ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear

ChromeLite ASCII extension
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.

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

Sabine Kinzler Frieda Falkner Hans-Joachim Kammann Antonio Fellberg

Rescue robots map and explore dangerous buildings, prove there's no 'I' in 'team' (video)

We've seen robots do some pretty heroic things in our time, but engineers from Georgia Tech, the University of Pennsylvania and Cal Tech have now developed an entire fleet of autonomous rescue vehicles, capable of simultaneously mapping and exploring potentially dangerous buildings -- without allowing their egos to get in the way. Each wheeled bot measures just one square foot in size, carries a video camera capable of identifying doorways, and uses an on-board laser scanner to analyze walls. Once gathered, these data are processed using a technique known as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), which allows each bot to create maps of both familiar and unknown environments, while constantly recording and reporting its current location (independently of GPS). And, perhaps best of all, these rescue Roombas are pretty team-oriented. Georgia Tech professor Henrik Christensen explains:

"There is no lead robot, yet each unit is capable of recruiting other units to make sure the entire area is explored. When the first robot comes to an intersection, it says to a second robot, 'I'm going to go to the left if you go to the right.'"

This egalitarian robot army is the spawn of a research initiative known as the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance Program, sponsored by the US Army Research Laboratory. The ultimate goal is to shrink the bots down even further and to expand their capabilities. Engineers have already begun integrating infrared sensors into their design and are even developing small radar modules capable of seeing through walls. Roll past the break for a video of the vehicles in action, along with full PR.

Continue reading Rescue robots map and explore dangerous buildings, prove there's no 'I' in 'team' (video)

Rescue robots map and explore dangerous buildings, prove there's no 'I' in 'team' (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 17:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  sourceGeorgia Tech  | Email this | Comments


Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/mYY8M3y7jQg/

Janine Harrer Emilia Münchow Claus Rehberg Tobias Leinenbach

What Happens When a Grandpa Thinks Twitter Is Google [Humor]

Apparently, someone has told his 81-year old father that you use Twitter to search things on Google. The result? A stream of old man searches ranging from "cold toes" to "diane sawyer swimsuit pictures." Mean? Yes. Hilarious? Yesserer. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/LS4hBKLGEQM/what-happens-when-a-grandpa-thinks-twitter-is-google

Christa Eymann Ingrid Schur Emily Trautmann Charlotte Kadelbach

Nintendo 3DS to get free WiFi access in Best Buy stores, Best Buy hopes you'll buy stuff

Man, Best Buy really wants you to step foot in its stores. The company just announced a deal with Nintendo whereby 3DS owners will get free WiFi access in more than 1,000 of the company's stores starting on June 7th -- not quite Sam's Club-style, but it's a start. And with that connection, dubbed SpotPass, people will have access to special, downloadable content such as gaming extras and movie trailers. So come June, get ready to drive down to your local Best Buy -- no pressure to buy anything once you're inside, of course. Don't have a 3DS? You can pick one up for a suggested retail price of $249.99. Don't like purchasing things? Well, you're no fun at all.

Continue reading Nintendo 3DS to get free WiFi access in Best Buy stores, Best Buy hopes you'll buy stuff

Nintendo 3DS to get free WiFi access in Best Buy stores, Best Buy hopes you'll buy stuff originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 18:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/6EvT9GhNUBo/

Lea Linden Kevin Fickenscher Amelie Schweizer Elfriede Oltmanns

The World's Smallest 3D Printer Is Only a Little Bigger Than a Milk Carton [3d Printer]

3D printers are typically behemoth-type machines that can spit out crazy things like houses, cars and titanium balls. The world's smallest 3D printer is too puny to do any of that but it could be more useful than any other 3D printer. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ENSgyAVNkXY/the-worlds-smallest-3d-printer-is-a-little-bigger-than-a-carton-of-milk

Helmut Hölzer Maurice Giese Frederik Faulhaber Svenja Hoferichter

HP releases 2011 Q2 earnings early, following leak of foreboding internal memo

HP kicked off this morning's Q2 earnings call citing a leaked company memo that recently popped up at Bloomberg. That memo, which had the outfit's CEO, Leo Apotheker warning of "another tough quarter," resulted in a five percent drop in HP shares in after-hours trading Monday, according to the Wall Street Journal, and prompted the release of the outfit's Q2 earning a day ahead of schedule -- an earnings call was originally slated for Wednesday. According to the report, the company managed to pull in $31.6 billion in revenue and $2.3 billion in earnings, compared to $30.8 billion in revenue and $2.2 billion in earnings the same time last year.

So what brought about the pot-stirring internal memo? Well, it seems HP's struggled to keep up with the competition when it comes to consumer computer sales. Despite an increase in revenue in every other segment of the company's business, HP's Personal Systems Group (which covers enterprise and consumer sales) saw revenue decline five percent year-over-year, with the portion covering consumer computers down 23 percent. That might seem like a big dip, and it is, but Apotheker says the company is "excited by the tablet opportunities," continuing on to say that the impending release of the company's TouchPad "will be an exciting product release for HP." For now, we'll just have to sit back and see if the webOS slate has the stuff to pull HP out of the consumer computer lurch. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading HP releases 2011 Q2 earnings early, following leak of foreboding internal memo

HP releases 2011 Q2 earnings early, following leak of foreboding internal memo originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 17:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Wall Street Journal  |  sourceHP, Bloomberg  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/17/hp-releases-2011-q2-earnings-early-following-leak-of-foreboding/

Birte Höß Kerstin Klos Dieter Schreiter Monika Kley

ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear

ChromeLite ASCII extension
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/

Kevin Fickenscher Amelie Schweizer Elfriede Oltmanns Janine Hillenbrand