Journal: News & Comment

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Geek out

Here are two geeky things I like this week:

• Netscape 6.1. Most people think Netscape effectively died years ago when America Online engulfed it. But the latest version of the Netscape browser is actually shockingly good. Worth a look, especially because of the cool theme "skins" you can download for it.
  
• The IBM 8MB USB Memory Key. It is 8 megabytes of solid-state storage on a keychain -- so I bought one. It works as advertised on Macs and Windows, and acts like a removable disk -- like a small Zip, basically. The business end is translucent and has some light emitting diodes inside. One throbs when the unit is plugged in to let you know it's connected, and when you transfer data, two LEDs flash alternately. It's good enough for transferring mid-size files, and much more rugged and portable than either a floppy or a Zip disk. I chuck it with my keys in my fanny pack when I cycle to work. My wife, my co-workers, and even my parents think it's pretty cool.

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