Foxy

I am up and running with Firefox version 3. Lots of new features - but it keeps more information on your browsing. The default is to save your browsing history for 90 days! It knows what you're doing.

Firefox has always been extensible, but the new version should work with more third party applications. However, some existing Firefox 2 add-ons are incompatible. The del.icio.us add-on I had installed on my office computer was one such legacy application. But, not to worry, Firefox 3 automatically disabled it upon installation! It's smarter than we are.

I installed the new del.icio.us add-on, and it automatically sucked up all of my bookmarks. Which is ok, I guess - except that I had been using del.icio.us only to share research-related bookmarks with students. Like this list I put together for patent searching tools. But now it's got all of my bookmarks in there. It's become self-aware...

Another one?

I have yet another new toy.

No, this isn't the vaunted (and soon to be updated and upgraded - and cheaper) iPhone. It's the iPod Touch - basically, the iPhone without the phone. I didn't actually buy it for myself - it is a work tool and was purchased for me by the library.

The cool thing is that I now have true mobile Internet access. I had a PDA for a few years at work, but I was always disappointed with it. The iPod Touch is so easy to use - I figured it out on the first day I had it - and it actually handles online content well.

Though I'm hardly on the cutting edge by getting mobile Internet at this point in time, I feel like it's a big step towards the hoary future. What's next, a car that runs partly on batteries? ;)