Minimalist.

So, this week I've been thinking, talking and writing about my secret love affair with Google Chrome.

I have lots of secret love affairs, most of them are bad relationships: trashy adventure novels I stay up until 2 am reading, Twiglets which are antisocial to munch.  Some of them are wrong but good.  I count Stephen King in there no matter how many people pooh-pooh him, chillies too: sometimes I fear what they are doing to my stomach lining, but they have vitamin C in, so they can't be wholly evil.

I think that the 'don't be evil' corporation's Chrome may be another one of those good for me secret affairs.  I have got the hang of the download function, I'm impressed with how easy it is to create and manage bookmarks.  I'm a bit confused that it's built-in spell checker doesn't recognise the word Google, but there you go.  Xmarks aside- I never leave the house without Xmarks- I've held off on fully exploring the extensions, perhaps that would be too much of a betrayal of Firefox.

Aside from what's under the bonnet of Chrome, what I like about it is the sleek minimalism of the design.  I don't like clutter, I don't like lots of buttons, and I want to be able to customise it so that key functions are where I expect them to be, not where the designer thinks they ought to be.  Customizability and a fuss-free interface are some of the reasons I'm such a fan of Firefox, and why I gave Safari a good long go before I gave it up.  It's also what makes Apple products so enviably gorgeous, but the Scot within is not prepared to pay the price premium for that.

The good news is that you can enjoy beautiful, pared down design for almost-free on the web.  I stumbled across this article from Smashing Magazine on minimalist web-design this morning, via the Librarian in Black's twitter feed.  As well as tips on how to strip back on unnecessary content, use white or blank space to your advantage, and hints on image choices it showcases some mouthwatering examples of good design.  The example on the left is from Anothercompany.  The monochrome image in the centre makes a strong statement and it's fabulously clutter-free.  Sadly it is under construction, so not much more than eye candy at present, but I find it an attractive design, and by far my favourite from the examples featured in the article.

beauty_school_dropout used to sport a basic black and grey design; I have missed the simplicity of the layout since my revamp, but I think it was well intentioned but boring.  Perhaps I'll do a bit more research and have a rethink.

Lake District Vignettes: Beer- the main course

Where we venture into comfortable hostelries and sup.

As we are both sad librarian types, Marsh and I planned a pub crawl around Ambleside using the internet.  This research proved invaluable as did the local Camra magazine Lakes and Ale- you know, fail to prepare, prepare to fail, and all that.

So here are our favourites and one to avoid.

Conveniently located at the bottom of our street, and a Good Beer guide regular, we very much enjoyed the time we spent in the Golden Rule.  The Rule is everything a Northern pub should be, right down to the velveteen banquettes and cosy snugs.  No music, no food, but a good variety of ales, all well kept and served.  Marsh opted for Robinson's Dizzy Blonde while I, unsportingly felt drawn to the Grolsch.

First food of the trip was taken in the Unicorn; decent pub grub and particularly good old-school puddings with custard- Marsh was happy!  Impressive selection of Hartley's and Robinson's ales, Hartley's XB and Robinson's Unicorn deserve a mention.

The White Lion really deserved a second visit but time sadly got the better of us, which was a shame as they had beers from the Kewsick Brewing Company on tap, Thirst Fall I think.  Keswick's Thirst Run one of my Desert Island beers: I love the stuff.

Let's get the one to avoid over with before the final flourish.

In 1999 my local brewery paid for me and a bunch of other school-leavers from the North West to experience life in another country; we went to China for the best part of three weeks.  I'd never been on a plane before, never been out of the country, I'd just turned 19 and it was an amazing experience.  I've always been happy to pay them back in pints.  I've drank a lot of Thwaites bitter in Blackburn and Darwen and wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Keswick Lodge (predictably, in Keswick) for beer, food or a bed for the night, but all these good experiences made the Sportsman's Arms in Ambleside even more of a let down.  Marsh and I necked the halves I'd fortuitously ordered as quickly as we could.  We were the only souls in there and there was a choice of four draught options, and one of those was Coke.  The barman had indicated that the manager had lost interest, they only money they seemed to be making was from the less than inspiring 'party room' downstairs.  There was plenty of Sambuca on offer, but we'd come in for a pint of Wainwright.  A shame.

Now for some good news.  Despite being an outside runner the Queen's Hotel provided our beer of the week.  True, it wasn't a cosy or snug, and in some ways it was a bit on the posh side- change out of your boots and waterproofs before you go- but they had a very pleasant and knowledgeable barman.  Sporting an excellent range of ales on tap, the highlight had to be the Yates' Bitter: even a dedicated lager drinker like me was itching for a last pint of it before we went.  Luckily for us the Booth's in Bowness had a plentiful supply which we bought most of!

Firefox 4!

Firefox 4 is due for release in November; it can't come too soon because my flirtation with Chrome is looking worryingly like the beginning of a relationship!

Mike Beltzner is promising us a "super-duper fast" browser which will be HTML5 ready, and feature a pared down user interface.  You can find the slides from Mozilla's presentation on Mike's blog.  You'll see that the interface borrows heavily from the sleek simplicity preferred by Chrome, something that gets a big thumbs up from me.  Of course looking good doesn't make it any faster or more effective, but who wants an ugly, clunky browser?  Another attractive point is that user generated add-ons won't loose their functionality just because the browser is overhauled, this is all thanks to Jetpack.

Points mooted at the presentation and ideas in the pipeline include dedicated twitter and Gmail tabs and Chrome-like background updates, saving you precious seconds during the initial boot, or possibly minutes if you live in the sticks like me and like your add-ons!

I don't think this is Chrome with a Firefox skin, although some people will feel that Firefox is leaning in too close to their rival.  As much as I'm enjoying using Chrome at the moment, I still feel that Firefox has more to offer the user.  I prefer their download manager, and the range of add-ons/ extensions is better and broader.

Beta could be out in June, but no plans are finalised, so expect to see some changes.

Further Reading:

Mozilla firms up Firefox 4 plans | News | PC Pro
Mozilla spills plan for, yes, Firefox 4 • The Register 

Picture credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ricplan/8539419/ used under a Creative Commons licence

Do you, ahem, Foursquare? Perhaps you should.

I read on Mashable that Foursquare has just clocked its 40 millionth check in.  If you've not heard of Foursquare, it is location specific social networking; its very big in the US where WiFi is better established, but is growing in the UK too- there's  even an entry for Cambridge University Library.

The idea is that you use your mobile device to log your location and interact with others.  In the library setting it might be seeking help or organising visits to the Tea Room; your device scanning the area for your Facebook and twitter friends.  Each location also has a 'mayor', and you can gain prizes and rewards for your social interactions- very clever when you consider the popularity of social networking games of the Farmville ilk.

Where Foursquare is really making an impact is in how it interacts with the commercial sector.  Foursquare users can share short reviews and recommendations on everything from films to cocktails to food in the locations they happen to be.  Eager to be part of the instant buzz this can create, businesses are offering special deals to Foursquare users.

I'm going to leave all the safety concerns about sharing your geographical locations with others aside for the moment, although lots of people have voiced concerns.  What makes Foursquare so interesting fro me is the way that it has successfully blended social and work interaction with the commercial sphere; this is probably what interests Facebook too.

Facebook is about to go local, which may concern Google as Facebook's ability to market targeted ads will now become localized.  McDonald's are going to be first to try it and I predict that the coffee guys, in all their incarnations will not be far behind.  In practice this may mean that as I'm a member of a Facebook group called Burger Thursday, I may need never hunt around for a McDonald's again.  Joy.

Over a year ago I posted an article (initially on Facebook) about how twitter was changing our interactions with each other, the piece was prompted by a Facebook redesign incorporating twitter-style status updates. I said in that article:

"Twitter more than Facebook is becoming the place where business and pleasure and meeting."

Facebook was playing catchup then and I think they still are.  The library fan pages we set up haven't been the dynamic, interactive start pages we hoped they'd be, undergraduates are more likely to listen in to our twitter feeds to find out about events at the library.  I'm not saying Foursquare is the next big thing, but something like it will be: something mobile, which allows users to connect with each other and with business in a way that suits them.  


Further Reading:


Foursquare Seeks to Turn Nightlife Into a Game - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com
Why Foursquare Drives Business: What You Need to Know | Social Media Examiner

Cam 23 Things

Yay! 23 things has come to Cambridge.  Over the next 12 weeks librarians across Cambridge will be dabbling, tinkering, playing, exploring, and possibly even dipping a toe into all things web 2.0.  I'm unreasonably excited about it and looking forward to sharing ideas, picking up hints and tips and being helpful when I can.

May the ceiling cat smile on our endeavours and the fail whale never darken our doors!




see more Lolcats and funny pictures

So we'll go no more a -roving?

So I've been worrying about it for a while, but now it's really here: my last day of 29; tomorrow I will be thirty years old and surely an adult by now.  As anyone who has listened to me winge lately will know, I've been a little disheartened that I haven't achieved more by 30.  However, I have my health, a good job, and a Marsh who loves me, plus the wisdom to know I should be thankful for them.


When I was 19 and staring down the barrel at 20, I happened to be reading The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis.  I found that I was the same age as the protagonist Charles Highway; I thought it would be fun to finish reading it on the eve of my 20th birthday, the same day as he finishes his narrative.  I was looking forward to going to Cambridge, to the gorgeous women I was sure to meet there (and I did) and to dedicate three years to drinking tea and reading books.  There was plenty of Highway-style bravado in those years, and pretty ladies, but sometimes my twenties bore a closer resemblance to Money than The Rachel Papers.  They weren't really weren't the playground I hoped they would be, often there were more dark days than sunny ones, so I suppose I should be glad to see that chapter close.


I hadn't thought about my timely reading of The Rachel Papers in years, in truth I only thought about it this afternoon, the memory triggered by another literary link.  I remembered how serendipitous I felt it was that I was reading the thoughts Charles was having the night before his twentieth birthday, on the night before mine.  I remembered all this because I was thinking about Byron.  Like many people I've foppishly thought myself a bit Byron-esque at times, usually with no real justification.  But I was once young and revolutionary, I still live according to the will of my heart, I'm driven by passion, and of course I have roved long into the moonlight.  Byron wrote that poem when he was 29.  I've wondered this week if he was feeling the same insecurities as me, wondering if the glory years were behind even though everyone told him the best was yet to come?

   So we'll go no more a-roving
      So late into the night,
   Though the heart be still as loving,
      And the moon be still as bright.

   For the sword outwears its sheath,
      And the soul wears out the breast,
   And the heart must pause to breathe,
      And Love itself have rest.

   Though the night was made for loving,
      And the day returns too soon,
   Yet we'll go no more a-roving
      By the light of the moon.

Feb. 28, 1817.

Byron didn't stop roving or loving at 30; I don't intend to either.  I will take this transition as an opportunity to slow down in certain areas.  I'm going to try and sleep more, drink less, and maybe try eating fruit more often, but I'm not ready to give up on passion and excitement, I'm not ready to give up on fun, and I don't intend to be buying elasticated waisted trousers anytime soon.  Every person I've moaned at has told me that your thirties are a fantastic time, there was one exception- he clasped me to his chest and said 'oh, it was horrible! horrible!'  Their collective wisdom assures me that I will have grown into myself, that I will have more realistic expectations of myself and others, and most deliciously: I will begin not to give a damn about what others think- these I all look forward to.


 P.S. There's an little immature joke in the second stanza if you know the Latin word for scabbard or sheath, being nearly thirty and all, I wouldn't find that kind of thing funny.

Playing with Chrome

I'm testing out the newest version of Chrome.  They've continued the use of themes first seen on iGoogle, some of them look very much like Firefox Personas.  Here I am wearing the brushed look:

And here we are with pencil shading:

and some of their designer themes...

Of course it's not all about looks.  Chrome is fast and easy to use, installation was painless and it imported all of my bookmarks (along with browsing history and saved passwords, if you choose) so the browser was ready to use and felt homey straight away.  It incorporates a lot of the addons I use anyway on Firefox: Google toolbar, obviously, but also opening a new tab (see two examples above) allows you to view a thumbnail of all the tabs you have open- a bit like Fox Tab.  

I've decided to give it a proper test, so I'll be using it all day.  I was just so impressed with how easily I settled into it that I wanted share right away.  I'd used Chrome in the past, but didn't really see what the fuss was all about.  I'm a Firefox girl at heart, but this a great alternative option.