Gugege?

I make pretty extensive use of Javascript to format vocab for annotating news and for my own practice lessons (~180K of it), so I figured I would give it a try...

Well, there's no way I'll go back to any other browser for this purpose, Chrome is indeed way faster, and offers debugging tools that are just no match. Of course I will still use Firefox whenever I need Chinese-Pera Kun and Safari for other specific needs such as copy/paste into CPod comments.

Thanks, John, that comic is really worth reading.

And here is the line you were referring to: "Developers call the UI frame of the browser its Chrome".

Hi Changye, petrolhead sounds rather British. We usually say motorhead. In fact, in the US we dont use the word petrol at all,  although its meaning is well known.

"Chrome" is actually a special tech term related to the browser GUI. If you do a search for Firefox and chrome, you'll find a lot of results.

The Google Chrome comic touches on the reason behind the name.

From one of my all-time favorite bands Wilco, the lyrics from "Hell is Chrome":

When the devil came
He was not red
He was chrome, and he said

Come with me
You must go
So I went
Where everything was clean
So precise and towering

I was welcomed
With open arms
I received so much help in every way
I felt no fear
I felt no fear

The air was crisp
Like sunny late winter days
A springtime yawning high in the haze
And I felt like I belonged
Come with me

Come with me

My interpretation...the devil is not red, he is chrome, because chrome is clean, shiny, and most important, inviting.  The devil couldn't lure people into his evil web if he looked like the ugly beast he is always portrayed to be.

Sorry, I know this has nothing to do with Chinese learning...just couldn't pass up a sorta relevant post about Wilco!

I was an early adopter in my reckless youth (e.g. original Macintosh), but now I prefer to wait for version 2.0 when they've worked the kinks out.

with all the energy they use up to fuel their zillions of servers, no wonder they use motown analogies

Hi rjberki,

Thanks for a nice etymology! Judging from your comment, it's highly possible that the head of Google is a petrolhead!

Changye,

re chrome, it seems they are using auto related terminology such as V8 search engine etc. Chrome plated auto parts are considered clean fast and shiny looking. When you rebuild a car, if you add chrome plated air filter etc you have gone to the extreme and spared no expense to make it the best, and since its a car, the fastest. This would be my guess anyway.

My collegues all installed it but I am hesitant...

I already threw way too much personal data into Googles insatiable throat.

The IT news article I read yesterday said that Google Chrome is very fast, even faster than Firefox (and perhaps Safari?), but I still can't abandon Chinese-perakun, even though it often shows you a wrong pinyin.

By the way, why is it called "chrome"? As far as I can see in dictionaries, the word doesn't necessarily carry a good connotation, on the contrary, it's sometimes used in the sense of "eye candy" or "shoddiness".

As I'm sure you know, Google Chrome is available for download now.

I like it! And it likes ChinesePod!

I can't abandon all my beloved Firefox addons yet, but once Chrome releases its plugin architecture, it's going to be an interesting competition...