Insomnic Dreams

Google Chrome is the new browser on the block and it’s garnering a lot of attention. The main reason – it’s fast. The second reason – it’s secure. Today, the latest stable release came out and you can grab it here for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The latest version includes the long awaited extension support and bookmark sync (as well as lots of fixes and security updates).

Here’s my favorite creative video about the features:

So why switch to Chrome from Firefox or Internet Explorer?

Well the IE question is easy to answer – Internet Explorer just doesn’t work as well as either Chrome or Firefox. It has worse security, lack of standards compliancy, short on features and in general just isn’t very snappy. It is best for use in a business environment because of it’s compatibility with Sharepoint and other MS specific services but otherwise it just doesn’t compare – though to be honest, Internet Explorer 8 is probably the best version of IE ever created. So if you are scared about switching please at least update.

So the bigger question is why choose Chrome over Firefox. Well… there it gets tricky. I am choosing Chrome because it’s faster than Firefox on my Mac and has more standard extensions than Safari. On my PC it’s faster than Firefox and the extensions are lighter than Firefox add-ons so it doesn’t hit my resources as hard. The built in bookmark sync with storage in Google Docs is also nice to have. Plus, if you are already using Google services it works very well with them and the official Google extensions only make it better.

A reason to keep Firefox is the extensive add-on support and tried and tested website support. Firefox is a more mature browser; similar to IE in that it’s become better supported over the years. Firefox keeps on trucking and the latest release does provide some increased speed and security.

A last reason to switch to Chrome is because of the HTML5 compliant video function. Sounds really boring right? Well, what it means is better control and playback of video on the web. YouTube and Vimeo now offer it and the playback is much smoother and much friendlier (especially for accessibility users).

So which extensions do I prefer? Here’s a quick list:
AdBlock: Good adblocking (and Google is okay with it).
Chrome Reader: Google Reader RSS subscription extension
Google Similar Pages: Good for finding, well, similar pages…
Google Mail Checker: Basic checker and link
Google Voice Checker: Check Google Voice account and also activates numbers found on pages.
Send from Gmail (No Button): Sets Gmail as default for composing when you click on email links

If you want a few to try out just head over to the extensions page and check out some of the “Featured” and “Most Popular” ones.

So there you have it – a whole new browser to play with and see if you like. Oh – I forgot to mention – it will automatically bring over your bookmarks/favorites and settings from either IE or Firefox so you can be up and running in no time. So give it a try and see what you think – worse that could happen is you don’t like it and go back to what you were using.

I’ll be surprised if you do though…

Many people ask me about BitTorrent and to be honest, it’s not easy to explain. I’m going to try here but I’m going to do it with lots of help.

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol based around a distributed sharing system and optimized for large files.

While completely accurate that description isn’t really useful in getting started with BitTorrent.

If you’ve ever used file sharing programs before like Napster, Kazaa or Limewire … BitTorrent is nothing like those. To explain how BitTorrent is different I’m going to get some help because as simple as it is to use, the initial understanding on how to use it is can be confusing.

I’m going to send you to a bit of learning before we move on to a couple other topics. First, Lifehacker has two guides to getting started with BitTorrent; a beginner’s guide and an intermediate guide. You can skip the intermediate guide for now but definitely bookmark it for future reference. The other excellent guide is The Big Book of BitTorrent by Aibek. That is a free PDF book about 28 pages long… that’s more of a reference tool but will answer pretty much all of your quesitons. Start with the Lifehacker beginner’s guide…

Once you’ve looked through those items you’ll notice that you’ll need a program and some websites. The program handles the downloading and the websites are where you find the torrents.

If you didn’t read the guide here are the quick and dirty basics (but you may or may not understand them just from this little bit):

BitTorrent uses torrent files to connect your BitTorrent program with other people sharing the exact same file. So a torrent file for the movie Elephant’s Dream is like a bookmark or ticket that connects you to all the other people downloading/uploading the movie. People who have the entire file are called seeders and people who are still downloading the file are called leechers or peers. You will be connected to multiple people who have the same file and you will download pieces of the file from different people and others will download pieces from you. So you download the Elephant’s Dream torrent file and open it with your BitTorrent program which connects you to others to share the actual movie file of Elephant’s Dream.

So back to what you need… a program and some torrent sites. If you are on Windows I recommend uTorrent (it’s actually µTorrent using the metric presentation for “micro”) and for OS X and Linux I recommend Transmission. The uTorrent guides are very good as well for help in using BitTorrent even if you aren’t using uTorrent. Each program has a different interface but all BitTorrent applications work in a similar fashion so once you are familiar with one you can use pretty much any of them and it’s just a matter of extra features.

So you have the program and now you need to start sharing. This is where a good set of BitTorrent websites comes in handy. For beginners, I recommend The Pirate Bay and Mininova. Those sites should provide you with pretty much all the items you may be looking to download. Demonoid is also a popular location but requires membership and sometimes they aren’t open to new members – but you can get an invite if you ask around. The Pirate Bay is probably the most open and busy torrent tracker (the backend service that directs your torrent “ticket” or “bookmark”) so you’ll find lots of content there. Mininova also has a lot of content and is a bit more manageable in regards to browsing particular catagories.

A note on piracy… there are lots of laws and rules about piracy and some of them apply differently depending on your situation and the content. There are loopholes and so forth but put simply: if you didn’t pay for it, and you should have, then you are stealing. That being said, BitTorrent is not digital piracy… BitTorrent is just a system for transfering large files.

One last note… BitTorrent is a LOT safer than other file sharing services but you can still get infected if you download and install the wrong thing. Be sure to check through torrent site comments and run antivirus utilities just to be safe.

So that should provide you will all the information you need to get started with your file sharing. Don’t let the amount of information be too daunting … it really is easy to use.

Good luck and happy torrenting!

Today was Apple’s MacWorld Expo Keynote. This is typically where new releases and product updates are announced for Apple software and hardware.

This year, there were some interesting updates and I’ll just hit on some of the highlights.

iPhoto updated to include face recognition and geotagging as well as Flickr and Facebook direct uploading.

iMovie updated to have lots of new and more advanced editing features. Also includes “Jitter Correction” and easier user controls.

GarageBand now has a tutorial section which will help teach you how to play guitar and piano. This includes some pay lessons from artists such as Sting and Nora Jones.

iTunes store is changing and by the end of the first quarter all songs will be DRM free. This means no restrictions on the music you buy. The pricing is also changing to a 3-tier system of $.69, $.99, and $1.29. This one is cool because DRM is very icky.

iWork had lots of little updates but the big one is iWork.com site where online collaboration of documents can be done (like Google Docs).

MacBook Pro 17-inch was announced and detailed. One of the biggest advancements is an 8 hour battery life. Impressive.

So those are the basics. You can find more specific details at Apple.com.

Google added a new feature to Gmail today and it’ll be rolling out to all Gmail users in the next couple days. It’s Gmail Voice and Video. This allows you to have voice and video chat directly from the Gmail chat pane.

Here’s a video about how it works:

So there’s a lovely little addition for communication features in Gmail. If you don’t have a webcam, the link above has a few options with special savings on some decent cameras. It works on both Mac and Windows (not sure about Linux at this point) and you can find out a few more specifics at the Gmail Voice and Video “about” page and you can install the plugin to get started here.

I really like Netflix. I especially like how they are updating so many things to include their Watch Now function so you can stream much of their content via the internet. Tivo will soon have Netflix streaming built in and XBox 360 owners will have full HD streaming of Netflix content with their Fall update. One thing that has been missing though is Watch Now streaming on Macs. Well… that’s now fixed.

The Netflix Blog details how you can opt in to the beta to start watching streaming Netflix content on your Mac and PC using Silverlight (a browser plugin similar to Flash). Once you have joined the beta (just click the link) and installed Silverlight you can begin watching streaming video from your PC or Mac via Internet Explorer, Safari, or Firefox.

OpenOffice is a free office suite comparable to Microsoft Office or Apple iWork and the latest version has just been released. OpenOffice can be run on Windows, Mac or Linux and is compatible with Microsoft Office 2000-2007. OpenOffice also matches ISO standards for ODF (Open Document Format) which provides full compatibility between other programs that use this recently approved standard.

OpenOffice Suite contains the following applications:

• Writer: Word processor comparable to Microsoft Word and can export documents as PDF and do simple HTML editing.
• Calc: Spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel but has more graphing functions and can also save as PDF.
• Impress: Presentation software similar to Microsoft PowerPoint. It doesn’t have as many built in templates, but many are available for download. Impress can save presentations as flash files or PDF.
• Base: Database program that provides many functions similar to Access but also handles other types of open source database functions.
• Draw: Vector graphics program that has features similar to Visio and Publisher for drawing layouts, shapes, flow charts and other scalable designs.
• Math: Equation editor program for mathematical formula

OpenOffice being closely compatible with Microsoft Office makes it a very good replacement, especially for the cost. So next time you need something to use for document or spreadsheet work, take a look at OpenOffice.org before dropping a few hundred dollars on Microsoft Office.

The How-To Geek has posted a run down of GreenPrint World Edition as a way to save paper and ink when printing. Obviously, not printing at all is the best way to go for saving money and reducing the environmental impact of printing – but sometimes you just need to have that paper in hand.
GreenPrint World Edition acts as a proxy between you and your printer allowing you to select what does and doesn’t get printed. This is especially useful when printing website information since so much extra stuff is printed. GreenPrint allows you to selectively edit via a visual interface what does and doesn’t get printed. This allows you to remove images or extra pages that you just don’t need. It even tidies up the results in a handy printout to show you just how much you’ve saved in money and in environmental impact.

Head on over to the How-To Geek’s rundown to get a quick run through on installing and using GreenPrint World Edition and maybe you can save yourself a few bucks and a tree or two as well.

Apple held an event today to introduce some new iPod stuff. To be honest, the “Let’s Rock” event was very lackluster. If you are interested in the presentation, you can hit the liveblogged highlights from Engadget.

There were a few interesting bits.
iTunes 8 and Genius
New iPod Nano
New iPod Touch

The Genius function could be fun but probably not groundbreaking. Be sure to turn off your Genius sharing if you don’t want to upload anonymous song usage information to Apple.

That’s really all there is to it. Not really exciting, but interesting if you are in the market for a new iPod.

The latest version of Firefox will be released on June 17th and Mozilla is hopping to break a world record on that day.

I’ve been using the beta releases for the last couple months and I’m very happy with the new version of Firefox. It’s even convinced me to switch from Safari to Firefox on my Mac. It’s fast, it’s got excellent features, and if you change the icons to “small size” then it looks good too – on Linux, OS X, and Windows XP and Vista each install matches itself to the OS.

If you have been using Internet Explorer or Safari, I really recommend you give Firefox a try – but don’t download it until June 17th! Once you download it, you also have to hit up one of the most popular features – the add-ons. Check out some of the most popular add-ons to see if something suits your fancy. A couple of my favorites are AdBlock Plus, Download Status Bar, and Delicious Bookmarks.

Once you get used to using it, you’ll find lots of tips and tricks for making the browser work for you the way you want it to work – instead of having to work the way the browser wants you to work.

UPDATE: Some helpful hints on the new Firefox 3 at Lifehacker

Apple has released some new toys and info at their developers conference.  To get the details, check out Ars Technica’s run down of the keynote speech.

The basic gist is that the iPhone will be better and cheaper.  The biggest items are that they will have GPS and be 3G compatible – which means faster data speeds – and that they’ll be a lot cheaper ($200 for 8GB and $300 for 16GB). There are also lots of new applications coming out soon.

If you’ve been in the market for an iPhone – wait! The new ones come out July 11th in 22 countries (and 70 countries total shortly after that date).

The other info was that the new OS X 10.6 will be called Snow Leopard and .Mac service is going way and will be called MobileMe and provide enhanced services for iPhone and iPod touch users as well as OS X users.