Month: January 2012

Two settings in IE9 I always turn off

Show only one preview per window

I have been struggling to find my tabs every since IE8 decided that abusing the fancy new Win7 window preview feature was a good idea. I use the order of the previews to keep track of which window is which not which tab is which. If you ever find yourself with more than one window those previews do more to hinder your ability to find the tab you want then help. And if you only have one window they’re still too small to help you much anyway.

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Single words in the omnibar are still queries

If you type a single word into the omnibar in IE9 it will first look on your intranet for a machine of that name and attempt to connect to it instead of issuing a query to your default search provider like every other browser. This is an especially annoying feature because not only does it do something unexpected it’s typically a lot slower to find and connect to a local intranet machine than a search provider, so your query ends up spinning for a long time then taking you to some unexpected server. Not cool.

If it isn’t a URL then it’s a query!

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A message to my Senator, Al Franken

Al,

I voted for you in your last election and have been very happy with your service overall. You’re a great source of reason and intelligence in the Senate and I’m glad to have you here in Minnesota.

However, it’s come to my attention that you have chosen to support PIPA. I believe that this is a very unpopular position for you to take, and for good reason. I would strongly urge you to reconsider your position in this matter. Internet freedom and freedom of expression in general is an important issue to me; in fact I might say it is one of the most important issues to me. The reason it is so important is that I believe that all other evils stem from untruth and censorship. Freedom of expression is the most general way to combat evil and without it we are lost. This completely open, global, communication system we have created is truly the most incredible wonder human kind has ever created. And the potential for evil that PIPA is attempting to prevent is only matched by a potential for good which will be equivalently stifled. Please do not support anything that will diminish this amazing creation. The internet is still young, and full of zest. People do evil things, it’s true, but that fact is dramatically outweighed by the goodness we do as well.

What’s needed is not for the movie industry to get overly general legislation so they can continue to stagnate but for them to embrace this brave new world and finally innovate. They’re still stuck on over priced mega-plexes, DVD’s and obsolete Cable TV  while the rest of us are pining for verbose streaming options, ownership of the things we purchase and the removal of entrenched middle men. Please read this article for opinions I agree with:
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/114493-why-i-pirate

We cannot allow a single industry to hinder free expression of everyone simply because they have a powerful lobby in Washington. Combatting piracy with legislation is a losing battle, it’s bad for consumers and it’s bad for the art we all want to protect.

Take a stand. Force them to change, not the internet. A free and open internet will make this world a better place and that is the most important thing to remember. From there all other things will unfold.

Thank you, I know you’ll do the right thing.

Sincerely,

Justin Chase