As expected Microsoft’s latest browser release, IE 7, bombed before it even came out of the gate. The tarnished browser is up against a beast of a machine in the open source browser we’ve all come to know and love… Firefox.
IE 7 tried, at least we think they’ve tried, to take on Firefox as a “me too” browser with all the goodies that come along with it, but failed miserably. To make matters worse, now Mozilla is releasing Firefox 2 just days after IE 7 let its fans down.
Oh yeah baby! Firefox 2!
Firefox 2 is set for full release this Tuesday and I imagine we’ll see a gigantic flux of traffic heading to the Mozilla website for some download action. The new version doesn’t change a whole lot for the user, but there appears to be significant changes in security. While IE 7 closes the gap on browser functions, security is something they just can’t seem to get right.
First Firefox took the web by storm with its user friendliness. Now we’re seeing the open source giant take Microsoft on in security as well.
Coolest Gadgets got it right with their assesment on this nifty gadget. The stealthswitch is a USB device that can sit on the floor beneath your desk for stealthy use. When someone approaches your computer and you wish for them not to see what you’re looking at you simply tp the switch and the window will instantly drop. There are several settings for the switch that allow you to choose what is hidden and what will remain viewable.
If you’re one of those peeps who like to play games when the boss isn’t looking this might be your desktop radar detector.
While I disagree with Techie Diva’s claim that gas prices are rising (they’re dropping where I live), as always the gadget blogger makes a great find with the new Electroscoot.
I have no idea what the MPH translation is, but I’m guessing the scooter will do about 35 MPH. Not bad for those of us who dwell in the big cities. At .50 cents for that 35 miles you really can’t at all complain about the cost of running this micro ride.
It comes in at about $2,000.00 USD give or take a few either way. Not too bad all things considered.
The online sitebuilder giant Homestead.com seems to be experiencing a brutal headache in the form of crashed systems and downed servers. The company that boasts more than 12 million users in it’s time online lost a good chunk of its systems sometime yesterday morning and almost 48 hours later there is still no sign of life.
The front end of the site is running on backup, but all account access has completely failed. The backend of Homestead is fried.
Homestead users began commenting on a forum dedicated to the “big red house” on the crash almost as soon as it happened.
One comment said:
Greetings from England
Well I finally gave up tring to get into homestead at about Midnight last night.
It’s now about 06.35 am here, still no homestead, and still no replies to my email to homestead support (or should that be homestead lack of support?)
Giving speech at conference later today – and the files that should have been uploaded to homestead for the deligates are still sitting on my hardrive.
Wouldn’t be so bad if we knew what they are up to, a simple explanation would be better than their continuing to hide behind a wall of silence
Today the contents of a discussion forum private message enlightened me to some technology that is quietly sneaking up the ranks of coolness. I know we’ve all heard of Ambilight Full Surround , but it looks like Philips is working hard to take it to the next level.
From the site:
You’re going to see television in a completely different way with Ambilight technology from Philips. Ambilight is a unique theatre lighting system that actively adjusts both brightness and colour based on picture content. It lets your eye see more detail, contrast and colours. And even eliminates on-screen reflection.
The free blog tool uses an algo that pulls data from Technorati, Alexa, Bloglines, and indexed backlinks to decide what the juice level is. I surfed through some of the categories and I find the results to be highly relevant.
GPS devices? Who needs them? I just downloaded Google maps on my Treo and it’s a tasty little tool to have at my fingertips. Free Google maps on your cell phone… it doesn’t get much better than this.
Since we first launched Google Maps for mobile devices, we’ve adapted it to more phones and languages and added features like traffic info. And as of today, the new Palm Treo version answers our top request from users. It’s been months in the making, but I think you’ll find it worth the wait. We think this is the fastest, slickest version yet, with draggable maps and translucent pop-up balloons that don’t hide the map.
I do a lot of cycling so this is a huge help. Very cool tool!
I had the pleasure of seeing some of these at a friend of mine’s place not too long back. I was hooked from first site and I still drool over these to this very day.
The Stardom ST3620 is a removable drive solution that allows you to pull your drives out for easy transport or to give yourself infinite storage space.
The Stardom ST3620-B2 (B2 is the USB2.0 version) is a fantastic product for the professional power user who needs masses of storage. With capacities of 1 TeraBytes (TB) or 1.5TB’s (this is a 1.5TB Model), the stylish ST3620 range is suitable for just about any data storage requirement; data backup, video storage, audio production and editing, music, file or photo storage etc.
The site allows you to create a 3D site hosted on its own servers. In this site you have a room where you can invite friends and other members in to chat and socialize. You can customize the entire scheme with details right down to the decorations and furnishings.
I surfed through a few of their sites and it looks like they have some kinks to work out, but I think overall the company is off to a great start.
Mac fans get a new RSS feed to watch thanks to the release of the new Google Mac Blog. The first blog post also directs you to the Google Mac downloads page where Mac users will find an excellent list of goodies.
Don’t want to use up the space on your desktop for feeds? No problem, just plug in a Mister Tipster and let it do all the work externally. The device receives the feeds of your choosing and displays them on the reader via USB port. RSS feeds couldn’t be simpler!
It’s for some new toy talk for my greek friends and fellow bloggers. The first of my weekend picks is the Hydrogen Fuelled Racing Car. Christmas is just around the corner so you might want to bookmark this little gem.
The little hydro gadget on wheels can run for up to four minutes on a single fill of water. Not bad for good old H2O eh?
H2 Racer Pack Includes:
·H2 Racer in kit style for the handy enthusiast
·Car runs on water and solar or battery power
·The fuelling station produces hydrogen for fuel from simple water in a matter of minutes
·Car can drive up to 100feet or around 4 minutes before needing a recharge
·Requires 2 x AA batteries, alternatively use the sun (solar panels are included)
