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Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Productivity, Google, Mozilla, Freeware, Browser Tips, Browsers, Web

Unofficial Google Gears builds work in Firefox 3.5

Gears settingsIf, like me, you've become fairly reliant on Google Gears, the browser plug-in from Google that allows sites to save data for offline access, the release of Firefox 3.5 is probably frustrating you. For some reason, Google isn't on the ball, even though the impending Firefox release was available for aeons in beta.

Luckily, for those of you that are brave (or dumb) enough to install an unofficial version of the Google Gears Firefox extension, you can get your Google Gears goodness going in Firefox 3.5 right now. Lifehacker points us to the unofficial Gears download locations for Windows & Linux, and Mac OS X (Intel only), but had only tested the Windows version at the time they posted about it. I can report that I'm dumb enough to install an unofficial Gears build, and it has so far worked flawlessly on my Mac. I use Gears regularly with Gmail, GCal, GReader, and WordPress, and all are working as expected.

Hopefully Google will hurry up and release an official Gears release for Firefox 3.5, but for now I've got a solution that works. Do you use Gears? If so, do you rely on it? What sites do you use it with?

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows Mobile, Google, BlackBerry

Opera browser gets itself in Gear(s)

GearsThe cult favorite Opera Browser has added support for Google Gears to its desktop and mobile browsers.

Google Gears is the product that allows you to seamlessly (hopefully) integrate your web experience and your desktop experience by storing information on your computer so that you don't have to wait for your slow funky dial up to grind its own gears. Basically, it's bringing the web data to you.

Now they're going mobile with it.

Opera Mini, the mobile browser, has gained way more traction than their desktop version. Global reach and being on as many devices as possible has always been a goal of theirs. Although they don't have a huge market share with Desktop users, the people who use it are loyal beyond belief.

The loyalty comes from the fact that Opera is extremely focused on web standards, something that Microsoft has not cared about until recently with Internet Explorer. In fact, Opera sued them over it.

You'll be able to give Google Gears for mobile a shot when Opera Mini 9.5 comes out later this year.

Filed under: Business, Design, Developer, Fun, Internet, Utilities, Web services, Google

Creating Google Gadgets for cash

google gadget venturesGoogle has launched an interesting new program that sees developers who design and develop sustainable Google Gadgets, sizable funding grants.

The Google Gadget Ventures funding program is open for businesses and individuals who apply to a $5000 grant, not a loan, for further developments on their creation. So what's the catch? To be considered into the program, your gadget must have more than 250,000 pageviews per week. Together with those stats, you must also write a one page proposal on the improvements that you would add to your Gadget.

If you pass those tests, Google has another $100,000 in seed investments for companies that start a Gadget, or rely on the Gadget for their business.

So what are you waiting for? Here are some links to help you get started:
And if DLS readers need some extra pageviews, submit your gadget to the tips line!

Filed under: Design, Developer, Internet, Utilities, Web services

Google Gears takes online applications, offline

google gears takes online applications, offlineOnline applications are great, but what happens when you can't get a connection to the internet? Whether it is because you are on an airplane, or in the middle of nowhere camping, and have to get certain emails, calendar items, or files, you are quite possibly out of luck. Its sure a bummer, and one of the reasons why so many people are hesitant about using online applications for their most important information.

Now Imagine being able to take your online applications, offline, and store that data locally in a completely searchable database? Google is making this possible with Gears. Google Gears is an open source browser extension that enables web applications to provide complete offline functionality. Google hopes that developers will use this new toolset to create offline web applications using JavaScript APIs to store and serve the applications resources locally, as well as store data in searchable databases. All of the syncing runs in the background without burning out the browsers memory usage, or slowing anything down.

The Google Gears Beta is currently available for installation on Windows XP,Vista, as well as on Mac and Linux machines. The plug-in works with Firefox 1.5+ and IE 6+. Google's first stop with Gears is Reader, with JavaScript APIs getting released shortly for data storage for use in applications like Docs and Spreadsheets.

The official Google Gears announcement will be made tomorrow to over 5,000 developers at Google's Developer Day gathering.

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With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

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