Smart Tech Tips

The browser space is getting really crowded. On the Mac your default browser is Safari, but you have many choices to pick. Now you can add Google Chrome to that mix. it’s available here http://build.chromium.org/buildbot/snapshots/sub-rel-mac/. Warning! It is still under development so you should be aware it may not be stable. If you have to try the lastest and greatest, this is definately worth a try. Early reviews in the windows world says that it is very fast due to an optimzed javascript engine.

Do you remember the early days of computers when after you’ve purchased your boxy beige unit and brought it home to find a few free programs falling out of the box? Hopefully you didn’t just flip the shipping box over to get to the contents. One of those items was the ‘Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing’. I think I’ve found those disks rummaging through old computer documentation boxes as much as old AOL disks. Now there is a way to get that kind of typing program for FREE and without running Windows 95. The site is http://www.typingweb.com/.

I’ve tried it and it works pretty well for an online FLASH /AJAX / JAVASCRIPT site. In fact I would say it works better than the old Mavis Beacon Typing program. When you register, it lets you save your progress and see how much you improve over time. On my first try I got an average of 51 WPM with a Gross speed of 67 WPM and an 99% accuracy. My problem keys were ETUC. Of course if you don’t want to divulge your information you can just start typing right away without ever registering.

Google released an API for ‘Google Talk’ that will allow developers to write applications that piggyback off the Instant Messaging platform.

It is currently only available in the developer sandbox.

Here’s how to do it.

Good Luck and have fun!