Entries by Kevin Harrison

I gotta say, when they said they were going to revolutionize the browser today, i thought to myself what could they possibly do to opera that would make me want to use it? There can be nothing of actual use aside from the novelty of using something aside from firefox.

Oh boy, was I wrong.

Opera might actually have something, something huge. Apparently, the folks at Opera have been working tirelessly even though they are 5th in browser penetration.

Opera has integrated an actual webserver into their browser which has never been done before.

A user can configure the unite service from their browser. It's rather straight forward. Simply enable the Unite service from Opera then right click on any application that you would like to use and click start service. Currently they have a Fridge service, where users can leave little notes on a virtual fridge in the form of a virtual post-it. Along with the fridge, they have a lounge, where people can have a chat, a webserver where people can view a personal web page, and then there is basic file sharing.

The file sharing is broken into three different categories, Photo Sharing, File Sharing and a Media Player.

Talk about an easy way for everyone to share their creations.

Incase anyone is wondering what the server version is of the unite service, the webserver responds as...

200 OK
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:46:30 UTC
Server: Opera/ubuntu.kharri1073.operaunite.com
Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8
Client-Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:46:30 GMT
Client-Peer: 213.236.208.34:80
Client-Response-Num: 1
Set-Cookie: unite-session-id=9b4736b661f85d9025507f3a; Max-Age=2073600; path=/

Leave me a message on my fridge... http://ubuntu.kharri1073.operaunite.com/fridge/

Dear Microsoft,

Can you have any less brand recognition? You're changing focus, names, and ideas way too frequently. How can anyone take you seriously?

Sincerely,
A former windows user

I don't know why Google changed the colors of the categories in Google news but it looks like they actually regressed.

Each major category in Google News had their color changed yesterday. Each category is a variant of their classic Google color scheme.

The news categories now make the website look like it was produced for (or by i can't say) an 8 year old. If you don't read the actual news headlines you may thing it is a page for kids.

If memory recalls, the categories in Google News used to have a solid background greyish color. The only colors in the category was a top border which used the Google colors.

Perhaps it's just because it's new change, but the colors just seem too distracting, keeping the user's eyes from the actual news content. If a color wheel is fired up, the colors don't even match the same scheme. The UI team really goofed on that.

According to the editor in chief at Business Week, John A. Byrne, the story was the result of someone hacking their blog at businessweek.com. He tweeted his response to the story.

Here is the posting from the original "hacked" story:

A shocking revelation in the science world has been made today as we are getting reports saying an Alien spacecraft has landed in the small city of Webster, South Dakota.

Hundreds crowded a parking lot at busy factory outlet as a spherical craft descended from clear skies and made it’s landing on U.S. soil. Witnesses say power within a mile had gone out. Hand held devices, cameras and even vehicles stopped working before the craft made its landing, therefore, many witnesses could not take photographs of the craft.

The craft along with the crowd was in silence. Many people ran away in fear before the craft even landed. After a short while of watching the craft, witnesses say a part of the door on the lower portion opened up and a ramp came extended out to the ground. Two creatures, approximately 4 feet tall with large heads, large eyes, no noses and a slip for mouth, as described by witnesses, walked down the ramp and onto Earth grounds. The beings were said to have matched the descriptions of an extra-terrestrial species we call "Greys."

"We felt a sense of relief", said witness, Rob Chan. "We were scared, but we couldn’t move. It was an astonishing site. It felt as if they were trying to communicate with us but we just couldn't understand."

The beings walked back into the craft as the ramp closed back up behind them and after a few tense moments of waiting, the spaceship silently ascended upwards, moved towards the nearby lake and shot into the sky and that is when it disappeared. It was only a short while after when hand held devices and phones started working again. People started taking pictures of the sky hoping the craft would come back (seen in the picture).

The fire department and police were called to the scene but could not do anything about what had just happened. Military officials were notified of the incident and the area is being cleared and the area is being tested for possible radioactivity.

The image that was included in the story was that of a large group of people in a parking lot looking area. Why would anyone take a picture of the crowd if there is supposedly some crazy UFO stuff happening?

Nicely played, Mr. Hacker, but I'm leaning towards a hoax.