Why haven't you tried Firefox yet?

Ok, people, listen up!

Too many of you who visit this blog are using MS Internet Explorer 6. My question to you -- have you tried Firefox yet?

Don't wait for IE7. It's gonna offer a subset of what Firefox already offers, while in the meantime, Firefox just continues to improve.

Here are some good reasons to give Firefox a whirl:

• Tabbed Browsing. Yes, you've heard this buzzword before, but what does it actually mean? It means simplicity, space saving, speed, and more control for you.
  
  Simplicity & space saving, in that you'll have all your open browser windows in one place, easy to find and switch between, with no crowding of your task bar by lots of separate browser window buttons all squished up with other app buttons making separate pages difficult to identify.
  
  Speed, in that it takes far less overhead for Firefox to open 10 tabs than it does for Explorer to open 10 windows. [Can Explorer even actually open 10 windows without crashing?! I can open 30 tabs in Firefox with no problems at all, there ain't no way IE can do that.] Firefox opens tabs in next to no time, and pages simply load soooo much faster in this browser.
  
  And more control, in the form of keyboard shortcuts to jump between tabs, extra options for each tab individually (such as the ability to "lock" a tab, or to reload a particular tab every x minutes, or to close all tabs except the one you're on, or re-order them, etc) and a gazillion extensions to choose from that add their own functionality (maybe you'd like to be able to scroll the mouse over the tab bar to quickly switch between tabs? or maybe you'd like to colour all related tabs the same colour? Well, guess what, you can!)
  
  
• Find As You Type. What? you ask. Find as you type is a really nifty way to search for text on a page. Rather than needing to hit Ctrl-F (although you can if you want), you just start typing and the page will immediately highlight the first instance of your text. You can hit F3 to move to the next instance, or Shift-F3 to go back to the previous. Or you can "highlight all" the instances of your text on the page.
  
  
• Extensions. "Bah, 'stensions, fensions," I hear you muttering. Well, it's your loss, grumble-bum. Extensions will take your web experience to the next level. I have extensions installed for:
  
  - the Weather (I've got the current & the next few days' forecasts right on my menubar, just next to the Help menu option, with funky icons that I can click on for more info),
  
  - Text Resizing -- 3 really handy buttons for instant font-size changing (no more problems with sites using soopa-tiny fonts)
  
  - Closed Tabs (no more of that familiar "Oh damn! I didn't mean to close that window..." feeling -- I just reopen it from the drop-down list)
  
  ...and a heap more. Check out the official Mozilla Update site or the more extensive Extensions Mirror for all your extension needs.
  
  
• Security. Probably this is the best thing of all. I have never had a single piece of spyware or adware on my computer, I've never had any problems with sites opening truck-loads of windows that I can't close, and I have always (as a long-time FF user) had complete control over what a site can or cannot do when I visit it, such as with window opening/resizing/moving, status-bar changes, and more. Yes, all these IE-related problems stop once you start using Firefox. It really is that simple.

So, how am I doing? Have I convinced you yet?

I'm going to try & post more regularly about Firefox features, tips & tricks, shortcuts, etc. Obviously there is still some work to do convincing the masses, and considering there is no good reason not to try it, then I'm prepared to slog at your walls of resistance for a bit and see if I can't get them a-tumbling down.

As, really, you're only hurting yourself -- and your computer! -- by sticking with IE.

Angelina Jolie Has Madonna with Child Syndrome

I bought a pink babydoll "Team Aniston" t-shirt on eBay recently, just waiting for it to arrive. Very excited & am hoping it prompts people to ask me about it so I can spout off at length about Pitt and like-minded pieces of hormone-driven male trash, as they justly deserve to be spouted off about. One for da women; one for the Jen.

And in related "news", PugBus.net quotes one Dr. Phil McGraw, who notes that "Jolie is clearly suffering from a chronic case of Madonna with Child Syndrome (MCS)".

A fabulous read, don't miss it.

Happy Birthday to... Miinx Liinx!

I've just realised that this month marks the one year anniversary/birthday/celebration/etc for my lil blog here, Miinx Liinx.

Wasn't sure when I started how far it would go, either in content or in time, but I've found over the past year that I do quite enjoy having somewhere public (yet still relatively anonymous) to mouth off whenever the urge strikes.

Was planning to mainly write web-related stuff at first, but when Schapelle Corby went to jail in October 2004 in Indonesia for the most outrageous charge... well, I couldn't stay quiet about that, and my blog & I veered. And I've kinda stayed veered into the more newsworthy-for-Australians type stuff since then. Cos, y'know, I'm Australian.

Works for me, but what about you? Like me? Hate me? Let me know. :)

Microsoft's Priorities

Microsoft cares not a hoot about their current userbase, apparently. [Undeniably, I'd say.] Far more important to them than improving their offerings is fending off potential rivals, as ZDNet reports here.

Fix the bugs? Nah, stuff that. Let's throw some more bells onto the whistle!

Clarifying their priorities in another recent ZDNet interview, Microsoft's Director of Platform Technology Strategy, (i.e. MS's Unix gun) Bill Hilf, says:

"Microsoft is a very opportunistic company. It is looking for ways to increase its business. We want to continue to build software that sells well."

Did you catch that? Microsoft wants to make software that sells well. Not works well, but sells well.

Gotta love their tactics. No, truly, all like me (waiting for the day we are MS-less once more) really do love their tactics. ;)

It's only a matter of time, folks, only a matter of time.

Michelle Leslie is nothing like Schapelle Corby

This really shits me. (Or maybe it's this flipping flu that I can't get rid of? Hmph.)

"Same problem, new face," reports The Age, regarding the latest Australian to be busted for a drug-related offence in Bali, model Michelle Leslie, and likening her situation and plight to that of Schapelle Corby's.

Let me set the record straight. This is NOT the same problem, nothing like it, in fact. I'm insulted on behalf of Schapelle that she is being likened to Michelle.

Michelle Leslie, who also goes under the name of Michelle Lee, bought these drugs in Indonesia. She had them on her. She was at a rave. She planned to take them.

Where, in any of that, is the similarity to Schapelle?? Schapelle never had the marijuana on her person. Not once. She supposedly imported it, yet her boogie bag was unlocked, and using passenger luggage to transport drugs within Australia is (was?) unfortunately all too common. There was no evidence whatsoever to indicate she had any intention to sell or take the drugs. There was no evidence to say she'd bought them herself -- and, in fact, a lot of evidence to say she would never have been able to afford the cost of such a huge amount, anyway.

Schapelle Corby is innocent, and should never have been held, let alone charged. The trauma this poor girl is going through breaks my heart.

Michelle Leslie, on the other hand, is an idiot.

She was totally stupid even contemplating buying drugs in Bali, at a Full Moon party, no less, known as one of the biggest drug taking events in the world, and she deserves whatever punishment she gets.

There ain't no sympathy coming her way from me, just a whole lot of anger that she makes a mockery of everything the rest of us have fought against for Schapelle.

We should NOT be helping Indonesia

Couple of quick links to articles summarising nicely the disgusting turn of events from this week:

Herald Sun article

Townsville Bulletin editorial

I fully support the suggestion in the first article by Spike Stewart, father of one of the Australian Bali bombing victims, who said the Federal Government should withhold aid to Indonesia.

"John Howard's got to say well, we're not going to give you another $500 million this year unless you get your act together."

Is Google the new Microsoft?

So everyone this week appears to be talking about the recent revelations/realisations by various parties in the RSS advertising field that some 2 years ago, Google quietly lodged an application for a patent on RSS advertising.

The problem with that? Google were neither the first, nor the only ones, doing RSS ads, and furthermore, they didn't actually reveal their product publicly till 6 months ago.

In this same time (i.e. the preceding couple of years), various other parties have been publicly testing their own RSS ad systems, engaging users to trial them and give feedback, and continually improving and expanding their technologies.

Now, call me naive, but isn't that the intention of the web? Share & collaborate, all-for-one & one-for-all?

Google's duplicity here, especially considering the hold they have over standard web ads already, makes me wonder if Gates has finally given up on his own decaying dinosaur, and has headed over to advise his more sprightly competitors now?