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Posts tagged ‘Web’

Feb 24

End of the line for Netscape

It is hard to say goodbye. I don’t remember the date, but I still remember the first time I saw or used a web browser exactly. I know it was NCSA Mosaic running on a UNIX box in a computer lab at BYU. Having been an avid Compuserve users (and trying AOL) I do remember thinking, this thing is going to change the world. I wish I had known how. For those of you as nostalgic for cyberculture, here is some more history about Mosaic (from Wikipedia).

Scholars consider Mosaic to be the web browser which led to the Internet boom of the 1990s. Robert Reid underscores this importance stating, “while still an undergraduate, Marc wrote the Mosaic software … that made the web popularly relevant and touched off the revolution” (p.xlii). Reid notes that Andreessen’s team hoped:

to rectify many of the shortcomings of the very primitive prototypes then floating around the Internet. Most significantly, their work transformed the appeal of the Web from niche uses in the technical area to mass-market appeal. In particular, these University of Illinois students made two key changes to the Web browser, which hyper-boosted its appeal: they added graphics to what was otherwise boring text-based software, and, most importantly [sic], they ported the software from so-called Unix computers that are popular only in technical and academic circles, to the Microsoft Windows operating system, which is used on more than 80 percent of the computers in the world, especially personal and commercial computers.(p.xxv).

There is more history of the Netscape browser and the company.

Also, evolt.org has a browser archive with almost every known version of every browser ever released. You must check it out. I think I am going to download Mosaic and try to run it on XP under Parallels on my MacBook Pro (is that legal?).

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Feb 5

100 Things to do with Google Maps Mashups

100 cool things you can do with Google Maps Mashups. My favorites:

  1. Find Fast Food in the US
  2. Find a WiFi Hotspot in the US
  3. Map US telephone area codes
  4. Google Map your blog or website visitors
  5. Check the time in a world location.

What are yours?

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Nov 11

Intel to Unveil Chips for Improving Video Quality on the Web

From the NYT:  Intel plans to announce a family of microprocessor chips on Monday that it says will speed the availability of high-definition video via the Internet.

As consumers clamor for more Internet video, a huge computing burden is placed on companies like Google, Microsoft and providers of digital video, who must compress the video files so they can be streamed to desktop and portable computers.

Intel’s new family, made up of 16 processors, would first be used in servers and high-end desktops that compress the video. They are the first chips based on a new manufacturing process that Intel says will give it a significant competitive advantage by increasing computing performance while reducing power consumption.

To get better video compression, Intel has added a set of 46 instructions it calls SSE4 to the new microprocessors.

The leading designer of the new processor, Steve Fischer, said the new instructions would make possible a new generation of servers that enhance the compression of digital video. “Video is becoming ubiquitous on the Web,” he said.

“This is a step in the right direction,” said Richard Doherty, president of Envisioneering, “and it’s probably the best use for this 45-nanometer technology over the next couple of years.”

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Oct 9

How To Find Your Rotten Neighbors

Rotten NeighborDoesn’t this just seems like a very bad idea in today’s litigious society? RottenNeighbors is a basic Google mashup allowing users to post comments about their “rotten” neighbors.  Check it out and see if you have made the list.

From the rottenneighbor.com website:

We are the first real estate search engine of its kind that helps you find bad neighbors before you move so you don’t regret the purchase of your new house, home, condo or apartment.

Our goal is to be an exceptionally smart assistant when you are looking to move into a new neighborhood. We hope that you will be able to find your dream home in your dream neighborhood by using our data and information provided by other users such as yourself. We then hope you will return the favor to other home buyers by adding to our database.

It doesn’t matter if you are moving down the street or all the way across the county, we are here to help you find and discover bad neighbors no matter where you are thinking about relocating. When you are going to make one of the biggest decisions in your life we are here to help you make a choice you won’t regret later when you might discover a bad neighbor living right next door. We show you detailed maps of states, counties, cities and neighborhoods all searchable by ZIP code.

We depend on users like you to submit bad neighbors to our maps. By doing so you will be adding to our real estate search engine and improving the home buying experience for thousands of people.

http://www.rottenneighbor.com/

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Jul 12

Excellent Web Instruction site

Thanks to my friend Kelly Smith for posting a link to this instructional website. As Kelly says, the web and especially the video enhanced web is the perfect medium for instruction of all types. I especially like this site because with my laptop, I can practice right outside in my wifi enabled yard.

VideoJug: How To Perform The Perfect Golf Swing

Please check the other great instructional videos at VideoJug. There is an amazing and eclectic mix of instruction videos.

Jan 6

Who will bring the Internet to your TV?

As the hype builds for CES, the New York Times divides the competitors for your living room into three categories. The Incumbents like HBO already have a stake in America’s TV market. Latching on to them are the Extenders, who provide the actual devices to link up with your PC. Finally, the Straight Shooters bridge the gap with software.

Get ready: we’re about to hear a confusing array of new plans to bring the boundless realm of the Internet to the 83-year-old TV. The companies involved are taking one of three markedly different approaches. So before we head into the geeks’ version of Super Bowl week, let’s do a quick and dirty review of the three kinds of contenders.

The Incumbents: cable and satellite firms try to get hip.
They are the favorites in this battle to bring Internet-style choice to the TV. Not because companies like Comcast are great innovators (they’re not), but because their boxes already sit in millions of homes. But they have an Achilles heel: their sacred relationships with programmers. If Comcast were to allow customers to download any movie from the Web, HBO and Showtime would be furious. Expect them to move slowly, which opens the door for…

The Extenders: sending video from the PC to the TV.
We can now download all this great video our PCs. But it really belongs on our TVs. What’s the answer? Send it from point A to point B. This is what Apple hopes to accomplish with its upcoming iTV, which Steve Jobs will unveil on Tuesday at Macworld. The biggest problem with this approach: it is indirect, and home networks are tough to set up. Apple might crack the code, but so far these products haven’t really flown.

The Straight Shooters: new Internet services for the living room.
These companies (like Akimbo and other startups) attack the problem more directly, giving couch potatoes a new set-top box, remote-control and connection from the Internet to the TV. Microsoft and Sony could also try this approach by retrofitting their gaming consoles, the PlayStation 3 and xBox 360, for Web downloads. The biggest challenge: getting average couch potatoes to bring a whole new piece of electricity-guzzling machinery into their living room.

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