2 Weeks of Using Nothing but my Chromebook

A few weeks ago I decided to go exclusively with my Samsung Series 5-550 Chromebook, to see what I would miss and not be able to do on my Chromebook, that could with my MacBookPro or a Windows based PC (I still have access to my wife's).

So how has the experiment gone?

I haven't turned on my MacBookPro since then and only get on the wife's PC to do maintenance type stuff. Otherwise, the Chromebook has done just about everything that I need or want to do.

I was able to maintain my blogs, upload .docx files, .MP4 videos and photos to my work Dropbox account (although there are more steps if I need to edit a document), print to my Canon wireless printer and do everything I am supposed to do without a great deal of difficulty.

Mindset

There is a mindset change that you have to make in order to use a Chromebook effectively.

Instead of looking for things that you CAN'T do with this computer, I had to change my outlook to what I could DO with my Chromebook.

Once I made that change, using the Chromebook suddenly became easier and more enjoyable.

Has everything been easy - no.

Learning any new operating system there are frustrations about having to do things differently than I have done them in the past (I went the same thing when I went from Windows to Mac and I initially hated the Mac with a passion). So going from my Windows and Mac background to the Chrome OS, has had its challenges, but none of them have been insurmountable or even that big a deal, once I figured out the solution - with help from the Chromebook communities or Chromebook Central Group.

It is more getting used to the Chrome OS way of doing things and waiting for the OS to mature a little more.

Also, I committed to the cloud - in other words, I don't store anything on my Chromebook that if I was to drop and break it or if it got stolen, that I wouldn't be upset about. My Downloads file has become a temporary storage area and nothing else. Everything goes into Drive or other cloud location. It has actually been a liberating feeling to not have anything on my laptop, that I care about.

File Management

The biggest thing that bothers me about my Chromebook is that Drive's file management system on the Chromebook, is not the same as it is in the browser,

Which causes me to scratch my head, go huh and hunt for my files instead of the file tree just being in the left sidebar, which I have become accustomed to. I am not big on using "search" to find things and prefer the file tree.

This is more of an inconvenience than an actual issue, but it is one of those things that the Chromebook team needs to resolve for consistency across the platform, to make file management easier for the user and the overall Chromebook experience better - in my opinion.

Videos & Photo Management

I use a Canon Vixia HF M500 Video camera to do most of my scheduled videos and my Incredible2 for those impromtu situations.

Since the Canon uses a SD card, it makes it very easy to simply plug that SD card into my Chromebook and upload the files. The videos do take a little longer than a Mac or PC, but now that I know that, I can work around it.

However, I had to figure out how I want to setup my photo and video file management system in Drive so I can find photos later - I don't use search very effectively for this, because I don't always rename the files :-).

My file tree looks a like this when I upload from an SD Card or USB device, the photos go directly into My Photos, then I have to manually place them into the correct file.

If I want to do more advanced photo editing I would use Pixlr or Sumo Paint, which will do anything I want to do and a lot more.

I do have to explore a little about whether I can designate which actual file I want to put the photo files in, I just keep forgetting to check it when I upload files.

Video Editing

I read complaints on pundit's reviews, and in the forums, blog and communities, that you can't edit videos with a Chromebook. Now I don't need to make professional quality movies and typically make 3-10 minute YouTube videos for my blog posts.

I have been playing around with the Pixorial Video editing web application I was able to create the below YouTube video for my running blog.

Yes it is a little cheesy, but for the second time that I have used this video editor, it worked quite nicely. I imagine like any tool, as I start to use it more, it will become easier to use. I do not do advanced video editing and Pixorial, probably will do 90% of the video editing I need to do.

One thing that I really do like about Pixorial is that it integrates easily with Drive and accomplishes the upload of videos fairly quickly, but it is not as fast as iMovie or MovieMaker.

The biggest difference I found in using Pixorial vs iMovie or MovieMaker is that I have to preplan the work that I want to accomplish a little better. Spur of the moment editing just doesn't happen as quickly - yet.

The bottom line is that I can edit videos enough to meet my needs.

Streaming Movies

The other night we watched The Expendables from my Amazon Prime Account, using my Chromebook attached to my 32" Panasonic TV. It worked fine and didn't have any issues with it.

I used the VGA connector on my TV, to a double-male VGA cable and then connected it to my 550 Chromebook with the Diplayport++ to VGA adapter. Like I said everything worked like a charm.

One thing I had to figure out was how to go from Extended screen mode to Mirror screen mode and it took a couple of minutes to find the right menu.

Actually the biggest issue I had with all this was finding 2 AA batteries for my wireless USB mouse, which worked flawlessly, when I finally found the batteries.

Smartphone

Back on December 18th, I activated my HTC Droid Incredible2 phone, so I could integrate my phone better with my Chromebook - my iPhone didn't like my Chromebook.

I have found this to be a GREAT decision, I easily can upload my photos and videos, to the 550 and while it takes a while to upload videos, it does get done. It works a lot better than trying all the work-arounds I was having to use to get my iPhone 4S and Chromebook to work together.

Another issue resolved, but it took me changing to an Android phone to really resolve the problem to my satisfaction. Which leaves me with an iPhone 4S that I am not using now - hmmm I wonder what trades, I can work for one.

The reality is that

I haven't even had any need or urge to open up my MacBook Pro over the past few weeks!

The Chromebook does what I want. Yes I might have to plan my work a little differently or figure out a work-around to get something done, but nothing I am doing is unreasonable or actually causes all that much extra work or time. It is more that it is a different way of doing something than I did in the past.

That mind-set change that I discussed earlier and learning the nuances of a different operating system with an open mind, instead of just saying that this sucks, because I can't do things the way I always have.

The only thing that I can't do on my Chromebook that I can on my Mac is play NeverWinter Nights 2 and I haven't really played any games in the past couple of weeks any way, so I haven't found this to be an inconvenience at all. Oh at some point, I will probably break out the Mac and play NWN2 again, because I do enjoy it, but for right now it is not a priority for me and who knows maybe some day, I will be able to just play it online - then I will be very happy.

Those who game a lot, will be disappointed with the Chromebook, personally it is not a big deal.

To summarize

Something I read in one of the Chromebook forums or communities, that really seems to summarize how I look at using my Chromebook now. To paraphrase what was said.

"The Chromebook has become my primary Computer and my MacBook Pro has become a niche machine that I would use to do extensive video editing (which I VERY seldom do) or something in iWork or Office, that I couldn't accomplish with either Pixorial or Drive."

In other words, the past few weeks have shown me what I can do with my Chromebook 550 - which is just about everything that I need to do and almost everything that I want to do.

How are you doing with your Chromebook? Do you have any suggestions to make my Chromebook experience even better?

Originally written by Harold Shaw and published at One Foot In Reality, © 2011-2012 – All Rights Reserved. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Harold Shaw or Mary Shaw and One Foot In Reality with appropriate and specific directions or links to the original content.

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Posted in: #Chromebook,#ChromeOS,#Google,#Samsung 550 Chromebook,reflection,Tech

Instagram - Delay and Ignore?

Have you noticed that after the initial furor over the changes to Instagram’s new Terms of Service and their clarification "Thank you, and we're listening" message, that there has not been any further communications or updates from either Instagram or Facebook about this mess.

Kind of strange isn’t it? 

It has been over a week and nothing has changed. I wonder if they are planning to see if they can ride out the initial storm of protests and media buzz and then will just blithely go about their business with the changes to their TOS kept pretty much the way it was written?

I think they know that a majority of their users don’t really care about Instagram's Terms of Service as long as they can just quickly and easily keep using their service without interruption or disruption. Actually I believe that it is only a relatively small but very vocal percentage of users and the online media that are too worried about the changes.

Yes it is Christmas Eve and that the holidays and it might take a little longer for the lawyers and bigwigs to re-write those portions that were problematic for us the users, but it seems that it shouldn't take this long. Especially in light of all the negative publicity that Instagram and Facebook received for those changes.  

It just seems to me that the "coming soon" part of their Thank you, and we’re listening message, is being purposely delayed to be a little later, to see how much most people really care about the changes and how much they will actually have to change. I could be wrong, but...

I don’t think that I am alone in continuing to wonder what the changes to Instagram’s disputed Terms of Service will be and while they might not take effect until January 16, 2013. I want to hear what the tech industry pundits and/or experts say about the differences between what they have released and what the actual terms of services will say before they go into effect.  Especially, since as of now, those changes that caused the furor are still the official Instagram TOS that will take effect on that date.

Now I am just a nobody living out in the middle of no where and maybe I am strange, but I think having some time to decide if it is in my best interests to continue to have this service on my devices, is in my best interests.

Or is delay and ignore going to be part and parcel of the new Instagram experience? If it is then I know which direction I will take.

Originally written by Harold Shaw and published at One Foot In Reality, © 2011-2012 – All Rights Reserved. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Harold Shaw or Mary Shaw and One Foot In Reality with appropriate and specific directions or links to the original content.

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Posted in: Facebook,Instagram,Terms of Service,TOS

Going All in With Google

When I made the decision to purchase a Chromebook, a month ago,  I didn't fully realize until the other day what that decision actually would mean.

Hmmm what’s up?

Over the years I have purposely tried to avoid putting my technology eggs primarily in one basket.

As Apple, Google and Microsoft are all attempting to create their own technology silos, I purposely tried to kept a finger in all of their silos. I have always believed that being too reliant on any one corporation for all of your technology needs, brings its own dangers. You can read about my previous posts on this thinking:

http://www.onefootinreality.com/2010/07/google-experiment.html

www.onefootinreality.com/2011/04/un-googilizing.html

http://www.onefootinreality.com/2011/07/getting-back-in-bed-with-google.html

However, I am also getting tired of trying to keep straight how I can use this piece of hardware, software or web application that I want to use, when I want to use it and the way that is easiest for me.

My refusal to completely embrace any one of the big three completely for all this time, did keep me more aware of the pros and cons of each. However, it also meant that I didn’t really get to master any of the different tools or applications I was trying to use.

The old saying “Jack of all trades, master of none”, accurately described my use of technology over the past few years.

So that is why when I decided to buy the Chromebook last month, I believe it became one of those defining moments, that moved me towards the technology silo I will be using for the foreseeable future. 

Google's - I just didn’t realize it at the time.  

Now is this a bad thing?

Over-reliance on one corporation for most of my technology needs brings risks, but at the same time with each of the big three making it more difficult to use the other’s products with their products, I have a feeling at some point, most users will have to make similar decisions to make about who’s technology tools/silo they will be a part of.

I know that many people will disagree with my choice and say that I should have remained with either Apple or Microsoft products - after all those are my real backgrounds, especially Microsoft since I have used Windows since 1.0. So while my choice might not be what others will do, it is the choice I have made.

The choice came down to what tools I currently prefer to use.

Primarily those tools are Google tools. From gMail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Reader, Google+, Picasa - well you get the idea. These are the tools that I used even when using a Mac or PC, so it made sense to use keep using the silo that created these applications.

There are other reasons that I didn't choose Microsoft's or Apple's technology silo, but the Google tools that I use is the primary reason.

No More Waffling

This means instead of waffling between the Microsoft, Apple and Google technology silos, like I have for the past few years, I can now focus on learning and using the Google product lines more in depth than I have in the past.

The reality is

that it does feel a little funny that I am not even trying to learn Windows 8 (I really don’t have any interest), seeing what new things I can learn in IOS or Mountain Lion or drooling over a new iPad, MacBook Air, Surface, Lenovo or other high end device.

Over the past month using the Chromebook has allowed me to completely retire my old MacBookPro and give away my Windows Laptop. 

I also found out that I couldn't use my iPhone 4S, which I got in October, so I found an used HTC Incredible2 and liked the way it integrated so well with my Chromebook, that I activated it last week and retired my iPhone to a camera/GPS device. Read more here. 

I have feeling that I will be looking for new Nexus or other Android Smartphone sometime over the next few months to really complete my move to Google. The Incredible2 is nice, but...

Only time will tell if I have made the correct choice by going All in With Google - I really think it is the correct decision for my needs.

The next year should be interesting in the world of Google.

Originally written by Harold Shaw or Mary Shaw and published at One Foot In Reality, © 2011-2012 – All Rights Reserved. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Harold Shaw or Mary Shaw and One Foot In Reality with appropriate and specific directions or links to the original content.

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Posted in: #Google #Chromebook,#Reflection,#Samsung 550 Chromebook,#Technology,Android,Choice,technology silo

Moving Away from My iPhone 4S

My work area

It turns out that my Samsung Series 5-550 Chromebook doesn't like the iPhone and the iPhone doesn't like the Chromebook, they do not work all that well together. 

I found using the iPhone with the Chromebook, was more about finding work-arounds to get them to work together, which was quite frustrating at times.

The idea that my iPhone doesn’t integrate worth a damn with my primary computer - the Chromebook is something that wasn’t acceptable to me. So I started wandering around Craigslist and other places, looking to picking up a cheap last generation Android smart phone, since I had never used one before and wondered if it would work any better with my Chromebook.

Pretty quickly I found a HTC Droid Incredible2 on Craigslist for...well let’s just say it was too good a deal to pass up. I did a bit of a little rice bag magic, cleaning, maintenance, a new micro SD Card and now it works like a charm. 

Once I got the HTC so it worked, I played around with it, getting familiar with Android and how it worked with my Chromebook as a WIFI device. 

What I found was that the Chromebook and the Incredible2 worked very well together. It was very easy to transfer files, photos or videos between the two and I could do more than just charge my phone with my computer.

Surprisingly, I was liking the HTC for a lot of stuff that I use a smart phone for and was using it to do stuff that I didn't with my iPhone, like read my emails without pinching out or turning to landscape more, surfing the web and lots of other little things.

However, one thing in my my iPhone’s favor was that it is also my my primary carry camera and does a great job of taking photos quickly and are good enough quality, that I can use them on my blog.  

The Incredible2 photos were okay, but the photos were not as sharp as the iPhone's or as easy to get to the photo App.

However, since I wasn't really planning on making any decisions about possible changes any time soon, I didn't worry about it too much. I had gotten the Incredible2 just to see what Android was really like - I need to actually use a device to know whether it would work for me. 

Over the next few weeks, I played with the Incredible2 to see how I would fit it into my work flow and how I use a smart phone. I even read most of the PDF documentation to figure out some of the nuances of Android and HTC/Verizon’s interpretation of it, to learn how it does things differently than I do on my iPhone. 


Which really created quite a dilemma for me.

• I liked my iPhone but it wasn’t working well with my Chromebook.
• The Incredible2 integrated much better with my Chromebook, but it was a second hand device and I am still unsure of its reliability.

During the past week, I purposely carried both around with me and I found myself starting to pull out the Incredible 2 more and more, even for photos, although it was not activated and only had WIFI access. At that point, I knew it was time to go ahead and make the change.

So I did! I activated my HTC Droid Incredible 2 and deactivated the iPhone 4S this week.

The reality is that this is just one more step, that I seem to be making towards making the commitment to using Google’s technology silo. Switching to an Android phone is a huge move for me in this direction, that when combined with getting a Chromebook definitely puts me pretty far down that road.

It will be interesting to see how my move to an Android based phone works and how it improves my work flow with my Chromebook.

Do you have any tips or tricks that you use with an Android phone and/or how you integrate it with your Chromebook, to improve your work flow?

Do you have any must have Android Apps that I need to look at to use on my Incredible2?

Google Nexus 7 32GB Tablet NEXUS7ASUS- (Google Affiliate Ad) 

Originally written by Harold Shaw or Mary Shaw and published at One Foot In Reality, © 2011-2012 – All Rights Reserved. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Harold Shaw or Mary Shaw and One Foot In Reality with appropriate and specific directions or links to the original content.

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Posted in: #Chromebook,#Google,#smartphone,#workflow,Incredible2,iPhone

My Chromebook a Month Later

I have had my Samsung Series 5-550 Chromebook for almost a month now (boy that is hard to believe) and  it has become my primary computer!

How did this happen, I have been a Mac or Windows guy, who usually wanted the most powerful high end laptop that he could afford.

Doesn't that sound familiar, I think a lot of us are that way - enticed by the exponentially increasing specs each generation of computers have inside them.

Well I got tired of the hype, hoopla and work that goes into setting up, re-learning and maintaining those platforms.

I have become someone who wants to just use their computer, not screw around with it or sit and watch the spinning wheel or beach ball of death go round and round, while I wait for the damn thing to disappear.

In real life use

My Chromebook 550 has been stable and works fantastic within the limitations that I knew that it had, before I purchased it.

No I cannot run native apps (those programs you install on a Mac or PC) and had to find cloud-based alternatives, that would work for me. A couple of years ago, oh hell even 6 months ago, this really wasn't a great option and would have been the deal-breaker for me to have bought the Chromebook as my primary laptop or even as experiment. However, things are improving and this is becoming less of an issue every day.

I was still fairly skeptical when I bought it, how much I would actually use my Chromebook and how much I would have to use my MacBook or TheWife's PC to get my "real" work done. It turns out that with exception of one thing, I haven't HAD to use any other computer to meet my computing needs.

My work-flow has changed quite a bit and if you have any suggestions that would help me to improve or make any of my work-flow easier, I would love to hear them.

So what web based applications am I using in place of my typical desk-top based programs?

Web Browser

No choice here - Chrome. That is okay with me, Chrome has been my primary web browser for a long time and I have used it since it was publicly deployed. I try the others when Chrome is going through a bad spell and always end up going back to it. The others just don't have the speed, versatility and most of the time - stability that I expect from a browser.

My experience browsing with the Chromebook for web-based activities has been exceptional! Do I still get crashes, yes but not nearly as often as I did while using Chrome on my Mac or PC laptops. Also when using it everything is fast, I don't get those spinning things, which tell me that the computer is thinking about processing my request - the Chromebook just does it.

Productivity - Mail, Calendar, Contacts

Google products - gMail and contacts, Google Calendar. This is not really a change for me, while I have used  Outlook, Live Mail/Calendar, Thunderbird, Zimbra, Apple Mail/Calendar and other similar programs, I always come back to gMail and gCal. They just work for me and since both are available off-line, my needs are met with those Google WebApps.

Task Manager

I am using the paid version of Todoist, it is the task manager that I have been looking for. The only things it doesn't do well on my Chromebook are it is not available off-line and better integration with gMail or gCal could, but those are not deal breakers to how.

I did use Evernote as my task manager for a long time, but it just seemed like a work-around instead an actual task manager and was not a streamlined process. I have tried Google Tasks several times and just don't like it. I attempted to use it and gave up on it when I first switched to the 550.

Todoist is doing what I want from a task manager.

Office Suite: 

Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Note Taking

For personal use, my own business efforts and most of my blogging drafts, I am using Google Drive, it works well as my primary Office Suite. While the spreadsheet and presentation tools are not available off-line yet, that functionality is coming. No, it is not as powerful as Office, iWork or even Open Office and its clones, but it does just about everything I do on a day-to-day basis.

However, my work requires that I submit drafts in .docx (Microsoft Word) format and Google Documents to be quite honest sucks, when it comes to playing well with Microsoft Word Documents. I have to use a convoluted conversion process in order to simply edit - not just view Word docs and then return the edited document back to my Editor.

So for my work related writing, I have been using the online version of Microsoft Word in SkyDrive to avoid conversion difficulties and having multiple saved copies that seem to be the norm if I use Google Docs for editing my work stuff and no I can't simply just share the document from Google Docs, as I would like to. However, SkyDrive Word does not have off-line capabilities, so it will not be of use to me if I need to work offline.

I would prefer to do everything in Google Drive, but with the changes that have been made to how it doesn't work well with Microsoft Word documents (that silo thing that Google, Apple and Microsoft seem to be doing more and more to keep you tied to their product lines), it leaves me little choice, but to use both WebApps.

Printing or scanning from the Chromebook is next to impossible with the home setup I presently have. There doesn't seem to be an acceptable work-around (other than using my Mac or my wife's PC) when I want to print or scan and no I am not sending a print job out to a local FEDEX office.

This lack of ability to print/scan directly with a Chromebook is a big deal to me and a lot of other people. I hear people say use Google Cloud Print - but it is a cumbersome work-around at best and at worst a pain-in-the-ass that really doesn't work for my situation.

I don't have a Cloud Printer, but I do have a wireless one and still haven't figured out how to print to it from my Chromebook and I am not a novice at setting up this stuff. I will keep working at it, but if I am frustrated about this, more than a few other people must be as well.

If I was still teaching and needed to provide print-outs to my students, this would be much more of an issue than it is now. Perhaps we are all heading towards a paperless office/society, but we are not there yet and the ability to be able to simply and easily print a document is still required by many users.

For printing Chromebooks have a long way to go.

Update: I can now print through Google Cloud Print to my Canon Printer! I had a brilliant idea and  went and logged everyone out of the Chrome Browser on my wife's laptop (which we hook the printer to). Then I signed in, added the printer to my profile, tested that I could print to it, which I could. Then I switched users and signed in my wife and then test printed again - it worked!!! 

It was just a question of getting the multiple user profiles setup correctly and getting Cloud Print attached to my account.

So when I do infrequently need to print, I now can and my wife doesn't need to even sign out of her computer. Now I am happy - I can print.

Note Taking

I have used OneNote or Evernote (my  choice recently) for taking notes, storing information and as a general repository for stuff I want to be able to find quickly and hopefully easily. However, once I switched over to the Chromebook, I learned that am not a big fan of Evernote's web based application or some the updates they made lately, so I looked around for different options.

What I found really surprised me! I found an Extension for Chrome called Clean Print/Save, which allows me to clip and save items I find online to multiple services or destinations, including Google Drive. It is very similar to Evernote's Web Clipper which I used extensively.

Because of Clean Print/Save, I decided to use my Google Drive as my primary note taking WebApp. I like the idea of having most of my stuff in one place and to me gDocs is a great note taking tool, that was lacking web clipper capability. With the addition of the Clean Save app, it does what I used Evernote for.

So far this system has worked great and not having yet another tool that I have to use is nice too!

File Management in Google Drive

I had to setup a file management/tree system within gDrive that meets my needs and have developed something that while not exactly what I want, will work. gDrive has the basic file management systems in place and it works to meet my needs. I can foresee that as they integrate photo and video storage, along with other files there as well - it will become more important for Google to develop a more effective and sophisticated way manage and view files for those of us, who want to keep things within a system, where we can find things quickly and easily.

It will be interesting to see how they improve their file management system in Google Drive and how I use it.

Photo Management

This actually has become a very important aspect of using a computer for me. Not so much editing the photos, but being able to access them from my iPhone and then insert them into my blog, without it being a total pain in the butt.

When I first got the Chromebook, this issue almost became a deal-breaker and caused me to think very seriously about whether to keep it or not. The process I had to go through to get photos from my iPhone to my blog posts was way too complicated. However, since I discovered instant upload in Google+ for both my iPhone and Incredible 2 (which I picked up-used after I got my Chromebook), this has become much less of an issue.

If I do need to do more than just basics of photo editing that I can do in Picasa/Google+, I turn to Pic Monkey , Pixlr or Sumo Paint, all of which more than meet my needs. To be honest, I haven't had the need to use them.

Video Editing

I don't really do a lot of videos, however, in 2013 I am going to start creating them more often. To be honest until the other night, I really had purposely avoided doing any video stuff on the Chromebook, because I thought it would be a pain in the toucas.

It wasn't that bad, I used the Pixiorial Video Editing App and while it wasn't as intuitive or as QUICK as my desktop versions of  Movie Maker or iMovie, I can use it to make my 5-10 minute videos for uploading to YouTube or for my work.

This is the other area, where I would rather use my Mac or a PC for now. As the video editing web apps become more mature, I am sure that the issues I have with them are going to go away, the only issue will be the cost of SAAS video editing products online.

Blogging/Social Media

Since this it is what I primarily use a computer for now, this is a huge deal for me. The Chromebook handles it better than my Mac or PC's ever did. It is quick and responsive, and just like a Mac or PC, requires an Internet connection to accomplish it.

My primary blog is on WordPress.org - A Veteran Runnah and OFIR is a Blogger blog. After using both, I have found that the Blogger blog is much easier for me to insert multi-media in, than it is on WordPress.

While that is to be expected since it is a Google product and is more tightly integrated in with other Google lines like Picasa/Google+/Google Drive or YouTube. Still it did surprise me at how much easier it was to do, especially since WordPress still does not recognize Google+/Picasa photo URL's.

I am finding that a combination of Hootsuite and TweetDeck WebApps are working for Twitter. Facebook and Google+ work fine with a lot of different extensions to tweak them the way that you want.

The reality is that

With the exception of printing or scanning directly from the Chromebook, I have found an acceptable work-around to how I work with the Chromebook for all of my needs. Have I sacrificed some useability - not really, because those areas that many people need higher end abilities from their software/WebApp I don't use it that much (i.e. gaming, Photo, programming or video editing) even when I used a Mac or PC.

However, for my purposes and the way I am using the Chromebook, I wouldn't want a machine with less than 4GB of RAM, if I were to use it for my primary computer - which I am.

My Samsung Series 5-550 Chromebook does 90% of what I want, especially now that I can extend the screen on the Developers Channel. I will probably follow that particular functionality up through to Beta and Stable channels, just so that I have a more stability in the platform. Sometimes the Beta and Developer channels can get a little wonky, as Google tries new stuff out.

It was less the WebApps available to use, than it was a change in my mindset that happened as I have used my Chromebook more and more. The Chromebook is not a Mac or PC, it is a Chromebook and if you try to use it the same as the other two, you will not be happy with it.

I had to get over wanting to put things on my computer and learn to trust being in the cloud even more than I was before I got the Chromebook. I don't need to store things on my computer, since it is just a terminal to connect me to the real computer - the Web. Isn't that what Mac's and PC's are becoming more and more like as well? At least that is how I used them.

Yes you do have to plan ahead a little more when using a Chromebook about what you are actually trying to accomplish and checking to see if there are different ways to get to your finished product, that you hadn't used or thought about in the past, especially if you need to do work in an off-line setting, when not all of the web applications are available to you.

While this might be a limiting factor and a difference maker to many people, it doesn't bother me all that much. It is seldom that I don't have access to WiFi and if I do not then I look at it as an opportunity to take a break, get away from the computer, social media or if I have to is there is a way that I can integrate my smart phone into what needs to be accomplished.

To me the Chromebook is not a total solution by itself, it is part of an integrated solution system, where you use the tool most appropriate (smart phone, tablet, or other computer) for what you are doing and the resources available to you.

What does my Mac do now? Not much, my Chromebook sits on top of it at my desk and I print a few things or use it for scanning something and some video editing, but that is about all I ever have to open it up for.

When TheWife asks me to do maintenance on her PC, I just cringe, but go and do it - after all I may need to print, scan or edit a video from it someday.

The bottom line is that I have become very comfortable working on my Chromebook and going back full-time to a Mac or PC environment doesn't even interest me at this time.

Taking a line from another company - "It just works" - for me.

Originally written by Harold Shaw or Mary Shaw and published at One Foot In Reality, © 2011-2012 – All Rights Reserved. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Harold Shaw or Mary Shaw and One Foot In Reality with appropriate and specific directions or links to the original content.

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Posted in: #Chromebook,#Google,#Samsung 550 Chromebook

My All-Time Favorite Posts

This is one of those exercises that I recommend we all do every so often - Go back and look at your favorite blog posts and put them in one place.

I have been blogging since October 2007 and have written around a 1,500 blog posts total, for all the different blogs that I have written at. It was difficult to choose my favorite posts especially since Mary joined me in posting to One Foot In Reality (she is a much better writer than I am), but I went back through and chose those that meant something special to me.

They were not always the ones with the most page views or comments, but stuck out in my mind for the reasons you will see when you read them.

I did not include posts from my A Veteran Runnah Blog.

They are in alphabetical order.

• 8TH GRADE LTRS TO NEXT YEAR'S 7TH GRADE
• A Friend's Journeys End
• ARE YOU PART OF THE SOLUTION OR PART OF THE PROBLEM?
• Sixties Backyard Skiing - It Was Simpler Then
• Community, Mob and Overwhelmed
• Did Progressive Education do Too Good a Job?
• I Am Older and I Dont Need to Ask My Family How Things Work
• IMAGINE HATING YOUR JOB THIS MUCH
• IS BLOGGING BECOMING TOO MUCH LIKE MORE WORK?
• IS IT A CURSE TO TEACH OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN?
• MAYBE OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM WAS TOO GOOD
• SPECIAL EDUCATORS-DO WE DO TOO MUCH?
• Special Ed and AYP - Does Not Compute
• WITH ALL DUE RESPECT
• What do YOU want to write about on YOUR blog?
• Who are the Real Bloggers?

I hope you decide to look at a few of these posts, each one means something beyond just another blog post to me. I know that going back and reading the many posts that I did to compile this list brought back memories of other times and a lot of great people I have met over the past 5 years.

Originally written by Harold Shaw and published at One Foot In Reality, © 2011-2013 – All Rights Reserved. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Harold Shaw and One Foot In Reality with appropriate and specific directions or links to the original content.

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Posted in: #Reflection,favorite posts,memories

Video Cable for 550 Chromebook - Finally

Finally, I got the correct cable to connect my Samsung Series 5 - 550 Chromebook to my HPw1907 VGA monitor. It only took me 4 tries (more experimentation than anything), but it works GREAT!

For now it just mirrors my Chromebook's screen, but I have heard rumors that the ability to extend the screen is in the pipeline.

Personally, I really like an extended screen setup, especially when I am writing a blog post or when I am trying to follow multiple social media accounts.

Over the course of the past couple of weeks I have attempted to get the correct video adapter for my Chromebook to my VGA monitor and even though I asked on the Google Chromebook Group, Twitter and Google+, I didn't receive any response to my queries. So I had to use the shotgun method and hope that one of the cable worked that I ordered.

I even complained about it in my What I Don't Like About My Chromebook post with no responses.

So where did I find this elusive adapter - Amazon.com

BestDealUSA Displayport DP Male To VGA Female Adapter Cable Converter it was $8.22 plus shipping.

This has been one of those exercises in frustration, it shouldn't be that difficult to find the correct adapter/dongle/cable for a laptop that you purchase. Even going to the Samsung website, where the Chromebook Ninja sent me, (because they told me the wrong information as well), didn't give me the correct one.

Now that this small issue is solved I am much happier and will be ready for when the Chromebook can do extended displays. This is a small thing, but peripherals and cables should be readily identified on the manufacturer's website.

It is little things like this that diminish the user's experience when using a new device and could possibly cause the new Chromebook owner to question, why they should bother getting one. Even with a few of "little" quirks that I have run into since I have bought my 550, it has quickly become my primary computer and I don't even have any desire to go back and use my Mac or a PC.

I guess I enjoy the challenge of learning how how to master use a Chromebook computer.

Originally written by Harold Shaw or Mary Shaw and published at One Foot In Reality, © 2011-2012 – All Rights Reserved. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Harold Shaw or Mary Shaw and One Foot In Reality with appropriate and specific directions or links to the original content.

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Posted in: #Chromebook,#Samsung 550 Chromebook,Display port Adapter,vga cable

Blog Facelift - Please Be Patient

Please excuse the appearance of the blog or if some of the links don't work , but over the course of the next week One Foot In Reality will be undergoing a major facelift and I need to do it while keeping the blog live.

It will be worth it when it is done, but will be a work in progress for a while :-).

Thanks

Harold

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What I Don't Like About My Chromebook

Originally written by Harold Shaw and published at One Foot In Reality, © 2011-2012

I have had my Samsung Series 5, 550 Chromebook for two weeks and yes it has become my primary laptop.

However, there are some things that it doesn't do all that well or has quirks with how it "does work" that make me scratch my head or do a little swearing at it when I get frustrated.

If you notice something that I am discussing below and know a solution or have a better way than I currently using, I would welcome your comments, I am very open to learning how to do thing better or easier.

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Posted in: #Chromebook,#review,#Samsung,#Samsung 550 Chromebook

Samsung 550 Chromebook - Caps Lock Fix

I want to Thank Jim H. for his comment that pointed me in the correct direction, to take care of an annoyance that was becoming more than that. I was having an issue with learning the keyboard on my Samsung 550 Chromebook.

Out of the box - what used to be the Caps Lock key was changed to be activate a Search pop-up screen.

Unfortunately, after all the years I have spent on computer keyboards, according to my muscle memory this key is the Caps Lock key.

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Posted in: #Chromebook,Google,Samsung,Samsung 550 Chromebook,TipsandTricks