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So, for the longest time now, I've have had to deal with the legacy of a website that I didn't create, at work. It's like an online application for the management team and our employees, showing statistics, attendance and adherence data, and a bunch of other stuff.
It ain't bad, but it ain't good. The first incarnation I had nothing to do with, the second is only slightly better (and considering the guys who created the system started out with no knowledge of HTML whatsoever I have to admit they did a hell of a job), the third incarnation is better yet (DIVs and CSS instead of a table based layout), but it still uses the legacy access control system…
… are you ready? Sitting down?
"Singularly assigned user groups". Each group is assigned a number (1 through 8) which indicates what people can see and do…
… and each user can be assigned to one group. No overlaps. No sharing. Worst of all, if someone in a lower group needs access to a page that's restricted, his ID must be hard-coded into an exception list.
Yeah, *shudder*, right? Consider that the web server is an IIS 6.0 server using Classic ASP and .Net 2.5 installed, and it's a downright nightmare.
And for months, it got me stumped. Searching on the internet for better ACL systems or any other method to allow for a better definable user management system only led me to true nerdsites where they used magical terms like "bitmasking" and "user rights tables".
You'd think there were explanations, but if there were, you'd need a degree in advanced mathematical science to even remotely understand them.
Until I stopped looking for what I wanted, and focused on what I needed…
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I keep my word. To those who requested and those who are just interested:
How to save form info to text files, and retrieve them in a single CSV file, using Classic ASP.
Coming soon (after we are done moving our home and all our lecktrickety is back up and running, and all that fun stuff): The PHP version of the same tutorial.
Keep watching this channel!
After the previous post, you saw this one coming a mile ahead…
"This is a string with "" < quotes"
Are you impressed?
You damn well should be.
Seriously. Licenses. Consider it.
Someone who berates me for not knowing either JavaScript, Ajax or ASP… because I remark how his HTML is inconsistent with quotes.
The argument that proves I know no ASP? Because "that's why the single and no quotes".
Yeah, intelligent. N00b.
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I've spent a couple of weeks on Yahoo! Answers, now, and (besides from the Quick Fix thing) I've noticed another trend…
People and questions don't change over time. They just move on to a new niche. In the number of years I've spent being online and perusing web forums and tech support site, the same questions keep popping up, over and over and over and over…
One of the questions (repeated a number of times in the course of a couple of days) was whether or not is is possi-… no.
One of the questions (repeated a number of times in the course of a couple of days) was how do you protect your images from people stealing them? Not "can you"… "how do you".
An unfortunate amount of people mentioned the tired and disproven methods of the JavaScript no-right-click method (and seriously, I wanna shoot people who even consider that crap) or hiding a picture behind a DIV.
People: remember this: if it's online, others will get to it.
There are no fool-proof methods other than resorting to using ActiveX controls (which rules out millions of Linux (and Mac… I keep forgetting about Apple followers) users from ever visiting your site) which literally disables the PrintScreen button.
Anyway… another question on Answers (the answer to which caused someone to throw a big fat LOL at me) made me wonder and ponder… so I started toying around a bit…
The result can be seen here: My Playground – Proof of concept: Hiding Images. If anything, it's an entertaining read (if I say so myself), that should once and for all convince people that no, you cannot prevent people from stealing your images.
February 26, 2009 22:47 | 
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