Amiga Emulator Created in Chrome

Via TheRegister

“The emulator code is based on the Open Source Universal Amiga Emulator which is about 400k lines of C code,” Stefansen says. He didn’t cook up the code out of altruism: Google offers “Native Client”,billed as “a sandbox for running compiled C and C++ code in the browser efficiently and securely.” Porting the Amiga into the Native Client is therefore a good way to show it off to the curious or the nostalgic.

The former will find a pixellated and slow-to-respond windowing system and low-fi graphics (here for readers on mobile devices). The nostalgic may find the emulator a poor reproduction of a platform famed, at the time of its debut, for speed and efficiency.

The emulator can be found here.

Google Software Removal Tool for Windows released

From ghacks.net

While it is difficult to come by statistics to find out how many Internet users are affected by software that is manipulating browser settings or installing add-ons and other potentially unwanted tools in browsers, it is clear that this poses a threat to many users.

These modifications can be divided into two different types. First modifications that modify browser settings such as the homepage or search provider, and second modifications that add toolbars or other unwanted features to the browser such as popup ads or other browser extensions.

While most browsers support a reset feature, it is often not enough to run it to get rid of these additions.

Google has released the Software Removal Tool for Windows today which has been designed to aid users of the operating system in getting rid of these modifications.

The tool is offered as a beta currently and while it did work fine during tests, it is highly suggested to backup the browser and create a System Restore point before you run it.

According to Google, it will factory reset Chrome and remove programs on the system that affect the browser’s behavior.

google software removal tool

Here is how it works:

  1. Download the program from the official download page.
  2. After you have downloaded it and created backups of your data, run it.
  3. The program does not require installation and can be run right away after the download completes.
  4. It will either display that it did not found anything suspicious, or list the programs that it found to be suspicious.
  5. Click on remove suspicious programs and wait for the removal complete message.
  6. Note that some programs may be closed by the process.
  7. The program submits data to Google unless you uncheck the box on the results page.
  8. Click on continue to exit the program. The button may also state restart to reboot the system if that is necessary.
  9. When you open Chrome the next time, it will display the reset dialog which you can follow.

Google does not list the programs that the Software Removal Tool considers suspicious. The only information it provides is that its program does not scan for all types of computer viruses and that the programs that it detects are typical malware so that security software may not pick them up.

Google’s tool works only with Chrome and not with Chromium or other Chromium-based browsers.

Conclusion

The Software Removal Tool can be useful as a last resort if you have tried to fix the issue by yourself or don’t know what to do to resolve it.

It is likely that it won’t be used by experienced users as they know how to remove these types of programs from systems or even better, know how to block them from getting there in first place.

Good news is that the program will display its findings so that you can decide on the course of action to take.

ExtShield Notifies You If You’re Running an Adware Extension

 

From Lifehacker, a reminder about how to check your Chrome Add-ons for Adware or Malware.  For more information on how this happens, read Many Browser Extensions Have Become Adware or Malware. 

ExtShield Notifies You If You're Running an Adware ExtensionThis week, Ars Technica and How-To Geek released some pretty startling news: a lot of browser extensions are either injecting ads into the sites you… Read…

Chrome: ExtShield is a new extension that will let you know if you’re running one of the Chrome add-ons that’s been flagged as adware in disguise so you can remove it. Plus, as the community blacklists grow, the extension will update with new information to keep you safe.P

ExtShield (formerly Chrome Protector) is brand new, but it already knows about the most popular and commonly used extensions mentioned at How-To Geek’s updating list. Once installed (and yes, the add-on asks for a lot of permissions), it will notify you if you install something that’s tracking your activity, and you can click it at any time to check the extensions you have installed currently against its blacklist. The developer plans to add in new features like notifying you if an extension starts to behave oddly, or if there’s been a change in ownership (or TOS) of an extension you have installed in the Chrome Web Store.P

Of course, this is trust issue: How do you trust an add-on that’s telling you what other add-ons you can or can’t trust? Well, we took a look at its code and didn’t see anything fishy, but since Chrome extensions can be updated automatically without the user noticing, we’d understand if you’re skeptical of a new extension from an unknown developer that promises to keep you safe. Still, if keeping up with the blacklists is too much for you, or you want something to warn you that an add-on you’ve installed may be spying on you, ExtShield is a good start, if not a bit ironic.P

Update: The new version of the extension, now called ExtShield, is up and available in the Web Store at the link below! P

ExtShield | Chrome Web Store via Ghacks

Newest Chrome Experiment

Bringing hobbits, dwarves and dragons to screens everywhere

Posted: Wednesday, November 20, 2013

You don’t need to be besties with a Wizard to share an adventure in Middle-earth—just point your favorite browser togoo.gl/TheHobbit on your laptop, phone or tablet to check out “Journey through Middle-earth,” the latest Chrome Experiment.

Inspired by the upcoming motion picture "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “Journey through Middle-earth” brings the locations and characters from the movie trilogy to life with a mix of modern web technologies. It was developed by North Kingdom in collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.

Your adventure starts on a beautiful, interactive map of Middle-earth. Zoom in to explore Trollshaw Forest, Rivendell and Dol Guldur (with more locations to come in the next few weeks). Click on each one to learn its history and meet the characters who inhabit it, or dive further to test your wits on a unique survival challenge.

The immersive 3D graphics in “Journey through Middle-earth” were built with CSS3 and WebGL, which you might recognize from previous Chrome Experiments. But “Journey through Middle-earth” is the first Chrome Experiment designed to bring this beautiful, 3D experience to mobile, thanks to support for WebGL in Chrome for Android on devices with high-end graphics cards.

The rich audio effects and sound manipulation are delivered through the Web Audio API, which is now supported on both Chrome for Android and Chrome for iPhone and iPad. Although WebGL isn’t supported on iOS, Chrome users can still experience most of “Journey through Middle-earth” on their iPhones and iPads. We can’t wait to see what sort of rich experiences developers will build as modern web technologies become available on more types of devices.

Circle +Google Chrome to stay updated as more Middle-earth locations get released in the coming weeks. You can also check out the Chromium Blog and read the team’s technical case study if you feel like geeking out a bit more.

Adventure is a click away. Just watch out for the trolls!

Posted by Posted by Christos Apartoglou, Product Marketing Manager & Part-time Dragon-slayer