In terms of gadgets, how will you remember 2010?
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Top 5 most exciting gadgets of 2010
New Google AdSense interface not working with Google Chrome?
Not having logged into Google AdSense for a while, as I’m not really using it at the moment on any of my websites, I decided to have a peek at it this morning. I was welcomed with a “Try The New AdSense” screen so I clicked. The page reloaded. I clicked again. And again. And again. Each time, the page reloaded with the same welcome screen. So I thought “could it be Google Chrome behaving in a funny way?”. Fired up Firefox and lo and behold, I managed to see the new Google AdSense interface. Oh, the sweet irony of the new Google AdSense interface not working with Google Chrome (on Ubuntu) 
HTML5 sample code for drag ‘n’ drop and many more features
If you are the type of programmer who learns by reading code and hacking it, head over to HTML5 Studio, a new area on Google’s HTML5 website with sample code provided for Geolocation, Columns, Drag & Drop features and many more.
I quote from the site
Peek around, look under the covers at the source, and feel free to reuse the code in your own applications and sites.
So Oracle is suing Google…
Last night, Oracle published a press release announcing their legal action against Google (though Google still hadn’t received the actual notice this morning apparently). The legal action is about patents relating to Java (as Oracle now owns Sun) and the crux of the matter seems to be that Android is competing with Java in the mobile phone market and Oracle isn’t happy.
You can find out more details at Oracle sues Google over Android and Java.
Are you surprised? I’m not. As sad as it is, it’s obvious that Oracle is trying to maximise their income from Java and they could make big money going after Google (Google certainly has the funds to pay them a lot of damages). Or they could lose a lot of money as Google also has the funds to hire top lawyers. We shall see what happens…
AdMob announces accounts will be transferred to Google
AdMob has sent a newsletter to its publishers today, confirming Google buyout which took place on 27th May and asking publishers to sign a revised Terms of Service to enable transfer of the account to Google. The transfer to Google accounts is due to take place on 7th July.
AdMob is an ad service with a SDK for iPhone and Android developers, enabling them to show ads in their apps. In my experience, the payouts have fallen quite a lot over the last few months – I wonder if it is because there are too many publishers for not enough ads?
Anyway, as Google AdSense for mobile apps is only available within the USA and Canada at the moment, I am curious as to the effect of Google on AdMob ads inventory – hopefully, more advertisers will flock to the network and payouts will go up again
Top 5 reasons to ditch Flash and embrace HTML5/CSS3 now
1. HTML5 & CSS3 standards are open so you don’t rely on the whims of one company.
2. Big websites like YouTube are already getting into the game (check out YouTube HTML5 Video Player) so you can bet the demand for HTML5 skills is going to rise.
3. You don’t need to buy a proprietary software so you can easily code HTML5 & CSS3 on your laptop, your roommate’s computer and your mum’s computer.
4. The iPad doesn’t support Flash. While you might disagree with Apple’s choice, this is the choice they made and the iPad is going to foster a new range of interactive websites – all those made with HTML5 and CSS3. Do you want in or do you want out?
5. The current big battle is Google vs Apple (Microsoft seems to have lost the race). They are both committed to HTML5 so even if one wins and the other one gets swallowed up, HTML5 will still be supported.
Disagree? Write a “Top 5 reasons to stick to Flash” and I’ll link to it here
Preview installable web apps with Chrome Dev channel (Chrome Unstable)
If Google’s announcement about the Chrome Web App Store got you curious, you can check out the Chrome Dev channel (aka Chrome Unstable) for a sneak preview. Be warned, this will install the unstable version of Chrome on your computer so you will say goodbye to the reliability you currently have with the stable version of Chrome but if like me, you are impatient and can’t wait to see it, it’s worth it.
Check out the “loading installable web apps” section in the Developer’s Guide to find out how to install web apps (basically, using “extensions”). Also, to find out web apps to install, check out the Chromium Apps Discussion Group where developers post their apps for feedback (also, if you’re a developer, this is the group to join to keep up to date with this).
The basic principle behind this is to help users find the web apps they use. However, the apps are normal web apps and there is no need to redesign or redeploy an app for this, all the extra work for the developer is restricted to adding a meta data file + icon to make the app “installable”. The Chrome App Store will also offer an easy way for users to find the app that suits their needs, whether it is a free or a paid app.
I’m expecting this will drive even more web developers towards HTML5 and CSS3, two powerful and open source tools to develop complex and user-responsive web apps. As a user, I am excited at the prospect of having a place where to go to look for a new app (or simply browse through the apps to see what’s out there). As a developer, I am hoping this will open up new opportunities for innovation.
I must…
… learn Scala.
… learn how to use the command shell in Ubuntu.
… refresh my Perl knowledge.
… investigate HTML5.
Because
… I want to learn a multi-paradigm language and Scala can integrate with Java, a language I already use.
… I need to know my programming tools and not just rely on Eclipse.
… I want to write some quick text manipulating scripts to help with producing content for a couple of apps I’m working on.
… I was blown away by the HTML5 demos at Google I/O (No, I didn’t attend, I watched it on YouTube).
Go Google?
Following from my post Programming and web development tools – too much reliance on Google?, I am now left pondering about the Go programming language, a “systems programming language” developed by Google.
On one hand, the premise of Go is quite interesting. While still in its infancy, Go proposes to solve the problem of designing systems software for multicore machines and its syntax seeks to be as clear and as fun as the syntax of dynamic languages such as Python while actually being a static language.
On the other hand, it is yet another Google tool and one can’t help thinking that Google really has got their fingers into many different pies when it comes to coding projects (Google Android OS, Google Chrome browser, Chrome OS, Google Web Toolkit, Google Ajax APIs etc) and they are bound to ditch a few of them along the way. Apparently, they do not use Go yet for their own systems so who’s to say this won’t be dead in the water in a couple of years?
So, is Go on your list of programming languages to keep an eye on? On your list of programing languages to learn? Or on your list of programming languages to forget about?
Programming and web development tools – too much reliance on Google?
Over the least couple of years, the rise of Google in the field of programming and web development tools has been quite spectacular.
Google Android is gaining ground in the smart mobile phone market, Google App Engine and Google Web Toolkit are helping Java and Python programmers develop web apps, Google has established its annual conference Google I/O as the conference all programmers should attend (sadly, I cannot but I would dearly like to), not to mention the success of its Google Maps API and many other tools available for programmers.
Like many other programmers, I am very excited about their tools but I can’t help asking myself: do we rely too much on Google? Only the future will tell but I fear that despite all of Google’s official good intentions, its real aim is to create a market monopoly that Microsoft can only dream of – and then, it will be able to bleed all programmers and users dry.