Guilty as charged

Ok, I admit it. I'm a living advertisement. More than 3 times a day you can probably catch the phrase, "just google that..." come out of my mouth. Someone will ask me how to spell a word, "just google it." What's the definition of...? "just google it." What's a good programming solution to use for...? "just google that..."

Also, whenever I need information from someone I just say, "just send that to my gmail." Need to know the local weather? Let me pull up my Google Home Page. When chatting about the latest news I've read I don't mention the site the content came from, I say "...I got this off my google page".

Need directions? Let me pull up Google Maps. I'm even writing this blog entry in a Google owned bloggin service. And how can I forget, what was the final score for last nights big game? Let me just pull up good ol' Google Search since that is what got them started anyway.

So you can plainly see, I use a lot of Google services. But it's not really that I have a contract with them or anything, they're just there and I like them enough. I guess the point really is that I use a lot of web services period. It is funny how technology changes us as it changes. We live in an era where information is but a few mouse-clicks, key-strokes, and hyper-text hand-shakes away. Growing up in the middle of no where with less than expendable income my biggest resource as a child was our dusty old family set of Encyclopedia Britannica [before it was available in digital format ;-) ]. Now I don't even own an encyclopedia, but I have a high-speed internet connection, so it works out.

Until next time,
Les

Google Chat in GMail

Ok, so I just used Googles new integrated chat/gmail function. Pretty impressive.

here is the Google tidbit about it:
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/about_whatsnew.html

until next time,
Les

Try IE7 without losing IE6

Ok, if you want to try IE7 just for kicks and grins but you're worried about losing IE6 here is a work around I've used (provided by Alex Walker of Sitepoint in Sitepoint Design View #18).

=======================================
NOTE:
There are reported bugs and problems with this workaround,
as such understand that using any hacks/workarounds such
as this are at your own risk. If you don't want to take a chance
then this isn't for you.

if you have used this hack/workaround and find yourself
having trouble with IE6 or anything else wierd you
might find this link helpful:
http://weblogs.asp.net/jgalloway/archive/2005/12/28/434132.aspx
========================================

So, let's say you're curious and you'd like to take IE7 for a spin, but you're not ready to let it oust IE6 as your IE of choice -- can this be done?

I'm no expert on the interplay of Microsoft components, but I did manage to get it going, and I'm happy to run you through the process I used to get it running on my XP system.

1. Download and save the beta EXE but don't run it. It's a self-extracting, self-installing ZIP file; we want to do this manually.
2. Create a new folder called 'IE7'.
3. Right-click on the EXE and scroll down to 'Extract to...' for Winzip. If you don't use Winzip, this process should work in your decompression software of choice.
4. Extract everything to your 'IE7' folder, making sure you keep the folder structure intact by keeping 'Use folder names' checked.
5. Open your 'IE7' folder, right-click inside the folder and scroll to 'New/Text Document.
6. Rename that file to 'iexplore.exe.local'. Make sure you're changing the file's format, not just renaming your text document to 'iexplore.exe.local.txt'.
7. That's it. Run 'iexplore.exe' in that folder -- do not run 'iesetup.exe', which will initiate the full install
   

Note that Microsoft says it won't provide support for this kind of setup, so if you think you may want help, this option probably isn't for you.

Until next time,
Les

Field User Group: testing and bug finding for free

============================
BULLETIN
Apple has just been sued for hearing loss. This just occuring after
several articles with hearing experts talking about the dangers of
the device related to hearing.

I wonder it it's too late to file my case against Sony for their Walkman
and Discman music players?
============================

Well, many people flooded the IE (Internet Exploder) web site this week hungry for the newest beta release of IE 7. Being the biggest update to the browser in what seems like forever and the first update that really changes the usability of the app, many IE advocates were starving for this latest serving. Already the blogosphere has erupted with praise, complaints, and bugs. So MS (Microsoft) gets to use the frenzy of the general public as free labor for finishing their app.

Don't get me wrong, I understand this is the test platform for many apps, and it occurs abundantly in the open source arena. Now MS is getting in on the action. But really this isn't even new for them. If you look back over the years at major MS releases you will see the same thing, although this time they actually released under the beta label. Is this a turn for the better? This time they're at least being honest with the public, maybe they're finally learning from Windows 98 (Windows 98se anyone?).

I haven't given the browser a test run yet, but that isn't saying I don't want to. I'm just too busy to work for free testing an app that I know is incomplete to begin with.

Until next time,
Les Martin