Archive for the ‘google’ Category
Sunday, March 8th, 2009 |
I may well be one of the few people outside Microsoft HQ who does not understand why the creators of the Windows Operation System have to apologise for including Internet Explorer with the operating system.
It makes absolutely no sense to me.
Bill Gates and company came up with the brilliant OS that years and years later no one seemed to have bettered. For their innovation, they’re being unfairly (in my opinion) punished for it.
The European Union sent Microsoft a letter of objection saying they unfairly bundled IE with Windows and now Microsoft seemed to have somewhat relented.
They are putting a function in the control panel in the next version of Windows where users can turn off IE8 and other bundled programmes.
Windows is found on 95% of the world’s computers.
You would think if people didn’t like it, someone would go out and invent something similar or better at a similar cost, instead of moaning and setting up committees to review Microsoft’s practices.
Microsoft is not exactly holding a gun to anyone’s head forcing them to buy a PC with Windows on it. There are alternatives like the Apple’s Mac.
And anyone who’s been surfing the internet knows that Google has Chrome and Mozilla has FireFox.
Google the largest search engine on the planet, who has the nerve to protest Internet Explorer’s dominance, did HUGE publicity for Chrome on their home page. Obviously the results were not to their liking.
Oh well, next year when Windows 7 hits our local computer stores we will see how many people will turn off IE8 and download Chrome.
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Sunday, October 12th, 2008 |
The New York Times is reporting about possible Google for iPhone ads in the near future.
These ads would allow users to click on advertisements and have your iPhone dial the advertiser directly.
The NYT quotes Adweek:
“…unidentified ad agency executives who have been briefed on Google’s plans. Google itself hasn’t confirmed the report. This seems to match what we’re hearing about Google’s warming attitude towards the iPhone. For example, we’ve been told about a noticeable shift of tone in presentations given by Android’s Rich Miner, away from a generally competitive stance to one that’s closer to, “We’re all in this together.” (Not that Google was ever particularly hostile. The first iPhone app I downloaded was Google’s.) “
Google has not yet confirmed these rumors.
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Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 |
Google recently relaunched its
Blog Search, adapting the technology used for Google News.
Blogs are aggregated by topic with the latest and most relevant stories making the top of the lists. A very useful tool seeing that approximately 900 000 blog posts are loaded every 24 hours.
Until recently a search could be done for blogs on the
Google News site. The new site however has a navigation bar on the side with groupings with different categories of news. As with Google News, you can choose to list topics from the last hour, week, month or year.
Continuing with the birthday celebrations, Google has gone old school by bringing back its
2001 search engine back for a month, with most of the search results still intact.
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Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 |
I feel like one of the citizens of that fine fairytale land when the emperor was duped into believing he was wearing new clothes, when he wasn’t wearing any.
In the days after the release of Google’s Chrome there were various glowing reviews, that promised a browser revolution. Maybe I expected something shiny and new, but I don’t see it yet.
I do like the little snapshots of websites I visit often and the tabs are always welcome, but not unique.
At the moment I am bidding on some auctions and have to do so from Internet Explorer, because I cannot navigate back to the page just before I bid with the 1 click that I require. It’s a huge annoyance in Chrome.
My expectations of computer programmes are minimal. I don’t need or want it to think for me, unless I choose that option. IE is a static browser that leaves a lot of decisions for me.
I am writing this blog from Chrome, so it’s not a hopeless story.
Many of my little irritations can be fixed if the options menu was more adaptable.
I’m usually a huge fan of Google’s applications, but Chrome, not so much.
Posted in google | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 |
During this past winter our city has lived up to one of its names…the Cape of Storms. I can only imagine what Bartholomew Dias must have seen when he rounded the Cape many centuries ago and came upon one of our winters. I wonder if the thought of global warming crossed his mind in the 1400s.
While we wait for the Cape of Good Hope to make its appearance, there are lots to be thankful for (I watched Oprah last night!)
We have plenty of water to last us through summer without major water restrictions, so hopefully restaurants on the Waterfront will stop charging for tap water.
The maintenance people at our complex can water the lawn at 7.00 am in front of my home all summer long, without regard that I have to walk across that lawn wearing sandals in the morning. (Is it just me, or what is wrong with Capetonians and green grass in summer– hello, this is still Africa!)
Then of course there is the good news that Google has registered a patent for using a wave powered data centre for storing data in the middle of the ocean.
This is good news for the people of this city’s entrepreneurial spirit. Someone, somewhere is in all probability already calculating how to use those huge waves that battered our shores in the last few weeks.
Who knows we might even welcome the first day of winter and lament the start of summer.
Maybe we will even stop cursing weather reporters and shorts wearing KZN and Gauteng inhabitants.
Or maybe not!
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