Category: Geek Stuff

To celebrate Pac-Man’s 30th birthday, Google has a playable version of the groundbreaking game on its homepage (as pictured above). This is very cool…unless you’re a Firefox user. Wired’s Chris Kohler sent out a tweet linking to Mozilla’s Firefox support page. Apparently Google and Pac-Man are confusing the crap out of some people (idiots) and causing genuine issues for a few. Check out the screen grab below.

Some of these people are just morons that don’t understand what’s going on with their homepage. A few of these people seem to have real issues and have attempted reasonable troubleshooting measures, but are still getting Pac-Man sounds. It sucks for people in the latter category. The complaints filed by people that…aren’t so tech savvy are completely amusing and worth a read.

Source via Kohler

Want to see what I saw at Google I/O 2010? Then check out these pictures! I wanted to give you guys an idea of what it was like to walk around the show. Don’t worry, I didn’t take any photos of boring conference rooms where the panels took place. Instead you’ll see funky balloons, cool displays, and hundreds of people waiting in line for a new phone. Check it out!

Here’s an interesting Google I/O rumor for you — Google will supposedly announce an Android-powered television made by Sony and powered by Intel processors. The television would make using streaming-video services like Hulu, Netflix, and Vudu easier for consumers. Developers could extend the capabilities of a “Google TV” even further and the Android developer community could experience rapid growth thanks to a ubiquitous device like a television. Here’s what Financial Times reported:

Top executives from the Silicon Valley companies are reported to be ready to reveal a deal with Sony, bringing web services to its televisions, during Google’s annual developer conference in San Francisco.

Intel’s Atom microprocessor and Google’s Android operating system are spearheading their assault on set-top boxes and TVs featuring integrated internet services.

I love the potential of a Google TV, but so much of its success and usefulness will be determined by developers. I’m excited to learn more about it at Google I/O. It’s also crazy to think that Google will have people using its search (and other) services on computers, phones, and televisions. I’m pretty sure this a precursor to Terminator’s Skynet.

Source via VentureBeat

In a move you’d expect from a city in California, the sale of bottled water has been banned in Concord, Massachusetts. According to Treehugger:

Last week residents of Concord, Massachusetts voted to ban the sale of all bottled water by next January, making it the first U.S. town to take such action.

The effort was lead by Jean Hill, an 82-year old activist, who lobbied neighbors and officials alike on the consequences of plastic bottles filling landfills and polluting local waters.

While I definitely have green leanings, this ban seems a little ridiculous. Why aren’t bottled sodas and juices banned too? Why not give incentives to consumers that buy glass containers or get their water from companies that reuse large containers of water? Instead of banning bottled water, wouldn’t it be more useful to offer incentives on products like metal water bottles, Brita/Pur filters, etc.? To me, expensive bottled water is pretentious (looking at you Voss), but this ban is pretentious in its own way.

I’d love to hear what you think of the Concord, MA ban on bottled water. Is it an inspired move or a misguided one?

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This is probably the most important question you’ll answer all month — which slush beverage is superior, Icees or Slurpees? I had this argument with a friend yesterday and we almost ended up in a fist fight. I love Icees. I prefer the texture and flavor of them over Slurpees. In my mind it’s not even close. That said, everyone is entitle to their own opinion (even if it’s completely wrong). What say you?

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Remember when Microsoft’s Internet Explorer was the dominant web browser with over 90 percent of the market? It’s crazy that upstarts like Apple’s Safari, Mozilla’s Firefox, and Google’s Chrome have been growing so rapidly that IE’s global market share dipped below 60 percent in April 2010. Here are some more facts and figures from Ars Technica:

Between March and April, Internet Explorer dropped a significant 0.70 percentage points (from 60.65 percent to 59.95 percent) and Firefox increased 0.07 percentage points (from 24.52 percent to 24.59 percent). Chrome jumped a sizeable 0.60 percentage points (from 6.13 percent to 6.73 percent), Safari gained 0.07 percentage points (from 4.65 percent to 4.72 percent), and Opera dipped 0.07 percentage points (from 2.37 percent to 2.30 percent).

I am totally loving Google Chrome. Its speed and features have made it my primary browser. Firefox is my secondary, but I don’t use it nearly as often. As for IE, I only use it to see if certain web pages are rendering properly across all browsers.

What web browsers are you currently using? Has your usage changed in the last few months?

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