Sleeping Monkey

Sleeping Monkey Presents...

The Chosen One

There are a lot of browsers out there. There are the major ones that everyone has heard about – Safari, Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer (Windows only, obviously – and let’s face it, you can’t not have heard of it if you own a Windows computer). I’m a very picky person when it comes to the browser I’m using – it pretty much has to be just right, or it will niggle at me all day until I get so fed up that I have to switch. So what do I actually use?

My day to day work is done on a Mac, and therefore that automatically rules out Internet Explorer. I can’t say I’m too upset about that – on any installation of Windows, the first thing I do is download a more capable browser if there isn’t one already installed. However, on my Mac, I have a multitude of browsers to choose from. As the image above shows, I currently have installed 5 – Chrome, Safari (obviously, as it comes preinstalled on OS X), Firefox, Camino and Opera. I use them primarily in that order.

Google Chrome

Chrome is now my primary browser. It’s set as default, and I’m using it now to write this post. This is a very recent addition to my browser arsenal, as it has only just been released for the Mac. However, since its release last year, I have used it almost exclusively on my Windows laptop, and I was pleased to see it finally come to Mac. I never did get around to installing Chromium – so a native app direct from Google seemed much easier.

There main reason I use Chrome primarily is speed. I don’t care what Apple say about Safari being the fastest browser – my installation of it certainly wouldn’t. It would lag when loading large Javascript-heavy pages, or lock up altogether when opening a new tab (and triggering Top Sites). Chrome, however, opens in a flash, new tabs appear in an instance, and it can handle an impressive amount of Javascript without blinking. Google Wave, especially, always threw Safari off balance, but Chrome breezes through.

Another not insignificant reason I use it the Webkit rendering engine. To my mind, it is by far the most superior engine around – and I love the advanced CSS it is able to support. I know Safari also uses Webkit, but for reasons mentioned above, I prefer Chrome. The built in web-inspector comes in very handy – and to me, is a brilliant alternative to Firebug.

Safari

Safari is my second choice browser. It’s native on the Mac, and therefore integrates perfectly. It’s use of the Webkit rendering engine makes it one of the most advanced browsers out there – but for me, Chrome just tops it with speed.

Firefox

Firefox is also a brilliant browser. After Chrome, it is my choice of Windows-based browsers, but on the Mac I mainly have it installed purely for testing purposes. It’s Gecko-based engine provides some advanced CSS features, but not as many as Webkit. One of it’s major plus points is the extensions available – amazing functionality can be added to the core browser, and I wish Safari/Chrome would follow Mozilla’s example.

Camino

As Camino used to state on their website, this browser provides the power of Firefox with the OS X integration of Safari. This browser is fast, there’s no doubt about it – it’s very lightweight, and loads in seconds. I’ve found that it’s also the most capable browser for heavy-duty Flash, shining where the other browsers seem to flag. It uses Mozilla’s Gecko engine, but is designed to integrate better with OS X. This is the only browser in this list that’s Mac-only. As I mentioned just now, I purely use it for heavy Flash sites.

Opera

Opera is also a very advanced browser. It’s one of the oldest, and can handle some CSS features that no other browser can. However, I use it mainly just for testing – I couldn’t get along with it when I tried to use it daily. There’s just something about the interface that bugs me.

Well, they’re the browsers that I have installed and use regularly. If you know of any other obscure browsers I’d be interested in having a look at them.

In the end, for me, nothing can beat the Webkit rendering engine – so it’s got to be Chrome or Safari. Hands down.

Sleeping Monkey Presents...

Final Year begins…

So my final year of University has begun! It’s odd to think that I started this course in September 2006, and I’m now three-quarters of the way through.

The final year has been quite interesting so far. There’s only two lectures a week that I really don’t look forward to, which I think is pretty good going really. Work load is fairly heavy, and there’s a fair amount of reading to do for a couple of units, but I’m managing so far. Hopefully I won’t end up neglecting other parts of my life in favour of work!

I have more exciting news regarding holidays! I know that Annie and I have already been to New York and Salcombe (though I didn’t blog about it) this year, but we’re now going to Paris in December! It’s going to be soooo exciting. Paris at Christmas… well cool! The Eiffel Tower in Christmas lights… woo!

My alphabet series on Flickr is going quite well… I’ve reached N! My latest photo is below:

Check out the full set on Flickr.

The rest of this post is probably just going to be a few short sentences… so skip over them if they don’t interest you!

I now have Google Wave, so if you want to chat add me on my usual address!

I’ve also been using Windows 7 on my laptop… it’s quite neat so far – a big improvement on Vista! And again, on the OS front, I’ve updated my Mac to Snow Leopard – there have been a few speed improvements, and Expose works better now; but other than that, there are no major changes. I do like the new completely chromeless player window for QuickTime though!

I found this really cool infographic showing 50 years of space exploration (via @Hicksdesign):

The new Apple Magic Mouse looks really cool – the world’s first multi-touch mouse! But for £55 at the Apple store it’s a bit too steep…

Final Year Project definitions have to be in soon – crazy. That will define 10 whole weeks of my life!

Anyway, sorry for the complete randomness of this blog post. Just felt like it!

Sleeping Monkey Presents...

The Wedding

So, I’ve spent the last few days in Oxford preparing for and attending the wedding of Dan and Kita; the first wedding I’ve ever been to, and the first wedding I’ve been Best Man for. It’s been a hectic few days!

Saying that speech was one of the most nerve-racking experiences of my life! I’d have been fine if it wasn’t something I had written, and there wasn’t any pressure to make it funny. In the end, though, it appeared to go down well, so that was good! People certainly laughed, and clapped… so I guess I did my job well.

The photographer that they had hired was Owen Roseblade, and the way he worked was brilliant. I can’t wait to see the photos he took! There are a few on his website, available here, use the arrows on the photo to scroll through. They’re simply amazing.

I had a great time with Annie too. She looked beautiful, easily the best looking girl there (with the exception of the bride, of course!), and I’m so lucky that she’s mine :)

Going back to university soon – I can’t believe the summer’s almost over already! But at least I have a holiday to look forward to before university actually starts :)