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Google Chrome is one of those programs that has been around for a while, but when you first tried it, you weren’t that crazy about it. It was somewhat buggy, it didn’t have any type of customization available, and you couldn’t block ads. As much as I wanted to make the switch (being the Google nutjob that I am), I couldn’t do it without a few features that just weren’t available:
1. I needed ads blocked. Period. Even most of them would be sufficient.
2. Add-ons. I want to be able to customize it.
3. A way to integrate my Google Bookmarks so that I can use them like regular bookmarks.
Then one day a couple months ago, I heard that extensions were finally hitting the mainstream. Google Chrome Extensions were a great idea, but you needed to download Chromium, which was the “guinea pig” version of Chrome (which means it doesn’t always work properly), and you had to do a lot of nerdy command-line work to get it up and running. It wasn’t pretty. Once one-click extension support came around, it was time to dive back in.
Now, a few months later, I couldn’t be happier.
Hey, Firefox is a great product. Go ahead and download it if you’d like. It’s stable and it’s popular. But Firefox is very prone to bloatedness. After a while, it takes forever to load Firefox. Chrome just pops right up. It just feels light. Check out the screencast I took below of a comparison between a Firefox start and a Chrome start and you will see what I mean. The little box that pops up in the middle is Launchy, which is my application launcher. In layman’s terms, the box pops up and I start typing the name of the program. When the box disappears, that means I hit “enter” and the application is starting. First I try opening Firefox, then Chrome. Check it out:
If you time it, Firefox takes a full 7 seconds to load up for use, and Chrome takes about 1/2 a second – that means Chrome, in this situation, is 14 times faster loading!
Interested yet? Here are my full reasons why you should give Chrome a chance:
Okay, okay – enough gushing. Time to get into the nuts-and-bolts: how do you set this thing up? Remember – it needs to do all the stuff that my awesome Firefox setup could do.
This is easily the most complicated part of the process, but it’s not that hard, really. Without a true contender to the ad-blocking throne, the best way to do it, in my experience, has been through a program called Privoxy. There’s a 7-step process to it that is awesomely-simplified in this post by Lifehacker and Geekzone. Just follow it, step-by-step, and you’re done. Bada bing.
Remember from my Firefox setup, I make full use of bookmarklets – little bookmarks that can do some awesome things in your Bookmarks Toolbar. I’ve found the easiest way to do this is to open up a Firefox window next to your Chrome window and literally drag your bookmarklets from Firefox and drop them into the Chrome toolbar. If you don’t have that, here are links to my bookmarklets and what they do. Instead of clicking on the link, just drag it up to your Bookmarks Toolbar:
Like Firefox plugins, these add-ons help you further customize your browsing experience. There are plenty out there, so feel free to browse around. Here are mine:
No complicated Greasemonkey stuff. Just click “Install” on these bad boys:
Am I preaching to the choir? Do you already use Chrome? What are your favorite extensions/scripts? Why should we encourage more Chrome usage? If you’re a diehard Firefox user and you’re not convinced, tell us why. If you’re an Internet Explorer advocate, seek help immediately – we cannot help you here.
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Time for another edition of Big Pile o’ Links, where I feature some of my favorite links and groups of articles from all over the wonderful world we call “The Internet”:
Ah, Evernote. It’s one of the most useful and versatile programs/cloud storage ever, and yet so few Cooler People use it. It’s not just for tech bloggers and people with lots of crap to write about – it’s also incredibly useful for normal people in their day-to-day lives. I use mine every day, and I can’t tell you how useful it has been at the office, at home, or even running around. Here are some great links from recent times that list a bunch of great, easy ways you can start using Evernote more often in your life:
Job got you down? Feel like you’re headed the wrong way? Here are a handful of great articles (and one AWESOME documentary!) to help you make some changes:
It makes the world go ‘round. Here’s a quick handful of resources to further your knowledge on the subject:
Phew! There you go! Another Big Pile o’ Links for your pleasure. If you have an article or site or tool or whatever that you want featured in the Big Pile o’ Links, send it my way at tom@thepracticalnerd.com (it doesn’t have to be yours either, just something you like!).
This is a bit of a departure for me, but I figured out two things: I need to have a personality here on the Nerd, and I also needed to have something to put in the “Just For Laughs” category. I’ve been getting a little deep here lately, so I want to cut loose a little and talk about one of the most popular shows on television.
I fell in love with The Office during the Christmas episode of the second season (“YAAAANKEE SWAP!”). Since then, I have followed it regularly, and it has been an overall high-quality show. However, this season has been a bit different from previous seasons. I understand that changes need to happen to further the writing, and I don’t have solutions for all of these, but here are some things that are bothering me about the show, after watching last night’s episode:
Are there too many characters? I think Erin is great, but it stretches the show a little bit. Instead of focusing on how the office employees interact, we’re getting bits and pieces of stuff. We don’t hear much from Angela, Kevin, and especially Kelly and Ryan. Ryan seems to have these little jokes about how he dresses and stuff, but it’s all pushed into the background.
I’m torn about Jim as a manager. He had to do something, I get it. But Jim played the regular Joe really well. Now he’s a co-manager. On the flip side, awkward, babbling Jim is funny too. So I guess it’s a wash.
I can’t stand the guest stars. This show just isn’t for recognizable guest stars. When Jack Black was on in the movie-within-the-show, I couldn’t stand it. It screamed, “Trying to boost ratings!” And just like in The Blind Side, I don’t see any need for Kathy Bates. She annoys me, and any time I see her in anything, I just see Kathy Bates. I don’t see whoever she’s supposed to be. The Christian Slater appearance was perfect as the video satire, but the rest I could do without.
I already miss Dunder-Mifflin as a corporate entity. The buyout fell pretty flat for me, although it did give the opportunity for the great Hannah Montana “Party in the USA” parody. I like the whole Dunder-Mifflin world, and getting rid of all of that really stinks. It shrinks the Office world quite a bit.
Do we have to ruin EVERYbody that’s ever worked at corporate? David Wallace was extremely likable and well put-together. Now he drinks during the day and wants to market a toy vacuum called “Suck It”. I liked the interplay between Michael and Jan, and then Jan went way off-base. Ryan went crazy, and now this? Can we just keep somebody normal?
Dwight has gotten too broad. Good Dwight gives speeches on his favorite ping-pong players and tries to quietly take control of the office. Bad Dwight dresses up like Re-Cyclops (although we all know that’s just a forced storyline to appease NBC’s incredibly stupid “Green Week”) and demonstrates how he would fight himself. I like the idea of trying to get Jim fired – where is that storyline?
It’s STILL a good show, just wildly inconsistent! The show still makes me laugh. Everybody blames Michael getting to be “too much”, but I just don’t. I think he’s about the same, which is a good thing. If anything, he’s gotten a little more heart. But this season, we’ve had masterpieces like Jim and Pam’s wedding episode, immediately followed by the Mafia episode, which fell really flat to me, despite Andy Bernard dressing up like a mechanic wearing loafers. I worry about which Office is going to show up every week. Even last night, we had a so-so episode, but the Christian Slater video was great! I’ve seen orientation videos like that – ones that really tell you absolutely nothing about the company, but are trying to impress you.
All in all, I’ll keep watching. Definitely. I just hope that we can see more office-type storylines and the stuff the show was built on, and not over-the-top ridiculousness. Can we have another Dundies?
As I wrote about in my post detailing the value and awesomeness of podcasts, I’m a big fan of Dave Ramsey. He’s got a great sensibility, he’s brilliantly smart when it comes to tackling and defeating consumer debt, and he’s a Christian man, too. I listen to his podcast every day while I’m at work, and a couple weeks ago, he made a statement that has pushed me forward since I heard it. It was beautiful in its simplicity, while really making you think.
“We are all self-employed.”
Think about that. Doesn’t it just nail it right on the head? We’re all self-employed, each and every one of us.
You work for you. Sure, the boss signs his name on the checks, and he has the power to hire and fire you, so you do what you can to keep him happy. But that’s not why you do it. You do it for you. You do it because of the benefits that come to your life because of it, like financial security and the ability to provide for the people you love, and for yourself. You do it because it gives you the opportunity to advance in the company, down the line. Even if you’re at a dead-end job, you do it because you need a job.
I enjoy throwing on a tie when I go to the office. But when you are just answering emails all day, nobody is going to see you. So a lot of people see that as an excuse to wear whatever they want, despite the dress code. But when I stroll through with a tie on, I get smart comments like: “You’re making us all look bad” or “Oooo, THIS guy was paying attention at orientation! ‘Dressing for the job you want, not the job you have!’” Let ‘em talk.
I take pride in my appearance when I go to work, and what’s more, I take pride in what I do when I work there. I’m surrounded by people that have nothing better to do than whine about how crappy the job is. Hey, it’s not a dream job, but it pays rather decent, and it’s an opportunity. I’m thankful for that.
Self-employment tax is well-known as the crappy side of being self-employed. Full Social Security tax, a straight-up “self-employment” tax, and having to buy your own health benefits are all big chunks out of your income. With a full-time job, you get those things in the paycheck, but you give up the freedom of hours and the control over how you work.
No matter what line of work you are in, there are certain concessions you have to make. It’s just a part of working.
When you are self-employed, you take stock of every client you get – and you use that experience to propel you into your next gig. How is that any different from working in an office? You use your experience to propel you into a better position. It’s the same thing. Successful businessmen and successful office workers understand that each opportunity to work is an opportunity to show what you are made of. Even if you aren’t crazy about that job description, you go in there and you destroy it. Bring it and you will reap the rewards.
I thought my job was quite dead-end. Answering emails. Yee-ha. But I find fulfillment and growth in other areas, too. I find it in my own business-building, I find it in my relationships with my friends and loved ones, and I find it in The Practical Nerd. Don’t let your life be defined by your work. You are more than your job. A job is just 8 hours a day. You are you for all 24 hours.
Just remember your motivation – do you have goals in life? How is this job getting you there? Answering emails doesn’t get me any closer to running a business, but it pays my bills so that I can take the time to build my business properly and let it grow naturally, rather than forcing it out of desperation as I’ve tried in the past.
So who do you work for? Your boss, or you?
Boy, do I hear this stuff a lot.
I’ve got friends and family who will ask about The Practical Nerd, and then they’ll spout off some reason why they don’t follow it and apologize to me. First, it’s not like I get offended for every person that doesn’t read what I have to say. My words aren’t for everybody (though, in most cases, they should be reading this stuff!). But as a blogger, you tend to thicken your skin towards that stuff. But the Cooler People of the world have an excuse for not reading a few blogs, and they think they need an excuse for everything. Just think of some of the long, drawn-out explanations you might hear for the following topics:
And the list goes on. Today, however, I want to go with the three reasons I hear most often for people who tell me they don’t follow The Practical Nerd, or blogs in general. Consider it my rebuttal to the Cooler People of the world.
Hey, back off! It’s only for nine months!
Yes, I have recently moved back in with my parents to save some dough before I get married and be a grown-up forever. But I want to list just a few types of people who have very successful blogs: brilliant marketers, people who have successfully morphed their lives into dream lives, sports commentators and pundits, best-selling authors, people who lost weight without having high-priced personal trainers scream in their ears while millions of people watch, and personal finance experts. These are not people who live in their parents’ basements. These are people who have changed lives and are darn good at what they do. They have valuable life experience and they share it with you. This leads to…
Bloggers do rant, there’s no doubt about that. But here are a few blogs I follow that have some ridiculously useful information:
That’s just the tiniest footprint of all the blogs out there. Sure, some are full of idiots who just want to complain about [insert topic here]. Some are celebrity rumor blogs like that piece of crap Perez Hilton. But some are honest, interesting people who are trying to teach and help. Those are the people I follow.
In addition, there are plenty that give you a good laugh after a long day, like 11 Points, Awkward Family Photos, Calvin and Hobbes (the best comic strip of all-time, every day).
This one is easily the most common one I get, and usually the word “life” is emphasized as a way to make me feel like some kind of loser.
Do you ever read a magazine? How about the newspaper? Ever watch anything on TV? Then you have time. It’s that simple.
What is the best use for your time? Is it watching another crappy fake “reality” show? These are shows with people who add nothing to society other than generally wanting a bunch of attention so that they can justify their giant contracts and sponsorships by playing to your emotions with overproduced crap. Why not experience the true reality of people’s lives and actually learn from and enjoy their experiences without corporate involvement? That’s what a blog does. The blog is the ultimate reality show. There are podcasts, video podcasts, and plain ol’ blogs that all exist for people to bare their lives. There are some captivating stories out there that would put the “I’m a single father with three kids and instead of getting a job I traveled all the way here to sing for you” stories to absolute shame. Put down the remote and belly-up to the monitor for a few minutes.
Newspapers and magazines are going by way of the dodo. Think you’re going to miss much? Most magazines have their articles on their websites, and most can be subscribed to. Same with newspapers. You can get your daily dose of news just about anywhere, and you can tailor it to just be news you’re interested in.
Then use an RSS subscriber like Google Reader to pull them in. Instead of searching through each individual website, it will highlight all the new content, pull it to the front, and you can move through it, skipping articles you don’t want to read and highlighting the ones you do. The other reason I use Google Reader is because it’s web-based, so I can access it on my work breaks or on my phone’s web browser, which is great for waiting rooms and other times where you just need to kill a little time. Plus you don’t have to carry around anything extra – you already have your phone! And finding that article from the past you were just thinking about is as easy and entering a few terms into the search box. All your sites are saved and past content can be searched in seconds.
The truth is, many blogs are written by respected, well-rounded people with inspirational and practical advice for you that can be read any time. You have the time. Start following a few blogs and see how your life will change for the better as a result. Or not. Then you can go back to sitting on the couch and watching Jersey Shore instead. I’m not here to judge.
