But I have to ask: if the magazine app wasn’t a hit on PCs, why would it be a hit on tablets?  The same problem will exist on tablets:  readers will be able to get their news and pictures from other normal web sites that don’t charge, just like they can on a PC.

So what if the tablet will have dimensions more like those of a magazine?  So what if it will make for a better “lean back” experience?  These qualities will make reading the same old free internet from the comfort of your couch a much better experience, too.

Web page designers will redesign their sites to fit the tablet format better, just like they created smart phone versions of their sites.

Basically, on tablets like on PCs, if you can get if for free, why ever would you pay?

IE 8 inPrivate Filtering mode can be set to on/enabled by default by doing the following:

1. Open IE 8.
2. Click on the InPrivate Filtering button in the status bar (lower right) to enable inPrivate Filtering.
3. Leaving your IE 8 browser open, go to and click on your Windows Start button.  Click on the “Run..” button, found below the Search button. (this is for Windows XP users.  I don’t know yet how to open the Registry Editor on Windows Vista, since I don’t have Windows Vista)
4. type “regedit” in the run box.  Hit “Ok”.
5. The Windows Registry Editor tool will open.
6. In the tool, open this folder:  My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Safety\PrivacIE
7. Once this folder is open, click on:  Edit > New > DWORD Value
8. Give the new value that appears this name:  ”StartMode”.  Hit enter
9. Right click on the new StartMode, choose “Modify”.
10. In the field “Value Data”, type “1″.  Hit “Ok”.
11. That’s it.  Close the Registry Editor.  Close and restart your IE 8 browser, you’ll see that inPrivate Filtering is on by default.

The salary data is taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Of course the data is searchable on the BLS site, but I thought I could give it a more user-friendly interface, using AJAX and jQuery.

Give it a visit, give it a search, and let me know if you have any suggestions.

Cheers,

Colin

IE8’s most notable new feature is “inPrivate Filtering”:  this is a domain filtering service that is very easily turned on by a button at the bottom of the window, in the status bar.   With one click, the browser blocks content served by third party domains.

In other words, you read content at latimes.com, and latimes.com tries to show you ads that are served by advertising.com.  The advertising.com ads will be blocked when you turn on inPrivate Filtering.   Not right away.  The default setting is that you have to visit 10 websites that call ads from advertising.com before ads are blocked.  If you turn on inPrivate Filtering whenever you surf, then the most popular adservers and analytics domains will quickly reach 10 hits and be blocked.  And they’ll be blocked every time you turn on inPrivate Filtering.

-Colin

This works on PCs, Macs, and Linux/Unix computers.

What’s a “hosts” file?  It’s a file named “hosts”, and every normal computer sold to consumers has one.

A background on hosts files can be found here, on Wikipedia.

Hosts files also block domains that serve popups, inject trojans, and spread viruses.  Basically, you can block any domain you want quickly and easily.  To get a hosts file with more than 16000 blocked domains (yes, there are at least that many ad servers, spammers, trojaners, and nasty virus spreaders out there) , follow the directions given here, on MVPs.org.

MVPs.org are not a bunch of anarchist hackers, they are a group of Microsoft “Most Valuable Professionals” giving free computer advice.  I like to point that out just to reinforce the point that editing your hosts file to block ads is not some bleeding edge tech head idea.  It’s just a sensible thing to do.

• Three operating systems:  Mac OS X, Unix, and, with not much work, Windows.
• A great TV, for watching movies ( and if you really wanted to watch cable, you could buy an adapter for that) .
• A great stereo, for your iTunes collection.

It’s  a little expensive, but I say it’s worth it.  The screen is really really good.  A friend of mine has an HP all-in-one flat screen, and he says his screen is not as crisp and bright as the iMac’s.  The design of the iMac really does complement any room.  Unlike any computer I can think of, it is not something you want to hide under your desk.  You’re perfectly happy having it out in the open.  It improves a room.

As for the software available for Macs, well, I’ve had it almost a year, and I haven’t had to buy anything yet.  I’m an average user for photos, music, and videos, and the free stuff it comes with is just fine for me.  For word processing I just use google online apps, and for developing I use free open source software.

Anyways, if you’re looking for a new desktop, get an iMac.