The Blog of Oscar Godson

I wanted a mouse for years. My mother would always say no. I would always look into other animals, but they were never the same. I almost got a hedgehog, but eh, not the same. I finally came across this animal called a Sugar Glider straight from Australia and New Guinea. When I saw them they looked so cute, fuzzy, and awesome! They were just cool because not very many people have them. They are not like mice or hamsters. Biggest differences is they can glide, they are nocturnal, and live about 15 years.At first my mother was not into the idea of having this “flying” animal in the house. “They will poop everywhere!” she said. I gave up on trying to convince for a few months. There seemed to be no hope. Even more so when the ones I found were online and they were $200.oo minimum.A couple months later my girlfriend was looking for Chihuahuas online. She was scrolling through the animals for sale in her area and she found a sugar glider for sale for only $150.00. I thought this was an awesome deal, so I had my girlfriend call and ask a few questions. I told my mom about their pooping habits, which really aren’t that bad, and just other basic questions. She finally gave in and I was going to get a sugar glider for $150.00.I made an appointment to go and get it that weekend. When the day came to pick them up when we had found an even better deal on craigslist. $125.00 and there were two AND they came in a cage, two actually, and toys, food, and more. It was to good of a deal to let go. I went and picked them up the next day with my girlfriend. That’s where my story truly begins. \\\Day OneI read online in more than one place you needed to let them get used to your smell so the night before I made for I wore the same shirt all day, to bed, and when I picked them up I took that shirt off and placed it inside of the cage. I didn’t do much with them the first day because I was told not to. I saw them at night for only a few minutes and then went to bed after getting them water, fruits and veggies.At the end of the day I knew the perfect names. As many of you know I am a total computer nerd. I had to come up with a name that would make sense. The two sugar gliders I have are a mom and a daughter. The mom is a bit chubby from the previous owners feeding them only yogurt, fruits, and vegetables. “What is small in computer terms?” I thought. Bytes! I named the little one Bytes, but what about the big one. Then it hit me. It’s a girl name, but has a twist. Tera! Tera as in Terabytes! Which is a step up from a Gig.So Tera and Bytes were named.\\\Day TwoWhen I had awoken I went downstairs and saw them sleeping in their pouch. Today I was not going to take them out of the pouch but I was going to take them out , but leave them in their pouch. I had them for about 3-4 hours that day carrying them around in the pouch.I made the the BML Mix as well as gave them their 3 large mealworms, vegetables, and fruits.I didn’t see them much that night either. I wanted to, but just couldn’t yet. They were crabbing and not fully comfortable with me yet.\\Day Three Day three was the day I got to actually see them. I brought them into a weight room that we are putting everything in while we move. It has a lot of things for them to climb and jump off including two very tall shelves. I went in there with them in the pouch, with water, baby food, and plain clothes (my biggest mistake) .I set the pouch down and put my finger in the baby food that they licked off me the day before for just a second. I waited there for them to come out, but nothing. After almost ten minutes I gave up and tipped their pouch gently upside down. I had to wiggle it a little bit, but they came out. Tera came out first and scurried into the shadows of the weights. Bytes wouldn’t come out and I had to wiggle some more. He finally came out.When he came out he jumped on me and ran up my shirt. I was wearing a single shirt. At the time I didn’t think it would matter all that much and that their claws can only be so big… wrong. It wasn’t dark enough so they ran in my shirt. I was fine with it at first because they sat right at the top of my butt and the bottom of my shirt. Then they started moving around and they scratched my back pretty bad.I did that for about two hours and put them back in their pouch then in their cage and got their meal ready and lastly I went to bed.It was so neat having them scurry around you and hide from the light. \\Coming up journal entries

• What TO wear
• How they now come out easier
• No more crabbing
• Actually petting them
• Darkness and computing

Hope you enjoy this. If you have any questions I am actually going to be putting in back entries because I have had them about a week from typing this up. Once I get all caught up it will be one journal entry a day and see what is happening with my suggies, Tera and Bytes and ask questions and learn.

Here is my video that I have been working on for class. It is a kinetic type video which is a video using only type, or only basic graphics as long as the type is the main focus.

I used a NOFX song called Murder the Government. You should buy some of their CDs. They are awesome. If you don’t know who they are, get yourself out from underneath that rock you have been under and listen to some of their music.

I wanted to contribute something actually more useful. I am just now starting to blog regularly and receiving comments, which if they are not contributing then I delete them. How I want to contribute is how to make a 100% valid XHTML/CSS site. I’ll be including “homework” for you to do before the next post. Each post will rely on that work you did previously. This guide is expecting you know very basic XHTML and CSS. I will be building a site with you and you can see how to use those elements, but I ask that you know what tags are and just a very basic idea of those main programming languages. If you do not know these visit these sites:

• http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp
• http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/default.asp
• http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp

W3 Schools is a great place and learned every bit of (X)HTML and CSS there. You can learn and practice in their editor, but you will need an editor of your own and some other tools.

Tools you will need in developing any website are

• Computer (duh)
• Text Editor
• Web Browser (please not Internet Explorer)

Those are the very, very basic tools. If you are serious about this in any way, and want to put this on the web you will need the following in addition to the above tools:

• FTP
• Vector and/or Bitmap Image Software
• Web Host
• Domain Name

If you are new to web development you probably don’t know what software to use. Feel free to skip each category if you already have software you like in that category. I’ll be giving the recommended software and then a free equivalent of that software. Please remember I am on Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). If you are on Windows I don’t have a lot of software compatible on that and I refuse to use it, so you will have to do some research on your own. If you are using a Linux distro I will help you as much as possible. I also own Ubuntu 7.10. I’ll give an example for each app in Linux as well, but the paid software is mostly Mac stuff.

Text Editors
Text editors are a dime a dozen. There are so many out there. If you are on Windows you could very well use Notepad. I would not recommend it, but you can. I personally use TextMate which is my personal favorite and the only editor I would ever pay for. It has color coding and is very minimal which I like. It has great features and is fairly cheap compared to the alternatives. If you are looking for something free, but still powerful get TextWrangler. I can honestly say its a great editor and the best free one out there.

Ubuntu (Linux) users could use TextEditor which is my favorite when using Ubuntu and it’s preinstalled. I also used Screem for awhile as well. You can download this in the add/remove apps.

Web Browsers
Almost all browsers are free, but there are certain browsers you need to make sure you have. The three browsers you will need to test on are:

Firefox (Windows, Mac, Linux, and more)
Safari (Windows and Mac)
Internet Explorer (6&7) (Windows only)

Unfortunately, the most used browser is IE 6 which is a big, gigantic, humongous, piece of crap. You will end up writing an entire separate style sheet just for it and it doesn’t support transparent pngs.

FTPs
How are you going to get files to the server you have chosen? Unless you have your PC as a web server, you will be using a FTP to transfer your files. FTP stands for file transfer protocol. My favorite FTP for the Mac is Transmit from Panic. They make some awesome apps. If you are a student get Fetch which is the FTP I used for a long time until I got Transmit which I like much better. If you want a totally free app for the mac though I would get Cyberduck. I have used it a few times and used it at my work and it’s the best free one out there.

On Ubuntu I never used an FTP. I used the Connect to Server in the Places folder. I then select FTP and fill out the info. I think it work great and it makes it look just like another folder on your OS.

Vector and/or Bitmap Image Software
A website isn’t a website without any images. Even Google’s stark homepage has their logo. How you are going to make these images is your choice. You could always use stock images from sxc.hu which are free, but free vector files are harder find and you might need to create basic images such as rounded corners and such. I usually use two different image editing software. The most used is Adobe Illustrator CS3 and then after that I use Adobe Photoshop CS3. I recommend these, but these are by no means cheap. I will go into the differences of these two and what vector and bitmap mean in a later chapter.

If you can’t afford this, which is understandable, there are two widely used apps for both Mac and Linux. InkScape (replaces Illustrator) and GIMP (replaces Photoshop) Both are very good, but I don’t have a lot of experience in either. More in InkScape then GIMP, but I can say that both are plenty good enough for basic web design.

Web Hosts
You will probably do not need a web host right away and you will be able to edit and program most every file right on your computer. When you are ready for one I have one free option for you. This is the best free option out there and I have been using it to host my various websites and used it as a testing server many times for clients. Trap 17 is it’s name and it’s just great. It supports just about everything and gives you tons of space and more than enough bandwidth. If you are going through more bandwidth than they offer you should be making some serious dough. It’s completely free and no ads. All you have to do is post in their forums. You can find me there as BooZker. I am a regular member there and I am well known, so if you have a question PM me or ask someone there if they have seen me around.

They give you a certain amount of points based on the content of the topic. one credit is equal to one day. I have had 200 credits at one time and didn’t go back there for three months. It’s nice having that security with a free host. You will only need 10 credits before you can ask for web hosting. I would get the biggest package there. Please just go to http://trap17.com for all the info.

I do not know of any other paid hosts, because I have only used Trap 17, Bravehost, and FreeWebs. Trap 17 is by far the best and is the only one without ads and isn’t dead slow.

Domain Names
Last but defiantly not least is a domain name. A domain name is a like a speed dial on a phone. Instead of typing in http://64.233.161.18 you would type google.com. This is crucial for any successful website. Plus it’s super cheap. You can get domain names sometimes for a little over a buck, but godaddy.com is my preferred place to buy domain names and they are super cheap on their .com names. I will go into detail on how to purchase and move the name to your host, which in this blog will be Trap 17, and set the DNS (Domain Name Servers) up.

So this conclude my post and Ch.1. If you have any questions, see any typos, or whatever drop me a comment. You have some homework to do!

• Get a text editor
• Get a FTP
• Get vector and/or bitmap image editing software
• As many of the browsers listed above as I can
• Learn about HTML, XHTML, and CSS. Just the basics!
• Sign up and start posting on Trap 17.

The other stuff can wait such as domain names and web hosts. Just try to get that stuff done and that way next chapter you will be able to jump right in.

Good Luck!

The iPod Touch is just plain awesome. When I got it the first thing I did was attempt YouTube. It wouldn’t connect. “Damn it,” I said politely. The fix was actually pretty easy. I couldn’t find the answer to my problem on any site. Then I remembered how I had fixed my Wii with the same problem. I changed the channel number.

My quick tutorial below is how to do this on an Actiontec router, but most should be the same or have these options in about the same area.

» First go to your router by opening your favorite web browser and type in: http://192.168.0.1

» Fill in a username and password if asked. It will not ask if you have never set this up.

» Next go to “Setup / Configuration“

» On the next screen look to the left. You will see Advanced Set Up. Click on it.

» Press the “Begin Advanced Setup” button

» Now on the left of that click “Wireless Settings”. It’s the second one.

» It will open a screen with only 4 options. Those of which are “Wireless” (on/off) Of course make sure this is on! “ESSID” (change to whatever you want, but “ACTIONTEC” is fine) “Channel” and lastly Security.

» I have my “Security” off. To be honest, I could give a poop who uses it and it’s only that much more of a hassle.

» The thing we want is the “Channel”. Set it to 11. That is what I need it at for my iPod to work, but on the other hand, I need it at 1 for my Wii to work. It’s pretty crappy and makes me pretty angry, but whatever.

People are also reporting that turning off MAC Authentication makes the internet work as well. You can do this by:

» Looking at the left and going to the option right below “Wireless Settings”, the one you just did, which is “Wireless MAC Authentication”.

» In that menu just make sure the “Enable Access List” is UNCHECKED.

Last 2 steps.

» Click on “Save and Restart” on the bottom left and then click the “Save and Restart” button

» Wait for it to reboot the modem. The wireless light should be turned on and green along with the “Internet” light

It should be fixed. Please note that I still get connection errors, but I just reboot my iPod and it starts working again. I hate it, but that’s the way things go. So if it isn’t working do a hard reboot.

Tell me if anyone comes up with any other way to get the WiFi to work.

What is so great about Photoshop? Yes, it’s photo editing software, hence Photoshop, and it is the best out there, but why do so many design websites with it? It’s not made for web design in the first place. I can see if you are comfortable with it, but I slice up websites for a living and I can’t stand going through layers upon layers of “Layer 1, Layer 2, …” and it makes me go crazy. Not only that, I have to find that magic layer in the 50 others to extract your logo or side bar or whatever. I slice and dice and create my entire website in Adobe Illustrator.

Why you ask? It’s very simple really. Adobe Illustrator has layers also, but many don’t use them and when they do use them, they use them sparingly. I do edit the photos in Photoshop, but then bring them over into AI. I have a huge canvas this way and I can move and cut things up on multiple layers without having to merge or flatten. It saves me time… a lot of time actually.

Plus how many photos do you really use on a website? Most of the stuff that you make will end up being converted to code or a simple shape such as a square, rounded corner, etc. In the last 5 websites I have sliced there were a grand total of 7 photos that were used in the actual design of the site. There were portfolio sections, but in the design you would leave this blank or have in sample.

Please use Illustrator or something to design your website if it’s going to get sliced because it will save everyone more time. Many people who slice probably wouldn’t like an AI file since they are not used to it, but after they use it, it will grow on them!

Next is the actual slicing part. Most people send the comps off after this, but if you design and slice what do you use? I would never, ever, ever use the slicing option that Photoshop has. I guess it’s not bad, but you aren’t going to get the results you want and you wont understand the code as well and then they decide they want something different, you are screwed. Just take some time and learn basic XHTML and CSS. After that I use TextMate by Macromates. It’s a very minimal, lightweight, IDE. Supports tons of languages and even Ruby on Rails. It’s €39, which equals about $56.9088. By the way, I am talking about Mac OS X software here. Sorry Windows people…

Lastly, you will need a way to upload files to a web server. To do this you will need an FTP. I have two great options here. If you can get a student discount get Fetch because it’s free and one of the best out there. If you don’t mind coffing up some money or you do not get a educational or charitable discount I would just get Transmit from Panic. It has more features than Fetch and I personally like it better. Once again, sorry Windows users, Mac only stuff.

I do want to warn you about one piece of software that actually gets banned in some work places such as mine. Dreamweaver by Adobe (Just recently released by them, but has had 8 previous versions from Macromedia which has been bought out by Adobe.) Dreamweaver hogs a shit load of RAM and not for a very good reason. It is just packed full of extra features that try to make it easier, but it really is just easier to learn how to program it since XHTML and CSS is very basic than have to learn how to navigate through menu after menu to add one thing. You will have to learn what everything means anyways to be able to use the menus. If you want a fully featured IDE that has a built in FTP and has all the features of Dreamweaver then get Panic’s Coda. It’s $80, but much less than Dreamweaver’s $400 price.

So this is what I end up with and everything I use to make websites (with the exception of the occasional Flash video.)

• Design and slicing = Adobe Illustrator
• Coding = TextMate
• FTP = Fetch/Transmit
• Optional (takes place of both TextMate and a FTP) = Coda

Blogged with Flock

If you want to read it as a PDF instead download it here

With Great Convenience, Comes Great Responsibility
by: Oscar Godson

Year by year the differences in eating habits of Americans don’t seem to change all that much. When you step back 20, 30, or even 50 years ago the changes can seem enormous. At times Americans seem to be eating the most unhealthy foods you can get, but at other times it seems they are fighting for the most healthy alternatives available. Americans seem to try to be healthy, but to be healthy they sometimes make up for the healthiness with alternatives that aren’t so quite, well, healthy. The overall consumption never changes, yet the fat increases. With a decrease in some sort of food there is an increase in another. It is a teeter totter effect. Children seem to eat more vegetables and fruits, yet their soda pop intake has increased tremendously. Although Americans have the choice of eating healthy or unhealthy, they will generally choose convenience which happens to be the unhealthier way.

Americans eat fattier foods at times, but it has actually decreased in the last 50 years in some categories. The average American eats almost 200lbs of meat a year. This is up approximately 60lbs per year more than 50 years ago. Fats from meats have also decreased nine percent in those last 50 years. I believe this is from fast food chains. Americans love their fast foods. One of the most popular fast food chains is McDonald’s which is famous for their Big Mac which has two patties of meat. Meat is the main serving at fast food places and since many Americans always feel they are too busy to make breakfast or lunch they end up getting a quick bite to eat. What’s quicker and more convenient than a drive through?

With great convenience comes great responsibility, or so it seems with many fast food restaurants. I believe the drop of fat in meat comes from Americans wanting healthy alternatives. Fast food restaurants see Americans desiring healthier food, so they seek out healthy alternatives of their customers favorites. McDonald’s now has nutrition facts on all of their food. This just shows how their consumers want fast food, but they want it healthy. One way to make something healthier is to lower the fat in the food. Since the main food at fast food restaurants is meat, and so many Americans eat fast food, I surmise the drop in fat content yet the rise of meat intake is from fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s becoming more popular and trying to be more healthy for their customers.

Soda intake in children has increased more than 500% and milk consumption is down. I drink more soda than anyone I know and the reason is quite simple. Why drink something that has no flavor? Not only that, for the price of a name brand water you can get a name brand soda. I also see it as comparing one flavor to a thousand. No matter what drink it is, no drink can out sell every other flavor combined. Children and adults get tired of the same old thing. Soda gives you a chance to drink all kinds of flavors.

I don’t think children just like drinks that are unhealthy, but rather they are given a choice of thousands of drinks and water just being one of them. I believe this is why flavored waters and milks are becoming more prevalent in the grocery stores. Parents want something healthy, but their children are getting tired of milk and water, so they give them cherry flavored water or strawberry milk. Until there are more flavors of milk, water, or healthier drinks, soda consumption will continue to rise in my opinion.

Bottled water has been increasing at a rate just below that of soda among Americans. In 2005 alone the increase of bottled water was 9%. Overall water consumption however, has been the same for many years. This means people are drinking less tap water each year and more bottled water. I deduce this is for convenience. Why walk back and fourth to the water cooler when you could get a bottle of water for a dollar and have it at your desk? Unfortunately, this is not healthy by any means and is causing many health problems.

Dentists believe bottled water is the cause of the increase in tooth decay in children. Tap water has many more minerals and vitamins compared to bottled water. Bottled water takes out all of those minerals from the processing. Sadly, convenience comes at a price. Bottled water is given to children constantly from sports games and practices to going to the movie theaters. It’s everywhere because they can sell it and they can’t sell water in a cup. You can ask for a cup of water, but many parents would rather give their children something they can close and take with them or reuse. Children will continue to drink bottled water out of convenience for the parents and luxury of being able to just toss it in a backpack or on the field you are out playing soccer at.

Convenience is not always negative for all cases. There has been a 20% increase in vegetable and fruit consumption. I suspect this is from the increase of availability to buy already sliced fruits and vegetables. This makes it easier for people to grab a bag of apples that are already sliced and head off to work. This also relieves parents from having to slice and peel fruit and vegetables for their babies as well.

McDonald’s offers apple slices in their “Happy Meals” to accommodate the busy parent. As I see it, the easier it is for Americans to get something the more likely they will get it if it’s healthy or not. In this case, fruits and vegetables are pre-sliced and take the place of fattening fries, so many parents see it as a chance to make a step to a healthier choice. The more this becomes more rampant, the more people will eat vegetables and fruits.

Overall, it’s easier to eat unhealthy than to watch what you eat. America need convenience and from what it looks like, Americans only eat all these bad foods because it’s cheaper, easier, and faster than eating at a restaurant or making dinner at home. Americans work more than any other country and this takes a toll on their health. They are tired and don’t want to have to go home and make dinner for their family, but they can go to a fast food place and pick it up and take it home and only have to do minimal clean up at. It’s also extremely cheap. A person could get fries, soda, and a burger for three dollars at McDonald’s where as at a store you would have to buy the fries frozen, meat, bread, cheese, and all other toppings which would add up to be much more than three dollars. Why would anyone want to eat healthy again?

Americans are bombarded with propaganda about obesity. This is why Americans will be eating more healthy each and every year. Americans are already scared of all the side effects of becoming obese. This frightened America will be seeking alternatives to fatty foods at a much more increased rate than ever before. Fast food chains find this a subject to pursue and capitalize off of it whether it be for good or bad intentions. Either way, people are already not wanting to become over weight and will do anything to not ever become it.

The choices are out their for Americans, but at this time their choice is usually the one of connivence and why shouldn’t it be? With Americans being the most worked countries they have a reason why they would rather eat something on the go rather than cooking a four course meal that would take hours to cook and clean. Unfortunately, Americans are seeing the side effects in their children of not eating right. Children getting tooth decay and osteoporosis from not having enough milk at such young ages. Thus my conclusion as to why when Americans are given the choice to be eating healthy they would rather choose to the easiest way out and pay for it later. Americans are changing their ways, but it will take years to be where we were before fast food.

Works Cited

“United States Leads World Meat Stampede.” Worldwatch Institute. July 2, 1998. 6 November 2007. <http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1626>

“We Know What You Ate Last Year.” Emily Landes. 2003. 6 November 2007. <http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=24554>

“Per capita soft drink consumption up 500% over last 50 years.” Food & Drink Weekly. 10 May 2004. 6 November 2007. <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EUY/is_17_10/ai_n6264654/pg_1>

You need:

• Blue Powerade
• Hi-C Orange Lavaburst
• Sprite

Got it at: McDonalds

Directions:  Fill the cup with 3/7 of Blue Powerade and 3/7 of Hi-C Orange Lavaburst. With the 1/7 left fill with sprite to make a Joe Blue.

Personal Rating: A+

I loved this drink. This is why I am making it my first one. Whenever I mix a drink I will make sure to write the details here. Even if it was the nastiest thing I had ever tasted, it goes here. Have fun with the Joe Blue!

Soda Mixes is a new category. This category will be all about good drink mixtures to mix in fountain drinks at wherever they sell them. I’ll put the place I got it and the drinks used. Feel free to send in any mixes you enjoyed. Make sure you give them a name as well! See the next post for the first mix, Joe Blue.

So as we all know Firefox and IE are the two main browsers. Safari is coming up fast though, but there are so many more browsers you have not tried. You just figure “Hey, Firefox works fine for me and it’s great!” That may be so, but without trying all of the alternates there is really no way to tell. Most of you have tried at the most 2 browsers and that’s it. I am going to go through every browser I can find on the internet for the Mac OS X. Many of these browsers work on more then that, but I run a Mac, so that is how I am going to do it.

The browsers I have tested are:

• Firefox 2
• Safari 2
• Flock BETA
• Camino 1.5
• Netscape 9
• Find it! Keep it! BETA
• Opera 9.5
• Sunrise
• Shiira 2.2
• SeaMonkey

Those browsers are the browsers I have tested. I will also tell you what my favorite one is. I will not do any speed reports. If the browser is noticeably fast or slow I will mention this, but I will not time it. I find most browsers are one or 2 seconds difference at the very max (except IE 5.5 which is very slow.) Also I will not be putting any Add-Ons onto them. Simply as you download it is how I rate it.

Firefox 2:
Firefox has been around for awhile and has the awards to prove it’s greatness. This is a great browser. It’s fast and reliable. Enough Add-Ons to blow your mind. There are so many people who use it tech support is a breeze. Not only that, there are updates frequently. Now for the pros and cons list:

Pros

• Widely used. You can go on just about any site and it will work.
• A lot of Plug-Ins. If it doesn’t work the way you wanted it to there is probably a plug-in for you.
• Source is color coded. Very handy if you are a web developer.
• Super easy to customize the look and feel.

Cons

• Compared to other browsers, I don’t find it as “pretty.”
• Takes awhile to boot up. Noticeably longer then the others.
• Loading bar is extremely inaccurate.
• Just not really a stand out browser after I had researched all these alternatives.

Download it at: http://firefox.com

Safari 2
Safari is a newbie in the browser world. It’s been introduced to windows in a BETA and is now the default browser for all Apple products such as the iPod Touch, iPhone, and all the computers. It’s got great CSS3 compatibility and as a web developer I enjoy adding text shadows in simple CSS and I’m glad some one supports it. I also love the fact you can go to youtube (or any other website with flash videos or any media for that matter) and open Activity in Window and copy and paste the flash video link in Downloads and have it downloaded. Private Browsing makes this a unique browser also. Turn it on and nothing is saved (back and forward buttons will work until browser is shut off though.)

Pros

• Has really great CSS3 compatibility.
• Opens nice and quick.
• Love the “snapback” feature. Great for Wikipedia and Google when you get lost searching.
• Has a really neat Debug mode. (You need to turn it on in the Terminal)
• Private Browsing. Great for shopping for gifts when more then one person uses your computer.
• Using Downloads and Activity in Window you can download Flash files super quick.

Cons

• Source is not color coded.
• Shuts down at random times. (Huge con)
• Is not widely used yet. Support isn’t as easy to find as is for Firefox.

Download it at: http://www.apple.com/safari/

Flock BETA
So where do I start for this browser. It’s not like any other browser. It IS the Web 2.0 browser. It really is like no other browser. If you use Photobucket, Blogger, Wordpress, Flickr, Youtube, or even have your hosted blog you should use this browser if you use any of those services on a day to day basis. You can simply drag and drop photos and video into the media browser and have it uploaded to any of your accounts. You can write blogs and publish them from the browser as well as copy and paste all kinds of content to the web clipboard for later use in a blog or or maybe just a link to revisit. I really suggest you read my pros and cons and then really go to their site. It is supported in Windows and Linux as well as Mac.

Pros

• Great for anyone who uses any “Web 2.0″ services or blogs. Makes it really quick and easy to add or delete content.
• Has a web clipboard to save just about anything to for later use in a blog or just about anywhere.
• Really nice design and layout for the browser. My favorite design for a site.
• You can add search engines from just about any site to your search bar on the top right. For example I have Myspace, Photobucket, Urban Dictionary, and Wikipedia for extra search engines.
• Code is color coded, but you can also highlight, on the webpage its self, and right click and do view selection source. This makes it quick to look at a certain part of a site and not having to go and look around for the code.
• You can use many, but not all, Firefox plug-ins.

Cons

• A bit clunky looking before you make some customizations. A huge fix I found is by just getting rid of the bookmark bar it makes the browser window much more clean.
• Really has no plug-ins for its self.
• Community is not big yet and support will be harder to find.
• Only in BETA at the moment.

Download it at: http://www.flock.com/

Camino 1.5
Camino really is just a nice looking Firefox for Mac. Has some nice features though. Really love the icon and the design. It has spell check and session saving, but the best feature is the ad blocking. It not only blocks out the pop ups, but the physical ads on the web pages. I actually used this rather then Firefox once I found it. It is not my default browser now, but I will tell what is at the end of this blog.

Pros

• If you like Firefox, you will like this. It matches your Mac much better and you can migrate all the data from Firefox to it.
• Session saving makes it easy to save a group of tabs and come back to that set at a later time.
• Ad blocking. No not just pop ups, most all ads on any web page.
• You can drag items directly to the trash.
• Starts on a dime.

Cons

• Not to fond of how the bookmarks look and have had problems with being able to delete some.
• Not much a customizable search field.
• Not a whole lot of unique features.

Download it at: http://caminobrowser.org/

Netscape 9
What once was a major browser towering above them all is now not even in the top browsers anymore. Netscape 9 isn’t all that bad though. It actually has some really great features that I wish were in other browsers (without the plug ins). I like the green design and the icons within it also. It even has a built in weather feature that site on the bottom of the browser window with updates to the weather and temperature. Has a LinkPad so you don’t clutter up your bookmarks with temporary links you wanted to go back to. It also has one feature no other browsers, I know of, have but is actually pretty useful. It has a side browser. It opens as if it were a sidebar, but it opens a new browser window in the same browser window.

Pros

• Great new design. Came a long way from version 7 from little over a year ago.
• I really enjoy the “Mini Browser” for comparing sites.
• Imports from just about every browser.
• The LinkPad is just what I need because I find lots of links I want saved just temporarily.
• Weather and Forecast feature at the bottom of the browser is unique and it’s super cool.
• Fixes links if you type them wrong. For example, myspace.xom a dialog pops up asking if you meant myspace.com

Cons

• Not as much technical support as other browsers.
• Unlike many of the others which have nightly builds, Netscape seems to only have one version, 9.

Download it at: http://browser.netscape.com/

Find It! Keep It! BETA (15-25)
Another unique browser. I have yet to find another browser like this. Find It! Keep It! does what it sounds like it does. You go to a site and you can simply save the web page just like it is as you see it and tag the page for a quick find. I use it to save versions of my website or blog design and see it change over time. You can save you tube videos, streamed media, and more. Plus, after you save a site you could go back to it and show your friends and not have to wait for the video to load. You can also take your favorite flash games on the go. One big downfall however, it isn’t free unless you are using the BETA version like I have been. I have tested it from BETA Version 15-25.

Pros

• Unique from any other browser.
• Save any web page/site.
• Ability to tag web pages for quick finding later.
• Great support for file formats.
• URL notepad for saving links in addition to bookmarks.

Cons

• VERY little support.
• No view source (well, at least I cant find it)
• UI not to clean.
• Still in early BETA stages.
• No tabbed browsing.
• Had some problems with it on some websites. I believe those issues were addressed and corrected after a bug report.

Download it at: http://www.ansemond.com/
Single User License - 39.95
Family License - 69.95

Opera 9.5
Opera is another old-schooler here in the browser world. Used to be the third alternative in the browsing world after IE and Netscape. Now it’s fallen back a little in the desktop browser world, but taking a huge leap in other places. The Nintendo Wii uses Opera to power their browser and you can download the browser for your cell or Pocket PC. It’s free for desktop use and not for most other ways of using it. Wii is 5 USD and smartphones are about 8.50 USD. Opera is no where behind in features though. Many features are not used enough. Many no other browsers have. Such as control clicking on ads to block them or the note pad for jotting down notes.

Pros

• Been around the block before. Has great support and is very stable.
• Note Pad. Jot down notes on anything for later use.
• Block content with a simple key stroke and keep it blocked.
• Speed Dial allows you to use a key stroke to open a favorite site without having it take up room in the bookmark bar as in Safari.
• Great CSS3 compatibility.
• Saves the tabs you closed in a trash bin. You can then open one if you accidentally closed one or wanted to get back.
• If you know about the Firefox Web Developer plug-in and you liked it, Opera has something like that built in. All those features, but under view > style. If you haven’t heard of it, it outlines block elements, shows tables, switches to black and white, disable floats and more.
• Has a zoom feature in the status bar area.
• BitTorrent app built into it. No need for a separate one.
• To many more to talk about in one list!

Cons

• Still not really a browser that web developers develop for. Many web applications do not fully support it but support Firefox, IE, and Safari.
• It has trouble viewing some sites because of how it is strong on web standards.

Download it at: http://opera.com

Sunrise
Sunrise has changed a lot in the last couple versions. It used to be a lot about web developing and is slowly changing into another browser for every day use. Huge changes such as a editor in it and now, no editor. Transparency in the editor, but now only for the web pages. There are a couple really cool features though. One is save a web page as a PDF. Pretty usefull because it saves the entire page. Another is thumbnail pops up when you hover a link. Very cool. This can be done with plug-ins on other browser. Another is the ability to resize a screen to 640, 800, 1024, and 1280.

Pros

• Specific screen resize. Good for web developers.
• Opacity bar. Change the opacity of the web browser.
• Save a entire page as a pdf.
• See thumbnails of web pages by hovering them with the cursor.
• Cool looking thumbnail bookmarks.
• Has a view source with. You can set it up so it will view source if your favorite text editing software.
• The tab design is my favorite.

Cons

• No support. Small project from what I have found out about.
• Has been many changes to the UI and more.
• No built in view text source.

Download it at: http://sunrisebrowser.com/en/

Shiira 2.2
Shiira has made vast changes in the browser since the 1.0. I started using Shiira probably about a year ago when I was trying to find an alternative browser to Safari. Shiira came up and it looked really neat. The GUI has changed a lot and one feature on this is above them all. The Tab Expose feature. You can view all the tabs you have open in an Expose feel. Super great and the best feature on any browser in my opinion. It also has the normal tabs in case you liked them better, but you can also have thumbnail tabs. They are thumbnail pictures instead of tabs. Very cool.

Pros

• Tab Expose is a whole new way to have tabbed browsing.
• Thumbnail tabs make it easy to view websites with close to the same title.
• You can save the page as a printable PDF.
• You can view the source and it comes up in a window that has the CSS, images, HTML, and more all in this little source editor
• Cool page transitions. Makes it look like a book.
• You can open all the links by highlighting them and right clicking.
• Private browsing as in Safari.
• Fastest start up browser yet.

Cons

• Every time I try to open iCart it shuts down and resets my custom browser settings.
• Pages seem to take a MUCH longer time to load. I made sure it wasn’t just my internet by using other browsers and it just is Shiira. It wasn’t like this prior to 2.0. I think it has to do with the thumbnails or Expose.
• Not very much support, but it is updated constantly.
• Find Job is in Japanese.

Download it at: http://shiira.jp/en.php

SeaMonkey
SeaMonkey looks just like Netscape 7 on the Mac. If you don’t know what it looks like, it looks like, an 80s browser. It is Mozilla based and is pretty much Netscape 7. It has a nice little email client, but doesn’t really beat Mail which is built into the Mac. It also has an address book, but still, doesn’t beat the built in one on the Mac. One feature I do like is the built in text editor. Renders fast, but still, just reminds me of Windows 95 way to much.

Pros

• Really great built in editor. Best of any browsers.
• Built in Email client.
• Built in address book.
• Hover above tab and view a thumbnail.

Cons

• Reminds me of Windows 95 with the modern theme and looks just like Netscape 7 on the Classic theme.
• Massive file size for a browser. Just in comparison, Safari = 18MBs and SeaMonkey = 64Mbs.

Download it at: http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/

Overall Favorite 3
So what are my my personal favorite three? I put the three into reasons why you would use them and I am now creating a script to find you the best browser. Just put in details and tell you the best browser for you and why, but until then here is my reasons:

Just average user who wants stability and want to make sure it supported on almost all sites? You want something fast? Something that if it breaks you can find support fast? Then Firefox is right for you.

Web developer? Want to be able to outline elements on a web page. Want to validate the markup? You want something stable? You want something other people use, but want all the features for a web developer and also for home use? If this sounds like you I would go with Opera.

Are you a Web 2 o’er? Do you blog and use photobucket? Do you upload photos to Flickr on a regular basis? Do you find your self on websites and find content you want to blog about but have to open a text document to put content for later use? Do you like Web 2.0 design? Are you finding subscribing to videos on youtube? Are you a del.icio.us user? The I would most likely go with Flock for all your Web 2.0 needs.

My Personal Favorite Browser:
Flock

Flock has been my favorite browser ever since I downloaded it. I have used many, many browsers, but none of them really did everything I needed. The look I love as a graphic designer. The Web Clipboard is something I have always been looking for. I like it better then the Notes in Opera or the LinkPad in Netscape. I also love viewing the selection source. I even wrote THIS blog post IN Flock.

This blog took me months to do, and a week to type. I am hoping someone finds it useful. I also hope that people will find my Browser Picking script useful as well.

Blogged with Flock

I thought it would be nice to start my blog off with a bang with this controversial topic. Read the quote and then read my explanations.

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

- Epicurus [341–270 B.C.]

What does this quote mean to you? I’ll tell you how I read it. The first sentence is simply asking does God want to stop the evil, but can’t? He says then he is not omnipotent, or all powerful. Which is true. If he really gave you “free will” and is powerless against free will then he really isn’t the all powerful “thing”.

The second is saying can he prevent evil, but doesn’t? Then he is the evil person. If he has the power to stop the evil brought on by free will, but doesn’t then he is evil. He would have no feelings for anyone. If you saw someone getting stabbed to death, and you had some type of power to stop it such as a gun or some magical powers, but instead sat there and said, well, you were walking on this street and you know there are bad people out there, wouldn’t you be considered evil or just crazy?

The third is saying does he have the power to stop evil and wants to stop the evil. He then says, well, how did evil come about. This all depends on what religion you believe in, but since I am referring to Christian beliefs I’ll go off the Adam and Eve fable. If you say Adam and Eve did it and made the evil this contradicts the first part of the quote. He would still be able to stop the evil if he really is the all powerful supernatural creature. But he is not if Adam and Eve somehow bypassed his power. Maybe Adam and Even should be God/Goddess. Then this would mean, if you are Christian, God can not prevent evil even if he wanted. He is omnipotent or malevolent.

The last is the easiest to understand. Is he neither able to stop the evil or want to stop the evil? Then why call him God. God is “the supreme being” based on many dictionary definitions. No matter what God you have if he falls into this category then he isn’t really a God.

I love this quote because it makes you contradict yourself about your God, if you have one. I am an Athiest so this is just what I need when I talk to theist. They will make up some long confusing explanation and somehow be “right”. I would love your input on this quote!