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Thoughts and things I care to shareStill can’t beat Google Reader
I’ve been trying the RSS reader in IE7, Onfolio, Firefox, and others for the last day or so. I keep coming back to Google Reader.
You can’t beat it’s simplicity, speed, and ease of use. There are more features in a number of readers, but all I need is to have an aggregator that simply lets me read the news that I’m interested in as quickly as possible. I also can manage one OPML list and access it from anywhere. Nothing else compares in the same way.
Combine GReader with hosted GMail, and Docs & Spreadsheets, and a common login. This makes all these features of Google work well together. Yes, they need more integration work, but that will happen over time.
I’ve yet to try the rating or sharing features, but will get to those soon. They look fairly interesting, and may be of use linked from my blog.
Give GReader a try!
Firefox 2
Nice upgrade, though it seems to be more of a security and small feature update than a larger release. Of course the changes in IE7 compared to IE6 are huge and are attracting a bit of press, as it should – it took MS long enough to upgrade the browser!
However, for daily browsing, Firefox seems to work best for me. I happen to use three browsers, the obvious two and Opera. Firefox is my “work” browser, meaning that I open all my email, blogging, Feed Reader, Search, and other task-based services in it. IE is my “default” browser – its just that, click on a link in email, opens in IE. I also use IE for additional research and news link following.
Opera is not used as much as FF & IE, its mainly for obscure sites – meaning that if the site is suspect, I paste the URL in Opera and see what happens – this simple trick has kept my IE install healthier than any other I have tried.
Anyway, FF2’s got game. Its not any one thing, just a great combination of usability in a browser. The only plugin that isn’t compatible at the moment is my Windows Live Writer “Blog It” plugin. Its a shame too, because that’s my most often used plugin! 
Firefox 2.0 Browser Released!
Ah, only days after IE7 is made available in final form, Firefox 2.0 is now released as well. Great news!
Technorati tags: Firefox 2.0Via BetaNews – Mozilla Launches Firefox 2.0 Browser
Great coffee shop in Ely
We stopped at a great (and I really mean it) coffee shop in Ely. They had simple sandwiches and soups as well as dessert stuff. The place is called the “Front Porch Cafe”, and also had Internet connectivity, though I didn’t use it.
Amy had one of the best Mochas in a very long time. I had just a regular coffee and some chili, also very good. This place is on my recommended list for places to stop when passing through.
A great thank you to the staff there, it was a warm welcoming place.
(I wrote this two days ago while in the car – didn’t have mobile service at the time. Also, when we got to Crosslake, I was very successful in relaxing, so I never connected up.)
On the road to Ely
So we are heading fro the north shore inland to Ely. Fantastic scenery, and we’re crossing the Superior National Forest, and the skirting the Boudary Waters Canoe Area.
It’s about 29 degrees out and its snowing. Its been snowing all morning, and here in the forest is quite stunning. The rolling wooded hills are starting to gather a light coating of snow, creating some of my favorite nature scenes.
Well, I’ve no Internet connection at all, so I’ll stop here for now.
(I wrote this two days ago while in the car – didn’t have mobile service at the time. Also, when we got to Crosslake, I was very successful in relaxing, so I never connected up.)
Paul Thurrott’s Road to Gold – Part 2
Here is Paul Thurrott’s second installment in his Road to Gold series.
In the first part of the series, Paul talked about the 2001 to 2002 timeframe where Longhorn emerges from the secret corners of Microsoft engineers.
In part 2, 2003 is covered talking about leaked builds, the beginnings of delays, adding of features, troubles of WinFS, and more.
It really has been a long road to RTM for this Windows release and the more I think about it, the more I ask if current and past approaches to Windows (and Mac OS, and Linux) are valid any longer. With the potential of Web 2.0 coming to fruition by many, many new talented people – do we need a fat legacy client any more?
That said, Windows Vista is an impressive piece of code, and its history detailed in Paul’s articles are a fun read.
Paul Thurrott’s Windows SuperSite – Road to Gold: The Long Road to Windows Vista Part 2: 2003
Want to ditch the landline and go all-wireless?
This post at The Wireless Report talks about Detroit leading the nation in wireline telephone replacement with wireless. It also points out that Minneapolis/St. Paul is at about the same wireless penetration rate for wireline replacement.
I’m not surprised, I’m one of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area residents that dropped wireline service about 5 years ago. While it seemed a little ahead of its time back in 2001, many of my peers, and more importantly, parents, have followed suit.
Both my parents and mother-in-law have gone wireless as well, in addition to my sisters, cousins, friends, and many business associates. Its rare to run across someone who has a home phone any longer.
Most people I know actually saved money by switching to a mobile phone plan in place of a landline phone. With the wide selection of minute plans, included long distance, roaming and such, a $50 cell phone plane for a single user is much more cost effective than a $35 phone plan plus add-on services line long distance, voice mail, caller id, call waiting, etc…
Moreover, most of my family is on the same carrier (T-Mobile) so we all benefit from unlimited calling between each other. Landline service can’t compare.
Are you still using a landline? Why?
Via The Wireless Report – Want to ditch the landline and go all-wireless? Move to Detroit
Free WiFi Rocks
Almost seems like I’ve started some kind of weird “Rocks” series of posts. Well, ok, yes, but it wasn’t intentional – it just kind of happened.
But we’re at our hotel in Duluth and its nice to be able to catch up on news & post a little on things at “full speed”. Brianna was swimming, Amy was reading, and I was keeping on top of news and such.
We were able to make it to Canal Park for dinner, and enjoyed a walk along the shore afterward. Tomorrow we’ll be heading up the north shore to Grand Marias.
An aside: Amy and I both came up the the word “Locatability” at the same time – yikes, that’s weird, even for us.
From there, we’ll head towards Ely, and then on down to Crosslake for a day or two before heading home.
Microsoft Postpones Windows XP SP3 To 2008
Looks like Microsoft is unfortunately postponing Windows XP Service Pack 3 until 2008. For me, at least, this was a complete surprise.
The disappointing part is the sheer number of patches that will need to be applied to Windows XP Service Pack 2 machines. As one reader points out, there are already several dozen patches that need to be applied to a fresh XPSP2 install.
“As of yesterday, if you install XP with SP2 slipstreamed in, you firstly get 2 updates (Windows Installer and WGA [Windows Genuine Advantage, anti-piracy software]) and then a huge 73 critical updates. I dread to think how many updates I’ll have to install in 2008 — and knowing my company, it’s not certain we’ll be on Vista by then!”
Via TechWeb – Microsoft Postpones Windows XP SP3 To 2008
Symantec: MS Making Vista Insecure
Of course this is complete hogwash, just “sour grapes” on Symantec’s part. Microsoft has spent a huge amount of time in the last 5 years working solely on securing the Windows OS.
The real problem for Symantec (and McAfee as well) is that they have stopped innovating, and are about to be caught with their proverbial pants down. Tough shit.
I used to recommend Symantec as a AV product, but its tied for top place with McAfee and Microsoft’s own OneCare product. Its sad that these companies can’t come up with new ideas and products. Instead, they have to run crying to anti-competitive-biased foreign regulatory arm of the EU. Can’t even try to make their case here at home.
Crybabies.
I hope the leadership of the Republican Party will take his word seriously. Because this is exactly right.
This is very simple: only Americans citizens should be allowed to vote in American elections.
The SAVE America Act is common sense, and we need to pass it now!
I don’t recall you complaining when gas was $5.00 under Biden.
Hypocrisy much?
Please RT!
This Middle Ages bullshit is a cancer on the planet👇👇🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸