Download Internet Explorer 8 RTM Today!

shawnt — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:33:00 GMT

It’s a great thing when I can truly throw my full support behind a Microsoft release. Well, I’ve been using IE8 for a number of months now, and I find the product to be solid, secure, and a worthwhile upgrade. One of my favorite changes is that each tab runs under its own process – This feature saved me several times on beta builds while adding MySpace friends to build my Mob Wars Family. :) Frequently, I’d get 20+ tabs open to different MySpace pages and some of these pages had, I’m not kidding, 20 or more Flash instances running at the same time. This overloaded the IE8 Beta (it seems the issue has since been addressed as I haven’t come across this problem in recent builds), and IE would stop unexpectedly, but I’d only lose that tab, and if I happened to lose more than just that one tab, IE8’s new autorecover feature would automatically ask me if I wanted to reopen the pages that had closed unexpectedly. No lost data, no lost pages, problem solved.

Other features I love are the XSS filter (I’ve haven’t seen it activate yet in real life, but it still makes me feel more secure knowing it’s there), faster phishing filter (yes, you can actually turn it on now), colored tabs, tab management, tab grouping, the ability to manage all my add-ons in one place (it makes it so much easier to find and turn off those nagging misbehaving add-ons), and of course in-private browsing (yeah, I’ve used it and it rocks the house when you’re trying to keep your wife from finding out about that anniversary gift you searched for from your shared PC).

Anyway, if you too want to find your favorite features in the new IE8, you can get it free from the official IE8 web site.

And, if it turns out you don’t like it as much as I think you will, there is one other handy new feature: Uninstall.

Get IE8 Today for Windows XP/Vista/Server

Flat Stanley visits the Alamo

shawnt — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:03:00 GMT

I'm presenting two TechNet events and two Angelbeat events in Texas this week, and I've gotta say - the folks I've met have been wonderful. Generally, they've been friendly, forthright, and enthusiastic - not to mention saavy when it comes to technology. Another reason I've loved the people here: the attendees at my Fort Worth TechNet event gave me the highest evaluation score average I've received in quite some time (8.37/9.0)! So, in light of what a nice time I've been having, I decided to do something I don't normally do on business trips; I decided to do some sight-seeing.

Now, I should add there is another reason I decided to see the sights. Mark Steel, my best friend outside of St. Louis, somehow convinced his daughter that I would be a good candidate to help her with her school project. So, about a month and a half ago, I received a large manilla envelope with some rather unusual contents inside. Mark's daughter had mailed me a crayon colored, exceptionally emaciated, boy sporting a large, disarming smile, a razor-thin but impeccably colored toothbrush and a two-dimensional tube of generic toothpaste. Yes, you guessed it: I had become the latest unwitting recipient of a Flat Stanley. Since it was truly an honor to be selected as Flat Stanley's travel companion, I immediately set off to ensure that Stanley would have the best vacation ever! Subsequently, I have taken Flat Stanley all over the Midwest with me on my travels, and I'll be honest with you - he might just be the best travel companion I've ever had. He doesn't eat much, which would explain his incredibly gaunt profile, he never needs to stop for a bio break on long drives, and he is a spectacular listener - he never interrupts and he smiles at all my jokes.

So, seeing as we had an hour or two to spare after my Angelbeat presentation in San Antonio, I decided to brave the rush hour traffic and head downtown on IH-35. Stanley and I would spend some quality time visiting the local sights, and, in San Antonio, that can only mean one thing: The Alamo. And, before I offend anyone, I'm sure there are plenty of other great sights in San Antonio - this just happened to be the only one I've ever heard of.

At the Alamo, Stanley and I learned that Texas was its own sovereign nation for a couple of years, and even had it's own flag, with one lone star on it - which, come to think of it, might have something to do with how Texas got its state motto. Remind me to check into that. Anyway, we took lots of fun pictures, a couple of which I have included here for your viewing pleasure. We spent about an hour walking the grounds, visiting the Shrine, the Barracks, and, of course, the gift shop. Stanley opted not to buy anything, since he was flat broke. (I couldn't resist.)

It made for a fun and relaxing day, and I felt like a kid on a field trip. Please feel free to post your comments, especially if you've ever had any experiences with this illustrious traveler. I am going to miss him, since I'll be sending him back to his home in Chicago soon. But, I'm sure his best friend will be happy to have him back, and I know she'll let me visit him from time to time. If not, I'll be sad, but I can always think fondly on our trip to San Antonio and I'll simply say to myself: "Remember the Alamo."

Revelations of a Confused Mind : Fun Stuff

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Flat Stanley visits the Alamo