Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Google Chrome Will Support Add-Ons, User Scripts [Google Chrome]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/397471359/google-chrome-will-support-add+ons-user-scripts

InformationWeek confirms that Google Chrome will have add-ons, a move that could have an enormous impact on Chrome's viability among the power users and early adopters in the Firefox camp. In addition to regular extensions, Chrome will also support scripts à la Greasemonkey:

"There's two different kinds of add-ons," [Google engineer Ojan] Vafai said. "The Firefox things extend your browser, so to speak, and then there are user scripts. We intend to do both of those in Google Chrome." Greasemonkey's founder, Aaron Boodman, actually works on the Google Chrome team.

Additionally, Vafai says Google will work to ensure its extensions are more stable than Firefox, where "there are problems with instability." That statement may sound like slap in the face to Mozilla, but Chrome will likely be a boon no matter which of two browsers you prefer.

Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich, joining the panel along with Vafai and Microsoft Internet Explorer platform architect Chris Wilson, said that Mozilla was looking at how Google treated tabs as a potential way to improve stability when dealing with browser add-ons. "There are good process-isolation tricks that Chrome does that we're looking into, so we're simply going to look at better isolation techniques for security and integrity," he said.

The upshot: No matter which browser you choose in the end, Chrome and Firefox will push each other into innovative, fast, and hopefully more stable territories with each release.

Web 2.0: Google Chrome To Support Add-Ons [InformationWeek via Gizmodo]

Virtual World Marketing That Works: My Top 3 Tips

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/397267453/

So last year, most people decided that marketing real products in virtual worlds like Second Life doesn’t work. Since then, however, I’ve come across some avatar-driven advertising campaigns with very impressive numbers. In Gaia Online, for example, users grabbed over a million virtual copies of a Toyota Scion; in Second Life, a promotion for the IMAX screening of the latest “Harry Potter” movie was credited for boosting the movie’s ticket sales online.

Why do campaigns like these work where others have failed? I discussed that at a presentation I gave at the Web 2.0 Expo this week in New York. Here are my main reasons, packaged into three tips for future marketers:

Worlds With User-Created Content Are Good Marketing Venues:
Habbo Hotel from Finland-based Sulake Corp. reports strong results from its marketing of real-world products, primarily those associated with pop stars and TV/movies. Jeremy Monroe, Sulake’s North American director of marketing and business development, attributes this success to Habbo’s open-ended, creative game play. "At its core, Habbo is about social interaction, having fun building a world for self-expression and creative experiences,” Monroe told me. “Products…that exemplify these traits or can add to the existing sandbox of user-generated content game play are a great start." (While Second Life is entirely user-created, its most notoriously unsuccessful marketing campaigns failed to leverage this aspect of the culture.)

Market to the Web 2.0 Ecology Around The Virtual World:
Because virtual worlds are by their very nature dynamic and synchronous, a tremendous amount of activity related to them actually takes place elsewhere, in the Web 2.0 content-sharing ecology — screenshots sent to Flickr, machinima uploaded to YouTube, blogs and conferencing systems where users discuss their latest experiences. In Gaia Online, for instance, 30 percent of user activity occurs in the site’s messaging boards compared with 10 percent in the virtual world itself. To capitalize on this for the Scion campaign, Gaia VP Joe Hyrkin told me, they offered Scion-branded “driver’s licenses” that Gaia users could add to their forum signatures.

Serve Existing Community Needs:
With Second Life, new users enter a strange, overwhelming world without many objects in their inventory, and are usually too intimidated to talk with the locals. To serve this need, the agency behind a promotion for IMAX created “buzz agent” avatars who cheerfully engaged “noobs” in Second Life’s Welcome Area, offering them tips on using the interface — all while handing out “Harry Potter” memorabilia and directing them to IMAX’s retail site.

Of course, while these success stories might encourage marketers to take a second look at Second Life and other virtual worlds, the metrics of success still haven’t been agreed upon. That’s why many are eagerly awaiting a Forrester Research report that will try to define and standardize virtual marketing ROI. So am I. Stay tuned.

Disclosure: I gave a single paid speaking appearance at Gaia Online about my Second Life book.

Image: Gaiaonline.com

Joost Now Offers Online TV with Only a Browser [Joost]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/396314077/joost-now-offers-online-tv-with-only-a-browser

Joost, the web-based provider of on-demand and live television, launched a browser-based version of its offerings this morning. While users of the service's Mac and Windows software can still get at their channels, Joost's new model allows anyone with Flash capabilities, and a temporarily-required browser IE or Firefox plug-in, to get at the good stuff. Joost is expected to go no-plugin-required next month—nice for those on Linux or non-standard browsers—but for now, it's a bit more hassle-free to watch live or canned television at work, or show a friend that old sitcom episode you were referring to. Joost is a free service; requires a sign-up and (for the moment) browser plug-in.

Joost [via TechCrunch]

Five Best BitTorrent Applications [Hive Five]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/396340609/five-best-bittorrent-applications

The days of peer-to-peer file sharing tools ushered into popularity by the original Napster are over and done, and today, BitTorrent reigns supreme. It took some time for BitTorrent to gain mainstream popularity, but now that it has, there are a surplus of BitTorrent clients available vying for your downloads. On Tuesday we asked you to share your favorite BitTorrent applications, and now we're back with the five most popular choices. Keep reading for a breakdown of the top five and to pick the BitTorrent client you count on. Photo by djxspike.

Before We Get Started

By now BitTorrent is a common and popular file-sharing protocol, so chances are you all know how it works. If you don't, check out our beginner's guide to BitTorrent. If that's too elementary for you, our intermediate guide might be more your speed.

uTorrent (Windows)

uTorrent's first public release came three years ago today, having been developed with one goal in mind: To create a lightweight, efficient BitTorrent client. Once a popular independently developed app, uTorrent is now owned and operated by BitTorrent the company (not to be confused with the protocol). Despite a continued emphasis on keeping the application small, fast, and light, uTorrent is now loaded with features, including a personal fa! vorite, built-in remote control.

Deluge (All Platforms)

Deluge is a lightweight, cross-platform BitTorrent client. The look and feel of Deluge is very reminiscent of uTorrent, and as much as uTorrent has dragged their heels on porting to any platform other than Windows, Deluge is poised to really take hold as a uTorrent-for-the-rest-of-us. The app is a little over a year old, and in that time it's already built an impressive, feature-rich client. Another feather in Deluge's cap is that it supports a plug-in architecture, and though all plug-ins are currently included in the app, the extensibility it offers could mean a lot to Deluge as it continues to grow.

Transmission (Mac OS X/*nix)

Transmission is a free, open-source BitTorrent client with big download bars and an increasingly impressive feature set. Like uTorrent and Deluge, Transmission aims to remain as light on system resources as possible while still offering every feature most users could want or need. The application boasts similar features to most of the rest, like download scheduling and remote control, but also has nice integration with OS X, including Dock and Growl notifications and built-in Quick Look.

rTorrent (*nix)

rTorrent is a text-based BitTorrent client that runs on Linux and Unix-like systems. In contrast to the other options, rTorrent is about as spartan as you can get on features and interface. Most fans of rTorrent love that they can easily control rTorrent remotely over SSH, but a very nice web interface called wTorrent is available if you like the idea behind rTorrent but can't see yourself managing all your downloads through the command line.

Vuze (All Platforms)

Vuze (or the BitTorrent client formerly known as Azureus) is a free, cross-platform application written in Java. Often criticized for its memory footprint (70MB at startup for me—or about 10 times that of uTorrent), Vuze has recently re-branded; in addition to the torrent downloading, it's now a content distribution tool for original video. One of the biggest talking points for Vuze addicts is its distributed trackerless network, which allows users to find and download content from peers even when they can't find anything on a web tracker.

Now that you've seen the best, it's time to vote for the BitTorrent client that gets the job done for you.

Which Is the Best BitTorrent Application?
( polls)

If you've picked your favorite BitTorrent client and you know our beginner and intermediate guides inside and out, check out our top 10 BitTorrent tools and tricks for more ! cool way s to get the most from BitTorrent.

Stanford Offers Free, Full Courses Online [Education]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/396424437/stanford-offers-free-full-courses-online

The Stanford Engineering Everywhere program offers online access to full courses in the school's engineering program—including classes in computer science and artificial intelligence. Courses include lecture videos, reading lists, handouts, quizzes, tests, and even a social network for fellow online students. Not quite your speed? Check out other ways you can get a free college education online.

Yugma Integrates Screen Sharing with Skype [Featured Download]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/396620411/yugma-integrates-screen-sharing-with-skype

Windows/Mac OS X: Free Skype plug-in Yugma Team Collaboration adds a screen sharing feature to Skype. The plug-in is an offshoot of previously mentioned Yugma, a standalone web conferencing and screen-sharing tool that you can use independently if you're not already a Skype user. The benefit to the Skype plug-in is that you have easy integration with your already populated Skype contact list, so starting up a meeting with Yugma through Skype (once it's set up) is a breeze. In addition to screen sharing, Yugma also offers remote control and annotation, among other features that could make it a worthwhile meeting tool. The biggest drawback is Skype's plug-in system, which is cumbersome, confusing, and makes getting started sharing with Yugma more of a pain than it should be.

Yugma Team Collaboration (Windows)
Yugma Team Collaboration (Mac)

MSI Talks About Future of Wind, HSDPA on Way [Wind]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/396412828/msi-talks-about-future-of-wind-hsdpa-on-way

In an interview with Impress, MSI's Neo Lin (Notebook Product Manager) leaked some details of upcoming Wind mini-notebook revisions. The big news is that HSDPA will be coming to the new U91 (8.9") and U120 (10") systems. But the (translated) interview has some other interesting info other than just the specs on new models. Lin reveals a great geek factoid explaining where the name "Wind" came from (Wi-Fi Network Device). And that just made our day. Seriously. He also warns that dual core Atoms require twice as much power, a design obstacle that all netbook manufacturers will need to overcome. [Impress via Engadget]

First Historic Image of Planet 3106 Trillion Miles From Earth [Telescopes]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/396600896/first-historic-image-of-planet-3106-trillion-miles-from-earth

Thanks to the distortion-reducing power of the ALTAIR adaptive optics system on the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii, three University of Toronto scientists were able to capture images of the star 1RXS J160929.1-210524 from a distance of about 500 light years away. The image is believed to be the first ever of a planet in an alien solar system around a sun-like star. The discovery is made even more significant because the "planet" lies a tremendous distance away from its parent star—challenging currently accepted theories about star and planet formation. It will take up to 2 years of research to determine whether or not this object is, in fact, tied to the star by gravity. [Gemini via ScienceNews via DVICE]

Lenovo Thinkpad X200 Tablet, 12 Inches of Touchtasticness [Laptops]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/396620334/lenovo-thinkpad-x200-tablet-12-inches-of-touchtasticness

Lenovo's X200 tablet isn't the best kept secret, but it's a nice looking convertible laptop now that we have the full specs. At 3.5lbs, the configurable tablet features a 12.1" touchscreen (in pen or finger input options) Core 2 Duo processors up to 1.86GHz supported by 4GB of RAM, and available upgrades to 128MB SSD, WiMax, integrated camera, fancy dual array mic (designed to cancel ambient noise) and thumbprint reader. But that's not all!

If you're willing to dock in to the optional UltraBase port, you can output HD A/V through the DisplayPort (DVI replacement) and add goodies like DVD burners and Blu-ray drives.

The graphics setup is integrated, the Intel GMA4500—not a powerhouse but capable of displaying 1080P content from that Blu-ray add-on.

And if you stick with the standard 4-cell battery, the X200 can run for about 4.2 hours with a jump to 10 hours if you upgrade to the 8-cell. According to Lenovo, that's a 50% improvement on battery life from their old tablets.

We don't know the price, but expect to pay a bit for the premium system.

Palin Email "Hack" Was Hardly a Hack at All [P053ur5]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/396663542/palin-email-hack-was-hardly-a-hack-at-all

The screamingly obvious trail of evidence left behind by the person who broke into Sarah Palin's Yahoo mail yesterday should have been the tip-off—this was not an elite job. According to postings on the troll-hive forum 4chan dug up by Threat Level, all the perp did was guess her password-resest security question correctly after a few seconds of Googling.

The question was: Where did you meet your spouse? A fact that is readily available in the now flooded stream of Palin info on the web—they met in high school, and that's all it took to start the shitstorm. The 4chan post also further illustrates that the whole thing was done by someone well over their head:

yes I was behind a proxy, only one, if this shit ever got to the FBI I was fucked, I panicked, i still wanted the stuff out there but I didn't know how to rapidshit all that stuff, so I posted the pass on /b/, and then promptly deleted everything, and unplugged my internet and just sat there in a comatose state

Read the complete post over at Wired, and pick up an excellent primer to making sure your email and other online accounts are as secure as possible with this great guide by our friends at Lifehacker. [Threat Level, Lifehacker]

Hands-On: Canon EOS 5D Mark II [5D Mark II Hands On]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/396693880/hands+on-canon-eos-5d-mark-ii

We got our hands on Canon's brand-new full-HD shooting 5D Mk II monster tonight, and well, yeah, we want it just as much as we did last night—even though Canon wouldn't let us pop our own CF cards in for some test shots and vids. We're not mad though—we ran through live view, video mode autofocus and everything else you can do with an SLR with no CF (ie: grope, grope, grope). Let's look.

As you know, AF during live view and HD video recording is tricky business. But the 5D adds three distinct modes for AF during live view—color contrast and facial recognition, an "quick" mode which quickly drops the mirror. You won't be able to track a fast moving object, but all are serviceable. Here you see the 5D correctly IDing Canon tech guru Chuck's mug. Live view definitely takes a few seconds to pop to live, but it's worth the wait for what you get in the end. As you'll soon see here on Giz.

Samsung 10-inch NC10 netbook fears germs, not Germans

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/396995821/

Filed under: Laptops

Ho boy, what's this? Can it be that another vendor has introduced a laptop-cannibalizing 10-inch netbook? Oh, you betcha -- it's the occasionally seen NC10 from Samsung, sporting the same chunky design, heavy XP OS, 10.2-inch display, 6-cell battery, WiFi, Bluetooth, up to 160GB hard disk storage, and 1.6GHz Atom processor as just about every other 10-inch netbook on the market. So what does Samsung bring to the table that's truly unique? An anti-bacterial keyboard for ~~germanophobes~~ mysophobes, that's what. Available in Europe next month for an undisclosed price.

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Nokia's E72 slider and E75 candybar with QWERTY keyboards leaked

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/397032196/

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

A Nokia promotional video has apparently been leaked to YouTube revealing a pair of an unannounced, business-minded handsets: the E72 QWERTY slider and E75 QWERTY candybar. Check all the hot corporate, S60 video action after the break -- who knew architectural planning could be so easy?

[Via Symbian Freak]

Continue reading Nokia's E72 slider and E75 candybar with QWERTY keyboards leaked

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Computers begin to 'understand' the meanings of words

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=/connected/2008/09/19/dlcomputers119.xml

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 18/09/2008

The technology now exists to teach computers the meanings of words so that they can "understand" the English language in much the same way as a human.

Cognition Technologies has released a "semantic map" that can give machines a vocabulary that is 10 times larger than that of a typical American college graduate.

The firm has begun licensing the map to software creators interested in developing programs that "understand" words based on their tenses and context in a sentence - in a similar way to the human brain.

"We have taught the computer virtually all the meanings of words and phrases in the English language," Cognition chief executive Scott Jarus told AFP. "This is clearly a building block for Web 3.0, or what is known as the Semantic Web. It has taken 30 years; it is a labour of love," Jarus said.

When applied to Internet searches, semantic technology delivers results directed at what users actually seem to be looking for instead of simply matching words used to online content. For example, a semantic online search for "melancholy songs with birds" would know to link sadness in lyrics with various species of birds.

Cognition's semantic map is already used in a LexisNexis Concordance "e-discovery" software to sift through documents amassed during evidence phases of trials.

"We help them find the needle in a haystack," Jarus said.

Cognition's Caselaw program uses the technology to look through more than a half-century of US federal court decisions for legal precedents, according to the company. The semantic map is also used in a widely-used medical database.

Cognition has a handful of rivals, with each firm taking its own approach to semantic technology. In July US software giant Microsoft bought San Francisco-based Powerset, a three-year-old start-up which specialises in interpreting the intent of people's Internet searches instead of matching specific words they use. Microsoft said it planned to use Powerset technology to enhance its free Live Search service.

Intel's dual-core Atom 330 reviewed in desktop guise

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/397227716/

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Intel's dual-core Atom 330 reviewed in desktop guise

Intel's Atom processor and the netbook are the silicon equivalent of Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson; they're inseparable. Naturally we can't wait for the dual-core Atom 330 to cozy up to the next generation of economical portables, but have to wait a bit as it's being soldered exclusively into tiny desktops at the moment, like the one tech site The Guru of 3D just ran through a series of benchmarks. The posted results could have been interesting had they compared its performance to the single-core Atom 230 rather than AMD's (relatively) heavy-hitting Athlon 4850 X2 and Phenom 9850 -- not exactly apples to apples. We'll just have to assume it's roughly twice as fast on the right apps, all that for only twice the power consumption. That's still only a measly 8-watts! [Via The Inquirer]

The Atom 330 Dual core processor utilizes ... and do get scared now .. 8 Watt at maximum :) For the entire "PC" we maxed out at 56 Watts with both CPU cores 100% stressed and the PC in idle consumed 43.6 Watt. The light bulb in my toilet uses even more power...""

Atom 330 does not look like anything particularly stellar for the desktop it should do the job better than the alternatives by Via. We ran it with Windows Vista perfectly fine...."

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