Newsletter Archive

The Internet 800 Directory - http://www.inter800.com
The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter
This issue is for Friday, August 15, 2003
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents
01. Firebird
02. Pythagoras' Theorem
03. Tip Of The Week
---------------------------------------------------------------------

*01 Firebird

Two issues back I wrote about the death of Netscape and the triumph of
Microsoft Explorer in the browser wars. After four weeks of using
Mozilla Firebird, my point of view has changed. Because of my job and
love of the Internet, in the last few years I have spent more time using
Explorer than any other activity in my life (this includes sleeping).
Now, this open-source web browser has become my “default browser”, not
something I believed could happen.

The first thing that caught my attention was Tab browsing; it allows you
to open new tabs in the same browser, instead of opening new browsers.
By hitting the CTRL button while clicking on a link or by using the
wheel on a scroll mouse you open a new tab. Accordingly, if you are
reading a web page and see a link of interest, you can open a new tab
and read it when you are ready. You could do the same thing in Explorer
by right clicking and opening the link in a new window. However when you
do this, the new window takes over and you have to return to the page
you were reading. It’s a very different experience and the tabs are much
better.  Football season is around the corner and I play fantasy
football. On Sunday I like to follow the box scores of all the games
while they are in progress, with tabs navigate between the games will be
a breeze.

Another advantage of tabs is its integration into the bookmarks. If you
place a group of bookmarks into the same folder, you can open them all
as tabs with one click.  Working with this feature has caused me to
reorganize my bookmarks. As an example, instead of using large groupings
under subjects like news, I have created sub-folders like local,
national or foreign (by country). Now with one click I can open these
groups and move from site to site.

An additional feature that you will find useful, is that if you hit a
page and the text is too small to read you hit Ctrl and '+' to increase
font size. Hitting Ctrl and '-’ decreases the font size. Easy-to-manage
pop-up blocking, block or unblock pop-ups with one click. Last, but not
least, a search box lets you add your favorite search engines (130
currently available).

Because they are working on improving the software, it changes often and
there can be bugs. The documentation can be hard to understand and you
must use forums for problems. But I think it’s worth it.  You will find
the browser at:
http://mozilla.org/products/firebird/

Try it, you’ll like it.

Chuck Arning -chuck@inter800.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
We're Talkin' Serious" Bone Suckin' Sauce !
Winner: "Battle Of The Sauces."
Created in true western North Carolina style.
Tomato based all-natural, sweetened with honey and molasses

Half Gallon Size for 18.99+s/h.
Toll-Free 1-800-446-0947
or online http://www.BoneSuckin.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*02  Pythagoras' Theorem

Want to never be invited to another dull cocktail party?

This is as true as I can make it.

I was asked what I did for a living at a party last week, since I have
no visible means of self-support, as my wife is the head of the
household, such as it is. Off the cuff, I answered that I was currently
attempting to disprove Pythagoras' Theorem.

Right there and then, a well-dressed would-be socialite threw back her
blond curls so that they could dangle over her low-slung red party
dress, laughed in one of those high-and-mighty hah-hahs and then turned
back to me, staring coolly and directly into my eyes, with her champagne
glass held demurely in her left hand (which I bet isn't her right one)
and said, "Why, darlin', don't you know that that's already been proven
for about a thousand years?' Betty Davis could not have delivered this
line better.

I simply twirled my own glass, elegantly, I might add, and with my left
hand stuck in my tuxedo pants, dipped my shoulders knowingly, and said,
"Then, why is it called a theorem, my dear?"

"In fact, " I continued, "Pythagoras, who lived in about 560 B.C.,
actually proposed that 'that the sum of (areas of) the two small squares
equals (the area of) the large one.' This was challenged by a guy named
Euclid, who, after not being able to figure it out, claimed it as his
own. In fact, he even defined his own definition of a distance between 2
points, as being flat. Therefore he only dealt in a flat, 2-demensional
plane, when everyone here knows that space is curved, as proposed by
Einstein, and that a triangle in space could actually be a circle, or
more probably, an ellipsoid. "

After a small, and I must say, seemingly stunned period of silence,
during which several people excused themselves to go to the bathroom,
one person whom appeared to be fairly erudite, said, "But, didn't we all
have to prove Pythagoras' Theorem in high school?"

"Aha!", I screamed out loud. "How and when did you prove it, since it's
still just considered a theorem?" (exclamation point, exclamation point)

It seemed that everyone needed to go to the bathroom at the same time,
except one lovely blonde in a black dress who said, "That's so deep.
What else did you discover?"

"Well', I answered, "I believe they misspelled 'hypotenuse' when they
discovered it ".

What's this have to do with the price of tea in China, you may well ask.

I'll tell you. Don't believe everything that you ever hear and take
nothing for granted. Challenge everything.

Steven Jackson - sjackson@inter800.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Once every second someone searches the Internet 800 Directory looking
for someone to supply them with goods or services.

Will they find you or your competition?

Call 800-299-1879!
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Tip of the Week

After fixing a problem on my dad’s computers last week we were adding
people back into his address book. When I found out he wasn’t aware of
this short cut, I decided to include it this week.

Easy way to update your address book

You can easily add email addresses to your address book by RIGHT
CLICKING and selecting "Add to Address Book" while in the mail reader
(message body window).

If you have any tips or shortcuts that you think the readers of this
Newsletter will find useful, send them to sjackson@inter800.com

All Contents Copyright ©1995-2003 The Internet 800 Directory