When it first came out, I remember my friend telling me,

“It’s so fast… I had to stop using it so much because I’m afraid of running out of ‘the fast’.”

He was right. Google Chrome is fast, compared to Firefox’s memory-hogging standards. With that, I made the jump and was pleasantly please by “the fast” that I had gained in web browsing. However, when I first opened it, I noticed something-

“Hey! That’s Opera’s Speed-Dial!”

Even though it doesn’t exactly mimic Speed-Dial to the letter, it does look very similar. I guess it’s a new browser “standard”, just like Mozilla’s tabbed browsing. In honesty, it took some getting use to. The part that took time to get use to- as my sister also echoed- is the stalker-ish feeling that it emits. Yes, we had History, but this is technology in your face. Next thing you know, it’ll start making recommendations. You know it’s coming.

With all the simplicity and “fast” that was evident in Google’s Chrome browser, you knew that something was bound to pop up and bite at your ankles like an angry chinchilla. Here it is, folks; the bane of my existence.

It’s not as cute as when Ed Boon does it in Mortal Kombat.

When Ed Boon comes out in Mortal Kombat, it’s funny. When Google Chrome does it sporadically- and frequently- when you type in a valid web address, it’s irritating. The simple solution is to hit Refresh in the browser, and your website shows up.

As a result, I’ve gone back to Opera. But then I used docs.google.com to edit a spreadsheet and Google Docs was just not as friendly in that enviornment.

Now… I switch between Chrome and Opera.

There’s just no winning this.

Getting to level 15 on Tetris Friends was a huge feat.

HUGE

I had been playing it almost every day and would only get as high as level 14. Sometimes I even dropped down to level 13 due to the beating delivered onto me by other Tetris Friends players. They’re so good, you think that they were cheating! But, alas, there’s more strategy to this new form of Tetris than what the world first encountered back in 1989- or as one of my former private students would say, “The 1900s”.

After gruelling defeats at the hands of other Tetris masters, I finally was able to go on my own streak and, thus, dealt my own flying-air-dropkick-to-the-neck to reach the coveted “RANK UP” award. 3 KOs and 58 lines sent. Somebody call 9-1-1.

Below are the fruits of my labor. Names have been blurred out to protect the innocent. I’m sure I’ll see them at the next level, anyway. I better savor this victory while it lasts.

Ah victory… tastes like chicken.

To play Tetris online, go to http://www.tetrisfriends.com

http://www.wired.com/culture/education/magazine/17-09/st_essay

It’s an interesting prospect- to remove the youth culture from education. There are so many ways to tackle education reform. I’m glad that many people are bringing forth their ideas and working to create positive change.