Undercover browser

Recently, I told a group to not use Internet Explorer until the update came out to make it more secure. Unfortunately, many sites, especially government ones only allow using Internet Explorer. Why this is, I have no idea. However, an add on to your browser may solve this issue. Add an agent switcher to fool the website you are on to think it's IE or something else, like an iPhone. These switcher agents are great  for testing or getting through something oddly blocked websites. Here is a link for the Chrome add on and Firefox extension

“You affect the world by what you browse.” Tim Berners-Lee

For many years I have led students away from Internet Explorer to another browser. I tell them there are better, faster, and more secure choices out there. The problem is that they leave the classes and are confused what to download and how to do it. Here is a site that makes it easy to find where to download the browsers. Their main goal seems to be to get people from Internet Explorer 6, a rather insecure, in my opinion, poor browser. All this page does is link where to download the browsers but not which one to choose. Here is a page that rates them and gives you a bit of direction on what to download. Give a new browser a try.

"You always pass failure on the way to success." Mickey Rooney

Two days ago I ran into a former student who was talking with her friend. She introduced me and told her friend that I teach computers. He responded “ugh I know nothing about computers.” He also went onto say that he was terrified of not only not knowing how to use it but looking dumb while trying to figure it out. I hear these statements almost every day. Unfortunately everyone believes they are the illiterate or dinosaur computer user. It is natural for people to feel this way but one must go past it. I truly believe anyone can convey information about technology. My main job is not just to teach but to reassure, encourage, and entertain while showing the information to my students. I am writing this for the friend on the street and for others in tech ed limbo. We all need to be taught in one area or another.

• To those who feel they don’t know anything about computers take a chance and take a class. If the teacher doesn’t jive with you then try another. Keep trying till it clicks.
• To the friends and family members of others who don’t know computers please have patience and understanding that you as well do not know it all. Also be considerate and do not assume they know something you know.

Below is a video showing people being questioned about browsers. A browser is an application you use to view the Internet. Think of a browser as the car that drives on the Internet highway. I put this video here to make the point that we all seem to be a bit confused but life still continues to work. As you laugh with these people consider your own knowledge. Failing and feeling a bit dumb is part of the learning process. You must fail to properly learn. Without mistakes life wouldn't be as pleasurable.


I guess I should also mention the video is about the Google browser called Chrome. I have been wanting to test it and review it but it doesn't work on Mac nor in our system. After the video you may want to head over to Google and give it a whirl.

“You have to block everything out and be extremely focused and be relaxed and mellow too.” Jennifer Capriati

As I explore the net I am inundated with advertising and it is driving me insane. Now I understand that sites need to make a living and I really don’t mind text ads but the ones with animation and flashing nonsense are just too much. So I use Flashblock which is an add-on to the browser Firefox. This is one of those great extras that make the web so much more enjoyable. Once installed, anytime it sees flash, it will block it and put a big f in the center of where the animation should be. However if you realize you would like to see it, like in the case of YouTube, give it a click and it will start up instantly. Two reasons I love this. The less to load per page the faster everything moves. The second is that I am no longer bothered by flashing dancing ads. I have only run into one issue that is CNN’s video page would not load because it knew I had a flash blocker installed. To get around this I just opened up another browser. So if you are annoyed by just a bit too much stuff give this one a try.

My Dad used to say 'always fight fire with fire', which is probably why he got thrown out of the the fire brigade. Harry Hill

I have been toting Firefox as the one of the best browsers for a long time. It truly has been good and inventive however it did have some problems like the fact over time it seems to slow down until you restart the application. As of yesterday Firefox 3 is out and ready to be used. I installed it on my home machine with no problems and I am loving every part of it. According to the press release it is 2-3 times faster and it seems to be. The same pages that were dragging to bring up pictures in 2 are zipping onto the page. Also other features like the Awesome Bar that is the address bar but with the ability to keyword search through your history of use is great. Some features will not be as noticeably cool but they are extremely handy like the new security measure for antiphishing. Firefox is trying to set a world record of downloads starting yesterday for a 24 hour period. I really recommend that you jump on board and take a look at the new and very highly improved Firefox. Check out the video introduction that shows you all the new features. Give this one a try

“The dead being the majority, it is natural that we should have more friends among them than among the living.”

As of next month we bury an old friend. When I got my own personal computer there were only a couple of browsers on the market after Mosaic became insufficient. Netscape Navigator was one of the coolest and best browsers at that point and continued to be a success for many years. I stopped using it at the 4.7 version. It was fast and with the introduction of Netscape Communicator easy to get things done like email and an address book. This was a big deal then! Unfortunately they decided to keep adding to it and it became bulky and unusable. Many people turned to other faster slimmer browsers that offered a lot more. America Online bought it several years back and as of February will no longer be supporting it. In the computer world no support is a death sentence. So today we sing your praises for your historical value and wish you well in software heaven. To read a well written history of an old friend check out this BBC article.