Refraction

A friend and I preface a lot of things with “Random:” when we’re talking online. So in that spirit…

Random: Is there anyone on this planet who thought Clay Aiken was actually straight? I mean… really. Clay fans are “reeling” from this disclosure? Get real.

Random: Guys, please do not carry patent leather bags. I abhor patent leather myself, unless it’s just a detail–I think it looks childish–but men and patent leather just do not mix.

Random: I don’t like shoe booties either. XP So take that, fashion mavens! I think the distance I now have from retail allows me to be dismissive of trends.

Random: I need to go shopping soon, I think… I’ve realized I have sweaters and t-shirts. No real fall transition pieces. Alas, this was much easier when I spent all day inside, instead of dashing from class to class.

(Yes, that capitalization is intentional.)

The only thing that bothers me about WordPress is the constant update reminders. I mean, it’s good that the developers are working on it and patching security holes and stuff, but I just really can’t be bothered to update my installation every three weeks.

Especially since any non-basic ASCII character turns into gibberish every time I do it. That, and last time, it rolled back my comments to last July. Granted, there have probably been only… five legitimate comments since that time, but still.

I had originally come here to expound upon the wonder that is “Oddray” (the July single of LOVE, aka Fukiko Nakamura, aka ex CORE OF SOUL vocalist) but I’ve kind of lost that train of thought. Still. Happy song. Makes me want to dance.

Being the Google nerd that I am (although I will admit that I have finally taken them off their pedestal and realized that just having a motto of not being evil doesn’t stop you from… actually doing evil things) I downloaded Google Chrome, their new browser.

It’s slick, I’ll give you that, but I won’t be switching from Firefox anytime soon. There are some interesting features:

1. Homepage with your most-visited sites. I actually dislike this idea very much. Seriously, I don’t need everyone who opens my browser to know that I am a GMail addict and check it frequently. Sites that I need to visit, I’ll visit–otherwise, this is rather useless.
2. No extensions. Yet. I’ve been using Adblock (and no NoScript) for so long that it’s weird to see ads on webpages. I think that since it’s a open-source application, this kind of extendable functionality is just around the bend.
3. Tab control. Reorder your tabs. Drag a tab into a new window. Drag them between windows. Remember those days when tabbed browsing was a new idea?
4. New download manager! I like it better than Firefox’s–it stays in a “status bar”, but you can call up a full (and searchable) list of downloads if you like.
5. Best feature for last: Incognito mode. Basically, any browsing you do while in this mode leaves no traces on your computer. It’s intended to rival IE 8’s “Privacy Mode,” I think. Somehow, though, I doubt Microsoft could get away with this little gem:
   

   You’ve gone incognito. […] Going incognito doesn’t affect the behavior of other people, servers, or software. Be wary of:
   […]

   • Malicious software that tracks your keystrokes in exchange for free smileys
   • Surveillance by secret agents
   • People standing behind you

   Cute, Google. Cute.

   (Every time I hear “incognito”, I think of that movie I watched in French class. Yes, sad, isn’t it?)