Mozilla 0.9.8 for Mac OS X was released today, so I downloaded it and tried it out. I keep hoping that it will work with my test sites better than the last version and I'm constantly disappointed. But this time I was pleasantly surprised. This version passed nine of eleven sites, up from six. I can now log in to my 401k account, although it wasn't working before because Fidelity was filtering out based on browser signature. The Oracle bug database now works correctly, which is great since that's a key application. I can also submit my vacation hours, which I couldn't do before. The only things that still don't work are Java and some JavaScript menus that we use at Oracle.

In fact, Mozilla is now good enough to seriously try as my primary browser. Sure, it probably has a bunch of little bugs and other annoyances, but then so does Internet Explorer. I've tried the other Mac OS X browsers and they all more serious problems. Gosh, you know, I miss Netscape 4.7, Some day, I hope Mozilla becomes that good...

So I finally used my Amazon.com gift certificate. I bought "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual", the "Cold Heart" DVD, and some military books. The Amazon shopping cart keeps things for a long time -- the first two items were there for a month. Could be a problem for some people if they forget they have something in the cart and order without double-checking. But for other people like me, it's a nice reminder that I wanted to buy those items.

I must admit that Amazon has a great selection. You enter a search term and either they have it if it's in print or they can find it through one of the many used book stores tied into Amazon. Unfortunately, if you buy from one of the affiliated stores it's only one item at a time -- which is tough on shipping. They need a way for people to specify a list of books and then have the search engine optimize costs by buying several books from the same used book store.

The other really bad thing about Amazon.com is that product descriptions are in many cases non-existant. Almost all of the items I looked up had just the product name and author or publisher. And since titles vary a bit, at times it was hard to tell if that was the right book. I kept going to Barnes and Nobles, they don't have a good used book database but all of their books have accurate descriptions. Oh well, now that I've spent that gift certificate I probably won't buy from Amazon if I can help it...

So now that I'm moving, I need to think about how I'm moving the TGD Inc servers. I want to get a better DSL connection at my house. Earthlink has a pricey but good DSL service, but no static IP to that area. MacConnect has the cheapest rate for 384kb, but they reserve the right to take your extra IP addresses if you don't use them within two weeks of getting them. And I like having a couple of extra IP addresses open. That leaves Pacbell, who now have a 384kb option. It's ADSL so the downstream is in the 1.5Mb to 6Mb range. The other two are SDSL which is a little better for a dependable throughput.

The plan is to get the house then get phone service. Then I have to order the DSL line. When that's installed I can test the IP addresses. If they work out then I can add those addresses as name servers for my domains. Once Network Solutions updates its database I can then move the servers. Finally I have to delete the old name servers from the domains. Will probably take a couple of months, mostly waiting for DSL to be installed. The other option is to move one of the servers to Dave's boat but I don't want to use Thales to host my web sites. Too complicated.

I'm thinking that I'll be spending all of my time in the server room, unless I want to wire up the place (which is a builder option, though since the walls are already up I think it's too late for that). Home PNA looks kind of neat. It uses the phone wiring to carry a network signal. Version 1.0 is only 1Mb/s but version 2.0 goes to 10Mb/s -- regular Ethernet speeds. The only problem is getting an adapter (about $200 for a standalone, there are cheaper USB versions but they don't work with Mac OS X since they require driver software). Then of course there's wireless. But my PowerBook Airport is dead, so I'd have to wait until I buy a new computer.