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[Geeks are Sexy] technology news

tech, science, news and social issues for geeks

Google Chrome to Get Extensions FrameworkYesterday

The very fact that Google put Aaron Boodman on the Chromium project should have told us something.  Aaron invented the popular GreaseMonkey add-on for Firefox, and on Saturday he announced the publication of a design document for adding extensions to Google Chrome.

The lack of extensions for Chrome has been a major barrier to adoption of the new browser.  I’ve been using Chrome as my default browser since I reviewed it back in September, and add-ons are perhaps my most missed Firefox feature — with the possible exception of RSS autodiscovery and customizable subscription.

Many Firefox users identify a single extension as the main reason they haven’t moved to Chrome: AdBlock.  For Google to allow an extension in its browser that would block its own ads might seem like cutting off your nose to spite your face, but it appears that these users may get their wish.  AdBlock is sp

Apple to Mac users: No anti-virus software? Get it now!Yesterday

Windows users all know that there’s nothing quite like an anti-virus application to bring your PC’s performance crashing down. People using a Mac or running any flavor of Linux never have to suffer from this, since virus developers have always been interested in reaching the bulk of the population, meaning the Bill Gates-loving crew. But these days are now becoming a distant memory!

In a recent note to fans, Apple has strongly recommended that all Mac owners should now install an anti-virus application on their systems. The note said, “Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple anti-virus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult.” The note then recommends three applications: Intego VirusBarrier X5, Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 11 for Macintosh and McAfee VirusScan for Mac. And now that you’ve read this, here’s something for you to watch:

Gadgets Dominate Black Friday (and Happy Cyber Monday!)Yesterday

By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Here’s a piece of trivia for you. Though now the term “Black Friday” (indicating the day after Thanksgiving in the US) has come to refer to the beginning of the period when retailers get back in the black (due to the heavy Christmas season shopping), that’s not the actual origin of the term. It originally referred to the heavy traffic on that day, a comparison to the chaos of Black Tuesday during the 1929 stock market crash. Since the current state of the economy has inspired a lot of references to 1929, the importance of Black Friday this year was particularly fitting. You could practically see the stock market holding its breath.

Luckily, all the worry was for nothing - retail sales were actually up 3% this year! And it looks like geeks were leading the way… or at least, gadget sales were. Nine of the ten most popular sales for Friday were gadgets… like a Sony Blu-Ray disc player, a Canon digital camera, and an

The Simpsons Ridicules Apple & Steve JobsYesterday

The Simpsons have been known to make fun of tech culture from time to time, and last night’s episode, featuring a spoof of many iconic Apple products, was no exception to that. Check it out, and try not to wet your pants while watching it. Yes, it’s actually that funny.

Monday morning links serving: The December 1st editionYesterday

-10 Dirty Little Web Development Tricks
We all have them - little coding tricks and snippets of knowledge that we’ve picked up over years of experimentation and evolution of our processes, that are now part of our regular routine and save us time, gnashing of teeth and allow us to work quickly and efficiently.

-3 alternative ways to get Windows updates
Not everyone wants to let Windows handle downloading and installing updates. If you prefer the DIY approach, here are three ways to keep your system up to date without Windows helping out.

-10 mistakes new Linux administrators make
If you’re new to Linux, a few common mistakes are likely to get you into trouble. Learn about them up front so you can avoid major problems as you become increasingly Linux-savvy.

-Fedora 10 is out folks!
Only 6 months after version 9 was released, here comes version 10!

-Top 10 Ways to Get Cables Under Control
When you finally decide it�