• Vodafone acquires ZYB « ZYB blog

Elliotte Rusty Harold prognosticates what he thinks is in store for XML.
The wheels of progress turn slowly, but turn they do. The crystal ball might be a little hazy, but the outline of XML’s future is becoming clear. The exact time line is a tad uncertain, but where XML is going isn’t. XML’s future lies with the Web, and more specifically with Web publishing.

It seems a little funny to have to say that. After all, isn’t publishing what the Web is about? The Web was designed first and foremost as a mechanism to publish information. What else can it do? Quite a lot. The last three years have seen an explosion of interest in Web applications that go far beyond traditional Web sites. Word processors, spreadsheets, games, diagramming tools, and more are all migrating into the browser. This trend will only accelerate in the coming year as local storage in Web browsers makes it increasingly possible to work offline. But XML is still firmly grounded in Web 1.0 publishing, and that’s still very important.

Read the full article:

• The future of XML

It was created rather quick using the brilliant WordPress blog management system. I used an existing theme in order to cut dev time down (we are working on the new ZYB! – so not much time for all this blog fun!) and used a custom CSS to tweak it to our needs. – Hope you like it, it’s rather simple for now.. We will add more fancy stuff when the blog has grown up a bit.

If someone told you that ZYB didn’t have a blog, would you believe them? Well they were right until yesterday.

While other current internet start-up’s tend to set out with only a blog and a launch date (and then use the blog to announce postponements of the launch date), we started out by launching our free mobile backup service (and then got too busy to think about blogging).

But now we’re finally here, so let’s just get straight to the point. ZYB is changing!

Read the full first post at blog.zyb.com.

• Big news, ZYB is blogging! (and changing) « ZYB blog

From the press release:

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. – Oct. 24, 2006 – – Mozilla today released Firefox® 2, a major update to its popular and acclaimed free, open source Web browser. Firefox is developed by an international community of contributors working together under the umbrella of the Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit, public-benefit organization dedicated to improving the Internet experience for people everywhere.

In less than two years, tens of millions of people worldwide have discovered the easier, faster and safer online experience that Firefox provides. Translated into more than 35 languages at its release, Firefox 2 is available in a native language version for more people around the world than any other Web browser.

Firefox 2 is immediately available for Windows, Mac or Linux operating systems as a free download from www.getfirefox.com.

“Firefox 2 delivers the best possible online experience for people today,” said Mitchell Baker, CEO, Mozilla. “The improvements Mozilla has made to the ease of use, performance, and security in Firefox 2 reflect our ongoing, singular focus on meeting the needs of Web users all over the world.”

What’s New in Firefox 2

Improvements to the user interface, security tools and options for customization, combine to deliver a rich, engaging, safer and more productive Web browsing experience for all.

Tabbed browsing. Firefox popularized tabbed browsing, enabling multiple Web sites to be viewed as separate tabs contained within a single browser window, and improving people’s efficiency by helping them better organize their desktops. In Firefox 2, tabbed browsing has been further improved with the addition of individual close buttons on each tab, enhanced tab navigation features, and a session restore system that automatically restores previously-open windows and tabs when a new browsing session is started.

Spell checking. Modern Web sites are increasingly complex with the rollout of new, rich Internet applications, such as word processors, spreadsheets and blogging tools. Inline spell checking in Firefox 2 automatically checks for spelling errors and suggests corrections as users interact with Web sites, bringing a common desktop feature to the Web.

Search. Search is one of the most frequently used features of the Web. With Firefox 2, Mozilla improves the browser’s integrated search capabilities, making it even easier for users to find the information they are looking for. The new Search Suggestions feature dynamically updates a drop-down list of suggested search terms as users enter text into the search bar for Google, Yahoo! or Answers.com search engines.

Web feeds. Firefox users can now take better advantage of the frequently updated content offered by Web sites, with increased options for handling Web feeds. Users now see a preview of the content being offered and are given the option to subscribe to a feed as a Live Bookmark, using a Web service such as Bloglines, My Yahoo!, or Google Reader, or with a desktop application.

Identity theft protection. In addition to its award-winning safeguards for blocking drive-by installation of spyware and unwanted pop-up windows, Firefox 2 helps protect users from identity theft by quickly informing them when they surf to a questionable Web site. To protect users’ privacy, Phishing Protection is active by default with a local blacklist that updates hourly, rather than sending information to an external online service. An enhanced mode is available where users may optionally elect to have Firefox check the validity of Web sites with a third-party Web service, such as Google, prior to loading the site. Phishing Protection provides warnings, advice and guidance when Firefox encounters a Web site that appears to be fraudulent or malicious.

Proven security model. Mozilla’s open and transparent community-driven security model helps ensure Firefox provides the safest possible online experience. Thousands of security experts and technical contributors from around the world examine and analyze the Firefox source code, uncover potential threats and vulnerabilities, and work together to quickly identify and address emerging threats. This open, distributed, innovative approach to security puts people’s interests first and delivers the safest Web experience possible.

Customization. No other browser can be customized like Firefox 2. With thousands of add-ons that enhance the browser’s functionality and features, Firefox lets users personalize their Web browsers to fit their interests and style.

For more information on Mozilla Firefox 2 and how it delivers an easier, faster and safer online experience, visit www.mozilla.com/firefox/features.html.

Mozilla Firefox 2 is available now as a free download from www.getfirefox.com.

• Slashdot.org: Håkon Responds to Questions About CSS and…

So for all you oldschoool guys still using Internet Explorer, this would also be a good opportunity to upgrade you browsing life by getting hold of the latest Firefox browser and perhaps even the magnificient Thunderbird.

UPDATE: I fixed the render bug, by accident I had created a very long post-tag which killed the IE layout.

UPDATE 2 (March, 19 2006): The blog is now running under WordPress 2.x and MySQL 5.x, and everything seems to work fine.

NetBeans IDE 5.0 introduces comprehensive support for developing IDE modules and rich client applications based on the NetBeans platform, the new intuitive GUI builder Matisse, new and redesigned CVS support, Sun Application Server 8.2, Weblogic9 and JBoss 4 support, and a lot of editor enhancements.

Here are some of the cool features in this release:

• Developing NetBeans Modules
• Matisse GUI Builder
• Servers
• Web Frameworks
• Web Services
• Editor Enhancements
• Code Completion
• Refactoring
• Version Control
• Debugging
• Other Usability Improvements
• New NetBeans Add-on Packs

• NetBeans 5.0 Release Info

A Comparision of the Size of the Yahoo and Google Indices

victorialever writes “Since one could have noticed an increasing number of websites that are employing CSS and an increasing number of resources talking about how great CSS is, it seems to become impossible not to jump on the CSS bandwagon as well. The 10 Best Resources for CSS provides an impressive list of the CSS resources which have recently become essential for web-developers. Among them – CSSZenGarden, The Web Developer’s Handbook, Stylegala, PositionIsEverything etc.

Slashdot | 10 Best Resources for CSS

WordPress Development Blog – WordPress 1.5.2