No more del.icio.us tags

I'm getting rid of all my entries on del.icio.us for this blog, which means all my original links to those tags will be dead. I'm not going to edit all my posts to take out the links because I'm lazy.

Sorry Opera.

In my last post I had said that I would end up using both firefox and opera. Opera when I mostly just need to do various searches, and firefox if I know where I'm going. This was because firefox loads pages faster, while opera has superior search functionality (or so I thought).

Alex pointed out to me a neat extension that comes close to equaling opera's awesomeness. It's not quite as good, but came awfully close. Then I realized that firefox has a feature almost exactly like the one opera offers. It was just hiding right under my nose. In opera, you can right click on any search field on any website, then click "add search". A dialog opens, you add a title for that search (such as 'google'), and a keyword (such as 'g'), and you're done. Now when you type "g (blah)" in your address bar, it automatically uses google to search for (blah). The same can be done not just for any search engine, but any search field on any webpage. In firefox, you can do basically the same thing. Right click on any search field, click on "add a keyword for this search", and a very similar dialog opens. Type in a name for the search, and a keyword, then choose where in your bookmarks to file it. That is the one down side. I like the way opera's works better. It's its own feature. In firefox, they have it tied to bookmarks for some reason. No biggie though, and still basically works the same. So now, you're ready to do the exact same thing as described for opera. Editing your various searches is a little easier in opera, I think. Go to preferences and click on the search tab. From there you can edit all the names and keywords for all your searches. In firefox, you have to go to your bookmarks menu, then right click on whichever search bookmark you want to edit, and click on "properties." I like opera in that respect a little better, but not enough to get me to stay with opera. So firefox it is for good now.

The winner is....

Edit: This post is now basically obsolete. You can pretty much skip it.

If you read my last post, you know that I decided to try using Opera instead of Firefox for one week, or until I definitively made up my mind. I didn't quite need the full week. After using Opera for five days, you could say that I have definitively made up my mind. So what is my definitive decision on which browser I will use, you are probably wonder? If you know me well, you probably have noted that my use of the word "definitive" comes off as rather sarcastic. That's because my final, definitive decision is that I will continue using both browsers. Both of them have features that make browsing this crazy series of tubes much easier for me, and both of them lack some of said features that the other does have. Much of the time, I think I should be able to reasonably guess which browser will suit me better for a particular inter-series-of-tubes-web-nets browsing session. For the most part, my browsing sessions fall more of less into one of two categories. Either the type where a) I know pretty much exactly what page(s) I want to go to, or b) those where I don't. Before I explain which browser I will use for which type of browsing, and why, I'll explain a few more of my series of tube browsing habits for you.

The important thing to keep in mind is that I did not undertake this experiment in order to write reviews of opera and firefox for the everyman. I have particular preferences that are a bit quirky, so my goal was just to see which browser is better for me, not better in a more general sense of which one would win over more users if everyone had to give them both a fair one-week shot. The main thing is that when I use a browser, I hate having a bajillion toolbars showing. It's gotten to the point where really all I need to be able to do is see the menu bar (you know, file, edit, bookmarks, etc), the tab bar (I like tab browsing and I'm not amazing enough to go without it), and be able to search easily. To type in a location (notice I did not mention having the location field showing) I just hit ctrl+L (works in both FF and opera) to open the location dialog and enter my destination. It's a nifty trick. You should try it. That way, I have as much viewing space as I can get.

So I decided that when I don't really know where I'm going, I will use Opera. My first big problem when I switched what that you can't move the search box into the menu bar in opera, as you can in firefox, which results in having to have a whole extra toolbar if you want to be able to use the search box. That would have been a dealbreaker for me. But I quickly came across something that is sooooooooo much better. I almost pissed my pants at how awesome it is. In opera, you can use any search field you find on any website right from your location bar. It comes with google, yahoo, ask.com, and several other enabled, but you can easily add others, and may I stress easily. It works by assigning a short key sequence to each search. If you want to search google, instead of typing a website, you just type in "g [your search terms]. You can change the letters assigned to each search to any of your choosing in the options dialog. To add a new search, you simply right click on the search field on the page you find it on and click "add search", then assign whatever letter or letters you want to it. It is absolutely amazing. In firefox, I had to hit ctrl+k to highlight the search box, then ctrl+up or down arrows to highlight the search engine I wanted. That makes it very impractical to regularly use anything but the two at the very top or bottom of the list. Opera also has a few nice features worth mentioning. You can customize most keyboard shortcuts, though not all of them, a few of which I found annoying. If you try not to use the mouse much when browsing like me, that's pretty useful. Also, it's much easier to copy your location in opera as compared to firefox if you are picky like me and don't like to have your location field shown because it's a waste of space. I don't need to copy my location enough for this to be terribly important though.

As for firefox, its main advantage is that it is indeed faster. In cases where I knew exactly where I was going, I found that opera slowed me down a bit because it took longer for pages to load. It's not terrible, but sometimes it did annoy me. I also find firefox's options for tabs to be more flexible. When I have multiple pages open in various tabs, I find it much easier to use firefox. My computer isn't particularly old, and can handle the extra memory that firefox requires, so that is not really an issue with me.

Those of you who care about browsers as much as I do for some odd reason are probably aware of the great debate of whether firefox's plugin capability or opera's natively high flexibility, but inability to add plugins is better. I think it just varies from person to person depending on exactly what you need. Opera's base installation offers great functionality, and because they are controlling things from top-down, you know things will just work, and work well. With firefox, there are literally endless ways to customize your browser. It's just a matter of whether somebody has made a plugin for what you need (or if you can write them yourself). The drawback is that plugins are more bottom-up, and there is the possibility that one might interfere with another, or that if you add too many, they'll eat up tons of memory. In the end I might have to side with firefox on that one, because like I said, the possibilities are endless. It's just too bad I can't write plugins myself to do everything exactly how I want (like immitate opera's awesome search functionality. Hopefully someone will come up with that soon).

One week with Opera

In the past I've preached a lot about trying different programs for different functions, or at least being aware that there are choices out there. Well I've decided that it's time to put my money where my mouth is. I switched from using IE to Firefox about a couple years ago, because back then IE really sucked hardcore. At the time, Opera wasn't free yet, so Firefox was the main other contender. I switched. I liked it. I got way too used to it. Then Opera started giving away their desktop browsers for free in hopes of drawing more people to pay for their mobile phone ones. Naturally I downloaded it to check it out. I definitely liked it, but I was too used to firefox. I had all my settings just how I wanted them. I had a bunch of neato plugins, some of which added functionality that opera couldn't match. There were certain things I didn't like about firefox, though. Primarily, it is a memory hog, especially with each additional plugin you have. Also, there are some things I just can't quite customize just exactly how I want them, and sometimes those things are quite bothersome. Also, in the intervening time, I've changed some of my browsing habbits, such that I can easily do without some of my precious plugins anymore.

So finally I've decided to give Opera a real try. I will be using it for one week, as much as possible. I will post again after the week is up, or whenever I decide that I've given Opera a fair shot and it blew it, whichever comes first, to let y'all know how I think it stacks up. I may post some updates before then as well, if I feel like it.

If you're using firefox, and have an old slow computer with not enough memory, I encourage you to partake in this experiment with me. IE actually got a lot better with 7.0, so it's worth checking out too (I tried it for a bit and decided to stick with FF). For now, my initial reaction is positive. I took a little time to learn all the keyboard shortcuts that I'm fond of using, which didn't take nearly as much effort as I've made it out to take in the past. It is a bit slower at loading pages, which is the common complaint about it, but we'll see if that gets to me. I'll let you know in a week or sooner how it's going.

Spring Break Travel Tips

I'm on spring break now, and I know many of you are or will be soon as well. So in case you're going to be flying anywhere exotic and exciting, like San Francisco (like myself), Cancun*, or your parents house, here's the rundown on things you can and can't bring on an airplane. To see for yourself, visit the TSA's website.

First, you're probably wondering about this liquids thing. As you probably are aware, you can't just bring any liquid on an airplane anymore. Any liquids or gels you bring from your home, with a few exceptions, must be in bottles no larger than three ounces, and all those bottles must be inside a quart sized plastic zipper bag. However, you can bring prescription or over the counter medications in larger quantities, but they must be declared at the check-in counter. So make sure you accurately state how many bottles of KY jelly you are bringing to Cancun.

Remember, you can't bring knives in your carry on bag, or on your person. Please do not forget to leave your sushi knife in your checked luggage. However, you are now allowed to bring some personal items like nail clippers and files, safety razors, and the like. Also, you may bring screwdrivers, wrenches, and other tools under 7 inches. Also, you wine aficionados will be glad to know that you can bring your corkscrew. Of course you'll have to leave all your wine in your checked luggage.

Of course it goes without saying that you may not bring gel shoe inserts. The only imaginable reason you might want to do that is to blow up the plane like Richard Reid. However ladies, don't worry, you are allowed to wear your gel bras or bring them in your carry-on, so that you will be able to attract all the finest frat boys at the bars.

In case you were wondering, explosives and flammables are not allowed at all. Also, anything that shoots some sort of projectile, including firearms, bb guns, and bows and arrows are not allowed in your carry on. However, you may bring aeresol cosmetic products in bottles smaller than three ounces in your quart sized plastic zipper bag.

Finally, you may not bring any martial-arts or personal defense type weapons. However, you may bring a walking cane. Because obviously you are much more likely to use the liquid gel shoe inserts you use for your back problems as a weapon than your cane.

I hope after reading this you fully understand the TSA's regulations on items you can and can't bring on planes. If you are found to be in violation of the law and declared an enemy combatant though, don't worry, I hear Guantanamo Bay Cuba is quite nice this time of year. It's no Cancun, but at least the government will be footing the bill, and you get to stay as long as you the government wants.


*It's that US enclave city inside Mexico. They have lots of cool stuff, like Mexicans, Moctezuma's revenge, booze, blonde blue-eyed white hotties, Wal-Mart, McDonalds, and STDs.

Free (as in beer) Music

Apparently, a few weeks ago, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne announced that Ozzfest will have free admission this summer. Now I'm not a huge metalhead or anything, but I also don't completely write off the genre as crap. There are definitely some great metal bands out there. So as long as at least one of said good bands is scheduled to play (and Ozzfest is scheduled to come to Minneapolis, which as of yet is not the case), I'll definitely try to go. If the tickets are free, then there's not really any reason not to, now is there?

The Osbournes said that the reason they chose to make tickets free is because they've actually been paying attention to the complaints of festival-goers that tickets are getting too expensive. I can see their plan backfiring though. Since tickets will be free, they're counting corporate sponsors and high merchandise and food sales to make up the cost. So my fear is that the food will be even more ridiculously over-priced than at your average summer music festival. And you can probably count on a ban on any outside food or drink except water. We'll have to see if people are willing to spend enough money on merch and food to support the cost of putting on the festival.