After a few weeks of using Firefox 3.0 on various computers, I am ready to declare it a winner! The best thing about it is that even though it has more features, it is faster than the previous version. In my unofficial tests, I believe that it is the fastest popular browser on the market right now. Microsoft ought to take a lesson from Mozilla…. create a new version with more features, but make it leaner and faster!

One of the best new features is the address bar which is called the Smart Location Bar. You type in just a few letters and Firefox will try to guess what address you want. It is uncanny in its accuracy and usefulness and as you use it, it learns and adapts to your preferences.

Firefox 3 also has a more intuitive interface, meaning that most users will find it easier to use. I considered the download manager in Firefox 2 to be one of the best, but in version 3, it is even better. They have also added more customization and organization options in the bookmark area.

All-in-all its quickness and new features Firefox 3 is excellent.

Now I have a special treat for you. Al Brown, aka Big Toe, one of the experts on the Compu-KISS message boards, has written about his experience with Firefox 3. Click here for Al’s Firefox 3 impressions.

A few weeks ago, After two days of having just about everything go wrong, I was really down in the dumps. Just when I reached my lowest point, I got an email from the PR person representing a program called CrazyTalk . He promised a program that would add excitement to still photos, add punch to presentations, and life to the party. Sounded like just what I needed to cheer me up……and it was.

CrazyTalk is a facial morphing animation program. While this type of program is quite complex, the interface is so easy to use that creating animations is really fun. You start with a picture of anything with a face. The program will make that face talk, saying whatever you choose. CrazyTalk does all the work, adding the mouth and facial movements. The uses for this program will only be limited by your imagination. You can make anyone talk including a baby, an animal, a historic figure, a robot, a cyborg, etc. My first try was my 6-month old granddaughter talking about how she was already preparing her dad for her first date.

You choose the photo. Then the program guesses fairly accurately where the eyes and mouth are. The only work that you have to do is to move the points into the exact corners of the mouth and eyes. You can record your own message or type one and have the program add the voice.

It literally takes only about 10 minutes for your first useable animation. CrazyTalk has some excellent video tutorials to get you started.

With CrazyTalk you can do as much or as little as you like. The program offers many customization options. If you want, you can control just about every aspect of the program in detail. The program allows you to control the animation of each facial muscle, the speed of the speech, and many other functions. However, you can also just let the program do it all for you and that turns out quite well. In fact, I can almost guarantee that you will be amazed by the results.

Using CrazyTalk is like having your own animation studio. It brought back memories of the Howdy-Doody puppet I had when I was a kid. With no strings to tangle, this new type of puppeteering was even more fun.

Once you create your animated masterpiece, you can export it as a FLV file optimized for YouTube. The Pro version will even export the animation in high-def at 720p and 1080p.

This YouTube video will give you an idea of what you can do with CrazyTalk. Visit the Reallusion website for more videos.
CrazyTalk 5 is available for $49.95. The CrazyTalk 5 Pro version with advanced timeline features and full-screen HD content is $149.95. Check it out! CrazyTalk is sure to make you smile.

Keeping up with technology is hard work. Everyday I scour the web for the latest tech news and the best products. I’ve been happily doing this for years, but now I am faced with videos everywhere. I really wanted to learn about a product that one of my tech journalist colleagues had posted on their website. When I clicked on the link, I saw that instead of an article, the review was a video. So I just kept on surfing. You see, I can read an entire article, or scan one for the important information much faster than I can watch a video. In most cases, the videos bore me because they are so slow moving. I guess all this shows my age. Even though I grew up in a television era, books and reading was always a mainstay. While growing up, I read much more than I watch TV. Today’s youngsters have grown up with television, plus video tapes, DVDs, and portable video players. I don’t think they read as much as we did. So they are much more used to videos. I like video on the Internet. I just don’t want everything to be in video format. I just started doing more videos on my Compu-KISS website. Many of my videos will have a text article to go along with them. That way my web visitors will have a choice. They can watch the video, read the article, or both. Sure wish more website, especially news and informational sites, would do the same.

Posting and watching videos on You tube can be fun for all ages. Here is one of my You Tube videos on caring for CDs and DVDs.

You can find more of my videos by surfing over to www.youtube.com and searching for the word “compukiss”.

Be on the lookout for  a Trojan horse that poses as a Windows activation alert. This vicious virus pops up an alert that tells you that your copy of Windows has been activated by someone else. You have to fill in your billing details so they can verify your copy of Windows. If you don’t the computer will shut down.

Selecting “yes” takes you to an official-looking site that  steals your credit card information. Saying “no” is also scary because your computer really does shut down.

Remember that Microsoft never asks for any credit card information when you activate Windows.

Don’t fall for this one!

Today is Patch Tuesday for Microsoft and it was a record day, but not in a good way. Today’s patch covered 26 flaws in Windows and Office….the most ever. Plus, an unscheduled patch was issued last week.

Mac Office users will also have to patch since two patches apply to them. The patches also include patches for Windows Vista. Too bad. It is not even released yet and it is already being patched. It is unfortunate that computer users have to go through this.

If you don’t understand computer bugs and patches, be sure to read my article. More information on applying patches is in my Windows Update story. Be sure you apply the patches, 10 of the 26 were listed as critical.

I love the Google search engine, but recent developments have shown that Google and most other search engines are tracking us. The leak of 20 million of AOL’s customers Web search queries recently brought the whole situation to a head. So I tried a new search engine called Ixquick…. a search engine that doesn’t keep search results or track users. Guess what? I really liked it. This meta search engine is one you may want to try. And their people search feature is excellent. Read my newspaper column on Ixquick for more information.