Rube Goldberg devices are mechanisms that are extremely complex but do simple things. OK Go uses a giant Rube Goldberg device to accentuate their new music video for their song This Too Shall Pass.
I love Rube Goldberg devices, and you have to admit they are fascinating to watch. The music helps of course…
UPDATE: Here’s their other version which is also a single take video. Very fun version.
Google just released it’s newest service called Buzz. It integrates directly into your Gmail account and is Google’s entry into social networking. Watch the video below for an overview:
There’s also a lot of mobile integration so here’s Google’s short feature video about the mobile specific functions:
If you’d like some more details, check out Lifehacker’s run down on this new service as well. It actually isn’t a way to beat Twitter or Facebook but help you reign it in and access the data you want to access in one place. In the meantime … it’s time to play with a new Google toy.
UPDATE: If you don’t want Buzz to bother you in Gmail just follow this easy Lifehacker guide.
Google Chrome is the new browser on the block and it’s garnering a lot of attention. The main reason – it’s fast. The second reason – it’s secure. Today, the latest stable release came out and you can grab it here for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The latest version includes the long awaited extension support and bookmark sync (as well as lots of fixes and security updates).
Here’s my favorite creative video about the features:
So why switch to Chrome from Firefox or Internet Explorer?
Well the IE question is easy to answer – Internet Explorer just doesn’t work as well as either Chrome or Firefox. It has worse security, lack of standards compliancy, short on features and in general just isn’t very snappy. It is best for use in a business environment because of it’s compatibility with Sharepoint and other MS specific services but otherwise it just doesn’t compare – though to be honest, Internet Explorer 8 is probably the best version of IE ever created. So if you are scared about switching please at least update.
So the bigger question is why choose Chrome over Firefox. Well… there it gets tricky. I am choosing Chrome because it’s faster than Firefox on my Mac and has more standard extensions than Safari. On my PC it’s faster than Firefox and the extensions are lighter than Firefox add-ons so it doesn’t hit my resources as hard. The built in bookmark sync with storage in Google Docs is also nice to have. Plus, if you are already using Google services it works very well with them and the official Google extensions only make it better.
A reason to keep Firefox is the extensive add-on support and tried and tested website support. Firefox is a more mature browser; similar to IE in that it’s become better supported over the years. Firefox keeps on trucking and the latest release does provide some increased speed and security.
A last reason to switch to Chrome is because of the HTML5 compliant video function. Sounds really boring right? Well, what it means is better control and playback of video on the web. YouTube and Vimeo now offer it and the playback is much smoother and much friendlier (especially for accessibility users).
So which extensions do I prefer? Here’s a quick list:
AdBlock: Good adblocking (and Google is okay with it).
Chrome Reader: Google Reader RSS subscription extension
Google Similar Pages: Good for finding, well, similar pages…
Google Mail Checker: Basic checker and link
Google Voice Checker: Check Google Voice account and also activates numbers found on pages.
Send from Gmail (No Button): Sets Gmail as default for composing when you click on email links
If you want a few to try out just head over to the extensions page and check out some of the “Featured” and “Most Popular” ones.
So there you have it – a whole new browser to play with and see if you like. Oh – I forgot to mention – it will automatically bring over your bookmarks/favorites and settings from either IE or Firefox so you can be up and running in no time. So give it a try and see what you think – worse that could happen is you don’t like it and go back to what you were using.
I’ll be surprised if you do though…
So I’ve had the weekend to play with the new Google Chrome OS (thanks to the virtual disk provided by GDGT). My opinion – it will be an excellent OS for a secondary computer or someone in a well connected city. Watch the following video for a quick overview of the idea behind Chrome OS.
So what you see is that this OS will be good for people who are pretty much based on the internet. It’s only been out for a week and it won’t be officially released for a year – and as you’ve noticed, more and more is becoming internet (or “Cloud”) based so this makes pretty good sense.
Maybe next year all you’ll need is a browser … in which case all you’ll need is Chrome OS. Google has posted a few other case uses for Chrome OS and Lifehacker has some interesting commentary about other people’s experience.
Even if it isn’t for you – it certainly does seem like an interesting take on where computers are heading these days.
Today, TPB announced that they are going trackerless. This is a newer function of BitTorrent sharing that allows a site to provide links to torrent swarms without actually hosting torrent files – so it’ll be even harder to prosecute sites for peer-2-peer sharing because they host even less data. It also allows for cheaper site hosting without loosing some of the beneficial functions such as file details and comments.
This is all done using a function called magnet links. This allows you to join a torrent swarm without truly using a torrent file or a centralized tracker. TPB has converted all of their torrents to magnet links. TorrentFreak has a good article about the changes. This is why many people will be commenting about “problems” at The Pirate Bay. It’s not a problem but a change – a major change for the site but for most people it won’t affect them much at all.
Many of the popular clients can already use magnet links so the change won’t mean much for those using Azureus/Vuze or uTorrent, but those using the popular client Transmission on OS X and Ubuntu may have to grab a different client for use with TPB (and uTorrent is still working some bugs out of magnet link usage). You can also try Magnetiser, a Firefox extension for using magnet links.
Other sites may be switching over as well (torrentz.com site started with a trackerless system), especially with TPB’s considerable influence on the peer-2-peer community. Hopefully client development will quickly include the magnet link function.
TL;DR – it’s a change. Grab a client that works with magnet links and The Pirate Bay will be back to normal for you.
UPDATE: Transmission devs have already stated they are reworking the new 1.8 version to include magnet link function. That was fast.
This video is completely trippy and fun to watch. It’s an ad for Toshiba’s new LCD TVs, but who cares. There’s just something cool about it…
A little while back Gmail added a feature to their labs options called Canned Responses. It is an extremely useful tool and I’m going to explain a few uses for this tool and maybe you’ll find it useful in your regular email use.
First off, to turn it on, go to your Google Mail (Gmail) account and click on Settings in the upper right corner. Then click on the Labs header. You can also click on the little green bottle next to Settings to go directly to the Labs page.
Next you’ll want to scroll down a ways until you find the Canned Responses options and then mark it as Enable and then click the Save Changes button either at the top or bottom of the page.
Now you are all set to start creating your canned responses.
The most common use is to create a draft of text that answers a common question. For example, I get the question about how to clean spyware off a computer regularly so I have a canned response with some recommendations on how to go about this. When I get the question I can just click on Reply and then click on Canned Responses and select my spyware cleaning response. It then automatically loads all the text, links, and formatting into my current message. I hit send and I’m done. Also, having a prepared answer means I’ve had a chance to go over it a couple times to make sure it’s clear and concise.
A similar option would be if you are the birthday maven of your family and you get the “when is Uncle Bob’s birthday” question regularly. You can have a canned response that has everyone’s birthday setup already. You can just hit that quick option and be done.
Let’s create a new canned response that we’ll use for another function – an email signature. Gmail has some automated signature options but sometimes you may want a different signature for different occasions.
First start a new email by clicking on Compose Mail on your Gmail page. Leave the details like To and Subject blank and just go to the body of the message. Here is a common format for a detailed signature:
-- First Last Name 123 Main St Somecity, CA 12345 Phone Number Email Address
Once you have the details written out, you’ll want to save it as a canned response. Click on Canned Responses in above the message body and below the subject line and choose “New Canned Response” under Save.
You will be prompted to name it so call it something you’ll recognize like “Detailed Signature” or something similar. Once you click OK you are done. You can click on Discard and you’ll be back to your message folder.
To test out your new canned response you can click on Compose Mail and then in the message area click on Canned Reponses and choose “Detailed Signature” from under the Insert heading. It will appear in your message body.
The nice thing about the Canned Responses is that it will appear wherever your cursor is located. So you can type out your entire message and then insert your signature.
As you can see, this allows you to not only have canned emails but saved snippets of text that you can insert anywhere you like. If you are often typing out a common phrase or bit of information you can save it as a canned response and insert it into your email wherever it fits best.
The last function I wanted to mention is that filters can use canned responses. This is useful for businesses who get frequent common questions and it’s also useful as a vacation reminder (so you can tell specific people specific information while you are away). This means that emails that come in with specific triggers can get a specific response from you without your direct interaction.
It’s a pretty neat function and can provide lots of options. Currently, I use it for many tech responses to common questions, as a vacation reminder to family, and to insert different signatures with different details depending on the situation. For some other ideas, check out Lifehacker’s article about how they and some of their readers use canned responses.
Good luck and as always, feel free to ask any questions in the comments.
So there’s a project brewing in a galaxy not too far away… it’s a fan made version of Star Wars – but you only get to add 15 seconds!
http://www.vimeo.com/6788001Check out the official Star Wars: Uncut website for more details and clips from the fans.
