So it's here and I've been using it for about an hour now. First impressions are very good, it has a very simple, minimalist UI and I like it!
I don't have anything solid to back up my claims, but sites certainly appear to load faster in Chrome than they do in Firefox. In fact a quick test with www.bbc.co.uk reveals that Firefox loaded the page in 8.84 seconds while Chrome did it in 7.3 seconds. Nothing scientific in that, but it gives you an indication.
It also uses less memory, with Firefox and Chrome both having one tab open with identical pages fully loaded reveals Firefox using 125,684k and Chrome only 29,636k. Now a lot of that could probably be accounted for by the various Firefox plug-ins I've got. But that's still pretty impressive stuff!
One thing I am impressed with is the drag and drop. I can take a tab and pull it off the browser to make it a new window. What was particularly cool was discovering that you can drag tabs from Firefox straight into Chrome!
I've not experienced any rendering issues so far either, all the site I've tried work really well. The incognito mode is an interesting idea, you can open a new window in this mode and all your browsing will be kept secret, no bookmarks or cookies will be left behind. They say this is to let you shop for surprise presents, but I think we all know what they really intend it for :-)
Not so sure I get the new Omnibar which combines features of the address bar, and Google toolbar in one. I really loved the Firefox 3 address bar, but so far I'm just not getting the same great experience with it. That might change in time though.
In summary, this is going to be a strong competitor to the big three (IE, Firefox, Safari). Not sure I'm ready to give up Firefox with all its plug-ins just yet but I could see a time when that may happen!
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Google announce new browser
So, the inevitable has finally occurred. Google have officially announced their own web browser designed to compete directly with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari etc..
I hate to say it, but it does actually sound rather promising and I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing more. It's called Chrome and you can read all about it in this (of all things) comic strip! One of the big advantages it has is that just like Firefox it's open source.
So the dominance of Google continues, what with Gmail, its GoogleDocs suite, the Android mobile phone OS, now this web browser. They really are starting to dominate not just the desktop, but our lives as well.
How will MS react to this, they've been having a tough time the last few years. It seems they are no longer at the cutting edge. Perhaps this is the beginning of the end for the huge corporation, it had to happen at some point.
EDIT: Just heard that the beta is going to be available TODAY! First screenshots are already appearing. Check this out:
Certainly going to be keeping a close eye on this, will be installing and testing this as soon as possible.
I hate to say it, but it does actually sound rather promising and I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing more. It's called Chrome and you can read all about it in this (of all things) comic strip! One of the big advantages it has is that just like Firefox it's open source.
So the dominance of Google continues, what with Gmail, its GoogleDocs suite, the Android mobile phone OS, now this web browser. They really are starting to dominate not just the desktop, but our lives as well.
How will MS react to this, they've been having a tough time the last few years. It seems they are no longer at the cutting edge. Perhaps this is the beginning of the end for the huge corporation, it had to happen at some point.
EDIT: Just heard that the beta is going to be available TODAY! First screenshots are already appearing. Check this out:
Certainly going to be keeping a close eye on this, will be installing and testing this as soon as possible.
Thursday, 28 August 2008
What's wrong with the iPhone
So you probably know by now that I've got an iPhone 3G. My last blog post bemoaning the convoluted methods required to transfer contacts and calendar entries kind of gave that away. So instead of waxing lyrical about how great the iPhone is, I'm going to be a bit more critical and list all the things that are wrong with the iPhone! If you are considering a purchase, think about these things carefully, you may miss them more than you think when they are gone.
No MMS support: I mean really, come on! How long has MMS been around now? Yet Apple have decided to not support this. Crazy.
No SMS folders: Yup, there are no folders on the iPhone for your messages. No sent messages, no drafts etc... Very frustrating. Want to save a message to send later? No can do!
No video recording: It seems that Apple have deemed it unnecessary for the iPhone to support video recording. The 2 mega pixel camera seems to have attracted a lot of press. To be honest I can live with that, the images are pretty good to be fair. But you can't use the iPhone to record video, even low end budget camera phones support this. The iPhone is supposed to be top of the range yet it lacks this feature.
Can't change battery: Yet again, and as seems to be standard on Apple devices, you can't access the battery. This isn't a big issue yet, though it does limit how far you can travel without a re-charge.
No Flash support: The iPhone has a great web browser. Using the internet on the iPhone is a pleasure, not some torturous experience you force yourself to endure like on some other phones. But they missed out a Flash player, this can be so very frustrating when you follow a link to be greeted by a Flash site that just won't work.
No Javascript: Similar to the Flash criticism above. You can become suddenly unstuck when browsing a website when it uses JavaScript. You'd be surprised just how many sites do and won't work on the iPhone as a result.
No cut & paste: This is quite a common complaint, and it is a fully justified one. I've never had cut & paste on a mobile before to be fair, but the iPhone with all its other great features is just crying out for it.
No Flash: No, I'm not repeating myself. The iPhone has no flash, camera flash that is. Forget about taking pictures in a dark environment you won't see anything.
Poor 3G: Okay, not an iPhone problem exactly, but as it's only available on one network I think it qualifies. 3G reception is atrocious, O2 have a really poor 3G network. I've just joined O2 from three, three's 3G network is amazing, they have fantastic coverage. The same cannot be said for O2, and they don't seem to be in a huge rush to roll out improvements either. I live in an area with no 3G coverage from 02, yet three gave me a full strength signal here. Even venturing into a large town only gives me 2-3 bars of 3G signal on the iPhone.
Crippled performance: Even when you do have 3G, the quality is limited. YouTube doesn't perform any better than it did with Edge due to limitations set in the firmware. You aren't allowed to use the iTunes store unless you are connected to a wireless network and the AppStore is limited when using 3G.
Poor Synchronisation: As my previous blog entry explains, sync'ing your iPhone to a Windows PC is a painful experience if you are trying to port contacts and calendar entries but don't use MS Outlook. Work arounds exist, but they shouldn't have to, it should be easy to synchronise with more than just one program.
Bugs I found a bug tonight as well, if you use the stopwatch and hit the lap button then it puts the lap time in the list below but then resets the timer. This behaviour Is wrong, the total time should be cumulative and should not reset at the end of a lap. There are other bugs I've heard about but this is one I came across on my own. Not the end of the world but it makes you wonder how a feature bug like this has made it through testing. I have to add up all the lap times to get a total.
As a whole package the iPhone is fabulous, there are many great things about it. But for Apple to have completely brushed over numerous basic and fundamental mobile phone functions is inexcusable. The first iPhone was always going to be touch and go and mistakes could be forgiven with it being their first foray into the mobile market. But they've had time to listen to consumers now, find out the weak points and fix them. Yet many still remain and Apple seem intent on continuing to ignore them.
Having said all that, I still love it. And I'm not even someone who likes Apple products, I've never had an iPod and never owned a MAC. Something about the iPhone is just special.
No MMS support: I mean really, come on! How long has MMS been around now? Yet Apple have decided to not support this. Crazy.
No SMS folders: Yup, there are no folders on the iPhone for your messages. No sent messages, no drafts etc... Very frustrating. Want to save a message to send later? No can do!
No video recording: It seems that Apple have deemed it unnecessary for the iPhone to support video recording. The 2 mega pixel camera seems to have attracted a lot of press. To be honest I can live with that, the images are pretty good to be fair. But you can't use the iPhone to record video, even low end budget camera phones support this. The iPhone is supposed to be top of the range yet it lacks this feature.
Can't change battery: Yet again, and as seems to be standard on Apple devices, you can't access the battery. This isn't a big issue yet, though it does limit how far you can travel without a re-charge.
No Flash support: The iPhone has a great web browser. Using the internet on the iPhone is a pleasure, not some torturous experience you force yourself to endure like on some other phones. But they missed out a Flash player, this can be so very frustrating when you follow a link to be greeted by a Flash site that just won't work.
No Javascript: Similar to the Flash criticism above. You can become suddenly unstuck when browsing a website when it uses JavaScript. You'd be surprised just how many sites do and won't work on the iPhone as a result.
No cut & paste: This is quite a common complaint, and it is a fully justified one. I've never had cut & paste on a mobile before to be fair, but the iPhone with all its other great features is just crying out for it.
No Flash: No, I'm not repeating myself. The iPhone has no flash, camera flash that is. Forget about taking pictures in a dark environment you won't see anything.
Poor 3G: Okay, not an iPhone problem exactly, but as it's only available on one network I think it qualifies. 3G reception is atrocious, O2 have a really poor 3G network. I've just joined O2 from three, three's 3G network is amazing, they have fantastic coverage. The same cannot be said for O2, and they don't seem to be in a huge rush to roll out improvements either. I live in an area with no 3G coverage from 02, yet three gave me a full strength signal here. Even venturing into a large town only gives me 2-3 bars of 3G signal on the iPhone.
Crippled performance: Even when you do have 3G, the quality is limited. YouTube doesn't perform any better than it did with Edge due to limitations set in the firmware. You aren't allowed to use the iTunes store unless you are connected to a wireless network and the AppStore is limited when using 3G.
Poor Synchronisation: As my previous blog entry explains, sync'ing your iPhone to a Windows PC is a painful experience if you are trying to port contacts and calendar entries but don't use MS Outlook. Work arounds exist, but they shouldn't have to, it should be easy to synchronise with more than just one program.
Bugs I found a bug tonight as well, if you use the stopwatch and hit the lap button then it puts the lap time in the list below but then resets the timer. This behaviour Is wrong, the total time should be cumulative and should not reset at the end of a lap. There are other bugs I've heard about but this is one I came across on my own. Not the end of the world but it makes you wonder how a feature bug like this has made it through testing. I have to add up all the lap times to get a total.
As a whole package the iPhone is fabulous, there are many great things about it. But for Apple to have completely brushed over numerous basic and fundamental mobile phone functions is inexcusable. The first iPhone was always going to be touch and go and mistakes could be forgiven with it being their first foray into the mobile market. But they've had time to listen to consumers now, find out the weak points and fix them. Yet many still remain and Apple seem intent on continuing to ignore them.
Having said all that, I still love it. And I'm not even someone who likes Apple products, I've never had an iPod and never owned a MAC. Something about the iPhone is just special.
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
iPhone 3G - Google Calendar and Contacts sync
How would one go about syncing calendar and contacts from a Nokia N73 to a new iPhone 3G?
Sounds like it should be a simple task right? ... Wrong! The contacts bit was fairly easy, you just nee to use the Windows address book. Don't worry if you don't use Outlook Express normally, you only have to do it the once and it's all done. Copy your phones contacts to the Windows address book using the PC Suite, then use iTunes to sync your address book to the iPhone. Simple!
However, Calendar entries are a lot more problematic. iTunes will only work with Microsoft Outlook on Windows, if you don't have it then iTunes will tell you "No supported calendar application can be found". Not very helpful really, especially when you find out Apple only supports an expensive Microsoft application that you probably have no need for. I certainly wasn't going to buy it just for this, so I set about trying to find an alternative method that didn't involve me entering hundreds of appointments manually!
While I was searching for potential solutions I suddenly remembered reading something about synchronising my Nokia calendar with Google. So I thought, if I can get my calendar onto Google, I'd then only have to get it back off Google onto my iPhone. I'd solved it, or so I thought....
Actually getting my calender onto Google wasn't that hard, I found a web service that will do it for you with the built in sync software on the phone. GooSync was the the place to do this, simply register for an account. They send you the configuration in an SMS message which you save to your phone. Then you allow the service to access your Google calendar, a few seconds later all your events should have magically been transferred for you.
We are now half way there, unfortunately GooSync doesn't have any support for the iPhone, so I still had to figure out that bit. In fact it turned out to be the hardest part! You see Apple really do like to make things awkward sometimes. A lot of the things they do are brilliant, but every now and then they like to throw a spanner in the works and shoot themselves in the foot. There is just no easy away to sync Google Calendar with the iPhone. Hours of searching turned up no perfect solution, it just didn't seem to exist. Just as I was about to give up my prayers were answered and along came NuevaSync!
I managed to use NuevaSync to get Google Calendar to sync with the iPhone. Not only does it send all the events to your iPhone it also offers 2-way synchronisation, so changes you make on the iPhone are sent to the Google Calendar and vice-versa. Many of the other horrible solutions won't allow 2-way communication so this is a big bonus for NuevaSync. That and the fact it's free as well!
You should bear in mind that it's only in beta, so use it with caution. I've only had a quick play with it, but everything seems to be working flawlessly. It uses Microsoft Exchange so you don't have to jailbreak or install any third party applications, just enter your NeuvaSync account details into you iPhone and it works!
It's also compatible with contacts too, so you can sync your Google contacts using the same account information. If I'd known this before I'd have used it to sync my contacts as well instead of doing it through Outlook Express. If anyone tries this let me know how it goes.
Quite frankly this is an amazing service that I would be perfectly happy to pay for, so for it to be offered free is brilliant. It will be interesting to see how long it stays free once it's out of beta and demand goes through the roof :)
For now though, if you have an iPhone 3G, and you've got a Google Calendar, this is by far the best solution out there!
STEP BY STEP
1. Create a GooSync account.
2. Enable GooSync to access your Google Calender.
3. Save the SMS from GooSync to your phone.
4. Allow the synchronisation to occur auto-magically.
5. Check your Calender entries are saved in Google calender.
6. Set up a NeuvaSync account.
7. Enable NeuvaSync to access your Google Calender.
8. Enter your NeuvaSync details in your iPhone. WARNING: At this point you will lose any Calendar entries in you iPhone, they will all be replaced with your Google Calendar.
9. Wait for the Calender entries to be transferred across to you iPhone.
10. Create or edit Calender entries on your iPhone or in Google and watch as they are sync'ed on the fly.
Sit back, relax and marvel at modern technology. ENJOY!
Sounds like it should be a simple task right? ... Wrong! The contacts bit was fairly easy, you just nee to use the Windows address book. Don't worry if you don't use Outlook Express normally, you only have to do it the once and it's all done. Copy your phones contacts to the Windows address book using the PC Suite, then use iTunes to sync your address book to the iPhone. Simple!
However, Calendar entries are a lot more problematic. iTunes will only work with Microsoft Outlook on Windows, if you don't have it then iTunes will tell you "No supported calendar application can be found". Not very helpful really, especially when you find out Apple only supports an expensive Microsoft application that you probably have no need for. I certainly wasn't going to buy it just for this, so I set about trying to find an alternative method that didn't involve me entering hundreds of appointments manually!
While I was searching for potential solutions I suddenly remembered reading something about synchronising my Nokia calendar with Google. So I thought, if I can get my calendar onto Google, I'd then only have to get it back off Google onto my iPhone. I'd solved it, or so I thought....
Actually getting my calender onto Google wasn't that hard, I found a web service that will do it for you with the built in sync software on the phone. GooSync was the the place to do this, simply register for an account. They send you the configuration in an SMS message which you save to your phone. Then you allow the service to access your Google calendar, a few seconds later all your events should have magically been transferred for you.
We are now half way there, unfortunately GooSync doesn't have any support for the iPhone, so I still had to figure out that bit. In fact it turned out to be the hardest part! You see Apple really do like to make things awkward sometimes. A lot of the things they do are brilliant, but every now and then they like to throw a spanner in the works and shoot themselves in the foot. There is just no easy away to sync Google Calendar with the iPhone. Hours of searching turned up no perfect solution, it just didn't seem to exist. Just as I was about to give up my prayers were answered and along came NuevaSync!
I managed to use NuevaSync to get Google Calendar to sync with the iPhone. Not only does it send all the events to your iPhone it also offers 2-way synchronisation, so changes you make on the iPhone are sent to the Google Calendar and vice-versa. Many of the other horrible solutions won't allow 2-way communication so this is a big bonus for NuevaSync. That and the fact it's free as well!
You should bear in mind that it's only in beta, so use it with caution. I've only had a quick play with it, but everything seems to be working flawlessly. It uses Microsoft Exchange so you don't have to jailbreak or install any third party applications, just enter your NeuvaSync account details into you iPhone and it works!
It's also compatible with contacts too, so you can sync your Google contacts using the same account information. If I'd known this before I'd have used it to sync my contacts as well instead of doing it through Outlook Express. If anyone tries this let me know how it goes.
Quite frankly this is an amazing service that I would be perfectly happy to pay for, so for it to be offered free is brilliant. It will be interesting to see how long it stays free once it's out of beta and demand goes through the roof :)
For now though, if you have an iPhone 3G, and you've got a Google Calendar, this is by far the best solution out there!
STEP BY STEP
1. Create a GooSync account.
2. Enable GooSync to access your Google Calender.
3. Save the SMS from GooSync to your phone.
4. Allow the synchronisation to occur auto-magically.
5. Check your Calender entries are saved in Google calender.
6. Set up a NeuvaSync account.
7. Enable NeuvaSync to access your Google Calender.
8. Enter your NeuvaSync details in your iPhone. WARNING: At this point you will lose any Calendar entries in you iPhone, they will all be replaced with your Google Calendar.
9. Wait for the Calender entries to be transferred across to you iPhone.
10. Create or edit Calender entries on your iPhone or in Google and watch as they are sync'ed on the fly.
Sit back, relax and marvel at modern technology. ENJOY!
Thursday, 14 August 2008
Star of stage and screen
I'm going to be on TV, well actually, probably only the back of my head.... but we all have to start somewhere! Also, it's only the local news, so unless you are in East Sussex you'll miss out. Anyway, those that get a chance can tune into Meridian Tonight at 6pm on Friday to see me at work.
You see we had a film crew come in yesterday to make a feature about the theatre and the show that is currently running. There are several bits that had me in shot, though how many will make the final edit is anyone's guess. They did ask me for an interview being the stage manager, however I politely declined their offer. You see, I work behind the scenes for a reason, I'm happy not being seen!
If anyone does see me though, leave a comment and let me know... but I'm not holding my breath. I'll be the only person wearing black, probably with a set of cans stuck on my head.... much like my profile picture come to think of it!
You see we had a film crew come in yesterday to make a feature about the theatre and the show that is currently running. There are several bits that had me in shot, though how many will make the final edit is anyone's guess. They did ask me for an interview being the stage manager, however I politely declined their offer. You see, I work behind the scenes for a reason, I'm happy not being seen!
If anyone does see me though, leave a comment and let me know... but I'm not holding my breath. I'll be the only person wearing black, probably with a set of cans stuck on my head.... much like my profile picture come to think of it!
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Nearly killed by the Police
I was very nearly run over by the police last night! Walking back to my car after work I witnessed a police pursuit end in a crash which finished less than 2 meters from where I was stood.
Frankly I was shit scared as the police car hit the vehicle it was pursuing and then came careering out of control towards me. The car being chased came up to a junction controlled by traffic lights which another car was waiting at. He mounted the curb to try and go around the stationary vehicle, almost knocking over three pedestrians on the pavement in the process. Then instead of going left he decided to turn right, just as the police car had gone around the stationary vehicle the other way. This resulted in the police hitting the car in the driver side door, at which point they both skidded across the junction heading straight for me.
The driver of the car escaped from his vehicle quite quickly and started to run away hotly pursued by the two police officers. I just waited where I was for a couple of minutes until about ten more police cars all descended on me.
I gave them my details and I'm just waiting for a phone call to get me down to the station to make a statement.
Frankly I was shit scared as the police car hit the vehicle it was pursuing and then came careering out of control towards me. The car being chased came up to a junction controlled by traffic lights which another car was waiting at. He mounted the curb to try and go around the stationary vehicle, almost knocking over three pedestrians on the pavement in the process. Then instead of going left he decided to turn right, just as the police car had gone around the stationary vehicle the other way. This resulted in the police hitting the car in the driver side door, at which point they both skidded across the junction heading straight for me.
The driver of the car escaped from his vehicle quite quickly and started to run away hotly pursued by the two police officers. I just waited where I was for a couple of minutes until about ten more police cars all descended on me.
I gave them my details and I'm just waiting for a phone call to get me down to the station to make a statement.
Sunday, 13 July 2008
Tumbleweed
It's quiet round here ain't it! I thought this might happen when I got my monitor back so I could play on my consoles again. I spend what spare time I have playing on them and not enough time on things like this.
Anyway, I've not been playing games exclusively, I've been pretty busy with work but I've also been working on a new project. It's not really finished yet, a lot still needs doing, but if you want a sneak peak then I'll tell you about it.
I'm developing a new web site, I haven't done anything like this is a long time. I figured I'd give it a go and see how it turns out. I decided to use a Content Management System or CMS for short to take a lot of the leg work out of it. I've never used one before, all my previous sites have been hand coded from scratch. I went with Drupal because a couple of people I know have used it and recommended it and a web site I use over at http://www.ugvm.org.uk also uses it. It seems to do a pretty good job so thought I'd investigate.
I've got the bare bones of the site together now, I just need to get working on customising it. But where to start? I don't know anything about Drupal, I need to do some investigation. If anyone has any recommendations on where to look for this send them to me please!
So now I've told you a bit about it, I bet you're all gagging to to see it right? Hmmm, well okay, maybe not. But if you do want a look you can find it over at http://www.techietalk.co.uk.
I'll try and post again soon and maybe talk about some games next time.
Anyway, I've not been playing games exclusively, I've been pretty busy with work but I've also been working on a new project. It's not really finished yet, a lot still needs doing, but if you want a sneak peak then I'll tell you about it.
I'm developing a new web site, I haven't done anything like this is a long time. I figured I'd give it a go and see how it turns out. I decided to use a Content Management System or CMS for short to take a lot of the leg work out of it. I've never used one before, all my previous sites have been hand coded from scratch. I went with Drupal because a couple of people I know have used it and recommended it and a web site I use over at http://www.ugvm.org.uk also uses it. It seems to do a pretty good job so thought I'd investigate.
I've got the bare bones of the site together now, I just need to get working on customising it. But where to start? I don't know anything about Drupal, I need to do some investigation. If anyone has any recommendations on where to look for this send them to me please!
So now I've told you a bit about it, I bet you're all gagging to to see it right? Hmmm, well okay, maybe not. But if you do want a look you can find it over at http://www.techietalk.co.uk.
I'll try and post again soon and maybe talk about some games next time.
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