Google: Chrome News and Discussion Thread
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,967
Likes: 2,685
From: Jersey
Anyone buy a Chromebook lately? I'm looking to buy 2 of them either 13 or 14 inch. My Samsung is long in the tooth and ready for replacement. I'm looking for something with a Celeron and 4GB.
Moderator
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 64,106
Likes: 3,364
From: Not Las Vegas (SF Bay Area)
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,967
Likes: 2,685
From: Jersey
They do support USB storage https://support.google.com/chromeboo...83093?hl=en-GB
Last edited by doopstr; Jul 31, 2016 at 06:51 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,967
Likes: 2,685
From: Jersey
This one looks pretty good https://store.google.com/product/acer_chromebook_14
Go Giants
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 70,003
Likes: 1,260
From: PA
They have become around the same price as a low end Windows machine, with around the same specs. A Windows PC will do so much more then a Chromebook or you can just run Chrome if you want to on it. Chromebooks are good for people who you dont want to change or mess around with things. Students. Old people. Maybe even people who continously catch viruses. But for normal use, it doesnt make sense. At least to me. I have a desire to play around with as much tech as possible, but ever time I try out a Chromebook, I never have a desire to own or recommend one.
Go Giants
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 70,003
Likes: 1,260
From: PA
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,967
Likes: 2,685
From: Jersey
This is why I like them for my wife and kids, they just want a browser. If it does happen to get jacked up they can be reset to factory in about 5 minutes.
Last edited by doopstr; Jul 31, 2016 at 08:31 PM.
Moderator
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 64,106
Likes: 3,364
From: Not Las Vegas (SF Bay Area)
Go Giants
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 70,003
Likes: 1,260
From: PA
my son who is 13 has had either a mac or windows PC for years and has had zero issues. If I gave either him or my wife a Chromebook, it would be as a punishment.
Currently Post-Acura
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 998
Likes: 125
From: Bergen County, NJ
Just got a shipment of the Dell 3180s at work. Nicer build than the 3120s and the older ones the school has but the plastic is still no match for my MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. For what the school wants them for, they're perfect. Especially for testing with PARCC where we need a large group of students on at the same time on cheap, easily managed devices.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,967
Likes: 2,685
From: Jersey
Moderator
Regional Coordinator (Southeast)
Regional Coordinator (Southeast)
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 44,109
Likes: 4,424
From: Mooresville, NC
Find me a Windows PC boot fast and is as thin and light as a Pixelbook with the same specs, a touchscreen, and ability to use a pen for even close to the same price.
For work a lot of what I do remotely is accessed through Citrix or Web clients so something ultraportable when traveling is normally my number one choice. Also means I keep it with me in the car almost all the time as well. Haven't broken down yet to get one but as great as a device as my Pixel C has been I have been seriously considering one.
For work a lot of what I do remotely is accessed through Citrix or Web clients so something ultraportable when traveling is normally my number one choice. Also means I keep it with me in the car almost all the time as well. Haven't broken down yet to get one but as great as a device as my Pixel C has been I have been seriously considering one.
Moderator
Regional Coordinator (Southeast)
Regional Coordinator (Southeast)
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 44,109
Likes: 4,424
From: Mooresville, NC
Well I ended up picking one up on sale. A few hours in and loving it so far. First new laptop type device I have had since college. Already installed a Windows app on it using CrossOver and it runs just fine. Only thing I have left to test with the app is if I can access the USB adapter for connected it to my car ECU. IF that works this is 100% a success cause it is the only Windows app I really need.
Moderator
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 29,869
Likes: 3,489
While I love the idea of the Pixelbook and Chromebooks, and the app ecosystem is vast for a mobile platform, it just doesn't compare to the support Windows does.
Or maybe I'm just too used to the programs I already use as well as too lazy to experiment with and learn new ones.
Every platform has its pros and cons, but I don't like Apple OS so I won't be going with them. What always made me weary of Pixelbooks is the compatibility with Windows apps... does it work with most or all Windows apps you've tried? Mainly worried about video editing.
Or maybe I'm just too used to the programs I already use as well as too lazy to experiment with and learn new ones.
Every platform has its pros and cons, but I don't like Apple OS so I won't be going with them. What always made me weary of Pixelbooks is the compatibility with Windows apps... does it work with most or all Windows apps you've tried? Mainly worried about video editing.
Moderator
Regional Coordinator (Southeast)
Regional Coordinator (Southeast)
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 44,109
Likes: 4,424
From: Mooresville, NC
While I love the idea of the Pixelbook and Chromebooks, and the app ecosystem is vast for a mobile platform, it just doesn't compare to the support Windows does.
Or maybe I'm just too used to the programs I already use as well as too lazy to experiment with and learn new ones.
Every platform has its pros and cons, but I don't like Apple OS so I won't be going with them. What always made me weary of Pixelbooks is the compatibility with Windows apps.. does it work with most or all Windows apps you've tried? Mainly worried about video editing.
Or maybe I'm just too used to the programs I already use as well as too lazy to experiment with and learn new ones.
Every platform has its pros and cons, but I don't like Apple OS so I won't be going with them. What always made me weary of Pixelbooks is the compatibility with Windows apps.. does it work with most or all Windows apps you've tried? Mainly worried about video editing.
My Windows laptop and desktop have been showing their age lately and so I have been researching a new replacement machine. Mainly was looking at a Microsoft Surface Book or Dell XPS 2-in-1 but by the time I configured it the way I wanted I would have been spending around $1700-1800 which I just didn't want to spend. I don't game on a PC at all. The only PC apps I really use are Photoshop, uTorrent, and Hondata FlashPro Manager. Even then I do a lot less photo work than I used to.
Most of what I do anymore tends to be on the web at this point or very basic photo editing work which I can even do on my phone. So there are plenty of Android apps and web apps for editing photos that I have found that do more than enough for me. So after about a month of research on Chromebook Pixel I was getting ready to consider buying one at full price. Then all of a sudden then when on 25% off sale essentially with $250 off each model. I couldn't see the point of the higher end models honestly so at $750 and used ones typically going for $600 still I figured worst case it could end up being a failed $150 experiment.
So far 3 days in and I have not found anything I can't do on it yet besides using Hondata FlashPro Manager to connect to my TSX ECU for tuning. If that is the only thing I need to operate my windows laptop for I will just do a clean wipe and put Windows7 on it and that app and it will fly forever really. However, USB support for linux is supposed to be coming soon so I might even be able to run that app in WINE on linux and then I will be able to do everything on this.
It will be a real win if I have found a device this small and portable with Apple build quality that does everything I need for that price.
I will give some more update in a few weeks if it is still filling my needs or if I have found things that are lacking for me.
Thread Starter
Sanest Florida Man
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 45,996
Likes: 11,776
From: Florida
Google is proposing a change to Chrome that would break ad blockers like uBlock Origin
Over the years, Google Chrome has changed in many ways, some good, some not so much. Google is proposing a new change to Chrome that arguably falls into the latter category as it will adversely affect the functionality of ad blocker extensions like uBlock Origin and AdGuard.
While the internet is not the same Wild West it was a few short years ago with flashing ads for lewd websites, pop-ups and pop-unders, and more polluting your favorite websites, there are plenty of people out there who still won’t use Google Chrome without an ad blocker (hopefully unblocking sites they wish to support). As the tech behind ads has improved, so too have the blockers, with projects like EasyList that not only prevent the ad from loading, but can also make the page appear as if it never had an ad.
Google is proposing a broad set of changes to Chrome’s extension platform that, among other things, will stop most ad blockers from working as they’re currently able to. Today, ad blockers use Chrome’s “webRequest” API to block certain HTTP requests from ever being made at all, but Chrome needs to check with each relevant extension before processing a request. This adds a (sometimes significant) delay, which Google is trying to avoid.
Under the proposed new design, Google Chrome ad blocker extensions will be forced to use a new “declarativeNetRequest” API which is styled after Adblock Plus’s blocking method, and is limited to 30,000 rules (EasyList alone is well over this 30,000 limit). Beyond that, by styling like Adblock Plus, other ad blockers like uBlock Origin which work on a different system are prevented from working as intended.
The creator of uBlock Origin, Raymond Hill, understandably came out against these changes on the associated Chromium bug, sharing his strong belief that the new extension API is not being designed in favor of users.
Surely, Google will work with the developers of the most popular Chrome extensions, beyond just ad blockers, to ensure that all necessary use cases for extensions are still covered under the new APIs. Otherwise, they may risk losing some of their power user audience to Firefox.
While the internet is not the same Wild West it was a few short years ago with flashing ads for lewd websites, pop-ups and pop-unders, and more polluting your favorite websites, there are plenty of people out there who still won’t use Google Chrome without an ad blocker (hopefully unblocking sites they wish to support). As the tech behind ads has improved, so too have the blockers, with projects like EasyList that not only prevent the ad from loading, but can also make the page appear as if it never had an ad.
Google is proposing a broad set of changes to Chrome’s extension platform that, among other things, will stop most ad blockers from working as they’re currently able to. Today, ad blockers use Chrome’s “webRequest” API to block certain HTTP requests from ever being made at all, but Chrome needs to check with each relevant extension before processing a request. This adds a (sometimes significant) delay, which Google is trying to avoid.
Under the proposed new design, Google Chrome ad blocker extensions will be forced to use a new “declarativeNetRequest” API which is styled after Adblock Plus’s blocking method, and is limited to 30,000 rules (EasyList alone is well over this 30,000 limit). Beyond that, by styling like Adblock Plus, other ad blockers like uBlock Origin which work on a different system are prevented from working as intended.
The creator of uBlock Origin, Raymond Hill, understandably came out against these changes on the associated Chromium bug, sharing his strong belief that the new extension API is not being designed in favor of users.
Extensions act on behalf of users, they add capabilities to a *user agent*, and deprecating the blocking ability of the webRequest API will essentially decrease the level of user agency in Chromium, to the benefit of web sites which obviously would be happy to have the last word in what resources their pages can fetch/execute/render.
With such a limited declarativeNetRequest API and the deprecation of blocking ability of the webRequest API, I am skeptical “user agent” will still be a proper category to classify Chromium.
A Google spokesperson indicated to us that the new design is not yet set in stone, leaving open the possibility for feedback from the community.These changes are in the design process, as mentioned in the document and the Chromium bug. Things are subject to change and we will share updates as available.
With such a limited declarativeNetRequest API and the deprecation of blocking ability of the webRequest API, I am skeptical “user agent” will still be a proper category to classify Chromium.
A Google spokesperson indicated to us that the new design is not yet set in stone, leaving open the possibility for feedback from the community.These changes are in the design process, as mentioned in the document and the Chromium bug. Things are subject to change and we will share updates as available.
_
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,307
Likes: 3,429
Google's an ad company. That's how they make most of their money. No surprise here.
If Company X's ad blocker is hurting your revenue stream, make changes to break it under the guise of privacy. Unless they want to whitelist a bunch of sites like AdBlock Plu$ does.
If Company X's ad blocker is hurting your revenue stream, make changes to break it under the guise of privacy. Unless they want to whitelist a bunch of sites like AdBlock Plu$ does.
Thread Starter
Sanest Florida Man
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 45,996
Likes: 11,776
From: Florida
Well ABP will probably still work since it white lists some “good” ads
but ublock the ad blocker most experts prefer won’t
but yes, if it goes I go to Firefox. Firefox is usable finally
but ublock the ad blocker most experts prefer won’t
but yes, if it goes I go to Firefox. Firefox is usable finally
Moderator
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 29,869
Likes: 3,489
I don't trust Google, though I know many times they're unavoidable. Been using duckduckgo for searches mostly, and Safari cause that's what's used at work.
I did use Firefox on my PC a few months ago and it's much better than years past. RAM is a bottleneck for sure on my system, I need to upgrade that - in the meantime, not using Chrome helped loads.
How the turn tables. I love Apple now.
How has your Chromebook been?
I did use Firefox on my PC a few months ago and it's much better than years past. RAM is a bottleneck for sure on my system, I need to upgrade that - in the meantime, not using Chrome helped loads.
I used to agree with you as well. Chromebooks have been out for a good while and I never used to even give them any thought before. I like the idea of super compact easily portable device that is the Pixelbook but even when it was released I didn't give it a thought.
My Windows laptop and desktop have been showing their age lately and so I have been researching a new replacement machine. Mainly was looking at a Microsoft Surface Book or Dell XPS 2-in-1 but by the time I configured it the way I wanted I would have been spending around $1700-1800 which I just didn't want to spend. I don't game on a PC at all. The only PC apps I really use are Photoshop, uTorrent, and Hondata FlashPro Manager. Even then I do a lot less photo work than I used to.
Most of what I do anymore tends to be on the web at this point or very basic photo editing work which I can even do on my phone. So there are plenty of Android apps and web apps for editing photos that I have found that do more than enough for me. So after about a month of research on Chromebook Pixel I was getting ready to consider buying one at full price. Then all of a sudden then when on 25% off sale essentially with $250 off each model. I couldn't see the point of the higher end models honestly so at $750 and used ones typically going for $600 still I figured worst case it could end up being a failed $150 experiment.
So far 3 days in and I have not found anything I can't do on it yet besides using Hondata FlashPro Manager to connect to my TSX ECU for tuning. If that is the only thing I need to operate my windows laptop for I will just do a clean wipe and put Windows7 on it and that app and it will fly forever really. However, USB support for linux is supposed to be coming soon so I might even be able to run that app in WINE on linux and then I will be able to do everything on this.
It will be a real win if I have found a device this small and portable with Apple build quality that does everything I need for that price.
I will give some more update in a few weeks if it is still filling my needs or if I have found things that are lacking for me.
My Windows laptop and desktop have been showing their age lately and so I have been researching a new replacement machine. Mainly was looking at a Microsoft Surface Book or Dell XPS 2-in-1 but by the time I configured it the way I wanted I would have been spending around $1700-1800 which I just didn't want to spend. I don't game on a PC at all. The only PC apps I really use are Photoshop, uTorrent, and Hondata FlashPro Manager. Even then I do a lot less photo work than I used to.
Most of what I do anymore tends to be on the web at this point or very basic photo editing work which I can even do on my phone. So there are plenty of Android apps and web apps for editing photos that I have found that do more than enough for me. So after about a month of research on Chromebook Pixel I was getting ready to consider buying one at full price. Then all of a sudden then when on 25% off sale essentially with $250 off each model. I couldn't see the point of the higher end models honestly so at $750 and used ones typically going for $600 still I figured worst case it could end up being a failed $150 experiment.
So far 3 days in and I have not found anything I can't do on it yet besides using Hondata FlashPro Manager to connect to my TSX ECU for tuning. If that is the only thing I need to operate my windows laptop for I will just do a clean wipe and put Windows7 on it and that app and it will fly forever really. However, USB support for linux is supposed to be coming soon so I might even be able to run that app in WINE on linux and then I will be able to do everything on this.
It will be a real win if I have found a device this small and portable with Apple build quality that does everything I need for that price.
I will give some more update in a few weeks if it is still filling my needs or if I have found things that are lacking for me.
How has your Chromebook been?
Moderator
Regional Coordinator (Southeast)
Regional Coordinator (Southeast)
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 44,109
Likes: 4,424
From: Mooresville, NC
Chromebook has been great still. I have been using it for pretty much anything I need a computer for at this point. Besides photo editing I have not found anything I can't do on it. I possibly could do photo editing I want on it too but I just don't trust it for editing a photo that I would like to print large scale once and a while. Anything I edit for web use though I do on it completely with no problem. Listen to music, watch youtube, stream ESPN in a small window wall working on something else on the rest of the screen. I routinely have 40-60 tabs open and don't have any performance issues. Using Android apps still seems to fill any issues too. To watch movies I installed the VLC MediaPlayer Android app and watched movies on the plane on my trip with no issues.
I have figured out that one small limitation of it and that is of trying to view my external harddrive with lots of photos from my SLR on it. I stored all my pictures from a 9 day trip to Spain in one folder. It just can't handle populating the thumbnails for all those at once. It will cause a change of my organization a bit but I think I am just going to start making a folder per day on large trips like that. I mean we are talking about 1500 picture files mostly shot in RAW so 20-30mb per file. Still have not figured out my issue to run my one Windows only app but Linux use is making big progress and Dual booting windows is supposed to be coming next which would be great feature. I really would only use Windows though for specific tasks I had to cause I just love the smooth no lag performance I have been getting from my Pixelbook so far.
I have figured out that one small limitation of it and that is of trying to view my external harddrive with lots of photos from my SLR on it. I stored all my pictures from a 9 day trip to Spain in one folder. It just can't handle populating the thumbnails for all those at once. It will cause a change of my organization a bit but I think I am just going to start making a folder per day on large trips like that. I mean we are talking about 1500 picture files mostly shot in RAW so 20-30mb per file. Still have not figured out my issue to run my one Windows only app but Linux use is making big progress and Dual booting windows is supposed to be coming next which would be great feature. I really would only use Windows though for specific tasks I had to cause I just love the smooth no lag performance I have been getting from my Pixelbook so far.
Azine Jabroni
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 9,245
Likes: 2,226
From: Austin, TX
I'm also running a Pixelbook for the last couple of months. Man, I have to admit I really like it. The performance is really great (It's clearly overspec'd for ChromeOS) and the interface is fairly simple to use. The Android apps are a little silly and don't really work but a handful of them work well.
Moderator
Regional Coordinator (Southeast)
Regional Coordinator (Southeast)
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 44,109
Likes: 4,424
From: Mooresville, NC
Yeah I have not used a ton of Android apps but the few I do use seem to work really well. Here are the ones I have had success with them Micrsoft One Note, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft PowerPoint, TorGuard, TeamViewer, Adobe LightRoom, OfficeSuite Pro, Solid Explorer, Squid, VLC, KineMaster, and PowerDirector. The Microsoft apps are only for work. I use OfficeSuite Pro and Google Sheets for most home office work.
_
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,307
Likes: 3,429
https://www.zdnet.com/article/chrome...t-ad-blockers/
Chrome API update will kill a bunch of other extensions, not just ad blockers
January 23, 2019
A planned update to one of the Google Chrome extensions APIs would kill much more than a few ad blockers, ZDNet has learned, including browser extensions for antivirus products, parental control enforcement, and various privacy-enhancing services.
Developers for extensions published by F-Secure, NoScript, Amnesty International, and Ermes Cyber Security, among others, made their concerns public today after news broke yesterday that Google was considering the API change.
Their criticism echoed concerns from Raymond Hill, the author of the uBlock Origin and uMatrix ad blockers, who first raised the issue with Chrome developers yesterday in a bug report.
The change would also most likely impact all other ad blockers as well, according to Andrey Meshkov, the co-founder of AdGuard, another ad blocker for Chrome.
Regular Chrome users and tech news sites were quick to criticize Google, which just two weeks ago announced that it was expanding Chrome's built-in ad blocker to worldwide users starting with July 2019. Many pointed out that the Chrome API modification came just at the right moment to cripple and neuter competing ad blockers.
But according to new criticism published today, this would impact far more types of extensions than just ad blockers.
. . . .
NoScript's Chrome port may never land
Last but not least, Giorgio Maone, the maker of the NoScript Firefox add-on also chimed in and pointed out that if this new API rolls out, he won't be able to release the long-awaited Chrome version of NoScript, on which he's been working for more than a year.
The NoScript Firefox add-on has a mythical reputation amongst security professionals, and many have been asking Maone for a Chrome version for years.
NoScript, is so good at blocking JavaScript code, that's it's one of the extensions included by default with the privacy-hardened Tor Browser. If Chrome developers go ahead with the planned changes, there may never be a NoScript version for Chrome, mainly because NoScript wouldn't be able to work just as efficiently as it does on Firefox.
. . . .
January 23, 2019
A planned update to one of the Google Chrome extensions APIs would kill much more than a few ad blockers, ZDNet has learned, including browser extensions for antivirus products, parental control enforcement, and various privacy-enhancing services.
Developers for extensions published by F-Secure, NoScript, Amnesty International, and Ermes Cyber Security, among others, made their concerns public today after news broke yesterday that Google was considering the API change.
Their criticism echoed concerns from Raymond Hill, the author of the uBlock Origin and uMatrix ad blockers, who first raised the issue with Chrome developers yesterday in a bug report.
The change would also most likely impact all other ad blockers as well, according to Andrey Meshkov, the co-founder of AdGuard, another ad blocker for Chrome.
Regular Chrome users and tech news sites were quick to criticize Google, which just two weeks ago announced that it was expanding Chrome's built-in ad blocker to worldwide users starting with July 2019. Many pointed out that the Chrome API modification came just at the right moment to cripple and neuter competing ad blockers.
But according to new criticism published today, this would impact far more types of extensions than just ad blockers.
. . . .
NoScript's Chrome port may never land
Last but not least, Giorgio Maone, the maker of the NoScript Firefox add-on also chimed in and pointed out that if this new API rolls out, he won't be able to release the long-awaited Chrome version of NoScript, on which he's been working for more than a year.
The NoScript Firefox add-on has a mythical reputation amongst security professionals, and many have been asking Maone for a Chrome version for years.
NoScript, is so good at blocking JavaScript code, that's it's one of the extensions included by default with the privacy-hardened Tor Browser. If Chrome developers go ahead with the planned changes, there may never be a NoScript version for Chrome, mainly because NoScript wouldn't be able to work just as efficiently as it does on Firefox.
. . . .
Moderator
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 64,106
Likes: 3,364
From: Not Las Vegas (SF Bay Area)
?
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,967
Likes: 2,685
From: Jersey
Google has disabled Intel Hyperthreading in Chrome OS.
https://www-theregister-co-uk.cdn.am...mitigations%2F
https://www-theregister-co-uk.cdn.am...mitigations%2F