Shaky extension sync debuts in Chrome

Neither enabled by default nor particularly stable, the long-sought-after browser feature to synchronize extensions across multiple computers arrived Thursday in the developer's builds of Google Chrome.

Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Google Chrome dev 6.0.437.1 for Windows and Linux, and version 6.0.437.2 for Mac, include a rudimentary version of extension sync that users need to manually activate, a collection of the usual bug fixes and performance tweaks, and also combines the stop and reload buttons into one to streamline the omnibox and free up space for extension icons.

To enable the extension sync, users must go to a Chrome shortcut's properties and, at the end of the Target field, add the following command line switch: "--enable-sync-extensions" without the quotes. For novice command line switch users, note that a space is needed between the end of the "chrome.exe" and the sync extension switch.

Mac users will have to enable the feature through Terminal.

For now, syncing enthusiasts should not add the command line hack because of crashes directly related to the feature. At the time of writing, Google had stopped auto-updating dev channel users to investigate crashes related to the Extension sync. Downloading a new developer's version installer won't update the browser, either.

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Lakers victory defeats World Cup Twitter records

Sports fans are raising Twitter's usage to a new level: A goal by Japan's World Cup soccer team against Cameroon on June 14 led to a record number of "tweets per second" for Twitter, only to see the record beaten again a few days later when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics in the deciding game of the NBA championships.

The Japanese goal, which led to a 1-0 victory for the team, resulted in a peak of 2,940 tweets per second in the 30 seconds following the game according to a post on the Twitter blog. So far, the second-place tweet ranking for the World Cup, which runs through July 11 in South Africa, has been 2,928 tweets per second when Brazil scored its first goal against North Korea in the game that it ultimately won on June 14. Third place was 2,704, when Mexico tied South Africa. The U.S. team's unexpected tie against England didn't make the cut. (Twitter wasn't yet available for comment on what the tweet rate right after that game was.)

The peak rate of tweets following the NBA victory for the Lakers, however, was 3,085. That's currently the highest rate of tweets per second that Twitter has ever seen, but it'll likely be shattered again as the World Cup grows closer to the finals.

A post on the Twitter blog explains that Twitter's normal "TPS" count averages about 750 tweets per second, and that 65 million tweets are posted per day by the service's 190 million users. But there's a negative side, too: The rapid growth and heavy usage, particularly given the World Cup excitement, has meant that Twitter's simultaneously experiencing some of its greatest server instability in years.

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Hitachi humanoid rolls over floor junk, looks cute

(Credit: Hitachi)

Hitachi is showing off an improved version of its Emiew humanoid robot that's better at understanding what you say and rolling over all the junk on the floor of your apartment. Those two functions may or may not be related.

According to Hitachi, Emiew 2 can now distinguish voices in a noisy setting and roll over cables and floor tiles of different heights while maintaining its balance (see the vid below).

Equipped with a 14-channel microphone system in its head, Emiew is also able to cancel out noise generated by its own innards to hear people better.

Emiew 2 is about 32 inches tall and weighs some 30 pounds. It can roll around on either two or four wheels depending on its leg position, and navigates by scanning range finder. Aided by an active suspension system, its top speed is 3.7 mph. It has 25 axes of movement.

The bot was originally released in 2007, two years after its trashcan-on-wheels predecessor.

Since Hitachi expects Emiew to be used in facilities like offices and hospitals in the future, performing duties like surveillance and guiding visitors around (see promo vid here), it has to be able to deal with floor obstacles and noise. Its official name--Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as Workmate--proves that Emiew is going to be useful one day.

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