REPOST my host lost some yesterday’s data.

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, so I”m going to (try) to make it up. I found this piece of software which allows me to change things from black and white to colour in a few minutes.

For example, look at this flower

and after:

The software isn”t perfect - you need to know some of the colours already. It does save a lot of time though. Another downside is that it only exports into JPG and BMP (no PNG or GIF), but it”s free, so I”m not complaining.

You can download it here.

I was visiting Neil’s World today, and I came across a post about a post on a French website about why Internet Explorer is the best browser. In my view, most of these reasons are false, so I will list them and argue against them. Neil kindly converted this list for his blog, his post is here, a large series of comments have been made.

It’s not really 1000, but 14!

1. Internet Explorer is integrated with Windows XP so you can surf the Internet without having to decide which browser to use.

            Is this a good thing? No. At least with Firefox I can still browse the Internet if a component of Windows XP related to IE fails. Also, the ability to decide/choose is what freedom is all about.

2. Internet Explorer is accessible for everyone.

            Really? Even Linux or Mac users? I rest my case!

3. IE can display all web pages - not all of them work in Firefox.

          Remember me saying about Explorer Destroyer Method 3?

You’ve never considered blocking IE users from viewing your site, even though you hate IE with a passion that burns hotter than Hades. Now you have a practical excuse to do what you’ve always dreamed of. IE users will see a friendly message stating that they need to download and install Firefox to view your site. This script will do the most good and make you the most money. Can you handle it? (At least try it for a day to see how good it feels.)

Oh yes, and website’s using nglayout (there must be a few…).

            4. IE requires hardly any extensions, whereas Firefox has a plethora.

Okay, Firefox does not require these, but it makes browsing more fun. At least Mozilla Firefox doesn’t have those pesky BHOs (Browser help objects).

5. IE does not ship with tabs, but they can be added if you wish.

            Yep, they can be added - but by doing so you sell your sole soul to MSN by installing their toolbar. Oh yes, why not ship with tabs?

6. IE does not have an RSS reader, which is a fad. You can just visit the site every day if you need to.

            If it is just a fad it’s an useful one!

7. IE is less secure than Firefox, but patches are released regularly.

            Hmmmm…. let me get this right? Which browser supports ActiveX and other nastities which can easily get in your machine by pressing Yes? Which browser suffers most when malware finds it’s way into your machine?

8. IE is closely linked to Windows.

            Good points?

9. IE does not pass the Acid2 test like Safari does.

            Does this point make sense?
10. You need to use IE to access Windows Update - even though Microsoft released a Firefox plugin for Windows Genuine Advantage, they will never open Windows Update to Firefox.

            Aha! Very simple to run in Firefox… Windiz Update

11. IE doesn’t crash when visiting online banking sites, Firefox does.

            Not HSBCor various others.

12. IE7 will adopt the standards of 2006 and include innovations of Microsoft and others, such as RSS, SSL3 and better security.

            Will not does. Mozilla Firefox 2 will be great.

13. IE does not respect W3C standards in their entirity.

            Okay, good point? See the CSS IE renders, especially for blog sidebars.

14. IE is the ‘de-facto’ standard that developers work to.

            That it may be. But surely the large majority of these are developers working for companies who believe Lotus SmartSuite is the best office package out there and still use NetWare 4.

The original source for this was here, and Neil found it here.

Wee-Mees were the thing a few years back. A WeeMee is a display picture (buddy icon/display picture) supposed to look like a person. WeeMees are cool, unlike the nerds the Nerd Proliferator generates.

You can choose from various hair styles, various t-shirts (including anti-RIAA and anit-MPAA, as well as Firefox!), which smile (or sigh) you have, as well as eyes.

Some people think this thing is lame, though I personally think it’s pretty cool. It must have took some time making. I don’t know why people think it is lousy, though I do sort of as it serves adverts.

Anyway, you may want to try it. Check it out now!

Today, I’ve decided to publicise some of my favourite blogs. Naturally, the large majority can be found in the blogroll menu; though I though it would be nice writing a post about them.

This list is in an order, with the top blog the one I keep up with the most, and the bottom the one I keep up with the least out of the 5.

1. Neil’s World. This was the first blog I ever read, and still my most favourite. I found Neil’s World in a Google search for something or other, and have read it ever since.
2. Asa Dotzler - Firefox and more. This blog I also found quite early on. Due to my use of Firefox I found this blog quite early. It is most like I found it while reading another blog on a Firefox update - as they are often posted on Asa’s blog.
3. Sarah in Tampa. This blog has a few useful links, and a few useful news stories. Cool blog.
4. Solution Watch. Solution Watch is a site full of cool Web 2 links, each with a little review. I’ve discovered dozens of site’s there.
5. .: UNEASYsilence :.. How to describe this blog? Well, I guess one could say it’s about hacking - but hacking which isn’t malicious. Also, there’s some cool links. Think I found this on Digg.

Sorry if your blog didn’t make it. I might still read it though, my OPML (list of all feeds I’m subscribed to) is here.

Google is the best search engine on the web, but it can be hard to use it to find things such as MP3s. You can use Google to find MP3s, word definitions, even stock prices! Below, I will write about some of the most useful tricks and hacks to use on Google, with no other sites required!

The chart below is in reverse order.

5) Do a fuzzy search. I’ve just found this out today, thanks to Pete Freitag. If you do a search like ~music player it will search for music player, MP3 player, audio player and other words similar to music.

4) Use Google to get Stock Prices. Simply search for the ticker symbol and Google will bring up information on that investment. Example

3) Use Google as a Calculator. Ever wanted to do a simple sum? But couldn’t be bothered to search through your desks (or start menu) to find a calculator? I have. You can use Google to do simple sums such as 1+1 or more complex ones such as 3+456, 76784-483, 10/3, 10*385883 or 10^2. All you do is input the sum! Google can also convert measurements.

2) Use Google as a Dictionary! This is pretty simple, all you do is put define: before the word you want the definition of. This searches various online dictionaries. For example define:waggish brings up:

witty or joking; “Muskrat Castle as the house has been facetiously named by some waggish officer”- James Fenimore Cooper
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

1) Using Google to find MP3s. This is perhaps the most useful thing ever. Doing a search for intitle:index.of + mp3 + “green day” brings up MP3s with Green Day in the file name. There is an automated version of this, which I use; it is here.

I hope these have helped you.