I’m taking a hiatus from my blog to work on some things that need new focus and energy.
I’ve been spending most of my days keeping up on technical topics of a broad nature (never drilling down for comprehensive study). I’ve been posting the results of my adventures on my social networks. While keeping up on the latest news is interesting, I need to dedicate some time to branching out into new territories.
I enjoyed writing short articles here on the blog and sharing links on Friendfeed, Posterous, Google Reader, Facebook and especially Twitter, but it’s not that fruitful to me personally. No one has noticed and I will not be missed. It’s just been something to do while the economy is in ruins and IT jobs are scarce.
Someday hopefully IT jobs will return and I may be called into service, but for now, it’s time to dig into something else.
Thanks for watching…. Signing off!
The Consumerist blog put laptops bought at Best Buy with a heavily marketed $40 “optimization” to the test against standard editions of those same systems. It turns out running a few apps yourself is, by far, the better solution.
via In-Store “Optimization” Is Usually Useless, Often Slows Down PCs – Optimization – Lifehacker.
Chrome Extensions or (Add-Ons) are used to extend the functions of the Google Chrome and the Chromium browser. The extension mechanism allows regular web developers with some experience with HTML and Javascript to add functions to the browser, either as a browser bar button or behind the scenes function, in three ways:
As a “Content Script“, the extra function performs some new action on web pages that you visit. The script resides in the background of the browser and when a certain page or any page is displayed, the content script extension may add content, links, css or any adjustment to the page you desire. See examples below.
As a “Browser Action” extension, extra functions to the browser, regardless of what page you are viewing, can be added. Usually in the form of a button on the browser navigation bar, the extension will cause some popup window to appear and offer to perform some extra functions.
As a “Page Action“, the extension will perform some function on the specific page you are viewing.
Chrome Extensions can be a combination of all three and are an easy way to quickly add features for users to enhance their browser experience. The Google Chrome and Chromium developers have made extensions easy to build and rather safe to install.
Examples of a browser extension are:
Adding a “Send Via Email” button (Page Action)
“[[Twitter]] this page” button (Page Action)
“Zoom” the text on every page (Content Script)
Synchronize bookmarks (Browser Action)
Quickly access some web site snippet (Browser Action)
Change FONT to Large Arial Bold on all pages. (Content Script)
There are now over a thousand Chrome Extensions in the official Google Extension Gallery.
Not all versions of Google Chrome or the Chromium browser support extension as yet, but shortly they will.
If you want to build your own extension, you need to know HTML and preferably HTML5, Javascript and the DOM. With this knowledge in hand next visit the extension developer site.
The Chromium OS Project is an open-source operating system project started by Google to form the basis of Google Chrome OS. While Google will distribute it’s flavor of the OS primarily directed toward OEM netbooks, the Chromium OS project being open-source, can be used by anyone willing to join the developer team. The emphasis of the project is to build the fastest, safest and easiest operating system possible to run on small portable netbook type computers, with quick boot-up and fast web-based applications the primary focus.
The purpose of the Chromium OS project (vs Google Chrome OS) is for developers to build out the OS functions, try new ideas and provide pre-release versions for testing and debugging. The project has the benevolent guidance of Google to push things along since this is the core main development work for the Google Chrome OS. The Chromium project provides source code at the Chromium website, while Google works on its own release as a private project slated late 2010.
Features and Functions: Chromium OS (along with Chrome OS) features primarily the Chromium/Chrome browser as the only application the OS will run. The OS is designed to run on SSD devices (solid-state drives) instead of spinning platter hard drives. The OS is designed to provide the minimal resources to simply run the browser. The OS attempts to provide a safer more secure system by booting up a static image of code that rarely needs to be updated, and does not allow any downloaded applications from the Internet to infect the OS. This results in a more stable OS and virtually virus free.
The Chromium OS is based on a Linux kernel to start with. Then the Chromium developers removed and/or replaced bloated code and functions with streamlined versions. The focus of the OS is to provide a fast minimalist system that only provides the basic needs for running the Chromium browser.
Chromium OS source code is available for download so you would have to compile and build the OS for your hardware. Since Google is primarily aiming this OS at netbooks, there is currently a limited list of supported I/O devices. You may not have much success running this on just any platform. However several people are providing ready to download Chromium OS builds for your to try.
The Chromium Browser Project is an open-source web browser project started by Google to form the basis of Google Chrome. While Google will distribute it’s flavor of the web browser, the Chromium project being open-source, can be used by anyone willing to join the project. The emphasis of the project is to build the fastest, safest and easiest browser possible with web applications the primary focus.
The purpose of the Chromium project (vs. Google Chrome) is for developers to build out the browser functions, try new ideas and provide pre-release versions for testing and debugging. The project has the benevolent guidance of Google to push things along since this is the core main development work for the Google’s Chrome. The Chromium project releases nightly builds of the software, called Development Releases, while Google releases its own Developer and Beta versions.
Chromium (along with Chrome) features the latest HTML5 rendering engine based on WebKit, a new and fast scripting language called the V8 Javascript engine and a new simplified User-Interface. The browser also features a simple browser extension mechanism that allows web developers to extend the functions of the browser with simple HTML and javascript, without resorting to more complicated programming languages.
Chromium sports an improved address bar, dubbed the “omnibar”. This entry box allows the entry of website URLS, search terms and references to any history items. A feature popular with Opera users in a “speed dial” page. This start page will show the last most popular pages you’ve visited and provide for a graphical easy click interface. There is also a privacy mode, to hide locations the browser visits and prevents the storage of page elements to the browser cache. Anti-phising technology is incorporated in the browser to help prevent nefarious web sites from infecting your computer with viruses.
The browser attempts to provide a safer more secure browser by keeping individual web pages and scripts separated as distinct protected tasks so no one page can take down the browser or infect the OS. This results in a more stable software program.
Chromium is available for Windows, Mac and Linux in various forms of development. See dev.chromium.org for more information.
Today, DHSs Napolitanos response to the crotchbomber: “Were looking to make sure that this sort of incident cannot recur.” But the TSAs response to Abdulmutalibs attempt makes one thing clear: We must stop pretending the TSA is making us safer.
Security expert Bruce Schneier nails the core incompetency: “For years Ive been saying Only two things have made flying safer [since 9/11]: the reinforcement of cockpit doors, and the fact that passengers know now to resist hijackers.”
So what has the TSA done in response to the attempted attack? Theyve told airlines to make passengers stay in their seats during the last hour of flight. Theyve made it verboten for passengers to hold anything in their laps, again only during the last hour of flight. Perhaps most hilariously telling, theyve forbidden pilots from announcing when a plane is flying over certain cities and landmarks.
via President Obama, Its Time To Fire the TSA – Travel – Gizmodo.
One of the most persistent myths about Windows is that you need to reinstall the operating system regularly to keep it running at top performance. Lets take a look at the real problem and how to fix it.
Today were talking about the myth that Windows slows down over time, and how to solve the problem. The reality is that Windows doesnt slow down if you just take care of your PC a little more. Follow these procedures, and you wont have to wonder if spending hours backing up data, installing from disc, and re-installing your essential applications is really necessary.
via You Dont Need to Regularly Reinstall Windows; Heres Why – Crapware – Lifehacker.
I use Google Reader a lot and I share and send links with it to my Blog, FriendFeed, Twitter and email. It’s all automatic, but one little thing nagged me, my Google email address username always showed up as my name on my Google Shared Items list and in any E-Mail messages I generated from Reader.
I finally figured out how to change that. Google keeps a “nickname” for your account and sure enough, that was set to default to my username and that is what was being used for the Reader functions.
To change your nickname to a real useful name, go to your profile management page or click this:
https://www.google.com/accounts/ManageAccount?hl=en
Under your list of email addresses, click the edit link or go directly there with this link:
https://www.google.com/accounts/EditUserInfo?hl=en
Change your NickName and click save. Now this name will be used for your Google Shared Items page and emails sent from GReader.
RefSeek’s guide to the 25 best online resources for finding and viewing educational videos. With the exception of BrainPOP and Cosmeo, all listed sites offer their extensive video libraries for free and without registration.
via http://www.refseek.com/directory/educational_videos.html
Sharing is Growing
First, and foremost – and most exciting for us – we found that sharing is growing. On a “per page view” level, we’ve seen a 200 percent increase in the shares per page view across our 125,000+ sites in 2009. This means for every page view consumed, the rate of sharing has doubled, meaning our publishers are getting better at optimizing their sharing and consumers now expect it to be there.
Sharing is Valuable
On an aggregate level, sharing is now accounting for as much as one-third of the amount of traffic driven by search, which is most often the top source of traffic for sites. So say a site gets 100,000 unique visitors per month from search, they’re also getting 33,000 from sharing. Now, 33 percent is at the high range of our network, but we’re seeing sites across several verticals (mainstream news, tech, entertainment) achieving these levels.
via The Value of Sharing: Social Engagement | ShareThis.
I’m thinking about shortening up the social sharing network. I post stuff in many places and need to shorten that list and maybe put all the eggs in one basket/stream. I used to post different things to different places. Since I really don’t have that varied of an audience, if at all, it really doesn’t matter. I live in Google Reader, that’s where I get my daily fix. I can control what I skim through, easier than “following” people on Facebook, FriendFeed and Twitter.
So pardon the bumpy ride as I shift gears. I’m thinking of just posting all shared stuff to Google Shared Items, which go to my FriendFeed account and then get posted out to Twitter. Then my Linked-in page picks up the Twitter posts. A long thread, but a single one.
I then will keep my Google Reader Shared Item listed on my Blog on the Daily Links page via the “Recommended Reading” plug-in I just found.
I will still post the most interesting things on my Blog for permanent display, whereas the Google Reader Shared Items list will be a lengthy list of the latest daily items I’m interested in.
One of the values I try to live is “growth.” As part of that quest, taking control of my continued education and intellectual improvement is crucial. We live in an age of such democratization of access to resources that can be used to learn– we just have to take advantage of them. Lots of online self-education lists focus on giving the largest amount of links possible, regardless of how useful they actually are. Instead of copying that format, I decided to focus more on the quality of the websites. The following sites are a great base for your own growth as an intellectual individual.
via thesimplerlife.net » Blog Archive » 14 websites to make you a more intelligent person.
