Why GMail-in-a-browser is better than MS Outlook-on-your-desktop

1. Search actually works quickly. Or should I say, it works at all.
2. Threaded conversations are way more intuitive than RE: and FW: style psuedo-conversations.
3. In spite of being in a browser, it actually has better keyboard-shortcut support than Outlook. Try moving emails into folders in outlook using only the keyboard. Now try applying labels in Gmail. Way easier.
4. In spite of being in a browser, its actually faster than the bloated desktop Outlook client as far as I've seen and used.
5. I don't want to install 200MB worth of bloat to just check my email!
6. I don't have to re-install the bloat if I use multiple operating systems.
Too tired to think now, but I have a feeling there are many more.

HorrendousPasswordCriteria

Saw this on a website :

Please make sure following criteria are met while entering password :
> New password and confirm password should match

> New password should contain atleast 1 uppercase , 1 lowercase,
1 numeric , 1 special character and minimum 8 characters

> Current password must be correct

What???
If only I could provide feedback, it would be thus -
1. I have enough passwords to remember, thank you. I don't want to create a new password so obscure that I will never be able to remember it.
2. Are you generally this insecure about life? Given that you don't really store creditcard numbers or any such confidential info, do you seriously think someone is trying to hack your passwords? GMail doesn't have that strict a criteria, and theres way more confidential information in there.
3. You have just dissuaded me from registering on your website. Ever.

Why should one archive old emails in Gmail?

One very good reason is that when you try to use an external client (like the one on my MacBook), it doesn't start downloading 10,000 items.

Not to mention the warm, fuzzy, i-have-nothing-left-to-do feeling of having an empty inbox.

Where are computers leading us?

I spend pretty much all of my 8-10 hours at work looking at a computer screen. I then come home and check my personal email, pay bills, check the news etc. All while staring at a computer screen. The internet allows you to do so many things from the comfort of your home, but the caveat is that it involves the discomfort of staring at a screen. An iPhone screen is still a screen. I go to bed feeling exhausted from all this staring.

I have a bad feeling about this. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but is this modern-day geekery keeping me from seeing the "real world"? Will I forget how it is to queue up to pay a bill? To take a walk and buy a newspaper? To even actually talk to people? True, there is nothing which actively stops me from doing all these things without using a computer. But I think the convenience of not having to step out of the house is just too much to forsake. And then we have to go to these gyms to get the only exercise we ever do.

Something is not right.

Respect the user's bandwith

The quintessential internet surfer does what he knows best - unearths an obscure webpage from the bowels of the internet. He is impressed by the content - its a subject he is deeply interested in. But then suddenly he is disturbed by the sound of music emanating from his measly laptop speakers. Yes, the page contained a youtube video which auto-started on page-load. The content of the video has nothing to do with the subject of the website. The surfer loses concentration, nervously glances at the video (which is embedded in a tiny 100x100 px frame btw). He has long lost the context of the real content of the website. He frowns in dismay when he realises that the video is almost 10 minutes long. He hits middle click on the tab in the browser. The music stops. He is no longer thinking about his subject of interest. He thinks, why. "Why should I be forced to download a video which has nothing to do with the real message of the website? Why is that video started automatically on page-load, thereby nullifying any chance of stopping it from being downloaded by the browser, apart from completely leaving the website itself? Why can website designers not be more bandwidth conscious?
He stops and starts writing this blog. Every new technology can be abused.

Will chrome change the www?

I am really excited waiting for the release of Chrome. Reading the book, it seems like its going to be significantly different from all current browsers.

Firefox - 3b5 has saved the day

I had all but given up hope from firefox. Newer versions were coming in thick and fast (which meant browser restarts) and each version felt slower than the previous one.

Enter Firefox 3 beta.

Its leaner, faster and yet packed with even more features.

The search-within-the-address-bar (as I call it) is simply superb. Its going to change the way I think while typing an address in the browser's address bar. To revisit a site, you just have to think of a word which appeared in either the hyperlink or the title of the page and firefox shows it neatly in a drop-down.

Try it today!

I cannot believe that Microsoft have linked to "Autumn colors screensaver collection" from their website and mentioned the words "Try it for free" as well.
I don't know why they would want to even have that on their website (Which apparently reads "tech"dot msn.com :) )

Does anyone want to pay for this useless piece of software that I wrote in 1997?

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Now playing: Iron Maiden - Invaders
via FoxyTunes