Tech
indulgences into my geek side
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Our Generation is Taking Over
A few months ago, a colleague of mine mentioned that our generation is taking over. I thought it was a interesting comment, but didn’t think of it again until he mentioned months later on the popularity of Windows 7. “Windows 7 is our generation’s answer to Windows being lame until now.” I don’t think Windows was ever lame, but it is true that Windows 7’s user experience was really re-thought with our generation’s ideas about productivity in mind. Today I heard a comedian jest about why it took us this many decades to come up with the upside-down ketchup bottle…
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Windows 7 Flies Faster on Same Hardware
Why do I love Windows 7? Today, because it lets me multitask like never before. Right now, I have no less than 16 applications running. One of those is a virtual PC of Windows 2000 that I use to connect to my workplace (they use a legacy VPN system). So really, I’m running two full operating systems and dozens of applications… But you’d never know because the computer is as zippy as ever. I can minimize, switch, resize, move, compute, and fully use each application without any delay, lag, or even visual glitching that was so common in Windows XP.…
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Chrome Blocks Ads the Right Way (For Them and Us)
Google Chrome’s popup blocker actually allows all popups to load, it just hides them from view. The popup doesn’t even know, so to speak, that it has been blocked. Content is still downloaded and rendered, off screen. If you choose to allow that popup instance, the window is drawn and you see the content that has already rendered: no refreshing or reloading. I actually prefer this behavior of Chrome and Chromium. When Internet Explorer blocks a popup and you choose to allow it, the entire parent page refreshes – resubmitting forms and other annoyances along the way – and allows…