Google Chrome

For whatever reason, the version of Internet Explorer that comes standard with my work computer is a giant pile of poo.  I will open up, say, MSNBC and the browser will completely choke on all of the embedded video and the sharing buttons and only God knows what else from the site code.  After many different crashes and forced closings of the browser window, I got fed up and downloaded Google's Chrome browser.  It has taken a little getting used to, as the way that you handle bookmarking favorite links is different from IE and Firefox (what I use at home), but at least it doesn't choke to death on a web page.  It also has a nice, clean browser window which I guess I should have expected from a Google product.

The Annoyance of New Technology

A little over two months ago I got a new cell phone.  My previous phone (a Blackberry) had been paid for by my previous employer.  Since I was now "on my own" I could get whatever phone I wanted.  After some research and testing out different handsets I landed on a Samsung Continuum.  The phone itself has been fine.  I even can make phone calls with no signal bars showing, though I have no idea how much of that is the Verizon network and how much is the phone's antenna.  One part of the phone was really annoying, though - the Android operating system.


It isn't that I had a problem with Android itself, per se, but I had no real way of learning to use it other than trying stuff and waiting to see if it broke.  Just last week I was convinced that the phone was piece of junk because it had gotten stuck on some processing routine that was sucking battery life at a ridiculously fast rate.  It wouldn't eve make it an entire day without running out of juice.  If I was on the phone all the time that would make some sense, but I was hardly even looking at it and the battery would be half drained after less than five hours.  One day, I got frustrated and just turned it off, not restarting it until the next morning.


That magically seems to have done the trick, as it is now quite stable and can go multiple days without needing a recharge.  So what had I originally done wrong?  I have no idea.  Why did turning it off and back on again fix the problem?  I have no idea.  Is there anything I can do to keep that problem from occurring again?  I have no idea.  I don't like being ignorant like this, and it would be nice if Samsung or Verizon would provide me with an Android user guide, since being able to use it properly seems to be vital to properly using and enjoying the phone.  Alas, such is not to be.

The Blues are Losers

Wow, what a giant pile of poo they left on the ice today.  Whatever their talent level on paper, the Blues are playing like the worst team in the league.  Are they under secret orders to get as high a draft pick as possible?  Do the players just laugh all the way to the bank as they cash their checks for playing like garbage?  What do I have to do in order to get Barret Jackman off this team?  Why is he still here?  Is it because nobody else wanted him at the trade deadline?  Does he have secret dirt on someone in management?  I'm beginning to think the hot start to the season was all scripted to get suckers to buy game tickets, and now they're showing their true colors.  The colors of LOSERS!