Firefox 2 Beta 2 Review
The much anticipated sequel to Firefox has finally launched in a solid beta, Firefox 2 Beta 2.
First off. I’ve been using it since Thursday evening and have really dug into the new features and options and haven’t come across any bugs. However, I don’t suggest the average user to upgrade (especially their main machine) unless you really absolutely can’t wait. There are still quite a few extensions and themes that are broken in it.
That being said, the new version is very nice and installation was a breeze. Most of my extensions were broken and my theme no longer worked, but that’s not surprising considering it’s a beta.
The interface is still pretty much the same, but that’s irrelevant due to the vast array of themes (skins) that will be available. In the Menu Bar, the word “Go” has been replaced with “History”.
Screwing With Telemarketers
This guy is an absolute genius. He recorded an mp3 file of himself asking generic questions that you might ask a telemarketer. He then wrote an app for his phone system that would transfer telemarketer’s calls to the extension with the file on it. I can’t explain it as well as he has so check out his site creativebastard.com for a good laugh.
Windows Vista Price Leak
Well, the prices for Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows Vista have been leaked. Apparently a Canadian Microsoft retail page posted the prices and then took it down immediately. Unfortunately, immediately wasn’t quick enough and it looks like if you want to be an “early adopter” you better get out your credit card.
Here are the prices that have been converted from the Canadian dollar to U.S. dollars (full version/upgrade)
Vista Ultimate $450/269
Vista Business $341/224
Vista Home Premium $269/179
Vista Home Basic $233/116
It looks like by the time Vista ships, I’ll be in the running for a new computer anyway, so I won’t really have to worry about making the decision to upgrade. But I don’t see myself upgrading any of my XP machines unless Vista can offer me something more than a pretty GUI. Sorry Microsoft, Aero just doesn’t cut it. Show me a feature set that I can’t resist, and I’ll show Bill the money
Some Useful Shortcuts To Increase Your Web Browsing Efficiency
Who doesn’t want to surf the web at warp speed? There are so many things out there in them there Internet tubes that you know you’re missing something important.
Like that new sweet game at the awesome game site where you hit the ball and then it bounces back and you have to hit it again. Ya, you know which one I’m talking about. The one you were up until 1AM playing because crappy Internet games are as addicting as having the urge to pat a midget on the head every time you see one walking down the street. Yes, you know the feeling.
Well I’ve put together a short list of key commands that will fuel your browsing addiction to new heights. Enjoy!
Apple Battery Recall Update
Apparently the Apple Battery Recall Page has been updated. So if you have checked and found that your laptop battery did not need to be sent back, check again.
Go to the Apple Battery Recall Page.
Apple Recalls 1.8 Million Batteries
Not to be completely outdone by Dell, yesterday Apple Computer recalled 1.8 million lithium-ion batteries. 1.1 million of them being from the U.S. and 700,000 from overseas. If you own an iBook G4 or PowerBook G4 laptop that you purchased between October 2003 and August 2006, you are a fire hazard waiting to happen.
You can check to see if your laptop is affected by visiting the Apple Battery Recall Program Page.
Now even though it makes me incredibly happy to watch any Dell or Mac laptop burst into flames, it should be noted that the maker of the exploding batteries is also your favorite rootkit maker…Sony! Sony has stated that they will be picking up part of the tab for the battery recall in both Apple and Dell’s cases which is looking to be around $400 million.
Site Of the Week: Part VI
How cool have web pages become? Never really given much thought about it have you…you ungrateful little…just jokes people.
Anyway, web developers now have so many tools at their disposal to keep their pages from looking like crap, there’s really no reason to have pages that look anything like these:
qualitycollisionservices.com/ ; ridertown.com/ ; caseyforsheriff.com/
Who the hell thought those looked good? Did they have the deaf, blind and dumb kid down the street bust out old reliable, Notepad, and whip those badboys up or what.
I’ll give you a second to take that all in…
So lets fast forward to today. Webmasters can now implement CSS, AJAX, PHP, Javascript, ActionScript, PERL, Python, Ruby On Rails, DHTML, the list could go on all day. And these are really just tools being used on the back-end.
Why I’m Going To Spend $14 On a Weird Al Yankovic CD
I don’t like Weird Al Yankovic. Frankly, he’s just not that funny to me. So why am I going to spend my time promoting his new album and eventually my hard earned money to buy his newest album, “Straight Outta Lynwood”, which comes out September 26, 2006? Because he gets it.
Weird Al has released a song off his upcoming album called “Don’t Download This Song”…which is free to download as an unrestricted, un-DRM’ed mp3. The song is about all those 10-year old bastard children of the world that download music illegally and how the RIAA paints the picture that they are hardened criminals.
I know this isn’t exactly what we are all looking for, but it’s a huge step in the right direction. I’m also a huge proponent of anything that could possibly piss off the dictatorship-like assholes that are the RIAA.
Internet Explorer RC 1 Released
For those of you who have downloaded the beta version of Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft has just released the first Release Candidate.
Couple of things that didn’t get me off on the right foot were the download time and then I had to restart twice just to get it installed. Other than that, I haven’t played around with it yet to test it out, but I strongly suggest upgrading Internet Explorer if you are currently using IE 6 or IE 7 beta 1, 2 or 3.
You can get IE 7 RC 1 here.
Very Cool iTunes Feature
A very useful, “hidden” feature in iTunes has been discovered that will allow you to play it from your menu bar, rather than having the entire application open. This is similar to “Pandora’s Box” that I wrote about last week, but it’s with iTunes and it doesn’t play from the Notification area…I guess they’re nothing alike, damn.
Check out the process at TaylorHayward.org.
