ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear

Have you ever wondered what the Web was like before the Mosaic Web browser? If you were born in the last 20-odd years, or you only discovered your inner geek recently, did you miss out on monochrome monitors and the dial-up BBS era? Well, here's your chance to get a sneak peek at history: grab the ChromeLite extension and marvel as the entire Web is transformed into ASCII characters.

Now, ChromeLite isn't really all that functional. For the most part, it simply strips images and converts text into a monospaced terminal font. There are a few Easter eggs inserted -- such as a fun message at the bottom of YouTube (image after the break) -- and some fun ASCII art, but that's about it. Rather oddly, most JavaScript continues to work -- so you can still enjoy Google Instant Search!

ChromeLite was actually made by Google as an April Fools' joke -- and indeed, an annoying 'you can uninstall this!' message appears at the top of every page -- but we're kind of hoping that Google, or another developer, takes ChromeLite and turns it into a real ASCII browsing extension with configurable settings. If anything, it will provide an easy way to save bandwidth and CPU time.

Continue reading ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear

ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/chromelite-experience-the-ascii-web-of-yesteryear/

LM ERICSSON LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL MCAFEE MAXIMUS

Altaro Hyper-V Backup beta launched, only 250 places available

This one's for the sysadmins in the audience: Altaro, makers of our favorite "time machine for Windows" back solution, OopsBackup, have just announced a new product entering beta called Hyper-V Backup.

It's a backup solution for virtual machines running on Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization solution. If that sentence just seemed like a bunch of buzzwords crammed together, Hyper-V backup is not for you. But, if you actually use Hyper-V and are hankering for a good backup solution, Altaro might be worth checking out.

The beta run is limited - Altaro are looking for just 250 testers. All participants will get a free license key to the final, production version. So if you're interested in helping test Hyper-V Backup, get yourself over to Altaro now and join the beta.

Altaro Hyper-V Backup beta launched, only 250 places available originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/02/altaro-hyper-v-backup-beta-launched-only-250-places-available/

ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS SAIC SATYAM COMPUTER SERVICES SES

iPhone 5 launching in China on December 14, iPad 4 and iPad mini Wi-Fi on December 7

The iPhone 5, along with the Wi-Fi only versions of the iPad 4 and iPad mini would go on sale in China within the next few weeks. According to Apple, the iPhone 5 will debut on Friday, December 14, and the iPads will debut on Friday, December 7.

No word on when, of if, Wi-Fi + cellular versions of the iPad 4 and iPad mini will become available.

Source: Apple

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/Anneiob2w5A/story01.htm

EMC ELECTRONICS FOR IMAGING ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS ELECTRONIC ARTS

Google buys BufferBox, might give Amazon Locker a run for its money

Google has just snapped up BufferBox, a Waterloo, Ontario-based startup that offers temporary lockers for online purchases much like the ones recently deployed by Amazon. Instead of 7-Elevens and RadioShacks however, the relatively young startup has only just started a deal to install parcel kiosks in Canada's Metrolinx GO Transit stations. The Mountain View company hopes to keep BufferBox alive through the acquisition, with plans for 100 kiosks in Greater Toronto and Hamilton in the next year. Of course, we can't help but think this could all be part of Google's master plan for a rumored same-day delivery service that might make Amazon a touch nervous. Hopefully this means future Nexus deliveries will be a just little faster, eh?

Filed under: Misc, Internet, Google

Comments

Source: Financial Post, BufferBox

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/YV1NfxSQM_c/

DLINK DIGITAL CHINA HOLDINGS DIRECTV GROUP ELPIDA MEMORY

Farragomate is a social fridge magnet game where you make up sentences

You know those fridge magnet kits composed of a whole bunch of words? The ones you put all over your fridge door and then try to arrange into all sorts of juvenile and/or amusing sentences. Well, Farragomate is the social, webby version of that very same pastime.

You get to play with a bunch of random strangers in real-time, and make up sentences out of a pre-set collection of words, including some fairly naughty ones, and all players' nicknames. As you can imagine, some of the results are not child-friendly.

There are ten rounds to a game. Once a round is done, players get to vote for their favorite sentence from that round. You can't vote for your own creation, of course. There's in-game chat, too.

I think the vocabulary could be made a bit more eclectic, but even as it is, it's a nice way to spend a few minutes and meet random strangers on the Internet (always a thrilling experience).

Farragomate is a social fridge magnet game where you make up sentences originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/25/farragomate-is-a-social-game-where-you-make-up-sentences/

SAIC ROCKWELL AUTOMATION RF MICRO DEVICES RED HAT

Bing begins roll out of HTML5-enhanced search interface

Bing's new HTML5-and-CSS3-enhanced search interface, which was first demonstrated back in September 2010 to showcase the power of IE9, has started to roll out.

The most notable addition to the new interface is is smooth page transitions -- the fade in and out -- and navigation tabs (maps, images, videos, etc.) now persistently float at the top of the page. WinRumors is also reporting that a feature reminiscent of Google Instant search is being added to Bing, with page elements smoothly transitioning in and out as you type in your search query.

If you want to try out the new Bing UI, your best bet is to set your locale to United States - English and pray that you're part of the initial roll out. Alternatively, just wait a few days until MIX 2011, Microsoft's Web developer conference, which is when the new Bing UI should be officially launched.

Bing begins roll out of HTML5-enhanced search interface originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/08/bing-begins-roll-out-of-html5-enhanced-search-interface/

ECLIPSYS EASTMAN KODAK CO EARTHLINK DST SYSTEMS

The Weekly Good: Gurbaksh Chahal, BeProud.org And Putting An End To Hate

Sometimes, it's not political powerhouses who have the power to change the world, sometimes it's true-blue entrepreneurs who live to solve problems. One such person is Gurbaksh Chahal, who has launched BeProud.org, launched after the shootings at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in August 2012, with some pretty impressive backers. The point of the multi-million dollar campaign is to put an end to hatred, and to encourage self-pride. Using the web to help bring attention to this is a fantastic idea. I had a chance to chat with Chahal on his background and the future of the BeProud initiative.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/2t0HMBBP6lM/

ARROW ELECTRONICS ASML HOLDING ASUSTEK COMPUTER ATandT