Automatic Delivery of Internet Explorer 7

The new version of Internet Explorer 7 will be installed as an automatic upgrade using Windows Update after the browser moves from Beta to Production. I haved tested IE7 and thought the browser was very clunky to use. It was not fairly intitutive to add RSS feeds. Also something as simple as adding your favorites took way to many clicks for me. So knowing that many web sites are not working correctly in IE 7 you have to wonder why is Microsoft making this an automatic update? To read more about Microsofts spin on this click on the link below to read about it on Microsoft Technet.

Read more at www.microsoft.com/techn...

My Favorite Extensions

As I have mentioned in the past I am big fan of using Mozilla Firefox to search the Internet. It is much better the Micosoft Internet Explorer. Why you ask? Here are a few of many reasons.

• The browser takes up half size of disk space and memory to run the Explorer and is twice as fast.
• It is less of a security threat then Explorer by hackers.
• The benefits is a tremondous amount of add-ons available because the browser is open source.

The add ons in FireFox are called extensions. I use a few extensions that are amazing. This includes writing to my blog from any web site, RSS Ticker that scrolls headlines across my screen, and a tool that will quickly create a hyper link from any word highlighted. I am not the only one who is a fan of extensions. Above is a screenshot of PC Magazines favorite extensions for Firefox.

V Foundation for Cancer Research

This Sunday the ESPY awards are on ESPN. It is an annual event where voters get to vote for their favorite althlete. Every year the ESPY is on I think back to 1993 and the fabulous speech given by Jim Valvano. The speech he gave was given two months before his death. It was amazing talk about familyand courage. You can read the transcripts of the speech by click the URL below. Please read it and send it to others.

Read more at jimmyv.org/rememberingj...

Mike and Jess video

This is a test video of Jessica and me. I used my webcam. Their was not much lighting in the room so the quality is poor. I am sure this is much better with a digital camera or camcorder. Let me know what everyone thinks? Isn't Jessica a ham!

Mike Wish

Was the Wicked Witch really Wicked?

Until Thursday I thought so. I went to see Wicked the Musical. I went to the show knowing very little about the music and the story. The only thing I knew is that the story took place before the little girl from Kansas landed her house in Oz. The first and remaining thought that has been stuck in my head since I saw the show is that their is always more then one way to look at almost anything. Seems cliche I know, but the show really explains the motives behind the actions of the Wicked Witch of the West. I don't want to give to much away for those of you who have not read the book or seen the show. If you do won't to learn more I recommend these sites. The official site at http://www.wickedthemusical.com/ and also the Wiki on Wicked found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_(musical).

I have been on vacation this week and didn't do much. The plan was small family adventures as money is tight. Jessica and I went crabbing a few times at the shore. She really loves it. The second time we went we caught 18 crabs. They were nice size crabs around 5-6 inches long. Also thanks to my buddy Frank we got invited to the party deck at the LakeWood Blueclaws. The BlueClaws are the single A minor league team of the Philadelphia Phillies. If you have not been to a minor league game it is plenty fun. General admisson tickets are around $5.00 and always a good seat in the house.

We also went to Great Adventure. I am not a big fan of GA. It is over crowded and the people can be interesting at times. They do have a great selection of kids rides. So I guess I shouldn't complain since Jess loves it and GA is only 10 minutes away.

I have great news about Rachel. She has officially began walking! I call it the Frankenstein walk. She holds her hands out in front as she walks. I can't believe how time just goes by. It seems like just recently she was born. Well I am off from work until Tuesday then back on Wednesday. Vacations are always way to short.

Mike Wish

McAfee SiteAdvisor

I found today a great FREE software for you to download. I read about it in article by Tech expert/guru Walt Mossberg in the WSJ. Walt writes great colums on Personal Technology. If you haven't read them I suggest you start. The software is called site advisor. The software will stop spyware infections, identity theft scams, and warn you of sites which send excessive e-mail. Their is a few items about the software that jump out at me immediately. The software downloads very easy on either Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. Their is no registration form to fill out. The software will catch sites that have scams for charging users software that could be free. It will also notify you of potential harmful sites by placing a red, yellow or green X. The X is placed in search results received from the search engine. For example doing a search on FREE Software will bring back results that show a few sites that the advisor software suggests you use caution when click the link for the site. This is pretty cool. You know ahead of time if a web site is malicious before going to the web page. Give it a try and let me know your experience.

Read more at www.siteadvisor.com/

Mike

At the game

Take me out to the ball game... So last night I went to see the Phillies v. Yankees in Philadelphia. It was a great game. Not just because the Phils won, but it was great to be out at Citizen Bank Ball Park. If you haven't gone I highly recommend it! It is one of the most beautiful stadiums you will see. It is a smaller stadium with really no bad seat in the house. We sat in pretty good seats for the first 4 innings and then decided just to walk around the ballpark. You can even purchase standing room only tickets and stand in the back right next to the bullpen. Their is nothing like a cold beer and hot dog and watching your team play. Click the link below to see more pictures of the stadium.

Read more at www.ballparks.com/baseb...

My Favorite Internet Utilities

I take for granted some of the cool utilities that I love to use when traveling around the internet. The assumption I make is that most people are aware of what is available. The sad truth is that a good number of people are stuck using mediocre web and software applications. Most individuals are using Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 5 or 6 and don’t realize there is better. So I like to take the opportunity to share with you what you could be using. And hopefully some of you may take the plunge to explorer new ways to use this thing called the World Wide Web.

As I mention above if you are still using Internet Explorer then you need to try a different Browser. The browser you use can make a world of difference. The browser of choice for me is FireFox 1.5. What I like about FireFox is many things. The speed, functionality and most of all the browser is open source. What that means that there are enhancements or extensions that are available for Fire Fox that will make your Internet experience more pleasurable. More about the extensions in a little bit.

The second item that is a MUST for young and old alike is RSS FEEDS. What is an RSS Feed? To get a full description of RSS click on the Wiki. I would encourage everyone to read it. In the mean time here is the abbreviated version. RSS = Really Simple Syndication. Let’s say you have five favorite websites that you visit on a daily basis. Instead of visiting each website one at a time an RSS Feed will take your website and put into a nice compact feed and send it directly to your PC. So instead of you going to the website the website comes to you. If technology is new to you this can be tough to understand. This is actually another great reason why to use FireFox. The browser allows you to add RSS Feeds very easily. The RSS Feeds are so simple to add and manage using Firefox I still don’t understand why anyone would use any other way to read RSS feeds. There are separate RSS applications that can be downloaded to aggregate the feeds you are reading. I am not a big fan of these applications. I have learned to subscribe to the theory that on my laptop or desktop less is more. The more software you download the more of a chance you will have a problem. Anything from performance problems to a virus.

My favorite item is Google Extensions for Fire Fox. These extensions you can find at Google Labs. The one I have been using the most is Blogger Web Comments for Firefox. Web Comments is an extension that makes it easy to see what bloggers are saying about a page you're viewing in Firefox and if you want you can post to your own blog without leaving the page you're on.

These are sampling of my favorite utilities. I hope you find it useful. I will make sure I post again about some more of my favorite Internet Software. Feel free to add comments to this post and share what you like to use. I look forward to reading it.

More pictures added

I have add more pictures to my flickr account. You can see them by clicking the pictures on the right side of the blog or click the link below to go directly to Flickr.

Read more at flickr.com/photos/61628...

Which ok is it?

I just updated my I-Tunes Software. When I insert a blank CD check out the message below. I clicked on the right OK and it worked as if it was the cancel button. Anyone else come across this? The I-Tunes version is 6.0.4.2. I guess the Apple Product Testing Group was having a bad day.

Are you a Googlehead?

I had to add this post today. This song below is by Lori Berkner. It is one of my daughter's favorite songs. It really has nothing to do with Google the search engine. You can catch Lori Berkner everyday on Jack's music house on Noggin. If you catch the right episode you may see the real Googlehead video. You can find out more about the singer behind the song by going here

http://www.boopadoo.net/page-Laurie+Berkner+Band.htm

Free, Open-Source software for Windows

Free Software

I don't think many people realize the free software that is available on the internet. Before running out to your nearest software store to purchase an application or before downloading a license copy from a P2P network check out what is available on Open Source Windows. You will find everything from finace packages to screensavers. My favorite is the IM chat GAIM that will combine all your IM's you use into one. So if you have friends on AIM, Yahoo, MSN it will combine then into one IM interface for you.

Read more at www.opensourcewindows.o...

Still not using Skype?

Are you still not using Skype? Well maybe this might inspire you to start. Skype to Skype calls have always been free. Now Skype has made calls within the US and Canada to all phones totally free till the end of the year.It doesn't matter if it's a Skype-to-Skype call or a call to landline or mobile phone - it's free as long as you're calling from within the US or Canada to US or Canadian phone number.

Read more at skype.com/helloagain.ht...

Happy Mother's Day

To all of you wonderful Mom's have a Happy Mother's day! Mom's work harder then anyone else. After they get done dealing with the kids then they put up with their husband who can be even more difficult.

The picture is Jennifer's Mothers Day gift from me and the girls.

Aaron Rowand catch

You don't have to be a Philadelphia Phillies fan to appreciate the catch Aaron Rowand made last night! I am a Phils fan so I thought it was amazing. It won the Phils the game last night and pulled them to with in three games of the Muts.

castingWords.com - Podcast Transcript Search and Transcription Service

Get your podcasts transcribed? Why not? You can get your favorite radio talkshow or TV episode transcribed so why not a podcast. I stumbled across this site and the more I thought about the more I could see how people would want this. Everyone has a podcast these days. If you have a blog the podcast will come with it. I think the price is a bit high for a transcript, but I am sure people are using the service. Check out the service below. Do you think it is a good idea?

Read more at castingwords.com/

Wishnick World

Wishnick World

Thanks to help from Dr. Daniel Johnson my blog is now working in IE 6. The right side of the page is now formated correctly. Can some people check out on their browsers and let me know.

best

Mike Wish

Wishnick World

Wishnick World Problem

I am having a problem with my Blog. You might have noticed if you view the blog using Internet Explorer the right side of the page is completely pushed down. If you view the blog in Mozila firefox it looks fine. I assume it has something to do with me building then template in Firefox. If anyone has a suggestions please let me know. Until then I am checking the bloggers newsgroup for suggestions. Thank you for your patience.

Mike Wish

Skype - The whole world can talk for free.

Do you Skype? I am hooked on using it. The technology has improved so much that I am using it more then my local phone. The best part about is if the person I am speaking with has Skype then I can chat with them for free. I know other IM's like AIM, Yahoo, and Google Talk offer similar services, but I have found Skype to be the easiest to use. I started using Skype at work. We began a pilot program with a few of my departments working from home. The program has been successful so far. If I want to speak with a member of the London Technical Support Team I use Skype. I have a headset microphone that plugs into the jack on my laptop. Or if I look presentable that day I plug in my webcam and use SKype to do video chat. Either mode works great. What seperates Skype from the other IM's is a feature called Skype in and Skype out. In using Skype out I can call anyone in the world and it only costs 2 cents a minute. With Skype in I have a Skype phone number that anyone can call. It includes voicemail, call fowarding,and conference calls.I think eventually I will try out the new Yahoo talk as it is similar to Skype. In the mean time i am having to much fun using Skype. I encourage all of you to give it a try. It is free to use. After you install Skype do a search for Wishnick under contacts and you can adde me to your phonebook.

Read more at skype.com/helloagain.ht...

Google unveils calendar service

Google released a new calendar feature recently at Google Calendar . All the top Search engines have a calendar service -- Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL and Google. What makes Google's calendar unique is you can share the calendar online with others like your family, friends, and co - workers. The Google calendar is in beta, but what really isn't these days. I expect a car manufacturer soon to release a new car and say oh by the way this is the beta version and we are giving you this early release of the car now because we like you. Can you also send all feedback about the car to this email address?I got off track. The newsgroups are saying the calendar is pretty good, however their are some bugs in importing a calendar from Outlook. I am going to test it out soon time permitting of course and if like it I will add the calendar link to the blog complete with my so busy schedule.

www.usatoday.com/tech/p...