IEBlog Explains PNG Implementation in IE7

IEBlog : IE7 Transparent PNG Implementation
My name is Sam Fortiner and I’m a developer on the Internet Explorer team here at Microsoft. I joined the company about a year ago when I was given the opportunity to work on IE. Since then I’ve worked on several aspects of IE and recently settled down into the layout and display team. As part of my work in this team, I implemented support for per-pixel alpha in PNGs.

Aside from the fact this is avery good explanantion of what it took to get transparent PNG support into IE7, this post alos illustrates evrything that is good about corporate blogging. Indeed the entire IEBlog is a testament to how blogging can be used to connect with customers. We could all learn from this.

WordPerfect, Not Dead Yet, Gets An Email Client

Corel adds e-mail client to WordPerfect suite | InfoWorld | News | 2005-04-26 | By Joris Evers, IDG News Service
The e-mail client is based on Bloomba, which was distributed by San Mateo, California-based Stata Labs until that company was acquired by Yahoo last October. Bloomba was lauded by reviewers as being efficient and easy to use, but it lacked a high profile. Yahoo discontinued distribution of Bloomba after it bought Stata Labs.

Corel was in talks with Stata Labs before it was taken over by Yahoo and has now struck a deal with the Sunnyvale, California, Internet company to distribute Bloomba as WordPerfect Mail, said Richard Carriere, a general manager at Corel. Details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Pegasus Mail Ponders Open Source

Pegasus Mail and Linux
As discontent with Microsoft’s “business practices” grows, we have seen unprecedented interest in alternative solutions for operating systems and applications. As a natural consequence of this, I have received numerous, or maybe even innumerable requests for a Linux version of Pegasus Mail. As a corollary to these requests, I have had a lot of people suggest that I also move to an Open Source basis for maintaining the Pegasus Mail and Mercury source code.

In the past, I have taken a cautious “wait-and-see” approach to the idea of Open Source. I am now willing to accept that it is a valid model, and that it is producing some genuinely excellent packages (such as FireFox, of which I am inordinately fond). Ideologically, I believe that Open Source and I are a good match, and I would like to consider going that way.

Pegasus Mail has always been one of my favorite windows email clients. I hope David Harris finds away to take it to open source.

DoubleClick bought for $1.1 billion | InfoWorld | News | 2005-04-25 | By InfoWorld staff

In Brief: DoubleClick bought for $1.1 billion | InfoWorld | News | 2005-04-25 | By InfoWorld staff
Two U.S. private equity firms have bought online advertising company DoubleClick for $1.1 billion, DoubleClick announced Monday. The firms, Hellman and Friedman and JMI Equity, expect to complete the deal in the third quarter. JMI Equity, which focuses on the software and business service industries, will hold a minority interest. Hellman and Friedman sees the acquisition of DoubleClick as an opportunity to extend its online advertising and marketing and data businesses, in part though the recognizable DoubleClick brand as well as utilizing its experienced staff, the company said.

Forgent Sues Microsoft Over JPEG

Forgent sues Microsoft, alleging JPEG patent infringement – Computerworld
Forgent Networks Inc. has added Microsoft Corp. to the list of companies it has sued alleging infringement of a patent for a data compression technique it claims is used in the JPEG digital image standard.

The lawsuit, filed yesterday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, comes after Forgent was unable to negotiate a licensing agreement with the software maker, said Michael Noonan, director of investor relations at Forgent.

Syntax Desktop CMS

freshmeat.net: Project details for Syntax Desktop
Syntax Desktop is a publishing system used to manage the contents of a Web site. It has an attractive GUI with DHTML elements. You can use it to insert news, photos, documents, and tree data structures into your site. It features easy DB backup and style switching.

Good use of DHTM GUI. I really should look into this more. It works in Firefox as well as IE.

Remixing the Desktop

Remixing how we use the Open Source desktop
To understand how to design for proper integration, you need to first explore what people actually use their computers for. Aside from recreational use, the majority of businesses users, and those who actually work on their computers all utilise them within the concept of a project. Within this context, you find users who mentally hook together different applications with the intention of satisfying criteria to achieve a project or goal. This can be demonstrated with a simple use case.

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