Googlesoft Chomernet Framesplorer

Google Chrome Frame. Have you seen this, have you heard about this? If not, it’s all right here for you.

Microsoft slammed it, Mozilla has come out and sided with Microsoft in slamming it. Ordinarily I’m supportive of Google’s projects, but this seems odd to me. It’s one of those things that might have looked better on paper than in practice.

Of course, my reasons are different from Microsoft or Mozilla’s. They’re saying vulnerabilities may be doubled, it may be creating a sort of browser soup, and confusing the user and muddying the internet. Sure, possibly.

What I’m going to do is defend Google against themselves. Are you ready? Here’s what I think: It should NOT be Google’s job to patch Internet Explorer or any other browser.

It’s not their browser. It’s not their browser. It’s not their browser.

It’s definitely not their job. If Microsoft doesn’t care enough to make a quality product, Google shouldn’t concern themselves. I thought that’s what Chrome was about, anyway?

You don’t see Microsoft putting out plug-ins for Mac OS X or Linux that make those operating systems behave like Windows. You don’t see Aston Martin putting their engines in Ford Explorers.

I think it’s admirable that they want to try and help people who use Internet Explorer, but the best thing they can be doing is working on their own browser.

Speaking of which, why not drop this Google Chrome Frame crap and, I don’t know, release Chrome for OS X?! You want to help people out, Google? How about releasing your browser for us Mac and Linux people instead of wasting your time on Internet Explorer.

You’re using a modified version of Apple’s own web engine anyway. The least you can do is release your browser on its engine’s native platform.

Joinage, and drive

So I’ve joined this interblag. Woo with me! Wooo!

I bought a hard drive this past weekend. That’s right, I’m gonna hit the ground running, because I know you care. Anyway, it’s external, USB… 1TB. Feel the power. It was surprisingly cheap — ~$120 at Best Buy, and Seagate no less — and also surprisingly, it wasn’t the biggest one available… external hard drives apparently go as high as 2TB. Those are still prohibitively expensive, though, and I don’t think I could fill up 1TB even if I put everything I have onto it (including imaging CDs and DVDs), so I figured that’d be plenty.

Unlike the last external hard drive I bought (320GB), this one is actually going to get used for its purchased purpose, which is backups. I will remain strong this time, and not end up turning it into a repository for torrent downloads. Unfortunately, the software it came with won’t do what I want.

See, it says on the packaging “Simple software included, for automated back up, synchronization and encryption that keeps your information safer.” Well the part I was really interested in was “synchronization”, which said to me that I could set it up sort-of like a RAID 1 mirror, and have a constantly up-to-date backup that — need be — I could disconnect and run out of my apartment with, in case my apartment was exploding or something.

Well, I don’t know if its synchronization functionality actually works that way, because when you try to select what folders you want to keep synchronized, several folders just plain don’t show up — including Windows and Program Files — and forget trying to just select the whole drive, because you can’t do that either.

What I ended up doing was searching for a version of rsync for Windows, which led me to DeltaCopy. It’s not the continuous-synchronization setup like I want, but something tells me that that could get slow anyway, so I’m ok with a couple of clicks to initiate a backup. It was kinda weird to set up, but on the plus side, rsync doesn’t back up in some funky proprietary format… it just copies the files over, which means if I need something, I can just go get it using ordinary Windows Explorer. Some things it can’t back up, like in-use Windows files, but I’d probably rather just re-install Windows rather than try to restore it from a backup anyway.

Last estimate said I had better than half of the 1TB free. Time to start imaging discs.

Microsoft’s New Ads

This is their latest, following fresh off the heals of their first.

I’m not going to get into a whole commentary, you don’t have to go very far to find one. I’m an Apple nerd, and sure I get a little irked at a phrase like “to me, Macs are about aesthetics than actual computing power.” However, I am quite amused so far. I await their next ad in this series.

I don’t know if or how Microsoft are trying to compete with Apple’s “Mac vs PC” ads, and on what level, but that’s how people look at it. And I think the difference between these sets of ads really points out the difference between Microsoft and Apple.

Apple’s ads are simple and catchy. Microsoft’s ads are more complex. There’s really nothing wrong with it, but I think people miss the point when trying to compare them. And if Microsoft is trying to compete with Apple’s ads, they’re missing the point too.

I do think this new series of ads by Microsoft are their best yet. What I think they really should be doing is what Apple don’t in their ads — actually talk about the OS. Maybe if Microsoft talked about Windows, it would force Apple to talk about OS X.

Just maybe.

Twitter

Twitter is an awesome tool if you can figure out how it works best for you. I had an account for almost a year and I never used it because I found it too cumbersome to actually go to Twitter.com to stay current with who I was following, and post my own tweets.

The last few months I’ve become much more interested in it simply due to the existence of client desktop apps that you can run 24/7 and keeps you updated with all the latest tweets from your followers and allows you to tweet your own tweets. Tweet. Tweeeeet.

Ahem.

There are a number of these client apps, but the one I settled on is called Twhirl. It runs on the Adobe Air platform and works on Windows and Mac OS X. I wholly recommend giving it a whirl. Get it? Twhirl. Whirl.

Yes, I went there.

Another good Twitter client that I have tried out, but never continued using for reasons that have escaped me, is Destroy Twitter. It has a very slick UI and seems to be just as good, if not better than Twhirl.

I came across Twhirl first and I like sticking with what works, but go ahead and try out whatever you come across. The point is to get Twitter working for you, because it’s one of those things that works better and better the more people use it.

You can, of course, follow me on Twitter. Tweet you later!

How to painlessly set up MySQL and PHP.

I’ll warn you, if you’re a purist you might as well stop reading this now. Not that what I’m about to tell you is really all that bad, it’s just for people who want a quick and easy way to set up PHP and MySQL.

And all you need to know is one thing… what platform are you using?

If you’re on Windows, all you need is a little sumthin’ called EasyPHP. If you’re on Mac OS X, then what you want is MAMP. Sorry for those of you on Linux since I don’t know of any equivalents at the moment, but chances are if you are on Linux you would have stopped at my first sentence anyway.

What these two applications offer is a way to set up a fully functional local (as in on your computer) server running PHP and MySQL without actually having to do all the grunt work that is necessary to run PHP and MySQL normally. Just install and boom, you’re in business.

Of course, you’ll still need to know where to put your website files and how to access them in your browser, which I trust you’re smart enough to figure out. If not, those websites should have ample documentation to get you by.

Game boxes.

I’m moving in late April or early May, which means I’m currently in the process of going through everything that I have and getting rid of everything I don’t need.

In this last month I’ve thrown away countless garbage bags filled with old hardware, gadgets, trinkets, papers, documents, school handouts, you name it. I’m a collector of junk. I don’t do it intentionally. I just apply a sentimental value towards anything I come into contact with, and the mere thought of throwing anything away is a paralyzing one indeed.

Although I get so frustrated with all the junk and clutter I have, I actually revel in throwing it away. It’s like therapy. It’s like exercising and finally getting rid of all that excess fat.

Yet it seems no matter how many garbage bags full of junk I throw out, I still have tons of stuff left.

Earlier today I was going through a bin full of game boxes and software boxes. Do I really need this? Do I really need the box for Windows 95? For Super Smash Bros.? For Age of Empires I and II?

I managed to junk some of it, not before first taking pictures. Pictures of the cover art, the back, any system requirements printed. At least that way I can still keep the boxes, in a sense, without them actually taking up space.

I also threw out some old digital cameras. These things were huge. I took pictures of them, too. Perhaps I’ll set up a Flickr space for all this stuff. I love the internet… remove all my physical junk and place it in digital form for all to see.

Cyberlife is grand.

iMac Fund Begins!

I had been a Windows PC user since 1994. I was 9 years old at the time, and new to computers. Back then it was Windows 3.1 and MS-DOS, hardly user friendly compared to today. Up until 2005 I had a vague impression of Macintosh computers. And in 2005 I became greatly interested in the Apple world, and I’ve been following ever since.

Early 2006 I bought an old Power Macintosh G3 on eBay (the old “Blue & White” one) which ran Mac OS X Tiger pretty damn well. Not bad for a seven-year-old computer at the time running the latest version of Apple’s operating system. You wouldn’t find a PC that old running Vista.

In June 2007 I got my first brand new Mac, specifically the white MacBooks. I’m now using it as my main computer, and it’s functioning as a Desktop since I have it connected to an external display, keyboard, and mouse. And speakers. It’s currently the best computer I’ve ever owned. I say that as my loyal PC sits tucked away, still running, but stuck doing specific tasks. Like a cute little puppy.

I’ll be an Apple customer for life. I’m hooked.

Except that my MacBook isn’t really doing it for me. As I said, I’m using it as a Desktop replacement. What I’d really like is a proper desktop Mac, an iMac, that I can sit at and is a permanent fixture on my desk. Now that Apple has refreshed their desktop lineup (March 3rd) I find it’s time for me to finally get serious about saving up for one.

Today marks that day. The day I start saving. I’ve had a separate bank account, at a separate bank, from my normal bank since this last summer. It’s been sitting at $0 this whole time. Not anymore.

This is the best way you can save for something. Get a whole different bank account at a different bank, put money in it, and just forget it even exists. Out of sight, out of mind.