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Redesigning CloudFlare

Redesigning CloudFlare

Redesigning CloudFlare

CloudFlare’s original interface grew at an amazing speed. Visually, it hadn't changed much since CloudFlare’s launch in 2010. After several years of new features, settings, and ancillary UIs buried beneath clicks, it became clear that the user experience was lacking and would only get worse as we continued to add features. The question became: How could we make a UI that was versatile, scalable, and consistent?

If you haven’t yet, make sure you read Matthew’s post about the philosophy behind our new interface. This post will go into the details and the thought process behind designing our new dashboard.

Why a redesign?

We needed versatility for a growing variety of users and devices

As CloudFlare has grown, we now have a large variety of customers spanning four very different plan levels. We needed an interface that would work well for both the casual owner of a single blog, an agency managing many client sites, and enterprise customers that demand ultimate control. Also, the rise of responsive design was something we wanted to take seriously — the dashboard should be versatile enough to work just as well on every device.

We needed a platform that we could build upon

Redesigning CloudFlare

We couldn’t Continue reading

Mozilla may offer new browser features only on secure websites

Mozilla is planning to gradually favor HTTPS (HTTP Secure) connections over non-secure HTTP connections by making some new features on its browser available only to secured sites.The browser developer decided after a discussion on its community mailing list that it will set a date after which all new features will be available only to secure websites, wrote Firefox security lead Richard Barnes in a blog post. Mozilla also plans to gradually phase out access to browser features for non-secure websites, particularly features that could present risks to users’ security and privacy, he added.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Skill Development Planning by the Dozen


I’ve been going to Cisco Live as one of the speakers for several years now. As Cisco employee, you can go to Cisco Live (for free) only if you are a speaker, or part of the World of Solutions exhibition, or if you come for the customers, or to support the network infrastructure for the event.

For the past three years at Cisco Live I’ve been sharing strategy and tips and tricks of how to become CCIE based on my own experience. My part of the session is focusing on skill development planning to achieve the objective, which is to pass CCIE lab exam. There are many technical sessions available during the event, but only very few talk about how to build learning plan and walk you through step by step of sample plan created by someone who has done it. I believe the session material can be applied outside CCIE context, and it’s relevant with my previous post, so I’m going to share it here with some updates.



Robert Grant mentioned that strategy is the means by which individuals achieve their objectives. In short, successful strategy can be achieved by having clear and consistent goal, understanding the environment Continue reading

Malware campaign inflated views of pro-Russia videos

A botnet designed for Web advertising fraud was also used to nudge up the number of views of some pro-Russian videos on the website DailyMotion, according to security vendor Trustwave.An investigation into what appeared to be strictly ad fraud turned out to have a surprising political angle, wrote Rami Kogan of Trustwave’s SpiderLabs, in a blog post on Thursday.“We can’t know for sure who’s behind the fraudulent promotion of video clips, but it appears to be politically motivated,” he wrote.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Running Docker Machine on Rackspace Public Cloud

Next up I am giving Docker Machine on Rackspace public cloud a whirl. If you don’t have an account and want to check it out take a look at their developer+ credit. Here is a gif diagram (I’m addicted to making gifs atm, sometimes not even cats pics like here) overviewing Docker Machine. To get installed and much more on ... The post Running Docker Machine on Rackspace Public Cloud appeared first on NetworkStatic | Brent Salisbury's Blog.

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Startup launches subscription model for buying SSL certificates

A Utah-based startup has launched a subscription model for buying SSL certificates, an essential but at times onerous task.SSL and its successor, TLS (Transport Layer Security), are cornerstones of Web security, encrypting data exchanged between two machines. It underpins virtually every kind of transaction that requires privacy on the Web, from email to e-commerce. It’s signified by “https” in the URL bar of a browser.Companies and organizations are using more and more SSL certificates as the need for secure machine-to-machine communication has increased with cloud computing, virtualization and mobile devices.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google extends Android voice search to Zillow, Shazam, NPR

“OK Google, where are the open houses in Chicago?” That’s a question that might yield a useful response for Android users, now that Zillow’s real estate service is integrated into Google’s voice search.Several new integrations hit Google’s voice search system for Android devices on Thursday, which lets people conduct queries orally by first saying, “OK Google.” In addition to Zillow, Shazam, NPR and online radio service TuneIn have been integrated.The integrations require users to have those other apps on their smartphone or tablet. But instead of having to open the apps individually, users can ask their mobile device directly, which, hopefully, will then take them inside the appropriate app with an answer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Facebook change will give you control over data sharing with apps

Users are getting greater choice over what information is shared with websites and apps when they log in using their Facebook ID.A new version of Facebook Login, which begins its wide roll out this week, will present users with a prompt to “Edit the info you provide.” Clicking that will let users grant or deny access to different types of information. The login now also highlights who will see content posted by the app in Facebook, for apps that request the ability to do so.Facebook first announced this system during its F8 developers conference in April 2014. Many of the most popular apps, like Pinterest and Netflix, are already using it and over the next few weeks, Facebook will turn on the system for every app that uses the Facebook Login.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Facebook change will give you control over data sharing with apps

Users are getting greater choice over what information is shared with websites and apps when they log in using their Facebook ID.A new version of Facebook Login, which begins its wide roll out this week, will present users with a prompt to “Edit the info you provide.” Clicking that will let users grant or deny access to different types of information. The login now also highlights who will see content posted by the app in Facebook, for apps that request the ability to do so.Facebook first announced this system during its F8 developers conference in April 2014. Many of the most popular apps, like Pinterest and Netflix, are already using it and over the next few weeks, Facebook will turn on the system for every app that uses the Facebook Login.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Citizens of Tech 001 – Knuckle Cracking Felt Animals

I have a new podcast recommendation to share. The title is Citizens of Tech and is a product of our good friend Ethan Banks and Eric Suthphen. Although it is part of the PacketPushers ecosystem, it is a very different type of podcast. As opposed to typical network-centric topics, this show seems to include all things tech (and things that tech people are interested in).

Check out the first episode here–

Readers of this article may also enjoy:

  1. Everyone’s Favorite Topic–Bring Your Own Device

The post Citizens of Tech 001 – Knuckle Cracking Felt Animals appeared first on PacketU.

Interop 2015: The quiz

Interop 2015: The quizIt’s time again for Interop, where the greatest networking minds in the world gather to find answers to their knottiest problems – security, storage, cloud services, mobility, virtualization, the Internet of Things – the list goes on and on. It’s also time for the Internet quiz, where the greatest minds in networking try to answer a few questions about the trade show in an effort to demonstrate their tech acumen and preparedness. Keep track of your answers as you go and see at the end how well you did.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

GogglePal: Augmented reality and heads-up meets the snow

It seems like every sport is in the process of getting a high-tech digital makeover and snow sports are no exception. For example, a 3-day old Kickstarter campaign by GogglePal for an augmented reality (AR) heads up display (HUD) that can be mounted on any brand of ski googles is already over halfway to its funding goal of $40,000 and runs through May 28.The GogglePal system (I keep wanting to write “GooglePal” which is what it could become if a certain company gets interested) consists of the HUD module that sits inside your goggles a magnet that sits on the outside of your goggles to hold the HUD in place and a controller “pod” that you clip to your goggle strap.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Lasers will allow real-time satellite communications

There's an inherent problem with Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites of the kind used for remote observation, such as border security and disaster monitoring.The problem is that because of their low orbit—they're a few hundred miles above earth's surface, rather than 22,300 miles as found with Geostationary (GEO) satellites—they can't see their ground station at all times.They can see the earth more clearly, so they are good for monitoring; they are cheap to deploy because they don't need such a big rocket to get it up there; and they don't suffer from as much packet latency as GEO satellites because the distances are shorter.However, they aren't visible from any given point on earth at all times—they're not stationary, and they're low-down.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SDN ushering in “Golden Age” of network administration

IT organizations have been virtualizing compute servers for years, and now it’s time for network admins to have their turn at virtualization.A panel at Interop in Las Vegas this week that included network executives from Dell, HP and VMware said that software-defined networking (SDN) will usher in big changes in network operations. + MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: Hottest products from Interop 2015 | Google’s cloud chief says the industry is on the verge of a major transformation +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

House committee approves bill to end NSA phone records program

A U.S. Congress committee has overwhelmingly approved legislation designed to stop the bulk collection of U.S. phone records by the National Security Agency.The 25-2 vote in the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee sends the USA Freedom Act to the House floor for a vote. The two votes against the bill came from lawmakers who had argued for stronger protections for civil liberties.The legislation is a stronger version of a similar bill that passed the House last May but stalled in the Senate, sponsors said. However, several efforts to further strengthen privacy protections by amending the bill failed in committee. Opponents said changes would upend a carefully crafted compromise with House Republican leaders who have threatened to kill an amended bill.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

House committee approves bill to end NSA phone records program

A U.S. Congress committee has overwhelmingly approved legislation designed to stop the bulk collection of U.S. phone records by the National Security Agency.The 25-2 vote in the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee sends the USA Freedom Act to the House floor for a vote. The two votes against the bill came from lawmakers who had argued for stronger protections for civil liberties.The legislation is a stronger version of a similar bill that passed the House last May but stalled in the Senate, sponsors said. However, several efforts to further strengthen privacy protections by amending the bill failed in committee. Opponents said changes would upend a carefully crafted compromise with House Republican leaders who have threatened to kill an amended bill.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Wireless engineers now have a new online hotspot for geeking out

There are plenty of places online to bounce ideas off of other network and IT pros, but Kevin Franzen felt there was a need for at least one more, and he calls it the WirelessGeek.net forums.“I am trying to provide an open forum for engineer types to discuss wireless networks,” says Franzen, a certifiably smart wireless network guy (CWNE #136 and CCNP-Wireless) who works in Austin as principal network engineer for a large telco that is not affiliated with the forums.  “Currently folks try to use Twitter for this but it is not effective. The other wireless forums are related to vendors or a training company.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Appeal goes out to UN, Africa Union over Burundi social media shutdown

Access, a global human rights group, has appealed to the United Nations and the African Union to intervene in the Burundian government’s decision to block mobile social media amid protests aimed at stopping President Pierre Nkurunziza’s third-term bid.The government of Burundi on Monday ordered the shutdown of social media applications including Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, and Viber on the mobile Web, according to various media reports. The country’s telecom sector regulator ordered telecom operators to block the apps, according to reports.“Although fixed-line internet does not appear to be impacted, the majority of internet users in Burundi rely upon mobile internet for connectivity,” Access noted in a letter to the UN and the African Union.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FAA: 2 million lines of code process new air traffic system

The Federal Aviation Administration this week said it had completed the momentous replacement of 40-year old main computer systems that control air traffic in the US.Known as En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM), the system is expected to increase air traffic flow, improve automated navigation and strengthen aircraft conflict detection services, with the end result being increased safety and less flight congestion.+More on Network World: Graphene is hot, hot, hot+The FAA said the first of 20 installations of the ERAM system went online at Salt Lake City Center in March 2012 and the final installation was completed last month at New York Center.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here