One of the things that every Sidnet team member learns quite promptly, is respect for open-source software. You may not know much about it when joining, but after some time (and especially after the first Sidnet donation made on your behalf), you begin to understand why the idea of open-source software is so commendable.
This was the case for both Staszek and myself, and now it is time for Angelika Wiskont, the board assistant who coordinates the work of the Rawa Mazowiecka office, to make the choice. Angelika handles the team’s billing and administrative matters and keeps our meeting calendar in check.
What open-source and non-profit projects will we be supporting based on Angelika’s choices?
PDF merge allows you to merge entire PDF files or their parts (including any outlines and Acroforms in them).
PDF split allows you to split a PDF file into smaller files based on the specified page range, header level or target PDF size.
PDF mix allows you to combine pages from PDF files in the appropriate way, even in cases where some scans have been arranged in the reverse order.
Rotate PDF allows you to either rotate all or selected pages by 90°, 180° or 270°.
Extract pages allows you to create a new PDF from the pages selected.
“I work with PDF documents every day, so I was looking for a tool that would be multifunctional, but also quick and easy to use. I now use PDFsam Basic, which gives me more options than other free software. I would like to contribute to its further development,”Angelika explained.
Empowering Children Foundation
Empowering Children Foundation (Fundacja Dajemy Dzieciom Siłę) is the largest Polish organization that fights to prevent violence against children in a comprehensive way. Formerly known as the Nobody’s Children Foundation (Fundacja Dzieci Niczyje), it is responsible for such well-known social campaigns as ‘You never know who’s on the other side’ and ‘Bad touch’.
“As a young mother, I cannot fathom how anyone can use violence against children or abuse them sexually. I want to say a firm ‘NO’ to both the direct perpetrators of violence—which often has dire consequences for children’s development—and anyone who turns a blind eye to such behavior”, said Angelika.
Empowering Children Foundation offers legal and psychological help to children and their guardians who have suffered abuse. It organizes wide-ranging social campaigns to educate children and adults alike. It also strives to change the Polish law to better protect the best interests of children.
The challenges of working remotely, COVID-19-related phishing attacks, a business-oriented perspective on cybersecurity and live penetration testing. The up-to-date nature of the Security First conference program was truly impressive—even for a security geek like myself.
A remote conference on cybersecurity simply would not be complete without a discussion about remote work. At Sidnet, we have been running projects outside the main office for years—after all, our team members work remotely from various cities of Poland. The coronavirus pandemic has made our remote working experience even more vital in the eyes of customers virtually overnight. Everything points to the belief that the tendency to replace office work with remote work will continue in the coming years.
The future of cloud services
Michał Kurek confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic is bound to further popularize cloud technologies. According to KPMG research, 43% of Polish companies already utilize cloud solutions with another 17% planning to commence using cloud services shortly.
Security First online conference backstage. A lecture by Michał Kurek from KPMG. Source: Security First.
A revolution in the work environment
According to Paweł Marciniak from Matrix42, the work environment is undergoing several changes, including:
A change in the way work is perceived: a shift from work seen as a place to work seen as an activity.
Changes in the needs of both employers and employees: a shift from fixed hours to flexible hours; from permanent employment contracts to freelancing and the gig economy; from hierarchies to dynamic organizational networks.
A change in the approach to the company IT management: a shift from central management to employee self-service thanks to the access to remote systems and the knowledge on how to use them to continue the company’s operations from anywhere in the world.
Cybersecurity vs. business development
The relationship between IT security and business was a vital topic. It is astonishing just how often the first step to resolve a company’s technical problems is improving communication. However, this works both ways—removing technical issues can ease tensions at the company, e.g. in situations where the security department is perceived as an obstacle.
Stages of maturity in IT security management
Paweł Wojciechowski from Fortinet outlined the security challenges based on the company’s scale:
The lowest level characterizes medium-sized companies with IT departments that deal with few incidents.
The second level is a domain of medium/large businesses with dedicated security teams.
The highest level of maturity is attained by the enterprise sector companies with dedicated Security Operations Centers (SOC), advanced processes and written rules of conduct.
Industrial network security (OT)
Learning more about cybersecurity challenges in the manufacturing industry, which uses both IT solutions and industrial networks (Operational Technology, OT), was certainly interesting.
Threats to the Industrial Control System (ICS)
Roland Kulanek’s presentation was meant to remind everyone that cybersecurity is a continuous process. In addition, a speaker representing Rockwell Automation also addressed some of the myths related to Industrial Control System (ICS) security. Any system—even if hidden behind a firewall or cut off from the Internet altogether—can become the target of an attack.
Roland Kulanek and Jarosław Kuźniar – chairing the Security First conference. Source: Security First.
IDS and IPS systems—differences and applications
Wojciech Kubiak from PKP Energetyka explained when and why IDS and IPS solutions should be used. Wherever industrial (OT) and corporate (IT) networks coexist, using a hybrid system is necessary:
An Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) is a solution that actively protects IT components, especially operating systems, databases and web applications.
An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is better suited to protecting OT components. It should passively monitor applications and control systems and search for any network anomalies.
IT security novelties
COVID-19 as phishing bait
The pandemic has generated anxiety, which increases the likelihood of making irrational choices, alongside the need to work and learn remotely—often with the use of private networks and equipment. Scammers have quickly begun exploiting this opportunity to launch coronavirus-themed attacks. Joanna Karczewska presented the scale of this phenomenon along with several alarming examples. What are the forecasts? It will only get worse unless we start employing proper security standards.
Live penetration testing
Michał Sajdak conducted a live reconnaissance of servers and network devices using penetration testing. I was particularly curious about this presentation, given that I follow Michał’s activity on the Sekurak.pl web portal and appreciate his factual, concise articles. The presentation itself was very similar in this regard.
A presentation by Michał Sajdak from Sekurak.pl during the Security First online conference. Source: Security First.
Data recovery
Daniel Olkowski from Dell Technologies presented the idea of a digital bunker that allows users to recover data after an attack. What should you consider when making one?
Isolate the digital bunker from the rest of the infrastructure.
Retain deletion- and modification-resistant backups.
Automate such operations as data retrieval, verification and recovery.
HP Sure security systems
I have been using Linux for years and typically do not stay up to date with the Windows software provided with most computers. Nonetheless, opening websites and attachments using virtual machines (HP Sure Click) is bound to protect many computers from malware. The HP Sure View Gen3 privatization filter built into a laptop screen was also a positive surprise. I will bear this option in mind when buying a new device.
If we were to put Krzysiek Skarbek’s name in a crossword puzzle, the hint could be something like this: “a fan of Debian and a cat lover.” His choices in the #SidnetDonations program reflect these traits quite well. This time is no different. Today our developer from Łódź, who maintains Blogi z pierwszego tłoczenia (the First-pressed blogs) and the website of mali bracia Ubogich (the little brothers of the Poor) association, as well as others, will be choosing the recipients of Sidnet donations for the 8th time.
What charity and open-source projects will we be supporting this month based on Krzysiek’s choices?
Debian
Debian is a 100% free operating system, which has been under development by a dedicated community since 1993. It has become the basis for hundreds of Linux distributions, including Ubuntu, Mint and Deepin.
Since it supports multiple architecture types, it can work on various devices, e.g. Raspberry Pi microcomputers, which even have a dedicated distribution available for them—Raspbian. Debian in also fast and uses little memory, so it can also be effectively used on obsolete computers with weaker hardware.
As a server administrator, Krzysiek values Debian primarily for its reliability:
“Debian works well both on a server and a desktop—I use it daily on my PC and laptop. It is renowned for its stability, which is a crucial thing for any server,” Krzysiek said.
Any Toy Story fans will appreciate the fact that all releases are named after the film characters. There were already releases such as Buzz, Woody and Slink. The unstable version, which is akin to a testing ground, is named after Sid—the film’s antagonist who enjoyed testing the durability of his toys.
JOKOT Foundation
The JOKOT Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping homeless and free-living cats. Its volunteers provide temporary shelter for homeless cats in their own homes, where they treat and tame the animals to prepare them for adoption. They also take care of sterilizing free-living cats in Warsaw.
The foundation also helped Krzysiek make some new friends:
“In 2011, I adopted Boluś and Lala, two cats that had been discovered with their whole family in a bunker next to railway tracks in Warsaw. Boluś quickly found himself at home in the new place but unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago. Since then, Lala has been following me everywhere I go, even though she is still somewhat fearful. But she is slowly getting used to the new household members—Gucio and Leosia,” said Krzysiek.
When choosing new homes for animals, the foundation’s primary criterion is animal welfare. New owners are required to:
adopt cats in pairs (a single cat may be adopted if another one already lives in the house);
install safety nets on balconies and windows and secure any tilt windows;
remove plants that may be poisonous to cats;
consent to a pre-adoption visit of foundation volunteers.
Is it Monday, Wednesday or maybe August already…? It is easy to lose track of time during the pandemic. Fortunately, the 15th of each month is always there to keep track of our current space-time position. After all, we have been donating to open-source and charity projects on this day for 7 years now!
This time we are supporting initiatives chosen by Kamil Głuszak, a developer from Rzeszów with a talent for integrating open-source solutions and closed business software (e.g. Microsoft products).
“I always begin my day by checking my Thunderbird inbox. Even though I have been using it for several years, I have never had any issues with it. I want to support Thunderbird to keep it as trouble-free as it has always been,”Kamil explained.
Although we have already supported the Mozilla Foundation and the creators of the Firefox browser numerous times, this will be the first time that we will be directly helping to finance the development of Thunderbird.
“Kundelek” Animal Shelter
“Kundelek” is a shelter for homeless cats and dogs, run by the Rzeszów Animal Protection Association. The shelter was founded in 2005 and has since been helping lost and abandoned animals, as well as those taken away from irresponsible owners.
Currently, the shelter runs daily live broadcasts on Facebook. It also shares resources regarding the functioning of animal shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic, which are being translated into Polish by volunteers.
“The Rzeszów shelter does much more than supporting homeless animals and their new owners. It also provides the inmates of a nearby prison with a sense of purpose, as they help keep the shelter clean,”Kamil said.
For the Sidnet team, one of the negative consequences of the pandemic is a temporary suspension of the Tuesday board game sessions that used to take place in Warsaw. Until recently, Piotr Zieliński – our Full-Stack Developer – was a regular participant in these meetings. However Piotr is not only an avid fan of board games but also a skilled programmer, one who quickly finds himself at home in any new project. Piotr has recently joined the team responsible for our ongoing cooperation with THG (the owner company of the UK2 brand), one of our long-term customers.
What open-source and charity projects will we be supporting in May, based on our programmer’s wishes?
Homebrew
Homebrew is the most popular package manager for macOS. It is the missing link that connects open-source software to Apple’s operating system. It allows users to easily install open-source programs on a Mac, such as software commonly used on Linux. Homebrew is written in Ruby and supports the default version of Ruby that comes with macOS. Piotr uses Homebrew to install and use developer software.
“Thanks to Homebrew, I have everything I need in one place. Installing, updating, package search – every operation can be carried out efficiently via the terminal. The tool also allows you to have different versions of the same package installed at the same time and to switch between them at will. In addition, applications are installed without having to use the sudo command, so there’s no need to modify any base system files, including system files,” said Piotr.
The project has been developed by volunteer programmers since 2009. It is part of the Software Freedom Conservancy, which includes other open-source projects like Git, Debian and Selenium.
“Though the entire world’s efforts are focused on fighting the pandemic, my thoughts are with the patients of the Sarcoma Association. Not only do they have to their condition, but now also suffer due to their reduced immunity to the coronavirus and difficulties in accessing medical assistance,” he explained.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oncorun organizers have been donating personal protective equipment to hospitals. Additionally, they continue to raise funds for medicine, treatment and clinical visits for the most vulnerable oncological patients.
The nationwide quarantine has not reduced Sidnet’s effectiveness in any way. After all, we have been honing our remote working skills for the last 15 years. Apart from our office being empty, all meetings taking place online and the creation of a separate channel named “Coronavirus” for our company chat, our lives have not changed much.
Today, as on every 15th of the month, we will be donating money to selected open-source and charity projects. This time the choices are being made by Łukasz Leszczyński, our Perl and JavaScript programmer, who lives and works in Rzeszów.
“The very thought of spreading ideas and taking concrete actions to help build a better Internet is very close to my heart. Sharing knowledge, critical thinking, social utility and respect for privacy are all inseparable parts of the Mozilla Foundation’s DNA,”says our developer.
These values are evident in the Foundation’s most recent publications concerning the challenges faced by creators and other Internet users during the coronavirus pandemic.
Privacy, pandemics and the AI era. An article aimed at initiating a debate on the long-term threats related to the collection of data from people who may be suffering from COVID-19.
Online Meeting Tips. A collection of tips on how to organize effective online meetings.
St. Brother Albert’s Aid Society
The first Polish NGO with the goal of helping the poor and the homeless. It has been operating for nearly 40 years, and currently provides housing for 3,500 people in need. The society runs dozens of homeless shelters, club rooms, kitchens, and free bathhouses.
“I think it is very important to reach out to people who need help. This holds especially true in times when indifference to the problems and the suffering of others – the elderly, people who are lonely or who find themselves in a difficult life situation – is practically commonplace,”says Łukasz to further explain his choice.
The society accepts not only financial help, but also donations of food, clothing, footwear, medicine, cleaning products and other items that may help the people under its care.
As we celebrate Internet Domain Day, we wish to support what made the Internet the way it is – databases and kittens. The man responsible for choosing the open-source and charity projects that we will be supporting this month is not just the mastermind of #SidnetDonations, but Sidnet overall.
Michał Wojciechowski has been managing our software house for 15 years. Throughout this time, he has participated in over 200 programming projects and more than 20 half-marathons – and he has also tried to stop his cats from meowing in the background during team teleconferences countless of times… 😉
Read on to find out more about Michał’s choices.
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL is an open-source database management system. Apart from MySQL and SQLite, it is one of the most popular free solutions of this type. It is used by such companies as Skype, Instagram, TripAdvisor and The Guardian.
More than 500 volunteer creators are actively involved in working on PostgreSQL and they have been developing the project for over 30 (!) years. The result is an efficient, feature-rich and standards-compliant program, which includes more than a million lines of code and is fully owned by the community that designed it.
“Many people claim that PostgreSQL is a worthy competitor to Oracle – a commercial solution. We have used PostgreSQL in a number of projects, including a few web applications built for the Iconaris marketing agency. It also serves as a database for some of the tools we use internally, such as GitLab”, said Sidnet’s founder.
“Futrzaki” Foundation
The foundation was established in 2015 by a group of volunteers who strive to improve animal welfare. They often help stray cats and dogs, some of which are mutilated. They collect donations, organize adoptions and constantly promote having the right attitude towards animals.
“Thanks to the ‘Futrzaki’ foundation, I now have a new cat in my apartment – Lotka. The foundation volunteers put a lot of effort into finding people who are responsible owners and offer really good homes to animals. For example, the condition for adopting Lotka in the first place was to secure my balcony with a protective mesh”, said Michał.
“I visited the place two times, once to familiarize myself with Lotka and then and finalize the adoption process. The temporary shelter is run by great people, who truly love animals”, said Michał.
Calm, modest and a man of few words – Wojciech is certainly one of the most inconspicuous members of the Sidnet team. Yet, he also happens to be an effective Senior Full-Stack Developer, responsible for the continued development of the Fooder web and mobile application. Wojciech Wąsik excels in helping us achieve any business goals set by the app’s client (ZT Kruszwica S.A.), as well as the Iconaris marketing agency, which has been collaborating with us for 12 years now. Not to mention that he always beats us in poker, quiz games and Hero Realms at team meetups.
See which open-source and charity projects we will be supporting this month per Wojtek’s request.
Linux Mint
Linux Mint is an open-source operating system based on Ubuntu/Debian. Since it is not at all inferior to Windows in terms of ease of use, it is especially popular among novice Linux users. Compared to other Linux distributions, its characteristic features are the modern design and improved compatibility with software that is not 100% open-source. For example, it allows users to play audio/video files both in the system media player and the web browser immediately upon installation.
“I replaced Windows with Mint both at home and at work. Not only is Mint faster, but it is also free. It was an easy choice” – said Wojtek.
The creators of Linux Mint provide information on what they plan to do with the funds collected. They use voluntary donations to finance hosting, advertising, software distribution, equipment purchases, and the work of the people involved in the project.
Znajdki Foundation
The foundation strives to combat violence against animals and animal homelessness. Their workers take dogs and cats away from irresponsible owners and look after injured, abandoned animals. The foundation actively participates in events such as Warszawski Dzień Zwierząt (“Warsaw Animal Day”) and Bieg Chomika (“Hamster Charity Run”).
“The foundation’s volunteers encourage everyone to support their work in any way they can, depending on individual possibilities. Apart from obvious ways of providing support, such as donating money or creating a temporary shelter, the foundation is always eager to accept any help at all” – said our developer.
How you can help the animal shelter:
Donating any spare cleaning products, such as mops, brushes, washing powders and cleaning agents.
Help in publishing announcements on adoption websites.
Taking photos of the animals. Photos help pets find new homes or virtual caretakers.
Playing with the dogs at the shelter and taking them out on walks.
Marcin Tabaka and Piotr Zieliński
January 23, 2020
E-mails, forms, payment process steps… When making your website multilingual, make sure all the bits and pieces are translated. Use a checklist that we created, based on a recent project we completed partially pro bono as a Christmas gift for Sarcoma Association.
When translating a website, don’t forget about the contents of emails and attached files.
Key things to keep in mind when translating a website (below).
Step 3. Make sure there are no missing parts in your translations (a checklist)
Before adding another language to your website, check out our list of elements which need to be translated or which necessitate website alterations. On an example of a real implementation in the Onkobieg (Oncorun) registration website (still in the testing phase).
1) Text in graphical elements, photos and images.
Certain template elements can contain images with text in a given language. A solution to this problem is to add separate language versions of such images.
In the case of Onkobieg, however, we chose to adjust the website template (where possible and justified) to ensure that text content and images are separate.
Visual elements that highlights the date of the next edition of Onkobieg.
2) Interactive prompts.
Not all text content is available immediately upon entering a website, such as the content of subpages available from the menu or blog articles. Remember to translate all interactive elements: form validation, error messages and notifications.
The Onkobieg website contained several hundred prompts with information for users which needed to be translated.
3) External service integration (e.g. payment processing, YouTube website).
If the service provider’s system allows it, it is worth relaying information regarding the language version chosen by the user.
To make this possible, a single variable had to be added to the PayU integration code – ‘language’. As a result, a sudden change of language after being redirected to the PayU website will not prevent the user from making their payment.
Donation screen for English-speaking visitors of the Onkobieg site.
The home page of Oncorun website includes a YouTube video. We needed to make sure the language of the video player interface matched the current language version of the site. In order to do that, we added the “hl” parameter (namely, “?hl=en”) to the URL of the video shown on the English version.
YouTube video player shown in the language selected by the user.
4) Automated emails.
Remember to make sure that your users receive system messages in the same language in which they browsed your site. In order to do this, add information about the version used to the user’s session. Another possible solution is to save language preferences in user settings.
Translated text and attachments of a confirmation e-mail, sent upon registering for Onkobieg (Oncorun).
5) Number, currency, date and time formats.
Take into account differences in units of measurement and formats used in different countries. Establish how these elements will be displayed in the target language version of your website and be consistent. Examples?
Date format: DD.MM.YYYY vs. MM/DD/YYYY
Time format: 13:00 vs. 1:00 p.m.
Distance units: 1.609 kilometers vs. 1 mile
Currency: zł vs. PLN
Different currency formats: “zł” in Polish version, “PLN” in English version.
6) Different text length.
The same words and sentences can take up more or less space compared to the source when translated into a different language. Adjust your website template so that the content is displayed correctly in all language versions: avoid clipping, text extending outside button borders, etc.
Variable length of the slogan and button caption in different language versions.
7) Declension.
Take into account the types of declension present in the target language. Some words may have to be different depending on the number of errors detected by the system, for example: “To proceed, correct 1 error / 2 errors / 5 errors” (in Polish: “By przejść dalej, popraw 1 błąd / 2 błędy / 5 błędów”).
8) UTF-8 character encoding.
Use the UTF-8 encoding system (8-bit Unicode Transformation Format). It is widely supported by browsers and makes language-specific characters display correctly for users of different nationalities.
9) Language version switch.
The language button should be clearly visible – place it in an intuitive location such as the site header or main menu. Make sure that it remembers which language is chosen.
Language switcher displayed in the header of Onkobieg website.
As a result of the changes, a growing number of Onkobieg (Oncorun) attendees from outside Poland will be able to register for the race in English. Thanks to our solution, the organizer will easily add new language versions at any time.
“A partner this involved is difficult to find. The majority of the translation was done free of charge as a Christmas present for the Association. We are very grateful for that!”
Marcin Tabaka and Piotr Zieliński
January 16, 2020
Having chosen the right approach to implement multiple languages on your website, you should expect some challenges before you get everything working. Get prepared for a few common issues.
Learn what solutions we developed to resolve those common problems while working on a recent project, completed partially pro bono as a Christmas gift for Sarcoma Association.
Translated consent clauses shown in the Onkobieg (Oncorun) registration process. English version is still in the testing phase.
Step 2. Keep an eye out for common issues plaguing multilingual websites
Use already existing solutions for common problems. Learn how we overcame the issues we encountered when translating the Onkobieg (Oncorun) website.
Functions shared by the entire system
Problem:
Certain system functions may be shared and not assigned to particular language versions.
User login form, shared between all language versions.
In the case of the Onkobieg website, the login form was such a shared function – it was available in a modal window which redirected the user to the main page after logging in. This solution was sufficient for a single-language website, but a website translated into different languages requires more context – information on the language version used by the visitor.
Solution:
Website language version info was added to the user’s session.
Content hard-coded in the site template
Problem:
Certain elements (e.g. website footer) can be hard-coded (fixed) in the template code. Implementing different language versions necessitates the transfer of such content to the CMS or language files.
The Oncobieg website footer. Links and images are hard-coded in the website template.
The complexity of the HTML code used by the Onkobieg website made it impossible to manage content via the CMS or a WYSIWYG editor. Such attempts could scramble the HTML code structure.
On the other hand, the website code contained links, for example. This is why it should not be copied to different language files.
Solution:
We rebuilt the problematic part. We rewrote the CSS rules, simplifying the HTML code so that it can be edited in the CMS.
Consent forms (e.g.GDPR)
Problem:
Some websites have advanced clause management systems.
For example, in order to participate in Onkobieg, you need to accept among others: the race terms and conditions, PayU terms of service and the privacy policy.
Examples of consent clauses used in the Oncobieg registration process.
Giving consent in one language should be equivalent to accepting the content of the translation. We decided to add some safety measures to protect our client should two translations of the same consent form differ from each other – for example when an updated version of the English clause is already in force, but its Polish version has not yet been uploaded.
Solution:
At this time, the clauses on the Onkobieg website are not grouped together. This means that accepting a clause in one language is not equivalent to accepting its translation.
As a result of the changes, a growing number of Onkobieg (Oncorun) attendees from outside Poland will be able to register for the race in English. Thanks to our solution, the organizer will easily add new language versions at any time.
“A partner this involved is difficult to find. The majority of the translation was done free of charge as a Christmas present for the Association. We are very grateful for that!”
