TechLifeWeb

Often, when you click a link on your Nexus 7 and open the page in Chrome, you get a page that looks like the one pictured here. That is, a page that isn’t quite formatted for your screen. Sure, sometimes changing the orientation of your tablet to landscape will let you view the page better.And yes, you can mess around trying to pinch and zoom around the page until you can read it but that’s a pain.

Here is where the awesome service, Readability, comes to your rescue. With Readability, you simply set up a bookmarklet on your Chrome browser that you can call into service easily on your Nexus 7 and it will reformat you page on the fly into something that you can actually read on the tablet.

First, be sure you have synching for Chrome turned on (and you should, it is very cool). Next, visit Readability’s Bookmarklet Page in Chrome on your Laptop or other computer. Follow the instructions to drag the Read Now bookmarklet up to your bookmark bar (if the bar isn’t visible, make it so first with ctrl+shift+b). Next right+click on your new Read Now bookmarklet and click edit. Then change the name to RN. You can type anything you want but RN is nice and short which will make more sense in a moment.

Note, you don’t have to set up an account with Readability to use this process. It is up to you if you want to do that. I happen to like Readability for other things (you can share right to it from other apps on your tablet) so I have an account and also use their app.

Ok, you are all done with the set up work. Now, on your Nexus 7, browse to a page that has an issue like the one in this example. Then, tap the URL bar to bring up your keyboard and type “r n” (no quotes). This will bring up a list of links as in the example shown here. You will know it is your bookmarklet because it has the word “javascript” at the beginning of the link. Just tap that link and Readability will instantly come along, reformat and present you with a new page that is much easier to read.

If you are still not a fan of how it looks, Readability presents you with a formatting strip running along the left-hand side of the page. Click the font icon and change things around until you like what you see. Usually, however, the defaults work fine.

Happy reading.

What I’m reading and finding for January 29th 2012 through January 31st 2012:

• Uncensored – Leanpub-
  leanpub.com
• A Glimpse of Murdoch Unbound-
  nytimes.com
  - By DAVID CARR
  

  While many modern executives live behind a wall of communications operatives, Rupert Murdoch, the chief of News Corporation, is openly expressing his opinions on Twitter.
• From Twitter – How to Stop YouTube From Crashing Google Chrome http://t.co/6vPAdn73
• The Bookstore’s Last Stand-
  nytimes.com
  - By JULIE BOSMAN
• From Twitter – DNSCrypt Could be interesting. Mac only preview at the moment. http://t.co/8uNOY3ay
• Twitter’s censorship is a gray box of shame, but not for Twitter | Paul Smalera-
  blogs.reuters.com
  - Paul Smalera
  

  Twitter’s announcement this week that it was going to enable country-specific censorship of posts is arousing fury around the Internet. Commentators, activists, protesters and netizens have said it’s “very bad news” and claim to be “#outraged”. Bianca Jagger, for one, asked how to go about boycotting Twitter, on Twitter, according to the New York Times. (Step one might be… well, never mind.) The critics have settled on #TwitterBlackout: all day on Saturday the 28th, they promised to not tweet, …  show all text
• From Twitter – NASA telescope discovers 26 alien planets around 11 different stars http://t.co/5vdorUIx

What I’m reading and finding for January 23rd 2012 through January 28th 2012:

• At Twitter, The Future is You!-
  youtube.com
• Dear Google: Crappy Results Like This Don’t Give The Impression You Care About Search-
  searchengineland.com
  - Danny Sullivan
  

  The debate about what should — and shouldn’t — show in a Google search result for “santorum” has been well-documented, at this point. But I’d like to use this now famous search to illustrate something else: how it appears Google is taking its eye off the ball of… Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
• State of the Union 2012 | The White House-
  whitehouse.gov
  WhiteHouse.gov presents your portal to the 2012 State of the Union Address. Watch, Discuss, and Engage all week long
• Facebook Timeline Now Pushed To Everyone, Users Get A Week To Clean Up Profiles | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  

  You can run, but you can’t hide. Facebook’s biggest user interface overhaul since the Wall, the Facebook Timeline, is now becoming mandatory for all users. According to the company, over the next few weeks, everyone will get the new Timeline. And here’s the important part: when you do, you’ll have just seven days to preview what’s there now, and hide anything you don’t want others to see.
• Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops | Privacy Inc. – CNET News-
  news.cnet.com
  - Declan McCullagh
  

  Colorado federal judge gives Ramona Fricosu until February 21 to decrypt her PGP Desktop-encrypted Toshiba laptop–or face the consequences.
• From Twitter – http://t.co/M6LVsDBR Google+ Relaxes Real Name Policy, Still Prefers ‘Frank Ricard’ Over ‘Frank the Tank’
• From Twitter – RT @bjschoneCheck out this site before you build anything with HTML5. Very helpful. http://t.co/Y0maLcvZ

What I’m reading and finding for January 2nd 2012 through January 5th 2012:

• From Twitter – Give your Android device instant access to all your Wi-Fi spots | TechRepublic http://t.co/HjZbEHcA
• From Twitter – http://t.co/lNDYy0nh Microsoft Secures Patent for Game Console DVRs
• IFTTT, A Glue Gun For Sticking The Web Together, Raises $1.5M Seed Round From Top Investors | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  - Eric Eldon
  

  Want to instantly save all your Instagram photos to Dropbox when you take them? What about automatically updating your Twitter profile when you update your Facebook profile? Or, what about sharing any article you read in Read It Later to Twitter and Facebook, staggered by time via Buffer? A small bootstrapped startup called If This Then That has abstracted a simple set of tools to help you do each of these things, and many more.
  And now it’s raised a big seed round of more than $1.5 million from  show all text
• Nobody Goes to Facebook Anymore. It’s Too Crowded. « Uncrunched-
  uncrunched.com
  - Michael Arrington
  

  A year ago Steven Levy suggested that Facebook should give us each a single “friend-list do-over.”
  A lot of commenters challenged him. “Grow some balls and just unfriend people,” said one of the more even tempered readers. Another – “These comments are too constructive. Someone should just call this guy an idiot.”
  Steven probably didn’t see that criticism coming, because he probably assumed people understand how difficult it is to unfriend people on Facebook at any sort of scale. You have to fi…  show all text
• Google’s Jaw-Dropping Sponsored Post Campaign For Chrome-
  searchengineland.com
  - Danny Sullivan
  

  Google, the company that has been fighting against paid links and “thin” content, seems to be behind a campaign that’s generating both on behalf of its Chrome browser. File this under “what were they thinking.” “This Post Sponsored By Google” Aaron Wall… Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
• Code Year-
  codeyear.com
  

What I’m reading and finding for December 18th 2011 through December 21st 2011:

• MythBuster Adam Savage: SOPA Could Destroy the Internet as We Know It – Popular Mechanics-
  popularmechanics.com
  

  The U.S. Congress is considering the Protect IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). MythBuster Adam Savage says that if these sweeping pieces of legislation pass, the U.S. will join the likes of China and Iran in censoring the Internet.
• Mozilla and Google Sign New Agreement for Default Search in Firefox | The Mozilla Blog-
  blog.mozilla.com
  - Mozilla
  We’re pleased to announce that we have negotiated a significant and mutually beneficial revenue agreement with Google. This new agreement extends our long term search relationship with Google for at least three additional years.
  “Under this multi-year agreement, Google Search will continue to be the default search provider for hundreds of millions of Firefox users around the world,” said Gary Kovacs, CEO, Mozilla.
  “Mozilla has been a valuable partner to Google over the years and we look forward…  show all text
• From Twitter – RT @newsycombinatorSamsung sold its Hard Drive Business to Seagate for $1.4 Billion http://t.co/AyrDOdBK
• An internet of people – Chris Dixon-
  cdixon.org
  - chris
  Over the past few years, a bunch of web-based marketplaces have gotten popular – Etsy, Kickstarter, AirBnb, to name a few. Many of these business ideas had been tried before but are succeeding only now.
  When a trend like this emerges, it’s always interesting to ask “why now?” For example, for almost a decade, entrepreneurs tried to create video sharing services like YouTube, but only succeeded when certain key dependencies – broadband, digital video cameras, a version of Flash that “just worked”  show all text
• VETO the SOPA bill and any other future bills that threaten to diminish the free flow of information | The White House-
  wwws.whitehouse.gov
  “the more freely information flows; the stronger that society becomes” President Obama http://tiny.cc/rh5b1 By allowing free conversation it is so easy to drop a link http://i.imgur.com/TD4Kq.jpg It would be ridiculous for an ISP to block the
• The Other 99, Ustream.TV: -Twitter-@Timcast@TheOther99Thischannel is being maintained by The Other 99. We continue to be a primary source from the …-
  ustream.tv
• From Twitter – http://t.co/KlnU9osV SOPA Vote Delayed Without Explanation

What I’m reading and finding for December 3rd 2011 through December 6th 2011:

• CATS 1, KIDS 0 | Regretsy-
  regretsy.com
  - Helen Killer
  

  As you know, we have been trying to buy Christmas presents for kids in the Regretsy community.
  We took many applications, vetted them carefully and set about creating a giant gift exchange program, where you could buy a gift for the over 200 children we’re helping.
  We raised so much money that we found ourselves in a position of not just being able to send toys, but to send a monetary gift to the families as well. We hoped it might help them make their holiday dinners more special, or maybe pay…  show all text
• From Twitter – Amazing set of macro-photographs of insects. http://t.co/PmPgwV08
• Klout, My Story & Why Opting Out Was My Only Choice | Liz Strauss at Successful Blog-
  successful-blog.com
  - ME Liz Strauss
  

  It’s My StoryWhen I was growing up, what we knew about each other wasn’t called data. It was called interaction, stories, and information. It came in the form of experience and shared events, gossip and oral history, and reports and report cards. Not every story told about us was unbiased, accurate, or even true.
  In my youngest years, my dad taught me three guiding principles about such stories:
  Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.
  Consider the reliability of the so…  show all text

• From Twitter – Facebook Utterly Dominates Web Referrals. Article by Larry Seltzer. http://t.co/2PdrOIan
• The New Digital Divide-
  nytimes.com
  - By SUSAN P. CRAWFORD
  

  Most Americans can get online. But too many can’t afford high-speed access.
• Firefox faces uncertain future as Google deal apparently ends | ZDNet-
  zdnet.com
  - Ed Bott
  

  It hasn’t been a good year for Firefox. Mozilla has lost share to Google, it’s lost the loyalty of enterprise customers, and it’s lost key talent. And a deal with Google that supplied 84% of its revenue last year was scheduled to end in November. Can Firefox avoid a slide into irrelevance?
• From Twitter – 3d printer helps grow new bones http://t.co/HY4GF1Jf

What I’m reading and finding for December 1st 2011 through December 3rd 2011:

• Facebook acquires Gowalla to boost Timeline team – Dec. 2, 2011-
  money.cnn.com
  
• From Twitter – I never used Gowalla but here is how to delete your account if you don’t want Facebook to have it. http://t.co/1tM4bhX5
• You’re Not As Busy As You Think-
  chrisbrogan.com
  - ceb
  

  In many ways, I’m writing this post to myself. I had a very interesting conversation with my shrink the other day, wherein which he was calling me out on some of my less-attractive behaviors. He said to me, “Maybe you don’t do those things because you think you’re too busy and too needed elsewhere to do them.” (In this instance, the “things” were all the tasks I can’t seem to master in life, like paying bills on time.)
  What’s interesting is that the conversation resonated with a few others I’d …  show all text
• From Twitter – Cleaning Carrier IQ off your iPhone or Android. http://t.co/IlXEAGM2
• YouTube’s New Homepage Goes Social With Algorithmic Feed, Emphasis On Google+ And Facebook | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  - Eric Eldon
  

  YouTube is launching what the company calls the biggest redesign in its history today, including sweeping changes to its homepage and channel pages. The goal is better personalized video discovery and viewing, with a notable emphasis on social features. Think of the changes as the latest example of Google’s campaign to create a unified social layer for all of its products.
  The new homepage looks a lot like Facebook, or Google+ for that matter. An activity feed view dominates the middle of the p…  show all text
• From Twitter – How to turn off Carrier IQ on your iPhone – Computerworld http://t.co/6U6DwvKR
• From Twitter – Nat. Geographic picks the best space pictures of 2011. http://t.co/Kt3Wzknw

What I’m reading and finding for November 16th 2011 through November 18th 2011:

• Google+ continues battle with fading user interest, data say – latimes.com-
  latimesblogs.latimes.com
  - David Sarno
  

  One of technology’s big unresolved dramas is whether Google can still cut into the giant social networking lead now held by rival Facebook — or if its Google+ service is already sunk.
  Data on the subject have been sparse, with much of the more recent information coming from traffic measurement firm Experian Hitwise. Hitwise has tended to release its numbers after Google+ has had a good week or two. Last week, for instance, was the site’s third-biggest since launch, drawing nearly 7 million vis…  show all text
• From Twitter – RT @northlightUSB Stick Contains Dual-Core Computer, Turns Any Screen Into an Android Station http://t.co/hkV6bCku / Interesting.
• From Twitter – http://t.co/9hH3fxb0 Jane Austen ‘died from arsenic poisoning’
• Protect The Internet-
  tumblr.com
• American Censorship Day November 16 – Join the fight to stop SOPA-
  americancensorship.org
  

  A bill that is very likely to pass will let government and corporations censor the internet, take down sites at the behest of corporations. My favorite sites and friends have to step up now to help stop it, or it passes: http://americancensorship.org
• From Twitter – Stanford’s Free Developing Apps for iPhone and iPad http://t.co/rFRiV32L
• Europe Bans X-Ray Body Scanners Used at U.S. Airports – ProPublica-
  propublica.org
  

  by Michael Grabell
  The European Union on Monday prohibited the use of X-ray body scanners in European airports, parting ways with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, which has deployed hundreds of the scanners as a way to screen millions of airline passengers for explosives hidden under clothing.
  The European Commission, which enforces common policies of the EU’s 27 member countries, adopted the rule “in order not to risk jeopardizing citizens’ health and safety.”
  As a ProPublica/…  show all text

I really like the new Beach theme in Gmail. The problem I have with it is that the scroll bar on the right becomes invisible in Google Chrome.  On the right is a snip from my screen.

Fortunately, we can fix this with an extension and some script.

First, go get the Stylish extension and install it.

Then go to this page where my script is: New Gmail – Visible Scroll Bar and click the Install with Stylish button. Once you do that and go to Gmail, the scroll bar will be a nice blue color. And it will stay blue no matter which theme you try.

If you don’t like my choice of blue, you can right-click on the Stylish icon at the top of your browser and then click Options. Then you click the Edit button under the name of the script.  You’ll then see a line that says rgba(0, 122, 255, 0.7) The first 3 variables are RGB code (search around the web for help with finding the code to a color you like). The 0.7 part has to do with transparency so you can experiment with that. Just click save and go back to Gmail (or, easier, open Gmail in another tab).

Hope that helps some people out.

What I’m reading and finding for October 4th 2011 through October 6th 2011:

• Steve Jobs Was Always Kind To Me (Or, Regrets of An Asshole) | The Wirecutter-
  thewirecutter.com
  

  I met Steve Jobs while I worked at Gizmodo. He was always a gentleman. Steve liked me and he liked Gizmodo. And I liked him back. Some of my friends who I use
• Apple – Remembering Steve Jobs-
  apple.com
  Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.
• Exclusive: Microsoft considers bidding for Yahoo| Reuters-
  reuters.com
  

  NEW YORK (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp is considering a bid for Yahoo Inc, resurfacing as a potential buyer after a bitter and unsuccessful fight to take over the Internet company in 2008, sources close to
• the understatement: Google’s Management Doesn’t Use Google+-
  theunderstatement.com
  

  Management caring deeply about their company’s products and using them every day is almost always a prerequisite of making great products. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg really does use Facebook all day. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo tweeted at least 30 times just yesterday. At the other extreme, I started at Apple under Gil Amelio, who used to have his emails printed out for him. On that basis alone it was hardly surprising he was a disaster.
  So how about Google CEO Larry Page? It’s been over 3 months  show all text
• Apple-
  apple.com
  Apple designs and creates iPod and iTunes, Mac laptop and desktop computers, the OS X operating system, and the revolutionary iPhone and iPad.
• Live Apple iPhone 5 event coverage – gdgt live-
  live.gdgt.com