64: A Touch of Chrome
2010-02-08
Download MP3 For Geekons Episode 64
Pop-Up: Google Chrome 4.0
- Google Chrome has always been the little brother that was cool to have around until you wanted to get some real work done, so you drop him off at the police station to see if he matches any missing persons reports.
- I never had a little brother, but I guess that is what it would be like.
- As of version 4.0, Google Chrome has come of age, changed its name to Sarah and doesn't resent her younger brother Toby as much... or was that the movie Labyrinth?
- Either way, with version 4.0 we now have:
- extensions
- themes
- HTML5
- Javascript performance increases
- ability to pass the ACID3 test (?? I get a 98 out of 100 when I test it)
- Enhanced Developer Tools
- userscript support (built-in greasemonkey!)
- Test out user scripts by going to http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/24371 then clicking "install". Now log into your google reader, and all of your feeds will have their website's favicon instead of the generic Google Reader icon!
- Editing CSS on a page is as simple as opening the developer tools (Control + Shift + I), clicking the gear above the style attributes and choosing "new style rule"
- Test out HTML5 video by going to http://www.youtube.com/html5 and joining the HTML5 beta. Now any video you watch that isn't ad supported will play in HTML5!
- Test ACID 2 compliance by going to: http://acid2.acidtests.org/
- Watch ACID 3 just barely fail at http://acid3.acidtests.org/
- Themes are just as pointless as they are in every other browser, so I won't even link to them.
- Unlike other browsers, Google doesn't add extra stuff, even basic things like RSS support, thankfully we now have extensions, and they install very quickly and don't require restarting the browser!
- Extensions can be found at https://chrome.google.com/extensions/ (I recommend RSS Subscription Extension and Send from Gmail, both written by Google)
- 4 out of 5 stars, I happily use Chrome as my default browser, but it still lacks polished high-performance extensions like the Web Devloper Toolbar and the official Delicious extension. If you are using Internet Explorer, switching to Chrome is a no-brainer. Firefox users: YMMV.
Geek-Tweak: How to control your computer with your iPod Touch or iPhone
- Have you ever been sitting across the room with a laptop plugged into your TV playing Hulu just to find that it is choppy and needs to buffer? Sure, we all have!
- Now, instead of walking over to the laptop and clicking pause for a few minutes, what if you could just use your iPod as a mouse trackpad and click the pause button from your comfy chair as small robots serve you nachos?
- I can't help with the robots, but here's how to be even lazier than you were yesterday:
- Download and install the Logitech Touch Mouse Server from logitech.com ( http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/494/6367&cl=us,en&hub=1?selectedcrid=494&selectedcid=6367&WT.z_sp=Product )
- Install the TouchMouse app by Logitech from the App Store on your iPod Touch.
- Now, just run the TouchMouse app and choose the computer from a list that you want to control. (all computers on the same wireless network that have the server software installed should be listed)
- That's it! you now have a trackpad with an optional keyboard on your iPod Touch that controls your desktop computer!
- Android users will need to use remotedroid from http://www.remotedroid.net/ for the same functionality.
- Just one more app that will make the iPad fun to play with!
View-Source: Think Globally, Act Within Local Variable Scope.
- I saw an awesome shirt that looked like one of those hippie "stop global warming" style shirts, but had a geeky twist. The shirt read "Think Globally." in very large white letters on a green t-shirt. Below in smaller letters were the words "Act Within Local Variable Scope".
- As a geek, that obviously means we need to consider the overall application and use local variables, so we can keep units of code modular and not wind up accidentally using the same variable name in multiple locations.
- As a Christian, this made me stop to think about my spiritual namespace and what that actually means.
- Much like software needing to act within local variable scope, we need to act within our spiritual namespace.
- A namespace is basically like having a context that you are writing code in. This way you can have a width and height variable inside the context (or namespace) of a particular object, like a square.
- By calling ourselves Christian, we have put ourselves inside of Christ's namespace. All of our actions are then viewed within that context by the world, and by our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
- This was first documented in Acts 11:26 by Luke, where he states that the disciples were were first called Christians in Antioch.
- Feeling the need to document where we were first called Christians must mean that the name had caught on and was being widely used.
- Later when Paul was before king Agrippa, he took the opportunity to witness to the king. After hearing Paul's speech, Grippy was able to easily determine what context he was speaking in, or what his namespace was.
- We should behave in such a way that people immediately know what context we are speaking in, what namespace we belong to, and ultimately who we serve.
- That doesn't mean that when we are at church, or on a mission trip we should act within that scope, but that we should Think Globally, consider the entire world, consider the purpose to our lives as a whole, and based on that act in such a way that makes it obvious we are disciples of Christ.
- This also means that if we aren't disciples, if we aren't discipling others, are we really Christians in the way that the bible describes Christians?
- We aren't told that "people who agreed with Jesus were first called Christians", but "people who were disciples of Christ were first called Christians".
- 2 Corinthians 5:20 lets us know the purpose of being in this namespace, which is to be ambassadors for Christ, urging people to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
- Do you act within your namespace? Or do you define and use global (or worldly) variables in your everyday life?
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