Flock Browser

I first read about the Flock browser late last year. They were offering an alpha "developer's" release version for download. I downloaded it, but couldn't get much past its setup because it would crash. Then last week I saw that the browser was officially beta now with version 0.7 being offered for download, so I went ahead and gave it another try. This time I'm impressed! I haven't crashed it yet and I love some of its features.

It has tabbed browsing and good CSS support, and generally, all the things you expect from a modern browser. But wait, there's more! It's a Gecko-based browser ala Firefox. There's an extension available for converting Firefox extensions into Flock extensions so they can be used with the Flock browser. The abundance of extensions for Firefox is the feature that came closest to converting me to a full-time Firefox user, so this is a big plus in my eyes.

And there's still more! Flock integrates photos from Flick'r or Photobucket (see screenshot).

You can grab a photo from the photo bar to add to a blog post, comment of message via web email. You can have the photobar show your own photos, or your friends photos, and you can have Flock alert you when a friend posts new photos. You can also search Flick'r or Photobucket using keywords.

Flock has an integrated blog editor. I'm typing this post in it right now!

It supports most of the major blogging services and/or software, including Blogger, TypePad and WordPress. It has an editor window and a source window if you want to type in raw HTML, or just view the source from the editor.

One thing I like is that it has a toolbar for adding bold, italic and other styles as well as links and lists and HTML features. In Blogger's editor, none of those features work on Macs so you have to type all the HTML yourself. Flock's blog editor is definitely a step up in that case (unless you happen to like writing HTML). You can also save your posts before publishing, but they are saved to your local machine's hard drive, which is a bit inconvenient if you use more than one machine. Maybe eventually the saved/non-published drafts can be saved to your blog's server as a draft so you can access them no matter where you are.

One more nice feature that I haven't really checked out yet is Flock's snippet holder. You can drag text or pictures from a web page to the snippet icon in the lower right-hand corner of the browser window to save them. Then they are easily accessed for placing into blog posts, emails etc. It's kind of like the Mac's old Scrapbook desk accessory, remade for a web browser.

So the bottom line is, I'm seriously considering making Flock my default browser in place of Safari, which has been my main browser for the past couple of years. I haven't made the move yet, although I'm using it for various web tasks virtually everyday. I'll probably wait for an official version 1 before making the move as it still has it moments of obvious "beta-ness".

If you do much blogging or other internet "social" activities, you definitely ought to take Flock for a spin.

technorati tags:browsers, internet, blog, software

Blogged with Flock

Order Placed

I ordered a new computer for the house yesterday. I've been seriously considering making a purchase this year and finally decided I could swing it. Especially since I ran across a great deal. The last two desktops we had at home were machines from work that had been replaced by newer hardware. I can't complain about that, because they were both Macs, and didn't cost me anything. Additionally, they were both from the high end of Apple's product lineup when they were new.

Of course, since they were being replaced at work, they were three or four years old when I got them, so I'm always wishing I had a faster machine at home. Especially since they've always been quite a bit older than the machine I use at work.

I'm not buying a brand new machine for several reasons. Cost is part of it, but a relatively small part since a new dual-core Mac mini can be had for about $800 now, and I'm spending about $850 for this new (used) machine.  Apple's ongoing switch to Intel processors complicated the decision a bit, but a need to be able to run Classic applications, plus the need to run Photoshop natively rather than through Rosetta's emulation were big factors in going with an older PowerPC Mac.

I ordered a dual-processor 1.25GHz G4 tower, which is the same kind of machine I use at work. While these machines are about three years old now, they are still very fast and capable machines. Additionally, according to Low End Mac, a dual-processor machine running OS X will give you about 75 to 80% more power than a single-processor machine running at the same speed, meaning a dual 1.25GHz machine is about equal to a 2GHz single processor machine.

If you're in the market for a used Mac this is really a good deal. Most places I've seen this model for sale want over $1,000 for them. And I got free shipping, which is worth about $70 or so.

I can hardly wait.

technorati tags:apple, computers, mac, tech

Joy Zipper

My latest favorite band is Joy Zipper. Joy Zipper is a duo consisting of boyfriend and girlfriend Vince Cafiso and Tabitha Tinsdale. Some initial recordings they made were passed around among friends and ended up in the hands of a composer/DJ who played them on his U.K. radio show. The response led to a recording deal and their initial CD was a U.K. only release. Their current release, American Whip, is their first U.S. release and has received very good reviews.

I first heard some of their music on the internet radio station Wub-Fur. I was intrigued enough to search for and download a couple of their songs from a file sharing network. The more I listened, the more they grew on me. When I searched them on the internet, the reviews I read of American Whip convinced me to buy the CD thru Amazon.

I love this CD. They have a lush, psychedelic sound. Many reviews compare their sound to the Beach Boys, I suppose because of their harmonies. A somewhat newer band they are probably even more frequently compared to is My Bloody Valentine. I can't speak for that comparison, because I'm not familiar with that band. A reviewer on Amazon said they sound like the White Stripes would if they took a lot of drugs, but I think that's just due to the two bands having the same two-person boy/girl makeup. The White Stripes's songs have a bare-bones, bluesy, rock and roll sound and feel while Joy Zipper's songs have a much richer, pop/psychedelia influenced sound to them.

Many of their song's lyrics have a somewhat dark and depressing feel to them that creates an interesting contrast with the upbeat, poppy music. For instance, here are the lyrics to 33x:

If time is straight like a line then I'm dying
33 times I climbed up the same tree
Climbed up the same tree

Going away for awhile
Pulled back my skin and found a mannequin
If I am straight like a line then I'm dying
Climbed up the same tree

My tongue's on the floor
On the cement

Turned off my head for awhile
Remote viewing I found a pyramid

If time is straight like a line then I'm dying
Climbed up the same tree

My tongue's on the floor
On the cement

I'm getting tired of life
I'm getting tired of life
Climbed up the same tree
Pulled it right out
I'm getting tired of life

Have a listen to some of their tunes on their website or the clips on Amazon then buy the CD on Amazon.

One Year +

I failed to make mention of it when it passed, but the end of April marked the one-year anniversary of this blog. So, I'm kind of proud of myself for keeping it going. I owe Ben Mack a big thank you for being the person who gave me the push to start writing. I still don't write as much as I'd like to but I write a lot more than I did a year ago!

Thanks to Ben I also opened an account and started a blog on GNN. Since GNN is a political-oriented site, I tend to do more writing on that blog than this one, because it's easy for me to get worked up about political issues. I also do some posting on Frequency23.

I need to do a bit more maintenence on this blog, keeping the links in sidebar updated and whatnot. And I need to work on making my writing subject-matter a bit more diverse.