Android Browser WAR!

Wow, Its been a long time since I have blogged! Just thought I would drop in and put up a post about some Android browsers!

So, today, I was bored and tired of doing homework :D and I decided to do a little research on Android browsers. Ever since I got my Droid X I have used Dolphin Browser HD (using version 6.1.0 as of this post) and I really like this browser. However, I have noticed that version 6 seems to be a little bit slower than the older versions. After doing some Googling, I decided to try Opera Mobile Browser (Not the mini version), Firefox Mobile, Dolphin, and the stock Android browser just to see what some load times would be like. So, here are my results.

Opera: This is a very interesting browser. It has a clean interface and somewhat reminiscent of a regular desktop browser. However, the system they use to organize tabs is not the greatest and I hated that you had to use an onscreen button to access the settings and bookmarks (this button is always onscreen and it takes up too much screen space).

Benchmark: I forgot to write down the exact times, however if I remember correctly, timed from opening the app to fully loading Google was about 3 secs. Then, from clicking the link in Google to loading ESPN mobile was approx 10 or 11 secs.

Firefox: Firefox has many interesting features, but the two that really grabbed my attention was: Lots of add-on's which is unusual for a mobile browser, and the ability to sync your bookmarks from Firefox on your desktop. The interface is very nice, swiping to the right shows a visual of your tab's and swiping to your left shows the settings/bookmarks and some other features. The menu button on your phone lets you access the hidden settings button and the browser automatically zooms in to full screen while you are browsing. My biggest downside to the Firefox mobile browser was that the add-on's were either not working correctly or not installing. Also, Firefox mobile does not currently support Adobe Flash.

Benchmark: Opening to Google was 8 secs and Google to ESPN was 7 secs.

Stock Browser. I have not used the stock browser on my Droid X for a very long time and I am still not very impressed. It is a very clean user interface, but the lack of quick access to tabs and no add-on support means that it is not an option for me.

Benchmark: Opening to Google was 8 secs and Google to ESPN was 11 secs.

Dolphin: The Dolphin browsing experience is not so different from a regular desktop browsing experience. Tabs are located at the top, with a close button on each individual tab and a + sign that allows you to create a new tab at the end of the tab row. Swiping to the right shows your bookmarks, history, and most visited (organized separately). Swiping to the left shows a full screen option, add-on button, 3 installed add-on's and a tab manager. The menu button on your phone brings up quite a few more options. Dolphin also automatically hops into full screen mode once a page has loaded, and the full screen option allows you to use the entire screen (the browser covers your notification bar). Dolphin also has some advanced features when you exit, allowing you to clear the cache and the browsing history when exiting the application.

Benchmark: Opening to Google was 4 secs and Google to ESPN was 13 secs.

Conclusion:
While it is not the fastest all around, I will personally continue to use Dolphin Browser. It has a simple browsing experience yet many advanced features for people that enjoy that sort of thing. My favorite feature of this browser is how easy it is to switch between mobile and desktop versions of web pages. After installing the add-on for this feature, all you have to do is swipe left and tap the add-on button in the sidebar. Dolphin will automatically switch and load the mobile/desktop version of the page! Opera and Firefox also have this feature however, Opera's is buried deep with in its settings page and I never got the Firefox add-on to work.

If I was unable to use Dolphin, I would probably choose Firefox next. Hopefully the usability of add-on's will increase, but even if they don't, this browser was very snappy for me. Also, the ability to sync bookmarks (which should be baked into Android imo) is an awesome feature.

Winner: Dolphin Browser
Runner up: Firefox Mobile Browser

FINALS!!!

FINALLY! Lol So, blogging has not been happening lately (as you probably havent noticed :D) because school and work and life in general has been quite overwhelming! But! Its finals week and I am studying like crazy!!!!!! Cant wait till school is out! although, summer also brings sadness :( all of my school friends will have gone home, ill have to start working like crazy, and I am going to take some classes this summer too. Sad days. Good news is: I am going shooting after school is out. Going to be shooting a big tournament for pretty much a whole week after school! It will be CRAZY! lol. I have said that too much already! anyhoo, I am guna go waste some more time before I have to start studying again :D

Randomness

So, for like the past two weeks I have been telling myself to get on here and write something but I have been really busy with school (and when it wasn't school, it was sleep lol ). And the busyness hasn't slowed down! I just have a breath here in-between classes today! So, I thought I would rack my brain and try and come up with something to put on here lol.

One thing that has happened, One of the faculty here at the school turned the big 5-O and aahhh, that has been a "thorn in her side?" lol. First we had a party for her the weekend before (surprise party), which was really sweet and really mean all at the same time :) Her family flew/drove down and surprised her, and then pretty much everyone gave her gifts that "mourned" the loss of year #49 :) Then, on her actual birthday, they wheeled her around in a wheelchair and papered her car and all kinds of fun stuff!

aannndd, I was guna post more, but I'll leave it for another time, seeing as how this has taken me a whole day to post already :)

Elementary my dear Watson!

This morning, I posted "Goooo Watson!" as my status update on Facebook.


Only one person seems to have understood.


* sigh * the pains of being a nerd....


FOLKS!!!!!!!


Watson is a Computer! now, yes I know, Watson was Sherlock Holmes right hand man, best friend, deputy, whatever you want to call it, but, thats not who/what Im talking about! Dr. David Ferrucci of IBM and 25 others under him have built a computer (Watson) that can answer questions. It can answer questions so well in fact, that IBM is currently using Watson to compete in Jeopardy! AND ITS WINNING! Last night concluded the first of three rounds, pitting Watson against two of Jeopardy!'s best and brightest! Ken Jennings (won 74 games in a row) and Brad Rutter (won 3.25 million, most cash awarded on Jeopardy!). Check out this video of Watson in action!!!

And check this video for some of the earlier stages

Some other websites that have written about Watson are:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2375791,00.asp

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/13/ibms-watson-supercomputer-destroys-all-humans-in-jeopardy-pract/

And the official Watson Page is:

http://www-03.ibm.com/innovation/us/watson/

BIRTHDAY!!!

No, not mine :)

Its Jules Verne's Birthday! Or what would have been his 183rd birthday! You have probably all seen the cool little logo that Google has put up. If not, you should check it out here! Jules Verne is one of my favorite authors of all time, so, when I saw this link, I thought it was kinda cool :D what do you think? Do you have any favorite Verne books?

If you have never read any Jules Verne (I am sorry for you if that is the case) check out this link. You can get free Jules Verne books!

Weekends

AAhhh, the weekend is past us. It is the start of a new week, back at the ol grindstone, working till you drop. I dont think I have ever appreciated weekends nearly as much as I do now. This past weekend I had the great fortune to go out to lunch and hang out with some friends from school (I'm a commuter, so that doesnt happen a lot for me) and we had a blast!!! But, usually, weekends are a time to catch up on homework, rest, clean the house, clean my cloths, clean the yard.....visit people, have folks over, just all kinds of stuff that I just cant seem to find time for during the week. Sometimes though, I waste my weekends :( just lying around sleeping all day (SHOCK! lol not really :) or just not really doing anything at all. And those weekends are never any fun :( SO next weekend, yall get out! DO something! take your family and have dinner someplace! Just dont sit around on your tucus.

Yet another Techy post :)

So! I was talking to one of my professors yesterday and he was showing me his Google voice (GV) app on his Iphone. Truthfully, I wasn't impressed right off. I had tried out GV before on my computer, and I thought it was pretty useless. But then he told me..........wait for it.......you get FREE TEXT MESSAGING through GV!! That got my attention! I don't have a texting plan on my Droid, even though I do text people. So I decided I needed to figure GV out!!! Turns out you really can get free texting, IF you use the GV app. If you just have GV push your messages to your phone, it still costs you messages on your plan. So! If you have a smart phone and dont have text messaging, download GV app!!! It works on Apple, Android and Blackberry phones through an app, and on any other phone that can access the mobile web. To get more information and download the app, check out Google Voice Here!

Another possibly cool function of GV is - It gives you a local phone number that you can give out instead of your real phone number. Using GV for phone calls is FREE to ANY phone! except for international calls of course.


If anyone chooses to try GV and is having a hard time figuring it out, please just leave me a comment below saying so and I will post a walk-through of how to set it up.

Android Honeycomb!

ITS COMING!!!! WOOHOO!!! And I cant wait!!!!!!!!!


Ok, so most of you guys that read my blog probably don't know/don't care to know what Honeycomb is. Which is a shame! cause its looking pretty sweet!!! Honeycomb is Google Android's 3.0 OS that will be coming out sometime middle of this year I think. This will also be ushering in a HOST of Android tablets (competition for the IPad), which is Awesome!!!! Here are some pictures from Google's hands on yesterday!

Gizmodo has some good reads if you are interested!
http://gizmodo.com/5750049/the-new-features-of-android-30-honeycomb

Yummy!

I meant to get these up last night, but homework and sleep kinda got in the way.

MMMm! Now thats some real food! We got Beans and Cornbread along with a side of Collard Greens (we had salad too). And some sweet tea :) aahhh...... aint much better.

Operating Systems

Ok everyone!!!

I need some idea's! So! Tell me why you use the Operating system you use! Do you use Windows? OS X? Linux? and why? Did you grow up on it and never felt like branching out? what would make you consider a different OS?


Personally, I use Windows 7 (Ultimate edition) because I got it through my school and I consider it to quite possibly be the best operating system that Microsoft has put out. The visual's are great and it was really easy to learn. The "widget" system that Microsoft implemented in Vista is really useful too! I also love to custom build PC's which kind of narrows my choice of OS's down.

I loved Vista which is what I used before Windows 7 (I know, I have always been one of the few that stuck up for Vista, It really was a good OS, people just didn't like that it demanded better computers). I started using it right about when the first service pack came out.


I also use Linux Ubuntu 10.10 on my laptop, which has helped it run faster (XP Media Center was bogging it Wwwaaayyy down). It has some very nice features like TONS of free programs, most of which are easily accessible through the software manager. It also has some really nice effects. And, it is a whole lot easier to use than some of the older versions of Linux.

Tests: Updated!

I gota say. I get a little suspicious when professors give you a list of possible questions on the test. Especially when that list is exactly the number of questions that will be on the test. You never can quite tell if they will be the real questions, therefore worthy of studying, or just something that they have put up to throw you for a little spin :)

Oh well, I suppose it will be helpful somehow..... I hope.

Update:
Woot! Fortunatly, This professor was awesome and the list of questions he handed out were really helpful!!!!!

Finally! Some Android Love!

I love android, so I just had to post this. Yes, I realize half of you dont know what this means and the rest dont care, but I think its great! Android is a great OS and I hope google continues to do a smashingly good job with the next one!




Canalys: Android overtakes Symbian as world's best-selling smartphone platform in Q4 2010
ENGADGET | JANUARY 31, 2011
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/31/canalys-android-overtakes-symbian-as-worlds-best-selling-smart/
One day somebody will write a book called "The rise and rise of Android" and this moment will be highlighted in bold. Canalys' ... read more
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http://www.pulsene.ws

OH NO!

SAD DAYS!!!!!!

Ah well, I just happened to have an extra A string and my bridge needed to be reseated.

And were done! It actually sounds better with the new (I have no clue where that string came from, just found it in my closet; was probably an old one from my old cello lol) string!

Dinner!!!

Totally Yummyness here!
Blackbean chili and Boston but, Hunting camp style!

Oohh, I cant wait till dinner time!

Random

I just gota say.

While I'm a huge Microsoft fan, Exchange is just really annoying. Getting support for exchange on my Ubuntu laptop is just really difficult. I suppose I should have used 64-bit, but this laptop is so horrible, I figured I would never need more than 32-bit. Ggggrrr. I WANA TRY A MAC! :( just cant afford to buy one to try lol

Random

Yep, I told you there would be a lot of these :D

So, isnt it funny how you can be sitting, not doing much of anything, just chillin, and BOOM! the whole world is trying to get in touch with you, you now have fifty million emails to answer/write, 20 text messages, phone calls, EVERYTHING! and then, after a few minutes......Nothing. Back to just sitting, chillin, livin the life, drinking some prune juice.

welp. I gota actually start doing homework :) I have kinda been putting it off.......:D yea, im good at that.

Random Note

There will be a lot of random notes :D

Its so funny watching all my friends do there facebooking! lol, I'm not sure why, they just keep me happy sometimes :D

Thank you Jesus for good friends!

E-mail

Just a quick note, I really should be doing homework.

So, I got an email today, and it made me think.

Isnt it funny how people write the way they talk? I mean, some times you will get an email, or text message, or some kind of written message and you can just hear that person saying (in your head) what they sent you in that message. I laugh at it sometimes, but then I start to wonder. Do I do that? lol, It just isnt the same when I'm writing an email, I can tell what I sound like. So, for those of you that will probably never read this, Do I? what do I sound like when you get a message from me? Has anyone other than myself even though of this?

All for now. Peace out!

So, Here she goes!

First real post. WOOT!

Actually. For those that will probably never see this blog, and for myself, so that I don't forget; I am going to basically write a question. Perhaps sometime, I'll come back and be able to answer it.


So, here goes.....

Was driving to work this afternoon. Emergency stuff....you know the drill. As usual, there was a "home-less" man at one of the major intersections. Now, normally I don't pay these kind of people much attention. And I did not really do any different this time. However, I noticed that his sign had a bible verse on it. Luke 2:28 I think, not sure. Well, that set me to thinking. I started remembering seeing other "bum's" signs and it seems like, most of the time, they all have "God Bless You" or a bible verse. Always something related to God. But at the same time, I'm sure most of these people were not Christians and probably most of them have no desire for anything religious. This also got me to thinking. We as humans, kind of just KNOW that there is a God. For the most part anyway. But, most people reject Him or are never told enough about Him. For some folks, all they know about God is what they hear in cursing. But yet, when we fall into hard times, we "fall back on" God. He becomes our "poster child". We use Him for our own selfish purposes. Or, we blame God for a catastrophe (aka: a hurricane that wipes out several city's). But when life is good, we got gas in the car, food in the fridge, and a roof over our heads, well.....God just isn't important. Why? Why cant we thank God for every situation He puts us in? He is the only one that can truly lift us out of any low spot we might be in.


Well, that's bout all I can think of right now.