I’ve always preferred the speed and UI of Chrome over Firefox, but stuck with Firefox as my primary browser because there were too many add-ons I relied on daily for work (web design/development) and personal browsing.

However, I finally set aside an afternoon to research available chrome extensions and discovered replacements for almost everything I use in Firefox.  I was initially concerned that installing too many extensions would impact performance, but discovered Chrome runs tabs and extensions in separate processes, so none of the extensions can affect the entire browser as add-ons do with Firefox.

So I’m now officially using Chrome as my primary browser.  I still think Firefox is a good browser, but with too many add-ons installed and tabs open – it slows to a crawl, which annoys me.   This isn’t a ‘Chrome is better than Firefox’ post.   Instead, it’s just my personal list of favorite chrome extensions that do the equivalent of what I did with Firefox for my work.

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Scenario:

After configuring your router or computer with the OpenDNS nameservers, you can no longer:

a) connect to WHS through the client console
b) establish a connection between two systems running KaVoom! KM

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Last week I upgraded three of my systems to the newest Windows 7 RC (build 7100). After doing so, I realized that the Netflix Movie Player would no longer install because it isn’t compatible with Windows Media Player 12.

It appeared my options were to either hack a rollback to WMP11 or switch over to the Netflix Silverlight player. I had  purposely been avoiding the latter because of all the [negative] [feedback]. Additionally, once you opt-in to use that player, you can’t revert your account back. So you’re stuck with it, whether you like it not.

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Several weeks back I purchased an ‘Easy and Fun TouchKit’ for my Acer Aspire One and finally got around to installing it two days ago.  I purchased the kit off of ebay for $95 plus $25 shipping, but you could also purchase it directly from the FidoHub website.

The touchscreen kit features a solderless design, so installation was fairly uncomplicated (with exception to wire management).   I video taped the install process, divided it up into three parts and uploaded them to YouTube.  A link to each video is included below for anyone who would prefer a visual guide to work with as well.

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I finally got around to softmodding my old xbox last night in order to run XBMC on it.  It is something I’ve been wanting to do for at least a year now, but had procrastinated on because I thought it would be more complicated than it actually was.

I initially made the attempt last week, but because I didn’t have an Action Replay kit (the reader or memory card) – I followed another tutorial that outlined how to use a USB flash drive with a homemade xbox-to-usb cord for transferring the Linux os & game  save exploit needed to perform the softmod.

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Because the s-video out of my Mobility Radeon 9600 wouldn’t work with the open source drivers in Ubuntu 8.10, I decided to install ATI’s proprietary driver. There was nothing listed in Ubuntu’s Restricted Driver Manager for my card – so I downloaded the Catalyst Package directly from ATI’s website.

After several failed attempts using ATI’s automatic driver installer (which resulted in a black or garbled screen after rebooting), I eventually found a manual installation guide outlined at the Unofficial ATI Linux Driver Wiki that worked for me.

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Until this past year, I’d always been a Windows user.  Unlike a lot of die hard geeks, I don’t think Microsoft is evil incarnate nor do I feel there is anything wrong with a company wanting to make a profit from their products.  However, because I have a curious mind and enjoy putzing around on my systems, I started exploring a few different Ubuntu-based Linux distros several months back.  Initially it started with Xubuntu on a system I was building for my 3 year old.  All of the hardware was pretty old, so I wanted OS that was lightweight and had minimal system requirements.

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The following is a list of eBook readers that are currently available, or will be soon. I’m mainly putting this together for my own reference as I search for the perfect reader.  The inspiration came from MobileRead Wiki, which provides a more comprehensive comparison matrix of these readers, though I wanted to maintain my own list for personal reference.

Because some of these readers are actually re-branded versions of the same device hardware (though may have different firmware), I’ve grouped them together by the hardware manufacturer.  I will be adding to this list over time, so it is a work in progress.

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Reading is one of those small indulgences that I would almost rather lose a limb than have to give up.  When I’m stressed with work or life in general, loading up my eBook Reader and losing myself for a day or two almost always puts my mind right again.  Although dedicated eBook Reading devices have been around for awhile, they still don’t seem to be as well-known or mainstream as they deserve to be. However, eBook popularity is definitely on the rise , so I think there is going to be a wider array of device options available to consumers over the next couple of years.

eBookwise 1150

I currently use a low-cost eBookwise 1150 for 99% of my reading needs.  It has flaws but essentially does what I wanted it for.  Before making that purchase, I’d struggled for at least a month or two as to whether or not I should opt for a higher-priced e-Ink device [2] instead.  Living in the middle of nowhere as I do, walking into a store for a hands-on demonstration wasn’t an option.  Instead, I watched dozens of YouTube videos and read every review I could find on all of the models available at the time.

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