Browser Check

"Browser Check" circa 2007

Every couple of years I feel compelled to write a new test suite for detecting browser versions and capabilities. This is something I started in 2006 or so. Part of the suite (actually, most of it) tested for plugins. My old employers used a variety of plugins, including Flash, QuickTime, and even Real Player. Naturally, we had to test for each plugin. To make matters worse, we were using certain other non-standard technologies which rendered some applications incompatible with even modern browsers. Like Firefox. And Safari. Looking at those old tests now gives me the willies. Looks like it's once again time to replace the old with the new.

Browser Check; new and improved

Vulnerablity Found in Flash

Steve Jobs must be laughing so hard his sides hurt. Yesterday Adobe released a security advisory detailing a "critical" vulnerability in Flash (as well as Acrobat and Reader). To make matters worse, Adobe has yet to come up with a fix. According to the bulletin users can upgrade to Flash 10.1RC. So it looks like I have two choices: upgrade to a non-production software release, or remove Flash altogether. I think I'll opt for the latter.

When I first saw the security bulletin I wondered exactly which version of Flash I had. First, I tried finding a Flash movie and clicking on "About Flash" in the context menu. That sent me to a page on Adobe's website which didn't even detect my Flash Player. Nice. My solution was to write a bookmarklet in JavaScript. This works fine in browsers other than IE. making it work in Microsoft's crappy browser would simply require more work than I'm willing to put in.

Check Flash Version