GeekwithEnvy

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A Moment For Nostalgia, Netscape Navigator

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Ah yes, I remember it all so well, there was a time where Netscape Navigator dominated the web as the world’s number one web browser. During the 1990’s it seemed that no one could touch Netscape.Netscape Logo

Why was this web browser so popular and what happened to it? The internet has been around for decades and it can be traced back as far as the 1960’s, but it wasn’t until the 1990’s that the internet started to gain momentum in the family home.

There were a few good options for browsing the web but Netscape was by far the most popular. Netscape became popular due to it’s innovative features, many of which we still use today, like the cookie, and JavaScript. Another big feature of Netscape was having the ability to display page content before the entire page has loaded. This feature dramatically improved the user’s experience of using the internet.

Netscape Navigator
Netscape Navigator (source: Wikipedia)

Netscape continued to stay in firm control of browser usage over the next few years as they continued to improve their browser, but a shadow hung over the company. As sales of Microsoft Windows continued to rise so did the usage of Internet Explorer (IE) and Netscape wasn’t happy about it. They weren’t unhappy because of competition but because of the way Microsoft was getting users to make the switch. Internet Explorer was included with every copy of Windows and most users didn’t feel the need to use any other browser because they really didn’t ever have to make a choice, one was just provided. This obviously makes for a pretty unfair fight and it’s partially the reason why Netscape Navigator began to loose traction with consumers. Microsoft continued to push Internet Explorer out in front of users through other methods including working IE into internet service provider bundles, which greatly reduced the visibility of Netscape and eventually led to it’s demise.

Fortunately for us the “browser wars” still go on as Internet Explorer goes head-to-head with other great browsers like Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari. This competition drives innovation forward and at the very least offers some choices. Netscape Navigator was a beast in it’s day and it’s original release demands our respect. Netscape may never regain it’s throne, as it is now no longer supported, but it will always be remembered as an important part of internet history.

 

Instagram Selling Your Photos

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Everyone seems to be just a little worried about the recent changes to Instagram’s terms of service. One of the concerned users of Instagram included National Geographic, who stated that they will be suspending new posts due to concern with the new terms of service and that they may close their account. So what the heck is all the fuss about?

Terms of service often include language that is difficult to interpret but it would seem that an update to Instagram’s new TOS included some language that involves using your username, location and photos for advertising purposes, and of course without having to tell you or pay you. Here’s the controversial section of the TOS.Instagram logo

“Some or all of the Service may be supported by advertising revenue. To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you. If you are under the age of eighteen (18), or under any other applicable age of majority, you represent that at least one of your parents or legal guardians has also agreed to this provision (and the use of your name, likeness, username, and/or photos (along with any associated metadata)) on your behalf.”

So, is this actually going to happen? Well, not really. Due to the big reaction to the upcoming changes, Kevin Systrom (co-founder of Instagram) has tried to calm everyone down by telling us that they’re not trying to sell our photos for profit. It would seem that Instagram will still be using our content along side advertisements, which really isn’t all that bad. A free service needs to make money somehow and by selling ads they can use our data to help them figure out what we like and what you and our friends would most likely be interested in. If this all sounds familiar it’s because Facebook does the exact same thing. Also, remember that Facebook and Instagram are family now.

Are you concerned about these changes? You can read the official post about Instagram’s TOS changes on their website.

 

StarCraft II Heart of The Swarm Will Help You Play Better

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StarCraftII Artwork

There’s a lot going on behind the doors at Blizzard Entertainment and StarCraft II Heart of the Swarm is the main focus as the company gets closer to the game’s launch date of 3/12/2013. During a conversation with PCgamesN, Mike Morhaime mentioned that they are working on a “training area” that will allow players to get better by playing out scenarios against the computer that will teach you how to create and use a few basic builds. The computer will also offer up tips that will help you improve your gameplay. The difficulty will slowly increase as you progress in this new “training mode”.

There are some concerns from the gaming community surrounding the lack of  in-game support for learning how to play in multiplayer matches. Often, players new to playing against real “human” opponents will struggle early on and this has caused many players to become discouraged and to give up playing online altogether. This is obviously not something Blizzard wants happening. Although there has been some improvement with the addition of unranked gameplay, it looks like we will see even further support for the community by introducing this new training mode.

If you fall into this category of new players and you really love the game, don’t give up! There are already a ton of resources out there to help you become a better StarCraft player. One great place to start is by heading to Day[9]TV, a website created by Sean Plott, a professional StarCraft player. He offers up a TON of advice and honestly I can’t think of a better place to get started.

I am always looking for ways to become a better StarCraft player and even if you have a bit of experience already, it would still be nice to run through some type of “training mode”, you never know what you might learn.

Yahoo Mail Gets A Makeover

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Yahoo Logo

Yahoo mail has just been redesigned and it’s looking really good. The new look isn’t just on the web either it’s also translating to your mobile devices as well. Yahoo mail has been a bit behind other mail services like Gmail for a while now and it’s refreshing to see Yahoo reinvest some time into making it’s mail application a little more appealing.

The first thing you will undoubtedly notice is that there is a lot less clutter. One big feature of a good UI design is when it lets the content shine and basically stays out of the way. The new Yahoo mail does exactly that. Right away I can see only two tabs, inbox and contacts. The tabs are a nice size and located in an convenient  area of the screen. Folders and applications are tucked away nicely and collapsable, settings are easy to find and navigate through. Yahoo now looks very good on mobile devices as well and no matter which device you’re using, the experience should be the same. All Yahoo mail apps have been updated to feature this new look, including the Windows 8 app.

NewYahooMail

The new design is a success and I’m glad to see that many companies are taking this newer, cleaner approach to apps that we use everyday to get things done, like mail apps and audio libraries like iTunes, which also just recently got a new look. Microsoft attempted a similar move earlier this year by transitioning Hotmail into Outlook. The new Outlook was also re-designed, not just to fit in with Windows 8 but to also to make it a better fit on mobile devices as well.

 

Google Goes Down For A While

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Some people went into a state of shock today as many of Google’s services including Gmail, Drive and just about everything else went down. All of this happened early in the afternoon today and as of 9 PM PST there doesn’t appear to be any official word on exactly what happened earlier today. Google did however post information stating the they were aware of the issue and working quickly to get it resolved.

Gmail Logo
Gmail Logo (Source:Google)

Google has gone down in the past but this was a pretty good punch. Social media sites like Twitter were blowing up with tweets about the outage and it felt kind of like the internet had disappeared.

It’s a strange feeling when things “mess up” on the internet that aren’t supposed to. Not to long ago Godaddy.com went down and so did many of the websites that depend on Godaddy to operate. Server errors were handed out to millions upon millions of users and it seemed that for a short moment the world had suddenly come to an abrupt stop.

Our dependency on the internet is substantial and when it’s not functioning, neither are we. It’s kind of a scary thought and it’s a thought I have discussed before, we really need to continue to improve the reliability of the internet and continue to improve web-security. Even though Google was able to quickly resolve most issues, it still shows a giant vulnerability in our system.

When a team of divers enter underwater caves, often referred to as “blue holes”, they tie a rope to rocks as they go deeper into the cave. This rope leads back to the entrance of the underwater cave and acts as a life line for these underwater explorers. Our modern world relies so heavily on the internet and our safety line is getting thinner and thinner as many of us move away form doing things offline. Many companies, including banks and utilities have encouraged us to go to paperless statements only to find that when their site goes down, your essentially helpless. If the service goes down for hours or in some cases days, it can be difficult to get through busy phone lines to make sure issues get resolved.

Now imagine loosing it all and things begin to get very serious. I laugh as I begin to recall a particular South Park episode in which the internet goes down. Google seems to be back on it’s feet and as soon as we see an official explanation we will let you know.