What the Thunder Said...

Reading: JOwen's Works and WSJ
Enjoying: the beautiful fall trees
Listening: the White Horse Inn with Brian Godawa. Terrific...

In complete addict fashion, once having posted of my sin of informationism, I'd like to bring a technology update...

A New Mozilla Is Coming
Mozilla is releasing highly anticipated releases for Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird on Friday, the 28th of 2005. Currently, both applications are in 1.5 Beta 2 version, which means that they are in the final stage before release. The way open source programs work (and both Firefox and Thunderbird are instances of open source coding) is that the community offers program and bugging to support the main app. Since both of these are in Beta 2 stage, the end is in sight for the release of 1.5. Not only will there be several security holes drawn even tighter (reestablishing the simple, a priori, fact that Firefox is more secure, than, say, er, well, all the other browsers ever created in any universe ever, and especially IE) but several extra features will be added in as well. New themes/extensions will be created for the update, as well as several other new functions.

Syncing Mozilla and Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 SE
If you, like me, would desperately like to sync your HP iPAQ 5550 (or really, any Pocket PC device running Windows Mobile) with Mozilla Sunbird, now you can. Of course, its taken for granted that you already surf the net with Mozilla MiniMo and sync your email with Mozilla Thunderbird. The final obstacle to "complete the trifecta" was Sunbird. Thankfully, there are a few ways to accomplish this now. This page lists all the various options. I have experimented with KCal and with Finch Sync. Currently, KCal is a bit easier, though Finch is more thorough and advanced. Usually, it is a time saving issue that determines which one I use.

Mozilla Lightning, et al.
In a similar vein, Mozilla Lightning continues to plod along, though it seems as a real, honest to goodness release may be scheduled for November. That would be a good thing, making KCal and Finch more temporary fill-ins than permanent solutions. However, the situation may soon flip-flop if Lightning does not live up to its job.

What if you don't like Firefox? Or what if you work on a Mac (and don't wish to use Firefox, which renders just fine on Apples)? If you work on a Steve Jobs job - a Mac - then try using Mozilla's Camino, a Mac natural browser. It'll put your Safari web-safari's to rest. Or, try Mozilla Suite, the original Mozilla browser, email app, and calendar. Though not as customizable, it still works great.

Finally, Mozilla Firemonger 1.0.7 is released. Easy as shooting fish in a barrel. Download a CD's worth of information, and have Firefox and Thunderbird running with all the necessary themes/extensions. This is great for spreading Mozilla. The CD emphasizes on user friendliness, in case you give the CD out to people who are not so computer savvy. This should prove an excellent tool for Mozilla.

Update: Opera has announced work on a mobile sized browser for Pocket PC devices. Also, here is a screenshot of using Mozilla Thunderbird and Sunbird.