Viewing Browser Cache in Firefox

Firefox has a nice way to view files that are in both your memory and file cache. In the Address Bar, type – about:cache. This will take you to a page that allows you to view a summary of your browser cache and also will allow you to browse the files stored in the cache.

One Laptop per Child !

The XO-1, previously known as the $100 Laptop or Children's Machine, is a proposed inexpensive laptop computer intended to be distributed to children around the world, especially to those in developing countries, to provide them with access to knowledge and modern forms of education. The laptop is being developed by the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) trade association. OLPC is a U.S. based, non-profit organization created by faculty members of the MIT Media Lab to design, manufacture, and distribute the laptops.

The rugged and low-power computers will contain flash memory instead of a hard drive and will use Linux as their operating system.^[1] Mobile ad-hoc networking will be used to allow many machines Internet access from one connection.

The laptops will be sold to governments and issued to children by schools on a basis of one laptop per child. Pricing is currently expected to start at around US$135–175 and the goal is to reach the US$100 mark in 2008. Approximately 500 developer boards (Alpha-1) were distributed in summer 2006; 875 working prototypes (Beta 1) were delivered in late 2006; 2400 Beta-2 machines were distributed at the end of February 2007; full-scale production is expected to start in mid-2007.^[2] Quanta Computer, the project's contract manufacturer, said in February, 2007 that it had confirmed orders for one million units. They indicated they could ship 5 million to 10 million units this year because seven nations have committed to buy the XO-1 for their schoolchildren, including Argentina, Brazil, Libya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Thailand and Uruguay.^[3]

The OLPC project has stated that a consumer version of the XO laptop is not planned.^[4] However, Quanta will be offering machines very similar to the XO machine on the open market.^[5] Emerging competitors in the category include the Eee pc.

Microsoft's Boasting of Silverlight

Silverlight will go head-to-head with Adobe's Flash, the current dominant platform for online multimedia content. Microsoft has long insisted that Silverlight will do things its rivals can't. Those claims got a major boost from Silverlight's dramatic demos at Mix07. Netflix plans to adopt Silverlight as the foundation for its instant-viewing feature; a demo showed off high-quality streaming video overlaid with DVD-like menus and controls. A preview of forthcoming on-demand video functionality from MLB.com had attendees clamoring for the developing new features to hurry up and get finished.

Silverlight's content presentation was impressive, but development partners said its programming model is even more impressive. Avenue A/Razorfish began working on the Netflix demo it showed off today just three weeks ago, Brown said.

"We've found it to be an incredibly powerful platform to create immersive experiences," he said. "We now have unprecedented collaboration between our designers and developers."

Solutions provider Metaliq showed off a Silverlight-based in-browser video editing application, Top Banana. Building the application was quick and painless, according to Metaliq CEO Beau Ambur. What's even more painless is its download speed: the application itself is just 50kb, Ambur said.

Of course, Microsoft's willingness to play nicely with rival platforms has its limits. Silverlight applications will run on Macs, but the tools for building them won't. Expression Studio, which shipped today, will remain Windows-only software, according to Wayne Smith, the group product manager in charge of the suite.