Lottery Post Journal

People with Android phones can now get Angry Birds Rio (the latest version of the popular Angry Birds game) for FREE.

How to get it?  Just install the new Amazon AppStore, which is free — and for simply trying it you get the new Angry Birds Rio for free.

Now, Angry Birds may be the hook necessary to get people to try the new Amazon AppStore, but the real bonus is that you can start using the Amazon AppStore!

I will readily admit that if I were forced to choose a single company that is my favorite company in the world, it would be Amazon.  They are a remarkable company that seems to sprinkle fairy dust on everything they do.

You can use the new Amazon AppStore to browse for apps just like you would on the Android Marketplace.  But Amazon claims to have a much better app vetting process, similar to the way Apple screens its apps before making them available to iPhone users. 

This can help eliminate the types of problems Google recently had to cope with involving malware embedded in some apps in the Marketplace.  The thinking is that if you download it from the Amazon AppStore, the app will already have been screened for malware.

Another very nice feature is that the Amazon AppStore is directly linked to your regular Amazon.com account, so the Amazon.com account you use to buy books, music, movies, etc., can also be used to buy apps, and it all works seamlessly.

To install the Amazon AppStore on your Android phone, you first need to make sure your phone is set to allow third party apps:

1. From the Home screen, click the menu/options button, and then click Settings.
2. Click the Applications item.
3. Make sure the Unknown sources box has a check mark in it.  If a warning comes up, click OK.
4. You're finished, exit the settings.

Then, you need to open the browser and go to Amazon.com.  On the front page of the Amazon.com site (when it is viewed from your Android phone), you will see an ad right near the top for Angry Birds.  Click the ad.

Follow the prompts to download & install.

After you click the download link, you may see a notification at the top of your Android phone about a downloaded file.  You may have to click the notification message in order to install the app.  If so, pull down the notification bar by swiping down from the top of the screen, and then just click on the file in the list of notifications.

Everything else should be fairly self-explanitory.  You'll get the AppStore installed, and then when you open the AppStore you'll see the icon/link for downloading the free copy of Angry Birds.

After everything is finished, you should probably put an Amazon AppStore icon on your Home screen.  (Hopefully you know how to do that?)

Good luck, and if you try this out, enjoy the game!!

Firefox users:  version 4 of the popular web browser is now available.  To install it, fire up your Firefox browser, and click "Check for updates" in the Help menu.

If you use Firefox, this update is highly recommended.

I realized that I goofed in a previous blog entry.  IE9 will be available for download tonight, not at 12 noon today (Eastern Time) like I previously said.

The exact time it will be available for download is 12 midnight Eastern Time (9 p.m. Pacific Time), tonight (March 14).

Apple is genius when it comes to mobile products.

I'm typing this on my new iPad 2, which I picked up today at BestBuy.  It is quite a bit faster and more responsive than the first model, which itself was no slouch.

I'm really struck by how much thinner they have made the new one.  It is much more comfortable to hold, and it's a bit lighter weight too.

Web pages load much quicker, and they scroll much more instantaneously.

The new case has a flat back, which makes it much better to set down on a table.  It doesn't rock around like the first one.

Again, the first one was awesome, it just seems that Apple is amazing at being able to keep making a good thing better, year after year.

Internet Explorer version 9 (IE9) will be offically released by Microsoft on Monday, March 14.  Downloads will be available starting at 12 noon Eastern Time (9:00 p.m. Pacific Time) Monday.

I've been using and testing IE9 for the past year, as Microsoft has been releasing beta copies of IE9 during its development.  I have been extremely impressed with the results, and I can happily say that IE9 is a really nice browser, worthy of becoming your primary browser.

It's going to be a tough decision if I want to stick with Google Chrome as my default browser, or switch to IE9.  Both are excellent and both are fast.  For most sites, I think Chrome has an edge in performance, because it has such a fast JavaScript engine.  IE9 also has a fast JavaScript engine, but not as fast as Chrome.  IE9 does beat Chrome in graphics performance, but not in basic rendering of pages.

Honestly, the performance of either browser will be just fine for anyone, IMHO.  It's going to come down to how you like the browser features and interface.  Also, I personally like how Chrome continues to get updated frequently during the year.  Microsoft releases a new browser, and then refuses to add features to it until the next major release.  That's pretty annoying.

Anyway, I do recommend that even if IE9 will not be your primary (default) browser, that you download and install it when it becomes available on Monday.  It's really good.

People who already have Google Chrome installed can easily upgrade to the latest version (version 10) by clicking the Wrench icon in the upper-right, then select "About Google Chrome".  If an update is available, that simple action will always perform the upgrade.

If you DON'T already have Google Chrome installed, I'l ask you:  WHY THE HECK NOT?!  (Install it here.)

Google Chrome is screaming fast and is the model of simplicity and efficiency.

Want a tab to display in its own window?  Just drag the tab out of the browser, and it creates its own window.

Want to integrate another Google Chrome window into the current window?  Just drag the tab into the current window.

It's intuitive and simple stuff like that that make Chrome so great.

And it works fantastically with Lottery Post!

Version 10 actually seems to fix a minor bug in the last Google Chrom release that occasionally froze the browser window, so that's nice to see also.