Please Stop using Google Chrome on Mac

You read, right, I’m telling you to stop using the most popular web browser of 2020. But why? To save your system and privacy.

Chrome evolved from the simple, straightforward web browser to this colossal resource hug that is almost unusable on older systems for no reason. Open Chrome on Mac and start listening for the fans to go off almost immediately. If you are worried about privacy, Google is not your friend. Your web activity is sent to the Goggle mothership in the name of providing better services. You are training Sky Net.

Both Safari and Firefox are lightweight and are better options for macOS. Not only do they use fewer system resources, but they are also light years ahead of Chrome in the privacy department. Safari comes preloaded by default and integrated into the OS itself. Firefox has more features and strikes a nice balance between usability and system resource need. Not to mention the cool addons that enhance further the experience.

If you still need Chromium (the Google Chrome engine) for any reason, you can use Brave Browser, Vivaldi or even Opera although the later was bought by China. Microsoft Edge also switched to the Chromium engine and have some privacy controls as well.

In conclusion, avoid using Chrome unless necessary until Google addresses at least some of the issues. Your system and privacy will thank you.

Why am I returning to Dropbox

dboxSo about a year ago I wrote a post about how excited was I to switch to Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage. I heavily used it for a month only to return to Dropbox. Here is why:

The upload order:

I mostly use the cloud as a fast backup and lately the only one. Now I know that this is a very bad practice I still tend to do it. any way, most of the photos uploaded came from camera upload from my iPhone; most of the photos were out of order placing them at the bottom or the top of the list.

I managed to do a quick work around but hated to redo it every time I was looking for a specific photo and the work around will sometimes stop working.

The fail rate:

I will be the first to admit; the rate is not high. Never the less, this created the problem above as photos will not upload in the correct way. The fails came from both the iPhone and my Windows PC.

Windows 8.1:

The final nail in the coffin: Once I made the upgrade to 8.1, Windows automatically set to download everything without an option to turn this off. No joke. I searched the internet for hours with the only work around is to login on the web interface and turn it off.

Even that was a headache as the control options were as confusing. I decided to unlink the PC from my account and delete everything. Big mistake, everything was deleted from the web as well despite me unlinking the PC. After all that I decided that enough is enough.

Not only did I made the jump to DropBox I also format my PC and reinstalled windows 8 which in turn made my gaming performance better and used less C space.

Now comes the good part, the things I enjoyed:

I admit, having a full latest version of Office complimentary really sweeten the deal. I will still use OneDrive along with Office Online for my main documents editing.

Final Note: I am not knocking off OneDrive off the cloud table, for many this is the perfect option and if you use Office like 90% of the world then OneDrive is a very good choice.

Like I said, for me cloud is about uploading and backing up my pictures so Dropbox is the perfect option despite having little share controls with the free version. The Paid one gets you 1 TB just like Google Drive and OneDrive so for me it made sense to switch back to something I love.

Now if Google Drive had the camera upload instead of jumping through Google+, I would have maybe change my mind?

Any way, both OneDrive and Dropbox are a serious cloud options for any one serious about backing up backing up their collection.

iCloud is here, but

icloud

The long overdue and awaited by apple fans, iCloud is finally useful. Problem is, you still need to jump over obstacles for full reliable use. The iCloud now accepts all kind of files and offers 5GB free. Anything more and you will need to pay; pay way more than the competition with less features. For starters, there is no stand alone client on mac, PC or even iPhone. You can only upload using the browser interface which is great but not for a serious backing up purpose. Support and possibly a stand alone app is promised in the upcoming OSX 10.10.

The prices are as follow:

australia flag
Australia
AUD $1.29 $4.99 $12.99 $24.99
canada flag
Canada
CAD $0.99 $3.99 $9.99 $19.99
china flag
China
CNY ¥6 ¥25 ¥68 ¥138
denmark flag
Denmark
DKK 7 kr 29 kr 69 kr 139 kr

Euro2, 4
Euro 0.99 € 3.99 € 9.99 € 19.99 €
hong kong flag
Hong Kong
HKD HK$ 8 HK$ 28 HK$ 78 HK$ 158
iceland flag
Iceland3, 4
USD $1.24 $5.01 $12.54 $25.09
india flag
India
INR Rs 60 Rs 250 Rs 600 RS 1200
indonesia flag
Indonesia
IDR Rp 12000 Rp 45000 Rp 119000 Rp 229000
israel flag
Israel
ILS NIS 3.50 NIS 13.90 NIS 34.90 NIS 69.90
japan flag
Japan
JPY ¥100 ¥400 ¥1200 ¥2400
mexico flag
Mexico
MXN $12 $49 $129 $249
new zealand flag
New Zealand
NZD $1.29 $4.99 $12.99 $24.99
norway flag
Norway4
NOK 8 kr 29 kr 79 kr 149 kr
russia flag
Russia
RUB 39 p. 149 p. 379 p. 749 p.
saudi arabia flag
Saudi Arabia
SAR SR 3.69 SR 14.99 SR 36.99 SR 74.99
singapore flag
Singapore
SGD S$ 1.28 S$ 4.98 S$ 12.98 S$ 24.98
south africa flag
South Africa4
ZAR R11.99 R49.99 R119.99 R249.99
sweden flag
Sweden
SEK 9 kr 35 kr 89 kr 179 kr
switzerland flag
Switzerland4
CHF CHF 1 CHF 4 CHF 10 CHF 20
taiwan flag
Taiwan
TWD NT$ 30 NT$ 120 NT$ 300 NT$ 590
turkey flag
Turkey
TRY 1.99 TL 7.99 TL 19.99 TL 39.99 TL
united arab emirates flag
United Arab Emirates
AED AED 3.69 AED 14.99 AED 36.99 AED 74.99
UK flag
United Kingdom
GBP £0.79 £2.99 £6.99 £14.99
USA flag
United States
USD $0.99 $3.99 $9.99 $19.99

As you can see, getting a 1TB is allot cheaper on Dropbox, OneDrive and even Google Drive. I cant read the future but if apple wants to fulfill the late Steve Job’s wish of killing dropbox then they will need to do something more, way more and at affordable prices considering the cloud war is raging. Let me know what you all think.

Twitch acquired by Amazon

twitch

The rumors were true false, Google will not be buying Twitch after all. Instead, Amazon will finalize the deal soon to acquire the games streaming giant. I am happy that it is Amazon instead of Google and before you call me anti Google crusader let me tell you this:

I have never broadcasted anything on twitch although I am planing to. The likely scenarios if Google managed to buy it would have been:

  1. Google shuts it down and merge it with YouTube. or
  2. Ruin it to the point of no return much like the YouTube.
  3. Google +

Amazon on the other hand has a vision, to become the best and with the ongoing company innovation and services I can easily trust Amazon over Google any day. Don’t get me wrong, I love Google but in this case; not so much. You can read the announcement bellow:

On August 25, 2014, it was reported that the rumored Google deal had fallen through, and that Amazon.com Inc. was in talks to acquire Twitch for at least $1 billion.[37][38] The acquisition was confirmed by Twitch executive Emmitt Shear shortly after. The deal, valued at $970 million, will be finalized within the remainder of 2014.

Twitch will be operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc, with Emmitt Shear remaining as CEO. Shear touted the Amazon Web Services platform as an “attractive” aspect of the deal, and that Amazon had “built relationships with the big players in media” which could be used to the service’s advantage—particularly in the realm of content licensing. The purchase of Twitch marks the third recent video gaming-oriented acquisition by Amazon, which had previously acquired the developers Reflexive Entertainment and Double Helix Games.