Monthly Archives: May 2006

Internet Explorer 7: The Good, The Bad, and The Future

Going through the article on ZDNet Web 2.0 Explorer , I really found some interesting tid-bits.

“On behalf of Microsoft and the IE team, we messed up – and we’re sorry”. [ Tony Chor, Group Program Manager of Microsoft's Internet Explorer team]

First thing they wanted to do with IE7 was “make everyday browsing easier […] make the simple things better”. They made the UI a lot simpler, to make the content more accessible. Mentions an “overdue” feature they’ve introduced in IE7, tabbed browsing. Mentions other new features, such as page zoom and more printer-friendly options…..

On standards, he says he was relieved to hear Firefox is so big on standards – because they are too. MS will support “not only official standards, but defacto standards”.

So what’s next for IE? Today IE7 is available in beta form and will be released as a final product in “the second half of this year”. Then they will go to the next version of IE. He promises they’ll ship regularly …. Security and standards compliance will be an ongoing investment. They are working on enabling developers to install multiple versions of IE on the same machine

Okay. The “Sorry” thingy, as per me, is the understatement of the year. 5 years !!! Damn ! But then, some says better late than never. And I say .. c’mon, bring it on.

Though I have not used IE7 Beta release [neither I see myself doing that in near future], but reading through all the good/bad things people have said and the amazing people that are associated with IE7 initiative [read The Web Standards Project] I really am all pumped up and looking forward to it.

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True Sci-Fi

NB: Some of the links [to stories] below contains spoilers/endings [not the complete stories]. If you want to read the stories first, then it would be better not to visit those links.

What I will be remembered for are the Foundation Trilogy and the Three Laws of Robotics. What I want to be remembered for is no one book, or no dozen books. Any single thing I have written can be paralleled or even surpassed by something someone else has done. However, my total corpus for quantity, quality and variety can be duplicated by no one else. That is what I want to be remembered for.

A friend of mine, who also is my source of “what’s good happening in reading department”, was once reading short stories by Issac Asimov [Let me clarify, by "Once" I meant some 3 years back]. And as usual he asked me to come back in 2 days, so that once he’s done with this novel, he’ll hand it to me.

I had heard about Asimov’s work but never got the opportunity [or inclination] to read them. And since I’m not too avid “Classics” reader, I simply didn’t gave too much thought to taking the book from him.

And then I saw Bicentennial Man [Well, I am die-hard fan of Robin Williams, but that's another story for another time] and later on I, Robot . Well, I really loved both the movie and then decided that I have to read Issac Asimov’s work. But, as it always happens, I never really got to read any of his work for a long time.

And then in February this year, while I was passing my time in a bookstore waiting for a friend, my eyes Super-Glued to The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories by Issac Asimov and alongside that was Robot Dreams by Issac Asimov . And just out of curiosity I bought both the books [Yeah! Both at once].

But then as the saying goes “There are lots of slips between the cup and the lips” [or something like that only], I didn’t got the opportunity to really read the books until recently.

And Boy O’ Boy !!! I was really swept off my feat. Asimov is truly a master in writing SciFi stories. And what an amazing collections of stories both the books turned out to be. I really love “Robot Dreams” [the story]. If you love reading Sci-Fi, then Asimov is THE author to read.

The last novel I read [ironically it also happened to be the last one he wrote] is The Naked Sun , a futuristic murder mystery.

I still have a long way to go, untill I read most of his works. But if you had read his work, feel free to let me know what are your impressions of Issac Asimov’s work.

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GMail’s the best !!

Best Web email service: Gmail by ZDNet's Richard MacManus -- CNET has just started what will be an intriguing series comparing the 'web 2.0' apps of the Big 3 Internet companies: "The companies aim to integrate their multiple services and serve up new and comprehensive suites that capture your exclusive attention and loyalty, but does one brand stand [...]

From the same article, CNET’s Elsa Wenzel concludes:

"…all this dragging and dropping [of Yahoo Mail and Windows Live Mail] seems primitive next to Gmail's automated labeling options. We give the Web 2.0 edge to Gmail for thinking outside the box. Gmail's integration with Google Calendar, Chat, and Maps feels logical and not forced, and if there have to be ads on the page, we prefer Google's text messages off to the side over Microsoft's banner ads any day. Furthermore, true to the Web 2.0 spirit of sharing, Gmail's open code enables devotees to hack new features."

Oh! I always knew GMail is far better than Windows Live Mail or Yahoo Mail Beta, afterall I am using all three of them. Okay, I opted out of Windows Live Mail because it … well … hmm … it’s not what I was expecting !! But I like Yahoo Mail beta, it has a refreshing look [what gmail lacks] and the tab-ability that’s awsome.

So which mail service do you like most ? Okay .. including GMail !

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