#Googlefail

For those of you who haven't heard, google went down early today. As in, an epic fail. And it really just goes to show how much of the internet relies on Google's services. It's even scary, one might say. Anywho, here's a wired article to check it out: google fail

Also, just want to apologize for the lack of updates. As most of you are probably in the same boat as myself and Wayfarer, I hope you'll understand. You see, we're both dealing with this little thing called the end of the school year, and for an end-of-year present every year, the schools love to give these gifts called exams. And these wonderful little godsends have been sapping all of our energy and time. So as soon as our exams are over, you can expect more updates to be made. No more of this week-long no-post crap. Apologies again on the delay. And also sorry I couldn't write a longer article today. I have to go... study...

Google Mobile App

I can't say I have been through a lot of Google updates with their mobile product, but their most recent update was quite amazing. You can see in the picture the notes that Google posted for the update. I can't help but laugh.

Little Known Fact

Mountain View, in California, home of Google, is completely covered with free Wifi.  I wonder how long it will take for the rest of the world to do the same.

The GDrive - What it Should Be

The rumors are coming out again.  Goolge is hinting, or playing us, with its new GDrive, or Google Web Drive.  You can find a lot of other resources telling you what it is, but a short recap may be in order.  The GDrive is Google's rumored drive that would allow you to store information "in the cloud."  In short, an online Hard Drive.  There are many other services that allow you to store information on the internet, such as Adrive.  However, the GDrive could be so much more.  While the rumors are still flying about, I might as well toss in my own 2 cents.

• The GDrive should hold everything.  There are already some sources which say that the GDrive would hold music files, something that Google has stayed away from before.  GDrive should hold everything, that way there is no excuse to have your own Hard Drive.  Everything could be in the cloud.
• Fast transfer rate.  Of course, this is obvious, but Google should never limit people in their download speed or upload speed.
• Infinite Space.  Of course, infinite space would require some money, but Adrive offers 50 GB free, so Google should start out with at least that.
• No file size limit.  Users are uploading and moving huge files.  Saving ISO's and movies that are 4 GB in size, or even as big as 10 GB.  There should be absolutely no limit on how big a file can be to be uploaded.
• Remote booting.  This could be interesting.  Even if everything is "in the cloud," your computer still needs and Operating System.  Imagine a Google built OS that would be small, and would boot from a remote Hard Drive off in Google Land.  It would automatically connect to your own GDrive, and so you could save and work with programs.  You could install programs to your GDrive.  The GDrive would act as a "Network Drive" and the OS itself would never change.  This means your computer, hopefully, would remain virus free.
• Access Everywhere.  Yes, everywhere.  On your cell phone, on your iPhone, on your computer, on your friend's computer, on that sketchy Hotel Computer that has 13 different viruses.  Everywhere.
• File Sharing.  In one form or another, it will happen.  The GDrive should take this into account and allow files to be shared.  Perhaps this will make the MPAA and the FIAA really angry, but I think that Google could fight them off.
• Music Streaming.  Why not?
  

These are just some ideas that Google should incoporate into their GDrive.  In general, it should be Free (up to a level) and really, really big.  

Google Turns 10

Ahh, who doesn't love the giant Search Engine Google?  Well, some of you may not, but I know that Google is my homepage.  So at least I love it.  And you know what I noticed on their homepage?  Google finally realized that they turned 10.  So, what have the decided to do about it?

Why, Party of course.

And by party, I mean launch another one of their schemes.  Google is starting the Project 10 to the 100th.  Basically, the project will accept ideas from people all around the world, and then find the best 100 of them, finallizing it down slowly.  The project that will help the most people, wins.  Basically, Google is trying to live up to its slogan of "Don't Be Evil" and help the world out.  And you know what?  If you have a good idea, you should sure as hell submit it, because if you are the one who wins, your idea just came reality.  And hey, someone has to win the Nobel Prize.

Google Chrome - A Second Opinion

So, lucky me, I had cross country after school today and didn't even get back until around 7pm. So by the time I got back and installed Google Chrome (Which, by the way, was QUITE easy), the new browser had been released for some time all ready. It also means, however, that I was able to take a look at some of Wayfarer's posts and see the problems he had encountered already. So, as is only fair, I'll compare my findings to those of Wayfarers :)

Firstly, I also noticed the very basic browser interface. There were 4 buttons (back, forward, refresh, and favorites) and the address bar. That was pretty much it. Now, while I personally may prefer my Mozilla Firefox bar, which is stuffed full of different buttons like stumble, clear cache, my favorite RSS feeds, and some javascript applications, Chrome's minimalist tool bar seems to be perfect for the average joe user. My mom, for instance, only ever needs the back button, the home button, her favorites, and the address bar. Anything else just serves to confuse her.

But wait!? Wayfarer is correct! Where the heck is the home button? One nifty Chrome feature is the fact that every time you open a new tab, it will open to your home page. No more of that annoying "this is a new tab" page. But if your like Wayfarer, and that's just not good enough for you, and you just absolutely MUST have your home button, then there is a simple fix. Just click on the "customize" button (A little wrench in the right hand corner) and choose "options". You'll get this screen:



Just tick the option "show home button on the tool bar" and voila! You now have a home button between favorites and refresh.

Wayfarer also brought up a very valid concern with the ease that you can find out website's passwords with Google Chrome. To this I say, 'tis true, it is quite easy. But hey, it's just as easy to do on Firefox. And on Firefox, it shows all your passwords at once! I personally think this is an acceptable, if not quite necessary.

My personal experience all in all with Google Chrome was positive. I enjoy the simple user face and it's easy to use features. One last feature that I love, however, is the address bar. Not only does it help fill in sites you have visited, but it also fills in popular site you HAVEN'T visited. Endlessly useful in my honest opinion, since I am a very, very lazy person. And now I don't have to fully type my url's out :).

So you've heard first impressions from myself and Wayfarer - but what about you? Has anyone tried Chrome yet? Find anything cool to do with it? Any fun features or hacks?

Google Chrome faces Acid2 and Acid 3 Test

So, after doing some checking, I didn't see anyone doing this yet, so I decided that I would.  And post the results.  Google Chrome, meet the Acid tests.

Google Chrome did well on the first test. And by well, I mean passed with flying colors.  At least, as far as I can tell.

And now for the acid 3 test.  Apparently, Google didn't want me to try.  I will keep at it though.
Edit:  I got the results in:

A respectable 79/100, but I don't think that is the top of the market.

Google Chrome - 5 Minute Thoughts

For all those who don't know, Google launched their own browser.  Vista and XP are supported with Linux and Mac versions coming out later.

So, I'm doing something new.  I'm giving my 5 minute thoughts.  After using Chrome for only 5 minutes, this is what I think:

Google always does a good job with making things simple, and this is no exception.  The download process was different, but simple.  It downloaded in its own installer without a hitch, and then proceeded to install.  It recognized Mozilla Firefox on my computer, and asked me to import my settings from it.  Which I proceed to do.  I also set it as my default browser, deciding that I would give this a try for a while.

Chrome has a nice User Interface, which is helpful.  It loads pages just fine, or at least the ones that I have been too.  My Firefox info is all here.  I quickly went to the options, and after a few moments, had my homepage set up (which was not imported), and was looking at what it could do.  The options were pretty basic, but one caught my attention.  The "show saved passwords."  This intrigued me, so I went exploring.  It showed me all the sites that I had been on and used a password + username.  I found a site in which I didn't remember my password (all of which had been imported from Firefox), and hit "show password."  And you know what?  It did.  That surprised me.  Because now you have a easy way to find passwords of your friends and such.  Have them type it in, remember the password, and then look it up later.  It was so easy, I thought that it was actually bad.  Sure, it could be nice if you forget, but if someone gets a hold of your computer, then they know all of your passwords.  Insecure?  Definitely.

No adblock plus.  Well, damn.  This really is the killer for every other Browser besides Firefox.  There is no ad block plus, and now I have to live through the onslaught of ads all over again.  And you know what?  There won't be.  At least not that I can predict.  Google now has control over what other people can see with their own browser.  Even though it may be open source, that doesn't mean that somebody can easily make an  ad blocker.  And Google doesn't want them too.  Google makes ads for the web, why would they make a browser, and then block all of their ads.  It doesn't make sense economically.  So they won't.

Their spell checker is lacking.  While I love that they have one, as I type this, and misspell words, I am used to right clicking and getting everything fixed.  When I right click and only one option appears, which isn't the one I am looking for, I get sad.  Very sad.  I can type fast, but not always well.  There is also no "Learn" the word feature.

No home button.  Unless I am missing something here, I don't see it.  And you know what?  I like to go back to my Homepage.  I do so obsessively.  And now that I can't, it makes me really sad.

Those are the only things that I have really come across in 5 minutes.  In general, It seems as though Chrome has a while to go before it catches up with Firefox.  Internet Explorer may be in trouble, but from what I read else where, if you are using IE, then you don't know about Firefox, and you certainly won't know about Google Chrome.  At least, not until Google buys Microsoft.

Google Chrome: The Search Engine Behemoth Strikes Again!

For a long time now, Google has been taking over the internet, capitalizing on it's popularity, and usability. From a search engine, it has evolved to include a map quest-esque direction and map service. They also have begun intruding upon the blogosphere by buying out the blogging service now called Blogger (which, as it happens, is the blog service that we use).

And now they're at it again.

Google has announced that they will be releasing their new web browser. Their have been a few myths flying around the past year or so about Google's web browser project, but it is official now.

Google Chrome will have many very neat features with it. One of these features will be a normal one for new browsers. Updated speed for javascript and other speed adjustments using what they call the "V8". The improved speed, according to Google, will help improve browsers for things that haven't even been created yet. So our future web applications are safe with Google Chrome.

Also, Chrome will use what is called "sandboxes" for the tabs. Basically this will allow each tab to run on an individual basis, helping protect against malware and one tab's crash from crashing another tab. Chrome will have another new feature called 'incognito'. Incognito is a privacy mode that means that your computer will not log or add history from any web window that you are in. You will be "invisible" when running incognito :).

Chrome will have several other awesome new features, but really what it comes down to is this: what does Chrome mean for the rest of the browsers? Mozilla Firefox has been gaining a large amount of popularity recently. How will Chrome affect them? What about good 'ole Internet Explorer (which if you're using, by the way, switch to Firefox already!) I for one am looking forward to playing around with Chrome when it releases. How about you? Do you like your current browser enough to forget about Chrome? Or is Chrome just another way for Google to take over the internet, little by little?