Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Chrome Web Store Approaches . . .


I hope you liked my Two Towers quote reference in the title.

I got a peak of the fancy new Chrome Web Store icon, when I installed canary 9.0.597.0 tonight.  Too bad canary went crash happy on me, and I'm now riding the dev channel, once again.

It sounds like, from Alex Chitu, over at Google Operating System, the Web Store will be available for all versions of Chrome once the stable channel hits version 8, which Alex believes will happen this week.

Yes, as the closet-geek I consider myself, I've deeply missed my real app tabs these past few months . . .

Monday, November 29, 2010

Situations to Avoid with Your AirDuster

While I greatly enjoy all of the slashed out images, I particularly enjoy the first one.  I am reminded of some advice President Uchtdorf received from the late President James E. Faust about well-meaning flattery:

“Dieter, be thankful for this. But don’t you ever inhale it.”


I feel like I'm on fire, today!

TCU to Leave Mountain West for Big East . . .


Well, so much for the glorious rebirth of the Mountain West.  Now that the MW's arguably three best football programs are leaving, as one headline puts it, Boise State appears set to enter WAC 2.0.  Poor Broncos.

Please weigh in with your thoughts, below.

I know I'll get at least one comment(er) on this post.

(Too bad I'll already have graduated from UC by the time TCU joins the conference.)


Happy Thanksgiving from the Kenberry Family

In case you missed it, here's our family's Thanksgiving card.

To give you the true Smilebox effect, I've added a link to the music, below (so you can listen to it in the background, while you fawn over my daughter, me, and my wife's photographic skills).


http://www.playlist.com/playlist/additem/824238865

In case you're puzzled, this is literally what we sent out.  My wife claims someone spiked the eggnog; I, on the other hand, simply enjoy her late-night (and Internet savvy) sense of humor.

Yesterday's Spiritual Message: The Divine Gift of Gratitutde

I hope you enjoy this talk from President Thomas S. Monson on gratitude:



I also hope you had a great Thanksgiving.  We all have so much to be grateful for!

Here's another clip from a cartoon series my wife and I really enjoy.  It's about a Japanese Stonecutter who wished for more.  The intro starts at about 4:40.


Friday, November 26, 2010

Ostrich Napping


When it rains, it pours.

I hope you enjoy this video on how to get the best zzz.

Toddler Cha Cha


For all you talent finders out there, we accept cash, check, credit card, PayPal, new electronics, or babysitting.

Well, actually, let's just stick to anything I listed, other than babysitting.

We Got Planted on Thanksgiving



To be candid, I share our daughter's amusement.  At like 8-9am, I heard a thud outside and thought little of it.  When I later noticed the pot and accompanying dirt outside, I felt rather bemused.

Mrs. Doubtfire has her run by fruitings, Germany has its blurred building street view eggings, and now I guess we have our own drive by plantings.

My wife thinks it was the antics of a senseless inebriate.  I, on the other hand, feel differently.  How could a wine-sodden hooligan effectively launch such a large pot over the moat, surrounding our apartment?

Nay, I believe this was a direct attack.  But why?  Is it because I like the Denver Broncos, Colorado Avalanche, or Denver Nuggets?  Is this the aftermath of an angry Bengals fan letting off steam at an "out-of-towner" and teaching him "who dey" are?  This unsolved mystery could live on forever.

In the end, like our daughter, I'm very thankful for some random, Thanksgiving Day amusement.  So, I say "Thank you, Mr. Random Potted Plant Thrower!"  (Cue Budweiser background singer.)



Feel free to weigh in with your own conspiracy theory, in the Comments section, below.  (I'm looking forward to completing your training, F-Word.)

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Trick Play



If only my high school football team could have pulled off something like this my senior year . . .  Ah, well.

Props to my man smiele for bringing this to my attention.

Duke Energy Gets Smarter . . .


My wife found this on our front door a few minutes ago . . .

I'm glad Duke's doings things smarter.

Hope this brings you a smile.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Sunday's Spiritual Message: Congratulations to Kimberly & Jesse!

Last Friday, my wife and I had the privilege of attending my sister-in-law's wedding.

I was very touched by the Spirit I felt in the room for their sealing (wedding for eternity) and am very happy for their eternal start.




CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Chrome OS = Vaporware?

Vaporware.  Computer Slang; a product, esp. software, that is promoted or marketed while it is still in development and that may never be produced.

This may sound blasphemous (especially with a British spelling).  On the other hand, if you listen to the last three minutes or so of the video below, you'll hear that when Google CEO Eric Schmidt is asked about when Chrome OS will be released.  He says the software will come out in a few months.  The reporter then asks when the next Android upgrade will come out, and he says in a few weeks . . .



Ah, well.  I'm confident Chrome OS will come out soon enough and that the sun will still rise, tomorrow (at least in China).  I was going to wait a long time before buying a Chrome OS device, anyway.  On the other hand, if Google does miss the holiday season, I imagine it will at least miss marginal sales to some (however, I imagine the most hardcore fanboys will wait to buy a new machines until the actual release, regardless).

Monday, November 15, 2010

Yesterday's Spiritual Message: Thanksgiving Daily

I enjoyed these thoughts about living a happier life by simply being grateful, every day, for what we already have.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Air [Eats] iPad

After multitudinous hours of reading appellate court opinions and dicing them up with my own overview and spin, I'm ready for a little fresh Air:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20022746-64.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20  (I feel this post is brief enough to include it here, in its entirety.  See my comments, below.)
A report on Friday claimed "anecdotal evidence" of the 11.6-inch MacBook air cannibalizing the iPad. Hmm...so, is that what Steve Jobs meant by iPad-meets-MacBook?
MacBook meets the iPad. Either-or buying decision?
MacBook meets the iPad. Either-or buying decision?
(Credit: Apple)
This research note came to me Friday from Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw. "Signs of cannibalization: There is anecdotal evidence that the MacBook Air is cannibalizing the iPad. A fully functional notebook in a very attractive form factor may be resonating more with consumers than a content consumption only device."
That "content consumption only device" being the iPad, of course.
So, is this what happens when the iPad meets the 11.6-inch MacBook Air? Consumers walk away with the MacBook instead?
If only partially true, it's an interesting twist on a trend that's actually going in the other direction. Nvidia believes next-generation Android tablets will obviate the need for traditional laptops, as tablets become more adept at multitasking and begin to approach the processing power of low-end laptops.
And hybrids make this argument seemingly irrelevant. The Windows-based Dell Duo fuses a laptop with a tablet. If that kind of design proves popular, who needs a boring, old traditional laptop?
For now, the smaller MacBook Air looks and feels a lot like an iPad with a built-in keyboard. Until we're well into 2011, we won't know who's cannibalizing whom. But my money is on the tablet doing the devouring. With the iPad leading the way.

My money?:  Just look at how the Air is positioned (in the photo and the world).  It's poised to pounce on the iPad, take it's lunch money, eat its entrails, and then scatters its keyboard-less ashes over the Mediterranean.

I am also basing this on my own personal experience.  Okay, I toyed with both devices for probably under 60 seconds each, yet I can say I loved the Air and loathed the iPad.  Maybe I'm just a content producer (rather than a good-for-nothing "consumption [schlemiel] only").

All bashing aside, when I used the iPad, I felt impatient, uncomfortable, and underwhelmed.  The load speeds seemed slow, I found the device unergonomic and the keyboard frustrating, and the flick with my finger thing was cool for a couple seconds.

On the other hand, when I experienced the Air, I basked on its keyboard, I salivated at its load speeds, and I marveled at its holistic beauty.  I'm a big-time keyboard user, a self-proclaimed speed demon, and a sucker for laptops.  May they all go the way of the Air (as Mr. Turtleneck (pictured above) declared they will).



Tangent:  I hope you enjoy this one.  I love how Blu-ray is now the must have item . . .  My prediction:  in two - four years, DVD will be largely irrelevant.  I'll take the Air, even up in the air, thanks (especially with free wi-fi for the holidays and the ability to stream videos online).

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Ever Texting . . .

"What could be more deceptive than to entice the youth of this noble generation to do nothing or to be busy ever-texting but never coming to a knowledge of the truths contained in a book that was written for you and your day by prophets of God—the Book of Mormon?" (See 2 Timothy 3: 7) (See also The Keystone of Our Religion - search for "the second great reason") - A Return to Virtue, Elaine S. Dalton, October 2008

"Reality" pops up its ugly head
Well, here we go again.  More evidence indicating that addictive behaviors can be substantially detrimental.

Remember the Word of Wisdom that tells us to avoid coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs?  Yeah, that was given in 1833.  How many studies had been done on the harmful effects of those substances, at that time?
Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation— 
Doctrine & Covenants 89: 4 (emphasis added).

The Lord has called prophets and apostles in our day to warn and forewarn us.

President Thomas S. Monson
One of the things we've been consistently warned against lately, is spending too much time surfing the Web (finger pointing at self), playing video games, texting, or engaging in other objectively anti-social behavior.

Check out the following search, for example, and you'll see what I mean:

http://new.lds.org/search?lang=eng&start=1&end=10&query=texting&id=

An apostle of the Church said the following, 20 years ago:
The living prophet has the power of TNT. By that I mean "Todays News Today." God's revelations to Adam did not instruct Noah how to build the ark. Noah needed his own revelation. Therefore, the most important prophet, so far as you and I are concerned, is the one living in our day and age to whom the Lord is currently revealing His will for us. Therefore, the most important reading we can do is any of the words of the prophet . . .
"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3: 7).

How grateful I am to have such faithful servants on the earth, today!


The Savior giving His apostles the authority to act in His name
Update:  This morning I came across another message that addresses this issue.  (Search on the page for "using the internet")

A Memory Preserved In a Diary for 50 Years

The Chamber of My Laptop
To make a long diary entry shorter, I removed Microsoft Office a while back because I now use Google Docs almost exclusively.   "Office told me many things… but the means I used to break the Memory Charm upon it were powerful, and when I had extracted all useful information from it, it's mind and body were both damaged beyond repair. It had now served its purpose. I could not possess it. I disposed of it."

Unfortunately, there have been two assignments this semester that require Word.  Argh.  I could just use the school's computer lab, yet I'm really annoyed when I have to adjust my schedule to an arbitrary constraint.

I realized one day that I still had Office 2007 on my most ancient and noble laptop.  Unfortunately, I had erased the install software for it (which I had previously downloaded - and the ability to download it again has expired), and I thought all was lost.

So, last night, I tried to figure out how to install Office on my newer laptop just using the files from my old computer.  Let me tell you, from the Google searches I performed, this possibility is universally rejected by those "in the know."  The requirement is to have an install CD, or take a hike.

"I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help myself... for I had no Office, and every spell that might have helped me required the use of Word...."

"There was no hope of stealing the old Install Files anymore, for I knew Microsoft would have seen to it that they were destroyed. But I was willing to embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortality. I set my sights lower... I would settle for my old Office back again, and my old strength."

"I knew that to achieve this – it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived Office last night – I would need a powerful ingredient. Well, one of them was already at hand, was it not, Word? Backup given by a servant..."


Yep.  I tried the oldest possible backup on my external hard drive, and, sure enough, I found two X16-whatever files and sniffed victory close at hand.


The first file freaked me out because it was Office 2010 beta (which is now worthless, as it's expired).  Thankfully, however, the next X12 file was, in fact Office 2007 ULTIMATE.

I almost choked on my own stomach acid when I saw this screen and remembered how many superfluous programs Office can potentially install.


So, after stripping the "Ultimate" installation down to Word (I only ever really used Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote to begin with - Ultimate has like 40 other programs, as shown above), I'm now good to go for all my law school needs!

Sorry if this diary entry was longer than you expected . . .

"So ends the famous Word holdout," said the CA's distant voice. "Alone in the Chamber of My Laptop, forsaken by its friends, defeated at last by the Dark Student it so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear unused Office soon, Word ... It bought you twelve years of borrowed time... but Lord Abogado got you in the end, as you knew he must."

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Today's Spiritual Message: Sharing the Light of Christ

This video is about a young man from Cleveland who has devoted much of the past five years of his life to serving children in Honduras.



I'm pretty impressed.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Secret Gmail Keyboard Shortcut[s]?

For those of you who played video games ad nauseum as children (or still do as adults), I imagine this post will have a familiar ring to you.  For example, if you played Metroid, I'm certain you relished the treasure trove of hidden secrets and power ups.  Well, from my view, it looks like I may have found one today.  Behold:

Extra recipient field goodness
That's right kids, unless I am out of your mind, the CA has found a secret Gmail keyboard shortcut: b.  What does this mysterious short cut actually do? you ask.

It opens a new draft email with the cc: and bcc: fields already expanded.  I accept cash, credit card, check, PayPal, or wampum.

I think what I actually feel most mystified about is that upon pressing shift + / (also known as "?"), I fail to find any shortcut listed.  Yet, I guarantee you will see a similar result if you press "b," while outside any text box in Gmail.

You may now applaud.  Thank you.

UPDATE:  It's been brought to my attention that there is actually another variant of the undocumented compose email function: d.  D does essentially the same thing as c or b, except for that d opens only the to: and cc: fields.  Thanks for this additional shortcut, Alex!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Gmail Rolls Out Five New Themes

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/five-new-themes.html

Straight black or straight white
It's black, it's white.  I'll be candid in saying these both felt like a wallop in the stomach to me (a bit too much to swallow).

Ride the Android wave (RIP, Google Wave)
Android.  I'm delighted to see little Android robots hiding behind the envelope and elsewhere.  On the other hand, I'm uncomfortable with the CPU design up top and a lot of white, in general.

Relax in the Tree Tops

Tree tops.  I like the relaxation and "sustainability," yet I feel a little overwhelmed by all the green.  Maybe I'll switch to this if I ever get a degree from Berkley.  :)

Get out your Marker, for a home-made style

Marker.  While I strongly believe this is a shout-out to the Chrome OS video put out back in the day (see this post, for example, http://cougarabogado.blogspot.com/2010/05/google-docs-and-internet-my-new-home_30.html), and I love that, this new theme still comes up short for me, when compared to my current favorite:  High Score.

Why leave my childhood behind when I can relive it every day?
To check out the new themes, go to Settings>Themes in Gmail.

What's your favorite theme?  Please sound off in the comments.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Back to Chrome: A Couple Updates - 1) Charts in Docs and 2) Web Clipboard Extension

I'll keep this brief and mainly point you to two sources, for your review.

1) Docs finally came out with a better charts editor:

Click the image to go to the review from Google's Unofficial News
My experience is, unsurprisingly, that while imperfect, it's a very user-friendly step in the right direction, and I'm very impressed with how well it anticipates my needs.

2) Web clipboard for Chrome:

Click the image to go to the DownloadSquad review
If you often find yourself wanting to copy multiple items at a time, I think you'll really like this extension.

Click here for an additional review from Google's Unofficial News.