There’s No Place Like Home

Here at Rancho del Evil Chicken we LOVE being connected. That is we love our internet flowing freely and abundantly and in that spirit we have done our share of “Home Page” research. We have four (sometimes five) users in the Ole’ Chicken Coop. One uses Action News www.6abc.com, two use www.comcast.net as their home page and I currently use www.yahoo.com. Well, Gentle Reader, I am currently feeling a wanderlust for another Home Page. It’s not that I don’t like the pictures or the coverage but Yahoo has just changed things up so that I now have to click onto a story twice to read it completely and that just complicates my whole instant gratification zeitgeist. I think it’s time to move on.

I like Channel 6 Action News in the Philadelphia area but I think their website homepage stinks on ice. Do NOT have annoying pop up commercials that can get around my security and firewall settings. It is disconcerting when one is trying to read the news and an annoying actor pops up at the bottom of the screen and starts yammering on how he is saving so much on his new car. Sorry. Inexcusable. NEXT!

Comcast has a decent home page option but it goes straight to videos instead of a news feed. That’s a check in the minus column. I think that this will change once the dust settles from the recent Comcast NBC acquisition; perhaps then it will rock my world. Currently the world rocking takes some thoughtful clicking to get into. NEXT!

The iGoogle homepage option (just do a search). Google gets a lot of flack for being THE go to search engine for just about EVERYTHING in the known universe. They are increasing their grip on information – not that that is a bad thing, it’s just that Google is an EMPIRE. On the other hand, if not Google then who – the government? Who knows? The fact is they are good at what they do… which is turning into everything from common net searches to genetic screenings; from Google Earth (which is simply amazing BTW) to the blog that you are reading right now. Sure all of the searches and emails that you send are saved in a huge central processing area of Google cyberspace but hey, Google is so gosh darn convenient. When confronted with accusations of being too invasive Google has said, “Trust Us.” Hey, you can’t argue with logic like that!

I’m going with iGoogle for the time being. Yahoo and I have had a long run of things but it’s time for us both to move on. The changes to their news feed sealed the deal for me. Yup, I’m going with iGoogle because security is an illusion these days and my instant gratifications needs are met; well… instantly. I’ll investigate Comcast / NBC once they get their collective eggs in the same basket. When that will be nobody knows.

I blog with Google (Blogger - who do a great job at what they do BTW) and, in a few keystrokes, it will become my homepage too. How about YOU Gentle Reader? Where do you call home?