Google Chrome Beta - My First Impressions

I recently downloaded Google's new web browser which they call Chrome. Google released Chrome to the public as a beta test. Google representatives say that Chrome is faster than any other browser at running JavaScript. Since many web sites use web applications written in JavaScript, Chrome should make noticeable difference in our daily web surfing. 

I should mention that I'm a Mozilla Firefox user primarily. Occasionally I hop over to Internet Explorer to see how my web sites look but other than that, it's Mozilla Firefox.

I downloaded Google Chrome by following the link on their main search page. The you get a small setup file which, after shutting down Firefox, I ran. During the setup, it searched through all of Firefox's favorites, browsing history, and saved passwords and added it. After a few seconds Google Chrome was installed on my machine and ready to go. Absolutely painless.

Google Chrome looks very stripped back and almost minimalistic on first impression but after getting used to the layout and playing with the settings it has most of the bells and whistles that you find in most web browsers.

The proof is in the pudding as they say so I went and took Google Chrome for a test drive. First stop was my Etsy shop to see if I noticed anything. The browser seems more responsive and it's much quicker to go from page to page compared to Firefox. Next I went to check out my Yamaha C3 site. It doesn't seem to load faster or anything but when I went to check out my gallery I found that it didn't display properly in the browser. I know the gallery displays right in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera so I was kind of disappointed.

At this point in time I would like to test Google Chrome some more before I can say that I would switch over to itas a default web browser. It's obvious that Chrome is still in the beta stage but the staff at Google are working hard to make Chrome a leading standard in web browsers.

An Owl Friend For Our Little Penguin

The second cute cartoon character to roll out of the Simply Graphics digital collage sheet assembly line.

You can purchase these royalty free images from SimplyGraphics.etsy.com for only $3.00. You get 24 hi-res images on one 8.5" x 11" sheet.

They email you the sheet and you can print it out whenever you like, however many times you like. You can resize the digital collage sheet to fit any of your needs.

10 things you can do if you feel like being a dick.

Some days you need to treat yourself to the simpler pleasures of being a complete asshole. I mean, it's never fun to see anyone seriously hurt but sometimes it's worth it for a good laugh. They say laughter is the best medicine so anything that makes you laugh must be good right? Maybe not but I figured I'd give you some ideas anyways.

1. Talk about something to the person next to you that you know they have no interest in.
2. Make paper throwing stars with your blog URL and litter the office with them.
3. Create a new cartoon character of your boss and design a pornographic comic strip based around them. Post it on your blog.
   
4. Go and listen to someone's problem and convince them that they are at fault.
5. Sign up your friends on gay porn email lists.
6. Discuss your favorite subject with random people and ignore what they have to say.
7. Call up random people and try to hold a conversation with them in a drunk Irish accent. If they hang up right away, phone them back a few times before moving on.
   
8. Laugh at a child if they if you see them crying.
   
9. Try to brainwash your co-worker with subliminal messages throughout the year.
10. Sing old annoying catchy songs out loud. Hopefully, you'll get the song stuck in people's heads for the rest of the day. Try to seem like you're having a great time singing. Even better if you can't sing.

I'm sure that some of these suggestions will help fill that emptiness within your black heart and feed your hunger for dickishness. Have yourself a fun day.

Behringer Eurolive B212A PA Speakers - Even I could afford them

I wasn't sure what to talk about today but I found the answer staring me right in the face, literally. The Behringer Eurolive B212A avtive (self-powered) PA speakers.

I bought these speakers last year from Musician's Friend while attending school and have loved them everyday since then.

Here's my experience.

I researched a few products in a price range of under $300. Here are a few items I considered:

Nady PCS-12 Powered 12" 2-Way Speaker Enclosure


Alesis Transactive Mobile Roller PA With iPod Dock Black


Mackie SRM350 2-Way Active PA Speaker


The reason I went with the Behringer Eurolive series is becuase they had good reviews for the most part. Usually the bad reviews were from customers who were just unlucky and got a dud. That happens with every brand no matter what the price range is so I didn't pay too much attention. Still, you can't expect affordable low-end products to perform like the high end equipment.

Another deciding factor was that I could buy a Behringer PA package deal that had these speakers in it, also inside were 2 mics, 4 XLR cables, 2 speaker stands, and the UB1832FX mixing board.

Behringer UB1832FX / B212A PA Package $599.99 USD




I unfortunately Mackie did not offer a package deal as good as Behringer did so I researched some more about products that came in the package deal:

• Behringer Eurorack UB1832FX-PRO Mixer
• Behringer XM8500 Microphones (x2)
  

4 - 20" XLR cables and 2 speaker stands came in the package too but I didn't look very hard into these items because I already had cables so these were extras. From the pictures the speaker stands looked good enough.

So I ordered this package using Musician's Friend online shopping cart. Everything went through perfectly and a few days later I got the tracking numbers for my packages. I sort of picked a bad time to order because they were right in the middle of changing to a new warehouse and a few items in my order were shipped individually. That wasn't so good because I live in Canada and as so am subject to paying customs each time a package makes it to the border. I was a little upset and phoned up Musician's Friend with my complaint. I spoke with a very friendly woman who got everything sorted out and they even paid the shipping on the few items in my order that still weren't shipping at the time. Talk about awesome customer service! Great to deal with.

I should note that I did not just buy the Behringer PA package, I also bought a pre-amp, 2 50" XLR cables, a condenser mic, a USB sound card, and a pop filter. But this article is about my Eurolive speakers.

Okay, I'm now staring at all of my brand new sound equipment. I'm so excited, yet fearing that I might be another "dud" victim receiving a defective product. I carefully opened the boxes and set up my new equipment; plugged it into my laptop, and loaded Cubase. Wow, everything sounds so awesome! So full and rich. Thick low ends and bright highs. They're also extremely loud, 400watts loud, my god! These speakers sound fantasic. All of my music that I have been making and listening to on my Labtec computer speakers suddenly sounded so much better. The real test was when I used these speakers to DJ a Pizza Hut staff party. I set up these speakers in a mid-sized hall which held up to about 150 people. I used the stands that came with the Behringer PA package. By the way, the stands are sturdy, lightweight, and good quality. I put the speakers at about head level and started pumping the music. The hall was filled with with the sounds of deep resonating bass and the screams of a lot of happy people hearing their favorite song. The night went on smoothly and I had a lot of compliments by the end. The first and biggest test was a success.

So a year later and I mainly use these speakers for mixing and mastering my music as well regular music listening. I would say they are on for about 8 hours a day, everyday. No problems at all yet. I would totally buy these speakers again. If I had more money I'd probably look into a higher end brand but for now I couldn't ask for more than I got with the Behringer Eurolive B212A speakers. A very good buy.

Behringer EUROLIVE B212A Active Loudspeaker

Cute Little Baby Penguins

I was messing about in photoshop today and came up with this simple little character. Isn't he cute? Every time I make a new depiction of this toon I point at it and shout, "kuwaii". I think it means "cute" or something similar in Japanese. My boyfriend hates it when I do that so I do it to get a rouse out of him.

I know he looks like a South Park character but he's not inspired from that show at all. My inspiration was to create a cute little character using only shapes. It's sort of funny to use the most basic of tools in a powerful piece of software like photoshop. Sort of like buying a Ferarri and never taking it past 50km/h (30mph).

I made up an 8.5" x 11" digital collage sheet of 24 of these litle guys that you can buy at simplygraphics.etsy.com for only $3.00. When you print out the sheet each picture is sized for 1" x 1" square at 300 dpi, so it's very high quality. I will be making more theme based one in the near future so keep an eye out.

The Road Hound Pet Carrier for Motorcycles and Scooters

I can't say that I really like the idea of taking your dog with you on a motorcycle but I think if you did then you should probably do so in a Moto-Pets Accessories Inc Road Hound pet carrier.

The pet carrier is a molded ABS plastic cage that mounts to the back of your motorcycle or scooter, or anything else for that matter. Moto-Pets Accessories also makes mount kits that they sell separately. The Road Hound pet carrier comes in quite a few different sizes ranging from toy sized to medium sized dogs.

Reviews of the pet carrier have been positive so if you're thinking about taking your pooch along with you on your cycle, powered or otherwise, I suggest you looking into this product.

I came across the OCZ 64GB SATA-300 2.5" Solid State Drive. Talk about a cool drive to own right now. I can hear my laptop screaming at me to replace the hard drive even as I write this. Of course right now the cost for this hard drive is about $1100 CAN$; not something I'm willing to put that much money towards. Many people claim to have a large increase in system performance after installing this drive. One guy even claimed he went from POST to his windows desktop in about 9 seconds after a fresh install.

I don't see myself buying one anytime soon though. I find myself wanting to put food in my belly rather than saving a few seconds of load time on my laptop. I can see solid state drives taking off in the years to come as prices drop and storage capacities increase. Personally I was hoping for a more radical type of mass storage like laser-based hard drive technology but this will do for now.