google » Chris Portela.com

Thank you PC Magazine(Link to article). I understand that I may be taking your article and twisting a little bit from what it MEANT to say, but here is what I saw in it: Google and chrome aren’t for openness anymore. They’re evil and trying to make as much money as possible not by competing but by shutting everyone out. They’re Microsoft 2.0 and need to be stopped at whatever cost possible.

That is why I am going to only use Firefox and other browsers from now on. I will keep chrome only for testing my websites. Otherwise it’s going to be a ghost.

I’m going to delete all my bookmarks
Delete my History
…
Delete everything possible that Chrome could keep about me and disable anything remotely tracking sounding.

I ask that everyone do the same in the name of freedom that isn’t yet taken, in the name of freedom that isn’t yet infringed, but that isn’t being entirely protected and is in fact being encroached upon by the clutches of Google and her internet imperialism.

Chrome, it’s over.

Not that complaining will do any good, I just want to note something in saying this. Google is evil. They are becoming the Microsoft of the 2010s and it’s becoming more and more apparent of that everyday.

They want your information, all of it, all the time, anywhere. They have more computers and power over the internet than anyone.

And I, like everyone else, just fell for it because of the goodies.

NOW, because chrome is out, Firefox is about to be thrown aside in to the ash-heap of history if they do not figure out a revenue strategy to keep development pace up. They also need a better marketing strategy because they’ve lost much of their base over the years.

I switched to chrome when it first came out for one reason: it was LIGHTER, and therefore FASTER than firefox. However it has gotten much heavier over time. ADDITIONALLY it is not as advanced as firefox. Granted, firefox is not that fast either and it’s javascript abilities are a bit below par, but they’re the good guys. They are a poster child for open source technology.

We should continue to use firefox. We, as an opensource community, need to support the project by putting out weight behind it and fighting this fight against a future where there is no real alternative still around. We need to back them up or find someone else. Chrome isn’t going to cut it.

I just started using Google Music and I already love it. I love Songbird too but this Google Music thing is like magic. I tell it I want music and it puts it all in the cloud. Then on my computer, on my phone, on anything/anywhere I can listen to my music and my collections of music. Any new music I download can be automatically uploaded and added to my library of songs which now I can stream to my phone or even download for offline listening! This makes my phone such a better device for music listening now.

GET an invite… please and just hope you get it.

This is my simple thank you to Google by putting some good word out there about it. Later I’ll make some deeper reivew/long post about Google Music.

Songbird is a Music player for android from the makers of Songbird on the desktop which is yet another amazing music player on the desktop as well. Songbird provides you the basics any music player should provide. Access to a list of your music, easy ability to play, easy way to create play lists, good searching, and overall an awesome application for playing music.

While there are several options available when playing music in android this one is my favorite for probably two reasons. For one the application just looks awesome and although you can’t customize that it doesn’t really matter if you could. Usually I just end up leaving themeable apps normal because its usually a faster theme. So the fact that themes aren’t there is a good thing in terms of speed. It is also very nice in the simple pleasures of having transitions and effects that are subtle and add to the experience of the application. It’s always solid and never freezes on my G2x (which if you looked at the specs I guess isn’t saying much, but it’s a true statement).
The 2nd reason however is killer. When you don’t have some fancy ROM running on your phone, say you can’t root or you just don’t want to change a phone you’ve put so much work in to customizing just to try redoing all of that, that allows you to have your music on the lock screen you can install songbird and it allows you to use their lock screen which appears above the normal lock screen. It looks like an iPod or iPhone type lock screen where it shows you the music you’re currently playing and controls to change it which is awesome! I love having those things on my phone because it just makes my life easier.

If you’re looking for a new music app for your Android phone I think you should try out Songbird

Many people ask me to help them with a huge number of things related to computers. Sometimes however it would make my job, their life, and the result of my job much better if they could ask their question better or better yet found the solution by their lonesome with trusty Google at their side. But how could anyone expect to learn these two amazing skills?

Simple, the internet has all the answers.

Firstly go to http://www.googleguide.com/ to read the guide for any level of googler so you can improve your googling to prevent the need for any questions in the first place. I think anyone who knows anything about computers, especially self taught hackers, will tell you that google taught them much of what they know and can do. I seriously have taught my self most of the valuable life skills I know in addition to most of the world knowledge I know. That is not even touching the volumes of technological knowledge I’ve gained from the internet and from googling things I was interested about. Look at this website and maybe you’ll finally be enlightened to stop asking me to search for you

Next up is for the times when you’ve searched but you just don’t get it; when you need to ask a question. Oh I know I’ve been guilty too many times of not asking questions this way and to all those helpful people to tried to figure out my problems anyways, thank you. But in reality the way to ask smart questions is explained at Eric Raymond’s website , the creator of the HTML Hell and how to be a hacker pages, http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html. You see, this is a very well thought out essay, which I admit is quite long, that explains all you need to know about asking questions. I even gave you the skills for one of it’s tips to google first! But I am so helpful I anticipated your possible struggles and provided a solution for you due to my experience with helping people with computers.

I honestly hope I helped someone figure out how to learn something on the internet. The goal of the internet’s protectors is to spread information and knowledge. I really hope I just help progress that ideal for someone with this article on my obscure blog.

Chris Portela.com

I want firefox!

Android App: Songbird

How to google and ask Questions… in one! – A Guide to figuring things out on your own

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