Here’s my favorite creative video about the features:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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!

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.

Here’s a video about how it works:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

In the mean time, here are a couple quick topics I noticed recently:

• If you sync any devices to Outlook (like Blackberry, Palm, Smartphone, etc) then you know that duplicates happen. Outlook Duplicate Items Remover is a good answer to this problem and it’s free.

• If you have a Mac and a large collection of movies, books, games or music then Delicious Library 2 is a great way to catalog that collection. The latest version was just released and it has loads of new features and updates (Leopard only though – but you can still buy the older version which is still a great program).  This program is one of the main reasons I love my Mac.

• O’Reilly has released Google Apps: The Missing Manual to help you get a handle on all those new and exciting Google online applications. It includes chapters on Google Docs, iGoogle, PageCreator, GMail, Google Calendar, Google Talk and even a chapter or two about the business uses.

• Firefox 3 RC1 (Release Candidate 1) is rocking on PC and Mac.  I used to prefer Safari over Firefox 2 on my Mac because FF2 was slow and icky, but I’ve fallen in love all over again and it isn’t even the final version. I’ve been using it on my PC and Mac for a few weeks now and couldn’t be happier.

• If you like keeping up on the latest movie releases – especially their trailers – head over to First Showing.  They have done an excellent job of keeping me up to date with the latest movie trailer releases and upcoming release happenings.

• Tropic Thunder looks like it may be funny – but this short clip from MTV Movie Awards of Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr, and Jack Black trying to make a viral video is definitely hilarious.

Don’t forget that you can also follow me on twitter, but I hope to get a more regular posting schedule up and running soon. Thanks for your patience!

UPDATE: Firefox 3 RC 2 just arrived. It is available at the same link.

The best rebuttal presented about that complaint is that there is a difference between the price of an item and the cost of an item. Macs are pricier than the discount PCs you can get from Dell or HP, but in my opinion they are a better investment. My two main reasons for considering a Mac a better investment is that they require exceptionally less servicing to keep them running at optimum and they are reliable for a long time. My G4 Powerbook, which was released in 2005, is still going strong with all original parts as my main computer and I hardly do any “fixing” on it beyond my natural desire to tinker.

I will point out that the low price of those discount PCs is also a feature – a good feature really.  A $300 PC is a great option and if you can learn a few things to help keep it running well then you’ll be just fine for quite some time. If you are feeling a bit adventurous and willing to try something new, Linux (especially Ubuntu for new Linux users) is a great way to make that same cheaper PC a bit more stable and reliable.

One other item to note are the article comments because they show an interesting phenomenon known as computer fanboyism.  The PC vs Mac vs Linux debate is a rough one (especially online) and it makes any Mac vs PC comparison articles hard to deal with sometimes – but it’s an interesting social aspect of online life to see.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check out their site for newly available Hi-Res versions of their videos for use in the work place.  I would HIGHLY recommend using some of their videos as training material. The Zombies in Plain English could save a life.

An example of a legitimate DVD rip is making backup copies of your purchased DVDs. That copy of Little Mermaid that gets played over and over is likely to break and since Disney puts some titles “in the vault“, if it breaks you may not be able to find a new copy to buy. So you rip it to have a backup in case something happens to the original.

Luckily, Lifhacker just asked its large audience which rippers are their favorites and they’ve come up with a top 5 DVD rippers along with a few worthy honorable mentions. The nice thing is that all of the software is free. The big winners are:
DVDShrink (download) (Windows)
Handbrake (Windows\Mac\Linux)
DVDFab HD Decrypter (Windows\Linux-Wine)
MacTheRipper (Mac)
DVD Decrypter (Windows)

Be sure to check out the article for more details on each of the different programs and some guides to their use.

My personal preference is DVDShrink and adding in AnyDVD to help with some of the newer DVDs that have copy protection that DVDShrink can’t handle. Each program does things a little differently though so your end result may also dictate which software works best for you. DVDShrink allows ripping DVDs to another playable DVD but maybe you want to rip the DVD to play on your iPod or HTPC, in which case Handbrake would be a better choice. Give some of the programs a try and I’m sure you’ll find one that works well for you.

Here’s a short video explaining how it works.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It works with Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Camino (and some mobile devices). It doesn’t work with Safari yet, but that functionality is in the works.

Google is rolling this functionality out starting today and you’ll probably see it come to your account within the next week. The rollout is typically random, but signing out of your Google account and signing back in sometimes triggers it.