December 3, 2004 – 12:20 pm
‘Blog’ was the most looked for word on Merriam-Webster’s website this year.
A four-letter term that came to symbolize the difference between old and new media during this year’s presidential campaign tops U.S. dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster’s list of the 10 words of the year.
Merriam-Webster said Tuesday that “blog,” defined as “a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks,” was one of the most looked-up words on its Internet sites this year.
This certainly signals the rise of blogs into more mainstream awareness. A few weeks ago, my mother-in-law, who isn’t particularly web or computer savvy, asked my wife what a blog was, after she had heard the term used on the radio. I thought at the time that this possibly indicated a shift in awareness on the part of the general non-techie population. An so it seems it is, as my mother-in-law isn’t the only person wondering what a blog is.
N.Z. Bear marks the occasion by using all ten words in a single sentence.
December 3, 2004 – 11:05 am
The other day I posted about Microsoft’s forthcoming blog service. Well, it’s here and it is called MSN Spaces. It is more than just a blog tool. I created my own space and played around with it a bit.
Overall, like any Microsoft effort, the first version isn’t anything to be terribly excited about, but I expect that it will improve over time given Microsoft’s track record. The rule of thumb is that it takes them three tries to get something right/done well/usable or as close to that as they can make it.
Redmond has also developed a web-based version of its IM client, Messenger. This has potential, because it allows the use of Messenger without having to download a client. Pretty cool. And it works in Firefox, as well.
(From Instapundit) More on MSN Spaces at Boing Boing and BuzzMachine.
December 1, 2004 – 1:13 pm
Looks like Microsoft is getting into the blog hosting business.
December 1, 2004 – 8:49 am
It seems Netscape is taking a page from Microsoft’s book: extend and embrace.
More about the new Netscape browser from CNET.
November 9, 2004 – 4:52 pm
Two big releases today. First, Mozilla has released Firefox 1.0. Unfortunately, Mozilla’s site has been swamped with traffic.
The Mozilla Foundation said it had been bracing for a wave of users and took additional precautions prior to the launch.
“One thing in the last several weeks we’ve done to prepare for the arrival of Firefox 1.0 is to beef up our server capacity,” Chris Hofmann, engineering director at the Mozilla Foundation, wrote in an e-mail. “The traffic we received for the preview release was greater than anything the foundation had experienced. We did some planning and estimation around this prior to the 1.0 launch, and today the traffic is far exceeding our expectations.”
The Firefox website seems to be accessible now, although it (and every other Mozilla site) was very slow for me, when I downloaded the new version earlier today.
The other big release today was Halo 2. Now, if only I had an Xbox.
UPDATE: In case you need motivation, here’s a good reason to switch to Firefox. And one more for good measure.
UPDATE II: More coverage of the Firefox release from the BBC.
October 31, 2004 – 10:33 pm
Here is a CNET News.com story about Google buying a company that produces web-based software that allows people to view satellite images. It will be interesting to see what becomes of this.
October 31, 2004 – 10:15 pm
Here is an update to the earlier items I posted about Spread Firefox’s Ad Campaign to promote the 1.0 release of Firefox. In ten days, the campaign far exceeded its goal, acquiring $250,000 and more than 10,000 names.
October 25, 2004 – 8:00 am
Last month, there was speculation around the web about Google web browser. This month, the speculation has turned to a Google branded instant messaging client. See InsideGoogle for more information.
On a related note, Google fixed a security issue related to Google Desktop Search. Athough, the hole might not be entirely patched.
