Cold, Hard Chrome…Google Just Got a Little Cooler

Internet Explorer better watch out: there’s a new browser in town and it’s ready to leave you in the dust.

Just one week after Microsoft’s release of a test version of the latest Internet Explorer 8, Google announced Monday they were launching the beta version of their free browser. The browser will be available to Windows Users (Mac and Linux versions are still in the works) in 100 countries around the world.

The browser, coolly going by the name of Chrome, is being heralded by Google as “streamlined and simple” as well as “clean and fast.” It’s the sports car of browsers.

This announcement follows a premature release of a cartoon comic book meant to promote Chrome, and underlines the competitive rivalry between Google and Microsoft. Google, who’s search engine handles over two thirds of all web searches, is looking to take a bite out of Microsoft’s piece of the internet pie. A pie piece that in actuality could be considered a binge: Internet Explorer is the browser of choice for 75% of web users.

And although Google has been backing Mozilla Firefox, the free open-source browser that has a 10% market share of the browser market, Google hopes to thwart Microsoft’s dominance. Google has motive as well, citing some of the new tweaks to the default settings on Internet Explorer in Version 8 will reduce the traffic to Google’s search engine, which has major ramifications on the ad-network Google has created.

Ah well, all’s fair in love and browsers.

Something Auburn can be proud of

Mark Spencer is taking the telecom market by storm, one phone call at a time.

The 29-year old Auburn grad is the inventor of the market-shaking software program called Asterisk which allows people to make calls over the internet without going through the traditional phone switch. The program also has voice mail, caller ID, and teleconferencing capabilities. It was while he was in college that he got the idea for an open-source phone switch.

(Now, about the Auburn thing, he was kind of forced into it: both of his parents teach there, so we won't hold it against him!)

Open-source Asterisk lends itself to the recent trend of people not owning a land line in today's world of high-speed internet and low-cost, convenient cell phones.

Basically, it's pretty awesome.

Asterisk, named for the symbol in Unix that means "everything," poses quite a threat to traditional providers by cutting equipment costs by an %80 for businesses that use office switches.

According to Spencer, the company is seeking to get a hand in all areas of telecom equipment, not just personal use. "We have to figure out ways to get into everything: Carriers, businesses, equipment companies," says Spencer.

Corporations like Cisco should be quite worried: since its release in 1999, Asterisk has been downloaded 500,000 times and is being used by companies and even cities. Manchester, Conn., will begin using Asterisk to implement a 911 alert system, a move that will cost less than half of what it would have taken using traditional phone equipment.

Programs like Asterisk are just one step in the journey to a completely open network, which, in turn will force large corporations that are used to being the only option to improve their services and cut their prices in order to compete. Mark Spencer is just one among many trying to level the playing field for consumers and democratizing the technology industry.

Who would have thought an Auburn grad would make it possible to fight the proverbial man in such a big way?

Shhhh! The red light is on....

Babies need their rest. Everyone knows that. Frankly, napping is really the only thing that newborns are somewhat decent at. Well, that and being incredibly cute. But what happens when their precious sleep is disturbed? They cry. And cry. And cry. For babies born premature, however, not getting enough quality sleep can lead to more than just a parent’s headache. It can actually slow their development.

This is a growing concern in neonatal intensive care units where there can often be too much noise and light for the infant to get real sleep.

A new monitoring system that measures audio and light levels in NCIUs called Sonicu is now being used in several hospitals in Indiana.

The latest version of this device streams sound and light data to a base computer which is connected to cone-shaped lights. When the room gets too loud, the lights go from green (quiet) to yellow (a bit noisy) to red (loud), to let parents and doctors know that they need to keep it down. It’s kind of like an electronic librarian, only just for babies.

Keeping it quiet is extremely important when it comes to letting the little ones sleep.

"The sounds ... come from all different directions and all different sources, and they're often associated with unpleasant sensations for the baby," Dr. Bob White, a neonatologist at South Bend's Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis said.

For preemies and even sick babies, noise just louder than a normal conversation can cause heart beats that are either too fast or too slow. Because they were born too soon, their ears are not developed enough to filter sound without the protection of the mother’s womb.

Sonicu’s inventor Chris Smith was inspired to make this device after watching how his own premature son was affected by harsh lighting and sounds.

"There's no good way for the nurses or doctors to walk up to a parent, tap them on the shoulder and say, 'You're being too loud,'" Smith said. "That's confrontational."

One thing is for sure, this new monitoring system is one way to keep the annoying adults-talking-as-babies thing down to a minimum. Or at least down to a decibel that is bearable for the rest of the world.

Taking Your Work to the Family Room

In announcement made Monday, Quanta Computer, Inc., and ooVoo plan to take HD video conferencing into family rooms around the world with a new device that plugs into HD TVs and connects to the internet. People who choose to use this device called Quanta Video Messenger will soon be able to chat it up face-to-face (kinda) with people anywhere in the world who are also using the device, as well as anyone using the software on their PC.

Quanta ans ooVoo are also in talks with U.S. phone and cable companies about building the videoconferencing capabilities into their set-top boxes.

The prototype was originally shown at the company's New York headquarters earlier this year. Described as being about the size of a pocket dictionary, the device has plugs for high-definition audio and visual capabilities. In fact, the Quanta Video Messenger can support 1280 X 720 pixel resolution at 30 frames per second. Not bad for a device that allows you to do your job and be a couch potato....at the same time.

According to ooVoo Chief Executive Phillipee Schwarz, the newest in videoconferencing will be avalable sometime later this year with a price that's "affordable for customers," whatever that means...

Robots have feelings too

Anyone who has ever seen "The Matrix" or I, Robot knows that it is completely justified in saying that artificial intelligence in robots is a bit like Spiderman: with great power comes great responsibility. In Japan , however, engineering students are harnessing that power not for world domination but rather for expressing themselves...sort of. At a university lab in the surrounding suburbs of Tokyo, students are working to perfect the robot Kansei or "sensibility." This robot is wired to simulate six separate emotions on its robotic face: anger, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise and disgust. Kansei is able to achieve this task through a database of word associations. For example, when the robot hears "war," it responds with what looks like fear and disgust. And when it hears "love," its pink (yes, pink) lips smile.

"To live among people, robots need to handle complex social tasks," said project leader Junichi Takeno of Meiji University. "Robots will need to work with emotions, to understand and eventually feel them.

While Japan and the rest of the world is nowhere near simulating the emotional complexity of humans (think sci-fi channel), this new trend is just another advancement in the robotics revolution thats been happening for many years. In fact, robots are so present in far eastern industry, they are often a staple in Japanese factories, with even some welcomed on their first day at work with Shinto religious ceremonies. In fact, according to a recent report by Macquerie, there are 32 robots for every 1,000 human workers in Japanese factories

"The cost of machinery is going down, while labor costs are rising," said Eimei Onaga, CEO of Innovation Matrix Inc., a company that distributes Japanese robotics technology in the U.S. "Soon, robots could even replace low-cost workers at small firms, greatly boosting productivity."

With that in mind, the rest of the world's blue-collar workers better watch out; a femme-bot may be taking your job.

Blocked from watching "Let Me Borrow that Top" for six hours.....come on Pakistan!

Following an attempt by the Pakistan government to block its citizens' access to YouTube, millions of people throughout the world were unable to go to the site for several hours on Sunday. This who debacle began on Friday when Pakistan Telecommunication Authority ordered 70 internet providers to block YouTube.com so that Pakistanis would not be able to watch the several thousand anti-Islamic videos, mainly the trailer for an upcoming film by Dutch director Geert Wilders, on the site. The outage went world wide after, apparently, a Pakistan telecomm company accidently began advertising itself as the quickest route to the site which sent two-thirds of the global internet population's traffic into oblivion. Apparently, the telecomm company established a route that directed requests for YouTube videos from local Internet subscribers to a "black hole," where the data was discarded, according to vice president of internet community services at Renesys, Todd Underwood.That route was then published its international data carrier, PCCW Ltd. of Hong Kong who accepted it. PCCW, one of the world's 2o largest data carriers, this route was passed along to numerous other carriers without any double-checking. According to the Associated Press, Asia was hit the hardest by the outage, which lasted about two hours.

I'm just really glad I wasn't craving me some "Aicha" or "Flee Market Montgomery" on Sunday or I probably would have been SOL.

Apparently, not everyone is a facebook junkie fo' lyfe

Following several accounts of unhappy users and even a couple of threats of law suits, Facebook has fixed the "technical difficulties" involved with deleting one's profile completely. According to Katie Germinder, Facebook's director for user experience and design, when the site's team first tried to make deleting accounts easier, the changes created a technical snag that only affected a few users. "None of their information was exposed, but the empty account continued to exist even though all of its data had been removed,” she said. But now, the bug has been exterminated and usrs can now erase their account for good.

“It’s pretty obvious that Facebook are scared of losing loads of members if they made the delete option easily available,” Mr. Wallin, the creator of the facebook group "How to permenentally delete your profile said.

So if you're "soo over the 'book" you can now completely devote your online attention to some other time-wasting site. Why not try to bring back friendster ?

Google runs the world

As an admitted Google fanatic, Microsoft's latest move to level the playing field come to no surprise to me. Last week, Microsoft proposed an unsolicitied $42 Billion dollar buyout for Yahoo Inc., a move that would make the world's largest software maker a fierce competitor in the online search market. Google, who controls roughly 75% of the internet's paid search, has come out in strong opposition to the news claiming that with the purchase of Yahoo, Microsoft may be able to stifle innovation and steer customers to their internet capabilities through their already dominating software. Google chief legal officer Michael Drummond wrote of the situation: "This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation." In response to this allegation, Microsofts' CEO Steve Ballmer claims that the acquisition of Yahoo would in fact raise competition in the industry rather than eliminate it. In any matter, if the $42 Billion dollar deal does go through, it is expected that antitrust regulators in the U.S. and Europe will launch an extensive review that could take up to a year.

Whatever happens, I'm still a Google girl. Any search that can give me an accompanying YouTube video is tops.

Rock Band ia a drug, and I'm addicted.

Ok, so I may be a bit behind the times with this but Rock Band is the best thing in the entire universe. I fully experienced this amazing addition to the realm of video games this weekend and all I can say is I'm impressed. Now, I am not a big video game person. At all, in fact. I think its because I don't have the attention span. But this game is truly addicting, and judging by the fact that the game has sold over 1.1 million units over all its platforms, I am not the only one who has had dreams of the perfect rendition of "Mississippi Queen" after spending an entire night with eyes glued to screen. My only stipulation about this game is that the songs get a bit repetitive after you play them over and over again. But, alas, MTV Games has already thought of this and created downloadable content available online. In fact, just eight weeks after its launch on Nov. 20, 2007, the game's downloadable content has gone "double platinum" purchasing more than 2.5 million game levels based on songs. And is it any wonder that the top selling music download is Metallica's three-song pack that includes the band's most rocker hits "Ride the Lightening," "Blackened," and "Justice for All." I just can't wait until they have some old Spice Girls on there...

MacBook Air, the latest from Apple, Inc.

During this year's keynote address, Steve Jobs announced the newest device to come out of Apple's workshop: the "thinnovative" MacBook Air. This strikingly thin laptop measures 0.16-0.76 of an inch and is Apple's entrance into the market of portable, lightweight computers known as subnotebooks. Built-in to this three pound device is an oversized trackpad with multi-touch technology first introduced with the iphone and ipod Touch. It also includes a hidden USB 2.0 port, headphone jack, and a micro-DVI port that supports DVI, VGA, composite, and S-video output. Complete with a 13.3-inch wide screen display, 1280 X 800 resolution, iSight camera, and LED backlight that provides full screen brightness the moment you turn it on, the MacBook Air is quite neat for those of us who are impressed with aesthetics. For more serious techies, the MacBook Air could seem a bit empty and frivolous due to its lack of many major features. It doesn't have an ethernet port (although you can buy an adapter), a FireWire port, a Kensington Security slot, or even a remote. So who will buy this super-thin, super-sleek laptop? Well people who want the newest, coolest, lightest product out there who are willing to sacrifice some features for chicness. All I know is that I kinda want one!

1/15 Sony Mylo

As the consumer group made of ages 18-24 continues to grow in relevence in today's market, technology companies are scrambling to keep up with each other and the latest trends in mobile media. As a member of this coveted market group, I can see nothing better than major corporations catering to my short attention span as well as my ever-changing technology needs. A recent announcement from Sony included details about the release of their new handheld media player called Mylo (the supposed trendy abbrv. for "my life online"). With this new device, which is being targeted to young adults like myself, comes all the features you would expect from the flashy handheld du jour such as built-in wifi which can support Yahoo Messenger, Google talk and Skype, a full keyboard, a 320X240 resolution screen, 1G flash memory, as well as the ability to stream music and video. It also has an Opera Browser, which sounds pretty impressive even though I have no idea what that means. There are a couple of downsides: no built-in camera, a lack of support for any games, and the fact that you can't make calls with it. This is definitely no iphone.

All in all, the new Song Mylo achieves shock and awe. Shock that Sony really hasn't come up with anything revolutionary with this product, and awe for iphone, which is still number one for me.