Author Profile

Bob Pech

Bob Pech

I’ve been with WOW! since March of 2002. I started as a Tier I Representative, was promoted to a Tier II Representative, was promoted again to a Quality Assurance Specialist, and have been in this role for the last six years. I was born in Germany and spent my formative years there. I was six years old before I spoke my first word of English (it was “pickup truck,” by the way) and I jokingly claim that English is my second language.

My current duties include a variety of auditing functions in the Customer Care Organization such as order reviews and listening to calls.

Interests:
Music
Writing fiction
Tai Chi
Archery

Bob Pech's Blog Posts

Browsers Defined

browser (brou-zer)

noun

  1. a person or thing that browses
  2. COMPUT. software designed to enable a user to access and display data that is on the World Wide Web

 To the rare individuals that never surf the web, browsers are people who shop around in stores without looking for anything special.  To the rest of the world, browsers are essential to modern life.   So, with all the browser choices available, how can you determine which is best for you?

If you listen to all the hype, then all the browsers are the best for you.  And, in many ways they are because all current browsers do the basics of web browsing very well.  Where they differ is in the bells and whistles they offer. So let’s take a look at the browsers that are available and review their features.

Browsers are a very personal choice and I have my favorite,  but my favorite may not work well at all for you.  The best way to decide is to try them and see for yourself.   The current batch of browsers offer pretty much the same features, although they may be implemented differently.

So what are some of these features?  Here’s a short list of some of the more important ones:

  • Tabbed Browsing: This allows you to open multiple web pages in a single browser rather than having to have a new browser window open for each web page.
  • Password Manager: It’s just what is sounds like, this feature allows you to have the browser save the username and password for web pages you may need to log in to. A word of caution, even though computer security has come a long way, the passwords saved by your web browser could be accessed, so I would not recommend using this feature for web sites that contain sensitive or private information.
  • Download Manager: This feature allows for the browser to manage your downloads, you can tell the browser where you want the downloads to go, the browser can also maintain a list of items that were downloaded.
  • Privacy Mode: There are several incarnations of this feature, the first is where the browser does not maintain a history of the browsing session and in most cases, there are either no temporary internet  files or they are deleted when the browser is closed. The other incarnation is where the browser does not broadcast any identifying information.

Now to the browsers themselves, drum roll please…

  • Internet Explorer: This one is from Microsoft. Most likely there’s already a version on your computer, as this browser is installed as part of the operating system. The current version is version 8. 
  • Mozilla Firefox: This browser is an open source alternative to Internet Explorer. Open source means that the code used in the browser is not encoded allowing others to contribute to the design of the browser. Depending on who you listen to, this is the second most popular browser currently in use.
  • Google Chrome: Brought to you by the people that help you with your searches, this is one of the newest browser offerings. This browser is small and relatively quick, but there are some quirks, some sites that may not function correctly. (My favorite, by the way)
  • Safari: If you are a fan of Apple products, this browser is designed by Apple and avialable for use on both MAC and Microsoft platforms.
  • Opera: Another small and fast browser, their web site claims that this is the fastest browser.

There are more browsers than these available for free out on the web. To find the one that’s right for you, try them by downloading, installing, and playing to find one that fits you best.  If you want more infomation before you try them out for yourself,  there are a number of resources available to learn more about the various browsers.  Search on the internet under “web browser review” and take a look at what the various publications have to say.

Browsing for browsers.  A very exciting prospect indeed!

In Education posted March 19, 2010 at 7:00 am

What, all this food and no game?

For those of you that have uttered those words before, you know the frustration of sports blackouts. You’ve seen the dreaded words “This program has been blacked out in your area.” You have a house full of people and a bunch of snacks and no game to watch. So, you may want to know why blackouts happen. No, it has nothing to do with the local power company nor is it the fault of your local cable provider.

The simple explanation is that a blackout is when certain programming, primarily sports, cannot be shown in a particular market. If a local TV broadcaster cannot carry the local game, then no other broadcaster can show the game in the blackout area. The decision to black out an event is based on agreements between the various sports leagues and broadcasters, not your cable provider.   

For example, the NFL’s rules are that any broadcaster that has a signal within 75 miles of an NFL stadium can broadcast the game only if the game is a road game or if the game was a sell out within 72 or more prior to the start of the game.  Additionally, the broadcaster is not allowed to broadcast a game, even if it’s sold out, if one of the teams did not sell out their tickets.  Broadcasters with NFL Contracts are required to show their markets’ road games.  These rules ensure that teams with winning records will have the majority of their games broadcast while fans of teams with losing records may only have their road games to watch. 

The blackout rules apply to all broadcasters, even in those instances where you are subscribing to a particular sports package with your cable provider.  These games are subject to the same blackout rules. 

As you can see, the rules can be complicated and frustrating.  Being a fan of the Houston Texans, I’m lucky if I see two games a year; most of the time I follow the game on the internet, from one of the available sports sites. This is certainly an option, but having a large group of people hovering around your computer with snacks and drinks may not be a viable option for you.  But, on the other hand, maybe it is.

In Education posted February 12, 2010 at 7:00 am