bookmark_borderEnd of an Icon, Indeed

From BBCNews:

Final goodbye for early web icon
By Jonathan Fildes
Science and technology reporter, BBC News

A web browser that gave many people their first experience of the web is set to disappear.

Netscape Navigator, now owned by AOL, will no longer be supported after 1 March 2008, the company has said.

In the mid-1990s, as the commercial web began to take off, the browser was used by more than 90% of people online.

Its market share has since slipped to just 0.6% as other browsers such as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) and Firefox have eroded its user base.

The company recommends that users upgrade their browser to either Firefox or Flock, which are both built on the same underlying technologies as Navigator.

“I think we represent the hope that was of Netscape,” Mitchell Baker, chair of the Mozilla Foundation which coordinates development of Firefox, told BBC News.

“We have picked up many of the things that Netscape launched but we’ve taken them further in terms of openness and public participation.”

Ms Baker was one of the first employees at Netscape in 1994.

Netscape was created by Marc Andreessen who as a student had co-authored Mosaic, the first popular web browser.

His company Netscape Communications Corporation released the first version in 1994.

According to Shawn Hardin, President and CEO of Flock, Netscape played an important role in making the internet “a relevant mass market phenomenon”.

“Netscape had a critical role in taking all of these zeros and ones – this very academic and technical environment – and giving it a graphical user interface where an average person could come online and consume information,” he told BBC News.

“During its halcyon days it really felt like the internet and Netscape were really the same thing,” he said.

“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,” said Tom Drapeau on the Netscape blog last year, when the demise of the browser was first announced.

For the past week Netscape users have been shown a message alerting them to the end of support for the browser.

“Given AOL’s current business focus, support for Netscape browsers will be discontinued as of March 1st, 2008,” the message reads.

It then suggests users upgrade to either Flock or Firefox.

(full article)

Linkage:
Firefox
Flock, The Social Web Browser

bookmark_borderTick Tock Update

We went to see the cardiologist today.

The doctor feels that, based on my age and other factors, that there is a high chance there is no blockage. Instead, it could be a combination of things ranging from sleep apnea complications to sternum inflammation. However, he still wants to do the catheterization procedure. That is scheduled for Tuesday at the huge Asheville Cardiology Association’s office.

I got the feeling he had not seen all of the results from the stress test. He mentioned that the EKG he saw was from 8 yrs ago, not from 2 days ago. He did, however, read the report about the pictures. Apparently, there was signs of blood not flowing to all parts of the heart. But, he also said such a finding is common when a patient has “a lot of material” for the camera to look through. Meaning, my big boobs may have caused the camera to not see everything.

In the meantime, we are glad to have several days of respite before the next stuff begins. This week, well, two weeks, has been kinda crazy. Lorna goes back to work tomorrow. At least most of the snow is gone.

bookmark_borderTick Tock Lub Dub

Okay, so, there’s a reason I’ve not been here in a while.

I’ve not been feeling well. First, my back went “out” (where does it go?) and I’ve had to spend a lot of time away from the computer.

Then, last Monday, I spent a day as a dizzy blonde. We wound up going to St. Joseph’s Urgent Care where they found my BP to be 158/106. The short EKG didn’t show anything unusual so, after a brief discussion, they sent me home. The next day, we went to see a doc at MAHEC, the family practice place I go to. The BP was only slightly better (120/98) and I was started on HCTZ, a diuretic. They also scheduled me for a heart stress test.

I had the stress test today. Whoo hoo. Took an hour to get the IV started, even though I drank loads of water several days ahead of time. This test was a “nuclear stress test” and the stress part was done via drugs vs the treadmill. We got there at about 8am and left at about 3 or 4pm. I came home and promptly took a nap.

At 7pm, the doc’s office called. You know it is never good when they call that late.

Good news is that the nuclear part of the test showed no damaged areas to the heart, meaning it was getting blood flow to all its pieces parts.

Bad news is that the heart isn’t getting enough oxygen. This usually means a clogged artery. Tomorrow they’ll schedule me to see a cardiologist who will most likely want to do a heart cath.

I am only 42. Sure, I am overweight. I don’t eat eggs. I do eat veggies, although I only admit to it on occasions such as this. My cholesterol is within normal limits, always has been.

I feel mortal. This has been a wake up call that started last Monday. We’ve been looking at what we eat and the portions. We both feel we eat rather well but, perhaps not as well as we thought. I would love to sit and talk with a nutritionist, one who does more than show me the food pyramid and discuss portions.

At any rate, that is where I have been and where I am going.

bookmark_borderRenee Bess

What a woman!

Renee Bess is a writer also with Regal Crest. She, Jane V, and myself were part of the first RCE Blog Tour. I got to meet Renee at the Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) conferences and was impressed with her voice, both written and spoken.

Renee writes of one minority (black lesbians) and I write of another (disabled lesbians). It is a risk writing either one but so far, both have been embraced by the lesbian community.

The first time Renee and I met was online. We were to be part of a panel at the GCLS con – The Other. I said in an email (sent to the other panelists and the moderator) that I was the token crip. Later, Renee told me she thought I meant I was the token gang member. We’ve been friends ever since.

At any rate, Renee has been featured on a website and has a wonderful essay about writing as a black lesbian about black lesbians.

bookmark_borderRomney Out!

Yay!

That man scared me. Still does. Something about him gave me the willies.

In a BBC article, he is quoted as saying:

In this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.
Mitt Romney

See, that’s what scares me. The man probably truly believes this. We surrendered to terror already when Shrub sent troops to Iraq. We surrendered to our terror of terrorists by letting those in power do things they shouldn’t. We surrendered to them, The Bush Administration, by sitting back and not arguing. Or not arguing loud enough. We were told we should be afraid. That part is right. But we were being told to be afraid of the Wolf by the Fox itself.

As for Obama and Clinton, I am for Obama. Yeah, I know, I should support the woman. But I can’t. Bill Clinton tried to do a good job while in office but his penis got more attention with congress. If we want change, true change, then Hilary Clinton isn’t that change. I feel our best chance as Americans would be to have Obama as president with Hilary Clinton as vice president. With his penis and her brain, perhaps we will regain what we have lost in the rest of the world’s eyes.