Firefox 1.0.2 has been released. Check out the changelog for specifics.
As always, it’s suggested that you uninstall your current Firefox version before installing the new version. Your settings are stored outside of the Firefox directory by default, so you shouldn’t lose anything.
[License: Mozilla Public License (MPL)]
Thunderbird 1.0.2 has been released. Check out the release notes for specifics.
As always, it’s suggested that you uninstall your current version of Thunderbird before installing the new version. Your settings are stored outside of the Thunderbird directory by default, so you shouldn’t lose anything.
[License: Mozilla Public License (MPL)]
eWeek recently posted an article about Dell’s decision to stick only with Intel chips. Everyone thought that they may wise up, but it looks like that’s not the case.
Anyone who knows me knows that I’d always choose an AMD based system over an Intel based system. And while that choice is somewhat biased (read about Intel’s past manufacturing tactics in regards to competition with AMD), I can say without a doubt that AMD performs better for me than similar Intel chips; I have a P4 at the office and an Athlon at home and use them both extensively. And from the article it would appear that I’m not alone in that assessment.
Intel has countered first by getting its manufacturing back in line and secondly by coming out with a whole new family of chips about as good as AMD
“About as good as AMD”? Why would Dell settle for that? There has to be something else to the story, but I won’t speculate out loud.
When it comes to competition, as long as the set standards are met I think we should have a choice of what we buy. What’s the problem with selling Coke and Pepsi? Having Firefox, Netscape, Opera and IE?
Anyway, back to AMD vs Intel…
On the future front (64-bit processors) Intel really shot themselves in the foot when they decided to NOT make their 64-bit processors backward-compatible with 32-bit applications. (The AMD 64-bit processors are backward-compatible with 32-bit applications.) Intel knows that they could come out with a chip that is backward-compatible, but they realize that it would be silly to compete with yourself in the 64-bit market.
Maybe they’re banking on people jumping with both feet into 64-bit, but in the desktop arena I just don’t see that happening unless Microsoft has something to do with it. The landscape is different these days from when the Pentiums came on the scene. People are doing more with their computers and are more knowledgeable. And every piece of software would require an new version even if the old one suits you just fine. And if you have to buy all new software anyway, I think it would be an excellent time for everyone to make the move to Linux. All we can do is wait and see, but in the meantime I’m going to start pricing AMD Athlon 64 systems.
UltraEdit has been my coding workhorse for the past four and a half years and this past week I upgraded to UltraEdit v11.00a.
I am quite impressed with the “Code Folding” feature. My only complaint is that it doesn’t quite work correctly when you have closed single HTML tags in your code. But I’m sure they’ll fix that.
If you’re a coder and don’t have UltraEdit, get it now.
The Word Press Email Notification Plugin has been updated to version 2.1.1.
Updates to this version:
This is merely a bug-fix version for a people who were having issues with version 2.1 and doesn’t need to be installed if everything is running smoothly for you.
If you see anything that looks like a bug or the documentation needs corrected, please let me know.
While reading The Cost of Cool I was reminded once again why I hate Flash for web design of informational sites.
Flash is great for entertainment if done right, but most people rarely go to a web site to be entertained. If you want to use Flash for menus, fine. But keep them simple and offer an alternative navagation system. But please don’t use Flash for content you want someone to read.
So far this morning I’ve ran into two sites that might have decent content but the Flash was too distracting for me to tell. (Re: Vector.ize and Superlooper. And take a look at The Double’s website that the article is about.
While some may see my designs as too “plain”, that’s fine by me. I intend for my audience to focus on the content, not the graphics and gizmos. My approach is to treat the content in the same manner you would text in a book or well designed magazine. I try my best to make the content easy to find and easy to read so people can find what they’re looking for and then be on their way. We’re all busy and should strive to make things easier and more timely for one another. And just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Yes, there are some things Flash does very well, but there’s a time and place to use every tool. If you’re wanting to get information out to your audience, Flash probably insn’t the best choice.
I could go on but I’ll leave that for another time. Down from my soapbox…
