From the Editor
Editorial Bits

by Patrick Libert

Program Review

In the eighteen years that John Patrick has been prognosticating to DACS audiences on the Internet phenomenon, I have been a member for only five. But in a single presentation,  I feel like I’ve relived the whole revolution. He has that special knack to make technology a fresh and  interesting subject, regardless of the composition of the audience.

He has that special knack to make technology an interesting subject regardless of the composition of the audience. I embraced computer technology in the early nineties, not as a contributing “geek” but as an end user with a technological degree who loves everything scientific.

The development of the Internet has allowed me to delve ever deeper into the ocean of this technological explosion which we are witnessing in our lives daily. I will be the first to try a new software, a tantalizing piece of hardware almost as soon as it released.

John Patrick confirms that we are only at the threshold of what we will be able to accomplish in the future thanks to technology. What is the most important accomplishment of the Internet? In my opinion, increased communications between human beings anywhere. Increased communication>better understanding>less conflict!

Let’s all embrace it.  

New and Notable
Snowtape (http://snowtape.com/)
I have been experimenting with the free version of Snowtape. This software allows me to listen to a radio stream and record at my choosing any portion of the broadcast. It then transfers automatically to my iTunes music gallery for future listening. There are other similar applications but, so far, this is my favorite.

Browser Speed
Being primarily a Mac nut, my principal browser is Safari. I also use Firefox and Opera 10.10 regularly. Less frequently, I have used Flock and, very recently, Chrome now that I have an Intel mac.

I like Firefox but find it to be at times a little slow compared to Safari 4. There appears to be a lot more going on in the background with Firefox which may explain the speed differential.

Chrome is mean and lean. It is very fast on my Mac and as it adds more functions and extensions, I may use it more often, ever mindful that as a Google product, it probably is the equivalent of having a spy cam watching all my actions.

Opera continues to amaze me with its multiple capabilities allowing the browser to serve as your email program, your RSS reader and many other functions integrated in the browser. The latest release is version 10.10 but there is much more coming from the developers. I have been a beta tester for Opera since mid-2003 and I can tell you that this is an exciting venture. The speed of the latest version matches that of Chrome but in a much more complex offering. Stay tuned.

HELP!!!
You have seen the appeals for proofreading help in other parts of this newsletter.

We are not crying wolf! If you want to continue to see perfection in our publication, then we need you to help us.

Proofreading takes a little time but it is fun and a learning experience. Honest. I have learned more about computer science in the past few years from editing DACS.doc than I could have learned by reading magazines.

Give us a hand; just type dacseditor@dacs.org in your email destination and get in touch!

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