Archive for the 'Internet' Category
Posted by Andy Crofford
 Google Chrome Logo I decided to check out Google Chrome yesterday. It would have been the greatest browser ever if it had been released eight years ago.
Now that I am used to Firefox it is hard for me to try another browser. It seemed like I was crippled browsing the ‘Net without the add-ons and plug-ins that I have grown use to. That was the only thing I didn’ like about Chrome, the lack of support for add-ons.
One thing I really like that I wish Firefox would use was the opening page with thumbnails of the sites you most recently visited. I thought this was a great feature and very useful. Chrome also did a great job of importing bookmarks from Firefox. It was nice not to have to mess around with any of that. Other interesting thing is Google actually gives you the option to switch to a different default search. They don’t make you use Google. Other companies could definitely learn from them.
The bottom line is I don’t understand why Google needs to get into the browser game. Why can’t they just support Firefox like they have been doing? I don’t plan to switch to Google Chrome anytime soon. It will be interesting to see what they come up with in future release.
Posted by Andy Crofford
 The Cuil logo Cuil is a new search engine that was launched on July 28th. I have been checking it out and decided I would write a little review.
Site Look and Feel
I can’t quite pinpoint the reason but I don’t like how the search results are displayed. Maybe I am used to the look of Google or have been spoiled by shiney Web 2.0 sites. Cuil just isn’t sparkly enough for me. To me it seems like I am searching the archives of some legal site or something. The bottom line is the way Cuil displays their search results is flat out bad and does not hold my interest.
Search Results
Cuil claims to have three times the number of indexed pages than Google. I did a search for my name and the only results I get on the first page are comments I have made on other blogs. You would think that all I did was sit around and comment on DCR’s blog all day long. In another month or so I will try the search again and see what I come up with. If the results are littered with comments on DCR’s blog I will never visit his site again (just kidding Dan).
Site Name
Cuil, is pronounced “cool”, or so the founders of the search engine claim. For some reason I just can’t pronounce it like that. To me it should be pronounced “Q-L”, but English was never my best subject (as you can probably tell from my entries). Any way, imagine if Cuil was way better than Google and you decided to spread the word around school or work. It would be annoying as hell to have to spell it each time. Inevitably the person you are telling would misspell it once or twice and then you would just forget it because it is too much of a pain to tell people about it. Yes, I am reaching here but you must admit you most likely never had that Problem with Google or Yahoo!.
The fact of the matter is, I will not be switching to Cuil anytime soon for my search engine needs. I also believe there will be another search engine that will come along and make a name for itself. Afterall, ten years ago we had never heard of Google and search engines Alta Vista and Lycos were widely used.
Posted by Andy Crofford
 The truth It seems since I returned from vacation I have been way to busy to get any of my Internet projects completed. I stress the term Internet because I have actually accomplished a few things around the house in preparation for the baby that is due in November. Here is the reason I wish days were 36 hours long instead of 24:
1. Working on Build a Niche Store websites.
2. Need to complete the PPC Formula course.
3. Trying to work on a couple of other sites that I have domains and ideas for.
4. Thirty Day Challenge
5. Learn PHP
On top of this when I do get the sites done that I want to I then have to go to work promoting them and building backlinks. I did find a great blog called LinkBuildingBible that has some great information on how to build back links.
On the bright side of things I would much rather be busy than bored. I guess I will have to sit down and prioritze the above list so that I can get all my projects completed.
Posted by Andy Crofford
 In addition to StumbleUpon I have recently started using Twitter more. Several weeks ago I set it up to post my blog postings but I want to start adding more than just that.
Thanks to the fact that I finally got around to checking out the Thirty Day Challenge Pre-season I learned about a couple of pretty cool tools:
Twhirl: - This is a desktop client for Twitter based on Adobe Air. Pretty much anything you can do on Twitter you can do directly from the Twhirl app.
Twitter Bar - This one is really awesome. It allows you to post to Twitter from your address bar. Just enter what you want to say in addition to the URL and click the little icon to the left of the star and it will post it without having to visit the Twitter site. In addition to that it will also shorten the URL in the Twitter message using the Tiny URL service.
I am looking forward to playing around with these tools and see what all I can do with them. I have never been big on things like Facebook, Stumbleupon, and Twitter but I am coming around slowly but surely.
Follow me on Twitter and I will do the same for you.
Posted by Andy Crofford
 Is there a SU Anonymous? I signed up for a StumbleUpon account a couple of years ago but never used it. It was one of those things where I just didn’t see the appeal. For one I didn’t really get it and second I hated the fact that I would have to install a toolbar to effectively use it.
That all changed recently. I decided to check StumbleUpon out again. Mainly because I wanted to complete another task for Big Jason’s blogging contest.
This is where the addiction comes in. I am addicted to clicking the “Stumble” button to see what random site comes up next. Some pretty good sites of come up and I find myself adding several to my bookmarks.
Many of the sites I am bookmarking are related to web development and SEO. For that reason I have decided to share a few of them with you.
I bookmar two to three sites daily that I find using the random “Stumble” button. If you like these links let me know and maybe I will start posting more of them.
On an unrelated note, is it just me or is syncronized diving ALWAYS on television? It seems like everytime I turn on the Olympics that is the event NBC is showing. I don’t recall ever seeing it before this year and to be honest I have seen enough to last me a life time. My wife enjoys it but I think it is more the little Speedos the men wear than the actual competition. Oh well, maybe I will see the Team USA basketball team play yet.
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