Chanatown

Image via Wikipedia Article first published as Why I Need to Use Three Web Browsers Everyday on Blogcritics. With new versions of web browsers coming out regularly, including the heralded Firefox 4 (released on Tuesday), I am excited but certainly not holding my breath that the next version will be the one to rule them all. As it stands, I open multiple browsers daily, as each has their own strengths and weaknesses. On top of that, certain web applications or websites work better with specific browsers, and I have no choice as these applications are essential for my work as a teacher, a staff developer, a blogger, and recently, an editor .

When I recently discovered that Google had resumed sending out Cr-48's, I was being picked up by my wife and we were on our way to our first date night as parents without the baby. I promptly asked, "Did I receive any packages today?" She casually replied, "Oh yeah, there was one." "And...?" I pondered. "Oh, it just said Chrome on it." Classic, and thus began my weekend, chock full of exploration and excitement over the new hardware initiative from the folks in Mountain View . After a week of playing and a day long conference, here are my thoughts and how they tie in with future education deployments.

To think, I was excited just over the release of a native Google Reader app to the Android Market last week. This week, we get an entire bookstore, a preview of the new Google operating system, and a sneak peek at the notebook that will be the first to demonstrate the capabilities of the new OS. Thoughts on the those other items will have to wait, as I am most excited about the possibilities of Cr-48 (the cool code name for the notebooks) and education.

Image via Wikipedia So, I finally completed the certification process for becoming a Google Apps for Education Certified Trainer . Yesterday, we had a meetup in the Google offices in downtown Chicago with the live feed from Mountain View, and although I learned a few things I'm not allowed to share, I'd like to reflect on a few nuggets of Google goodness that's open knowledge but might have flown under the radar.