The Chromium Projects

I recently installed Google's Chrome web browser on a few computers and thought I would share some observations about it. The first thing that I noticed on Windows XP was that it doesn't install itself in the program files folder like most applications. I found that it had placed itself under the user's hidden applications data folder. That's fine, but if you have other user accounts on your computer, you will have to install a copy for each of them or try one of these other options.

Google promotes the browser as being faster than the others. I would agree that it does respond quicker, especially if you had been using IE. All of your bookmarks, cookies, and home page defaults are imported during the installation, so you can start using the browser immediately. I did have trouble finding the bookmarks, which can be found in a drop-down menu called "Other Bookmarks" on the far right, instead of on the left side like IE and FireFox. Once you know where to look, it's not a problem.

The other problem I had was getting flash videos to play. But, after downloading the latest Flash player plug-in, and restarting the computer, it worked fine. Chrome comes with a number of themes that allow you to change the look of the border around the browser. That feature doesn't add any functionality to the browser, but those of us who like a different look may find it useful. I would recommend Chrome to anyone who is tired of security issues and freeze-ups with their current browser.

An even more ambitious project for Google is the Chromium OS. This project is an open-source operating system designed to be a fast, simple, secure OS for people who spend most of their time on the web. That last part about the web is the key. If you were hoping to migrate all of your applications over to a new open-source operating system, you may be disappointed. Google Docs and other web applications will provide most, if not all, of the software needed to create and manage user files. That seems to be the direction that most forward-thinking software companies are going anyway. Writing a new fast, simple, secure operating system isn't an easy task, but Google certainly has the talent and resources to do it.

Waiting on Winter's End

Seeing the Dow drop almost 5% in the last three days reminds me that we are not out of the woods yet. Unemployment levels were up in almost every State last month. Wisconsin's unemployment rate is at 8.3% up from 7.9% in November 2009. In an earlier post, I had said that my income for 2009 was about the same as 2008. Unfortunately, that estimate was wrong. I received my W-2 form and 1099-INT forms this week, so I was able to get a more accurate reading on last years income. The results show that my income was down by 13% from 2008.

The good news is that being in a lower tax bracket means that I will see a better tax refund this year. The company I work for has put us back on 35 hour work weeks, so my concern is that I will need to continue to look for ways to cut expenses 2010. Unfortunately, the only thing we have left to cut is the food budget. So, a better plan for this year would be to find a better paying job, or find a way to generate some income from the Internet. That's why all of my web pages have ads on them. Is it generating any income for me? No, only Google and Amazon are getting rich off of the ads. It's amazing how important advertising on the web has become. This is certainly an area that is still growing and changing every day. There are certainly a lot of companies out their looking for people who have had success with Internet advertising.