Hashemian Blog Web Tools, Financial Markets, Technology Wednesday, April 29, 2009 Internet Explorer 8  Internet Explorer may still be the dominant browser on the Internet but its clout is nowhere near where it was a few years ago. Back in the early days of the browser wars when IE4 finally unseated Netscape to become the front-runner, it enjoyed immense popularity. I certainly was a devoted fan and used IE exclusively. But then Firefox crashed the party and I saw the chance to defect once again to this new browser. Only this time it wasn't a complete defection. Today when I login to Windows XP (no Vista, thank you), the first browser I launch is IE6, followed immediately by Firefox3 and occasionally I add Chrome2 (Google's browser) to the mix. Depending on my mood and the sites I visit, I may pull up one site on one browser and the next site on another. It's a weird habit, but it serves me just fine. When the time came to upgrade to IE7, I balked and stayed the course with IE6. Not so with the other browsers. Where I am open with upgrading the others (even to their latest betas), I have been resistant to upgrading IE. I suppose the innate fear of dealing with unwanted features and flaws has held me back. Word has it that IE8 is a much better product than IE7, its predecessor. But when Windows Update alerted me with the IE8 upgrade screen, I once again passed on the opportunity. What I found interesting was the description accompanying this update: Internet Explorer 8 is the latest version of the familiar Web browser that you are most comfortable using. Internet Explorer 8 helps you get everything that you want from the Web faster, easier, and more privately and securely than ever. "Familiar Web browser that you are most comfortable using?" I don't think so. That's some presumptuous statement by Microsoft. Maybe for me IE6 is the end of the road with Internet Explorer. Quite possibly when I buy my next PC with Windows7 pre-installed, I'll be forced to use the latest version of Internet Explorer, be it IE8, IE9 or whatever they choose to call it then. Then again, I just may bid Internet Explorer farewell and make that complete defection to Firefox or Chrome or both. browsers,internet explorer,firefox,chrome,microsoft,google,windows,netscape,web,internet Labels: web <Internet Explorer 8> // posted by rh 1 comments Monday, April 20, 2009 Oracle Buys Sun  When today I heard the news of Oracle buying Sun Microsystems, my first thought was that I wished I had picked up some JAVA shares after the IBM deal had fallen through. It was just a matter of time before a suitor would snap it up. My second thought was about its impact on the tech sector and the end users. For one, this puts Oracle in the hardware business with new competitors like IBM, HP, and Dell. It's possible though that Oracle would sell off or just kill that part of the business. The more interesting situation is the future of Java, MySQL, and OpenOffice. My predictions are: Java will continue in its current form, free for users with a fee-based maintenance arm. MySQL will be absorbed into the big Oracle DB mother ship and will continue to be free of charge under a moniker like Oracle-Light or something similar. Again, there will be a fee-based maintenance plan for that. As for OpenOffice, Oracle will have its challenges with Microsoft and Google. It's probably steady-as-she-goes with regards to OpenOffice, at least for some time. Oracle seems to have the right combination of fortune and skills to successfully absorb acquired companies into its collective. If the past is any indication, the Sun Micro acquisition will be yet another smooth sailing (pun intended). Of course the downside of this will the layoffs that follow such an event. It’s a bit sad to bid farewell to Sun as an independent firm. This company has had such a huge impact on the tech sector in terms of innovation and the proliferation of the Internet. But considering the alternative (possible bankruptcy or a state of irrelevance), Oracle may be just the right company to keep Sun's legacy of innovation alive and even push it further. oracle,sun microsystems,microsoft,google,java,mysql,openoffice Labels: financial, internet <Oracle Buys Sun> // posted by rh 0 comments Monday, April 06, 2009 Facebook Backsliding  Not being much of a social person, I've never had much interest in the social aspect of Facebook, but being naturally inquisitive, I have my own account there just to kick the tires, so to speak. I think the clean design and the API library were appealing at first. But shortly after, the novelty wore off and now I barely login anymore. What I have also noticed with Facebook fans is that many have started to de-friend each other, the process of removing people from friends lists. I suppose it's the same with real life, friends and acquaintances come and go in one's life. The virtual world is probably no different. But there are a couple of subtle differences with Facebook. Firstly, when people initially joined the network they added anyone and everyone they knew, some to reconnect, others to help raise their social status ranking. Since then many have realized that they don't want to openly share aspects of their lives with everyone. This brings me to the second difference. With Facebook, a person uniformly shares his/her private posts with everyone in their list. That's hardly similar to the real world where friends are given an unspoken and unquantifiable trust ranking and even that varies depending on the subject matter. Facebook can hardly mimic that level of complexity. The end result is that many are now scrubbing their lists (much to the chagrin of those dumped unceremoniously) and have become more selective in allowing people in. That would surely lead to less traffic on the social network site. As for me, Facebook never was my cup of tea. Some old acquaintances are best left in the past, to be visited in memory or the pictures. For others, there's always email and telephone. facebook,social networking Labels: social, web <Facebook Backsliding> // posted by rh 0 comments

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