Day: July 8, 2009

Google Chrome OS?!?!

On By Michel McDonaldIn Computer, CR-48, Google ChromeLeave a comment

This is coming straight from the Google blog…

Official Google Blog: Introducing the Google Chrome OS

Wow.  That’s so cool.  This is going to be neat to be able to turn your computer on and once it gets past all those tests that you see, you know, where it shows how much memory you have, then all of a sudden you’ve got desktop.  No more waiting for the Windows screen that shows that animated bar at the bottom of the screen.  Instead you are instantly taken right to your desktop so you can immediately start browsing the web.

The only thing that concerns me is if this will allow me to install my Windows programs like the Sims, EverQuest, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Premiere Elements, Autodesk 3DS Max 2008, my webcam software, my mp3 player software etc.  And will it allow my hardware like my webcam and my Kodak printer?

One of the things that I really look forward to is if this will allow me to play my old Win 98 games that Win XP won’t let me run.  I just hope that this isn’t something like Mac and Linux where you have to buy the Google OS software only which will probably only be a few programs at first and will always only have 10% of the software compared to the 100% that Windows offers.  That’s always been an issue and why I won’t ever have a Mac or Linux again because I want to be able to buy whatever program I want.  It’s really depressing when you go to buy software and the aisle for that OS is just a shelf while the rest of the store is for Windows.

Of course I’ll have to wait until the 2nd half of 2010 for this to become available so I look forward to all of the blogs and pictures and possibly videos showing how well it is on Netbooks.

Edit 2011-02-15: I have been using Google Chrome OS CR-48 since mid December and it does not allow me to install anything and it does in fact have apps that you can install from the Google Chrome store.  They apps install a link to your desktop which are basically just a link to a website.  There are also tons of extensions that you can use and it does work with my printer through the cloud.  No I can’t play those games I listed above but there are other games I can play that are web-based.

I would not want this to be my desktop, it works great as a netbook only in my opinion.  You would still need your regular desktop for your other programs and MMO games.

New Purpose for Stakes

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

Years ago we bought these stakes from the garden section of the local hardware store.  No, we don’t have a vampire problem.  We were putting grass seeds on the grass to grow new grass and to prevents people from walking all over the new grass we put the stakes in the ground and used this green tape on the stakes.  Although, that didn’t do much good, people broke the green tape and walked on our lawn anyway.

We still have all these stakes though and don’t really know what to do with them so they just sit on the patio collecting dust.  I just got an idea today…

I’m going to take the sander and sand the sides of them then use those zig zag type of metal nail things that you hammer into 1 piece of wood on the side then you hammer another piece of wood onto the other side of the zig zag nail to join the 2 pieces of wood.  I’m going to put some wood glue in there and attach maybe 5 of the stakes together then press them tight and let the pieces dry.  I’m going to do this with several of the stakes so I have more than just 1 or a few pieces.  I’m going to keep 1 stake for every board that I make so I can use them to stake the board into the ground.

Why would I need to stake boards into the ground?  Because I’m thinking that maybe I can use these boards for wood burning projects.  I can wood burn patterns for gardens as gifts for Christmas.  I think it will be neat.  I could burn maybe a picture of fairies sitting on or flying around mushrooms or maybe some gnomes or something lol.  I think it’s a neat idea and it gives me free wood to burn on since we already have the wood lol.

Busy Body Wal-Mart Employee

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

We went to Wal-Mart the other day so I could buy some tubes for my bike and when I got to the register this cashier was bitching to us about how these people bought some soda pop using an EBT card.  EBT is like food stamps but in the form of a debit card.

What she said was she told the person buying soda “I don’t think that’s right that you are buying soda using this card because it has no nutritional value.  You should be buying food with that, not soda”.  While I agree with her that they should be using that money to buy things like bread, dairy, cereals, meat etc, it’s not her place as a cashier to tell a customer that she doesn’t think that it’s right that they are buying soda.

It’s really none of her business.  Her argument was that food stamp money comes out of her taxes so in a way it kind of is her business but on the other hand she has no right telling that to the customer as an employee of Wal-Mart.  And… I don’t want to hear that.  I don’t want to go to a cashier and hear them bitching about the previous customer.  Again, I agree with her but I don’t want to hear it.  Now if she was off duty and at home then sure, go ahead and bitch about it to your friends and family but don’t take it out on the customers.

Her argument was that she can’t afford to buy a bottle of water and these people are using her tax dollars to buy soda.  First off, she has no right buying water that is free.  All she has to do is bring a bottle with her to work, like a sports bottle or something, and then fill it up with the water cooler or drinking fountain.  Or fill it up at home with your Brita filter and bring it with you, bring a couple of bottles with you in your purse and keep them in your locker.  Don’t keep buying bottled water.  That’s not very green.  Me personally, I fill up those 3 gallon bottles, like the sparkletts or arrowhead bottle and I have a ceramic bottle holder with a spout that I use to drink my water.  Now that’s green.