Hasta La Gadget!

The jury is still out on whether Chromebooks will sell like hotcakes (we’re guessing not), but no matter to Mozilla. The organization behind Firefox has plans to develop its own operating system for mobile devices — a clear shot across the bow at Google’s browser-based Chrome OS. In a page on Mozilla’s own wiki, a handful of senior developers announced their intentions to create a “complete, standalone operating system for the open web” running HTML5 apps. The OS, codenamed “Boot to Gecko,” will be designed with tablets and handsets in mind, says Mike Shaver, the foundation’s VP of technical strategy. And here’s the fascinating part: the OS will rely on Google’s own Android drivers and kernel to boot the device. In a Google Groups discussion thread, the lead devs said they chose Android over a Linux stack since so many device makers have focused their efforts on Android, and it makes sense to “reuse its lower layers.” Still, they insist that they otherwise intend to borrow from it as little as possible. Obviously, don’t hold your breath for Firebooks, as the project’s very much in its infancy, but in the meantime there’s some mighty interesting conversation happening in that discussion thread about Mozilla’s lofty end game: breaking “the stranglehold of proprietary devices over the mobile device world.”

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Mozilla planning a Chrome OS-like operating system for phones and tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Man builds DIY Segway for $434, begins casting ‘Arrested Development’ fan film (video)

Man builds DIY Segway for $434, begins casting ‘Arrested Development’ fan film (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jul 2011 09:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC’s CFO Winston Yung appears ready to make a deal with market rival and patent nemesis Apple. The Taiwanese company has had some rather harsh words for the Cupertino crew, and it hasn’t seemed any more conciliatory after getting slapped by the ITC. That may be starting to change, as Yung told Bloomberg, “we [Apple and HTC] have to sit down and figure it out.” He went on to say that the house that Sense built was open to discussions with Jobs and co. but did not venture to guess what a final agreement might look like. Of course, it’s worth pointing out that this is absolutely standard practice, and we’d expect nothing less. In fact, HTC really only has two options here: plead for licensing cooperation, or go into gummy bear sales.

HTC CFO says it’s time to ‘figure it out’ with Apple originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jul 2011 09:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink All Things D  |  Bloomberg  | Email this | Comments

If the Wright Brothers had had this paper plane motor, they could have skipped their tedious double-decker bi-wing design

I’m pretty good at paper airplanes. With the right design and a few extra creases (a Concord-like bent beak at the nose, and a raising of flaps at the back end of the wings) you can make a plane that flies straight and true, and doesn’t loop-the-loop as soon as you throw it. In combination with the Electric Paper Airplane Conversion Kit, I have a feeling my planes could be unstoppable.

The kit comes from everybody’s favorite nerdware vendor, ThinkGeek. It consists of a propeller which pushes the plane from the back driven by a small motor up front, and the two are connected by a 7.25-inch shaft. Juice the motor for 20 seconds using the included battery pack and the propeller will spin for 90 seconds. That’s a lifetime in paper-airplane years.

Imagine. In 90 seconds, your plane could fly the length of your street. Or it could be sent off to the dorks on the other side of the office, giving you time to slip back into your cubicle chair and watch the results out of the corner of your eye. If you get really lucky, it might veer off course just as it passes the human resources department, shooting through the boss’ door during an important client meeting and getting those idiots from HR fired. They deserve it anyway, right?

The kit costs $20 and is available now. Batteries are not supplied, but awesomeness comes included in the box.

Electric Paper Airplane Conversion Kit [ThinkGeek]

See Also:

• Gadget Lab Notes: Surgery Robot Folds Miniscule Paper Airplane …
• Alphageek: Master of Paper Planes Aims for Space
• Falling with Style at the New Millenium Paper Plane Contest …
• Interview with The Paper Airplane Guy

This article was written on March 05, 2007 by CyberNet.

Microsoft Monday

One of Vista’s most useful features is the integrated search in the start menu which can be setup to search all of the files on your computer that have been indexed.  This makes it easy to find what you’re looking for, and thus saves you time.

The screenshot below looks like a Windows Vista Start menu, and you’ll notice the Vista ‘orb’ along with the search field at the bottom. 

Don’t be fooled, it’s not Vista. Instead, it’s a screenshot of Windows XP using the Vista Start Menu Emulator. Impressive isn’t it? While it’s not as powerful as the Vista Search feature, and not as extensive, it does do a good job of searching the start menu/programs folder.

After downloading it, all I had to do is double click the file, and run it. No installation is required.  The Vista “orb’ is placed randomly on your desktop, and then you can move it wherever you’d like.  The screenshot above used a Window Blinds theme to change the appearance of Windows XP. By using the theme, you’re able to cover the existing “orb” with the one that the program produces. If you don’t use the theme, you’ll still see the XP start menu icon (see screenshot below).

You’ll notice that the Vista orb is placed to the right of the start menu. This is because I don’t have the Window Blinds theme installed. If I were to drag the orb over the start menu, it wouldn’t replace it, rather it would sit on top of it. You can place the Orb anywhere you’d like on the screen, and by clicking on it, you’ll get the “Vista” start menu to appear.

By right clicking on the orb, you’ll notice a properties section.  That’s where you can add programs that will be pinned on the start menu which must be done manually. You’ll also be able to change the transparency of the menu. By hovering your mouse over each of the items on the right side of the start menu, you’ll notice that the top image changes just like it does in Vista.

A couple of things to keep in mind… First, this emulator does not map to the windows key.  This means if you push the Windows key on your keyboard, it will pull up the original XP Start Menu. Another small issue is that each time after you enter in a new program that you want pinned to the start menu, you’ll need to exit the program and restart it.  It’s not a big deal, and doesn’t take more than a few seconds, but is something you’ll have to remember to do, otherwise your programs will not display.

The download for the Vista Start Menu Emulator is here. Using the emulator easily gives you the chance to use the Vista Search feature without actually purchasing Vista.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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