Day: June 8, 2011

Google Chrome 12 is out, and it has some awesome new features, but I am reminded that I love it because the version of Chrome I was reading the article about the upgrade on had already upgraded itself to the new version! That is just SO cool!

Google Releases Stable Version of Chrome 12

“Google Chrome 12 is now the stable release of Google’s web browser, bringing several improvements in security, privacy and graphics capabilities.

Chrome now checks downloaded files for malware, and Google claims it has designed the feature in such a way that it doesn’t have to know which URLs you visited or which files you downloaded to be able to detect malicious files.

You can now also fine tune the data that websites store on your computer, including Flash Player’s Local Shared Objects (also known as Flash cookies), directly from Chrome.

On the graphics front, Chrome 12 includes support for hardware-accelerated 3D CSS, which enables some nifty effects such as rotating and scaling videos. Try this Chrome Experiment to see some of the new features in action.

Finally, Chrome 12 brings several minor improvements such as an improved interface for setting a homepage and searching for Chrome Apps directly from the address bar.

Google Chrome 12 is available at www.google.com/chrome. Existing users will be automatically updated to the new version in the next couple of days.”

You can check to see if you are up-to-date by going to the Chrome “About” (click on the “wrench” in the upper right hand corner, then click on the “About Google Chrome” option.)

Twitter now has its very own URL shortening tool. Long time Twitter users get around long URLs by using something like “bilt.ly” address shortening to squeeze in a URL into their tweet. Now, Twitter has its own “built-in” method. You can just embed the long URL in your tweet (which would normally have a 140 character limit,) and Twitter will automatically shorten it to 19 characters. This means that while you’re actually writing a Tweet, it can exceed 140 characters, so long as the excess characters are the result of a long URL. This is obviously not good news for the “bit.ly”s of the world… but, hey, it makes it easier for Twitter users!

Ah… OK, I mean, I know that, for me, I gotta have a hot Internet connection, but a basic human right? Ummmm… well, maybe a bit extreme!

United Nations Declares Internet Access a Basic Human Right

“A lengthy report released by the United Nations Friday argued that disconnecting individuals from the Internet is a violation of human rights and goes against international law. ‘The Special Rapporteur underscores the unique and transformative nature of the Internet not only to enable individuals to exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression,’ according to the report’s summary, ‘but also a range of other human rights, and to promote the progress of society as a whole.’

Released after the seventeenth session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, the report ‘on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression’ comes on a day when its message couldn’t be more important. It’s the same day, Wired’s Threat Level blog points out, that ‘an Internet monitoring firm detected that two thirds of Syria’s Internet access has abruptly gone dark, in what is likely a government response to unrest in that country.’

The report’s authors speak to a wider issue that we’re currently facing, though; this isn’t just a problem in Syria. ‘[T]he recent wave of demonstrations in countries across the Middle East and North African region has shown the key role that the Internet can play in mobilizing the population to call for justice, equality, accountability and better respect for human rights,’ the report notes. ‘As such, facilitating access to the Internet for all individuals, with as little restriction to online content as possible, should be a priority for all States.’ Of course, many of the dictators and leaders across the Middle East region that the report highlights recognized the power of the Internet early — and attempted to cut it from their citizens’ lives.

But people, in most cases, found a way online. In Egypt, for example, we saw hundreds of individuals using old modems and telephone lines to route their traffic through a volunteer network around the globe. And we support them. A survey of 26 countries conducted by the BBC in March 2010 found that nearly four out of five people (79 percent, to be exact) believe that access to the Internet is a ‘fundamental human right.'”