Thank You Hollywood!

The advertisements feature the faces of liberal Hollywood icons Michael Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Ben Affleck, Martin Sheen, Chevy Chase, Barbara Streisand, and Sean Penn, and offer thanks to Hollywood their help getting President Bush reelected.

Heh. See the ads here and here.

Custom Tailor A Web Browser Just for You

Custom Tailor A Web Browser Just for You

January 27, 2005

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.

IT used to be that Internet Explorer, the one-size-fits-all Web browser bundled with every copy of Microsoft Windows, was enough for most people. It worked well and cost nothing. Who needed anything else? That attitude is fading these days as consumers begin to realize that other browsers offer more features, better security and greater freedom. Bells and whistles, perhaps, but some of them can be surprisingly useful.

The number of competitors to Internet Explorer is surprisingly large and diverse. The most commonly mentioned alternatives are Mozilla and its cousin, the recently released Firefox 1.0, two browsers descended from Netscape, the early Internet company that is now part of AOL. Firefox is a Web browser pure and simple. Mozilla uses the same basic core (known as Gecko) and adds tools for reading e-mail, chatting and composing Web pages.

Both are open source tools freely distributed and subject to modification by programmers worldwide.

If you are considering making the leap to a different browser, there are other choices, too. A Norwegian company, Opera, is selling its browser (though a free version that displays advertising is available as well). Apple has Safari, which builds on one called Konqueror, from the world of Linux.

If that's not enough to choose from, there are dozens of browsers out there like Amaya and Dillo that cater mainly to people with particular interests (''Star Trek'' fans, for example).

There are also hybrids like Netcaptor, Phaseout and Avant that use Internet Explorer's core and add new features. Microsoft encourages software developers to revise and extend Internet Explorer, and maintains a catalog of such offerings at www.windowsmarketplace.com . Some, like Netcaptor, which offers a popular feature called tabbed browsing and sells for $30, cost extra, but many are free.

This mix-and-match nature is echoed by Mozilla and Firefox, which also help users create their own features, known as extensions. There is a large collection of extensions at the Mozilla update site (update.mozilla.org), including tools that add weather forecasts to the margins of the Web browser, let you control the music playing in the background, or make it easy to look up a word in a dictionary.

In general, all of these browsers display the images and text from Web sites in much the same way. (There are some exceptions, mainly because some Web designers do not test their sites on all browsers. In cases where the layout is mangled or the page simply behaves oddly, the solution may be to use another browser.) Which one is right for you may come down to personality, aesthetics, security concerns and your work environment. Here are some of the major distinguishing characteristics.

Features

One of the most popular new browser features displays multiple Web pages behind different tabs. The idea is so simple -- it is similar to the tabbed dividers in a binder -- that it might not seem like much of an innovation, but devotees wonder how they got along without it. A set of tabs at the top or bottom of the window allows you to switch among open pages.

The big advantage comes when browsing Web sites with many links, like the headlines on newspaper sites. If you hold down a key -- usually Control -- and click on interesting links, the browser will load the stories in pages behind the one you are reading. By the time you are done skimming the main page, the images and text for the next stories will be ready for reading. Clicking on the correct tab takes you there instantly.

Opera was one of the first to offer tabs; now Mozilla and Firefox do. Internet Explorer does not offer the feature, but it can be purchased by installing Netcaptor.

Web search is another area in which browser makers have sought to distinguish themselves. Nearly everyone relies on search engines like Google, so browser designers have tried to make this job as painless as possible. In Firefox, Opera and Safari, there is a search field at the top of the main browser window next to the field holding the address of the site you're visiting. Type in search terms and hit return, and the results appear immediately. There is no need to go to the search engine's main page.

Opera takes this one step further and offers other fields for a price search of stores or a direct search of Amazon. Mozilla has a special sidebar dedicated to displaying the search results where you can see them while you browse through the recommended Web sites in the main part of the window.

Internet Explorer users can get some of the same capabilities with a third-party toolbar from Google (toolbar.google.com). Firefox enthusiasts have duplicated the Google toolbar for Firefox (addons.mozilla.org).

Security and Privacy

The last year has been difficult for the team responsible for the security of Internet Explorer. There has been a stream of reports of loopholes and backdoors in the Microsoft browser that could expose users to data theft or the loss of control over their computers. Microsoft has dutifully fixed the holes, but some computer professionals have observed that fewer such holes affect other browsers.

Some of these professionals suggest that users could increase their security by choosing another browser and that alternatives are built with more attention to detail.

The authors of Mozilla, for instance, argue that contributions from the open-source community help eliminate loopholes. Microsoft, by contrast, maintains tight control over Internet Explorer and relies on its own programmers to fix problems.

(Others counter this by pointing out that all software is flawed and that attackers choose Internet Explorer because it is dominant. If other browsers become more popular, the argument goes, they will become targets.)

Blocking outside attacks is just part of the challenge. Many Web browsers help users by storing information like addresses, passwords and lists of recently visited Web sites. In the past, clearing this information out of your computer required navigating to several menus, making it harder for people to use public machines, share home machines or donate them to charities.

Apple's Safari was one of the first Web browsers to offer a single button, prominently displayed, that gets rid of stored information. Mozilla, Firefox and others now incorporate similar cleanup features.

Safari, Mozilla and other browsers also offer compact tools for examining and, if you want to, deleting the small tracking files called cookies that are stored on computers by Web sites. Mozilla's (also found under Tools, Options, Privacy), for instance, lets the user select from among various policies for managing cookies and also examine the data hidden inside them. This is one area where Microsoft has been a leader, and Internet Explorer offers an extensive system for cookie management.

Customization

Many browsers are adding features that give users some power to customize the display of Web sites. Opera's extensive View menu will soon include a feature known as Fit to Window that will automatically shrink a page that is too big to fit on your screen until there is no need to scroll to see it. If this leaves some parts too small, another feature lets you zoom in on one region.

Opera also lets users substitute their own layout guides for pages known as Cascading Style Sheets. This powerful feature can create outlines, change colors, eliminate large images and give general control over the look of the page.

Safari, Mozilla and Firefox take a more limited approach and let you change the size of the fonts used to render the page, a nice feature if the fine print is a bit too fine. Holding down the control key while pressing the plus or minus key activates this feature.

The new browsers also offer tools to block parts of Web sites. Opera, Firefox, Mozilla, Safari and others can prevent a Web site from opening new windows, which often contain advertisements.

There are hundreds of other tweaks and enhancements fighting for attention. The open platform offered by many of the browsers encourages any programmer to convert an idea into a working bit of code.

Some of these enhancements are practical. MapIt, an extension for Firefox, for example, lets you select an address on one page and immediately find a map of that location.

Some are fun. One called Gnusto lets you play games in Firefox.

And some cannot be classified. If you want to track the current color of the threat level announced by the Department of Homeland Security, one extension for Firefox will monitor the announcements and display an icon in the margins.

The Competition

Tired of Standard Issue? Some Options

A selection of alternatives to Internet Explorer. Free, except where noted.

Firefox www.mozilla.org
For: PC, Macintosh, Linux
Simpler version of Mozilla. Plug-ins are at www.mozdev.org .

Mozilla www.mozilla.org
For: PC, Macintosh, Linux
Adds a mail reader and Web-page designing tool to the Firefox core.

Opera www.opera.com
For: PC, Macintosh, Linux
Claims to be the fastest browser. $39, or free with advertising.

Konqueror www.konqueror.org
For: Linux
Built on a popular graphical interface for the Linux core.

Safari www.apple.com/safari
For: Macintosh
Apple's adaptation of Konqueror for the Macintosh platform.

Amaya www.w3.org/amaya
For: Windows, Linux
Developed by the Web organizing group W3.org to display new technology like tools for displaying math formulas.

Dillo www.dillo.org
For: Linux
An extremely small browser useful for old computers, smart phones and other devices where resources are scarce.

Netcaptor www.netcaptor.com
For: Windows
A hybrid that adds features like tabbed browsing to Internet Explorer. $30.

I recomend FireFox. It works on Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. Its automatic popup blocker and tabbed browsing makes it much better than IE.

They Are Crazy in Florida!

My fourth installment of "They Are Crazy in Florida!"

Dad's A Real Stunner

JANUARY 27--Meet Douglas Dycus. The 40-year-old Florida man was charged yesterday with felony child abuse and domestic battery for allegedly using a stun gun to discipline his 14-year-old son.

And now for the bad pun... Sadly this isn't shocking behavior from someone from Florida.

They Are Crazy in Florida!

My third installment of "They Are Crazy in Florida!"

OCALA, Fla. -- Two boys, ages 9 and 10, were charged with felonies and taken away from school in handcuffs, accused of making violent drawings of stick figures.

The special education students used pencil and red crayon to draw primitive stick figure scenes on scrap paper... (emphasis mine).

Ocala police said they stand behind the decision to arrest the children.

"When an adult or even myself look at the picture looked at it at first I was thinking there is really not much to the picture or I would not be that scared by the picture those children drew," Ocala police spokesman Russ Kearn said.

I don't get it. I really don't. Will there ever be any end to this insanity?

New and Improved

Tweaked the blog template a bit. Hope you like it.

(I've already nicknamed it "Mini Me")

My Mac Mini and me | Perspectives | CNET News.com: "(I've already nicknamed it 'Mini Me')"

You dirty theif! I had that nick name for my 17" PowerBook first! Give it back!! And you can see why I picked Mini Me as my Mac's nick name, right here!

They Are Crazy in Florida!!

My second installment of "They Are Crazy in Florida!"

Illegal use of computer by deputy alleged

January 21, 2005

Copyright (c) 2005, The Kansas City Star. All rights reserved.

TAMPA, Fla. -- A sheriff's deputy was charged Thursday with using a police computer to track a friend's former lover and her new boyfriend before attacks were carried out against the couple. Deputy Charles Maye, 50, allegedly used his access to the National Crime Information Center's database to help Leroy Collins, 79, track down James McLemore, the new boyfriend of Collins' former girlfriend. Prosecutors say he also used the computer to find the former girlfriend's address.

McLemore was shot five times in the head in 1996 as he left a nightclub. Less than three months later, the girlfriend, Linda Bobo, was blinded when someone threw a chemical in her face as she left the same club. No one has been arrested in either attack."

There you have it boys. If in Florida, make sure your new girls X isn't friends with the law, else you'll soon be dead and she'll be blind.

A Conservative Answer to Michael Moore

A Conservative Answer to Michael Moore - January 21, 2005 - The New York Sun: "A Conservative Answer to Michael Moore"

Mr. Maloney works out of Starbucks or his tidy one-bedroom apartment. He has 100 hours of footage stored in what is called a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks - a data-protection device that costs more than some cars. He edits raw footage with Apple Final Cut Pro software, using an Apple Power Mac Dual G5.

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Something Fierce

MacCentral: The Mac mini: Comparing Apples and Oranges: "MacCentral: The Mac mini: Comparing Apples and Oranges"

Did I mention that a FireWire port is included on the Mac mini? Why, yes, I did.

Heh. Read the whole thing. It's something fierce.

They Are Crazy in Florida!!

Today I bring you my first installment of "They Are Crazy in Florida!"

Yahoo! News - Woman Gets 20 Years for Poisoning Boss

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A woman received a 20-year prison sentence Thursday for putting rat poison in her boss' soda to cover up the fact that she was stealing his money.

And then...

In May, a state appeals court overturned the poisoning conviction because "attempted poisoning" is not a specific crime under Florida law.

Someday Maybe...

I want to tell him how his baby blue eyes make me melt and that is probably why I have a hard time making eye contact with him because I will pass out. Also I want to tell him how it wouldn’t be the same without him here and how I miss it when I am not with him. How he is funny, handsome, intelligent, arty, witty, goofy, respectful, gentle, passionate, professional and many more things.

Somday, maybe, a girl will feel that way about me.

Mac Mini Car Installation

Mac Mini Car Installation

SWEET!!
I may just have to take a road trip to New York!

PRESS RELEASE: Auto Enthusiasts Reved-up for New Mac Mini - Classic Restorations First to Offer Custom Mac Mini Auto Installations

Gizimodo + Apple News = Giggling Bean

HOWTO: Hack iPod into iPod Shuffle


Announcing the Apple iProduct


Apple Hater Unite

Chewing gum-size iPod not edible | News.blog | CNET News.com

Chewing gum-size iPod not edible | News.blog | CNET News.com: "Chewing gum-size iPod not edible"

This curious and seemingly obvious piece of advice regarding Apple's new budget music player comes courtesy of Apple itself, which includes the warning amid the small type on the main product page for its new flash memory-based gadget.

A Google news search on "+flash +eat +player" confirmed that audio player chewing did not turn into a sudden fad while we were away for the holidays, which leaves us scratching our heads over the purpose of the Apple warning.

Best we can figure is that they're worried about the size comparison most frequently used for the new gadget. To be clear: The iPod Shuffle is about the size of a pack of chewing gum. It has no other gumlike qualities. It will not freshen your breath, annoy your parents with loud snapping and popping, or muck up a stranger's shoe if you drop it.

Sounds like the Apple Ad department has a CARS fan.

UNKYMOODS!

I joined up with unkymoods.com. You can see my current feelings over on the right hand side of the page. I'll update it when my mood changes (or I rember to update it ;) ).

Blue screen of death crashes Gates at CES - WhatPC?

Blue screen of death crashes Gates at CES - WhatPC?: "Blue screen of death crashes Gates at CES"

Need I say more?

2005

Merry 2005! May your life, this year, be like a roll of toilet paper... Long and useful!!

As for the start of my new year? DEPRESSING!! (I just opened my Missouri Gas Energy bill and its $100 more than last month!!). So I'm now officially open for nice long hugs from cute girls!!