The target='_blank' vulnerability

For many years, I was a fan of using target="_blank" inside any anchor tags on my website that linked to external sites so it would keep the viewer still on my site in the background so they can easily come back to it later on. However, Ben Halpern describes the problem (with examples) of how it is an issue on this page and how the window/tab containing the origin website (i.e. the one with the target anchor tag) could be manipulated to trick the user into providing details to a fake equivalent site.

React.js Revisited

Edit 05/03/2017 - My son has kindly followed this mini tutorial and has pointed out a few areas where I didn’t make much sense. All part of learning! But I’ve updated those areas below.

It’s been a while since I wrote up my beginner guide to React.js and I’ve been thinking it’s time to revisit it as things have changed since then with better tooling and ES6 support etc. so here I am!

Windows 8/10 computer not connecting to your network?

I have had a fair few people lately telling me that their Windows computers are struggling to connect to the Internet. After doing some digging into the problem, it turns out that it could be related to a failed Windows Update that Microsoft initially issued in December 2016, but some computers are slow in picking up the update (or the owners are similar to me, and don’t reboot very often to let updates take effect!)

npm package.json - Package From a Github Commit

Sometimes the version of an npm package has some functionality you want, but it has issues which break other stuff. What do you do? Pull the repo and build it yourself and shoehorn it in? Let’s see…

For my example, I’ll use the griddle-react package.

I quite like the Griddle component (griddle-react), I’ve posted about it in the past, and use it both at work and in side-projects at home whenever tabular data needs to be displayed as it’s quick and simple. However, I’ve had it occur twice where a bug is present in the current npm package version, but since the package was pushed to npm, the bug has been fixed in the Github repository. How do I get this version into my project!?

JSX/ES6 Syntax Highlighting in Visual Studio 2015

Visual Studio 2015 (by default) isn’t exactly crash hot for editing JavaScript, especially JSX/ES6 for React etc.

A lot of developers seem to opt for alternative IDEs/editors for writing JavaScript code instead of staying in Visual Studio, however it’s often more effort to manage multiple IDEs for one project. I’ve tried a few things myself to get things working, some of the steps below are courtesy of Nick Dewitt on this StackOverflow post.

Windows 10 IoT on a Raspberry Pi 2

I thought it a good idea to spend some time looking at Windows 10 IoT edition on my Raspberry Pi 2. I’ve been looking at this since it was first announced a while back, but never actually got around to having a proper look into it and getting it installed on one of our Pis.

What kit do I have then?

• Raspberry Pi 2
• Edimax EW-7811Un Nano USB Wireless Dongle (which turned out to be unsupported, but there is a workaround - details to come later)
• Official Power Supply (the white Raspberry Pi 2.1A model)

First of all I need to get the operating system downloaded. I found the Windows IoT Dashboard software available for free from Microsoft (I downloaded it from https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/iot/Downloads.htm) and installed it onto my laptop ready to go. This software allowed me to specify that it is intended for running on a Raspberry Pi (it lists the Pi 2 and 3 - I assume the Pi 1 isn’t powerful enough?) so I followed the steps and created my MicroSD card ready to go.

Intel Graphics Driver Crashes on XPS15

On my XPS15, I’ve noticed recently that the Intel graphics driver crashes a quite a bit (mainly when using Google Chrome). Although it recovers successfully, it’s still pretty annoying. A couple of days ago, I finally reached the end of my tether and started seriously looking for a solution (as compared to a quick Google search and then get distracted).

I came across a thread on Dell’s community forum: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3519/t/19658452 which discussed this problem. Bas66 commented on here and provided instructions to obtain Beta version Intel drivers which should resolve the problem, and also how to install them (via a tutorial intended for MS Surface - http://www.windowscentral.com/how-install-intel-beta-graphics-drivers-surface, but it still applies albeit for a different graphic adapter model).

Dell Vostro 3350 Laptop with Windows 10

So this week I’ve bought an ex-corporate Dell Vostro 3350 with the intention of it replacing Di’s aged Pentium D desktop which is struggling since the Windows 10 upgrade. The laptop came pre-installed with Windows 10 Professional (a digital entitlement upgrade from the Windows 7 Pro that came on the laptop), and seemed quick enough. However, I’m not one to use a laptop as it comes, especially when it’s not brand new. Plus I noticed some of the devices weren’t installed correctly, so I took the opportunity to reinstall on the mechanical disk to ensure I have the right drivers before reinstalling onto the SSD that’ll come out of the desktop.

Windows Update Error 8007000E

Twice recently I’ve reinstalled Windows 7 on a machine, only for Windows Update to fail when checking for updates. On both machines it gave an error 8007000E.

The first machine (belonging to my nephew), I couldn’t fix, so left it with him with automatic updates enabled in the hope it’ll fix itself.

The second machine is this Samsung netbook. As it’s already had me over a barrel, it won’t do me over again! So onto the Internets I went… I’m not alone here, as there’s no shortage of machines in a similar situation. But luckily, Henk Hoogendoorn has blogged about it over at http://henkhoogendoorn.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/some-clients-not-updating-reporting.html and suggested that it needs a further Windows Update and a cheeky config change to get it to work.

Reinstalling a Samsung NC10+ Netbook = Painful

I’ve had to do a restore on a Samsung NC10+ which is an Atom N450 based netbook from a few years back. But for some reason, the recovery stuff just won’t work and I’ve had to do a clean install of Windows. And the Samsung support website… well, it’s not much support at all. In fact, I don’t think they even remember releasing the NC10+. Only the original NC10.

Luckily, Windows 7 installs drivers for most things, but missing the two important ones… Video and Wireless. So after a long hunt, I’ve found the needed drivers to be: