Browsers (Cont. Again)

Continued from post Browsers (Cont.).

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/FirefoxMyths.html

That is a very interesting article looking at each of the claims Firefox users make about their beloved and worshiped browser. Don't get me wrong, I like the browser and you should not take my previous statement as a sign that I dislike it. But I think its important that people be truthful about browsers =). I also agree with the authors/editors pick at the end of the article.

It wouldn't be funny if it wasn't true

A friend of mine sent this link out with the title "It wouldn't be funny if it wasn't true", which I whole heartedly agree to.... and hence yoinked the title for my post :P

Tripod Performance

Browsers (Cont.)

Continued from post Browsers.

Okay I LOVE Opera, it is an awesome Internet Browser. Unfortunately the rest of the world isn't ready for it, and so many web developers program slack code that doesn't fit the rigid standards that Opera adhere to.

In my opinion, what Opera should do is package an option where you can use the Firefox or IE renderer should you wish to. Much like the new Netscape browser. This way users could choose to switch between renderers based on the site they are on.

But in the meantime I am trying out Avant Browser. Its fast, simple, has nice processor cheap skins, and has most of the features of other browsers. While I'd still prefer to use Opera, Avant is my choice at the moment.

Direct X 10 - Cool Graphics

http://gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=2363

Thats a video of something Crytek are working on, many suggest Far Cry 2. The graphics and realism are very nice, not overly surprising or wowing since those effects have all been done, but still nice.

Browsers

Unfortunately nobody seems to create a browser I can be happy with. I guess you could say I am rather demanding on my browser, but with good reason! I never close it, use it constantly for work and I need something effective.

Internet Explorer - Lets just not go there, it may be fast, but it doesn't do much if you want to open more than a couple windows at the same time.

Mozilla - Great with speed, provides all the basics you need, but the aestheics aren't really up there, and it doesn't provide some of those 'nicer' features.

Firefox - Definately up there with the features which makes it effective to use. Unfortunately the pay off seems to be a slow application and this is not acceptable.

I've just spent the past week using Opera 8.5. The last time I used this was back when ti was free, and the fact it went free again (without ads) I decided it was time to give it another go. I would have to say this is the most impressive browser I have used yet. It provides all the features of Firefox, except it runs at lightning speed, and is completely crash proof (it will reload in seconds if it does crash, with all the browser windows there with no delay). I really love being able to see how much data exactly i'm transferring too and what speed. It comes in extra handy when I'm attaching to an email over the web, as I can see how much its uploaded, how fast, and how long its going to take. Most other browsers you have to sit there waiting, wondering, and hoping that everything is going okay. The only problem I have with it, is Opera sticks to Web standards extremely tightly which causes some websites (that haven't been coded to the standard) to not load correctly. So its a pain in the butt when I have to load another browser just for specific sites.

My current browser has just become Netscape Browser 8 (I am typing with it right now). I've always been against Netscape as its been a commercial rebrand of Firefox and Mozilla branding. Version 8 has a cool feature that I like. The browser will automatically switch which rendering engine (Firefox or Internet Explorer) based off the web page. So if the webpage requires I.E., it will use its engine instead so the page appears correctly. You can also flag certain sites to be used with a particular engine. So in all so far, I am impressed. I will post back my experience if it becomes significant =).

Cruel Tiredness

This is something I found on an interior wall, on a huge house, near a beach, somewhere in Australia...

"Tiredness has become the most supressed feeling in the world. Everywhere we see people overcoming their exhaustation and pushing on with intensity - cultivating the great mass mania which all around is making life so hard and ugly - so cruel and meaningless - so utterly graceless ... you know what happens when such strong and natural feelings are denied - they turn into the most powerful and bitter poisons with dreadful consequences. We live in a world of these consequences and wonder why we are so unhappy."

Apple + Intel Arrive

Apple have released their Intel laptops and iMac's now.

http://www.apple.com/au/macbookpro/design.html

I want one, but only if I can install Linux or Windows on it without much trouble.

Hyperspace

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/mg18925331.200-take-a-leap-into-hyperspace.html

Not much else to say, but.... Hyperspace.

CaSeKeYs ARE REAL

You... have... got... to... be... kidding!!!

If you remember a little while ago I posted about some cool movies I found, and one was called The Spaminatrix.

Well it turns out the movie was made by a anti-spam company called GeoByte. They developed CaseKeys as an anti-spam challenge and response technology.

last.fm

As you will see over in the right side-bar I've started using last.fm on my website. Whenever I listen to music, iTunes will send the track information to last.fm's website, and it gets logged on my page:

http://www.last.fm/user/leighmcculloch/

Over in the side bar it will display my five most listened to songs for the past week =). At the moment it isn't displaying anything yet because it hasn't collected enough data.

P.S. last.fm also support Winamp and Microsoft Media Player if you don't have iTunes.

HaNgMaNs CuRsE

http://www.hangmanscursethemovie.com/

My Mum actually bought me this movie as a Christmas gift. It's a great movie! I would recommend watching it. =)

Its based off one of Frank Peretti's books which ranked as the #1 as best-seller in juvenile books in 2001, and the #2 best-selling Christian book overall.

P.S. The theme music for the movie is really eerie and cool, I want it.

Google Pack

http://pack.google.com/pack_installer_custom.html

The latest thing to spawn over at Google is the Google Pack. Its a group of software that you download in one pack, and Googles auto updater will automatically keep each software package up to date for you. While most of the applications that are provided are free already, the pack comes with Norton Antivirus 2005 SE.

Special Edition of course meaning its crippled, but still, free Norton Antivirus is a good thing as the features it doesn't come with don't come with any of the other free anti-virus tools anyway.

I can't help but ask myself the benefits of Google doing this. There is a financial benefit as software companies such as Norton can provide 'special editions' of their software that then encourage users to buy 'premium' versions. So is this just another way of marketing software? Or are Google using it for their widely known information collection scheme?

MS Windows Vista

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/features/default.aspx

It looks cool - I think I'll start saving =).