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Beta label removed from Google Chrome

Thursday December 11, 2008

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Today was the 15th release by Google and within 100 days of its initial launch. Google announced this morning the first release of Google Chrome without the beta label attached to it.

We’ve been talking about Google Chrome since September and most of you already know what an amazingly fast browser it is. With the first release without the beta label, Google has improved the stability and performance of plug-ins (video performance in specific) which had issues in the beta version. When doing a benchmark test on V8 JavaScript engine, it runs 1.5 times faster on V8 benchmark. Google claims this will get even faster.

Google Chrome’s bookmark feature is now even friendlier. Some users had problems in the beta release which have now been resolved. Now you can organize your bookmarks and import/export from different browsers.

Most users that use Mozilla Firefox also utilize the plug-ins feature. Hopefully in the next few days, Google will come out with extensions to integrate with Google Chrome.

What are your thoughts? Which browser would you say has the most potential?

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Google Friend Connect allows more visitors to engage in your website. Best part is, it doesn’t require any programming. The user can join your website using their existing Google, Yahoo, AIM, or OpenID and they can invite friends to join your site as well.

So what can a user do once they join your website through Google Friend Connect?

First, you can add the member gadget which displays member display pictures and allows them to spread the link to join your website.

The Wall gadget which works similarly to Facebook’s wall application or a blog post where users can post comments or links to videos on your site.

Another great feature is the Review/Rate gadget which is self explanitory. Allows users to rate the page or a section of a page and post a comment on the rating and get user feedback.

Once you have placed the gadgets on your site, you can then login to Google Friend Connect and view stats on how many members have joined over time. This is a completely new service offered by Google and more gadgets are being developed.

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Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving where most large retailers offer amazing discounts primarily for Christmas shopping. Stores like Best Buy and Staples open as early as 5AM and offer door buster deals for the first 100 customers. CompUSA (now bought out by TigerDirect.com) has their door buster deals starting at midnight after Thanksgiving.

Black Friday is not an official holiday but when standing in line with hundreds of shoppers, it does feel like one. You can expect huge crowds and lines going around the store before they open (Fry’s Electronics in particular). If you’re lucky enough to find something you went there for, bring something to entertain you because you will be standing in line anywhere from 30min to 3hours.

It’s known to be one of the busiest days of the year in terms of actual sales volume. In my family, after Thanksgiving we usually stay up all night playing games and just spending time with family and close friends till about 5AM. Once the clock hits 5AM, we hit the stores for tremendous savings. www.bfads.net is a website that reveals most of the ads of the large retailers before the print ads hit the newspapers. This year doesn’t look as good as far as great deals are concerned.

Where will you be this Black Friday?

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AT&T Announces the release of the Fuze (HTC Raphael 101). For those of you familiar with the Diamond that came out not too long know how the new HTC interface, HTC TouchFLO 3D, which is convenient and addicting to use.

Sprint released their version of the same device but kept the original name, Touch Pro. For the most part the devices are the same except Sprint’s Touch Pro is running on a CDMA frequency and AT&T’s Fuze is running on GSM (which can be used as a world phone by unlocking it).

Spring may have kept the name the same but AT&T kept everything else. RAM capacity on the Fuze is 288MB where as the Touch Pro by Sprint has 256MB (This could be because of the bloated software installed).

Both HTC devices allow you to watch TV, browse the internet, and even listen to XM radio via 3G network.

The best part is it has a 640 x 480 pixel resolution screen. Yes, a VGA screen on a Windows Mobile device. Has a 3MP camera on VGA screen that allows you to record videos as well; having a separate digital camera pointless.

This is quite an amazing phone starting at $300 with a contract (price is a bit high but should come down soon). If you like this, you’ll fall in love with HTC Touch HD (coming soon).

What do you think about the phone? iPhone competition or not quite?

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How do you hook up multiple computers with a single mouse and keyboard? You might be thinking of a KVM switch but what if you don’t want to use one monitor for all the computers? Say you have a few computers each with their own monitor but you want to share the keyboard and mouse throughout it?

Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its own display, without special hardware. It’s intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own monitor(s). Below is a picture of my computer and laptop. A Desktop with 2 monitors and a laptop screen, all using a single keyboard and mouse.

All you have to do is install the software on each computer, configure it to pull the keyboard from the other computer and its as easy as that. Manuevering from one computer to another is as easy as moving the mouse off one screen to the next.

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I’m looking for a wedding band I would like on my finger for the rest of my life. In doing some research online and in B&M stores, I’ve come to realize that Tungsten is quite the trend.

I found the best thing for me was to do a side by side comparison with all the metals.

White Gold:Stronger than platinum, wear better than platinum and gold, scratches easily, and half the price of platinum.

Platinum: Expensive, better finish/color than White Gold, scratches very easily.

Titanium: VERY light weight (light as aluminum), strong (lasts longer than white gold and platinum). Durable and will never lose its color. Hypo allergic (good to know if you are allergic to certain metals such as gold, white gold, or platinum). Cannot be re-sized.

Tungsten: Very heavy metal. 4 to 5 times stronger than Titanium, cannot be re-sized Make sure to purchase a Cobalt Free Tungsten Carbide ring. Cobalt can react to your skin possibly causing your finger to turn green and the ring will form oxidation spots that cannot be removed or polished. Tungsten Carbide rings have a lifetime warranty; They cannot get scratched and will always look new. One way of knowing if it is a Tungsten Carbide is by looking for detailed carvings inside, if it has this then you might not want to buy it.

After having done all the research, I myself am leaning towards a Tungsten primarily because it always maintains a new scratch-free look.

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If have pictures from back in the days before digital camera’s came about, this scanner will be useful.

If you have printed material that needs to be compiled in to a PDF file, this scanner will be useful.

Released around 8/31/08 New Canon CanoScan LiDe 100 Flatbed scanner for $60, great product for a great price. I recently purchased the Canon CanoScan LiDE 100, a scanner with 2400 x 4800dpi, USB 2.0, compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and Macs. Weighing at 3.5 lbs, dimensions 14.6″ x 9.9″ x 1.6″ makes it very easy to take from one place to another without worrying about the weight or size

Instantly scan your photos to use on your website to display personal family and/or friends photos or better yet, put up pictures of your business, from your staff to your facility. Have Webconsuls setup an image gallery for you in FLASH or HTML.

Purchase one today and start marketing your photos on your website.
Frys Electronics, Newegg.com

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T-Mobile has quite a few things up their sleeves right now.
First off, T-Mobile finally unleashes their 3G Network. It was available for testing purposes in New York but now will be available in the major cities in U.S.

Click here to see T-Mobile’s 3G Coverage Map

Let’s get a quick breakdown of the most commonly used networks by your provider:
note: Kbps stands for Kilobytes per second.

Edge: Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (or Enhanced Data GSM Environment)
Edge Speed: Ideally 200 Kbps, realisticly its closer to 90 Kbps

GPRS: General Packet Radio Service (an upgrade from GSM network). This is 2.5G that gives the speed between 30Kbps – 50Kbps

UMTS: Universal Mobile Telephone Service. This is the 3G Service provided by T-Mobile and ATT. This service is aimed to provide up to 2Mbps but in the real world, you’ll see 300Kpbs – 400Kbps (which is still an amazing speed compared to Edge or GPRS).

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T-Mobile partners with Google in releasing the new T-Mobile G1 phone. G1 will be the first phone released to run Android, a new operating system by Google. HTC, the manufacturer of most Windows Mobile Devices in the market has partnered up with Google to release this new line of mobile phones.

What features does the T-Mobile G1 have?

Touch screen, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, slide your finger to unlock, icons on Home screen, downloadable App store and music store, Google Maps (like you’ve never seen before), full-screen Web browsing, accelerometer that rotates the screen when you turn the phone 90 degrees,

full QWERTY keyboard, voice activated dialing, memory expansion slot, etc.

The Android, a Linux based OS, doesn’t beat the iPhone user interface but sure leaves a lot of room for customization being that its an open source platform for the community to develop new programs. It does beat the Windows Mobile OS since it’s known to slow down over time, Android being a Linux based OS probably will not encounter such issues. I myself am a Windows Mobile user and cannot imagine using anything else (although Darin would go for the iPhone over a Windows Mobile any day).

You can pre-order your new Google T-Mobile G1 Phone now. Click here for the Google Phone

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Microsoft signed Jerry Seinfeld to do advertisements with Bill Gates almost two weeks ago. This is Microsoft’s attempt to show how Windows connects everyday common people through a series of dry humor comedy. This campaign is a part of approximately $300 million overall investment developed by edgy ad shop Crispin, Porter and Bogusky. Jerry Seinfeld earned $10Million dollars from the first ad alone, which is 3% of Microsoft’s annual advertising budget alone.

The videos will probably not benefit Microsoft at all considering this is their first attempt to compete with Apple’s videos which get straight to the point. Apple’s advertisements concentrated on comparison of Apple vs PC where as Microsoft’s attempt so far is well, umm, no words to describe it really.

According to an article by Reuters, “Microsoft said the commercial is part of a broader, long-term initiative to change consumers’ perception of Windows, which will include setting up a retail corner at several hundred Best Buy and Circuit City stores staffed by “Windows Gurus” to explain the benefits of Windows.”

Here are the first two ads:

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Most people don’t understand the importance of having a website that is W3C Validated. Having your website validated can increase your listings on SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Its a great tool for SEO, it allows search engines to read through your website without coming across any errors.

W3C Validation is also important when it comes to software for people with disabilities. A W3C validated website allows those with disabilities such as the hearing impaired or vision impaired to browse through your website with ease. Allowing their software to read what images you have posted or maybe a description of a video you may have on a website so the hearing impaired can still follow the video.

Is your website validated? http://validator.w3.org/

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Google has had a relationship with Mozilla Firefox for quite sometime and now they decided to branch off and get in to the desktop applications at a larger level. Firefox lead engineer Ben Goodger began working on the Google Chrome project two years ago where at that point, he stopped contributing to Firefox. Firefox see’s Chrome as another competitor in the industry, and why shouldn’t they, its Google.

Chrome is designed to have more application related websites run smooth giving each browser tab its own run-time environment so if one tab crashes, you can still continue to browse other websites in separate tabs.

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Adobe announces Photoshop Express. An online based photo editing software similar to Adobe Photoshop (used by professionals).

Photoshop Express will not be as advanced but will allow the general public to edit photos.

Whats the greatest thing about it? ITS FREE!

Free version of Photoshop Express Online

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Beta label removed from Google Chrome