I forgot to mention in my previous post that you shouldn’t be surprised if you see web pages displaying incorrectly in IE8. The reason is that Microsoft has decided to add a super standards mode to IE8. According to Mary Jo Foley in the ZDNet Forums blog,

That mode (super standards) was set to be one of three supported in the next version of Microsoft’s browser. (The other two are “quirks” mode, which will be compatible with current IE pages and applications and a “standards” mode, which will be the same as what’s offered by IE 7 and “compatible with current content.”) In super-standards mode, early internal builds of IE 8 passed the Acid2 standards tests, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft originally planned to make the super-standards mode an opt-in choice and the IE 7 “standards” mode the default — claiming that by doing so, Microsoft would ensure better backwards-compatibility with existing Web sites and applications. But that decision angered those who felt Microsoft was shirking its commitment to make IE more standards-compliant.

So what to do? Easy—run IE8 in Compatibility view. Do this by going to Tools > Compatibility View Settings. At the bottom of the window that appears, put a check next to Display all websites in Compatibility View. Click Close. Now all websites you go to will display properly.

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It’s almost been a month since I downloaded and installed Internet Explorer 8, RC (Release Candidate) 1. I’m aware that IE continues to get bashed by a lot of folks out there who lambast it for its speed, its security flaws, its crashes, etc etc. I’ve been using Internet Explorer since version 5, way back in the era of Windows 95 and 98 (anyone remember these operating systems?) Of course I’ve had my share of cockups with IE (all versions since 5). So why do I continue to use it? Because overall, to me at least—it’s not a bad browser. By the way, this post won’t be doing any “browser bashing”—period. I’ve had enough of that.

IE7 has served me quite well during my XP and Vista days. Naturally it crashes once in a blue moon (again bear in mind these are my own experiences) and I was quite miffed there wasn’t any way to recover my previous browser sessions (a la Firefox). Then along comes IE8 Beta 2. Touted to be faster than its predecessor, and with new features like web accelerators, web slices (pizza off the web?) etc. I couldn’t resist installing it. And I uninstalled it even before the day ended. Reason being most of my favorite plug-ins did not work with it. Oh well.

Then in late January 2009, the big M introduced IE8 RC1—oh, these terms are cool, no? You know me—I downloaded and installed this new build. And what do you know—all my plug-ins (like Roboform and Acrobat) worked like a charm. Not bad, not bad. Furthermore, page rendering is faster compared to IE7, and if you’re so unfortunate that a session crashes, all you have to do is close it and up pops a window (akin to Firefox) asking you whether you want to resume the previous session. And there’s this InPrivate Browsing feature. To quote Microsoft,

InPrivate Browsing helps prevent Internet Explorer from storing data about your browsing session. This includes cookies, temporary Internet files, history, and other data. Toolbars and extensions are disabled by default. See Help for more information.

I like this feature because it keeps my browsing private. And my CCleaner has less cleaning to do, lol. The only snag is that plug-ins are all disabled, so this feature is strictly for browsing only. Maybe they might add an option for turning on plug-ins in IE8’s final build? And talking about the final build, there are rumors that IE8’s RTM build will be released next month—this cannot be substantiated yet at the moment. Whatever it is, I do like using the RC1 version of IE8, and look forward to the final build with anticipation.

If you’re interested in giving IE8 RC1 a test drive, download it here.

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I just finished watching this movie and was pretty impressed with it. I’m not sure whether it will win the Best Picture award in this year’s Oscars, seeing that it is facing stiff competition from Slumdog Millionaire (I haven’t watched this one yet, so no comments about it now). But I will keep my fingers crossed.

Here’s the plot synopsis, taken from imdb.com:

"I was born under unusual circumstances." And so begins ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,’ adapted from the 1921s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918 to the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man’s life can be. Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas and Julia Ormond, Benjamin Button is a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.

Clocking in at 166 minutes, Benjamin Button is long and not an easy picture to watch in one sitting. The reason I like this picture is that it reminds me that we are not permanent visitors on this Earth, and furthermore, time is the one thing that we cannot stop and money can’t buy. So Benjamin Button is in a perplexing situation compared to the rest of us—he suffers the symptoms of old age right at his birth, and then regresses to a child (complete with tantrums and gradually losing the ability to walk) when he finally dies at the end. He certainly isn’t a perfect guy (or gentleman at that) but when he realizes what is happening to him, he resolves to make the best of his living years. And that’s what I believe we should do as we exist with the limited amount of time we have on Earth. Nothing’s perfect—life, the weather, the economy, our spouses, our children, etc. Just don’t sweat the small stuff, and make the most of it.

In case you think this story and movie is far-fetched, may I draw your attention to a genetic disease called Progeria. What is Progeria? Here’s the definition from The Progeria Research Foundation:

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome ("Progeria", or "HGPS") is a rare, fatal genetic condition characterized by an appearance of accelerated aging in children. Its name is derived from the Greek and means "prematurely old." While there are different forms of Progeria*, the classic type is Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, which was named after the doctors who first described it in England; in 1886 by Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson and in 1897 by Dr. Hastings Gilford.

HGPS is caused by a mutation in the gene called LMNA (pronounced, lamin – a). The LMNA gene produces the Lamin A protein, which is the structural scaffolding that holds the nucleus of a cell together. Researchers now believe that the defective Lamin A protein makes the nucleus unstable. That cellular instability appears to lead to the process of premature aging in Progeria.

Although they are born looking healthy, children with Progeria begin to display many characteristics of accelerated aging at around 18-24 months of age. Progeria signs include growth failure, loss of body fat and hair, aged-looking skin, stiffness of joints, hip dislocation, generalized atherosclerosis, cardiovascular (heart) disease and stroke. The children have a remarkably similar appearance, despite differing ethnic backgrounds. Children with Progeria die of atherosclerosis (heart disease) at an average age of thirteen years (with a range of about 8 – 21 years).

Unlike Benjamin Button, these kids born with Progeria don’t become younger unfortunately, and their lifespan is very brief.

Let’s be thankful for what God has given us. Live life to the fullest, and be happy…

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Today I received two similar emails purportedly from Microsoft informing me about “critical vulnerabilities” in my system and that I should click on the links provided for a fix. This is what I did—highlighted those two emails with my mouse and hit the Delete button promptly, sending them into digital oblivion.

Here’s one very important thing to remember: Microsoft never emails users about Windows updates. Updates and critical fixes are always accomplished through Windows Update found in Vista and XP (provided that the user has enabled Windows Update). Never ever click on links in emails telling you that updates are available, etc.

Bear this in mind and don’t fall for these phishers and scammers.

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My good friend Kelly sent this email to me and it was truly a thought-provoking story. So much so that I felt compelled to share it in a blog post. I hope you enjoy reading it.

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Just some info for those of you who have Linksys routers and have been using LELA 3.0 (Linksys Easy Link Advisor). LELA obviously has some bugs in it, let me explain. A few days ago, due to my tinkering around with some router settings, no doubt—I managed to send my Linksys WRT54G2 south again. Never mind, this time I’m prepared; I give it the Reset injection, redo some settings, and all is well—my Internet connection works again. Everything’s hunky-dory, huh.

Not quite. When I open up LELA from the taskbar, it reports that my computer is offline. What the heck, I can connect to the Internet! At first I thought about uninstalling and reinstalling LELA. Then I recall the first time I installed it—this behemoth takes something like 20 minutes to install and configure the network. Thanks, but no thanks. Next, I scour the Linksys forums, and lo and behold, I discover some interesting nuggets of information and a gem.

It seems like I’m not the only one having trouble with LELA. Upon further reading I find out that LELA is about to be discontinued, giving way to Network Magic. It’s available in two versions—Pro and Essentials. The latest version is 5.1, so I uninstall LELA and download this new program. It’s a 7-day trial but I can still use the basic features after the trial expires, since I’m using a Linksys router. The two features I lose will be the ability to share printers and folders (I don’t use this anyway) plus the ability to control and monitor my network (nah, no big deal). You can find the product comparisons and downloads here.

Here’s a screenshot of Network Magic on my system:

To quote from the Network Magic FAQ page:

Is Network Magic 5.1 replacing LELA 3.0?

Yes, Network Magic 5.1 is replacing the Linksys Easylink Advisor (LELA) 3.0. Features that were part of LELA, such as the Go Wireless connection manager and the LELA Network Map, are now included in Network Magic 5.1. When you install a Linksys router or other Linksys hardware, you’ll automatically get Network Magic 5.1 to try for 7 days. You can purchase Network Magic Essentials or Network Magic Pro to continue using it after the 7 day trial, or if you are a Linksys hardware user, you can use the basic Network Magic features indefinitely.

By the way, Network Magic runs very smoothly on my computer (Pentium 4 with 3GB of RAM) Furthermore the installation and configuration is quick and painless, unlike its predecessor. So if you’re still struggling with LELA, ditch it and go for Network Magic instead.

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Love it or hate it, it certainly looks like American Idol (henceforth known as AI) is here to stay. I didn’t really follow AI from Season 1, more like from Season 5, but there’s something about this show that keeps me hooked. Host Ryan Seacrest has always done a good job on the show, and for what it’s worth, I like all the judges—Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, and now for Season 8, Kara DioGuardi. Believe it or not, my favorite judge is Simon—yes, he can be downright rude and ruthless, but 99% of the time his comments are spot-on and let’s face it, this is a very tough show for all the contestants.

I’ve just finished watching the Top 36 here on local TV (fortunately we get the latest installments of AI on time) and this season for me at least, is where the boys for the most part outshine the girls. Some gems among the males: Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey (amazing), Matt Breitzke, Michael Sarver (great voice and yet so humble), but the one that really gets to me is 23-year old Scott MacIntyre, the vision-impaired lad from Scottsdale, Arizona. With his fantastic voice and his great piano playing chops, this guy is currently my top fave, with Danny Gokey a close second. The one thing I feel among these guys is humility and singing from the heart; that’s what matters most to me.

For the girls, I have only one favorite at this time—Jasmine Murray from Starkville, Mississippi. I can’t fathom the fact that she’s only 16 years old, with such a well-controlled voice and tone. Anyways, I wish the Top 36 best of luck, and I’ll be following closely on the tube.

Get the lowdown at the American Idol website. Everything you want (and don’t want) to know about AI is there.

All photos are from the American Idol website.

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