Thushan Fernando Uncut

Epic news, Google has released a 1.0 release of Chrome.

We have removed the beta label as our goals for stability and performance have been met but our work is far from done. We are working to add some common browser features such as form autofill and RSS support in the near future. We are also developing an extensions platform along with support for Mac and Linux. If you are already using Google Chrome, the update system ensures that you get the latest bug fixes and security patches, so you will get the newest version automatically in the next few days.

You can download a windows version today, the Linux & Mac OS builds are still in development.

Cool Tools, Developer, Operating Systems, Web / Internets, Windows, software browser, chrome, explorer, firefox, google, internet, konquerer, linux, mozilla, opera, safari, web browser, webkit, Windows

I’ve just been reading up on the newly announced Google Chrome browser that will no doubt set a new standard for browsers. Its built on the WebKit engine and includes some really really different train of thoughts on how browsers should act and behave. You can read a very nicely done Comic Strip on the new things we can expect to see, which I think is genius in itself.

Some things that stood out from the usual norm:

• Chrome seperates to a multi-process design system for tabs, this implies that a failure on one tab will not affect the entire browsing experience. This will initially increase the memory usage but over time it should mean leaner footprints thanks to cleaner recycling of resources. (Much like IE8)
• They used WebKit as its leaner and faster than other rendering engines. (Which powers Safari of all things)
• Has its own Javascript VM which is called V8 built from scratch that implements a faster IL for Javascript which provides a far better garbage collection mechanism than what is possible right now. But I wonder what that does for smaller ad-hoc style scripts that devs litter around?
• New tabs will open with a similar style of initial page to Opera - SpeedDial - which they introduced in Opera 9.2, so this will pickout frequently visited sites and display them on a speed browse fashion.
• Privacy mode similar to what IE8 offers in InPrivate ™ mode.
• Popups are confined to their owner tab, this means we have _total_ control over the popups that annoy us.
• Sandboxed tabs, which means any malware you may get are confined or ‘jailed’ not allowing any of your actions to be affected or monitored.
• Plugins themselves are in a seperate process - taken out of the renderer itself - meaning that any flaws or stalls in the plugin wont affect the rest of the session.
• Integration with the Malware API from Google. Which caught the MSY hack leak a few weeks back.

And finally, a slide about the open nature of Google Chrome, notice the little guy with a ball on the top left?

Whilst they are exciting features theres stuff here that have already been done by other companies (Opera and Microsoft) it’ll be interesting to see where Google goes with this. I dont think I’ve been more excited about a browser than today.

Developer, Its My Life, Web / Internets browser, chrome, firefox, googe, internet explorer, web

An interesting bit-o-javascript posted by Mike-On-Ads that exploits an age old trick of leaking out the browsers navigated history. Armed with the info a cunning developer can workout what gender the viewer is.

The blog posting on the site explains the method used and allows you to try it out. Give it a ago and see how accurate it is

Here are my results:

Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 34%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 66%

Damn, I knew I shouldnt be browsing SlashDot that much, atleast it wasnt Cosmopolitan or Womens Weekly (ooops!). Unfortunately, only my current session records the history as I clear my page history when firefox closes. I’ll have to try it again and see if it changes.

Developer, Security, Web / Internets browser, firefox, internet explorer, javascript

MSY(.com.au - dont go there yet!), one of the most competitive IT hardware stores in Australia recently got hacked and the site has embedded Net-Worm.JS.Aspxor.a worm. Only realised after I went to the site and Firefox blocked the page. You can read all about the hack and the effects on the Whirlpool Thread or Google Safe Browsing diagnostic page.

Its always nice when someones got your back. Who knows MSY might actually endup making a proper website now instead of the messy FrontPage site that was.

General, Operating Systems, Security, Windows australia, browser, firefox, firefox 3, hardware, malware, msy, retailer, Security, software, whirlpool, worm

Ubuntu 8.04 was released when I was in Japan, but it didnt stop me from downloading it - sucked it up at ~5Mbps which was bloody ridiculous!

Now we can finally get our hands on the first update to this LTS, Ubuntu 8.04.1 which contains - amongst a slew of bug-fixed packages - Firefox 3.0 Final. More information on the changes are posted on the Ubuntu mailing list release notification.

I’m still running 7.10 on the server at home - until I get the bawls (and time!) to redo the lovely server ZEUS has become to be! In the meantime, my Dell M1330 is upgrading to the 8.04.1 release as I write.

Grab a copy of Ubuntu 8.04.1 today!

On a side note, just recently saw the release of Sabayon Linux 3.5 which brings some really cool things to the table, I’ve downloaded the LiveDVD and considering giving it a go.

Linux/Unix, Operating Systems firefox, Gnome, KDE, Kernel, laptop, linux, LTS, open saucey, open source, Sabayon, software, ubuntu, ubuntu 8.04.1

Well I’m still living it up in Japan (the fifth extension to my stay here!) but today marks an important day for the release of two very cool applications I’ve learnt to love and never live without.

Firefox 3.0 has finally been released after a long development cycle and with that WINE 1.0, 15 years in the making but as they say, the best Wine matures with age, and WINE certainly has matured! Not to forget, Opera has also released Opera 9.50.

Cheers!

General browser, firefox, firefox 3, internet explorer, japan, opera, wine, wine 1.0