Image via WikipediaIt's so nice to be using a browser that is so safe and to have exploits being fixed before any of the competition.
Google fixes Flash exploit in Chrome, but others have to wait | Technology | guardian.co.uk
Monday, March 21, 2011
Google fixes Flash exploit in Chrome, but others have to wait | Technology | guardian.co.uk
Image via WikipediaIt's so nice to be using a browser that is so safe and to have exploits being fixed before any of the competition.
Google fixes Flash exploit in Chrome, but others have to wait | Technology | guardian.co.uk
New Development Channel Update Fixes Some Problems
Image by lewong2000 via FlickrThere was a new Development Channel release at the end of last week (3/17) which for me has fixed a couple of glaring problems. The previous release had the annoying habit of continually restarting every time I would bring it out of sleep mode. It had something to do with reconnecting to the wireless network in my house, which is a problem that has persisted since I got my cr-48. I would need to disconnect and reconnect my wireless in order to get any data. And then the release came that would make my cr-48 crash completely while trying to reconnect to the wireless. So, I'm happy to report that this release doesn't crash my cr-48 on wake-from-sleep, and even successfully reconnects to the wireless occasionally. This is something that still needs some work, but it appears to be getting close to completion.
Another problem is that the location aware features of the cr-48 crash the cr-48. If you try to use any extensions or apps that are location aware, the crash occurs. Some examples are the full-page web app from the weather underground, and Twitter if you try to use location stamping on your tweets. This problem has been around for the last two releases on the dev channel, so hopefully a fix is forth-coming.
Overall, the CR-48 experience is getting better and better. I have noticed an increase in the speed and responsiveness of the system, with quick redraws on loading of web pages. Flash-heavy pages still seem a little choppy, and scrolling with the track pad while loading one of these pages is jerky at best. Scrolling with the down arrow key is much better. Speaking of flash, the newer dev channel releases include to different flash engines: one called pepper and the "regular one." In order for most flash pages to work, the pepper flash needs to be disabled.
Cloud printing still works well for me, but the about:flags print preview page is still broken. Luckily for me, most of what I print is pdf, so I can already see what the printed output will look like.
The last couple of dev channel releases have also seen the addition of a widget in the status bar that looks like a little square. Much has been asked and answered on many blogs as to the purpose of this widget. It is, in fact, a window changer that becomes active when you have multiple windows open. It somewhat mimics the task of the "next-window" button in the top row of the keyboard, but unlike that button, it will not display crosh shell windows when used. So if you have a crosh window open, you still need to use the "next-window" button to see it.
Oh, one more thing: the slideshow url still doesn't work, so you need to use the trusty file:/// url to see any screenshots or image files that you may have. It will be nice when this is fixed; a lot of users are complaining that screenshots don't work, when in fact it is the slideshow functionality that is broken.
As alway, anxiously awaiting the next update to see what goodies it brings!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Google's Chrome untouched at Pwn2Own hack match - Computerworld
Image via WikipediaGoogle offers $20,000 to anyone who can crack Chrome OS, and no one even bothers to try. How many volumes does that say about Google's technology behind the operating system? This should easily boost Chrome OS as being a safe alternative to business.
See the original article here at ComputerWorld:
Google's Chrome untouched at Pwn2Own hack match - Computerworld
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Google Chrome 10: A Feature Breakdown - PCWorld
Image via WikipediaFor those of you CR-48 owners that are still on the Beta channel, here is a good article that explains most of the features of the Google Chrome Browser version 10. The article pays particular attention to the new settings interface (tab-based) and what all of the features in the settings are used for.
Beta Channel users can find this article at:
Google Chrome 10: A Feature Breakdown - PCWorld
Hands-on: Chrome 10 Pushes the Browser Speed Barrier - Computerworld
Image via WikipediaAn article at ComputerWorld hightlight the speed improvements in Google Chrome 10. We lucky CR-48 owners who are using the development channel have seen our Chrome version rocket to 11.0.
Read the article here:
Hands-on: Chrome 10 pushes the browser speed barrier - Computerworld
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Another Update in the Development Channel for CR-48s
Image via CrunchBaseLast night (3/7) brought a new update to the Development Channel, and now we have the following version information:Chrome OS 0.11.227.0 (Official Build) dev-channel x86-mario
Google Chrome 11.0.690.0
However, this release comes with more problems than it's worth, and from what I hear this morning the update has been pulled.
The problems were many: Crashing on every restart, blank, white pages, inability to go to bookmarked pages and receive any data, plus many more. A new functionality was added to pre-render web pages and according to on of the moderators on the Google Groups group for the pilot program, you need to disable this in order for pages to load correctly. You do this by going to the about:flags page and selecting Disable from the drop-down in the Pre-rendering group. Problem is, a lot of people can't even get to the about:flags page to change this setting. It takes several reboots, closing all tabs, a couple of crashes and, well, you get the idea.
On a good note, with the upgrade to Chrome 11.0.690.0, there is a very noticeable speed improvement. Pages draw much more quickly, and there is no lag in any of the websites that I normally use. Reminds me more of the commercial that Google did early on for Chrome that show it being faster than a speeding projectile and other things. Also the track-pad is much better behaved. Scrolling in all directions is smooth and controllable. Another new feature is the window cycle button in the top of the window by the battery monitor. If you have several windows and panels open, pressing this button will cycle through them all.
So, if the rumor about the update being pulled is correct, then hopefully the next release will fix the problems for those of us who got this upgrade. When that happens, this will be a great little machine. Snappy, responsive and with some really great features.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Application Review - Chromey Calculator
While looking for a calculator application to use on the CR48, I found a number of the usual types of calculators, and most were very usable. But then I came across the Chromey Calculator. For pure nerd-appeal, this has got to be one of the best. As you can see from this screenshot
the calculator lets you do a number of interesting things. Entering "distance to the moon in miles" will return the value of that which you can then assign to a variable (denoted by the @ symbol) for use in further calculations. Basic and advanced math functions are supported as well as some statistical functions and trigonometric functions. You can retrieve any numerical value that you can think of and use it in your calculations. Want to find the speed of a body falling off of the Empire State Building? Get the height of the building and the constant for acceleration due to gravity, plug it into the formula and you've got your answer. Not sure what the formula is? You only need to enter a phrase to lookup the formula you need.
Lots of fun to just poke around and find some interesting data, like the distance to Betelgeuse in Light years (641.8) or the diameter of the Milky Way (100,000ly) and great for balancing the checkbook
Check it out in the Google App Store.
Lots of fun to just poke around and find some interesting data, like the distance to Betelgeuse in Light years (641.8) or the diameter of the Milky Way (100,000ly) and great for balancing the checkbook
Check it out in the Google App Store.
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