Google to Release Their Own Web Browser?

Search engine domination? Check. Web statistics software domination? Check. Free e-mail service domination? Check. Ok ok, without going any further, you are probably already aware that I'm talking about Google. But given that Google does publish a wide variety of applications and hosts even more web services, does it make sense for them to ever stop? Not likely, and the next project that's apparently well along in development is the long-rumored web browser.

One might immediately ask, "Why?", and that's a great question. Google seems to be trying something new though, instead of just reinventing the wheel. Judging by the 'screenshots', they want to take the simplistic approach, by making the browser lightweight but powerful at the same time. One interesting alteration to how we do things today is with the tabs, which are located above the address bar, rather than under. I'm not sure how useful that is, but they are at least trying something different.

Other neat features include a privacy mode (no personal history is saved), auto-updating of a database with malicious websites, a speedial a la Opera and even an updated JavaScript VM called V8. Why Google doesn't just continue along with creating plugins for other browsers is likely a moot point, since that development will likely never end. Google 'Chrome' seems to be just another offering in the fray, and with as much R&D and technical know-how that Google has, it might just become some real competition down the road.

But Philipp Lenssen at Google Blogoscoped has posted a comic book which he says comes straight from Google which seems to indicate that the search engine giant will indeed release a browser soon. Reportedly called Google Chrome, the browser will be based on the open source Webkit rendering engine. So what would Google Chrome have that you can't find in other web browsers?

Source: Download Squad

20 Linux Apps You (Supposedly) Can't Live Without

Top lists are a dime a dozen, there's no secret in that. But it's a rare occasion when I take a look at one and actually find something new I didn't know about before. The latest top 20 from Tech Radar is one such article though, as they choose a variety of different Linux applications that we supposedly can't live without. Top lists are of course subjective, but hey, if you can learn about a new app you didn't know about before, then there's no reason to complain.

The first application listed in the list actually surprised me, because it looked like Adobe Lightroom. I've been looking for such an application for a while, so to see there's actually a Linux alternative surprised me. Called LightZone, the goals are the same as Lightroom is for Windows and Aperture is for OS X, to give you full control over your RAW photography. It accepted my Nikon .NEF without issue, and so far, it seems like a solid offering.

Like LightZone though, not all applications listed here are completely free, although they do seem to cost far less than the Windows competitors. Having been a full-time Linux user for quite some time, I'm surprised to see that half of the list are applications I've never even heard of. How about Stellarium, a Google Earth replacement? Tux Guitar, a tab creator for guitar players? The only application in the list I actually use everyday is Bluefish, an open-source editor... the same one I used to write this news post. See, Linux doesn't lack in software at all, and lists like these prove it.

Freshly minted as a version 1.0 product, Bluefish is a powerful text editor for programmers. Billed as "extremely lightweight", the program uses about half the memory of more well-known editors, such as Quanta, so it could run just fine in a lightweight distro - for example, Fluxubuntu - or alongside programming environments such as Eclipse. It also loads files quickly: in a test, we opened ten HTML files in almost the blink of an eye, even though they were fairly complex.

Source: TechRadar

Lenovo Requests Signed NDA for Windows License Reimbursement

If you happen to own multiple copies of Windows Vista, or prefer Linux, then purchasing a new laptop can be a pain in the side. The fact is, part of the laptop's price is the Windows' license, and on a good day, it's valued at around $130, but that may vary depending on the notebook vendor. Luckily, we've known for a while that getting that money back, if you choose not to run the preinstalled version, was possible, but Lenovo decided to complicate the process.

When one Czech user decided to inquire Lenovo on getting his cash back, they agreed to write a $130 check, but only if he signed a non-disclosure agreement, barring him from being able to tell others of the deal, or that it's even possible. Of course, their foolishness only leads to the story blowing up, and now more people than ever are more aware of the possibility. Nice move there.

If you purchase a Lenovo and want your money back from the Windows license, you might as well just sign the NDA now, because it's public knowledge already, and won't accomplish much of anything. I'm curious to see if they will retain the NDA now that this Czech users story has made headlines. I'm leaning towards 'yes', but I could be wrong.

A clause in the Windows end user license agreement (EULA) says that consumers who do not accept all the terms of the license can return the software for a full refund. When Paral brought this aspect of the license to the attention of Lenovo, the company agreed to pay him roughly $130 for terminating the license.

Source: Ars Technica

Intel's Budget Q8200 Quad-Core Popping Up

Early last month, I posted about upcoming Intel processors that would soon be launched, and that apparently wasn't going to take too long. Some of the new offerings are now becoming available through various e-tailers, although at a very slow pace. The budget Celeron 450 is also an exception, because I was unable to find it anywhere. I'd expect to see that in stock sometime this month.

The new Quad-Core Q8200 is now finding itself priced at around $229.99, which is $40 more than the Q6600, so the decision-making process is not going to be made easy. The Q6600 is of course Intel's most-popular 65nm offering, and at 2.4GHz, it delivered the speed and multi-tasking capability that people were after. The Q8200 on the other hand, settles in at 2.33GHz and includes 2x2MB L2 Cache, half of the Q6600.

The decision will fall upon what you actually need. If you are heavily into multimedia work, the extra cache of the Q6600 may prove beneficial, but the Q8200 offers better power efficiency and equally good overclocking ability (I assume, if Intel's other budget processors are anything to go by). The largest benefit in my opinion would be the added SSE4.1 instruction sets, that will make multimedia decoding/encoding a far quicker process, as long as the encoder can take advantage of it.

Right now, not too many e-tailers are selling the chip, but the three I did find is NewEgg, NCIX and Mwave, all priced around the $230USD mark. NCIX doesn't seem to be carrying any stock right now, but they are taking orders and will deliver once they become available (est. 5-10 days).

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200: NewEgg ($229.99USD)
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200: Mwave ($225.00USD)
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200: NCIX ($262.18CAN)
• Intel Core 2 Duo E5200: NCIX ($113.19CAN)

Cuil Taking Down Some Websites?

As far as search engines go, Cuil is one that just can't catch a break. It launched in late July to harsh criticism, but all for good reason. Any search query shot at the site would be sure to invoke a 'WTH?' expression quick. I do have to admit that the queries have improved, though, at least with the ones I'm running. So things may be improving.

Any new found goodness in the search engine is likely to be overshadowed by some though, since Cuil is apparently killing off websites, one by one, due to an ineffective, but overzealous, site crawler. The way a crawler works, normally, is that it searches through the sites for all real URLs and makes sure they are spidered (as in, searchable from the engine). The way Cuil's seems to work, though, is that it makes up its own URLs on the site to see if they exist, just in case.

Needless to say, though that method might be a good idea if we all had monster servers and no bandwidth bills to worry about, it'd be fine, but it's apparently been pummelling a few servers so hard, that it's taking them offline. A quote from one site admin noted that the crawler hit their site upwards of 70,000 times! Ouch. Cuil is not so cool right now, and they desperately need to fix things before people write it off entirely (if they haven't already).

Website owners are also saying that the way Cuil indexes sites isn't scientific in any way and is actually quite "amateurish." According to those who experienced the Twiceler onslaught, the bot seems to "randomly hit a site and continue to guess and generate pseudo-random URLs in an attempt to find pages that aren't accessible by links. And by doing this, they completely bring a site down to where it's not functional."

Source: TechCrunch

Five Tools to Make a Windows Reinstallation a Snap

I have to admit something. I used to be a chronic formatter. Even months after installing a fresh Windows XP machine, I'd go ahead and feel the urge to reformat in order to get the system working 'like new'. It's true though, it used to be difficult to keep care of your machine and actually avoid reformatting. It's made a lot easier now with the slew of system optimizers on the market (even the ones included with the OS), and if you take care, then you should rarely ever have to format.

After a while, I realized that formatting was no longer fun, and I stuck with an installation on a one-per-year basis, which has since been improved even further (it helps that I use Linux more than Windows now, though). So what am I getting at? Reinstalling Windows is not fun for everyone, like it used to be for me, so the folks at Download Squad list their top five applications for easing the pain with a Windows reinstall.

One tool mentioned, DriverMax, is one we've reported on before. It's designed to be run before the format, as it will back up all of your system drivers, making it a breeze to reinstall them after you get Windows back up and running. Another application they recommend is the file backup tool straight from Microsoft, Migwiz, which they insist is actually ideal. You just need to know how to use it!

After going through the install process, the first thing I shoot for is a complete set of functional drivers. Running DriverMax before the format lets you back up all the drivers on a system. It's a great app, and it even loads drivers for non-present devices - meaning my customers don't have to fight with a printer or webcam install CD when they get their computer home.

Source: Download Squad

September 1st Tech Roundup

• Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6 - Hardware Canucks
• MSI X48 Platinum - Pure Overclock

• ASUS HD4870-X2 - T-Break
• ATI All-In-Wonder HD TV-Tuner/GPU - Motherboards.org

• Genius Ergo 555 Mouse - XS Reviews
• nMedia HTPCKB Media Center Wireless Keyboard - Benchmark Reviews
• OCZ Dominatrix Gaming Mouse - Technic3D
• Razer Salmosa Gaming Mouse - Bjorn3D

• Glacialtech Igloo 5063 Cu Silent E Heatsink - FrostyTech
• Thermaltake BigTyp VP and MaxOrb EX CPU Coolers - Digit-Life
• Zalman CNPS9300AT CPU Cooler - Pro-Clockers

• Antec Twelve Hundred Gaming Case - Legit Reviews
• Moneual Labs MonCaso 972 HTPC Case - Think Computers
• Moneual Labs MonCaso 972 HTPC Case - Virtual-Hideout
• SilverStone Treasure TS01 RFID Enclosure - Phoronix

• Lenovo ThinkPad T500 - InsideHW
• MSI European Overclocking Challenge 2008 Coverage - Overclock3D