So I tried out Google Chrome yesterday along with the rest of the 2-3% internet traffic of the day. My initial impressions were clean, snappy, and very beta as far as features go, but a solid experience regardless.
They basically re-architected the browser to provide what they claim is more modern way of how the web should be viewed. This includes better security, memory management, javascript performance (V8), and overall stability. They achieve this through numerous means so instead of re-writing all of that here, just check out their comic - and interesting and “fun” way to learn about technology.
Just like Google app engine, I’m interested in where this goes - along with the TOS and all the other standard privacy talk surrounding Google applications.
Well Flock has been reviewed by Walt Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal, and that’s huge. He’s one of the most influential technology critics out there and he’s taken out some time to give us our report card. He obviously used our product extensively and has a lot of great points. It’s a solid balanced review in my opinion - see for yourself. The writeup is here, and the Fox video is here.
I read on Planet Gnome that there’s a plan to drop current theme engines to move to a CSS-like system. That’s really a great idea, and I was stoked to learn that Qt already has it.
This is the kind of change that can really make a difference in the number and quality of available themes. While the current system requires C programming to create an new engine and unleash the full power of GTK+ theming, a system based on CSS would only require knowledge that most designers today already have. Most people are working on web app, so let those people hack on desktop apps with more or less the knowledge set they already have is a great way to keep the desktop alive.
Hey, isn’t it why Firefox extensions and themes are so popular?
Update: Flock in Japanese has been released. You can download it here.
It’s been a long time, but we’re finally there: the release of Flock in Japanese is very close! You can read details (in Japanese) on the blog of one of the translators. It even includes a link to a pre-release of the Japanese version. As the translator says, it’s better to send feedback about the translation directly to the translators. If you use the “feedback” button, that get to our support guy who won’t understand much.
As good news always come by two, an other member of the JA translation team will make a seminar about Flock, in at OSC Kansai 2008 (Open Source Conference) on July 18th. If you’re in the region at that time, that’s a good opportunity to meet between Japanese Flock users/contributors.
I’ve spent a day hacking on a new extension. It’s for gamers (like me!) who like to check reviews about new games before they buy. I’ve put Amazon customer reviews score, the mandatory Metacritic score. More to come - let me know what you think should be there.
Also, when you visit Metacritic, IGN or Gamespot, games get detected, so all you need when you’re viewing a page about a game is to click on the famicom icon, and the info will open on the left. Pretty cool, eh?
It’s in AMO sandbox now, so if you don’t have an AMO account with Sandbox access you can also download it here. And if you like it, don’t forget to write a review on AMO, so it can get out of the sandbox!
Has anyone else ever seen a web company create an investor testimonial video like this before? Very interesting, I wonder what the goal was. Paging Mario Sundar
Update: Duh, they want to go public. I somehow missed that from the article I read. I wonder how startups could use these kinds of videos to raise interest as they move through angel and VC rounds…
Today I am happy to announce that LinkedIn has raised additional funding from our original investors and added another world-class investor to our team. Bain Capital Ventures joins our existing group of investors - Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, and Bessemer Ventures - and leads this round of investment at a total of $53 million.* (LinkedIn has previously raised $27 million).
Congrats to the LinkedIn team. You have executed really well and I can’t wait to see what you accomplish next.
I took an interesting stroll down memory lane searching for past classmates (both college and high school) on Facebook. Several folks from college have already responded (I went to Carnegie Mellon which is a pretty technical school so not surprising). It will be interesting to see who from high school responds. As a point of reference, I went to high school long before Al Gore invented the internet.
Folks of my advancing years didn’t have the opportunity to augment, or initiate new, relationships with social networking sites, but these sites are certainly providing a way to reconnect to past ones. This will be fun.
If you’re looking to meet other entrepreneurs, you’ll definitely want to check this out. David Crow and Jevon MacDonald put together the inaugural event in Toronto in 2007. The whole point is to meet up with other startups, VC’s and Angel investors. Cross pollinate the mix and create the next big company! Contact me if you’re interested or just go straight to Boris at Bootup Labs.
The US State Department has set up a Digital Outreach Team. They engage with people online, answer questions and set the record straight - while always being honest about who they are. So far they seem to be a small team that focuses on Arabic, Persian and Urdu websites.
It’s a small but important step forward in governments learning how to be transparent and human online. Imagine if this program grew to have teams for every country and language. Imagine if every country had digital diplomats.
If the team reads this, kudos to you. I’ve been engaging people online in the technology industry for a few years now, it’s not an easy job. But you can change hearts and minds. I’d love to hear more about your experiences.
Other Systems & Languages
