Internet Explorer has become the hare OR IE loses more market share

Is Firefox perfect? Nope. Is it a better browser than IE? Absolutely!!!

(IMHO)

M-Dollar: Internet Explorer has become the hare OR IE loses more market share: "Internet Explorer's market share has slipped below 90% for the first time in a very long time. According to independent tracking by WebSideStory Internet Explorer has dropped from 95% to 89% in just under a year, and Firefox has gone from 3% to 6.8% since last October. [more]"

Firefox Updated to 1.0.4

Mozilla has released a software update for Firefox, mainly to fix some JavaScript security vulnerabilities that had been found but not known to be exploited.

Go get you some!

AMD dual-core Opterons to go Socket 939?

AMD dual-core 1xx Opterons 'to go Socket 939' | The Register: "AMD's upcoming dual-core Opteron 1xx chips for one-way servers and workstations will use the chip maker's Socket 939 interconnect rather than the more usual Socket 940 system.

So claim Taiwanese motherboard vendors sources cited by DigiTimes.

Dual-core Opteron 165, 170 and 175 processors are expected to ship in Q3 after being formally introduced later this quarter. They will use Socket 939 to give server and workstation vendors access to cheaper motherboards and less expensive unbuffered memory modules in place of the ECC DIMMs used in Socket 940 mobos.

In essence, this is all about bring down the cost of dual-core one-way Opteron servers and workstations - if it's going to happen. AMD has said nothing so far about the dual-core 1xx Opterons to suggest that it has anything other than Socket 940 in mind. With Socket 939, the only feature that will differentiate the 1xx series from the upcoming dual-core Athlon 64 X2 is its three HyperTransport links to the Athlon 64's single link."

Gates on Google

Slashdot | Gates on Google: "' A long and interesting article in Fortune on the battle between Gates and Google. 'Forced to watch Google's stock soar the way Microsoft's used to, and Brin and Page enjoy their roles as tech's new rock stars, Gates brings to the fight a ferocity that nobody has seen since the Netscape war a decade ago. Their popularity gets under his skin. 'There's companies that are just so cool that you just can't even deal with it,' he says sarcastically, suggesting that Google is nothing more than the latest fad, adding, 'At least they know to wear black.'...Trying to build a Google killer, however, has turned out to be truly humbling for Microsoft.''"

Firefox and Thunderbird Garage

I'd love to pick up this book - particularly for the Thunderbird part. I've been experimenting with Gmail-like archiving and searching instead of organizing my email in hierarchy. I wonder if you can create custom labels in Thunderbird... hmmm... maybe I need to buy this book!

Slashdot | Firefox and Thunderbird Garage: "'Firefox and Thunderbird Garage, written by Chris Hofmann, Director of Engineering at the Mozilla Foundation; Marcia Knous, Mozilla Foundation Project Manager; and John Hedtke, president of JVH Communications (and an accomplished technical writer) is published by Prentice Hall PTR. This is the most recent addition to their Garage Series of books, which aims to bring the newest topics in technology to print in an engaging and readable manner. Firefox and Thunderbird Garage does not disappoint: the authors have covered all the bases on these two popular apps with a combined writing style that keeps the subject matter alive and interesting.' Read on for the rest of Norbury-Glaser's review."

Firefox Tweak Guide

I'm tweaking as we speak!!

TweakGuides.com: "Whether you're a first-time user or a veteran, this Firefox Tweak Guide brings together all the major tips, tricks and tweaks for Firefox. From the basic to the advanced, the following 11 pages of information are sure to enhance your Firefox experience."

Build Your Own DVR

Slashdot | Build Your Own DVR: "'If you have an old computer that had been laying around for a while and are ready to spend a bit on hardware to make into a Digital Video Recorder, this article from Make magazine contains a step-by-step guide on building one. The author spent $150 on TV card and $70 on BeyondTV PVR software.' (And with a Linux-friendly capture card, MythTV would save the builder $70.)"

More IE7 Details Emerge

Ars Technica: More IE7 Details Emerge

"Internet Explorer 7.0 is on the way. Microsoft has said from the outset that the focus will be on security. What about improved support for CSS? It looks like that's on tap as well. [more]"

Homemade EVDO/WiFi Mobile Access Point

Now, THIS is cool!

Slashdot | Homemade EVDO/WiFi Mobile Access Point: "Over the last few weeks I've built myself a mobile access point for my car. It's based on a Soekris net2421 embedded Linux box and uses Verizon's 1xRTT/EVDO network as its uplink, resharing it over 802.11b. Wherever my car goes, my Internet link goes! :) I finally put some webpages together on how I built it. The components are pretty cheap and anybody with basic Linux skills can build their own just as easily. I've also got it interfacing with Google Maps to do live vehicle tracking via gpsd. It also uploads pictures from an on-board webcam every five minutes or so."

Comcast Sued For Giving Customer Info to RIAA

Slashdot | Comcast Sued For Giving Customer Info to RIAA: "The first legal missile has been fired at ISP collaboration. Comcast, the top U.S. cable TV network operator, is being sued by a Seattle-area woman for disclosing her name and contact information, court records showed Thursday.' From the article: '...no court authorized Comcast to release names and addresses of its customers, or notified his client that her information had been given to an outside party...'"

Trent Reznor Releases Single for Public Remixing

Slashdot | Trent Reznor Challenges Music Norms: "Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails) has released the new single from NIN's upcoming album as a GarageBand file for fan remixes. Though by no means the first time a major-label artist has released a track to the public for remix, this is the first time such a project has been as open to the common user. The repercussions to 'traditional' IP views in music could be beneficial to all. Note that the license agreement does not allow commercial use of the included sounds. From the download text: 'What I'm giving you in this file is the actual multi-track audio session for 'the hand that feeds' in GarageBand format. This is the entire thing bounced over from the actual Pro Tools session we recorded it into. I imported and converted the tracks into AppleLoop format so the size would be reasonable and the tempo flexible."

O'Reilly Releases Firefox Hacks

On my list of things to buy this weekend...

Slashdot | Firefox Hacks: "If there is an application I run more often than my Web browser, particularly since I also use it as my email client, then I don't know what it might be. As a Firefox convert, that made the arrival of Firefox Hacks from O'Reilly a wonderful surprise.' Read on for the rest of Williams' review."

Happy Birthday, Gmail!

It's GMail's first birthday, and they've gone and doubled their inbox capacities to celebrate! Check it out, along with some other new features. I love Gmail - I just wish I could pop other email accounts with it! Then I could covert completely to Gmail.

About Gmail: "Just Launched!

G is for growth
Storage is an important part of email, but that doesn't mean you should have to worry about it. To celebrate our one-year birthday, we're giving everyone one more gigabyte. But why stop the party there? Our plan is to continue growing your storage beyond 2GBs by giving you more space as we are able. We know that email will only become more important in people's lives, and we want Gmail to keep up with our users and their needs. From Gmail, you can expect more.

We're not in the plains anymore
Fonts, bullets and highlighting, oh my! Gmail now offers rich text formatting. And over 60 colors of the rainbow. Discover a land of more than just black and white."

Firefox Continues to Bite into IE Usage

Slashdot | Firefox Continues to Bite into IE Usage: "'According to Information Week, Firefox usage is now over 6 percent, pulling Internet Explorer usage down below 90 percent. 'Firefox is currently the only browser that is increasing market share on a monthly basis, and it is growing at the direct expense of Microsoft's Internet Explorer''"

Students Do Better Without Computers

Slashdot | Students Do Better Without Computers: "'The Telegraph is reporting a large study that shows that the less students use computers at school and at home, the better they do in international tests of literacy and math. The more access they had to computers at home, the lower they scored in tests, partly because they diverted attention from homework. Students tended to do worse in schools generously equipped with computers, apparently because computerised instruction replaced more effective forms of teaching. ' Worth noting that it took almost 20 years for PCs in the corporate environment to actually have a positive impact on productivity; might the same be true in education?"

Yahoo Readies Blogging Tool

PCWorld.com - Yahoo Readies Blogging Tool: "Yahoo is developing a free service designed to let users stay in touch with acquaintances such as friends, family, and co-workers via new and existing Yahoo services. The service will include the Sunnyvale, California company's first blogging tool, according to a company executive.

Called Yahoo 360, the service will enter a restricted beta, or test, period on March 29, when it will be available to select users invited by Yahoo to try it out. Yahoo will expand the scope of the beta testing in coming weeks.

Interested users can join a waiting list online."

CSS Support Could Be Internet Explorer's Weakest Link

CSS Support Could Be Internet Explorer's Weakest Link: "Microsoft will be doing a lot to make developers and customers happy with its pending Internet Explorer release, if partner sources with inside information on the IE 7.0 browser are right. ADVERTISEMENT

But there's one area where Microsoft won't be winning a lot of applause.

The company will continue to drag its feet by refusing to provide full support for the CSS2 (Cascading Style Sheets Level 2) W3C (Worldwide Web Consortium) standard, Microsoft partners say.

Sources claiming familiarity with Microsoft's IE 7.0 plans said the company will add some additional CSS2 support to its new standalone browser.

But Microsoft isn't planning to go the whole way and make IE 7.0 fully CSS2 compliant, sources said.

IE 7.0 is expected to go to beta testers this summer. [more]"

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 Details Begin to Leak

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 Details Begin to Leak -

Will it be available in 2005?

Will it support CSS 2.0 standards?

Will it be a tabbed-interface browser?

What security features will it have?

Read the article above for the latest scoop!

Gmail Goes Public

Slashdot | Gmail Goes Public: "Google has apparently given the green light for Google's e-mail (Gmail) to be open to the general public.' From the registration page: 'As we make room for more Gmail users, we want to first extend invitations to Google users. We're still working to make Gmail better, so for now, we're just inviting a small number at random. Looks like that's you! We're really excited to share Gmail with you and we hope you like it.' Observed at the P-I Buzzworthy Blog as well."

TiVo and Comcast Hook Up

TiVo.com | TiVo Press Releases: "Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services, and TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced that the companies have reached an agreement to make the TiVo� service and advertising capability widely available to Comcast customers in the majority of its markets around the country.

Under the terms of the agreement, Comcast and TiVo will work together to develop a version of the TiVo service that will be made available on Comcast's current primary DVR platform. New software will be developed by TiVo and will be incorporated into Comcast's existing network platforms. The new service will be marketed with the TiVo brand, and is expected to be available on Comcast's DVR products in a majority of Comcast markets in mid-to-late 2006. [more]"