web

The abundance of unused white space on the New Tab page in Chrome lends developers ample options for sprucing it up. While the extension I'm about to suggest isn't anything groundbreaking, it's definitely one of the better options out there in terms of usefulness.

Literally called "New Tab Page," this Chrome extension makes your New Tab useful and attractive but doesn't gain any creativity points for its name. Installing the extension is quick: just head to the entry for New Tab Page on the Chrome Web Store and click Add to Chrome. … Read more

RuneScape, a popular massive online swords-and-sorcery game, is at last dumping Java and becoming a Web app.

Jagex Games Studio released the first RuneScape 3 beta yesterday, embracing HTML5 and related Web standards that offer programmers a more modern option for writing software that runs on a variety of operating systems.

About time, I say. Java had some potential years ago, and it still has its place elsewhere in the computing world. But as a way to extend a browser's abilities, it's history. If the plague of Java security vulnerabilities weren't enough to convince you otherwise, the … Read more

A split-screen view is nice when you're shopping online or doing research that requires flipping back and forth between pages. Dual Web Browsers for iPad splits your screen in half and lets you browse two pages at once. While it performs okay, we would have liked to see more navigational and viewing options.

Dual Web Browsers for iPad does exactly what its name suggests: It splits your screen into two browsers, one on top and another on the bottom half of your screen. Each browser has an address bar and a backward navigational button, but that's it. There'… Read more

It was just over three years ago that I first encountered (and wrote about) Swag Bucks, a service that rewards you for completing various online activities.

I used it pretty hot and heavy for about a year, eventually accumulating some downright decent prizes, but then it dropped off my radar. Way, way off -- I kind of forgot it existed.

Come to find out, though, that Swag Bucks is alive and well -- and still a rather interesting way to score freebies just for doing stuff you might already be doing anyway.

For example, you can earn points ("swag … Read more

Microsoft wants the world to know it is ready to go head-to-head with Amazon Web Services on both features and price.

As expected, Microsoft today announced that its Linux and Windows Server virtual machines (VMs) on Windows Azure are now generally available and ready for deployment. These are the persistent VMs that Microsoft publicly unveiled last June, and which provide users with a way to run existing Linux and Windows Server apps in the Azure cloud without having to completely rewrite them.

Microsoft announced last year that these persistent VMs will allow users to run Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows … Read more

Google, which relies on advertising for some 95 percent of its revenue, doesn't want ads on its hotly anticipated Google Glass eyewear.

The blanket prohibition came in the fine print of a policy made public this evening, which says "Glassware" developers may not "serve or include any advertisements" and they "may not charge" users to download apps for the device.

Today's announcement, which coincided with news that Google Glass Explorer Edition prototypes were about to ship, indicates that the Mountain View company is proceeding carefully, even slowly, when allowing third-party developers access … Read more

The newest version of iOS has a built-in text-to-speech function that will mechanically read any words on the page to users with learning or sight impairments. It is easy to turn on and works fairly well for most apps and all Web browsing. For those that have more robust text-to-speech needs or that want to communicate with other people through the text-to-speech function, SpeakText FREE is a potentially useful app.

The app's biggest issue is the poorly executed user interface. Lacking clear menus, busied by excess and animated ads, and not taking advantage of the space available on the … Read more

Designed to convert text to speech in a variety of settings, either in the original language or translated into one of a handful of languages in its libraries, SpeakText for Web FREE could be a very useful app. Because the voice files are downloaded before you start, the process is relatively quick and accurate; but an obtuse design, steep pricing structure, and lack of clear direction make it an app only suited for a small number of users.

The first thing to know about the SpeakText apps is that the core software is designed for three different uses, and this … Read more

At first glance, SpeakText for Office FREE seems like a redundant app. It uses text-to-speech technology to read what is onscreen, either in the original language or translated. Of course, the iPad and iPhone come with text-to- speech software, so what purpose does this app have beyond centralizing it into a single space? For the most part, the text-to-speech functions are efficient, but the restrictions with the free version and high cost of the upgrade lessen this app's usefulness.

The free version of SpeakText for Office has limitations on the number of sentences you can have spoken or translated. … Read more