Ok, so what is XUL?

XUL was developed by Mozilla to use for its cross-platform apps like FireFox. XUL was developed for creating UI for apps just like DHTML is used for web page interface. The only complete implementation of XUL can be found in the Gecko layout engine. XUL basically relies on existing web technologies like CSS, JavaScrips and DOM which makes it reasonable easy to master if you have a background in web programming and design.

A XUL interface is typically defined to consist of three discrete sets of components:

• Content: The XUL document(s), whose elements define the layout of the user interface.
• Skin: The CSS and image files, which define the appearance of an application.
• Locale: The files containing user-visible strings for easy software localization.

Drawbacks of XUL:

• The main drawback is the lack or message when errors occurs. The interface just does not display.
• Using RDF to fill widgets is rather difficult.
• Using XPCom, XPConnect is more difficult again.

You can go as deep and you want into XUL on Mozilla’s Introduction to XUL.

A 75 year old woman from Sweden has been thrust into the IT history books – with the world’s fastest internet connection.

Sigbritt Löthberg’s home has been supplied with a 40 Gigabits per second connection, many thousands of times faster than the average residential link and the first time ever that a home user has experienced such a high speed.

But Sigbritt, who had never had a computer until now, is no ordinary 75 year old. She is the mother of Swedish internet legend Peter Löthberg who, along with Karlstad Stadsnät, the local council’s network arm, has arranged the connection.

“This is more than just a demonstration,” said network boss Hafsteinn Jonsson.

“As a network owner we’re trying to persuade internet operators to invest in faster connections. And Peter Löthberg wanted to show how you can build a low price, high capacity line over long distances,” he told The Local.

Sigbritt will now be able to enjoy 1,500 high definition HDTV channels simultaneously. Or, if there is nothing worth watching there, she will be able to download a full high definition DVD in just two seconds.

The secret behind Sigbritt’s ultra-fast connection is a new modulation technique which allows data to be transferred directly between two routers up to 2,000 kilometres apart, with no intermediary transponders.

According to Karlstad Stadsnät the distance is, in theory, unlimited – there is no data loss as long as the fibre is in place.

“I want to show that there are other methods than the old fashioned ways such as copper wires and radio, which lack the possibilities that fibre has,” said Peter Löthberg, who now works at Cisco.

Cisco contributed to the project but the point, said Hafsteinn Jonsson, is that fibre technology makes such high speed connections technically and commercially viable.

“The most difficult part of the whole project was installing Windows on Sigbritt’s PC,” said Jonsson.