The new version of Google Analytics may just be my new heathen god. My favorite feature is its ability to tell me what people searched for on Google to find the blog (its a miracle they find it at all). The highlight of the list is "why line dried clothes smell strange". Firstly, its a good question, secondly the fact that I come up as #6 makes me very happy.

Freemacware.com Is Going To Shit

I'm sure many of you mac users have heard of Freemacware.com. When I discovered it several months ago (okay, I admit, I was a little late) it was an amazing Meca of Apple freeware. I was in love.

About a month ago it was announced that it would be acquired by some communications company. I welcomed this news, as more regular updates and greater quality were promised.

However, now it is very clear that the acquisition is a very bad thing for readers. Although there are updates every day now (rather than about five a week) they are anything but regular. In the old days (ODs) you could always count on either an update in the morning or none at all. Now updates can happen at any time and I don't like it.

Then there are the ads. Back in the ODs there was a little Adsense here and no one really cared. After the acquisition more ads started to creep in. Now not only are there ads all-over the place but when you click the "download" link it no longer takes you to the developer's page (which, although not the most convenient was a nice way to find out more about the product before downloading), but, instead it takes you to an ad-ridden page where you must loiter until the download begins. To say the least, I am not pleased.

My Ad Rant

Speaking of ads...what the hell? Who still clicks on those things? Sadly, it seems that we still have too many idiots (who know how to use computers) in the world to put the advertisers out of business. Internet ads are notorious for having no useful content and just seeming shady. So the questions is...why do they work? Because people are idiots. So I guess this should actually be my idiot rant.

As lovely as the Blogger interface is (no, really, I mean it) I want a desktop option (i.e. MarsEdit). Sadly, MarsEdit has decided my trial period expired (even though I removed it from my HD) and Ecto just fails to work (plus it's kind of ugly). I'm a big fan of Journler but it doesn't support the new Blogger (and I don't really want my real journal mixed in with my blog...weird things may happen). Apparently MacJournal has the same blogging functionality as Journler but trying to download something from the Mariner site makes my head spin (plus that would be cheating on the Jster).

So if anyone knows any good blogging software (for macs, of course) that:

1. Are free (or have a very long/linient trial)
2. Support the new Blogger
3. Are pretty (optional)
4. Don't give you a headache trying to download them

I'd love to hear about it.

After hiring a necromancer specializing in blogs (and believe me, those guys aren't cheap) I have managed to bring (kvetch)(/kvetch) back from the blog afterworld. Hopefully (overly) regular will commence again soon.

Girl #1: This suitcase was designed for the sole purpose of transporting a single banana safely.
Girl #2: Wow, someone must have had too much time on their hands.

I am never content with my computer. Do I have the best (free) browser available? Is my desktop good enough? Do my icons match?

Today I will cover my quest for the best browser....

Safari: Being a loyal Mac person I started my journey with Safari (the default Mac browser, for those of you who don't know). The main thing that bugged me about Safari was its lack of support for GTalk (and the brushed metal is just icky). This led me to a little browser you may have heard of....

Firefox: EVERYONE knows what Firefox is and most people like it. For quite a while Firefox was my browser of choice, I loved that I could hide ads and choose new skins. However, one day I read an article about why Firefox isn't as great as we all think; the points about it being ugly and in Carbon hit home so I once again became a roving malcontent.

Opera: Opera gets extra points because it is Norwegian...it just does. However, it is among the UGLIEST browsers I have ever seen (it may even beat out IE). Opera lasted less than one day...

Shiira v.2: Around this time I found Shiira. It was fast, it was trendy, it was puuuurdy. However, it didn't quite work...the beta was pretty buggy and it was missing a lot of features that were in the stable version. Despite its lack of substance, I just couldn't get rid of such a pretty piece of code so I kept it on as a secondary browser to Firefox.

Shiira v.1: Stable Shiira wasn't pretty, it was pretty much Safari but uglier. However, it did have some nice features such as Growl notifications for RSS articles (made moot by the fact that I use Vienna for that anyway). Shiira v.1 didn't last very long either....

Camino: Camino is billed as Firefox specifically for Macs (which means it is prettier, and supposedly better). I tried it and it just didn't click for me...

Safai: All this time the perfect browser had been right under my nose. Uno dealt with the ugly brushed metal (and made just about everything else really pretty) and some other plugins got rid of a lot of ads. I was in browser Nirvana...almost.

Shiira v.2: I was DELIGHTED to see a new beta of Shiira come up. It added Growl and dealt with some of the biggest bugs (like the preference panes not working). Shiira has a special place in my heart because I stole some REALLY pretty badges from it (imagine a green swamp bubble, except pretty).

Camino: Today a new version of Camino came out so I decided to give it another shot. But it lost that chance within seconds of being launched. IT WOULDN'T LET ME TYPE IN AN ADDRESS. Is it just me or is that kind of a big problem? Basically the entire browser was unresponsive without so much as an "Application Not Responding". Camino, you messed up BAD.

The Bottom Line: Safari is a fast, pretty (once you get rid of the brushed metal), simple and well-integrated browser that should fulfill most of your needs. Shiira is the more-or-less the same except a little buggy and quite a bit prettier. Firefox is ugly as sin but gets the job done (Camino is the opposite) and Opera is just...Norwegian.

Obviously, I haven't been posting lately. I figure this makes up for my flurry of posting earlier. Point is, I'm sorry non-readers. I will fix my lazy ways.

Teacher (referring to what is obviously an camera): What is that thing?
Student: Its for cheating on tests.

Girl #1: And that means giant cinnamon buns...
Girls #1 and 2: ...The size of your head.

Teacher: And the sine of A equals....some number.

(This post was previously part of the daily consolidation, but it got to big so I figured it could have its very own title.)

I would like to kick this post off by wishing you all a happy May Day....so go and dance around your May pole or whatever else you're supposed to do on May Day.

Conversation #1

Guy #1: Isn't your birthday today?
Guy #2: Yeah
Guy #1: You killed the Jews!
(Stunned silence from rest of room)
Teacher (to Guy #2): No anti-Semitism in my class!

Conversation #2

Girl: Oh yeah, it is May Day. Where are all the poles?
Guy: In Poland!

Conversation #3

Girl: May I be excused?
Teacher: Only if you take me with you.

#1: My Brilliant Software Idea

Last night a brilliant idea struck me– Red Ink, the computerized copy editing solution. Red Ink would fill the very small niche of copy editors with horrible handwriting.

The editor could either scan in the document or work directly from a digital file. When they opened it with Red Ink the interface would not be unlike MS Word's (or any other text editor). For instance, when they selected a portion of text and hit Command + B (bold) it would get a squiggly red line under it (the symbol to make text bold). Or, if an editor wanted to delete something they would select the text and hit delete, but instead of going away the text would get a red loopy line through it (with the appropriate whip-crack noise that I, for one, would appreciate).

Now all I need is someone to develop it (I had better get a free copy, or better yet it should be freeware)...

#2: How My English Class Describes Malcolm X

Hardcore.


 

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