Best Performing Browsers on My PC

March 16, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

1) Firefox RC 4

2) Google Chrome

3) Opera 11

4) Apple Safari 5

5) Microsoft Internet Explorer 8

I am slightly biased when it comes to Firefox, as have been an avid user for years. This latest release, has the browser going into Chrome territory, with a very minimalist look. But where Mozilla has it right, is where within 30 seconds, a user can locate how to add that menu bar to the top of their page. Also, Firefox is known for the thousands of add-ons that can be used on the browser. Everything from news-tickers to colour-pickers. Also Firefox is still customisable, with the user being able to select a skin for their browser, again with thousands to choose from. This new version is taking Firefox back into the forefront of the browser-battles. It runs a lot smoother and faster than previous versions.

Chrome, like Firefox, is very fast. But it loses out when it struggles on sites which contain video, it becomes very glitchy, and this can happen when the browser deals with anything Flash. I feel that Chrome is over-simple, where there are no options to add a basic menu bar, which is handy when you have to appeal to people like my parents. Maybe there are options, but after half an hour of playing around, I can’t get the standard menu bar. It seems like Chrome is shunning the older web community, who may look for the familiarity of that File, Options, etc all at the top. Even IE has that. You can be as fast as you want, but usability should always be number 1 priority.

Opera, used to be on my Nokia mobile, which I think is where it is strongest, on mobile platforms. It brings everything up ok, but lags slightly behind Chrome and Firefox in regards of speed. The layout of Opera 11, is very similar to that of the new Firefox. It is clean, but not too basic, and you can easily add more options to the menu if needed.

Safari is different from the other browsers, in that the standard browser comes with a toolbar up and ready to go, with the user being able to easily further streamline the browser, or add basics, like the menu bar. The one thing I do want to mention about Safari is that when you open up a new tab in the browser, a selection of most popular sites visited pops up. It makes it easy to find certain websites, which I feel is a nice touch. It runs slightly slower than Opera, but people familiar with Apple software, will find comfort in the stylings of the browser.

And IE. Poor IE. I am running IE 8, because I don’t have the newest version of Vista or Windows 7, so I can’t download the RC for IE9. I don’t know if having the newer version would make any difference, but I hope it would. IE took several minutes to load, before it shut down. On second attempt it did start up ok, but was very slow compared to the other browsers. As basic as IE comes, it is very easy to add, or take away toolbars and menus as you require them.

But one thing to be said, is that all browsers are beginning to look the same. This is mostly due to the high success of Chrome and it’s simplistic layout. I know that I seem to have focused on finding the menu bar a lot, the reason is because I know older people (like my parents) who rely on that toolbar, because it is there in whatever software they are using. So when it is taken away (Chrome) they do get a little lost. And I know that is why they stick to IE, because they know their way around it.

I Can Fix Things

March 9, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Except I can’t really fix things.
Am I the only person who tries to stupid little pointless actions, to try and ‘fix’ a problem?
It’s like if there is interference on the TV channel that I am watching, I will just channel surf to see that other channels have the problem, untill the problem disappears. And, although my actions did nothing to fix the problem, I act as if it did. And I get this idea in my head, that I am a bit like a superhero with all my problem-fixing skills.
Of course, I am not a hero of any sort, and it is just pure luck that the problem fixes itself. It has nothing to do with me, what-so-ever.

Vlog on the subject.

Twitter Unbalanced?

February 16, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

I use twitter A LOT!

It is a place I joined to get to know friends from other sites more. Which is something the site has done so well. It was mostly people from The Leaky Cauldron, Youtube and various Good Charlotte sites. Actually, mostly the Good Charlotte sites, as the GCfam are just brilliant. And twitter has brought me closer to them, and to the band themselves.

But recently I have noticed a few strange going-ons. First is people using the site to advertise themselves for work, and don’t make any personal statements or anything. And I just miss the point of that. You use the site to get to know people, even if it is purely those in the same industry as you, but simply retweeting people does not use the site to it’s capabilities.

The second thing, its fanbases trying to beat each other. Mostly its Lady Gaga Vs Justin Beibers (or Monsters Vs Beliebers), and they try to knock each off the trending topic lists. :S Again, most of it is spam, and doesn’t do anything bar get on peoples nerves. In fact, coincidentally, both acts are becoming very close to over-saturating the market. That is basically getting to the point where instead of making new fans, you annoy people and get less fans. It is the golden rule of advertising, don’t over-do it. And the fans don’t realise that they could be negatively effecting their idol’s sales.

But, twitter is a tool. And the reported interest 0f Google, to purchase the service for as much as $10 million. Watchers say that this inflated price could be the sign of another internet bubble about to go POP. The reason they say this is because they struggle to validate the site being worth that kind of money, especially when advertising and promotion have only been launched recently.

I guess time will tell with twitter. I love it, so as long as it still works, I don’t mind, really. Just don’t change it too much.

Selective Personality

February 5, 2011February 11, 2011 ~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

So I am sitting in front of the TV tonight, and watching You’ve Got Mail. An overly cheesey ‘chick-flick’ starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Where two people fall in love as they email each other, but they are natural enemies in real life, and hate each other.

It started me thinking about whether people show themselves honestly online. I mean, people have the ability to create this online persona of perfection, why include your flaws in that. Through a site, you can pretend you are they person that you wish you could be. You can filter out all the undesirable rubbish, and make your more favourable traits, be major features of your personality.

But then, is it our immediate surroundings that make use behave in a certain way? Is it only when we are confronted with people and situations, our personalities change into something completely different?

When we are alone, typing responses into a computer, we have time to organise our thoughts. We can respond to questions, without panicking and our brains rushing out some idle, idiotic response. We can spell check, and re-read responses, and carefully tweak them, to get the desired effect.

When actually involved in a conversation with someone, we don’t have the luxury to think of a perfect response, the thought process and the words come out quickly. And, although you may say something accidental, it really does show who a person is more. And you see a person for who they are, online there is always the chance of someone holding themselves back.

So where is a person most honest to themselves, online or IRL? Does it matter? As long as you truthful to yourself and your views, it shouldn’t matter where you encounter people.

Distraction! Distraction! Distraction!

February 4, 2011February 11, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

In a bit to stop dwelling on the fact that I am utter miserable, I am going to delve into something to try and raise the positivity points for a little. At least distract me for a little while, anyway.

*twiddles thumbs*

*scratches head*

Umm… so what do you say when your mind is as blank as my ‘completed’ Standard Grade Chemistry exam? Well, the same as what any other blogger does. Look at news sites, etc and see if you can find a topic that interests you. Failing that you could always post about a Meme that attracts your attention.

What is a Meme? Well, most people associate it with the Viral videos that spread around the internet like wildfire. You know the type, you’ve probably recieved a video via email, on facebook to the point it may even get mentioned in national media. But as far as the blog meme goes, it is more of a theme, or idea that people post, and it spreads to other blogs. A lot of memes centred around blogging, tend to be either GIF (moving images) posts or posting games.

The first meme I probably encountered was over on LiveJournal, which as I have said before, was my first blog, which is 7 years old this year. The homepage has a section called ‘writer’s block’ where members of the site submit questions, and other blogger answer it in a blog post. It is a good motivator, and I have seen myself use the ‘writer’s block’ to write a few times in a week, to help get into the mood for posting. Meme’s are ideal for people looking to get started in blogging, but don’t quite have the processes in place to blog on a daily basis, with different content. Here, the topic is decided, you just have to write about it. This small function of the ‘writer’s block’ is something unique, in that I am yet to see another mainstream blogging service employ such a service.

But if your blogging service of choice does not include something to help encourage posting, there are Meme sites online, where you can pick their topic or task of the day to help you write. The best site I have found for this is The Daily Meme, a site set up to post memes, which help encourage people to write when they are stuck. The Daily Meme, has the site split into days of the week, so that users can pick from a day, and doing it weekly, such as ‘Creative Writing Friday’. Another site which is rather good is The Music Memoirs, which as you can guess, is similar to The Daily Meme, except is based around music, where you create playlists for the season and things.

I have been a user of both sites for a long time, and they have both helped me out of some pretty serious writer’s blocks, so I can heavily recommend them both. And it is no bad thing if you post using a meme, every so often, because a meme tends to allow the writer to show themselves, which is what blogging is about. It also shows, that you are willing to use sources to help you, if you need to.

Also, and probably the most important thing, seeing as I know A LOT of people starting blogs within the last few months, posting a meme on your blog allows it to be slightly more than one dimensional. If all you do is repost other peoples’ Photoshop tutorials, then you aren’t really employing the blog to it’s full purpose. So if you struggle, try a meme, and it’ll help you get to what is at the heart of a good blog. YOU and your opinions.

TGI….Dead Internets?!?

December 10, 2010February 11, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

I think I am going to need to purchase a new router. Which is upsetting news to someone on relies on the web, and has no money. -.- Things like this always happen when I have no money. Always, without fail.

And as always, it’s not till you don’t have something, you realise how much you need it. So after using the web to do everything, even playing racing games on the Xbox, it’s always a shock when it isn’t there to use at your convenience.

I would imagine that would get worse if we all end up working on the ‘cloud’, which is what looks to be the future. What is the cloud? The cloud, from what I understand, is online space where you store applications and files, and eliminates the need for any real hard-drive on a PC. This is something that I find unsettling, as it’s like you don’t get physical ownership of products, things are just online rather than securely in your own PC.

Everyone can ‘use the cloud’ so what happens if someone is a bit of a bugger and uploads a virus. Surely it has a chance it could damage a lot of people’s personal things. It would be way more expensive to fix than an infected website. And what if you, like me, are unable to access the internet, do you lose everything. Will phones, like the Blackberry I am using now, be able to easily sync up to the cloud, or will I need to by something authorised by Windows?
And what if, someone does access your personal data, how easy will it be to sort out? Will the real owner of the data be able to identified, especially if they use public computers?

I guess this is something we just have to watch and see what happens. In a way, I do see why it would be good, but I like the idea of everything being under my control. I feel that the cloud owes too much to other parties, and the more people involved in something, the more complicated things tend to become. I say that from experience.

So, what do you think of the cloud?

Come And Lose With Me.

November 19, 2010February 11, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

*Facepalm*

I am well aware that the title seems like a chat up line from some angsty teenager, but what can you do about those things.

After walking around my life in some kind of daze, I feel like the irksome fog is clearing, and I can, for once see the path that I should travel along. And do you know what? All that I seem to see is people indicating that I am a ‘loser’.

I am an apparent ‘loser’ because of numerous reasons. They include: reading books, making VIDEO BLOGS, keeping a multitude of other blogs updated, being a proof reader for an on-line music fanzine and populating various message boards on the web. To me, I am happy doing these things, so why should I be berated just because I find happiness in something other people do not?

I spend a lot of time online, because I find it a good way to communicate with like-minded people. People who actually give a shit about the same things I do. Whether its spending hours catching up on blog reading or watching subscriptions on youtube, they are things that make me happy. I like the idea of discussing something and finding out that some people may agree with you, or want to discuss something in further detail. And I like that I can be having a really indepth discussion about books, with someone on the other side of the world.

It sounds either really stupid or really poetic, depending on how you look at it. People are always telling me to get myself out in the ‘real world’ more, which is a bit of a stupid statement, to me. As this is the real world, I am communicating with people out side the little bubble we live in, where we can discuss other matters and I can find out what their home looks like and things. I find this really impowering, and it is learning about other cultures. So, am I really living such a closed existance, if I can talk to a wide range of people rather than choosing to go out and get ‘hammered’?

I dunno, people do things in life that make them happy. And as long as you are not harming anyone in doing so, I don’t that there is anything wrong with it.

But the truth is, everybody has something which makes them a little unusual, something that other people won’t understand. So in a way, everyone is the same, everyone is a loser. And every loser will be a winner at some point of their life.

What has the internet done for me?

November 15, 2010February 12, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Actually, the internet has done quite a lot for me personally.

It all started back in 2005 when I started my LiveJournal account when I was at the Vet School in Glasgow. It was a part of my life where I spent a few months at a time living away from home, and thus felt quite lonely. So, I stumbled upon LiveJournal, and started writing angsty blogs. It was helpful, and something that helped de-stress me.

Using the internet there, was the first time that I ever had enjoyed any real type of access to the internet. So, as every other person did, I started up a Myspace and started going onto other websites just to waste time, I should have spent doing homework and studying.

For a few years, I used the internet by mostly visiting the local library, which was good enough. All I did back then was write a blog, where I complained about work or something as equally mundane.

It wasn’t until 2008 that my house got the internet. Why then? Well, I get free internet through my work, due to the fact that ‘work’ is a major broadcaster/phone provider. So… once I had round the clock access, I began joining more sites, and began to do more social networking. In particular, blogging and going onto various forums helped me find ways to express myself. Like I finally found a ‘voice’ to express myself.

This is something that I enjoy about the internet. I feel that I can say things online, without boring people, it means people can volunteer to converse about my topic of discussion. It means that I don’t feel that I am forcing myself onto people. Which I am aware sounds very strange. But what can I say, I am a very strange one.

People tell me I am ‘sad’, that I spend my time online, and that by doing things such as write this blog from my bed, I have ‘no life’. To these people I say ‘my life has become better thanks to the internet’. I know it sounds like a cliche, but it really helped me find a place to belong, and I know that I’m not the only person like this. The internet allows one to share opinions with like minded people, that you may not get the chance to meet in real life. And that is what has made my life better.

After spending most of my life feeling like the odd one out, I now no longer feel like that. And that has made me happier, which has effected my day-to-day life. I have made friends all over the world, I have made contacts with people who are designers and journalists. It has given me so many awesome opportunities and brought me closer to my heroes.

I feel like, I now know where I belong, and that place is on the internet.

Blog sites are no.1

July 14, 2010 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

As a run-on from yesterday, I am still thinking about why I love the internet so much.
I mean, yesterday I ranted about how the internet is blamed for bad parenting. But as I said I use the internet mostly for blogging, so it has ended up being an important source of self-expression for me. Although I do have a lot of friends i know purely on line, a lot of them were made through sites like LiveJournal, which I feel has the best online community of all other blogging sites.

Although sites like Facebook are designed to help you socialise with people online, I think that it is ultimately fairly shallow in that it is very hard to judge someone based on their Facebook profile. I mean other than a few blurbs about them, and random comments, you can’t actually tell how that person things. So on blogging sites, you naturally write a lot, and this really shows at least some of your behaviours and attitudes. And, call me self-centered, but that’s what I think all these personal websites are there for, so that you can easily create your own little piece of the internet. And facebook doesn’t really allow that, as there is no way to even express yourself through the colour of your profile, I mean even Bebo had that.

So in my opinion my blogs come above any other site, because I like to feel that someone can accurately see who I am and what kind of person I am. And you know that if you make friends on these sites, you know it is because they agree with what you say or you talk about the same interests.

Tumblr is a tricky one. I like it and all, but I can’t help but think it is mostly kids slagging each other off publicly. All that tacky ‘drama’ should be kept on Facebook. But in essence, I think that’s what Tumblr is trying to be, a bit like a blog site, a bit like Facebook, and a bit like Twitter. It hasn’t decided what it wants to be just yet.