Another masterpiece of animation from PES, in celebration of Scrabble’s 60th anniversary. The game was invented in 1938, but not mass-produced until 1948.
[via Nag on the Lake]
Google Chrome to Get Extensions Framework
The very fact that Google put Aaron Boodman on the Chromium project should have told us something. Aaron invented the popular GreaseMonkey add-on for Firefox, and on Saturday he announced the publication of a design document for adding extensions to Google Chrome.
The lack of extensions for Chrome has been a major barrier to adoption of the new browser. I’ve been using Chrome as my default browser since I reviewed it back in September, and add-ons are perhaps my most missed Firefox feature — with the possible exception of RSS autodiscovery and customizable subscription.
Many Firefox users identify a single extension as the main reason they haven’t moved to Chrome: AdBlock. For Google to allow an extension in its browser that would block its own ads might seem like cutting off your nose to spite your face, but it appears that these users may get their wish. AdBlock is specifically mentioned as a use case in the design document for the new feature.
Many of the design goals seem specifically designed to overcome the frailties of Firefox add-ons. Here are a few that scream out, “I’m looking at you, Firefox!”:
- We should not need to disable deployed extensions when we release new versions of Chromium.
- Extensions should not be able to crash or hang the browser process.
- Chromium should assign blame to extensions that are overusing resources via tools like the task manager and web inspector.
- Poorly behaving extensions should be easy to disable.
- Extensions need to be loaded immediately at startup, ideally before pages are loaded, yet shouldn’t affect startup time.
- Most extensions should be able to load in place without forcing a browser restart or even a page reload when they are installed.
- Similar to Google Chrome, it is important for security that extensions be able to silently update.
The authors mention that each extension should run in its own process, just as Chrome handles separate web pages — and that these processes should be “sandboxed” to prevent access to the local machine. The one exception would be content scripts (like GreaseMonkey) that would have to run in the same process as the content they’re modifying (really? you couldn’t pipe it through?).
The “silent update” facility will be driven by a central repository of extension updates. A central service will also keep track of known harmful extensions. The browser can check this service to disable those extensions.
The APIs have not yet been specified at all, other than to mention some hopeful categories: “toolbars, sidebars, content scripts (for GreaseMonkey-like functionality), and content filtering (for parental filters, malware filters, or adblock-like functionality.”
Each extension will be accompanied by a manifest, written in JSON, which seems to be the most detailed part of the proposal so far. No word yet on when we can expect more. Personally, I can’t wait.
Apple to Mac users: No anti-virus software? Get it now!
Windows users all know that there’s nothing quite like an anti-virus application to bring your PC’s performance crashing down. People using a Mac or running any flavor of Linux never have to suffer from this, since virus developers have always been interested in reaching the bulk of the population, meaning the Bill Gates-loving crew. But these days are now becoming a distant memory!
In a recent note to fans, Apple has strongly recommended that all Mac owners should now install an anti-virus application on their systems. The note said, “Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple anti-virus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult.” The note then recommends three applications: Intego VirusBarrier X5, Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 11 for Macintosh and McAfee VirusScan for Mac. And now that you’ve read this, here’s something for you to watch:
Gotta love the irony.
[Via Newlaunches]
Gadgets Dominate Black Friday (and Happy Cyber Monday!)
By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
Here’s a piece of trivia for you. Though now the term “Black Friday” (indicating the day after Thanksgiving in the US) has come to refer to the beginning of the period when retailers get back in the black (due to the heavy Christmas season shopping), that’s not the actual origin of the term. It originally referred to the heavy traffic on that day, a comparison to the chaos of Black Tuesday during the 1929 stock market crash. Since the current state of the economy has inspired a lot of references to 1929, the importance of Black Friday this year was particularly fitting. You could practically see the stock market holding its breath.
Luckily, all the worry was for nothing – retail sales were actually up 3% this year! And it looks like geeks were leading the way… or at least, gadget sales were. Nine of the ten most popular sales for Friday were gadgets… like a Sony Blu-Ray disc player, a Canon digital camera, and an Acer laptop. And on eBay, an MP3 player sold every 11 minutes (with the iPod touch leading the way).
The hit of the day, however, was the Nintendo Wii. It was also the most searched-for product on eBay, selling over 3,000 units there at an average price of $349. The Wii Fit also made the top ten sales overall. My Buy.com alerts informed me that they were selling Wii bundles for $379 (bundles, of course, meaning one good game and two or three stupid games, like giving you Super Smash Bros. along with M&M Racing to make you think you’re getting a great deal).
And the odd one out (the non-gadget) in that top ten? Ugg boots. At number 2 right below the Wii. I can’t even think of anything funny about that. I’m just disturbed.
Strangely enough, nothing from our list made the cut.
Also, happy Cyber Monday! Today is supposed to be a companion to Black Friday–the premise being that shoppers would return to work on Monday and immediately go online to buy all the things they missed on Friday. OF course, not only has the term not really taken off, but today isn’t even the biggest online shopping day of the year. Oh, well.
The Simpsons Ridicules Apple & Steve Jobs
The Simpsons have been known to make fun of tech culture from time to time, and last night’s episode, featuring a spoof of many iconic Apple products, was no exception to that. Check it out, and try not to wet your pants while watching it. Yes, it’s actually that funny.
Six Ways Mushrooms Can Save the World
In this highly interesting video presentation, Mycologist Paul Stamets shows us 6 ways how mushrooms could possibly help save our lives, restore our ecosystems, and even transform other worlds.
An Animated Aurora Borealis, As Seen From Orbit
In the following video, you’ll see an animated photo montage by NASA Astronaut Don Pettit, who while in orbit, took a series of shots of an Aurora Borealis in Earth’s atmosphere, to later assemble them to recreate the impressive phenomenon.
The Levitating Water Machine
Isn’t amazing how something as mundane and insignificant as a strobe light can create such a cool effect? Set this up in your company’s lobby area to wow visitors and potential business partners. Who knows? This may actually help you close that important deal that was so crucial to the survival of your company!
[Via [H]]
The Geek Guide to Holiday Gift-Giving
By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
It’s that time of year again! It’s “Black Friday,” when the masses crowd the malls, every man for himself (hey, that sounds like a plot from a zombie movie). Shopping for your favorite geek can be tough, so we at [GAS] are here to help. A lot of guides like this are focused on the hottest gadgets for the holidays… but we figure you already know about those. This list is a little more off the beaten path–gifts for your geek, or even gifts from a geek, if you’re looking for your own stamp of individuality in your gift-giving. And of course, there’s the added bonus that even if you buy these items today, you can do so while sitting in your underwear at your computer.
ISS Astronauts to Drink Recycled Pee
After five days of work, astronauts aboard the Endeavour shuttle have succeeded in the ultimate feat of recycling—turning urine into water. This is thanks to a new machine that should help more people live aboard the International space station at one time.
The urine recycler will be part of a more widely used water recycling system, now valued at $154 million. Since the ISS crew will grow from three to six people in 2009, the use of this new machine is crucial for the station to have a sufficient drinking-water supply. But before putting the new pee-cleaning device online, samples of the liquid will be taken back to Earth for further analysis.
This makes me think of the desert suits worn by the people of Arrakis in Dunes (The book or movie), where all moisture, including urine, is processed and filtered to be fed back to the wearer.
Somehow, this just doesn’t sound right, but hey, drinking a neighbor’s processed pee is always better than dying of dehydration, isn’t it?