Web Stuff and Whatnot

Bill Gates may be the richest man in the world, but I find myself feeling a bit sorry for him lately. Sounds a bit strange I know, but let me explain. When I saw that Microsoft recently launched the new ‘MSN Virtual Earth‘ service it became clear to me that they have been so badly beaten at innovation by Google that the only thing left to do was create a poor attempt at a copy of Google’s highly successful Google Maps service. In my opinion, the interface is clunky and not intuitive at all. Probably because Google owns the online map user interface now and anything else just does not seem to work right. I would give them credit for adding street names to the zoomed in satellite view (absent from Google’s satellite images in the past), but Google has now added that feature too. A bit too little and a bit too late for Microsoft. Not that we can count Microsoft out however- fifty billion in cash (maybe less now that they pay a dividend) can be put to use in many interesting ways. I guess we will have to stay tuned.

A nice addition to Google Maps is the new Google Moon satellite imagery. Not quite as fancy as it could be, but the markers for lunar landings are nice to have, and most likely better detailed imagery will come with time. Be sure to zoom in for a close look.

I suppose its day is coming closer as Microsoft has now chosen a ‘real’ name for the previously code-named Longhorn operating system. I also suppose that Vista is a more memorable name than ‘XP’.

We can take a look at Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary for the definition of vista to learn more-
1. a distant view through or along an avenue or opening
2. an extensive mental view (as over a stretch of time or a series of events)

I guess Microsoft would like us to think that this will be the dawn of a new age for the Windows Operating System. Or perhaps the references to a ‘distant view’ and a ’stretch of time’ are hints that many more delays are sure to come before we see Vista on store shelves.

A must have in the font category- (why not, it’s free and it looks great) is the Silkscreen Font Family by Jason Kottke- kottke.org. Available for Mac, Windows, and even Linux.

Much like fonts, you can never have too many icons. Here’s an incredible deal on a small set of icons that I purchased yesterday. The set is called SoHo and it’s made by Firewheel Design. It’s a small set- only 10 icons, but you get five different colors, and the price is only $5. Yes, $5! Can’t pass that up.