There's a new version of the MSN Toolbar with the feature everyone wants--tabbed browsing. It is worth downloading, but it's not as good as Maxthon or even Firefox.

Tabbed browsing is a very, very good thing. Whether you use the Web for fun or work, it'll make you more efficient. So now, let's talk about why the MSN Toolbar's implementation isn't so good:

• Bad installer (still). If you're already using the MSN Toolbar and you try to install the version with tabbed browsing, it'll tell you that you already have a newer version. So, you have to uninstall the MSN Toolbar and then re-install to add tabbed browsing. this is the second time I've had to go through this. Seriously, most hobbiest programmers add upgrade funtionality to their installers, so why can't MSN do this?
• It's buggy. Open some tabs. Switch to full screen. Your tabs are gone. It's not like this is some obscure process I went through; people do this all the time.
• It's not well integrated into IE. For example, if you open up the Favorites tab and open a folder in your Favorites, and then open a new tab, the new tab won't have the same Favorites folder open. So you'd then have to re-open it.
• You'll still have lots of IE windows. Pop-up windows open in new IE windows, not tabs. That's one of the most basic features of tabbed browsing.
• You can't open different groups of tabs. It supports "My Tabs", which lets you open one group of tabs. But Maxthon and Firefox let you any folder of your Favorites. I do this all the time--I have a folder for all the blogs I read that opens all at once, all the Websites I check for software updates, places where people might review my books, etc. The MSN Toolbar limits you to just one set of tabs.

So, if you still need to use IE (Maxthon is better than Firefox, but some things don't work quite right), the MSN Toolbar with tabs makes IE better. But I'll still be using Maxthon.

Disposable video cameras--excellent. I hadn't seen these before.

Single-use digital video cams now available in CVS - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Also check USA Today.

Announced by Steve Ballmer at Tech-Ed today and now live on www.microsoft.com:

Windows Software Update Services (WSUS). Final release of WSUS went live today.

http://www.microsoft.com/wsus

Microsoft Update (MU): Microsoft Update replaces Windows Update. In addition to Windows XP, MU now updates: Windows XP, Windows 2000 SP3, Windows Server 2003, Office XP, Office 2003, SQL Server 2000 SP4 and Exchange 2000.

http://update.microsoft.com

If you're a home user, visit the new version of Windows Update so you can make sure your Microsoft applications are up-to-date. You'll have to update the client Windows Update software. If you're in information technology (IT), check out WSUS. It offers some HUGE improvements over SUS.

Seriously, my dad has been an engineer for like 30 years, and has never owned a mobile phone. For some reason, he hates that particular piece of tech. He loves ham radio, though. So, here ya go:

=======QUOTING ANOTHER WEB SITE========

Morse Texter

After reading this and this and this I decided to knock up this dodgy prototype for Series 60 phones. Tap in some Morse code, and then send it as an SMS. Keys are:

• 1, 4, 7, or * - Dot
  
• 2, 5, 8, or 0 - Dash
  
• 3, 6, 9, or # - Space

• Left arrow - Dot
  
• Right arrow - Dash
  
• OK key - Space

• C key - Delete last letter
  
• Call/green key - Send as SMS

For a gap between letters, press space once. For a gap between words, press space a second time.

=======QUOTING ANOTHER WEB SITE========

Via Addicted to Media, CNet reports that Dell is launching a line of higher-end desktops and ntoebooks under a new, premium brand name. Great idea, because while Dell has continued to grow, the brand is still identified as value-oriented. That's the same problem Honda and Toyota had, so they developed Acura and Lexus.

It's a good idea, and I'd buy one.

I'm getting more-and-more popups, even with popup blockers. Have they figured out a reliable way to bypass the blockers?

Engadget has an interesting story describing different digital picture frames. I had missed this rather cool key chain picture frame the first time around.

I'm always interested in digital picture frames, but I've never bought one. Most are either overly expensive or burdened with monthly fees. I'd also like to be able to update pictures wirelessly, so that it always shows my latest pictures. With most, you have to manually copy pictures to a memory card, and then insert the memory card into the digital picture frame.

So, for now, I'm doing it the old-fashioned way with cheap prints from the Kodak EasyShare Gallery.

Just noticed that I have a couple of articles up at the Expert Zone now. Check em out:

• Navigate with Tablet PC and Microsoft Streets & Trips 2005 with GPS Locator
• Watch TV Recorded with Media Center When You're on the Go

Earlier I complained that laptops never last more than about a year, and how I was dreading sending my computer in to Dell for repair. Well, I just got my computer back and it went perfectly.

Sunday night I wrote an e-mail to Dell tech support describing the problem I was having. I also mentioned that a couple of keys on my keyboard were sticking.

Monday morning I got an e-mail saying I should ship my laptop in, with a phone number to call DHL for pickup. I called in the afternoon, and DHL came to pick up my laptop about an hour later--at around 4:30pm.

Today (Wednesday) at 10:30am I got my laptop back. Not only is the electrical problem fixed, but they replaced the hinge assembly, keyboard, mouse buttons, and the wrist rests. It's almost as good as a new computer. I have about 10 months left on my 3-year warranty... I'm sure I'll break something else before then.

Anyway, Dell support was great, and I'll definitely buy another Dell laptop when this one expires (probably at the end of the warranty).

This (Scooba) is something I've been asking for since I got my first Roomba as a Christmas gift. I have hardwood floors on the first floor of my house, and tile in the kitchen, bathrooms, and basement. Mopping sucks.

Last week I complained about problems with the MSN Toolbar. I re-installed it today and it's working great. So, I definitely recommend it now. If you're using the beta, you should uninstall it before installing the release version, however.

I wish you could hit Ctrl+Z to undo anything. Like, I just accidentally closed an Explorer window. I want to hit Ctrl+Z to bring it back open where I had it. Or, I closed a tab in Maxthon, but I can't remember the page that I was at. Hit Ctrl+Z to re-open that page. Accidentally save a file when you didn't mean to? Ctrl+Z.

Is this new, or am I just noticing it? It used to be, when you searched on Google, the links it returned would link directly to the site. Now, links all link back to Google, and then Google re-directs you to the site.

For example, if you search for "Tony Northrup" on Google (not that anyone but me actually does that), the first result is my home page. Before, the link would be:

http://www.northrup.org

Now, the link is:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=1&q=http://www.northrup.org/&e=9707

This gives google the opportunity to track which links people use the most, and could really help improve search results. But you also give up a bit of your privacy, because now Google knows which sites you visit (as opposed to just knowing what you search for). Anyway, post a comment if you know more about this.

FYI, I got a very nice response from Abraham in MSN Spaces technical support saying he read my requests and submitted them to the Product Team as a feature request. That's all I can ask. Thanks, Abraham.

SecurityFocus has an article about a brilliant idea from the minds of Microsoft researchers: Windows XP drones searching the Web, trying to be hacked. If they manage to get hacked, security people can examine the exploit and begin developing a patch for it. I suspect it can take several days off the time required to patch newly discovered vulnerabilities.

And, it can find lesser-well-known vulnerabilities. Not every exploit becomes as wide-spread as Nimda. Some might only infect a few hundred computers, and word of the exploit might never get back to Microsoft. But these drones are likely to find these types of exploits (before you do).

Via Slashdot

• Make the thumbnails for pictures included with blog entries bigger. It would be nice to do what Engadget and other sites do with pictures.
• Allow the page to scale horizontally to the width of the browser. The page fills your screen if your monitor is at 800x600. My laptop screen is 1400x1050, though, and blgs only take up about half the width of my screen. Looks dumb.
• Draw lines between different blog entries. So far, every comment people have added has been for the wrong entry. They want to click the "comments" link above the entry, rather than below it. That makes sense, because there's a line between an entry and the links that relate to it.
• Add a text module. I'd like to be able to put a whole paragraph introducing people to the site, and place it above the list of blog entries. It's dumb, but there's no way to do something so simple.
• Custom themes. Let me pick my own colors.
• Better support for moblogging. E-mail publishing is great... but: when I send a picture message, Verizon Wireless uses one source address (phonenumber@vzpix.com), and when I send a text message, they use a different source address. E-mail publishing only allows me to specify a single source address, so I can either send pictures, or text, but not both. And I can't use any other e-mail clients to publish. Let me specify multiple source e-mail addresses. When I do send a picture message, the text I write comes in a text attachment, which MSN Spaces ignores. Post text attachments as the body of the blog entry. As long as I'm wishing, block verizon's advertizement that they add to my text messages.
• Make the Updated Spaces module more intelligent. This is a cool module, but the implementation isn't so good. First, you can't control how many spaces are listed. Clicking through the first five spaces, 3 of them were in languages that I don't speak, and the other 2 had no blog entries at all. Make it list spaces with new blog entries in the same language as the current blog, or at least make that an option.
• Control the order of Lists. You can't pick the order of items in a list. I'd like to be able to re-order them.

Otherwise, good work, MSN Spaces people.

Check the picture, and then check back in 5 years.