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After many years as a stalwart Firefox user I have today made Google Chrome my default web browser.

I had tried Chrome once before. It was probably too early a version as I could not get on with it and missed too many of my Firefox extensions. Since then I have grown less dependent on those extensions and Chrome has become compatible with or has gained alternatives to those I need.

I installed Chrome a second time in an attempt to solve a problem that I thought was an issue with Firefox and turned out to be something else entirely! The installation was quick and easy. Chrome imported all my Firefox bookmarks with ease, reminding me to close Firefox so it could access them. I didn’t allow the installer to make Chrome the default browser initially, but after half an hour I was ready to take the plunge.

This won’t be news to those of you already using Google Chrome but the new browser feels much faster than Firefox. I see that 20% of visitors to G4ILO’s Shack are using the Chrome browser. I think it won’t be long until it overtakes the 27% of my visitors using Firefox.

A few months ago I began using the No-IP Free service in order to be able to access my home network using a hostname or  fixed IP address. This worked well until a couple of weeks ago when I started getting the error “no host”. I logged in to No-IP and could find no reference to my account. So I recreated it with the same details and it is working fine again.

I vaguely recall seeing something to the effect that to keep the free account active you are supposed to log in once a month. The trouble is I find it hard enough remembering what day of the week it is never mind something like that. Previously I had used the DynDNS free service but that didn’t like the frequency with which my broadband changes IP address. My broadband provider says that I can only have a fixed IP address if I have a business account. It would be cheaper to stump up $20 a year for the No-IP Enhanced account. But being a dyed-in-the-wool cheapskate I’d like to avoid doing that. Any recommendations for free IP services that stay working as long as you want?

My website G4ILO’s Shack is currently down. It appears to be down for everyone, not just me.

Sometimes a site appears to be down when it’s really a problem at your end. There’s a really useful site you can use to check if the server is down or not. It goes by the memorable name downforeveryoneorjustme.com. It’s worth bookmarking, especially if you have a website of your own.

I’ve opened a support ticket with the hosting service. Hopefully my site will be back up by the time you read this.

I’ve just spent half a day when I could have been working 10m DX updating the website and blog templates. The main difference is that I have made all the text about 10% larger, which should help those – including myself – who find small print increasingly hard to read.

I have also made the main content section wider so it makes better use of the screen. Most people have bigger monitors than when I first started G4ILO’s Shack, from which the blog inherited its template. I dare say there will be a few using older, smaller screens who will find this change annoying. Sorry.

I have taken advantage of this change to include larger pictures and screenshots. Another benefit – though some may question that – is that I can use a wider ad format, which Google has been pestering me to do recently. I’m sure that some of my readers would have liked me to get rid of the ads altogether. However, they make far too much money to simply forgo it – not enough to live on but certainly enough to pay for my hobby and G4ILO’s Shack’s web hosting.

I wouldn’t advise anyone on the basis of this to start publishing Google ads on their own ham radio sites or blogs – not unless you have G4ILO’s Shack’s level of visitor traffic. The ClustrMaps widget at the bottom of the left hand column will give you an idea how much that is, if you’re interested.

Michel F6FEO sent me a link to his website. Many projects of QRP interest will be found there. The site is in French but Michel has provided Translate links for each of the articles. Definitely worth a visit.

I noticed today that this blog has now got 150 followers not including those who read it on AmateurRadio.com. I’m amazed and humbled that so many people find what I write worth reading, especially as I am not all that active at the moment. While I wasn’t looking, my other blog One Foot in the Grave passed 50 followers as well. Thanks to all of you for your interest.

These numbers are not as great as the number of followers some of my blogging colleagues have got on Twitter. I’ve resisted joining Twitter, in part because I couldn’t see the point, but also because I don’t need yet another way for people to try stealing my identity. I seem to remember a couple of years back writing something on the lines of “if I start Twittering, send the men in white coats round.”

A few months ago I signed up to Google+ which is nowhere near as popular, but only because I use so many Google services already that one more won’t make a difference plus it uses the same login. But perhaps I should take the plunge and join Twitter.

If you’re a Twitter user, in what ways do you find it useful?

For more years than I care to remember my website G4ILO’s Shack has been a member of the QRP Web Ring. Web rings are a tool dating from long before search engines came on the scene and were set up to help web surfers locate sites of similar interest.

In order to be a member of the QRP Web Ring I include some links to other web ring sites on my home page, plus a banner.

Clicking some of the web ring links from G4ILO’s Shack and other linked sites today I found that many of the links were broken and most of the rest were pages of extremely poor quality. So I am considering removing the QRP Web Ring code from my site.

Whether you still use the QRP Web Ring to find other QRP-related sites, or if you have never used it and have no intention of using it now that you know about it, I would appreciate your comments.