This quarter’s Twist Collective has been posted. It’s a sock-stravaganza!
Also, everyone is apparently eating breakfast in bed. Am I the only one who cringes at the thought of crumbs? Or getting watermelon juice on that beautiful white quilt?
May 18th, 2010
Knitting App for the iPad
Handicraft 1.0 is an app for the iPad with patterns for quilting, knitting, crochet, and embroidery. Along with the patterns (only 150 patterns across all four crafting disciplines) the app includes HD instructional videos and “500 pages of content.”
It is the perfect companion for needlework or crafting offering modern day patterns, materials and more. Every topic is carefully defined with easy to follow how-to’s that are fully illustrated and delivered in a step-by-step approach with HD video lessons.
Not a ton of patterns, but the instructional videos and “content” (depending on what exactly that is) could be pretty spiffy! It’s definitely intriguing.
July 17th, 2008
KnitPicks.com Login Problem Fixed
The KnitPicks website has long been bedeviled by an Internet Explorer bug feature which sent you through an endless loop when trying to log into their site. However, a Ravelry user has noticed that Knit Picks finally implemented a fix.
Internet Explorer users rejoice – now you can log in to make purchases!
Background: Formerly, when logging into the Knit Picks website using Internet Explorer, you would try to log in, only to be redirected back to the same login page again. This problem did NOT occur when using Firefox, Opera, or any other sane browser.
Believe it or not, this behavior is actually a security feature. On June 5, 2000, Microsoft published the fateful security patch MS00-039. (The patch was later incorporated into Internet Explorer 6.) This patch was meant to prevent “Man in the Middle” attacks.
To grossly over-simplify: in a Man in the Middle attack, while your browser is being directed from one site to another, it gets hijacked by EVIL EVIL HACKERS. (Crackers.) Microsoft’s security fix prevents this by detecting a URL redirect, and automatically sending you back to the original page.
The problem of course is that URL redirects aren’t always malicious. For example, you may go to http://knitpicks.com instead of http://www.knitpicks.com. If you then went to the KnitPicks secure login page, the URL would be https://knitpicks.com/login.asp.
The problem is that when you log in, you’re automatically redirected from https://knitpicks.com to https://www.knitpicks.com. At which point Internet Explorer squeals, “OH NO HACKERS, HELP!!!” and goes back to your original URL – https://knitpicks.com/login.asp – where you’re faced with the same blank login screen.
KnitPicks finally worked around this problem by implementing a top-level URL redirect. Now when you go to http://knitpicks.com you’ll notice that you’re automatically redirected to http://www.knitpicks.com first thing. (Since this redirect doesn’t happen on an SSL-secured page, Internet Explorer doesn’t object.) Since KnitPicks is using IIS, I assume they implemented the Microsoft version of an htaccess file.
It’s not KnitPicks’ fault that this happened, but I feel obliged to point out that their website has suffered from this problem for many years. I ran into the same problem myself in 2004. (Fortunately I knew what was going on, so I switched over to Firefox and logged in successfully.)
One can’t help but notice that they fixed the problem about a week after the giant Ravelry bitch-fest. Has no one ever complained of this problem before? Is the timing just a coincidence? Or were past complaints ignored as one-off freak issues, probably user-related?
Jess and Casey have always been active in repeating the Ravelry mantra, “Ravelry is not customer service!” Nevertheless, it seems that complaining about a problem in public on Ravelry creates more traction than direct contact alone.
July 11th, 2008
Plurk: The Hot New Thing
Plurk is the latest Web 2.0 service to overtake the knitting community. Plurk combines the spontaneity and short format of Twitter with the community aspects of blogging, and adds a dollop of social networking for good measure.
Plurk posts are short – 140 characters or less – and can be sent through the Plurk website, by IM (e.g. MSN Messenger and AIM), or by text message from your cell phone. You can mark your plurks as either public or private, and create “cliques” of approved readers.
Examples:
A single public plurk, with comments visible. Miss Violet’s plurk page. Mouseover the plurk message to read the full content.
Lime & Violet, who describe plurking as “like an online S&B,” appear to be Patient Zero for the spread of plurking through the online knitting community. The topic of plurking has arisen several times in their podcast and blog, and they have a special shipping discount for plurkers.