once a techie always a techie
This comic cracks me up! :
Anyone who uses Linux or Unix would understand. For those who don’t use either, sudo stands for “superuser do”. It allows users to run commands that require the higher privileges of a superuser or administrator.
Do you want the web to work the way you want it to without needing a degree in web design? Well here’s some technology headed in that direction which allows anyone to tell the browser to do what they want in simple english.
Watch the video to get what I mean:
Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.
Let’s face it, the internet is evolving at a fast rate in terms of available online services and its capacity to distribute different forms of media. One of the most popular and most resource intensive types of media being shared online is video, either through server to client file downloads or video streaming. Imagine trying to stream the latest episode of House over a dial-up connection… Not a pretty picture, errr video clip, I should say.
Broadband internet is becoming more and more ubiquitous as people are starting to realize how much the world wide web has to offer if you have the right resources to use it to its full potential. So, if you’re planning to get yourself some exposure to information overload at it’s finest, get a broadband internet connection.
If you’re located in the UK and have trouble determining from which Internet Service Provider (ISP) to get your piece of the Internet pie, try and visit the Broadband Expert website where you can do a broadband comparison between providers like Vodafone, Orange, and T-Mobile. Example criteria used to compare providers are connection speed, monthly price, download limit, setup fee, cost for the first year and customer rating information.
Some ISPs even throw in a free laptop if you sign up for their mobile broadband service. Mobile broadband is a service that helps keep you connected to the web wherever the provider has service coverage while you’re on the move. The free laptops are a respectable selection of HPs, Acers and other brands that won’t leave you thinking you were ripped off. These packages help you maximize the use of your mobile broadband connection and offer tremendous savings as you no longer need to add the expense of buying a laptop to the cost of going mobile.
Hop onto the broadband internet bandwagon confident in your choice of Internet Service Provider through the help of Broadband Expert.
Google known for its search engine’s dominant market share has just released it’s own take on the browser. Firefox, Opera and Internet Explorer meet your new playmate, Google Chrome.
Chrome is a browser designed from the ground up as a platform that is optimized to handle not just regular web pages with simple images and text hyperlinks but web applications like Youtube’s video player app, meebo’s IM app, and thousands of online java-based games. This type of functionality was nonexistent when the first browsers roamed the earth. Browsers like Firefox 3 and IE 7 are still designed based on the legacy concepts of their earlier iterations.
User Interface
When you first start Google Chrome you are presented with a “clean, simple, efficient user interface”. The thinking behind this is the interface isn’t that all important. It is the webpages, sites and web applications that you are interested in the most. So the focus is on your interaction with the content being more seemless and convenient overall.
Design Concepts and Features
One of the design concepts implemented in Google Chrome is that each tab in the browser is it’s own process. Meaning each tab has it’s own address in memory separate from the other tabs. So if a tab hangs, it doesn’t affect the other tabs and ultimately the browser as a whole. To get rid of the offending tab you just need to close it and be done with it. Unlike traditional browsers where a problem with one webpage may force you to restart the whole browser. This type of design also eliminates the problem of memory bloat, where the longer you use a browser or the more tabs you open causes the browser to use more and more memory turning it into a hog that just slows your whole system down. This is because the multi-process design makes it easier to reclaim memory. When you open a new tab it creates a new process. Closing a tab destroys that process at the same time freeing up memory.
Ever used Window’s Task Manager to find out what’s using up all your memory or straining your CPU? Well you can do the same with Chrome which has its own task manager where you can see which sites are using up the most memory and kill the process if you don’t appreciate its greediness.
Google Chrome also has a new javascript engine called V8, designed to provide better performance of web applications through compiling the application’s source code once and running it instead of having to interpret source code every time it needs to run the application.
Then we have what the Google developers call the Omnibox. Which is an address bar on steriods sort of like Firefox 3’s AwesomeBar. It works like a search box with a type ahead feature that provides suggestions based on your search history, top visited web pages, or web pages more popular than the ones you’ve visited. For example type “laptop” into the address bar and you’re given a list of previously visited webpages containing information about laptops. The word laptop doesn’t even have to be in the URL itself. A time saver to say the least and it can almost do away with the need for bookmarks.
Another feature is the New Tab page which gets populated with your nine most visited web pages and search history information. This means you don’t even have to type into the address bar anymore. Your most frequently visited web sites are just a click away.
Google’s browser will also be extensible through Gears similar to Firefox Addons. This will help add to or improve Chrome’s base functionality and features.
Security
When it comes to security, Google’s developers designed Chrome with a glass half empty attitude which assumes that you will inevitably come into contact with malicious sites or other web-based malware. So each tab you open on the browser aside from living in it’s own address space is virtually “sandboxed” preventing malware from installing itself onto your computer or reading information off of your computer (something spyware is supposed to do.) The browser is also constantly updated with lists of known phishing and malicious websites ready to warn you if you happen to visit a website on one of the lists.
There is however a potential security hole and that is the support for third party plugins which you will need to see flash-based animations, video and the like. Google’s developers admit they will need the cooperation of third party plugin developers to write plugins that use lower priveleges to run, therefore closing the door on the posibility of your system getting compromised.
Summary
So there you have it. Google is designing a browser that promises to be faster, more stable and secure than the current offerings. It is an open source project, which means it’s source code is readily available to any developer who would like to improve upon the solid foundation that Google presents as its contribution to a more powerful, and interactive world wide web.
You can download Google Chrome currently in Beta here.
Watch videos of its features here.
P.S. - My personal experience with this browser hasn’t been stellar. I keep getting an Application error whenever I launch the browser or open a website on my Vista SP1 laptop. It is a Beta so I’m giving it more time. I’ve uninstalled it from my system for the moment. You might have better luck with it though.
I just got myself a wireless mouse to complement my notebook. Using the touchpad that comes with my notebook just isn’t as intuitive as using a mouse. And you have so much more control with a mouse. I’d only use the touchpad as a last resort when it comes to getting that all-important cursor to do my bidding.
So what got me to choose this mouse over many others I’d considered? Well, I’m the type who doesn’t buy things with features I don’t think I’ll ever need. I look for simple things that do what they’re supposed to do and do it without too much of a fuss. Call me mediocre or unexciting… boring. Just like this mouse. It’s sort of what a Toyota is to automobiles. Staid, sober in design, but as dependable as the mortar and pestle. If you want to crush stuff into a powdery consistency, the mortar and pestle is the way to go. If you want a notebook mouse that you can depend on to work as advertised, get the Logitech V220 Cordless Optical Mouse.
Design
Like I said, the V220 doesn’t break new ground in terms of looks. But it’s totally functional. It was made mainly to use with a notebook and when you think of notebooks, portability is a necessary goal. It’s “tall” enough for your palm to have something to rest on yet small enough to fit nicely into your bag’s pockets. It’s made to fit the hand of a lefty or uhm righty. It has a bit of heft which I appreciate. The weight makes it easier to control. The V220 has rubber side panels which make it virtually impossible to slip out of your hands. Though I don’t see that possibly happening unless your hands were the only part of your body with sweat pores. The scroll wheel is ridged, again for better “grip” and control.
Features
Aside from the usual left and right click functionality, the aforementioned scroll wheel also has a side-scroll feature for those mile-wide spreadsheets or 10-megapixel photos. This feature can only be enabled if you’ve installed the Logitech SetPoint software which is readily downloadable from the Logitech site.
This mouse doesn’t use a laser to verify it’s whereabouts on your table but an optical sensor which has the sensitivity of 1000dpi which is 2.5 times more accurate than sensors on standard optical mice. With the optical sensor, you can even use the mouse on your curvaceous lap and still do something useful on the screen. Quite handy when there isn’t a flat surface to rest it on.
The V220 comes with a USB mini-receiver that you can clip into the bottom of the mouse when you’re done using it. Doing that also turns the mouse off.
This mouse is powered by a AAA battery so it’s easy to find a replacement whenever the time comes which shouldn’t be that often as the battery is supposed to last at least 6 months. The SetPoint software even comes with a tab that let’s you see the battery status. Simply pacing your mouse over the SetPoint icon on your taskbar can reveal battery status as well:
Conclusion
Overall I’m happy with my purchase. Logitech is well known for their high quality and well-designed mice, keyboards, and hi-def webcams. So I feel this was money well spent. I don’t need a mouse with all the bells and whistles. If you want that then get the Logitech MX Revolution. But be prepared to pay a pretty penny too. The V220 goes for about $30 which is a reasonable amount if you expect quality and dependability which this mouse has serves up in spades.
Dell is the go to laptop brand for corporate users as they are well known for their durable, reliable and secure offerings.
Dell Latitude E6400
The Dell Latitude E6400 is no slouch when you take those virtues into consideration. One of Dell’s offerings in it’s newly revamped Latitude E-series business laptop line, the E6400 is covered not in flimsy plastic but magnesium alloy which is light and highly durable. This 4.3 pound beauty is a Centrino 2 platform based laptop that has a base 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU with RAM starting at 1GB (max 5GB) . A 14.1-inch widescreen display with a resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels upgradeable to a brighter and sharper 1,440 x 900-pixel LED-backlit display powered by Intel’s GMA 4500HD IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) which shares memory from the main RAM. There is, however, an option for a version with a discrete Nvidia Quadro NVS 160M1 with 256MB of dedicated video RAM.
Connectivity will be no problem as it has Bluetooth, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi radios, 4 x USB 2.0, 1 x eSATA, mini-FireWire ports a GPS receiver as an option and a VGA-out. Too bad no HDMI connector for the Hi-Def crackheads out there. The base 80GB hard drive can also be replaced with a 64GB solid state drive which preempts data loss or storage device damage from a normally heart-stopping accidental drop from a table top.
Dell has all the bases covered on the Latitude E6400 when it comes to security features an afore-mentioned Dell virtue. Starting with the fingerprint sensor, TPM security chip to SmartCard slots and even contactless SmartCard. Then there’s something called ControlVault technology. Similar to the TPM chip, ControlVault stores sensitive encryption keys in the hardware. But while TPM requires software be installed on the hard drive to work, ControlVault uses the BIOS to store the application on. This eliminates the software layer as a potential avenue for a malicious attack.
But what really stands out about the Latitude E6400 is the unbelievable battery life. Your run of the mill laptop can give you 2-4 hours of battery life; probably 6-7 hours if you have a high-capacity battery. However, with this Dell, put in a let’s say 9-cell battery, then add an external 12-cell battery ’slice’ and up to 19 hours of true unplugged mobility is a possibility. Now that’s a lot of juice allowing the mobile worker to get a whole bunch of work done and still have the oomph to play a movie on a cross-country flight without having to worry about looking for a power-socket.
Look at the accessories Dell offers with their E-6400 which starts at $1,139 for the base model all the way to over $3000 for the give it all you got, money not an option perversion.
Dell Latitude E6400 Accessories
Go to the Dell website here to check out their new Latitude E-Series lineup and choose your pick…
