Those of you using Firefox probably know version 2.0 has been out for a day or so.  And what a release it is.

Typically well ahead of technologically and security handicapped Internet Explorer, it has been using features Internet Explorer has only recently patched up, such tab browsing and more.

Give the new 2.0 a spin, especially if you are a Mac user.  It is faster than Safari, especially in the Flash intensive area.  If you are a PC user, well Duh!  Firefox is a no-brainer…

Click here for the Firefox website.

Former FCC Chairman William Kennard lamented the awful state of broadband access for the poor in the United States.

He was quoted as saying over “net neutrality” — that, should network providers charge companies special fees for faster bandwidth is essentially a battle between the extremely wealthy (Google, Amazon and other high-tech giants, which oppose such a move) and the merely rich (the telephone and cable industries).

After 8 years of deregulating broadband in America, DSL and cable are free of any real obligation to protect the original neutrality of the Internet.  When imposed rules by merger agreements expire, last-mile broadband providers will be free to pick and choose network carriers.  Over these same 8 years, following this policy of deregulation, we’ve gone from 1st in the world to rivaling Slovenia. Broadband on average is slower in the US, and more expensive. In France, a triple play “Internet, Telephone, and TV” package is $32. Comcast offers less for $150.

The problem is Kennard sits on the board of many of those who benefit most from this deregulation.  This makes him as if he might be partial to deregulation.

You can read the original article here.  It poses a new twist on an hot issue.

I use a PowerBook G4 for simple reasons, it works, it works and it works.  Did I make my point?  I never reboot unless there is a critical patch (rare).  I an antivirus but use it every three months when I remember.  I will scan my Document folders and some system files.  I run a firewall in its most basic configuration.  I have external hard drives and DVD burners where I do my back ups.  That is it.

I primarily use Firefox for obvious reasons, functionality, security and tweaks.  Tab browsing is a old love affair with Firefox.  I use many extensions, FasterFox to tweak the speed, AllPeers to share between here and work, VideoDownloader, NoScript and AddBlock to block or add whichever website and pages I want.  I go to Bloglines to get my news.

I use Mail which does a fair job and will pay for a stronger junk mail filter functionality.  The built in one is correct.  You see when you work in Real Estate people think your email is an excuse to dump just about anything in, from other agent all the sudden playing nice with you out of desperation, to enlarging private parts, etc.  My email sits wide open on the Department of Real Estate, Realtor organization and the local MLS guys.

I blog through Typepad because it offers fairly easy to use functions at a normal price.  I use open source web editing tools for my site and ftp transfers.  I use VoodPad for my blogging.  A neat little utility that is basically, a notepad or TextEdit under steroids, it adds the great function of hyperlinks, so that it can be used as a basic webpage.

However, I still cannot go to an MLS site even using the quirky anti-dated Internet Explorer for Mac.  The reason is Microsoft has long stopped updating it, MLS are Windows-centric only.  My work around are open source emulators and using my wife’s laptop.  That bis the biggest inconvenience with this industry that forces you to tie your resources up with Microsoft.  My next solution will be to buy a new G5, with an Intel chip, I will be able to run Parallel, an emulator that lets you start Windows will staying in Mac OSx.

All in all, that last inconvenience does not outweigh the reliability, stress free (compared to Windows) environment and robust security my Mac offers.  I have spent ten years of my life working with Windows to the point where disgusted enough with its never ending cycles of updating expensive software, promises of better iterations, patching security issues and just plain old poor reliability, I left it behind figuring out Mac would be better.  Three years later, I can say it is 100% better.  I do not stress anymore.  I know my Mac is working, will work and I will have no problem.  It’s just something I have never seen with Windows.

I tested an interesting iteration of something we have seen before but repackaged with more modern functions and services.  PageFlakes is a new sort of portal.  Sure, we know portals from Yahoo, Netscape or AOL but they are so 90s.  Welcome to the new century.  PageFlakes allows you to bundle your own content on one page such as Flikr albums, You Tube videos, the inevitable weather forecast along with obviously, the news.  And you can add RSS feeds, etc.

Until now, I have pretty much depended on Bloglines to give me my daily dose of blogs where I get %75 of my news but PageFlakes look like a worthy replacement since it can do what Bloglines does plus more.  However, after a few weeks I abandoned it.  It became quirky and I did not like how their featured item could not be sized and less obnoxious.  It is a great site and I will give another try soon.

In conclusion, PageFlakes takes the idea of a portal and adds more recent functionalities, amongst which RSS, other Page Flakes pages, allows you to share notes, calenders, allows you to set reminder notes.  It is pretty flexible and not in your face.  I give it a four out of five stars, until I play with it more.

Go and check it out and tell me what do you think.