New things come with the end of old ones, and an Internet era is coming to an end with the announcement that AOL will be ceasing support for the Netscape browser in February. This is particularly sad for someone who used Netscape pretty exclusively for about six years. I have never liked Internet Explorer, for many reasons that have changed in importance over the years (first it was just a crappy browser, then because of that common geeky dislike for Microsoft, then because of security concerns), and Netscape also had a web page builder and an e-mail client. What's not to like? It did get pretty clunky there at the end, but its importance for the development of the web as a medium is undeniable.
As it stands, Firefox is the current bearer of the mantle Netscape first bore. So let me take a moment to say that if you aren't using Firefox right now, you really should be. For all the reasons mentioned above, as well as many more than will become apparent after you take five minutes to learn about it.
I'm back from my trip to Georgia for the holidays. Here's the highlights, in my own indubitable bullet point fashion:
- The flight there was fine for me, but hellish for Samantha -- flight cancelled, rebooked on another airline, mad dash to another terminal, lost luggage, etc. Nasty. But we made it to Statesboro in one piece and generally on schedule. So no worries.
- The rental car. For some reason I got a free upgrade to a Chrysler Crossfire coupe. Whoa. The dude behind the counter just asked if I was okay with a manual and handed me the key. He didn't tell me it was a 6 speed manual. That was weird, but awesome. And there was very little room for luggage -- probably because it only seats two. Other than that, it was a lot of fun to drive. Wouldn't ever buy one, but I enjoyed having it for a week.
- A low key Christmas with the Humphreys. Got the 20th Anniversary edition of Transformers: The Movie and an awesome library t-shirt among other sundry comestibles and trinkets.
- Played volleyball on Christmas Day. Not something I could have done in Minnesota.
- Day trip to Savannah to see The Golden Compass and Harry O'Donoghue. Enjoyed the latter more than the former.
- Learned and played a Humphrey family card game called Zioncheck (though the rules we played by were a little different from those). Didn't do too horribly.
- Delightful lunch at a Mexican place in Macon with Uncle Will and Aunt Becky.
- An even lower key couple of days at Pete and DJ's home in the mountains. Watched a lot of college football and petted some very fat cats.
- Saw Sweeney Todd with Roy and friends. Good, not amazing.
- Hung out at Roy's house in Atlanta. An excellent dinner and wonderful company. Won a game of Apples to Apples.
- Last and not least: eight days with my wife. My favorite Christmas present.