Since installing IE7 this week I started getting the following message whenever I launched an application installed on a network drive (ie. a location on my Samba server):

"The publisher can not be verified. Are you sure you
want to run this software ?".

It seems the new internet security features in IE7 decided that my network was a risk. I guess it's sort of fair, since I've never explicitely told IE7 that it's safe but still, it's a bit galling.

Anyway, to fix the problem,

1. Open Intenet Options from the Control panel


2. Select Security/Local Intranet/Sites/Advanced


3. Enter the network drive letter or UNC and click Close

This should add a rule for file://{servername} and should fix the problem for all EXEs on the server in question.

Using W3C's CSS validation service, you might see Warnings about your CSS stylesheet such as:

"You have no background-color with your color"

The link above gives a simple overview of the issue and the "fix".

Basically, you should ensure that each style that uses a "color" attribute has a corresponding "background-color" attribute at the same level. For styles that need a transparent background colour, use "inherit".

"Sniping" on eBay is the act of bidding at the last moment in an attempt to win the auction.

I've been impressed with jBidWatcher (http://www.jbidwatcher.com/). It has a small footprint, runs under Java and "does what it says on the tin".

The main benefit for me is that since it's Open Source (and I can therefore see the sourcecode), I know it's not doing anything dodgy with my eBay login credentials. With some of those other commercial/shareware sniping tools, I've no way of knowing what my eBay password is used for or even if it's being sent to anyone else...