posted 2007/02/16 at 15:03
Several weeks ago I finally got sick and tired of the repeated prompts I got on my computer urging to me upgrade to Internet Explorer 7, so I finally did so. Although I've grown to appreciate some of the changes (at first I never thought I'd make much use out of tabbed browsing, but now I use it nearly all the time, e.g. right now I have another tab open to check out the links I'll be inserting later), I'm still not all that happy with the new interface. One of the things I always liked about the past few versions of IE was that I could take the text labels off of the main button bar and then move that bar right up to the right of the menu bar, which in turn freed up more space for displaying Websites. (Example) Now IE forces the buttons into certain locations (and I don't like how they moved some buttons and the URL display above the main menu bar), and not only does this take up valuable real estate at the top of the browser window, but it's also been a pain to get used to.
I think what bothered me most about the upgrade, though, is that it's significantly slowed down my computer. I'll admit that I built Yggdrasil Mark I years ago, and on the cheap at that, but still, I am hardly what could be called a heavy computer user. Most of the time I just have Outlook, IE, and Word open (sometimes Musicmatch Jukebox, sometimes other programmes if I'm doing Web stuff), and that should not be enough to make my computer stall as much as it has since I upgraded to IE7.
Things got even worse yesterday when I had to upgrade to Norton Internet Security Suite 2007 on my computer, which has not only made my computer even slower, but has also added a gaudy green bar at the top of my browser window that is making it harder to me to make judgments about the redesign of the .org. (I'm still tweaking the background graphics a bit, and the green bar is influencing my ability to make colour-based judgments.) I also seem to have lost the ability to maintain a steady connection with somafm.com's streaming radio channels since upgrading Norton, which is a huge pain for me because soma fm's channels (particularly Drone Zone) are perfect background music for me when I'm working on writing-related activities.
I realize that Yggdrasil Mark I is starting to show her age and probably needs to be replaced soon -- if nothing else building her was a lot of fun and a great learning experience for me -- but I'm still not happy with the fact that today's software is pushing her past her limits. I mean, my father still manages to find uses for his first PC, a Leading Edge AT, for crying out loud. As usual, though, I'm not sure whether I should be upset at software manufacturers for forcing all of us to constantly be upgrading our hardware for what are usually specious reasons, or upset at myself for sounding so crotchety and feeling like I'm stuck in the past while the rest of the world just whizzes on by me.
I have to say that I am disappointed. I expected an obligatory Tim Hardaway comment from you by now...
Joe: As much as I hate to say it, a (male) professional athlete making openly homophobic comments still hardly qualifies as a newsworthy event. If the NBA hadn't disinvited Hardaway from the All-Star Game festivities, I doubt anyone (save the GLBT Websites and publications that track this stuff) would have paid it much notice.
copyright © 2008 Sean Shannon