New Chromebook videos

Google has just released a set of Chromebook videos, just in time for the holiday season. The purpose of these videos is to show how easy a Chromebook is in set up, use and maintenance. I experienced the ease of maintenance this morning, while during a meeting I:

  1. received a notification that a new ChromeOS version was available
  2. applied the update, which requires rebooting the machine.
  3. was back in business after about 15 seconds.

Consider a Chromebook for your family members, who do very little besides surfing the web. I heard Chromebooks work great with Facebook…:-)

Fingers tired after a long day of browsing? Let’s Chromercise!

Do your hands and fingers feel tired after a long day of browsing, clicking, scrolling and typing? Let’s Chromercise to keep those fingers in shape!

20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web

A Twitter post alerted me that something called “20 Things I Learned” went open source. Curiously, I went to check out what “20 Things” actually is.

“20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web” is an e-book created by the Chrome team back in November of 2010. It shows you what the Internet is, and how it’s being used today. It then moves on to the building blocks of web pages, HTML, JavaScript, and the modern browser and how it helps to keep users secure. Finally, it looks towards the future, speculating on new technologies to improve the web experience.

It is a book, and at the same time a showcase of what modern browsers can do: curling pages, use keyboard and mouse interfaces to turn pages and go to certain sections in the book, zoom in and out, and change background colors on the fly.

And then for the Tweet that led me to “20 Things”: Google open-sourced the book. The source code is available for anyone to download, and tinker with. It shows the techniques that were used in developing the book (Google App Engine at the back-end, HTML5 at the front-end), and allows developers to learn how to apply the same techniques to their own projects.

All in all worthwhile to check it out, both as a developer interested in the techniques, and a user who is interested in the web.

Lady Gaga uses chrome…?

A promo video from the Google Chrome team, showing how Lady Gaga is using the web to create a larger fan base. It makes you wonder what Madonna would/could have done if the web was in place 20 years ago…

Jason’s Deli showing use case for the Chrome netbook

Jason’s Deli is a dining chain based out of Texas, and they have been selected to beta test the Chrome Notebook. Here’s some of the people involved with the test telling about their experiences: