monkeys

The Internet is a vast and wondrous place, but it might be difficult to see its possibilities if you always use the same Web browser. Fortunately, SeaMonkey for Mac offers a new community-sourced browser for Internet surfing.

SeaMonkey for Mac allows users to browse the Internet in a new interface. The program includes a wide number of normal browser functions including modifiable security, privacy, tabs, bookmarks, and history features. This program starts off as a pretty basic-looking browser, but you can easily configure it to suit your preferences. The overall look of the browser interface is similar to other popular … Read more

A new version of Firefox released today puts some extra speed into online games and Web apps powered by JavaScript, thanks to a new compiler called IonMonkey.

Mozilla stated in a blog post announcing the update to Firefox 18 (download for Windows | Mac | Linux) that the new engine makes JavaScript-powered Web sites run up to 25 percent faster than before.

Firefox will now look better on Macs thanks to new Retina support, and all versions of the browser work with W3C touch screen events in addition to MozTouch events.

One security change to the browser lets you disable insecure content … Read more

A JavaScript engine called IonMonkey, Mac Retina compatibility, and better touch support move into the new Firefox Beta, released today.

Firefox 18 Beta (download for Windows, Mac, and Linux) arrives with a new "just-in-time" JavaScript compiler called "IonMonkey" for faster site load times. While it doesn't appear to have been independently tested yet, Mozilla's own IonMonkey benchmarks from September indicate that it will make the stable version of Firefox 18 about 25 percent faster than the current Firefox 17. The features are expected to reach the Firefox stable channel around the first week of January. … Read more

You could walk up to a vending machine and blow $2 on a giant soda that will give you a sugar buzz and rot your teeth. Or you could walk up to a Biblio-Mat vending machine and wisely spend $2 on a book that will enrich your mind and soul.

The Biblio-Mat is installed at the Monkey's Paw used and antiquarian bookstore in Toronto. It was built by designer Craig Small and takes the place of the usual discount book bin that so often sits lonely and neglected in front of bookstores.

Half the fun of the Biblio-Mat is not knowing what book you'll get, but that could also lead to disappointments. Oh great, another copy of "The Anatomy of Melancholy." I already read it twice!… Read more

Valve Software's 2007 video game Portal was an instant classic that immediately won fans over with its unique, physics-based challenges, innovative portal gun, and sharp comedy. But beyond the dark humor and diabolical puzzles was a hidden gem for players able to make it to the end: a witty and humorous song called "Still Alive."

Singer-songwriter Jonathan Coulton was the man behind the infectiously catchy Easter egg song. But in an interview with CBS News, JoCo -- as he's known to fans -- showed why he's more than a one-hit wonder. … Read more

Battle Monkeys is a free multiplayer game for the MacBook and iMac that tries to hook you with its gameplay into buying upgrades. The installation is quick as a download from the App Store. There are both single-player and multiplayer games available online.

When launched, the game displays some excellent graphics, offering a simple tutorial to explain the game mechanics. Essentially, monkeys sit on your various keyboard keys. Each turn you can jump to any of the two keys available in any direction. Your goal is to try and kill the monkeys before they kill you. Some keys have special … Read more

Mozilla has begun building a new technology called IonMonkey into Firefox to improve its JavaScript performance.

High JavaScript performance is essential in today's hotly competitive browser market, because JavaScript is the language behind complicated Web sites and Web apps such as Google Docs and Facebook. IonMonkey has now been packaged into the "nightly" version of Firefox 18 for hardcore developers; that version is scheduled to become the mainstream version of the browser early in 2013.

IonMonkey is what's called a just-in-time compiler, or JIT for short. In olden days, JavaScript would run line by line in … Read more

Remember when kids used to play stickball, marbles, and hopscotch instead of iPhone games? Well I don't either. But this Kickstarter project wants to revive a medium of simpler times -- with a modern twist.

The Can is a tin can telephone wired for IP phone use. It has a microphone, a speaker, and a jack for your computer, phone, or tablet so you can pretend you're 7 years old and it's 1939 again.

Aside from its patently ridiculous design, alternately listening to and speaking into The Can seems like more fun than just slapping a regular phone to your skull.

As the video below shows, The Can comes in Commander and Mini editions, with the former featuring an indicator light for missed calls. The Mini, meanwhile, jacks into your cell phone with a TRS connector. … Read more

The plug gets pulled tomorrow on popular Web image editor PicNik, but do not despair. An intrepid band of PicNik engineers started up a new Web image editor, PicMonkey, which is free and easy to use. It doesn't require you to register -- just drag an image into PicMonkey to start using its wide array of image-editing tools.

After you drag a photo into PicMonkey.com, the image editor opens with your image on the right and the tools on the right. There are seven groups of tools: Basic Edits, Effects, Touch Up, Text, Overlays, Frames, and Textures.

In … Read more