Yearly Archives: 2003

No surprise that they’re still at it

Friday February 7th 2003

Micro$oft are still filtering for non-MSIE browsers at MSN and sending them a style sheet which messes up the display of the page.

Only a short while since they laughed off the US Department of Justice case against them for anti-competitive practices, is it really any surprise at all that MicroSoft are still at it?

Not to me, and I’m starting to wonder if switching to Opera as my default browser isn’t such a bad idea after all. This is the wrong time for MicroSoft to be playing games, really – Mac users are probably stampeding to use the new Safari browser and PC users have been making do with the limited features of IE6 for some time now. (The new Opera 7 leaves it standing feature wise.)

After five years with Internet Explorer at the top of the pile… maybe it’s time for a revolution.

Take the red pill

Thursday February 6th 2003

With the release of the first instalment of the Animatrix project, I promptly downloaded the same from The Matrix website.

I have to say I am so impressed with Warner Bros. in the way that they have handled the online side of things regarding the franchise. It’s all too easy for the movie companies to create a fancy, usually Flash driven website which is abandoned once it has served its purpose. (i.e. When the release run of the movie ends or when it’s released on DVD at the very latest.)

What Warner have done is to create an extension of The Matrix universe, full of resources delivered in keeping with the premise of the first movie. This is the way it should be done – not a glossy flash showcase for the design company portfolio – a proper community focal point for fans of the soon-to-be trilogy.

Stupid White Men

Wednesday February 5th 2003

I just completed Michael Moore‘s controversial tome and I have to say I was very impressed. For me to complete a book which, on the face of it, deals with politics is an indication of something well written and absorbing into the bargain.

A couple of the chapters were heavy going, to be honest, but then if I had wanted an easy read I’d have grabbed another Net Force novel I suppose!

The strength of Stupid White Men is not really in the way things are said, but what is said – the whistle blowing and the glaring questions left unanswered by the “president” really are startling reading. It would appear that the USA is in a very bad way at the moment – starting right at the very top.