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Surely it would make more sense to write a javascript ssh client rather than use a javascript VM to run a SSH client. In fact that may have been done already. A quick search turned up Anyterm which is basically a terminal emulator running on your web server and accessible through your web browser, it also has a nice comparisons page on that site which lists and compares alternatives.

You mean until somebody invents something like this?
http://sourceforge.net/projects/phpterm/
or this?
http://anyterm.org/

Anyterm is what you want: http://anyterm.org/

It's basically a terminal with a Javascript front-end. Pretty cool...

Get rid of this web interface stuff. I want a command-line interface to configure my web hosting. If it has to be on the web, let it be http://anyterm.org/.

If you can't afford or can't justify a fancy smartphone you can do ssh from any phone with a WAP browser using Anyterm (http://anyterm.org/). It is rather painful to use but could help in a dire emergency; I had to use it when my domain registration expired while I was on holiday!

Five years ago I thought that something like VNC would become the preferred way to deliver server-based applications (email, for example) to thin clients. Instead we have AJAX. Why? I think that until recently network latency was too slow to use VNC from one side of the planet to the other. As a result we got HTML-based solutions which require less frequent round trips, but are less flexible.

Home broadband speeds are now fast enough that VNC-like "webmail" could be a good option, but maybe it's too late: we have already gone a long way down the HTML route, from which AJAX is the evolutionary development.

From the server perspective, AJAX is also easier to make lightweight: it's currently quite a challenge to support thousands of simultaneous VNC sessions without using vast amounts of RAM. Maybe some smart programming could solve that.

I'll just mention my favourite AJAX application, Anyterm: http://anyterm.org/. It uses an Apache module to implement a browser-based shell. Great for remote admin through firewalls.

We have a completely locked down firewall where I work. The only external access is through an http proxy (ok, there is also DNS, but TCP/IP over dns, while it does actually exist, is not very convenient). I used to use SSHWebProxy, a java servlet that makes an ssh connection using only http requests, so it has no problem getting through a proxy. It was ok, but I have since switched to anytermwhich, while still using only http, manages to get pretty much a complete interactive terminal.

I realize this is slightly off topic, so to return to the issue of time, I agree with others that if you need a precise time source, just buy GPS or a WWVB based one, such as this one or a gps based one.

Well while you lot are discussing this up at score=2 level, right below you with score=0 is a pointer to an actual implementation, using an Apache module, with an online demo where you can see exactly how latent it isn't. http://anyterm.org/. The web site discusses all the security issues and explains the implementation. And it's GPLed.

It exists, it's called Anyterm, and it's here:

http://anyterm.org/

It uses an Apache module to proxy XmlHttpRequest to SSH, or whatever other command-line program you want to run in it.

Don't mess the Tetris demo.

Once in an internet cafe in Lima, Peru, I saw a dialog on another computer pop up saying "Your free trial of KeyLoggerPro expires in 3 days. Click here to buy!". Terrifying.

I don't know what these things really log, but one idea that may be worthwhile is to type characters out of order and to use the mouse to reposition the cursor. E.g. to enter "password", type "word" then mouse back to the start and type "pass". That ought to be a bit harder to pick up than using the cursor keys to achieve the same thing, depending on what level they listen at.

Otherwise, make sure you have different passwords for low-importance vs. high-importance accounts. If you have a server account of your own, consider using one-time passwords (e.g. the OPIE PAM module). Take a windows version of Putty on a flash stick. Or a VNC viewer. Or use Anyterm http://anyterm.org/; it should be possible to set it up to use OPIE one-time passwords, and it's quick enough for something like pine, if the terminal emulation works.