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October 26, 2007

taking the "web" out of web-apps?

A new project in the Mozilla pipe-line is almost taking us full circle in the desktop application -> web-application cycle. Traditional desktop applications like email, calendars and office applications have all sprung up in new forms on the web, offering users benefits such as accessibility and quicker launch times. However, Mozilla has raised questions such as "why do you need a 'back' button, or a navigation bar in your web-app?" and in response is developing Prism - an application that pops out web-apps and allows them to run directly on your desktop. Circle complete?

Prism isn’t a new platform, it’s simply the web platform integrated into the desktop experience. Web developers don’t have to target it separately, because any application that can run in a modern standards-compliant web browser can run in Prism.

i, for one, am giving this one a try...

Posted by lara at 03:41 PM | TrackBack

October 22, 2007

what happens when your kids never gets to scrape his knee

kids today are turning into wusses.  i've said it for years, and now people i hope are starting to see that all the things that we now do in the name of safety are in fact doing damage to our kids.  yes, falling out of a tree hurts.  it might even leave you with a broken bone or two.  but when you consider some of the benefits - improving your balance and muscle control, learning how far you can push yourself before you fall, what exactly the playground looks like from above - is the risk really so great that we need to stop kids from climbing trees?
Safety first, yes, but today's overprotected kids need to live a little

"When children spend time in the great outdoors, getting muddy, getting wet, getting stung by nettles, they learn important lessons - what hurts, what is slippery, what you can trip over or fall from. We need to try to break down the perceived safety barriers to playing outside."