
Link: www.FaxItNice.com

AOL/AIM Mail – 2 GB with IMAP access

AOL/AIM is now offering free email. I signed up for one yesterday. If you already have an AIM username, you can access your webmail at http://mail.aol.com/.
AIM Mail
And today, I found out that it also provides IMAP access. I tested the IMAP connection with Outlook Express and it works nicely. The settings are:
IMAP server: imap.aol.com
Port: 143 (default port)
As far as I know, no other email service – Gmail, Yahoo, Rediffmail and even Yahoo Mail Plus do not offer IMAP access. I think Outlook Express can be configured to access Hotmail but I am not sure if it is POP or IMAP, or whether it works for all free accounts.
btw, Fastmail does offer free IMAP access but provides only 10 MB storage space.
I will test AOL/AIM mail for some more time and I will post my experiences here.
Related Links:
– 06/06/2005: AOL Launches Free Email Service (CNN Money)
– 05/05/2005: Yahoo now offers 1 GB email space
– 11/16/2004: Gmail POP access

Yahoo now offers 1 GB email space

Just noticed now that my Yahoo email space has increased to 1 GB. Don’t know exactly when the upgrade happened. It was supposed to have taken place in mid-April, but I am sure my account quota was 250 mb just 2 or 3 days back.
Yahoo email space is now 1 GB
Have three yahoo mail accounts (two yahoo.com and one yahoo.co.in) and the quota has increased in all three.
Related Link(s)
– 03/23/2005: Yahoo to increase email storage to 1 GB

Yahoo to increase email storage to 1 GB

Yahoo announced on Tuesday that it is going to increase it free email storage limit to 1 GB, from its current 250 MB. The upgrade will take place in mid-April.

Yahoo’s storage upgrade comes one week after Google started offering Gmail accounts to random visitors of its home page. This has led to heightened speculation in news articles and blogs that Google plans to open Gmail’s doors to the public on April 1, a year after it launched in its current test form.

Good news for Yahoo users :). However, Gmail has one major advantage -it offers free POP3 access. Interface wise, I like Yahoo Mail’s interface better than Gmail’s.
Related Links:
Yahoo bolsters e-mail storage to 1GB (c|net)
Yahoo Inc. Again Expands E-Mail Storage (Yahoo News)

2004 Google Zeitgeist

Google released its 2004 Year-End Google Zeitgeist list yesterday (Thu, 12/23). It lists the terms most frequently entered into the company’s search engine over the past 12 months.
The most popular queries for 2004 are:
[1] Popular Queries: Britney Spears
[2] Popular Men: Orlando Bloom
[3] Popular Women: Britney Spears
[4] Popular Consumer Brand Names: Ebay
[5] Top Public Figures: George W. Bush
and many more…
And “Zeitgeist” is a german word which means: “the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era”
Related Links:
Google Press Center: Zeitgeist
News article at ZdNet
Google Blog