the browser wars... everyone else does why can't I?

Alright, who uses Internet explorer? raise your hands. you there, with your hand up. your DUMB. Internet explorer, now in it's 8th edition is old. it's slow, and it's welcome mat for all those hackers out there that are bored. so what are your options? the 5 main browser options are: Internet explorer, Safari, Mozilla FireFox, Opera, and most recently, google Chrome. now all 5 options will work and are free on  windows xp or vista, but which one is the best?

 Internet explorer is the baseline, it opens almost every single web page, it's not particularly fast, nor is it super stable. It is also not very strong against hackers and other web threats, providing a portal for spyware, malware and another annoying bits of code. 

Safari, Apples attempt to make the ultimate web browser, has quite a few heads up on IE, it's fast, fairly secure, and also opens most web pages. little details though, it's more lacking in. the bookmark system feels clumsy every time i use it, and you have to dig to find out how to save passwords, it's not a handy pop up prompt. safari is a good bet if you want a simple fast, and secure browser with out all the little features.

Mozilla FireFox, originally Netscape, is one of the most popular browsers. it's fast, secure, has a lot of the little features, and his highly customizable with add-ons as varied as new ways to show download progress, new skins, to add-ins that run special scrips on specific pages, and even a 1337 speak translator. FireFox a good bet for anyone, and with a little work can become the perfect browser for everyone.

Opera is a very nice browser, with no real problems, it's quick, has nice features, but isn't so flashy that you get lost trying to figure out which ones to use. opera has a nice "quick search" feature that make searching for information quick and painless and ties with chrome on ease of access. I don't personally use Opera anymore in favor of chrome, but Opera is easily chromes equal and worth a try at least once.

Google chrome is the most recent entry to the browser world, and it made quite splash when google launched it. Chrome has many ideas that were original to it, such as running each tab as a different process so when one tab crashes your other pages are unaffected, and changing the level of control plug-ins have on the computer. chrome has all the features you need standard, and of course has the easiest way to search google. the URL bar in chrome is also your google search bar. if you type some thing like, google chrome in the URL bar, it will pull up a google search for it. if you type in google.com, it'll pull up the google page, this makes for a much cleaner and more efficient web surfing experience, for me anyways. I personally use chrome for most of my surfing, but some websites do not work properly on chrome, such as the watch instantly feature on netflix, so as much as i love chrome, FireFox is still in my start menu.

If you would like to download safari 4, go here 

If you would like to download FireFox go here 

If you would like to download Opera go here 

If you would like to download Chrome go here

if you need any help with these browsers, feel free to commit 

Does Your Computer Do This? Part 1: launchy, Pidgin, and Adium

OK, some people have shown an interest in the programs I use on my computer, so I'm going to cover some of the more useful ones in this, starting with 3 small ones; launchy, pidgin, and adium

If you have a windows computer, your  used to clicking on an icon to open a program, or going to start to open  program. I personally feel that's a clumsy way to do things, and for those of you that agree with me, there's launchy. Launchy is a simple program, that you open with a quick press of Alt + spacebar, which brings up a little text box. you then type the name of the program you want to open and hit enter after it's highlighted the one you really do want. the more you open a program the less of the name you have to type. For example, if I were to open google chrome everyday with launchy, hitting Alt+spacebar -> C-> enter would open up chrome. This may seem like a silly way to do things, until you try it. it's silly addicting, and gets confused looks from people trying to figure out how you just opened up chrome with out touching your mouse.

You can download launchy here ( it is open source, and thus free) and feel free to commit if you need help.

Another great open source program that I swear by is Pidgin. Pidgin is an open source chat client for all services. what that means is that I can save my gtalk, AIM, facebook, MSN, and Yahoo chat user names, and be able to send and receive IM's through pidgin. this means that all those browser based chat programs, are now in a program that's easy to use, and that your buddy list includes all of your friends from all of your different user names. you can even combine buddies that are, in fact, the same person with 2 or more usernames of their own. for example, I have a friend on facebook and gtalk. I combine their names, and now, when ever they send me a messege from either, I see it in the same window, and my reply goes to the one they are talking to me with. Another part of pidgin that is so great are the plug-ins, meaning that you can expand the functions of pidgin to fit your need.

Pidgin can be found here (also open source, so also free) and the facebook chat plug-in here. feel free to commit if you need help setting it up.

Last on my little program list is Adium. Adium is the best chat client for Mac period. It uses much of the same code as pidgin, but is designed just for the Mac, and includes some things, such as facebook chat as standard as opposed to being plug-ins. if you have a Mac, and you chat online, you need adium.

you can get adium here (also, of course, open source so, of course, free) and of course, feel free to commit if you need help setting this up.

Hopefully these little programs will make your life easier, and if not, maybe the next set of them will. =P

-Needs a hobby

wtf? who gave me a interklog?

you know what's an odd mix? Mountain dew code red + key lime pie.  my mouth tastes funny now. not that that'll stop me from eating more pie, and drinking EVEN MORE dew though, that would just be logical right? guys? i've lost you haven't I. yes you, the reader *poke* WAKE UP. i'm saying important shit here, duh. i guess i need some kind of topic for this don't i? ok here we go, hold on.

ok here we go again.. still hanging on? good.

um...

how about a game review? everyone loves those right?

Loco Roco 1 & 2. think of a ball of cute fat. with eyes, and little oddly shaped hair like things. then picture it singing (yes i know singing = ears picture = eyes, bare with here) the cutest songs ever.

then picture a game where you roll around making them fatter while avoiding flying dreads that sing as well in brightly colored worlds. that's loco roco. awesome no?

what? your still bored? you people are demanding you know that right?

FINE. 

what? you thought i was going to say something else? 

TOO BAD

-needs a hobby.