Google's Shameful new Chrome extensions policy - How to piss people off in ten seconds

Today, Google has decided that due to a rapid increase of "malicious extensions" *laughs* being installed without user content, it would ban the installation and usage of all non chrome store extensions.

A Google Employee has posted a message on the forums stating that Google "was caught between two terrible choices"-poor them-, the first to do nothing and let malicious extensions *laughs again* continue to invade our computer's browser, and the second to implement hardcore measures to prevent the installation of ANY extension not approved by the chrome store.

Now this would be all right (well, no it wouldn't, but it definitely wouldn't be a surprise) if we were talking about another company say Microsoft or Apple, but never have I seen such tyranny from Google. We are talking about a company who has the reputation of being honest, transparent, open-minded, and caring about it's customers and this isn't actually the first time this happens, does Google forcing you to do something not ring a bell? It sure does for me, as I still remember that fateful day when Google forced every YouTube user to have a Google+ account.

So, all of our non Google approved extensions have been disabled and we are blocked from re-enabling them. Did we even have a say in this, a choice, anything? no.

There are lots of scenarios here that are more than annoying.

For example: guess what extensions have been disabled? all of Kaspersky Internet Security's extensions of course! 

This is where I remind you that originally the plan was for security purposes. See a problem here? I do.

There is also the case of some people who have actually paid for their extensions and have therefore lost their money for nothing, seeing how they can't use them anymore.

And of course, there is the scenario of the average guy wanting his Youtube downloader extension working only to find out that it doesn't anymore.
But you know what, lucky us, because Google knew that there would be unhappy people so instead of applying it to all their chrome versions, they only applied it to some chrome versions (including the STABLE chrome version), actually that isn't the reason they give us, it's because, and I quote, "that is where the problems are", well obviously since no one uses the advanced versions of chrome and the only ones who do are experts, there won't be any problem on those. I mean sometimes, I wonder who comes up with this.

There is also another solution which is to change our operating system, because this was only enforced on Windows (probably not many people using Google Chrome on an Apple mac, I wonder why?), so, the time has come to get yourself Linux. That or change your browser to one that doesn't block you from doing what you want like more than six hundred people (numbers steadily growing).

All in all, is this truly Google's fault? yes. I don't think that they are legally responsible of third party software that was installed on their browser.
However, would this have happened if people stayed clear from suspicious downloads and didn't clock on banner ads? no.
So, what I can say to you is this: Although Google has gone too far, and yes, it most definitely has, there are still some things we can all do to stop this from happening.

Finally, if you are inconvenienced by this in any way, please be sure to post a comment on the Google Chrome forums here so that they know they've done something they shouldn't have.
This definitely isn't boding well for Google's image or it's future actions, we have to act now and make them understand that sometimes, customers have to be asked first before having their liberty taken away from them.

Freemake Software Review

Freemake video downloader is a –free- software which lets you download videos from YouTube (and a handful of other video sharing sites) extremely easily and quickly. The software is ad-free as long as you know how to skip the useless things installation (meaning: do NOT click on the accept terms and conditions and install Bing’s search toolbar box and you’ll be safe).

So, in short, this software, Freemake Video Downloader, will enable you to one click download (which means that you will be able to instantly download from your browser with literally one click) any video file on a webpage.

It also allows you to set settings such as saving as different video types (Ipod/Windows Media…) but also includes, and that’s where it gets interesting, the option to directly save in most audio formats (MP3, AAC…), in other words you may know that there is an enormous number of songs available on YouTube, well consider them yours for free, only one click away, and even better, it isn’t strictly illegal to download a video from YouTube.

So, there you have it, next time you want a song and a version of it is available on Youtube, consider using Freemake Video Downloader to get a free version instead of paying 69p (or a few dollars if you live in the US).

Click here for the official website

Attention: the guys at Freemake did NOT only create the Video Downloader, they also did a bundle of other programs, so don’t download the wrong one.

Rainmeter Software Review

Rainmeter. Why the name? don't ask me.
Rainmeter is a program that allows you "full" desktop customisation. Which means that you can get a really cool desktop for your PC or laptop, Mac or Windows, free of charge.

  

For anime fans, this is the Mugetsu Reloaded (Blue Edition) v3 by ChetJ5

And this is the techno-logic theme by Donniehealy














Things such as remaining battery life, CPU usage, hard drive usage, direct shortcuts in a cool style...

You can pretty much do anything.

Note that if you do not have much skill in programming, the program is still very easy to use as you can easily install someone else's theme. (well it's what they upload it for).

If this interests you, you can go to the official rainmeter website here,
and, after the rainmeter download you can get extra themes here.

Libre Office or Open Office ?? What is the difference and why?

I think you've all heard of Microsoft office, but have you heard of Open Office and Libre Office? no? Well read on then!

VS

So, maybe not all of you agree with me but I'll be plain and simple, I prefer Microsoft's version of office software. However, preferring is not always best, I mean, the reason I prefer Microsoft Office is because I'm just used to the way it works (and I have enough money to actually buy the license) and because people mostly use it so there are a few compatibility issues with other office softwares, however, the BIG difference between those products is the price tag that comes with it, given ONE license costs 110£ only. I mean next to that, the other two are free.

Actually, there's a pretty interesting story relating to OpenOffice and LibreOffice's creation (which you can find here) but to make it short, OpenOffice and LibreOffice were both part of an original OpenOffice, created in 2001, however, in 2011, due to bad management, nearly all the developers from OpenOffice resigned and created LibreOffice together.
OpenOffice then basically fell into ruin given that they were lacking serious manpower.
My point is, the reason you find OpenOffice good is because of the developers that created LibreOffice. Now, think that for two years, OpenOffice was left in the dark whilst LibreOffice was continuously updated and you get your reason for the surpassing of OpenOffice by LibreOffice.
Note that this is also why OpenOffice is better known than LibreOffice even if LibreOffice is better.
So, I would choose Libre Office as being the best between those two and also the best in price/quality ratio in the price/quality ratio.
It has enough functions to be a suitable alternative for Microsoft's product.

For more information on Libre Office, clicking here will take you directly to the official website.

OpenOffice is a trademark of the Apache Software Foundation.

Which is the best browser?

Every now and then, I hear my friends tell me they use internet explorer. Yes. I'm serious. Internet explorer.
Why the sarcastic tone?
Because hell, the people who still use internet explorer as their primary browsers are either idiots or are people who don't know WHAT a browser even is.

So, let's start at the basics shall we?

First off when I say a "browser", you may not understand it but people generally refer to "internet" browsers, but it can also be used to talk about your computer explorer (you know, that thing you use to find files in your computer?).

So what i want to talk about are those internet browsers. What do they do? they're an orgnised interface that allows you to "surf" (or browse, hence the name) internet.

Beware, do not mix up browser and search engine. A search engine (google, bing, yahoo search) is a tool that will allow you to search for keywords in the digital universe that is the Internet. A browser WILL use a search engine for researches.

So, the most popular browsers are:

           Internet explorer                                                                                        Mozilla Firefox

                       Google Chrome                                                                                          Safari 

You've probably already heard of all those bigshots before and in this article, I will try to help you to tell which one is best.

I will start by excluding Safari because I don't consider it being a "rival" to the other three. If you have a Mac, you'll just stay with safari because it was made for Mac. Whereas the others were optimised for PC.

Note that these all exist on mobile phones too. Don't even bother using them as they are all useless on that front. (once again safari excluded since it is the one on apple products).

So, let's start!

As I've already told you before. Internet explorer is... bad (and that's to not use harmful words).
The truth is, microsoft actually left out the browser opportunities while Chrome and Mozilla kept updating the tools to create awesome browsers. They both had innovative ideas, they even put in some humor. During this time, Internet explorer stayed on the same level without a single upgrade.

After that Microsoft finally noticed there was some potential in browsers so basically ripped off all the innovations (google) Chrome and (mozilla) Firefox had made and claimed them as it's own.

The thing is, even by "stealing" google and mozilla's best parts, Internet explorer still hasn't attained anything near that level.

This can be seen in every aspect. Today, websites ar first tuned for mzilla nd chrome and then for internet explorer, which leads to some pages actually not working on Internet explorer or heavily bugged.

Then microsoft will try in every aspect to force you to use bing as a default search engine (even though it's the crappiest one out there), there are countless barson your internet explorer interface, it's full of utterly useless things. A lot of functionnalities  that are present on Chrome and mozilla aren't usable on internet explorer.
Internet explorer is slower than Chrome and Firefox (note that chrome is very slightly faster than Firefox) the interface is plain ugly and it just doesn't fit right in a computer's fonctionnalities whereas Firefox and Chrome both do the maximum for their browsers to be perfect.

You can also note that Chrome has another functionnality that is the user interface that lets you sync pretty much everything on different computers with your google account (if you use gmail for example).

In my opinion, the real rivals here would be Chrome and Firefox, as they are both fully and constantly updated and come with enough functionnalities and options for a lifetime.
If I were to choose a browser between the two, I'd say Chrome is the best for me, but, if you are new to computers and don't like things a bit complicated and prefer a browser that explains everything to you then consider downloading Mozilla.

Anyways, know that it is always best to have two different browsers on your computer so that in case there is a compatibility issue or a bug, you can easily go on the other one.

Portable Apps Software Review

Portable apps is a pretty useful software that resembles the U3 tool.
It allows you to run programs from your USB stick or external hard drive without having to install it on your computer. (especially useful when you do not have administrator rights on your computer and you can not install some programs you like).

For the moment, the list of programs available is quite short but know that it gets updated and there are still for example the classics "Google Chrome" and "Mozilla Firefox".

Portable apps is a useful tool especially in the "you're at school and want to play with friends on a school computer" or the "you're at work but your boss doesn't want you to install chrome" scenarios.


You can download it free from the official site here.

Steam software review

Steam is probably THE most useful program for PC gamers.

+ Steam is a software that lets you download games with sometimes extremely reduced prices.
(for example Borderlands 2 was once at -66% and Trine 2 was once at -85%).

+ The people at Steam were the ones who convinced the gaming industry that selling games cheaper was a good thing.

+ Some games also support steamplay, which lets you play online directly with your steam friends.

+ You can launch any .exe file with steam to have an easily accessible (shift+tab) game overlay, to directly chat with friends.

+ Steam also comes equipped with a good quality voice chat that allows you to do conference calls.

+ The interface is ridiculously easy to use and allows you to for example receive an e-mail when one of the games you have on your wishlist is on sale.

+ Many steam games also come with achievements, which are rewarded when completing key passages of the game, amassing collectibles or completing all side missions, etc.

- If there was to be ONE problem I couldn't leave out, it would have to be the occasionnal bugs that can be a bit annoying, especially when they stop you from downloading a game you just bought, but they are corrected quickly and you generally won't notice them.

Steam can be downloaded for Mac and Windows from the official website here.

Steam and the Steam logo are registered trademarks of the Valve Corporation.