For quite some time I’ve had a personal software rule that I would no longer install Apple software on my laptop PC. No iTunes or QuickTime for me. The reason I made that decision is because of the problem I’m having now.

There are a couple of websites I use regularly that continually wanted me to install the QuickTime application so I could enjoy the website in all its glory. I finally caved in and decided to give QuickTime another try.
Then I kept getting updates and updates that kept wanting me to install iTunes and Safari along with my QuickTime updates. …read more

I upgraded my Firefox installation to the latest version, which is 3.5 if you’re counting. I got the warning saying that some of my add-ons/extensions wouldn’t work with the upgrade. I thought I’d take the chance it wasn’t any of them I was really addicted to and proceeded with the install.

The four extensions that were dead with the upgrade were the following:

coComment
Google Gears
Google Notebook
New Tab to Window

The tab function was okay to lose as moving tabs around was a specific feature added in the new version of Firefox 3.5. coComment I enjoyed using, but figured I could do without it …read more

After downloading and installing Internet Explorer 8 onto the computers of various members of my family, I’ve now downloaded and installed it on my own machine. There’s not a whole lot that you’ll notice that’s different initially. I believe I have noticed that pages do seem to be loading a bit faster in IE8 than previously in IE7.

I’ve had to use the compatibility feature on a couple of sites, ones that I’ve developed for clients, so there’s so more work for me to take care of and make sure those are up to par.
I’m still using Firefox as my browser …read more

I’ve written about my dislike of Apple software a variety of times before. You see my experience with dealing with and trying to remove Apple software has been more akin to the feelings I have when trying to get rid of malware or other unwanted software on computers. The challenge now is that I’ve gotten Apple off of my computer but now they’ve teamed with Facebook to get it back on my computer with Quicktime.
I’m not sure what bothers me more in this situation. I understand that Quicktime is a popular plug-in and many people have no problem with the …read more

Jayvee over at Tech Side Up found this great Photo Booth plugin. The plugin, developed by Dubi Kaufmann takes it’s cue from the popular Obama poster created by Shepard Fairey.
Download the plugin here, the instructions are also in the link. It’s as simple as unzipping the file, dragging it to Library/Compositions/ and you have the Obama plugin ready for use.
Go forth and Obamafy!

While technically it’s not a Mac topic, I decide to blog about this because it does run on Macs.
Google just added video capabilities to it’s chat software. From within Gmail you can now talk face to face with your friends and family from across the globe. The browser based video chat requires installation of additional software which is downloadable from Google.
I tried it on my Mac and chatted with my dad using his Windows laptop. The quality was good. I’m amazed that it worked so well.
For those who don’t have a video cam, voice chat is a great option …read more

I must admit I’m a Facebook whore. One of the great time wasters that I’ve come across with. Part of the appeal of Facebook is the ability to share photos. I know that a lot sites do that but it happens that Facebook is the one I like now.
It’s so much of a hassle to upload pics via the web interface. Luckily there Facebook Exporter for iPhoto. It’s an iPhoto plugin for Facebook that let’s you upload photos directly from the iPhoto interface. You can create albums, tag people, etc. It’s a neat little plugin for Facebook addicts like …read more

Recently I came across a post about the new file backup service, Dropbox. After a little digging, I got myself an invite to the private beta, and got it set up.
Set up was truly a breeze. This is one of those programs that just seem to work. I have it installed on my Mac and on my Windows XP Desktop. From receiving the beta invitation to uploading files was 3 steps. I’d write a tutorial, but really, it’s just that easy.
The best part is that the software is designed, specifically, to sync one folder on your computer to the …read more

This might be a little late since this has been around some time. Still some people might not know about this so here goes. You can upload photos to your Google/Picasa accounts using Picasa Web Albums Uploader from Google.
The guys from Google have put together a little app to help upload photos to your Picasa account. It can either work as a stand alone app or as a plugin for iPhoto. It supports iPhoto 4, 5, 6 and iPhoto 08.
Download the application here.

I’ve been trying to do some encoding of Flash Videos for a web site. The thing is, everytime I’d want to view the finished video I’d have to preview it on an embedded Flash Video Player on a web page. It’s just a plain hassle to do this for previewing. It took more time that I’d like. Thank God my friend Nargalzius pointed me to Perian. A freeware plugin that allows Quicktime to play almost any video format, even FLVs. Straight from the Quicktime program.
Neat plugin. Go get it here.