Yesterday I did something I don’t normally recommend- I downloaded a piece of Beta software and installed it. If you have been following things on this site, you know that the number one rule is to abandon Microsoft Internet Explorer for Firefox (the reasons are too many to list). And when the new version of Firefox reached Release Candidate phase- it was too tempting to pass-up for one HUGE reason: it adds a spell checker to writing blog posts in WordPress, yes, you read that right: a spelling checker!
That alone is worth all the headaches that normally come with Beta software. However, I immediately found out that it also disabled almost all my plugins- including the Sage RSS reader. I was in instant info-withdrawl, and started searching for another solution.
Alas, I wasn’t finding any that would install with this release (no matter what the documentation said: wizz wouldn’t install). Then I found the magic bullet: Nightly Tester Tools extension for Firefox which will allow you to overide the compatibility check that prevents your standard extensions from loading. Once installed, it will give you the option to install software that Firefox says is incompatible. It fixed both Sage and Autofill, two of my favorite extensions for Firefox.
I haven’t had time to check all the features of Firefox 2, but the spell check function alone, makes it a must have for any blogger using WordPress.
Firefox 2 Release Candidate 1 (RC 1), the preview release of the next version of the Firefox browser, is now available for download. Web application developers, our testing community, and users who want to get a sneak peek at the next version of Firefox should download and install this release candidate. Please note that at this time, users should not expect all of their extensions, plugins and themes from previous versions of Firefox to work properly.The release notes have a detailed list of what’s new in Firefox 2 RC 1, including:
* A new theme that updates Firefox’s familiar interface
* Built in Phishing Protection
* Enhanced search engine management and search suggestions for Google, Yahoo! and Answers.com
* Improvements to tabbed browsing, including the ability to re-open recently closed tabs
* Firefox will resume from where you left off after a system crash or browser restart
* Better support for previewing and subscribing to Web feeds
* Inline spell checking in Web forms
* The ability to create bookmarks with “Live Titles†for Web sites that offer microsummaries
* New Add-ons manager that simplifies management of extensions and themes.
* Support for JavaScript 1.7
* Extended search plugin format
* Updates to the extension system to provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions
* Support for client-side session and persistent storage
* Support for SVG text using svg:textPath
* New Windows installer based on Nullsoft Scriptable Install SystemYou can download Firefox 2 Release Candidate 1 for Windows, Mac OSX and Linux in more than 40 languages. We encourage our users to give us feedback on this release, either using this online form or by filing a bug (please read the bug filing instructions first, and check out the list of known issues.)
Come one, come all- and learn how to make Google your best friend- without having to pay for placement.
All the tips, tricks and skills to build a site that you can manage- and gets results.
See the Schedule, Seminar and Sign-up links above to get registered.
These will be held at The Next Wave, 100 Bonner Street, Dayton OH 45410 unless we notify you differently.
Full day seminar, Tuesday May 8, from 8:30am to noon, then 1:30 to 5pm
Intro course in the morning- $49
Advanced in the afternoon – $49
or the whole day- $79.
This course is scheduled for The Next Wave offices.
Journalists used to be held in high regard for reporting “just the facts”- with a strict wall between the news and business operations- then that started to crumble- and next, even the facts started getting mixed with opinions.
If anyone has ever been quoted by a reporter- you instantly realize that context is the key to sounding smart- or stupid.
So- the ability to publish by anyone, thanks to easy Open Source Content management systems (blogs) like WordPress – now allow the interviewee to publish their side- even before the reporter does. Many interviewee’s even demand all interviews be done by e-mail, to provide a written record- so there can be no misquotes.
This article about the shift- and the excerpt are an interesting look into the future of journalism- all forms. The last line of the excerpt- is what is most key to any website: “It is being the smartest, or most useful, or most reliable” which will help your business put the win in your www effort.
mediabistro.com: Articles: Scooped by a Source
The ability to procure interviews, conduct them professionally, and extract insights from the resulting conversations is commonly perceived as a big part of the value we add as journalists to any news story that involves more than rewriting a press release or regurgitating the minutes from a city council meeting. One school of thought argues that exclusivity never added very much value anyway, or at least it pales in comparison to the value to be gained from reader participation and transparency.
“I think you’re assuming that there is any value left in the scoop,” wrote Jeff Jarvis, blogger and citizen journalism advocate, in an email. “There isn’t. You can’t control the biorhythms of news anymore. The world doesn’t much care who reported what first. Bylines matter to writers, not readers.”
They matter to editors, too. And so do exclusive quotes. While I agreed with Jeff that the scoop-for-scoop’s sake means increasingly little (except in matters of national security and other instances of life-or-death), his stance won’t convince editors that the journalists who borrow the words of a Mark Cuban, or Jason Calacanis (or Jarvis, for that matter) from the logorrhea of their blogs is anything other than lazy. “Ah, but that is what has to change: the editors’ heads,” the journalism school professor replied. “They have to discover what their real value is, and it is not being first with quoted blather. It is being the smartest, or most useful, or most reliable.”