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The present interface for developers to upload their Chrome extensions.
(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)
Google has opened up its gallery for developers to share Chrome extensions, a step that soon should make it easier for people to customize the open-source browser.
Aaron Boodman, a leader of the Chrome extensions effort, announced the move on a mailing list posting Monday, and programmer and "gallery master" Lei Zheng shared details in a blog post.
So far, only uploads are permitted. Google plans to let some testers use the gallery to download extensions, too "in the next few days," Zheng said. "We are making the upload flow available early to make sure that developers have the time to publish their extensions ahead of our full launch."
Extensions, a major asset of the Firefox browser and the headline feature of the upcoming Chrome 4 beta, let people modify the browser more to their liking. With them, the browser itself doesn't have to be bogged down with numerous features and configuration options that most people don't want.
One feature of Google's system is that add-ons are automatically updated on Chrome users' computers once the developer uploads a new version.
For developers, the extensions gallery comes with a set of terms and conditions.
One nugget in the legalese: expect Google to use a rating system, as it does for other sites including Android applications and YouTube videos. It's all part of Google's philosophy of using user data to help automatically manage its Web properties in a way that, the company hopes, will be helpful to those who use its sites.
According to the terms and conditions: "The gallery will allow users to rate products. Along with other factors, product ratings may be used to determine the placement of products on the gallery with higher rated products generally given better placement, subject to Google's right to change placement at Google's sole discretion. For new developers without product history, Google may use or publish performance measurements such as uninstall rates to identify or remove products that are not meeting acceptable standards, as determined by Google."
The developer preview version of Chrome now promotes an as-yet unworking link to an extensions gallery.
(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)Google is on the verge of launching a Web site to showcase its extensions to customize what its browser can do.
The company's latest developer preview edition, Chrome 4.0.249.0, promotes the feature on its opening screen and its new-tab page. "New! Google Chrome now has extensions and bookmark sync," the page reads, offering a link to a site that's not public yet, https://chrome.google.com/extensions. (Bookmark sync is already available.)
Extensions and support for Mac OS X and Linux are the headline features of Chrome 4.0. It's available as a beta for Windows, with Mac OS X and Linux beta availability expected in early December. According to the Chromium development calendar, the beta is planned for December 8 release and the stable release of Chrome 4.0 is due January 12.
A number of third-party galleries for Chrome extensions already are available, but programmers for the project have said on mailing lists that a Google site is planned. Earlier this year, Google shipped a version of Chrome that pointed to a collection of visual themes before the Chrome themes gallery was actually live to the public.
Extensions are a key asset of one Chrome competitor, Mozilla's Firefox; extensions permit people to customize the browser and add new features without burdening the overall project. Firefox is getting a new extensions framework, Jetpack, starting with version 3.7 due in the first half of 2010, and Mozilla has just launched its own Jetpack gallery.
Browser add-on Flickr Gallery Plus adds extended functionality to Flickr's set view, allowing users to click through to see full versions of each shot without having to reload the page. Once installed it will go out and pre-fetch the larger sized version of each shot, making big sets a cinch to speed through. This includes the addition of keyboard shortcuts (something you can't get in Flickr without a Greasemonkey script) which lets you go back and forth between shots using your arrow keys.
In addition to its thumbnail optimizer, the add-on includes a simple slideshow viewer that doesn't attempt to replace Flickr's own gorgeous slideshow tool. Instead, it simply fades together the pre-fetched pictures without leaving the page. You can set how long you want each photo to be displayed, anywhere from one to five seconds.
If you're a heavy Flickr user this extension is definitely worth the download as it will cut your page loads in half. It retains Flickr's slideshow tools and its same navigation; you also have the option to turn it on and off from a setting at the bottom of your browser.
Note: As with all experimental Firefox add-ons, you must be registered with Mozilla's Firefox add-ons site to download it. It's also available as a Greasemonkey script.
Flickr Gallery Plus lets you go back and forth between shots with your keyboard's arrow keys. It also pre-fetches each image--letting you load it without the page re-loading.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
(Credit:
American Greetings)
In the lane, snow is definitely glistening. 'Tis the time of the year to make your PC look like a snow globe, or at least that's what my Great-Uncle Boomer used to say. (At least it's true for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere.)
It's fine to add a little pizazz to your desktop with a seasonal screensavers, but be warned: Some of the holiday screensavers are oozing with cheese...and not the good kind. Those disco-dancing snowmen will haunt your dreams!
To avoid your computer (and you) looking like a corn dog in a cubicle this holiday season, frolic and play through our collection of safe and secure seasonal screensavers selected to fit a wide range of year-end revelers and Scrooges. Ooh, puppies!
This summer, Nielsen Net Ratings released a study of the fastest-growing instant-messaging clients from August 2006 to June 2007. The big winner was Meebo--the Web-based cross-platform chat app that lets AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, MSN, and Meebo's own users talk amongst themselves anywhere they've got a Web browser and an Internet connection.
It's easy to chat in 3D with IMVU.
(Credit: IMVU/CNET Networks)The second-fastest growing chat client was more of a surprise. IMVU--which gained 154 percent more users over the year studied--is a 3D chat client that allows you to create your own avatar (covered previously) and interact with other users in a proprietary "metaverse."
IMVU combines the virtual reality of more robust universes like Second Life with the social-networking aspect of popular sites like MySpace and Facebook. Users get their own Web pages with photo galleries, buddy lists, blogs, profiles, and message boards that they can customize all day long. You can use the Web site to find people you might be interested in, and then chat with them live using the IMVU Messenger 3D application.
To see how the service works in action, take a screenshot tour of the 3D chat client IMVU.
(Credit:
Gallery Project)
Taking digital pictures is simple; transforming them into a constructive project is a whole 'nother story. Web services like Flickr, Picasa, Shutterfly, Webshots, Snapfish, and countless others let you create photo galleries that are hosted on their servers, but what if you want to create a gallery for your own Web site?
Personally, I'm the sort of guy who wants to start with my raw images and my trusty NoteTab Light text editor, but I seem to have lost my patience for HTML and CSS (not to mention JavaScript and XML) over the last five years. ... Read more
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