We’re big fans of Google Chrome, and based on our site stats, more than a quarter of our readers are too. We’re not fans, though, of the “sad tab” page which pops up whenever Chrome blows up, as happens with some frequency whenever Google updates the browser with a few bugs still intact.

That said, we approve of the new sad tab page in the latest Chromium build, which shamelessly panders to its techy early-adopter audience by quoting Dr. McCoy.

Some foreign Chrome users report a gorier crash page with a bullet hole through the sad tab’s head. This seems excessive.

(via Unofficial Google OS)

In a controversial move, Google has decided to drop support for the H.264 video codec from Chrome. At the moment, much of the web’s video content is encoded as H.264 (including video from Google’s own YouTube). In addition, H.264 is a widely used codec for HTML5 video, which aims to replace Flash as the preferred way to serve video to users.

Specifically, we are supporting the WebM (VP8) and Theora video codecs, and will consider adding support for other high-quality open codecs in the future. Though H.264 plays an important role in video, as our goal is to enable open innovation, support for the codec will be removed and our resources directed towards completely open codec technologies.

This Thursday, Google released a video detailing some of the features of its new Chrome OS, and about two minutes and twenty seconds into it there is a shot, literally two seconds long, with a blackboard in the background.

The blackboard has an equation on it. You should know what this means. Well, actually you shouldn’t. But some smart people should. And they did.

The geeks behind Jamendo, a community site for musicians wishing to share their work through creative commons licenses, were the first to lay claim to a shiny Cr-48 Chrome Netbook.

This afternoon, Google finally unveiled its long-awaited Chrome operating system. Bits and pieces of information concerning Chrome OS have been floating around for some time now — most concretely that it would a) be built primarily for the web and b) that unlike Google’s Android mobile operating system, Chrome is made for personal and desktop computers. But today marks the most comprehensive look at the operating system that Google has given us. (Note that the current, non-final build of Chrome OS is and has been available for download at http://getchrome.eu/download.php).

Some tech pundits have criticized Google for the delay in Chrome OS’s release, saying that with the advent of mobile computing and the popularity of Android, that ship has already sailed. Google, however, contends that this is a distinct product, that it will fill a currently unfilled gap in what users need, and — perhaps most daringly — that the netbook isn’t dead. (And they’ll put their money where their mouth is by working with manufacturing partners to create Google-branded, Chrome OS powered netbooks.)

So what defines Chrome OS?

We largely passed on reporting on last week’s Big Tech Rumor Story: Deals site Groupon was allegedly talking with Google about being acquired. Early reports valued the company at $2-3 billion, later revised to $5-6 billion; ultimately, though, Groupon walked away from the money, staying independent. (The fact that they reportedly make $800 million in annual revenue, distinguishing them from many a cashless online startup, no doubt played into their decision.) We passed on the story because the rumors weren’t really substantiated, and whether or not they were leaked by Groupon to aid in their negotiations, as has been speculated, they certainly seemed to have that effect.

In the humorous infographic below (found on TechCrunch), Azhar Bande-Ali imagines how four of the hot tech firms rumored to be in talks with Groupon would have incorporated it into their respective businesses.

Chrome Launching Next Week? (Wired)

Why The Library of Congress is Blocking Wikileaks (Library of Congress Blog)

Adorable Star Wars Alphabet (Brandon Peat)

Okamiden Pre-Order Bonus is Adorable Plush (Joystiq)

The Twelve Bots of Christmas (GeekMom)

Senators Propose Free WiFi in All Federal Buildings (The Hill)

Would FPS Heckling Bother A Trained Professional? (Rooster Teeth)

(pic via Reddit.)

If DigiTimes is to be believed, this will be the month that netbooks powered by Google‘s Chrome OS will begin shipping worldwide, to be followed by a second round next month.

Per DigiTimes, Google’s manufacturing partner Inventec will prepare an initial run of 60,000 to 70,000 Google-branded Chrome netbooks, which “will feature an ARM-based platform and will not be selling through retail channels”; thereafter, Acer and Hewlett-Packard will “test the water” with their own Chrome OS-powered offerings, presumably geared towards a mass audience.

As BGR points out, DigiTimes has “an extremely mixed record” with its reports — this one is attributed only to “sources” — but when DigiTimes is right, it’s often on the cutting edge; make of that fact pattern what you will.

(DigiTimes via BGR)

Download Squad is reporting that Verizon and Google have teamed up once again. But this time, instead of fiddling around with the tubes, they’re planning to release a tablet running Google’s Chrome OS this November. Specs on the device are purely speculative at this point, but include a 1280×720 multitouch display, 32 GB of Flash storage, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 3G data connection (this is Verizon we’re talking about, after all). The hardware will reportedly be built by HTC, in the same manner as the Nexus One.

A day after the news got out that Google was banning Windows use among its employees due to security concerns, they’ve announced, if not a hard release date, a release ballpark for their own Chrome operating system.

According to Sundar Pichai, Google’s VP of product management, Chrome OS will be coming some time in the “late fall.”

Reuters: ”Chrome OS is one of the few future operating systems for which there are already millions of applications that work,” Pichai said. “You don’t need to redesign Gmail for it to work on Chrome. Facebook does not need to write a new app for Chrome.”

Earlier this month, Google rolled out a cheeky, competitive video that compared the speed of Google’s Chrome browser with a potato gun, sound waves, and lightning, with Chrome getting the upper hand each time. Now, just days after Chrome for Mac and Linux phased out of beta, Norway-based Opera Software has launched a parody of the Chrome video with a distinctly Scandinavian sense of humor.

Rather than compare the speed of their Opera browser to a shooting potato, they compared it to a boiling potato. Many hijinks ensue, including the titularly-alluded-to herring sword fight, in what is at once an homage to Google’s video and a mockery of its silliness and pomp.