Microsoft Vista. Quel surprise

I've been aware of this for a while now hence my sudden interest in learning Linux, specifically Ubuntu Linux. It gains special significance when you know that Microsoft will withdraw support (security patches etc.) for XP 12 months after Service Pack 3 which is expected in about 6 months. So that means 18 months and then you have to migrate to Vista.

I don't think so!

moving swiftly on.......

Having posted a blog on MSN Spaces since it's inception I've decided this might be a better home for it. MSN doesn't like my browser of choice (Firefox) and has all those damn integrated features being added on that require IE's Active X controls, I don't know where it' going to end up but adding some sort of integration with their Xbox 360 doesn't bode well.

What should you expect to see here? Swearing mostly. Complaining. Tales of drunkenness and inappropriate behaviour (definitely not p.c.). So if that's your thing, welcome. If not, fuck off over to the next blog.

Thanks

testing , 1,2,3.

God only knows how I misspend my time but last night and today has been misspent getting round Firefox users not being able to make use of the Windows Media Player Powertoy in Spaces because Firefox doesn't use Active X which is a non-internet "enhancement" that Microsoft have built into IE (and of course Spaces relies on this).

So, and I can't take all the credit for this, I think I have found a way.

Full write up and instructions soon. Suffice to say - via my Firefox browser I can see/listen to the Media Player now with a slight tweak.

I've left a little ditty for IE users in the meantime. Enjoy.

(The host's server might be a wee bit on the blink- let me know if you hear anything)

just ask

Well, I'm back home from the jolly. I see Spaces have added a lot of new features although the comment with profile information turned on doesn't seem to work, one of a few bugs I've noticed so far. As regards my trip would it be more interesting if, rather than tell you what happened, you just asked? No reasonable question will be turned away.

Who's first?

men playing with odd shaped balls

Let's see what Google makes of that !

Going to Edinburgh for the rugby match on Saturday (taking a client) for a bit of corporate hospitality . Coming down with a cold though and Edinburgh is expecting a blizzard over the weekend . Might have to stay in bars a lot and drink hot whiskies . A colleague who works locally will be my guide for the apres match city tour taking in all the choicest establishments . I expect to be in jail by Sunday, broke, not feeling well and with a few disjointed flashbacks for company in lieu of memory .

and p.s. - what the fuck's wrong with Spaces today ? Where's my profile gone ?
## update - apparently my profile had an adult rating and was censored as MSN is about to add features to Spaces for Xbox 360 console owners , that'll add some quality blogs then . ##

349 , 350 , 351 ....

I've been sporadically writing this for nearly a year now (I later deleted the first couple of entries) . A whole year bar a few days . A year ago I couldn't do a hyperlink and a whole lot more . This Space has both taught me a lot and allowed me to learn a lot . A lot about the internet, computers, people and of course me . The last two are the most important . I've been exposed to new virtual friends and aquaintances, new opinions and perspectives . If I learn as much next year as I have in the last I will be a very, very wise man or at least less of a fool .

Thanks to anyone who took the time to read entries and/or leave a comment .

leopards

Fuck . I cannot be bothered with this ! Another entry laboriously typed up and linked , hit publish and the great MSN hoover sucks it into oblivion never to be seen again .

I resign .



##update##

CUNTS

using Firefox browser on msn spaces

If you've arrived at this entry via an internet search involving Spaces and Firefox you'll find a series of entries about Firefox and MSN Spaces in a list accessed from the home page of my blog.


to those of you who have recently become aware of me , thanks for visiting . due to time commitments with starting a new job my blog entries have been a bit poor of late . if you want a better read go back to my archived stuff for December and January .for now i'm going to cut the sarcasm and stupidity to do something I've been meaning to do for a while ...... which is cover the topic of the advantages of using Firefox browser instead on Internet Explorer for your msn spaces browsing .if you already use Firefox you are probably aware of a lot of what i will say , however , there might be an odd nugget in there even for you .

i'm not anti Microsoft , i just think there are some advantages a modern browser like Firefox has over I.E. .

1. it's a multi-tab browser rather than a single / multi window browser . just click the tab to see the other pages you've opened . no minimizing / maximizing windows like in I.E. .
2. it's faster loading for most pages .
3. it's configurable , meaning you can customize it to suit how you work .
4. as it's open source it's continually being further developed and enhanced
6. it's a lot more secure than I.E.

it's not the only browser i use . i do still use I.E. sometimes ( spaces has been designed to dove-tail perfectly with I.E. ) and i also use Avant browser which is like a multi tabbed version of I.E. . each has it's own advantages and disadvantages . i know Firefox doesn't work perfectly with msn spaces so I've found workarounds where possible . i'm going to cover the advantages / workarounds in turn below .

advantages

multi tabbed - you can open multiple pages at a time , each in it's own tab . this makes cutting and pasting address urls easy , for example if you want to leave a comment . it's quicker to copy and paste than type it in .
also - you can click on a comment with the middle mouse button ( provided your mouse has been set up to do that ) and open someone's page url from a comment they left . this will open in a new tab ( or the same tab if you prefer ) .

spell checker - this is a problem with spaces , no spell checker , and if you type like i do you probably need it . with Firefox you can customize the browser by adding a spell checker to it called " spellbound " . simply highlight the text and click on the spell check tool bar button and away it goes . saves so much time on long entries .

bookmarks ( favourites in I.E. ) - in Firefox i save all the blogs i like to 1 folder ( which i've called blog spam - don't be taking offence anyone ! ) . as the browser is multi tabbed i can open all these pages with one click " open all tabs " for that folder . i also have a folder for blog tools which amongst other things contains the Google translation page and several url submission pages to submit my blog to various search engines . again these can all be opened up with 1 click , i then copy and paste my blog url into each of them .

workarounds

Firefox will only let the entry be typed in 1 colour - black , 1 font and size . I've tried using a special add-on for Firefox called " cuneAform" which i thought would get round this , simply draft my blog entry in cuneAform and cut and paste it into Firefox .


when making a new blog entry in Firefox directly ( i.e. not using cuneAform ) spaces between paragraphs and sentences written on different lines aren't respected when the blog entry is submitted and published . again the workaround comes from an add-on for Firefox called "FEdit" . it simply gets added to your tool bar and when you've finished typing your blog entry click on the FEdit button . line breaks will be added to the page , click publish and voilà .

#### UPDATE - 27 June 2005 - MSN Spaces adds an html editor that works with Firefox so no need to use cuneAform or FEdit any more . #####

some page layout formats available in msn spaces look different in Firefox and Internet Explorer . this is just a trial and error thing . i now use a layout that suits me AND looks ok in both .

adding photos or customizing layout by moving elements . both of these work differently in Firefox , but there are no problems , it's simply a different way each has of doing the same task .

summary

i could go on , but that 's plenty for now and covers most of what anyone would need . if you intend to try Firefox and need help with anything just leave a comment . if you know something i don't do the same , all comments and tips welcome . I've tried to include links throughout the entry of anything I've mentioned and screen shots which should help explain .

if you want to re-direct to this entry simply hyperlink to this url ......

http://spaces.msn.com/members/tinyworldreview/Blog/cns!1pLVLzOn88oeNLedTZIby8-g!512.entry