Google launched ‘Chrome’ - the google browser - and like everything else that is Google, I had to test drive the shinny new chrome the very first day it was available.

First impressions :

Its fast, its clean - its everybit Google!

Neat Features :

• No wastage of expensive browser space with a bar on top
• Tabs are just clean and works like magic (unlike IE7).
• Dragging a tab outside opens a new window
• Each tab is a process in itself so you can kill something that hangs up without affecting other tabs (i.e. if you can figure out the bad one from the list of chrome.exe)

Things that I didn’t like so much :
• Bookmarks disappear when you open a website on a tab, to access them you have to open a new tab (an extra click)
• No adons
• CPU usage (see below)
• Different processes for each tab is a neat feature, but no id for the right tab to kill, its all “chrome.exe”.

So the big question is - DO I SWITCH FROM FIREFOX or OPERA or FLOCK or MAXTHON, or SAFARI, or even IE7?

Firefox had issues with memory usage, so lets compare that. I ran Chrome, Firefox and IE7 with 4 active websites and an empty tab - here is what we see

While the memory usage isn’t bad, its not too good either. Alarming thing is the CPU usage. I don’t know if I would sacrifice 50% of my cpu usage towards a better browsing experience - when Firefox isn’t really doing a bad job at that and besides I will miss stumbling.

Surely Chrome is my default browser at the moment, lets see how long it retains the position.

Would your jaw drop in utter amazement when I say that the Google founder Sergey Brin’s wife is busy “bringing personalized medicine to the public” by helping them “read and understand their DNA”?

All this comes at a price, of course (and a rather steep one I might add). A little startup called 23andMe co-founded by Anne Wojciki (wo-JES-ki) unravels the mystery of your ancestry for a cool $999.00 so that you can know all that is to know (and maybe more) about yourself.

Another one of those Web 2.0 marvels!

While some follow football, some follow cricket and some Rachel Ray, I like to follow web startups, just because some of these applications are cool, anything creative gives me a kick like a bloody mary! These startups are created by 20 somethings, one by a 6th grader - {{{ bells }}} - another start of bubble!! No, I don’t think so, not so much volatile as last time because VCs have learnt from their mistakes but you never know… here is a video that got famous (over million views) last December before it was taken down because of a copyright infringement - it is now back online without the law breaking unsharable photograph (according to the photographer and her lawyer) used before!

Another wonder of web2.0 - ‘Jooce’ is a flash based online desktop for people who like to stay connected through the new religion of www. It’s very similar to ’stixy’ - but the way I look at it is, stixy is what windows is for an operating system, while jooce is more like a mac os.

Not that I am arguing if one is better than other, but jooce has its advantages - it offers msn, icq, yahoo and aim chat applications along with desktop sharing abilities that also stixy provides. And it also lets you upload youtube videos, music and media files and play them online. As for disadvantages (as compared to stixy) it does not offer a calendar/todo list and while it looks and feels like a desktop, well it really is a file sharing application at the core of all the cool graphic interface.

So get ready to load up your virtual hard-drive - I wonder how secure these applications will be in the long run!

For 2 years I was away from any sort of television.
Why? Because I am addicted to television.

I do have a tv now but no channel subscription.
Why? Because I will be addicted to TV shows.

But my addiction makes me search for other sources of webtv and no, I am not looking video sharing websites like youtube.com, heavy.com, blip.tv (actually this is not that bad) or million other websites with tons of illegally shared, low resolution, ad-poping video content.. I am looking for web2.0 apps that share videos legally with shows that you would watched on your tv!

Some time back I reviewed Joost as an option - I may have used it 4 times since then being the fact that it is a memory-hog, and while really cool, my 4 year old laptop can’t handle the vista type graphics interface it offers. So when I read about Hulu, I signed up for their beta and finally got an invite!

Review : It’s amazing!

Great video quality, no softwares to download, if you have a decent internet connection you get no issues with buffering and the selection of shows currently is well - I can see House, Scrubs, Simpsons, the Office and more…

It also lets me share the videos (you don’t need a hulu account to view it) -

Hulu earns money from ads played in between the video content, I don’t mind seeing a good quality ad, lets just say I watch Super-Bowl for the ads :)

Enjoy this episode from The Simpsons and sign up for the beta here :)

Bring out your thinking hats fellas and take the Intel Software Network’s Threading Challenge.

The contest consists of 12 problems/puzzles in all and you have to submit code for each of them, mostly C/C++. To make it a little easy, the kind folks at Intel are providing you a template to start with. If you still find yourselves stuck, just ask other developers/contestants on the online forum. Collaboration is encouraged but there’ll only be one winner.

Good luck y’all!

Note: Do drop in a line if you find the ‘tabs’ plug-in way too cool! Yours truly put very little effort to get that effect (courtesy: Ajax, jQuery).

Confession - I am addicted to television - I am going through rehab!

While I do have a TV, I have not subscribed to cable over the last 4 years (well off and on I had basic cable). While signing in for rehab they never mentioned the use of internet as a restriction. It had worked well!

Until Nihar (one on the scooter), showed me ‘Joost‘, after searching online I finally figured out how to get an invitation!

What is Joost?

It is what Web2.0 was set to define - a web platform for your online application - to watch TV - for free!

What channels can you surf?

National Geographic
MTV
Comedy central
These are the channels that got my attention, but they have a growing list of channels that you can tune in!

Who controls the remote?

One who gets to control the mouse.

How much?

Free is the keyword! No paying $40/month to Time warner! 12months and you can buy yourself a 42″ LCD from the money you save, hook it to your laptop using a VGA cable and experience the TV in high-def

Do you have invites?

Sure, leave your email address

Is Joost the only online TV network?

Well, not really but Joost is the only one I have used, there are more online - Beware! some have legal issues.

Is this the future of television? Well, who knows! It sure looks great from here :)