Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with webbased

Hello end user! Just FYI, the admin password to this database is: xyz

aydeejones — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:34:34 -0800

What might cause a SQLOLEDB connection string (containing an admin username/password) to briefly appear on-screen in a browser session and would I be crazy to buy a product that's had this bug for who knows how long without realizing it? I'm evaluating an expensive, best-of-breed piece of software (seriously, you'd be shocked! shocked! to hear who it is) with a major web-based component...when end users log in, there's a brief flicker on-screen wherein the full database connection string is visible, in all its MSSQL-authentication-password-in-clear-text (with db_owner privileges) glory.

Apparently this has gone unnoticed for quite some time and the company has reproduced the issue (they see the brief flickering of text), but can't figure out what's causing it, and is trying to enlist my help in resolving it by WebExing into my machine (even though they can reproduce it from their environment).

Their current challenge is that they can't press the printscreen key at the right moment to actually capture the text and verify that the problem is in fact real, which took me all of one minute to figure out (I guess you need the rhythm of an improvisational keyboard player or somethin').

The web component is mostly built in ASP Classic, mostly VB, though I'm seeing some JScript here and there. I'd rather not dig through all of their code myself, which is not my responsibility, but I thought this would be a good question for the Hive Mind to chew on -- what could cause this, and should I be doing business with this company?

I'm also put off by using a db_owner account for simple end user activity, and the lack of Windows authentication (from a SQL standpoint -- the app does support Windows authentication for logging in), though it seems way-too-many off-the-shelf-products tend to do this, and in our pursuit for software built on best practices, we are constantly disappointed and our options are always so narrow.

I'm pretty familiar with ASP but not so much with JScript. I could see how a developer would Response.Write a connection string for debugging purposes, but can't imagine how this would go unnoticed for so long in a major commercial application.

Can you think of any other trigger that would cause the connection string to appear, other than the developer specifically saying "print the damn thing on-screen?"

More specifically, what appears on-screen is:



$DOMAIN\Username$ [populated with real information, of course]

SQLOLEDB Connection String

C:\Program Files\Path\To\Application\Server\Folder

Sure looks like debug code, eh?

Need timely replacement for web-based screen-sharing software.

mrmojoflying — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:44:56 -0800

I need help finding a replacement service for the very recently defunct Convenos, a web-based meeting application for use with PCs. Long story short, I need to replace my Convenos service by the end of the week to finish a few remaining virtual research interviews. If anyone has used or knows about a similar service, I would be very obliged to hear about it. The important parameters:

-It must allow me to remotely view a research participant's desktop live.

-It needs audio, or to be able to concurrently run Skype.

-The project demands crisp visual fidelity, which excludes using web-cams.

-It should be relatively inexpensive (i.e. no stand-alone software purchase, year-long subscriptions, etc.). I paid $30/month USD for Convenos, which was ideal.

-I need it this week or my primary research may never be put to rest.

Need free, web based in out board

zymurgy — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:35:19 -0800

Where can I find a simple, free web based in out board? Yes, I searched and found two other questions, but they don't deal with free or web based. We are a small, less than 10 people, IT support team. We need a way to update a webpage quickly with our current status.

We use a wiki, so I thought adding a table to update if you are in, out, away from your desk, etc. Since you're still reading you know how long that took, which is way too hard for what it's worth.

I need a free solution of some sort. A way to send an email to a script that tosses the status into a webpage that is laid out? A simple program? Twitter for the intranet?

Any ideas would be great. A URL with a perfect solution would be awesome.

Help me pick the best business producitivity management tool(s) for my consulting practice! (Not Daylite)

healthyliving — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:14:49 -0800

Hello MeFi peoples, I am trying to find the tool or tools to run my sustainable business consulting practice, which I started in August, and I've been going a bit nuts with too many choices. I've been looking all over, and am getting near hits, but all "not quite there"s. Highrise sort of works, but has some quirks that that it doesn't hit the mark, and it's missing some of what I want to do. Daylite looks interesting, but no...well I'll explain below. Basecamp, same thing. Copper, ditto. Help me find the needle(s) in the haystack! To give some background, I am a sustainable business consultant who at the moment works solo. I imagine I'll be collaborating with others on some projects, but not necessarily regularly, not as the same company, and definitely not in the same office. I work on a Mac, from my home office. I imagine in my business I'll be working on site at some places.

I asked a friend who knows me well for advice. They said get a tool that works for the near future, that as my business unfolds, it will become clearer what the needs are then, and that I’ll have the funds to take action on any new tools needed. I asked about Daylite, and they said it would be ok, but their sense is there’s something that will work even better, last me longer. I named off others, like Basecamp (doesn’t work enough how I think/work, they said) Copper Project, Contactizer. All No.

They’re bad with names sometimes, but she said she got the hit that it might be something/some company that starts with “Ser...” she also got that it may be a series of interlocking tools, rather then one. She had me search on the web, name off what I saw, and these were the maybes, that I in looking at them didn’t get that they would be it:

Zoho 1st Manager Teamspace Goplan Vertabase

When I told her this, she said that Daylite might be it, that there is the possibility that what they may have in mind isn’t something that I’ll recognize/believe I’m capable of using yet.

~~~~

That said, I'm looking for some thing or things to do the following:

Manage my contacts, and be able to associate emails, files, and tasks with them, make them actionable, rather then just another name/company I have on file.

Have a calendar that I can visually see what I (and future collaborators) are up to

Organize tasks and steps around projects

Day to day tasks, not necessarily around a project (as in not all geared to group collaboration, projects. It covers the “me” things.)

Invoicing, time tracking

Something to associate the various components of my business together, so information doesn't just get lost in the void, in a place where it's not going to get action taken on it.

Be able to collaborate with others on projects, but not require them to have a specific computer platform, or buy expensive software, since we may not work together more then once.

+++

That's what I want to do, and here's the qualities I want in the tool(s) I use:

Computer based (no handwriting for me)

Friendly, human interface, rather then cold, hard, mechanical

Geared to the creative/business minded, but works on a practical level

Preferably web based (to allow easier, more malleable collaboration, without need for others to have the same software/platform)

If software based, still allows for others in projects that don't have software to get meaningful, actionable information to work on the project.

Mac style interface, as in well designed aesthetically and functionally, intuitive to use, robust in features, and useful ones at that.

Mac tool integrated, or at least open to any mail client, not Outlook/MS Project/etc linked/dependent. I do have MS Office (Word, Excel) so that’s fine.

~~~~

So that’s what I’m looking for, I look forward to your suggestions! I imagine for invoicing that I could use Billings, but if your suggestions incorporate it in some other tool, fantastic!

How can website visitor download many big files without installing anything?

Leech — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:13:13 -0800

I need to provide a download manager to the website visitors to download a bunch of files Do you know a web based download manager? in Java or something?

I'm looking for a java applet (or something) that can download a bunch of files (these files will be assigned dynamically by the server software) from a website.

It must be multiplatform (specially Windows and Mac) and, if possible, open source then we can customize it.

Or do you know any other solution?

looking for Online real time webbased share monitoring services

complience — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:19:12 -0800

looking for Online real time webbased share monitoring services specifically for the footise Im looking for a free service that will allow me to monitor the performance of my share options on the FTSE 100.

Ideally it will be real time and webbased, but i don't mind installing 3rd party software if needed.

I also want some analysis performed on the data, graphs, charts things like that..

I'm also looking for a google gadget for the FTSE that will let me monitor my shares from the desktop.

free please folks im half Scottish.

tried quote.com didn't seem to be every good and ive got an account at the londonstockexchange.com but you have to pay to get the good analysis stuff.

Calling all web-based solutions!

Smarson — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 06:21:22 -0800

My company needs a miracle...and by miracle I mean a web application that can juggle 801 different things and still look nifty. As always, there is... So my company just reorganized and as opposed to the 3-7 person teams we had been working in, our new make-up is now pretty much one big staff of 25-30 people. I know it sounds like a backwards step, but it actually has improved communication tremendously.

But I know it can be better.

Essentially what I'm wondering is if there is a web based program out there that will:

*Allow for our whole company (about 25-30 employees) to be part of project management (stratifications, of course, but this is not a tool for just management or just the worker bees)

*Utilize each person as a resource and allow a more stratisfied organization of the resources over different periods of time (highlighting work load and overlap for projects) anywhere on a daily, weekly, monthly, or annual basis.

*Allow for progress updates to an assigned or required tasks checklists for each person/project (ideally creating a summary report for management meetings and progress check-ins)

*Be web-based so that we can access the programs from anywhere (and user friendly, our employees are smart, but not code monkeys or web developers).

Pretty much we just need some help getting organized on a larger scale than what excel and outlook are capable of. Any ideas?

I am looking for a web-based sales order system.

Chuck Cheeze — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:42:19 -0800

We currently use a very broken system that is barely chugging along. Its server based. Due to our business, we would like to find a web-based system that does all the usual stuff- vendors, customers, inventory, shipping, receiving, etc. It doesn't need accounting as we do that separately. Ideally it would allow us to hook a shopping cart software into it later so that orders placed by our seales people or via the online store would dump into the same order bucket for processing. I am not looking for an ecommerce shopping cart. I am looking for a sales order system.

Online tools for novel-writing?

tastybrains — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 12:12:23 -0800

Are there any great online tools for working on writing a novel? I've seen previous posts on desktop software for this purpose, but I haven't found any nifty online tools. I want to be able to keep the text of one of my writing projects online so I can access it & work on it anywhere with an internet connection. I also do not want it to be public.

I know I can use things like Yahoo! Notepad or make private LJ posts, but I am hoping that there is some tool more appropriate for what I want to do.

Impress my girlfriend with some mad online registration skillz

SuperNova — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 22:46:34 -0800

My girlfriend handles registrations for swim lessons, and it's a very time-consuming, badly-executed process. I told her that an online implementation of her forms, class rosters, and maybe even payments would simplify the process. Guess who gets to make this happen? (And needs your help to figure out how!) Here's what's supposed to happen: Parents fill out an online form (name, address, the usual) that should indicate their kid's age and experience level. Then, we show a list of classes that their kid could fit in. They select the class time they want and get registered for it; we save the info to a database and maybe email them confirmation. In an ideal world, they could even pay online (through PayPal or something) and return later to change their class time. Oh yeah, and this all needs to be free (gratis) or very, very low priced.

I searched around, and the only related thread I could find was this one. But most of that stuff didn't look free. Neither does anything on Google. A ready-made system would be great, but I'm not averse to making one myself if no good one exists. I have some programming experience and lots of web experience, and it's not a big deal for me to learn enough of a language to make a particular project work. So I'd gladly take any recommendations on how to make my job as easy as possible. We can work out whatever server configuration is needed, AFAIK.

Is this do-able? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

PS -- While I wish everything could be put online, some people are still going to want to make and get phone calls. What's the cheapest, simplest VOIP solution out there? Bonus points if we can make it play the "press 1 for X, press 2 for Y" game, and apologies for being yet another Talk to the Machine operation. (This question is definitely secondary, and I'll be searching for this later, but if you know any off-hand...)

Timesheets

alball — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 14:21:18 -0800

I run a 2 person design office. Can anyone recommend an easy to use web based timesheet program? Cheap is good.

Where can I find an online map or atlas?

TurkishGolds — Thu, 24 Jun 2004 08:45:58 -0800

I'd like to find a good map/atlas on the web. I've looked on google many times, and I've never been happy.

I want it to be a click-n-zoom in and out map, or at least have continent/region/country/state levels.

I also think it should have a drag feature, or something where I can move from peru to columbia, say, without having to first zoom out to south america.

It should be a geopolitical type of map.

It should have a search feature, where I can type in the name of a city or something and it will automatically show me that. Like a smart globe which turns so that I'm looking at my request.

Does this exist? It should.

Web-based Scheduling Solutions

mert — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 10:35:19 -0800

Any suggestions for a web-based employee scheduling solution that allows people to submit vacation requests and personal preferences? (more inside) I'm unfortunately in charge of scheduling 70 emergency physicians at 3 different sites. Currently everyone submits their personal preferences by paper (vacation time, needed days off, recurrent weekly meetings, etc), and then I manually enter these requests into a program that is supposed to generate a schedule. Our needs have proven too complicated for this program (it's a commercially available $10,000 piece of software called Tangier) so I end up doing all the scheduling by hand. Which sucks.

My hope is that I could at least find or develop some way for people to enter their requests to some web based system that will automatically keep track of how many people are going to be away at a conference or on a particular holiday so we aren't faced with the problem of everyone being gone at once... which happens occasionally because it's incredibly cumbersome to make sense of all the information. Frequently, I dont know until the schedule is almost complete whether we're going to have gaps... then I have to call people based on their seniority in the department and tell them they cant go on the trip to which they've already purchased tickets, for instance. It seems more equitable to make this determination based on when they submit their requests.

Anyway, lots of information. Any help would be appreciated.

Email newsletter software wanted, web-based

staggernation — Mon, 15 Dec 2003 08:22:54 -0800

What's a good free web-based software package for maintaining an email newsletter? [more] I'm helping out someone who wants to set up an email newsletter on their web site. It will be a low volume of subscribers—maybe the low hundreds, at maximum. I'm looking for scripts that meet the following requirements:

free (beerwise)

PHP- or Perl-based

uses sendmail to send mail

preferably, can use MySQL for data storage

doesn't require root access to install (this seems to eliminate Majordomo, for instance)

automated double opt-in

user interface for subscribing, confirming, and unsubscribing that's easy to integrate with site's look and feel

web-based admin interface

easily configured and maintained by a non-coder (I am a coder, but I won't be the one maintaining it)

I've come across Jax Newsletter, Dada Mail, MyMail, and PHPMailList, among others, and I'm looking for recommendations and firsthand experiences (pro or con) regarding these or any other scripts. Also, any other important features I should be looking for? Known security vulnerabilities?