By: Zack Tanner

Apple on Wednesday released the newest version of their Safari web browser to, finally, fully support the use of third party extensions.

Along with the release of Safari 5.0.1, Apple introduced the Safari Extensions Gallery, a one stop shop for the best extensions available for use in Safari.

I used Safari from version 1.0 up until Safari 4 without giving much thought to any other browser that was out there. That was until Google Chrome was released for the Mac. (I’m a sucker for WebKit browsers, what can I say.)

While the speed difference between Safari and Chrome was small, Safari edged out Chrome in the beginning only to be passed by later releases of Chrome, the big advantage to Chrome was the ability to add extensions and use them right in the browser.

These extensions became part of my browsing routine and pushed Safari to the role of my backup browser in the event I needed two different browsers open at once.

The latest release of Safari changes this, however.

While I have grown quite attached to Chrome, this blog post is even being wrote up in Chrome, Safari 5.0.1 really gives Chrome a run for its money as now the feature set of Safari and Chrome becomes similar.

Comic Sans Be Gone, a new extension featured in Apple's Extensions Gallery.

In fact, an extension that I could never find in the Chrome gallery was a nifty little thing called “Comic Sans Be Gone”.

Comic Sans Be Gone takes any website that uses Comic Sans and replaces it with the lovely font known as Helvetica and, really, what more could anyone want than that?

One more update that Safari got with 5.0.1 was a fix for an issue with the Auto-Fill feature that was allowing hackers to grab name and city information from users. The oddity with this bug was that the only information accessible was information that started with a letter and not a number, however, this bug has been fixed so Auto-Fill away.

So if you haven’t already, update to Safari 5.0.1 and then head over to extensions.apple.com and take a look around then come back here and post your favorite extensions in the comments.

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) on Monday made the process of jailbreaking, as well as unlocking, your cell phone a legal practice.

It seems like there is some confusion regarding this decision and I feel that I should shine some light onto the matter and why it is a completely meaningless decision.

While jailbreaking has been technically illegal in the United States, no one has ever been prosecuted for jailbreaking their phones or for providing software to allow others to jailbreak their phones.

So even while jailbreaking was illegal, it was never once challenged legally.

The highlighted phone in the middle of this ruling is Apple’s iPhone.

There is good reason for this as the iPhone is the most popular phone on the market right now and jailbreakers have been hacking away at iPhone software since the first iPhone was released in 2007.

However, this ruling does not just involve jailbreaking iPhones, it involves the jailbreaking of any phone on the market.

Another key point of today’s ruling was making the process of unlocking your phone to be used on any network a legal practice as well.

So what do these ruling really mean for the end users?

Nothing.

Simply because jailbreaking and unlocking are now legal does not mean there will be a flurry of hackers firing up their jailbreaking tools and releasing application after application to allow users to unlock their phones.

In addition, today’s ruling does not make it illegal for phone manufacturers to simply release a software update that breaks and jailbreak software that is available for download.

This means that, just as always, a simple bug fix released for you phone will probably unjailbreak your phone and all the end user can do is either not upgrade or upgrade and then wait for the jailbreakers to come out with a new jailbreaking tool.

Also, jailbreaking your phone still voids your phone’s warranty, so don’t jailbreak your phone and expect the manufacturer to fix any problems it may have.

Let it be known that I am in favor of today’s ruling making jailbreaking legal.

I have had my iPhone jailbroken several times for various reasons including the ability to download jailbreak-only apps, customize different aspects of my phone and simply to just play around and explorer the file structure of the iPhone.

I commend the efforts of the jailbreak teams out there, most notably the iPhone Dev Team, as they bust their asses to provide easy to use jailbreak software for end users.

So while this ruling will technically not do much at all, it is a positive step for end users who are interested in jailbreaking their phones.

Why hasn’t the United States government done more to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?

How many more helpless animals have to die and how many beaches have to be ruined before they stop forming commissions and start forming solutions?  Total Fail Whale on their part.

From CNN.com:

Obama announces oil spill commission

Posted: May 22nd, 2010 11:48 AM ET

After this weekend's official formation, the commission will have six months to issue a report with recommendations on how to prevent spills from offshore drilling. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Washington (CNN) – President Obama has named former Florida Sen. Bob Graham, D-Florida, and former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator William K. Reilly to head a new bipartisan commission tasked with investigating how to prevent future oil spills.

Obama announced the formation of the panel in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday.

“Friday, I signed an executive order establishing the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. While there are a number of ongoing investigations, including an independent review by the National Academy of Engineering, the purpose of this Commission is to consider both the root causes of the disaster and offer options on what safety and environmental precautions we need to take to prevent a similar disaster from happening again,” he said in his Saturday address.

The formation of the commission comes as the administration faces a growing chorus of criticism about whether it is putting enough pressure on BP to clean up the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

On Friday, for the second straight day, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs faced a barrage of questions at his daily briefing about why the federal government is not intervening to take over responsibility for the cleanup from BP.

“Again, we are overseeing the response, OK?” Gibbs said just hours before the news about the commission broke. “I don’t know what you think – we’re – we’re working each and every day. That’s why Secretary (Steven) Chu – the Department of Energy – it sounds technical. The Department of Energy doesn’t have purview over oil, oil drilling. That’s not in their governmental sphere. But Secretary Chu has been down there working through a whole host of ideas, including enhanced imaging to get a better look at a disaster that’s 5,000 feet underneath the water.”

Gibbs added: “We have taken every step. We have pushed relentlessly for BP to do what is necessary to contain what is leaking, to deal with both the environmental and the economic impacts of what, as the president said today, is unquestionably a disaster.”

In announcing the commission Saturday, Obama said of two co-chairs, Graham and Reilly, “I can’t think of two people who will bring greater experience of better judgment to the task at hand.”

Five other people will soon be selected to serve on the commission. Obama said they would include “scientists, engineers, and environmental advocates.” Administration officials have said the other panel members would likely be people outside government because of allegations that leaders at the federal, state and local levels have been too cozy with the oil industry.

After this weekend’s official formation, the commission will have six months to issue a report with recommendations on how to prevent spills from offshore drilling.

Before the recent spill, Obama had opened the door to potential expansion of offshore drilling as part of a comprehensive energy reform plan. He has since faced a storm of criticism from fellow Democrats in states like Florida, who now want him to scrap those plans.

Graham hails from Florida, which has been under threat from the current spill. He served two terms as governor followed by 18 years in the U.S. Senate. Since retiring from the Senate in January 2005, he has served on several federal panels, including as chairman of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.

Reilly served as EPA chief in the administration of President George H.W. Bush from 1989-93 and is chairman emeritus of the board of the World Wildlife Fund. His credentials in the environmental community could be important for the commission amid fears within those circles that the Gulf spill will cause unprecedented damage to wildlife and fisheries.

Administration officials have previously said that this commission will be modeled after the federal panels that were formed after the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster in 1979 and the Challenger space shuttle tragedy in 1986.

–CNN’s Ed Henry contributed to this report.

Apple’s new device is simply amazing and I want one like barkley wants a treat.

This is an excerpt from Mac|Life’s recent online feature showing at home ways to cradle the new device.

9. Sexy Times iPad Settee

While the Sexy Times iPad Settee may appear to be constucted of two sturdy cushions, it is so much more. With input from the country’s leading sex therapists and the ghost of Barry White, Mac|Life is proud to present this breakthrough romantic aid. Note how the red, gold and green striped fabric and foam rubber stuffing screams quality. Cue up a video of a roaring fireplace video, add mood music and a large quantity of mid-ranged red wine and you have the trappings for a romantic evening that at least one of you may not regret.

Check out the full article here

More than 20 fire departments from Mercer, Butler, Lawrence and Venango counties responded to the fire at 620 Madison Avenue and fought the flames for over 4 hours.  The fire was declared under control at 4:45pm, but the building was said to be doubtful, by the Grove City Fire Chief, according to Mercer County’s on-line EMS alert system.

No one was hurt in the fire and all employees working at the time of the fire escaped safely.  Firefighters tried to retrieve computers, files and antiques from the building, but were only able to save a few items.

Firefighters had a tough time getting the fire under control, partly because of broken fire hydrants close to the scene.  Tanker trucks were called in from around Mercer County to bring water from a hydrant about 3/4 of a mile away.

The Grove City location, Wendell August Forge’s flagship retail store and forge, opened in 1932 and was located partly in a building used by the Army in World War I.  The building which held the forge is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

The extent or dollar amount of the damage were not available Saturday evening.

Updated 8:47pm. Multiple reports are now saying that the cause of the fire was a chemical spray that caught fire in a woodworking area on the second floor. It does appear that the building is a complete loss and will have to be torn down. Will Kanecht, the president of Wendell August Forge, said on WKBN-TV that he does plan to rebuild the forge to be bigger and better than it was before.

The gallery below shows pictures that dotcom3.net’s Jeremy Saylor took from the scene.  To see his full gallery, visit his facebook photo gallery here.

You can also check out KDKA Pittsburgh’s report on the fire here.

This week’s Tuesday update actually comes early on Wednesday morning.  I’ve spent the last 6 hours working hard on the site and as soon as you accessed dotcom3.net today I’m sure you noticed the changes.

The biggest change is in the user interface.  I uploaded a new background image and adjusted the site’s style sheets to modify the look to something closer to what I am expecting. I already see some more changes that I will make over the next few days, but this is a good start.

I hope you caught Zack Tanner’s article last Friday where he wrote about Google’s entry into the social media world.  Although I am currenly pretty unimpressed with Buzz, I can see it’s potential and I hope that it will become a major player in the social media world.

If you missed Zack’s article, you can view it here.

Did you catch any of the Olympics?  I really hope that you did.  Over the two week time that they were on, I watched about 50 hours of curling and another 60-70 hours of everything else, including hockey.  There is no doubt that the U.S. vs Canada hockey gold metal game will go down as one of the greatest in the history of hockey.

If you missed the game or want to see it again, NBC Universal Sports will be re-broadcasting the game this week.  Check your local listings.

Well I’m only 266 words, but it’s 1am and I need to be at work by 9am so I should probably wrap it up.  Check back daily for new updates and be sure to check in this Friday for Zack Tanner’s new tech corner.

Until next time,

Jeremy

It seems the world has just widely accepted Twitter its tweets and now Google has entered the social media game with Buzz.

So what sets Buzz apart from social media sites like Twitter and Facebook?

First of all, Buzz is incorporated directly into every users Gmail account.

That gives Buzz an instant user base of around 150 million people right from the start.

Similar to Twitter, Buzz asks users to share what they are thinking, so the short bursts of thought found in Twitter updates are found in Buzz updates as well.

Like Facebook, Buzz allows you to link a picture, video or web link directly to your buzz for other users to view instantly.

There are a wealth of features that really set Buzz apart though.

For starters, a user can switch from publicly chatting in a conversation thread to privately chatting via Google Talk in Gmail.

In another privacy matter, Buzz allows users to set up lists of their friends and choose which buzzes are broadcasted to certain users, creating the ability to block certain users from seeing the current buzz.

A user can also choose to make the buzz totally public, link it to their Google Profile and allow any user, friend or not, to join in on the conversation.

Google has also set up Buzz as a potential one-stop-shop for social media, as users have the ability to have multiple social streams sent to their Buzz stream.

Users can choose to have their Twitter updates, Flickr photo stream, YouTube video stream and Google Reader Feed, just to name a few, sent to their Buzz account as well.

This constant stream of information keeps Buzz just as up-to-date as Twitter or Facebook even if you have a noticeably smaller friend base on Buzz.

Buzz is not without its critics though.

Many users have voiced their displeasure with the friend adding system.

When you first launch Buzz, it searches through your Gmail contacts to search for potential Buzzers.

Some users have complained that through this system they have become friends on Buzz with undesirable people, such as ex-relationships.

Another criticism of Buzz is that it is too little too late.

It has been said that, while Buzz is a good idea, it has no features that set it apart from other social sites.

To these criticisms I say this, Buzz is something we have need all along but never realized it.

While it will by no means replace or even challenge Facebook or Twitter, Buzz is a great spot to get a quick overview of what is going on in your friend’s worlds.

As far as privacy is concerned, it is quite simple for even the most basic users to change their privacy settings, delete unwanted friends and customize Buzz to their liking.

Another great feature of Buzz is the fact that not a lot of people have fully embraced it yet.

This means that while Twitter and Facebook have become saturated with users that you would rather have not follow you but you have little choice, there is a real world outside of social media after all, Buzz is a prime ground to express opinions you do not want certain users to see.

The feature inside Buzz that allows certain buzzes to be sent only to certain users help further this even more.

So while I, and everyone, will keep tweeting and facebooking, Buzz is the new kid in town and has a lot of potential to grow.

Pittsburgh’s KDKA.com posted the story below earlier today about a man who pulled a gun on someone after a dispute about a parking space that was cleared out of a very snowy Pittsburgh street.  First of all, only in Pittsburgh does shit like this happen, and secondly couldn’t this all have been solved by a parking chair?

Fight Over Parking Spot Leads To Gunfire

HILL DISTRICT (KDKA) ―

An argument over a parking space in the Hill District sparked a shootout between police and a Pittsburgh man Tuesday night.

Police are at a loss about how to explain the incident and the victim in the case doesn’t understand how it all ended up the way it did.

However, the reality is that that two police officers were nearly shot all over a place to park.

The event took place in the Hill District in the 3200-block of Ewart Drive.

The victim in all this had apparently cleared some snow for his girlfriend’s car on the street. That is when, according to the victim, Errol Parker Sr., 61, decided to claim it for himself.

According to the victim, who did not want to be identified, after he asked Parker to move his car, Parker sucker punched him in the face and then pulled a gun.

Police were then called to the scene. By that time, Parker was back in his duplex and not coming out.

“One of the officers turned the door handle to see if it was locked and the door partially opened, enabling the officer to observe the actor walking toward them from a back room with a raised weapon pointing in their direction,” Diane Richard said.

Police then fired at Parker, who fired back and eventually surrendered after a short struggle.

“One of the officers deployed his Taser and the actor was taken into custody,” Richard said.

It is not known what caused Parker to lose his cool over a parking space to begin with, but the victim said he is alive, so are the officers, and that is all that matters.

“I feel very, very blessed to look up and see the sun working. I know God is on my side,” the victim said.

Parker remains in the Allegheny County Jail, charged with two counts of attempted criminal homicide, as well as two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer.
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