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Web App of the Week: ScreenToaster

David Murphy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:10:45 -0600

Ever have one of those moments? You know the one: When it's so difficult to teach someone how to accomplish an everyday task in a particular application that you up and grab the keyboard and mouse yourself and just get 'er done, as it were. Isn't that frustrating? Doesn't your passionate rage for simplifying the art of attaching files to email terrify your coworkers, friends, and loved ones? Wouldn't you like a better way to show someone how to accomplish desktop tasks, one that doesn't actually require you to get up from your chair or, better yet, even pick up a phone?

In a move that's sure to sooth the savage beast that's been identified as a computer expert by his or her flock of advice-seeking peers, the Web app ScreenToaster is a perfectly packaged solution for showing people how to get stuff done on a PC. It does this by taking a live video (complete with audio, if you so choose) of whatever it is you're doing on your desktop, straight out of your Web browser--no additional software installation is necessary, save for a requisite click on the "accept" button for a piece of Java.

But surely the app can't be just that easy? There has to be another catch! Only, there isn't. You don't have to sign up for the Web app in order to use its recording functionality, which is ideal for those that want to give things a test run before spending time crafting the perfect how-to video. You can even select what portions of your desktop you actually want to record--ideal if you don't want your coworkers to see you surfing Maximum PC in a side window. When you're finished with your masterwork, merely create an free account on ScreenToaster to unlock the service's distribution features.

With but a click of the mouse and a few extra keystrokes, you can save a Flash-based version of your video on either ScreenToaster's site or YouTube. You can also download your movie as a .mov or .swf file, which is especially useful for those who want to keep an offline archive of their video advice for future use.

Every Thursday, Maximum PC picks a new Web App as its favorite of the week. Have a Web App that you can't live without? Twitter David Murphy @acererak with your latest suggestions.

8 Things You Need to Know about Chrome OS

Will Smith & Norman Chan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:12 -0600

Google pulled the wraps off of Chrome OS today, and while there isn't a general availability announcement today, they spoke briefly about the Chrome browser (Linux and Mac versions due this year, along with support for extensions) before diving into the nascent OS. You can expect to see Chrome ship in about a year, and showed the first glimpses of the new OS, details about the architecture, the hardware it will run on, and gave us the first hints about what the Google Cloud OS will really look like.

Here's why Chrome OS won't be replacing Windows anytime soon.

Chrome OS is a hardware platform as well as an OS

Chrome will have very specific platform requirements. It won’t run on machines with physical hard drives, only SSDs. Only certain Wi-Fi chipsets will be supported. Chrome OS will also have requirements for screen size, a full-sized keyboard, and a decent sized touchpad. They demoed Chrome OS working on an eeePC today, and said that you'd be able to upgrade some netbooks on the market today using a screwdriver.

Google didn't announce hardware specs, but confirmed that Chrome OS will work with x86 and ARM-based machines, and is designed with the 802.11n Wi-Fi spec in mind.

Chrome is Open Source

Chrome OS uses code from Linux, Webkit, Ubuntu, and Moblin. It's based on what seems like a heavily modified Linux kernel. While there's no beta announcement today, the code is open source as of today, so people can download and work on the code, as well as contribute submissions back to the project.

The Chrome Browser is the Primary Interface

If you've used the Chrome browser, Chrome OS will look very familiar to you. There is no conventional Desktop, so to speak. The browser window is your web interface, file explorer, and web app launcher. You can open multiple Chrome windows (think multiple desktops), each with their own set of tabs and swap between them from an even zoomed out further desktop.

Data is Stored in the Cloud

While the user can save data locally, whether it's photos, videos, etc, everything in the user's /home folder is synced to the cloud. The local copy is just a cache, presumably to allow you to use the netbook offline or where there's poor Internet. This is very similar to the thin clients that Sun pushed in the late 90s, in that there are relatively slow computers with ubiquitous network connections that rely on the Internet for most of their usability.

When you use any Chrome OS device, you log in and all of your data is there immediately. This means that presumably you log into your Chrome machine using your Google account. Of course, the big question is what happens when Google's servers go down. How accessible will your data be when you're away from the Internet for a few days?

Chrome OS uses a New Security Model

Because the Chrome browser is the OS, users don't have access to the root folders of the machine. You won't be able to install applications on the OS, but there will be a plugin/extension architecture, presumably that works with extensions similar to the Chrome browser.

The OS kernel and browser will be digitally signed, so the OS will be able to check itself at boot. (Web apps won't require digital signatures.) If it detects something amiss, it will simply restore the affected areas of the OS, leaving your home partition alone. The OS will also automatically update at launch, during its verified boot.

Chrome OS is for Secondary Computers

Google doesn't anticipate Chrome OS being used on your desktop PCs (at least, not yet). Dual-boot will not be possible, and it won't work with your third-party peripherals that use non-standard drivers. Keyboards, mice, and USB hard drives will work, but it's extremely unlikely that you'll be able to sync your iPhone with Chrome OS. They say that they'll have a novel solution for printing in the future.

Chrome OS Runs Web Apps Exclusively

We've said it before, but we'll say it again now. The only native app for Chrome OS is the browser. There's no mail application, no control panels, no application launcher outside of the browser. The OS is the Chrome browser--anything you can run in the Chrome browser runs inside that. Google showed web Excel from Microsoft and specifically mentioned Yahoo and other providers during the demo. Anything that runs in the Chrome browser on Windows, will run on Chrome OS. All of the applications you'll run on Chrome OS are web applications.

During the Q&A Michael Arrington explicitly pointed out that this strategy exactly mirrors Steve Jobs' comments during the initial iPhone launch. The response? The iPhone has native apps, Chrome OS only has a browser.

Chrome is more like a TV than a Computer

It's instant-on, cold booting in about 7 seconds, and on the desktop about 3 seconds after that. This is why they're using a unique platform, so they control the hardware and software and can get performance and experience they need.

Here's Google's over-simplified explanation of Chrome OS:

Image credits: Gizmodo and Google

Google Adds New Tools to Manage Public Waves

Ryan Whitwam — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:01:59 -0600

Google Wave is really just a rough pre-beta right now. So any attempts to clean it up and add features are more than welcome. Today the Wave team posted about the newest feature, following waves. This should make the process of managing public waves much less awkward.

From now on, clicking on a public wave will no longer mean it stays in your inbox forever. To stay updated on a public wave, you just hit the “Follow” button. When you are added to a wave or you contribute to one, you will be following it. Hitting the “Archive” button will remove a public wave from your inbox.

Public waves that you have only opened will now automatically fall off your inbox eventually. Finally, the “mute” feature has been replaced by “Unfollow”. Clicking the unfollow button will remove a wave from the inbox immediately. Google may eventually expand the whole “Following” idea to people, groups, and searches. So if Wave wasn’t confusing enough already, you have this to contend with.

Web App of the Week: Groupon

David Murphy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:15:00 -0600

If war movies, zombies hordes, or stormtroopers have taught us anything, it's that there's power to be had in numbers-well, maybe not the stormstroopers. Regardless, a number of Web apps take advantage of this philosophy to offer increased functionality, awesome services, or cheap deals for those who are part of a herd. Kickstarter, for example, allows groups of people to team up and pledge funding for a number of independent projects. If a project meets its funding goal, then everyone who pledge an amount has to pay. If not, nobody pays a dime.

But you don't want to pay money. No, you want to save money. For that, turn to a Web site called Groupon. This community-driven site is like a combination of Costco (or your favorite local warehouse for purchasing oversized amounts of products), Kickstarter, and Woot. Instead of offering to pledge money, you're offering to purchase a product at lesser, group-discount rate. If enough people agree to buy, then everyone's commitments go through to their credit cards. If not, your hard-earned money stays right where it is.

Cool as it sounds, the service's biggest drawback is that it's designed with a city-based focus in mind. Thus, if you don't actually live in one of the major cities where, say, the restaurant or spa discount would apply... you're out of luck. On the plus side, there are more than 30 major cities to choose from, so odds are good that you'll have a good shot at hitting it big on one of the site's daily deals. Integrated social networking functionality allows you to easily share deals with your friends-who knows, maybe you'll be able to convince them to pony up and bring you one step closer to your huge discount.

Every Thursday, Maximum PC picks a new Web App as its favorite of the week. Have a Web App that you can't live without? Twitter David Murphy @acererak with your latest suggestions.

Web App of the Week: Feedweaver

Florence Ion — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:00:00 -0600

Start pages aren’t always everyone’s forte when it comes to reading their favorite daily sites all on one page. Thankfully, there’s a web app for that. Feedweaver allows you to simply choose the most relevant RSS feed links, mash it in with 19 others you’re passionate about, and view them all on one glorious page as if they’re all one entity.

Each feed list can be accessed through a unique URL with its own special access key, which can be changed and adjusted from the feed’s settings. You don’t actually need to be logged in to read your favorite Gawker blogs, or Maximum PC’s how-to feed list, so you can share your feed with your friends with one simple link.

Sound good? Start using Feedweaver today!

Web App of the Week: The Printliminator

Florence Ion — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:45:02 -0500

Perhaps one of the most frustrating points of owning a printer comes down to what is actually getting printed. Driving directions always end up with a few extra pages barely containing even a sentence worth of ink, rendering the single sheet of paper practically useless. Fortunately, The Printliminator helps eradicate these exasperating situations by converting any webpage into an economical, simple to print document.

The Printliminator toolbar hangs out in the top right hand corner of your browser window.

The Printliminator is a bookmarkable link that makes any webpage to print. Once you click the link, this simple tool shows up in the top right corner in your browser window with options to remove any extraneous elements from the page and irrelevant graphics for economical printing. You can select “Remove all Graphics” to quickly zap out any video previews and high-resolution color images.

We should note that this function also removes the background on some sites, which can make the text indecipherable. In this case, if you still have The Printliminator tool box available in your browser window, you can simply eradicate images, sections, and table spans from the website. Or, you can select “Apply Print Stylesheet” to simply print out a blank page with text and the occasional left over advertisement (you can also get rid of photos and table spans after selecting this mode).

This is what a page at Maximum PC looks like devoid of any layout.

So, if you’re looking to be more economical with your printer ink and are a stickler for text-only print outs, Printliminator will be sure to cut straight to the chase and take out all that is weighing down your printer.

Get the Printliminator applet here

Every Thursday, we pick a new Web App as our favorite of the week. Have a Web App that you can't live without? Send suggestions to florence [AT] maximumpc.com with "Web App" in the subject line.

Google Wants to Monitor Your Domestic Power Usage

Ryan Whitwam — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:39:08 -0500

Google already knows more about you than you probably care to think about. In the not too distant future, they might also know about your power usage patterns. Google’s PowerMeter utility monitoring service has finally found its first partners. First Utility in the UK, and Yello Strom, a German utility, have both signed up to deliver customer usage data to Google (provided the customer agrees).

PowerMeter will collect electricity data every half hour and gas data once a day. Customers can view the aggregated data on the PowerMeter website where it will have been used to generate some nifty graphs and tables. Participating customers will receive the service at no charge.

The hope is that PoweMeter users will be more conscious of their energy use. Yello Strom executive director, Martin Vesper, said of the service, “When people know exactly what is going on with their energy usage, they can use energy efficiently without sacrificing convenience.” Google indicated that PowerMeter is a project from Google.org, Google’s philanthropic foundation. So, would you sign up if you could?

Google Wave to Open its Own App Store and Itself to Software Developers

Bart Salisbury — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:24:21 -0500

Word has filtered out of the Google Wave Google Technology User Group’s London meeting that Google Wave will be opening an app store. The move, according to Zee over at The Next Web, signals Google’s commitment to this new technology, and provides encouragement for developers to expand Google Wave’s potential.

Google Wave is a real-time collaborative tool that permits groups to interactively ‘converse’ on a project, using richly formatted text, photos, videos and maps. Real-time here is taken to the extreme, with key-stokes shared among participants as they occur--no waiting for the press of a return key to send your thoughts along. The use of what Google calls “concurrency control technology” allows all participants in a wave to edit rich media at the same time.

Third-party developers have already come up with apps for teleconferencing, videoconferencing, and multiplayer gaming. The creation of an app store, similar to what Apple has done for iPhone apps, would provide additional incentive to developers to produce new, innovative add-ons for the Wave environment.

Other news from the London meeting includes Google’s plans to have an extension gallery up and running in a few months; ‘hooks’ which invoke actions, such as opening a new wave or launching a shortcut; merging waves; and deployment on networks and intranets for internal use by businesses. Google Mail, however, doesn’t appear headed for integration.

Image Credit: Google