Chris's Profile

Member since June 19, 2013

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  1. Review - Google Chrome for Windows

    2.0.169.1 (Mar 16, 2009)

    coover: RTFM. Hit CTRL+B to open and close the bookmarks bar.

    Chrome is a great browser and most of the negative reviews here are from fearmongers.

    The real debate here is whether you like the rendering engine from Mozilla, IE, Opera, or the webkit rendering engine. If you enjoy the speed of webkit and the js engine that Chrome uses, then it goes down to interface. Chrome is an excellent browser and I use it and Firefox mainly.

    I find Chrome to be a more enjoyable browsing experience as it is very fast and more featured than Safari and less cluttered than Opera. I find it to be weak for web developers as many of Firefox's plugins are indispensable to me as a developer.

    [shrugs]

    And as far as 'Who is Trusting Chrome? Who is Trusting Google?' -- many people. Google exists to make money and to improve the web. While you may not believe the latter, it is in Google's best interest to fulfill their mission statement as they have developed many trust based relationships between themselves and other businesses. If this trust is broken, then it hurts Google financially. Unlike Microsoft and many other companies, Google is a company whose message and actions define both who they are and how successful they are.

  2. Review - Google Chrome for Windows

    2.0.158.0 (Jan 23, 2009)

    Fantastic WebKit browser. I'm a developer and enjoy the DOM inspector and really just enjoy the efficient, fresh take on the browser interface. Rendering is extremely reliable and fast.

    I'm still at a loss as to why people like 'Sven' claim that this is 'worse browser out there'. I think it is 'great browser out there.'

  3. Review - Miranda IM

    0.8.0 Test Build 26 (Jan 5, 2009)

    I love Miranda and have used it for a very long time. Recently I switched to Digsby as it DOES already have social media plugins as well as a more organized menu system and is a more pleasant overall experience. Digsby does have tons of opt-out applications in it and a few things that a pro user will want to disable (the creators have made it to utilize distributed computing when your computer is idle as a way to monetize Digsby).

    So - my Miranda rating is down from a 5 to a 4 because there is real competition in the multi-im client world. Miranda needs to polish up a bit and start adding features and making itself more viable to end users!

  4. Review - Instantbird for Windows

    0.1.3 (Dec 19, 2008)

    To everyone who thinks this has great potential, take the time to try 'Digsby', which BN had posted a few days ago... too many Multi-IM clients are focused on standards compliant application framework development and the end result suffers and is neglected. I'm passionate about the benefits of Miranda IM... hate Pidgin due to GTK and the feeling that the project has lost momentum and interest (right when audio/video became a focus in Google Summer of Code)... and well, Digsby impresses me GREATLY. It does everything that this app is setting out to do, and it's already available with a lower memory footprint.

    And Kylde, Digsby does not install malware. It installs a way for the organization to generate revenue. As a developer, I can appreciate their model as it is transparent and for users like you and I, we can opt out because we actually -care-. There's nothing malicious about Digsby.

    http://blog.digsby.com/archives/68

    "Lastly, we have made this module 100% optional. You can disable it in the main menu by going to “Help > Support Digsby” and disabling the “Help Digsby Conduct Research” option. We linked to this blog post in the FAQ section of our website and we’ll be adding more info explaining this feature into Digsby itself, as well as, more extensive options like the ability to set how much of your CPU to use."

  5. Review - SeaMonkey for Windows

    2.0 Alpha 2 (Dec 10, 2008)

    5 so as to not damped the positive feedback...

    I'm familiar with Seamonkey. But I don't understand what the point is. How is SeaMonkey better than Firefox 3.1 + Thunderbird 3.0b1?

    s the HTML Editing and the chat client actually compelling enough to want to use this? Otherwise, what's the point? I encourage people rating this to state -why- this is their choice... which I feel that no one really has stated clearly.

  6. Comment - 92% of social network users are on Facebook, just 13% on Twitter

    2.0 Alpha 2 (Jun 16, 2011 - 3:41 PM)

    Twitter is not dying :). Just like Bing is not dying. It just has a different userbase and a different purpose. Comparing usage of Twitter to Facebook is like comparing use of Wikipedia to Google Search -- or comparing shoppers at Sears to Victoria Secret. Sure, it's interesting, but doesn't negate the purpose of each other.

    Comparing MySpace to Facebook makes sense. This is why MySpace is changing their business model, as they cannot compete 1:1 with the same angle.

  7. Comment - 92% of social network users are on Facebook, just 13% on Twitter

    2.0 Alpha 2 (Jun 16, 2011 - 3:39 PM)

    I have found that Facebook is what you make of it. If one encounters gossipy middle aged women, they are likely either a gossipy middle aged woman, or friends with one.

    To pull another example, observing teenager use of Facebook is eye opening. It's a whole other culture and one that would make most BN readers roll their eyes.

    Then from my experience, my friends are culminated from family, church and some alumni. The experience is pleasant and relatively free of gossip or drama. No surprise, those who have drama are usually singles who also use many social games / apps that have caused me to silence them on my feeds.

    And as to your opening comment -- Facebook looks like a web forum from the late 90s? Huh? Facebook has succeeded due to its layout where others have failed including MySpace.

  8. Comment - Say, what's Google's progress solving that Android fragmentation problem?

    2.0 Alpha 2 (Jun 15, 2011 - 12:30 AM)

    I'm on CyanogenMod 7 on a G2. I love it - and I appreciate some of the features/updates - most of which are not part of native Gingerbread. None of the Gingerbread features are lifechanging and change anything about the usability of my phone. Thus, if this was unavailable to me, the only reason that I would be complaining is based on articles like this making me feel disenfranchised.

    Furthermore, how is this 'fragmentation' of a subversion any cause to compare phone platforms?

    Apple releases timely updates on 2 phones. The iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS.
    Google releases timely updates on 2 phones. The Nexus and Nexus 4G.

    We're talking about 3rd party Android phones, which is something that the platform allows. Thus, if Apple allowed 3rd party phones to run iOS and those phones lagged in making the updates available, we'd have a reason to complain about Apple.

    The answer would be the same. If you feel like your life would be incomplete without the latest version number on your about screen (and some feature that aren't going to make a huge difference to you), then buy the phone that the OS developer has released as their own.

  9. Comment - Will you buy Google Chromebook?

    2.0 Alpha 2 (Jun 10, 2011 - 1:57 PM)

    Yeah, I applied for one as did several of my friends -- PHD program students and jQuery developers -- none of us received one. From postings on BN, it seriously sounded like everyone with a heartbeat was getting them. We would have all been good evangelists for the cause :) -- until someone mentioned the bad hardware and cost of this first wave of 'Chromebooks'.

  10. Comment - Will you buy Google Chromebook?

    2.0 Alpha 2 (Jun 10, 2011 - 1:55 PM)

    You might want to elaborate more. Most people on here are throwing their hands up in the air thinking that even considering buying one is ridiculous -- you're discussing waiting to buy your second.

    You may want to defend the other side as it would be interesting!