noinput.net | plug it in

Yea, I’m making one this weekend. (Represent for the Eagle Scouts!)

Taxpayers would get checks under economic stimulus plan

Things like this are just fantastic. Makes me happy to be middle class even. However it will probably go to the fact that I’ll need to scrap my HD DVD player and re-buy all my stuff in BluRay. *cries*

WASHINGTON (CNN) — U.S. taxpayers would get checks of several hundred dollars from the federal government under a plan to stimulate the economy, congressional and Bush administration officials said Thursday.

“Tens of millions Americans will have a check in the mail,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said at a Capitol Hill news conference. “It is there to strengthen the middle class, to create jobs and to turn this economy around.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said, “I’m looking for quick action in the House. I hope that the Senate will follow quickly so that we can put this money in the hands of middle-income Americans as soon as possible.”

Speaking a few minutes later at the White House, President Bush said the package will “boost our economy and encourage job creation.”

Sources on Capitol Hill and at the Treasury Department said the plan would send checks of $600 to individuals and $1,200 to couples who paid income tax and who filed jointly.

People who did not pay federal income taxes but who had earned income of more than $3,000 would get checks of $300 per individual or $600 per couple.

Netscape Blog - End of Support for Netscape web browsers

I guess technically, the end was a while ago, but it’s finally official. The Netscape team is finally pulling the support for Netscape.. aka, the web-developers nightmare.

AOL has a long history on the internet, being one of the first companies to really get people online. Throughout its lifetime, it has been involved with a number of high profile acquisitions, perhaps the largest of which was the 1999 acquisition of the Netscape Communications Corporation. Netscape was known to many as the thought leader in web browsing, and had developed a number of complementary pieces of software that allowed for a rich suite of internet tools.

At the time of the acquisition, the Netscape team had begun working on converting their flagship product - the Netscape Communicator web suite - into open source software, under a new name: Mozilla. AOL played a significant role in the launch of the Netscape 6 browser, the first Mozilla-based, Netscape-branded browser that was released in 2000 and continued to solely fund the development and marketing efforts of Netscape-branded browsers. …

While internal groups within AOL have invested a great deal of time and energy in attempting to revive Netscape Navigator, these efforts have not been successful in gaining market share from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Recently, support for the Netscape browser has been limited to a handful of engineers tasked with creating a skinned version of Firefox with a few extensions.

AOL’s focus on transitioning to an ad-supported web business leaves little room for the size of investment needed to get the Netscape browser to a point many of its fans expect it to be. Given AOL’s current business focus and the success the Mozilla Foundation has had in developing critically-acclaimed products, we feel it’s the right time to end development of Netscape branded browsers, hand the reins fully to Mozilla and encourage Netscape users to adopt Firefox.

Q: What will this mean?
A: We’ll continue to release security patches for the current version of the browser, Netscape Navigator until February 1, 2008. After February 1, there will be no more active product support for Navigator 9, or any previous Netscape Navigator browser. This includes Netscape v1-v4.x, Netscape v6, Netscape v7 Suite, Netscape Browser v8, and Netscape Navigator/Messenger 9.

Q: I use Netscape now. Now that Netscape is stopping support, what do I do?
A: The Netscape Team fully stands behind the fine work being done by the Mozilla Foundation. We recommend that you download Mozilla Firefox and give it a try. We know you’ll enjoy it!

I love the fact that they are turning people over to the fox. Nice work.

Ok, ok, I know for my entire life I’ve been the biggest windows nut out there that could be, and to a point I still am. I do run Parallels and fire it up when I need to jump on AllTunes or run command line stuff that I just don’t know on the a mac yet. In either case, I am a convert, but not a member of the cult. I love this ‘lil MacBookPro and am pretty hooked on the apple os these days, but my roots will always be with Billy-boy. ..even tho he’s gone.

One of my favorite and maddening parts of the Apple brand is their secrecy before product launch. As you guys know I’m my own boss again *horray* and of course that means I get to spoil myself with a few new writeoffs for the year. I’ll probably end up picking up a new iMac for val and a new cinema display real soon, but I’ve been waiting for Jan 14th patiently to see what goodies they’re going to announce.

If the rumors are true, I may be spending a pretty penny but hey, at least these machines have resale value right? Check out what the rumor is:

Cinema Displays
• Built in 2 megapixel iSight camera
• Same resolutions
• LED backlighting
• All support 1080HD
• New Prices : 20”: $399; 23”: $599; 30”: $1,249
• On sale at MacWorld, Available at MacWorld

iPhone
• SDK Available at MacWorld
• Developers can sell their signed apps from iTunes starting in March
• New software includes Multimedia messaging, video recording with the camera, and an eBook reader
• iPhone games available from the iTunes store
• 3G iPhone announced (looks similar to the existing model)
• iPhone available in more countries

iTunes & iPod
• iTunes 8 released along with Movie Rentals and eBooks
• Software update for iPod Classics and Touches to support eBooks

Front Row 3.0
• All Leopard compatible Macs will be able to use it
• Support for the iTunes Store
• eBook Reader
• SDK for 3rd Parties to make plugins
• Can be controlled via Apple Remote, iPhone, or iPod Touch
• iCal, Mail, and Safari integration

All I can say is that if they really drop the price on the 30″ cinema to $1250, I’ll probably end up buying one. *shrug* Ok, back to programming. Need to pay off this need of new toys one way or another.

Sofar I’m really diggin’ the new Beta site for BBC. Slick, ajaxy and responsive for what you need to do.

I’m a big fan - always have been - of Radio 1’s Dance station. Their player is a frequent bookmark for me, and probably the only reason i keep Real Player installed on my system. I wish the beta showed the new player as well, but I’m sure it will come in time.

Viva London, I miss it.

hat tip -> tim

Check out my newest project. WhatsOpen.com. Myself and another developer have been working on this project for a few and it launched a public beta just after Christmas.

Anyone who is familiar with google maps [mashups] will know the basic idea of this site, but it goes one step further, and tells you what’s currently open, closed and 24 hour joints for a late-night fix. Being still in beta, currently only available in CA, soon we’ll have major metro based states for america and a few international locations. Register with a quick account and you can post your own favorite spots that are instantly searchable. Soon to come you can rate places, edit them wiki style and even upload photos from your camera phone.

Im also working on a WAP and Ajaxy iPhone version. Let me know what you think, there’s still a lot we plan on refining and adding.