On and on it goes, updates to better and faster versions of an already decent web browser from Google. Chrome is what homies would call “Bling Bling”, or “Fresh”, since right now it is rising to the top with all the new gear. Just what is the new gear, and how does it apply to your life?
That is exactly what Computer Geeks Blogs is here for: to answer any of those perplexing questions that you might have concerning your personal computer, laptop, or hand-held device. Right now there are a lot of new and exciting innovations coming out for web browsers, so we do not want you to miss out on the opportunity to learn about some of them.
Google actually hired several Firefox developers and built the first version of Chrome, impressing even the founder, Eric Schmidt, who was hesitant to enter the ongoing “browser wars” between Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera. Google seems to be the one who jumps in front of the others in the action line, coming out with ideas from browsers like Firefox first. For instance, the graphical user interface which created the name “Chrome”, integrates the search and the address bar together to form a very easy to use interface.
The aim of every browser is to be fast, simple, and secure. Which does it the best? Let’s look at the record.
Chrome went through all the acid tests, 100 or so tests that are measured almost like the colors of a real acid test with litmus paper. Google passed all three with good colors, this is important to see as it gives us the truth about a browser that will not fail us.
Chrome certainly does not fail us on speed. Using a V8 engine, it revs up very fast power to surf the net, with the V8 JavaScript engine. In a speed test in 2008, Google flew by Firefox 3.0, two times faster with the V8 engine. Google did not stop there, they went even farther with SquirrelFish Extreme, marking a 36% improvement in speed over the V8 JavaScript Engine. Wow.
Enough jargon for today.
Basically, Google Chrome seems to be the one coming out with all the new toys and trinkets for web browsing. They started the “pages” idea, if you use Chrome then you notice how on the start page it is not just one page, it is all the ones you have visited most in the past. A pretty cool feature, making life using email and other jobs simple.
Now, for the headliner: Chrome 8. Right now it is in the experimental stages, so do not go searching the world wide web for the full version, as it does not exist yet. But guaranteed you will be impressed at the new features.
A search-as-you-type feature is something that goes along with the address bar as a search tool. What else? The searches are scanned by AVG! Talk about secure and safe, as well as useful. Typing a single letter will turn up a bunch of sites that are most related to it. It is like Java on steroids! No more having to wait 10 seconds for a search page to load, those days are in the past, welcome to the super-information highway.
Also in the new Chrome 8 there is the Cloud Printing feature, which allows you to print to your home printer from anywhere. Chrome just makes like easy.
So we have covered the aims that browsers need to meet the standards: fast, simple, and secure. What about better? Yes, we will see how Google Chrome battles it’s way to the top becoming “King of the Browser Mountain”.
How many times have you heard people say, when they are trying to find out some information on a question they themselves cannot answer, “I’ll just ‘Google’ it!”? They type the words in the search box, and like magic 100,000,000 results come up for asking the ‘meaning of life’. Google is actually in the dictionary as verb!
Behind Google Lines
Who is behind this giant? When did it become the number one provider for information globally? What is a search engine and what does Google do to stay on top of the market?Just how did this giant of an engine that grabs so many results, 99% of the results being random non-related content, come to be? These are questions I will answer for you.
At the head of Google, Inc. are two men named Larry Page and Sergey Brin. In 1996 these two graduate students who attended Stanford University were working on finding out how many “backlinks”, the number of web pages that link to a certain site, were out there in the world wide web and how to pull them all together.
Originally, the name 0f the project was called “Backrub”, a clever one talking about how it rubbed the backlinks of the internet. This web-crawler traveled across the internet picking up all the sites that had a connection to a certain web-page, instead of the conventional method of search engines at the time, which only counted how many times the search term appeared on a page. The super-information-highway was on it’s way to being paved.
The name ‘Google’ comes from the misspelled ‘googol’, a name for the number one followed by one hundred zero’s. This was a powerful name to choose for a search engine that boasts it can find that many search results. What is interesting today is that the googol signifies more than just search results.
The “Google Guys” have come a long way from the days when they had to put together 10 four Gigabyte hard drives in a case built out of Lego’s, hence the colors of Google, they are advancing rapidly into every territory you can think of.
After maneuvering through financial difficulties, Google was able to get into a unique online auction and sell their shares at a high price, instantly making many Google employees millionaires. They did not stop there, Google grew into an enormous beast of a company buying out YouTube and creating service such as Google Earth and Google Voice. At the rate that this company is going, there will soon be a Google Life!
Google is top-secret too, they are not kissing and telling. That is perhaps why they stay on top and always ahead of the market in terms of fresh, innovative ideas. They are even turning green: recently this year Google Energy was created, after an investment was made in a North Dakota wind farm to harvest mega-watts. What else will Google do?
In basic terms, Google connects the world to the internet, and allows people to get the most of what they are searching for. The real story of Google is still a mystery, since they won’t even tell how many servers they have, so you will just have to guess that this company will probably take over the world!
A new PC utility enables users to slim up there computer and cut down on all those programs you do not need which fills up disk space.
?Bloatware?, or software bloat, is a term that is used to describe the unnecessary features that are not being used but takes up valuable space on your computer. In the beginning, back in the 1970?s, every byte was accounted for because disk space was like gold not to be wasted. It seems in today's world the reverse is the normal: pack in the useless nonsense!
With all the new operating systems, browsers, protocols, and storage formats, no wonder your computer is fat and farting! For example, a program that once could only save in text format is now demanded to save in HTML, XML, XLS, CSV, PDF, DOC, and other formats.
In comes SlimComputer software from SlimWare Utilities, a useful tool that collects user ratings of programs that ship with that PC you ordered and aggregates them to make it easy to decide which ones to delete, and which ones to keep.
“As more users participate, we get more data. As we get more data, the better the ratings are,” said Chris Cope, CEO of Slimware, based in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Looking at these ratings, you might still be skeptical at whether or not certain programs are valuable or not. The tool will identify and remove programs that many users don’t want, like the free games that come with many PCs, and also list nonessential toolbars, startup items and shortcuts. Basically the SlimComputer eliminates all those annoying programs that take up all the space that you could be using to store all those ?movies?.
Why Is Bloatware Bad?
How does it feel to be bloated? Not good. That is what your computer feels, and it will go a lot slower than usual because it is too busy farting. Software companies often pay PC makers to include trial versions in the computer so you will get a nice variety of nothing!
This software can slow boot times, drag on performance, and take up disk space. Other examples of bloated software are trial productivity tools and accounting. So what can you do to get your PC up and running full speed?
With Slimware the main goal is to not interfere with important programs that are used to help the computer function properly. That would screw things up big time, no, what this program does is make it so that when you get a new computer or have an existing one, based on user ratings of how important a program is you can decide for yourself which ones to get rid of.
This is a valuable tool in this day and age of endless content that never ceases to fill up your screen with useless nonsense. Get rid of all that crap with slimware.
Microsoft, iTunes, and other applications like NERO burning ROM have been accused of being bloated. They come with all sorts of ridiculous add-ons and downloads that look great, but actually are just there to slow you down.
Here is a tip: if you feel your computer is bloated and is not as fast as you would like? Instead of buying a new expensive Sony laptop, download this free program and see how much money you can save by freeing up space.
If you?re a user of Google?s internet browser Chrome, their arguable answer to Mozilla?s Firefox (offering much of the same functionality and performance that places these two competing browser?s well ahead of Microsoft?s stagnant Internet Explorer), there?s a good chance you also use Gmail.
With Chrome now supporting extensions, a long overdue addition to its impressive features, we have a new extension that augments your Gmail experience. Called Better Gmail for Chrome, this is an unofficial extension that renders your use of the popular email service a bit more manageable.
After its installation, you?re ready to begin taking advantage of it. To access the extension?s features, click on the wrench and select Extensions -> Better Gmail Options. Looking at the list of options, simply click on those you?d like to toggle for activation. An upcoming update that includes support for POP3 Email is said to be on the horizon.
Those of us in the Computer Geeks office have no real preference between Chrome and Firefox, finding both to be far preferable to Internet Explorer. If you have a favorite extension to use with either browser, feel free to share it with us!
Planning a trip that will see you taking long walks through an as yet unexplored city with winding streets and the confusing noise of bustling pedestrians? Bringing your smartphone along for the trip?
If your answer to the two questions above is ?yes,? you might be interested in yet another innovative offering from Google, a nice accompaniment that aids those travelers looking to work those legs during their travels.
Part of Google Lab?s stable of services being tested before an official rollout, City Tours aids travelers in planning their trips, knowing that the uncharted streets of an unfamiliar city are part of the excitement we feel when traveling abroad.
When you input the city you?re visting, City Tours will craft a comprehensive tour for you, mapping out a three day itinerary that includes 10 suggested places to visit each day. Once they?ve offered their suggestion, you can add and remove sites, tailoring the tour to your liking.
Does your husband want to visit a location that famously served as the launching point for a popular band? Add it to the tour.
This great resource includes walking directions, names those locales you might want to visit, estimates the average length of time it?ll take you to go from one point to the next, and is just a generally welcome tool to employ when planning a trip.
Even if you?re not traveling, you might want to become more acquainted with the city in which you reside, making this just as invaluable a resource.
While it?s still being tested in Google Labs, you can use City Tours here.
