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I hope everyone had a great Labor Day

Camryn Choo-Cheww, originally uploaded by Ryan Ellerbusch.

Camryn flexes her accent when describing a Choo Choo Train

The second child opens a new can of worms where you somewhat know what to expect but try to remember how you did this the first time around.  Leslie & I are going through this now as we try to remember when we started the baby on certain foods, when she started to do certain things.  It’s like learning to ride a bike all over again, only this time you have another child riding her bike along side you nudging you with a stick and trying to jam it in the spokes to cause a head over heels debacle.

All I can say is parenting is something you don’t necessarily an exam you study for, it’s more of a pop quiz (or a series of them) in life.

If you know everything you need to know about browsers then just stop reading here otherwise continue.  There are four major browsers making a play on the Internet today. They are Microsoft Internet Explorer (Version 8), Mozilla’s Firefox ( Version 3.6) and Google’s Chrome (Version 6.0472) & Safari (I will not be covering Safari since I’m not a Mac person (boo hoo cry me a river)). Each browser having it’s own theory on how the Internet should look when viewed through the browsing lens.  My personal preference?  Mozilla Firefox, only because I’ve been using it since it was just called ‘Mozilla’ back in 2002.  Chrome is relatively new but quickly gaining on my personal favorite.  Let’s take a look at all of these browsers and maybe I can shed light on a topic you might know everything about, or just scratched your head and said, ‘Google has a browser?’.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Current download link

The fabled dinosaur which holds the billionaire moniker has been driving users to their homepages since 1995.  A browser that has not seen too much overhaul on it’s interface, Internet Explorer (IE) has seemingly lost it’s grip on the browser majority in recent years.  Because it was the largest used browser, paired with Microsoft’s flaws in it’s programming, IE has been the target of malware writers for quite some time.  Also,  security settings of IE can be overwhelming to the novice user, and can sail them into a sea of settings for Java, Active X & other inconsistencies of pages across the web.  If configured incorrectly, or too insecure, IE can open the user up to many security flaws that they wouldn’t want to know of if they were using IE for their banking or other financial needs.  My advice to the novice user?  Security, all the way till it hurts… and it does hurt.

Mozilla Firefox

Current download link

Rising from the ashes of the Netscape fire came Mozilla in 2002.  The browser was an instant hit amongst technology folks, primarily because it had a built in pop-up blocker and overall configuration was a breeze (and still is to this day).  The ability to use add-ons for the browser is a great feature which separates it from it’s counterparts.  Whether you want to tweet from your browser bar, synchronize bookmarks between computers, or have your weather delivered, Firefox has an add-on for you.  Checking for website security has never been easier, also malicious websites are detected much easier with Firefox.  This was also the first browser to come up with a way to clear your cookie’s efficiently!  You can also change the theme (called Persona’s) of your Firefox browser to change the overall look of the default browser.

You can watch some videos about the browser here.

Mozilla also has many other products which rival Microsoft like Thunderbird (e-mail client),  SeaMonkey (e-mail & web), & Camino (a Mac browser).

Google Chrome

Current download link

Certainly the new kid on the block (ooh ooh ooh oh oh), Chrome has a maker that’s been around since January 1996 as a research project by two PHD students at Stanford.  That being said, they know a thing about the Internet, and have hit a home run thus far with their browser.  Lightweight is the theme of this experience as you can pretty much tell from the get go that it’s going to be much faster than it’s challengers.  Currently in early stages, as each update is released you can really see functional changes that Google is getting from user feedback & error reporting.  One thing I really like about Chrome is the ability to build application shortcuts from your browser page.  This means you can create a shortcut on your desktop/start menu directly to the page you’re viewing.  So for instance I have a desktop shortcut to my Fantasy Football League for when I feel like checking on something I just quickly click the icon and the page opens in it’s own Chrome window w/o the navigation features.  Very good if you view the same sites on a daily basis, or multiple times during the day.  Currently I have about ten of these types of shortcuts on my desktop.

Each of these browsers have their issues with the ever changing face of Adobe Flash, Java, Silverlight & other web plug-ins and will more than likely continue as the web continues to grow.  So the choice is yours during this browser war, or you could just do like I do and use all three! Just remember to always use safe browsing techniques!

I’ve also come to the conclusion the only time to ‘make groceries‘ is never.  It never fails whatever time I make it to the grocery there is something going on that just makes the trip miserable.  Last time it was the fact only two registers were open (on a Sunday) and this time it was someone trying to pay with a check w/o a driver’s license.  But that was just the typical end to people with their baskets in the middle of the aisle as they read the ingredients on a bag of sugar forcing you to have a fender bender with their shopping cart to get them out of the way.  I think I might let Leslie do the rest of the grocery shopping from here on out…

Capped off Sunday with some BBQ Chicken Wings on the grill using my Evan Williams BBQ Sauce my parents brought me from their trip to Kentucky.  They turned out really good, along with some corn on the cob from the pit as well.  Although there was a casualty as one of the burners is now out on my five year old grill, time to hit up their website to find replacements I guess.  Was fun to sit out and grill while Leslie and Camryn played hopscotch as Morgan watched intently from her bouncer.  I was found quoting the words of my aunt Janie, “This does not suck!”

Hope everyone had a good weekend and don’t worry… only five more days till the next one!