CR-48 Thoughts

I figured I would start 2011 in the same fashion as I did July of 2010, by posting every day. I'm planning another 31 days of not so though provoking fun and frivolity. I decided to throw in one catch this time. I'm going to post from my new laptop.

Earlier in the month, I signed up for Google's Chrome OS pilot program with no expectation at all. I pleaded my case with Google stating that I am a citizen of the clouds and to carry out my patriotic duty I need a device to complete that experience. Someone in Mountain View must have either found great pity on me or agreed that I needed this laptop. On the afternoon of the 14th, one was on my doorstep waiting for me.

I'm still thrilled to have this laptop. There's been a lot said about the Chrome OS, what it lacks, and where it shines. Here's Google's take on their operating system:




So what's my initial take on Chrome OS? My first reaction was to the speed. I'm browsing within 15 seconds even from a cold boot. I have Chrome set to sync with my desktop browser, so everything flows together. I close my browser at work or on my desktop at home, turn on my laptop and it's all right there. I am really enjoying this experience.

The hardware is basic in the most basic sense of the term basic. The keyboard is great, nicely spaced out, I don't miss the caps lock key, but I do miss my delete key. The computer comes with a USB slot, a quasi working SD slot, a VGA port, and a very simple built in webcam. The screen is bright and a comfortable size.

Over time I think I've come to understand the point of Google sending out this laptop free to a set number of developers and enthusiasts. The goal is to show this operating system as a complete work outside the box. I don't see the CR-48 as a laptop, I see it as a portable browser. I don't see me picking up a physical device, I see me picking up the physical internet. With a connection, I am carrying the full web with me. Whether I'm using WiFi or the enabled 3G, I can get online quickly and seamlessly.

Some would think it stinks to be me when I'm not around the an access point. My phone tethers. I'm hardly ever away from an access point. Getting out of the range of T-Mobile's cell towers, that's another story, but rarely is my laptop not functional. I'm actually yet to be away from a connection.

I look forward to software or driver enhancements that give me more access to the solid state hard drive, but until then I can enjoy the benefits of this new and fun machine. I also look forward to sharing my thoughts about it on it and with it over the next 31 days.

Thank You, Richmond

Last year I was harsh on the city of my residence. I made a very angry post about local customer service. I recalled several bad experiences I've had in town. It has been one of the most read posts on my blog over the past couple years.

My point wasn't to look down my nose at this town that I've only called home for five years, but to remind the locals that it doesn't pay to be rude. Not in this day and age. I can easily take my spending money away from the local "brick & mortars" altogether and be perfectly happy.

This year I've had a different impression. It wasn't perfect, I still would like to share a few cross words at the T Mobile rep who wore his ass on his sleeve before Christmas. But apparently the city wants my money again. A couple years of recession and fears of lay offs has seemingly corrected several attitudes in town.

Is that the only reason? I think in this new day where local businesses are interacting with their customers over social networks, the mindset has changed from just providing goods for services to providing goods and good service for services. I say kudos to Richmond for catching on and not falling behind.

My experiences have been much better this year and I wanted to make it a point to say thanks to local businesses, encourage everyone to shop, and visit the local sites and help our neighbors over the next year and beyond.

Hooray for Richmond! 2011 I will be posting great places for people to spend their money. I'm always open for suggestions too. This is much better than the negative feelings and desire to embarrass local businesses as I wanted to do last year.

Hustling and Bustling

It's that time for everything to run together into a haze.

Apparently I'm not the only one...

I did get an early present though from Google to help me decompress. (More on that later)

The beautiful sunrise this morning also helped me un-haze. I am so unbelievably, unimaginably lucky.

Feeling More Organized

This is the season for having a lot on our minds. It's also the season for a lot of important information to escape from my mind. I admit that I have inherited not only my father's good looks, but also his complete lack of memory retention. I don't even think I have the classic "In one ear, out the other" problem. I think that some important items to remember bounce right off of my thick skull.

So I need help. With my trusty phone I have a couple applications which come in quite handy. On my desktop I prefer using Google Tasks to keep up with grocery lists, things to remember, and even organize things that I can put off. It's hard work to be a professional procrastinator. I need an app that can sync with my Google Tasks and give me a lot of other features available as I need them.

For me, Astrid does all of this and more.

Astrid Task/Todo List for Android on AppBrain
Astrid easily lets me add tasks to a master list, allows me to import and sync my Google tasks.  I can add notes, set dates, and set an alarm to remind me of tasks with deadlines. It comes with additional add ins that I recommend to help support development of this app such as voice commands.

So if you see my head in my phone at the grocery store, know that I am looking at my grocery store list widget and trying to remember if I was supposed to pick up the light brown sugar or the dark brown sugar (there's a difference, I know this now).

SSI gTasks ToDo for Android on AppBrain

Prior to discovering Astrid, I used SSI GTasks. This is a much more scaled back and simple application that has the ability to sync with Google Tasks. It also has a widget which was very helpful. Recently changes have been made which limits syncing to Tasks with their paid version. I almost feel certain Google will develop their own Tasks app one day, so I'm leary, but I always try to make it a point to suggest we support these 3rd party developers. Their hard work allows us to enjoy these phones by creating practical, working, and enjoyable apps.

There are plenty other apps out there, I'd be interested to hear what you're using. On my iPod Touch I just used their default Notepad application or I would sync up my Google Tasks with the Google app. I'm sure there are a lot more tools available for the iUser, I just never got to explore any other options.

Next time I'm going into great detail about notepads. This takes tasks to a whole new level and there are several great apps on both major platforms which everyone should have and use.

A Week With IE9 (beta)

Last month I posted some thoughts on Chrome and with a significant amount of time and thought, I eventually made it my default browser. I wanted to give the other platforms equal time, so I am taking a block of time and changing my default browser to give them all a fair shake. I will admit that my planned week using Internet Explorer 9 was a bit sidetracked by a surprise delivery this week from Google. More on that in the next post. For now, the Show must go on.

Internet Explorer 9

For those of us lucky enough to have Windows 7 and get to enjoy the ease of use, better security features, a simpler user interface, and many other small but necessary tweaks, we get the privilege of making an optional upgrade to the newest Internet Explorer. Users that still have Vista also get the optional upgrade, but hopefully people are not holding out with Vista. Make the upgrade. You'll thank me later.

I have to admit out of all the browsers I've been looking at either in a desktop environment or now in the mobile space, IE9 wins hands down for most improved. It has made several changes for the better. In fact, the more time I spend with the browser, the more tempted I am to keep this as my default browser. Here's why:

The look and feel. Internet Explorer 7 and 8 were such a breath of fresh air from version 6 that we all overlooked the clunky design. For a minute. With the new version, the feel is more natural. Now this organic change and feel is probably because it now more resembles modern browsers Firefox and Chrome. The key difference is this browser fits so perfectly within Windows 7. The feel is more second nature and less like a weighed down application sitting on my desktop. IE9 is noticeably faster!

This carries over from the updated command bar, the location and feel of the tabs, the new tab page, and now the ability to search in the address bar. Yes, this is all catch up to other browsers, but I almost feel as though IE caught up then briefly and for one second passed their contenders. There's ability now to drag and pin bookmarks to the taskbar, the download manager is infinately improved, even the newly located notification bar to the bottom of the screen is a refreshing change.

Some of the biggest changes are more subtle. There are quite a few game changing fixes under the hood. With increased support for HTML 5, the browser is going to be able to evolve with the web over the next few years. There are increased web standards over previous versions, but there is still a long way to go. Any improvement now is note worthy. A good demonstration of some of these advancements for those who have the newest version of Internet Explorer is to try their test pages. I like the fish tank.

There's still a small journey overall for the people that work on IE9, but these changes will catapult them into creating a simple and hopefully more stable browser by IE10. My hope more than anything is that soon people will not associate Windows and failure. For me, the OS has preformed flawlessly and I want everyone to share that experience. This gets us in that right direction. I think others will feel this too.

More info:
About IE9
Test Drive
Wikipedia

Wintery Precipitations

It was really coming down this morning.

Best believe I took no interstates in this morning!

Even made it to work on time. Or close enough...

Remembering Infamy

I've been good at my blog for remembering dates. I'm yet to reflect on events that landed our country into world war in the 1940's. Today I remember the thousands of lives lost as a result of this conflict and carry hope that we make every attempt not to repeat these same mistakes made not even a century ago.