Google Music in Gmail Chat?

Curious little bug in my Gmail.  When using the labs feature that shows an Android icon for friends who are on chat on Android phones...their name disappears.

The curious part:  hover your mouse over the name, and an "Invited" and a beamed note appears on the right...smells like a social music service is coming.

IE9 Beta - Battle of the "chrome"

Before Google's Chrome browser was released, "chrome" meant something different.  In browsers, it meant the borders and widgets around the web page itself.

I've heard a lot of chest thumping by Microsoft regarding how much IE9 gets out of the way.  So, I did a comparison of the chrome myself in the picture below.  Check out the red line I drew.

From left-to-right, the browsers are:

• Internet Explorer 9.0.7930.16406  (Engadget review, Lifehacker review, RWW coverage)
• Safari 5.0.2 (with one tab open, as two tabs adds even more chrome)
• Chrome 6.0.472.59
• Firefox 4.0b6. 

Guess what?  They're right.  Not only is more of the page visible, but also the title of the page and other controls have disappeared.  I am a dedicated Chrome user at the moment, but I may have to rethink my loyalty.

Import and Manage Your Photos

Here’s what to consider when choosing the right system for your personal photos.
This isn’t everything, but a good sample.
Three techniques:

	Traditional	Sync	Cord-Cutter
Overall	It stinks, but this is how most people do it today.	Complicated and not adaptable, but if you can set it up then you can get the best of both worlds.	Where most people will end up in the long run, but requires faith in Internet-based services.
Store	Computer Memory Card External Hard Drive	Picasa + Picasaweb (pricing) Live Mesh + Skydrive (25gb) Windows Home Server Dropbox	Facebook Flickr MobileMe Picasaweb
Backup	Mozy Carbonite	Apple Time Capsule Network attached storage Amazon S3 connectors	Backupify Local archive
Share	Email attachments Burn and mail a CD Upload then share: Facebook, Flickr, Kodak Gallery	Picasaweb Windows Live Spaces	Links, anywhere
Edit	Adobe Photoshop Apple iPhoto	Windows Live Photo Gallery Picasa	Picnik Photoshop Express Aviary
Import	Camera import software Windows import tool	Same as Traditional	Eye-fi card
Print	Home printer Costco Wal-Mart Walgreens …local photo guy	Best of both worlds	Picasa: Walgreens, Shutterfly, American Greetings Flickr: Snapfish …or download and upload to Costco, etc.

Amazon Down

Wow, you don't see that very often.

The Facebook Ultimatum

Summed up in a few words on Mark's blog post today....

Google Announces Android TV?

I just peeked at the Google I/O conference schedule...you gotta love those "TBA" spots.  Is it last minute scheduling?  A time buffer?  In my humble estimation...it's Google TV!  Coming soon to a set-top box near you.

Facebook

Does this scare the heck out of anybody else?

I want to take part in the social web and all of that, but after the comments at the F8 Conference yesterday I'm starting to think I should hold off for a year or two!

HP Slate Pics Leak - Unintentional iPad Marketing Ensues

I just saw via Engadget that the connecti.ca blog posted some previously unseen photos of the upcoming HP Slate.   They call it "slow", and it clearly is chunky.

The iPad has fallen out of fashion recently, with members of the tech elite reboxing and returning their iPads. I myself never bought one, in anticipation of ChromeOS, Andriod and Windows tablets coming out later in 2010.  I thought I had successfully overcome the Apple marketing machine with rational thought and patient enthusiasm.

Alas, Apple appears to have a secret weapon...crappy tablets from other vendors.   Perhaps when the tech elite have unboxed and re-boxed these tablets, they will return to the notion of a nicely-built-though-limited utility tablet...the iPad.

How to Add Individual Folders to the Windows 7 Taskbar

The Problem with "Pinning": When dragging a file folder onto the taskbar, Windows 7 doesn't leave that individual folder where you dragged it. Instead, it just adds it as a site in the Windows Explorer shortcut. If you want individual folders for quick and easy access, here's how...

STEP 1: CREATE A FOLDER
Open Windows Explorer and create a folder anywhere you want.  I called mine Example. 

STEP 2: ADD SOME LINKS OR SUBFOLDERS
Within Example, I've added the folders I want to have on my taskbar (called 123 and Pics as examples). If the folders you want to add to your taskbar already exist somewhere else, no problem - just add a shortcut by right-clicking > New > Shortcut and selecting the folder you want to add.

STEP 3: ADD YOUR FOLDER AS A "TOOLBAR"

Right-click anywhere on your taskbar (on the empty space) and you should see the following menu.  Click on Toolbars > New toolbar...

• Navigate to the folder you created earlier and select it. 

STEP 4: CLEAN UP
There is some residual formatting work to be done.

• Right-click on the taskbar and uncheck Lock the taskbar.  Now you should be able to give your toolbar more room by clicking on the little bumps next to the title and dragging it to the left. 

• Right-click on your toolbar and uncheck Show title, which saves us some precious space. 

• Right-click on your toolbar again and select View > Large Icons

AND YOUR DONE!  This leaves your taskbar a little taller than it used to be (primarily because we are keeping the option Show Text selected).  If you want to undo this whole process, simply right-click anywhere on the taskbar > go to Toolbars > uncheck the folder you just added.   Personally, I love having my most frequently accessed folders right at my fingertips.  Also, if later on I want to change which folders appear on my taskbar, all I have to do is change the shortcuts in my Example folder.