Project Maelstrom is a BitTorrent powered browser for the free web of the future

Torrents may still be mostly associated with illegal content, but that's just a portion of a much larger and wider reaching issue. In fact, BitTorrent is going to great lengths to change that image and show how it can be the payday for authors; and now goes even further with this Project Maelstrom, a torrent powered browser for a free and decentralized web.

Paste Images Directly to the Web

It's kind of sad to notice that, even with decades of computer and software evolution, there are still so many "basic" things that make us perform dumb repetitive steps in order to do it. Take, for instance, the sharing of a simple screenshot of your desktop on the web.

You'll need to:
1) Press PrtSc to transfer your screenshot image to the clipboard
2) open a image editing program
3) paste the image into the program
4) save the image somewhere, with some name
5) upload the image to some web site to host it and share it
6) delete the temporary image on your computer

Is this really acceptable in our day and age? What if it could be done in a much simpler way?

Thankfully it can. Thanks to Snaggy you can paste your image directly to the web. Making the thing as simple as:

1) Press PrtSc (or copy any image from any other source)
2) Press paste on the Snaggy web page

... Much simpler, no? Kind of makes us wonder why doesn't every other image uploading service allow a similar way to upload images?

HTML5 Official Logo

If until now, talking about HTML5 was kind of an abstract thing... from now on we'll be able to put a face on it. Or better yet: a logo!

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has decided it's time for HTML5 to have an official logo, and this is the result:

There are several different logo versions for download, and as always, you can also get free stickers or buy T-Shirts showing your love for the future of the web standards.

iPad Emulator in Your Browser

If you still haven't had the opportunity to check how the iPad actually works, nothing like visiting this amazing site offering you an iPad web emulator.

It doesn't even use Flash for the most part, and allows you to have a glimpse of how an iPad behaves and works - though you'd better try a real iPad to really get the hang of it.

On a completely unrelated note: for old-timers like me, you might want to go old-school and see how things worked back in the day, in this MS-Dos web emulator. :)

Dropmocks - Simple Image Sharing

Ever wished for a simply way to share some photos and images with your friends? Give Dropmocks a try.

Just drag your images into the browser page, and you'll get a link to share with your friends.

Dropmocks was developed by a Google Chrome engineer, Glen Murphy and it shows what can be done using nothing but simple HTML and javascript (no Flash in sight.)

20 Things to Learn about the Web

This 20 Things I Learned about Browsers and the Web is an interesting digital book created by the Chrome team, that provides insight regarding how the internet, the web and browsers work.

Unlike many, it's all written in an easy to understand language, accessible to all.
In its pages you'll get to learn about TCP/IP, DNS, Browser cookies, HTML5, javascript, AJAX, as well as grow aware of common security risks like phishing.

Definitely worth a read.

Play Asteroids on Any Web Page

Want to try browsing the web in a completely different way?
Wish you could blast you favorite website's ads into smithereens?

Well, now you can, thanks to this Asteroids booknarklet. Although you can try it out on its page, it's great advantage is that you can actually play the classic Asteroids game in any website you choose; and I don't mean playing "over" the web site background image... No; you'll be playing a full interactive asteroids game with any web page of your choosing.

You can shoot down paragraphs, ads, and whatever else you wish to desintegrate. It really is a fun way to "destroy" your most hated web site! ;)

Google URL Shortener goes Public

It has been around for a while for Google's internal services (like feedburner), but only now does Google's URL shortener service become available to the public, and here it is: Goo.gl

Besides providing the URL shortening service (something that grew exponentially since micro-blogging/messaging platforms like Twitter showed up, turning every saved character into a precious commodity) Goo.gl also provides detailed statistics about who is clicking on your links (and when).

Be sure to give it a try... At least you know it's not likely this URL shortener will go bust anytime soon...

Mobile Web Development

With the iPhone 4 and its retina display, web designers are now forced to think about high resolution content for their web pages and web apps - if they want it to look good!

For App developers, Apple has made it quite easy to transform an existing app into a high-resolution one - you just need to provide higher-resolution artwork, and the iOS handles the rest; but for the web... things aren't quite as simple: as you can find out in this post about creating high-resolution web content.


On a similar note, when dealing with mobile browsers, it's always nice to know cache limits for Android and iPhone browsers.

Opera Unite - The Web Reinvented

Opera promised to reveal a secret that would revolutionize the Web today. This was it: Opera Unite.

This new Opera Unite "browser" blends the concepts of client-side and server-side sharing, turning your browser into a instantly configured web server allowing you to share any content with other people: photos, music, chats... you name it.

Better see the demo video to better understand it:



Sounds like P2P web browsing/serving is finally here...

You can try it right now, if you're willing to use an early test version.

Mozilla JetPack for Firefox

Proving that web development tools are becoming increasingly important, this Mozilla's Jetpack now allows the web to rewrite itself.

Instead of wasting time learning a new programminig language to write a Firefox plugin, you can now do it using the web tools and languages you already know.

Check the video:


Mozilla Labs Jetpack - Intro & Tutorial from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

3D Web - Google O3D

O3D is Google's latest project, attempting to bring 3D worlds into our web browsers.

As you can watch on the following video, the result seem a lot better than those provided by VRML (which never really made it into the mainstream.)



Will this O3D be different? I doubt anyone can tell for sure...
But I can't help but wonder... imagine if, some years from now, we'd be able to run a game like Crysis, emulated inside a regular web browser! :)

The Web and Javascript

Consider how much the internet has evolved in the past few years. If you still recall how most web pages looked ten years ago - with that old fashioned "static HTML" look - then you appreciate current Web 2.0 look even more.

And the basis for most of it is javascript...

Just look at Google Maps. You can drag a map around, zoom in/ou using your mouse clickwheel, even right click on it to bring up more options. It behaves almost like a traditional program running on your desktop.

Sure, it's not the only one: Microsoft's own Live Maps and Yahoo Maps offer similar features.

But the issue remains: what do you value more - content or usability?

When you visit Google Maps I'm pretty sure you're interested in checking out a map. Though important, I think it's safe to assume ease of use is secondary.

Now, let's imagine a case where someone, concerned with its own security, decides to disable javascript so it doesn't fall prey to "click-jacking" attempts.
He then tries to navigate to Live Maps just to find he can't even see a map.
Well, tough luck... he goes to Yahoo Maps... but again he'll face a blank page.

We finally tries Google Maps... and behold! There you can still check a map!

Sure, it's a very basic version of what you're used to. No fancy drag'n'drop, no dynamic page updates... but it still works.

So: how much should you depend on javascript to access valuable information?

Is it right to completely shut out people from accessing the information they need?


One school of thought says you should always present "content", and only then enhance it if you happen to have a more capable browser (with javascript, etc.)

Problem is, lots of people seem to be doing the exact opposite: developping for a fully fledged browser, assuming everyone has javascript enabled; and if you don't... tough luck! You get to see... nothing.


Keep in mind that with more internet-enabled devices popping up each day, this issue becomes even more important. Who's to say you're not trying to access those pages from a cell-phone, a internet-TV, or any other gadget like a internet-browsing watch from Japan?
Just because you're using a limited browser should you be locked out of the information you're looking for?


It's not javascript's fault - it is a fundamental part of the Internet to-be - it's just a matter of how it should be used.

Hyperwords for Firefox [Plugin]

If you constantly find yourself copy-pasting words from webpages to find out more about it - whether it is a person, a company, an amout your want to convert to other currency, or a word you want to translate to another language - then you'll certainly appreciate Firefox plugin.

Hyperwords

With Hyperwords, all words suddenly become links you can easily use to find outr more about it.

Check this short demo video and see how the web can become in the future, with everything connected to everything else - whether we use hyperlinks or not.


[Youtube video]

Woopra - Add Real Time Stats (and more) to Your Website

Do you want to know who is accessing your site in real-time? Do you want to chat with them?
Well, you can do that - and a lot more - with Woopra.



Be sure to check the following video:


GBTV #337 | Introducing Woopra from Neal Campbell on Vimeo.

via [Tech Crunch]

Firefox 3.0 Beta 4 Memory Use

One of the things that annoys me the most regarding Web Browsers is that its memory use tens to grow dramatically over time.

In my particular case, as I have my computer on 24/7 for months, usually with a couple web browsers (Maxthon and Firefox) with dozens of tabs open, it's rather easy to see that happening.

While I can keep Maxthon open for months at a time (it starts using more memory, but it regularly "cleans up" and is able to maintain a manageable memory footprint) Firefox was a whole other matter.

It was hard to keep FF open for more than a couple of days without memory use starting to get over 300/400/500MBytes.

Of course, closing FF and running it again, and even opening the exact same pages it had, fixes the issue - reducing the memory use from 500MB to the more usual 100MB range.

That's why I'm so interested in Firefox 3.0 - one of the major improvements is indeed memory use/fragmentarion and memory leaks.

However, up until beta 3, I wasn't able to notice that much difference from the previous version.

Fortunately, this last 3.0 beta 4 has finally started to show its magic:

According to the developers:


Obviously, although these improvements will benefit everyone it will be extremely important for everyone using their browsers for days/weeks at a time.

I'll still be testing it for the coming weeks, but according to the experience I had after the first couple of days - Firefox 3.0 is definitely on the right track.

Debugging Javascript with Firebug in Firefox

Sometimes I can't believe how much time people waste just because they don't use the right tools - often because they've never heard about it, or because they don't know how to use it properly.

Just a few days ago, for the millionth time, a friend of mine was bugging me regarding a javascript bug. Instead of fixing the problem for him, I decided to teach him how to fish*.

As any web developer probably knows, there are a couple of indispensable tools for Firefox: Firebug and Web Developer.

With these tools, debugging javascript or any other "Web" stuff becomes a lot simpler.
Just see for yourself how debugging javascript is using Firebug:

[A Guide to Javascript Debugging using Firebug for Firefox]

These 10 or 15 minute tutorial may very well end up saving you countless hours/days of debugging. Learn to use the tools you have at your disposal.

*Reference to a popular chinese saying: give a starving man a fish, and you'll feed him for one day; teach him to fish and he'll never starve again.
(or something like that)

flauntR - web photo editing

Have you ever felt the need to do some basic photo editing when away from your computer?

Then, you'll be happy to learn about flauntR, the free online photo editor, available in all the four corners of the World - as long as you have an Internet connection.

From the simple red-eye fix, to crop and resize, to adding borders, special effects, you name it! This is the complete set of tools you'll ever need for your web based photo editing.
Just try it out for yourself and see how fast it all works - this is the living proof that web based programs can (and will) rule the world. It's not a matter of if it's a matter of when. And that time is coming fast.