According to Dictionary.com:
in⋅no⋅va⋅tion
   /ˌɪnəˈveɪʃən/ [in-uh-vey-shuhn]
–noun
1. something new or different introduced: numerous innovations in the high-school curriculum.
2. the act of innovating; introduction of new things or methods.
Origin:
1540–50; < LL innovātiōn- (s. of innovātiō). See innovate, -ion

Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you, Innovation by Google:

Shame about the lack of Linux support but Google are generally good in getting Linux support out the door within months so I’ll wait and see before I say anything bad about our search overlords!!

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/say-hello-to-gmail-voice-and-video-chat.html

Make sure you watch this until the very end! Very entertaining.

“Ubuntu, I’m going to learn Ubuntu?”

During the week my Brother came on Gmail and was telling me that he has arrived in La Paz in Bolivia. However he also said that as he was changing buses he managed to loose the people he was with. He was slightly distressed as none of them had mobile phones with them (as they didn’t have Tri-band phones).

So he was trying to work out how to contact them, I suggested he contacted the people he is stasying with in the jungle back in Peru. Email was the only way of contacting them. He also knew how to get back to Peru so I suggested perhaps he should go back if he hasn’t found them soon. He was considering going to some of the sights they had planned to see in case he bumped into them but this sounded a bit vague to me.

Then he had the idea that he’ll log onto Facebook and leave a message on the wall of one of his friends. To our amazement this friend has already posted the address of the hotel where they’re staying in La Paz. Facebook had saved the day!

I find this an incredible example of how the web is changing out lifes. Without Internet access Alex would never have been able to even get in contact with me, let alone check his email or Facebook page. Finally Web 2.0 shows its usefulness.

Sorry about the gap in posting here but I have been extremely busy since I got back from Poland. When I got back I had some stuff to sort for university. I had limited Internet before I found my own room. Now I have my own room I have been busy with university but finally I have found some time to blog!

Below is the view from my bedroom window:

I now live in the Dockland area of London just a stones throw from the tallest building in the country! Very inspirational. Aim higher (as some organisation says).

If, like me, you like Google Chrome but miss some great addons such as ABP or Foxmarks then I’ll show you how to get Firefox to have some of the better features of Chrome by using some addons and get a similar look by installing a theme.

First the Incognito mode. There are several addons that mimik the functionality of Incognito mode but my favourite so far is the Distrust addon. It removes all traces of pages you visit, including cookies and browser history while it is activated. You can turn it on and off via a icon in the bottom right of Firefox.

The next feature we’ll copy isn’t actually a Chrome original (pretty much like all the features in fact) but is borrowed heavily from the Opera browser. Called Fast Dial this addon shows your favourite sites (once you’vew added them manually unlike Chrome) to a blank tab.

This is a minor thing to add but it changes the text colour in the address bar to highlight the main part of the URL. I’ve heard this helps to spot spoof sites. It is called Locationbar².

The last addon is a theme that try to look like Chrome. It’s called Chromifox and is pretty close to the look of Chrome although I prefer the default Firefox theme as it blends in with my desktop better! As the author states it isn’t possible to get the tab bar to the top of the window without making Firefox unstable.

These are the main features that Firefox can accomplish via Addons. I believe faster Javascript processing is coming in Firefox 3.1. If you know any other addons or themes that help Firefox become more like Chrome then let me know!

Yesterday I attended the 14th Annual Sausage Dog Parade in Krakow, Poland. Below are the photos I captured of the cute little Dachshund Dogs dressed up in everything from a criminal to the carrier of the king to a footballer! The poor dogs were almost wilting in the 32c temperature and hot sun (just thought I’d mention it to annoy the Londoners!). The event this year seamed a bit bigger (in terms of participants) than last year and they even had a sponsor giving out free dog food!

I didn’t realise the exchange rate is so low between the Pound and Dollar currently! Probably the story has been corrected by the time you read this but here is the link anyway.

Last year I showed you some photos of the 13th Annual Sausage dog parade in Krakow. Well according to this website (link in Polish) the date of this years parade is 7th September. Hugh’s Space will be there to take even more photos of the cute little dressed Dachshund Dogs so watch this Space (Hugh’s Space that is!).

Today I saw this laptop in a computer store in Krakow, Poland. Notice anything different about it? Yes, it’s got Ubuntu preinstalled on it. I’ve read about many companies doing this but it is the first time I’ve seen it in a shop here. I managed to snap this photo on my camera phone so sorry about the quality!

Last weekend I went to Prague in the Czech Republic. The photos are now online from this trip! Let me know what you think of them.